Story of the Year's sophomore release "In the Wake of Determination" is a drastic departure from their debut album "Page Avenue." The emo verses and sugary pop-punk riffs of "Page Avenue" have been ditched in favor of hard guitars and screaming vocals. They have entered into some metallic realms, but their revised approach to music comes off sounding like any other top-ten metal band.
The group's first album sold more than a million copies, but people complained that it stuck to a formula and didn't live up to the band's potential. SOTY released "In the Wake of Determination" with hopes of creating an album with a distinct twist. Instead, they turned out a sub-par record.
There are a few decent songs scattered throughout the album. "Five Against the World" is an anthem for those who feel the world has turned its back on them.
"I never thought I'd see the day that we honestly could say we stand five against the world," croons lead singer Gerard Way.
The lyrical content for the rest of the album doesn't venture much farther, a testament to the limited number of song topics used by many of today's artists. It doesn't seem like the messages contained in "Determination" could get any more clich?(c).
"We Don't Care Anymore" is slated to be released as the first single. This song could be the anthem for angst-ridden high schoolers. It becomes obvious that little time was put into the lyrics of this song, as the verses are spat out in a rush to get to the chorus.
Story of the Year's release comes across sounding more like an attempt to fit in than stand out. They have jumped on the recurring popularity of metal just a little too late to sound original. Instead they come off as less of an evolved punk group and more of an average metal band.
