I'm not ashamed to say that I really liked From First To Last's debut album. Infact, I still listen to it on occasion and I maintain that, for what it is, it's very good. Obviously bands like MCR and Aiden have come along since and the 'dress-like-a-girl' fascination has been taken to new levels. 'Heroine' is an odd little record. While singer Sonny Moore is still very distinctive, the band seem to have dropped the catchy hooks and choruses in favour of, well, harder hitting riffs, screams and a less commercial sound. Which, bearing in mind the success of their peers, is quite a brave move. And when I say brave I actually mean commercial suicide. Sure, this will probably sell quite well, but I don't think it'll break them as big as they could have been. And I mean MCR big, because that's easily where FFTL could go if they'd not blown it with an album as catchy as bird flu in humans. It's just...well...not that good.
'World War Me', for instance, sounds like My Chem given a death metal makeover. There's no chorus - just a large blood-curdling scream and some de-tuned riffs. The singing during the verses promises so much, but ultimately delivers little. And it's a common theme throughout 'Heroine'; a record which is undoubtedly heavier, yet never really seems to strike the right balance between being aggressive and being melodic, as the first record did. The aggression that is there is more plodding than energetic, so while on 'Dear Diary...' there were moments where you wanted to throw some hardcore moves in front of the mirror, this time round, such as on 'The Crows Are Coming For Us', it's just slow and doesn't hit the spot at all. Even first single 'The Levy' misses that most important component - a hook.
Sonny's vocals save this from being instantly forgettable. For one so young, he can really hit the notes with power and vigour. But without him, this would just be dull and boring. Even with him it's a massive disappointment. The major music magazines have filled this record with praise already, but I don't see how they can. It's like FFTL took all the good bits from 'Dear Diary...', sucked them out and replaced them with darker, psychotic parts in an attempt to be more hardcore. Or something. There' just a lack of a killer hook or anything resembling a chorus - and while it's a big thumbs up for attempting to go down a non-commercial route, which would have been the easy option, you can't forget the songs...and this may be a case of going from first, to last...
www.myspace.com/fromfirsttolast
epitaph
paul
