Yellowcard — Lights And Sound

What do you do when you're given the task of following up your phenomenally successful breakthrough record? If you're Yellowcard, you try your darndest to recreate it. Not surprisingly, Lights And Sounds sounds an awful lot like 2003's Ocean Avenue — right down to the glossy production. Little tweaks can be found here and there, like the more prominent use of the violin and other orchestral instrumentation. And though the band go for a more serious approach on some songs, they lose some of their poppy charm, which was an integral part of their appeal. With a lack of strong hooks, songs like the slower "City Of Devils" never really take off. Overall, their experiments with styles outside the pop-punk paradigm seem hollow.

Get it from