A&M / Octone Hollywood Undead continue to step up their game with the release of their third album, ‘ Notes From the Underground .’ The disc not only shows the wealth of talent the rap-rock collective has, but also the eclectic tastes they possess, as well. The 11-track album provides a variety of styles even though they’ve enjoyed their biggest successes to date with harder-edged rap-rock tracks. For those looking for what they’ve come to expect from Hollywood Undead, the lead single ‘ We Are ‘ is the perfect way to introduce the new album. With military-like drums providing an ominous opening, the band blasts into an anthemic track about fighting for your dreams no matter what obstacles may fall in your way. Hollywood Undead also deliver a pair of obvious radio-ready singles with two different slants. ‘Dead Bite,’ which opens the album, is more of a sinister track, complete with a demented child’s prayer that goes, “ Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the dead bite .” From there, the various members riff on personal conflicts, with Charlie Scene going so far as to rap about chloroforming his prey. The song offers several clever lines and a chorus that’s sure to get stuck in your head. Meanwhile, ‘Another Way Out’ is a full-on foot-tapper, with the band speeding up the beats-per-minute into what could easily become a club track. In fact, the song is so infectious you might overlook its stalker-y perspective on an obsessive relationship. ‘Notes From the Underground’ also features a handful of tracks that shows the band’s desire to push their boundaries. ‘From the Ground’ is as schizophrenic of a song as you will hear, with its piano opening and melodic chorus offset by moments of pure thrash metal. ‘Lion’ feels like something that came out of the Linkin Park songbook, with its intimate and haunting moments mixed with elements of in-your-face rapping. And the album closer, ‘Outside,’ is a surprisingly moving track that comes from somewhere deeply personal and may connect with audiences more than any track in their career. On a less serious note, Hollywood Undead also offer the bravado-filled ‘Pigskin,’ with its hip-hop leaning, sports and sex metaphors, and the unbelievably catchy sing-along, “ Hut one, hut two, hut three, go .” The band also add their bouncy weed-friendly track ‘Up in Smoke,’ stamped with their own sense of humor. All in all, ‘Notes From the Underground’ is not the most cohesive album and is not an aggressive rock record throughout, but with the band’s mining of several different genres, the group most certainly hits on something for just about everyone. ? [button href=”http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/3″ title=”Stream ‘Notes From the Underground at AOL.com” align=”center”]
Posts Tagged ‘from-the-underground’
Hollywood Undead, ‘Notes From the Underground’ – Album Review
January 7th, 2013 
Metalkult 
Posted in News 
Tags: a-less-serious, aol, band, from-the-ground, from-the-underground, game, hollywood undead, notes-from, opens-the-album, rock, unbelievably, undead, underground 
No Comments »Hollywood Undead Unveil ‘Notes From the Underground’ Album Artwork + Track Listing
November 30th, 2012 Metalkult A&M / Octone The return of Hollywood Undead is upon us, as the band has now revealed the artwork and track listing for their forthcoming ‘Notes From the Underground’ album. The latest news follows the recent revelation that the disc would arrive on Jan. 8 and the current success of the new single, ‘We Are.’ The band recently announced that they were shooting a video for the track with Slipknot ‘s Shawn “Clown” Crahan stepping behind the camera to film the clip . As for the artwork (seen to the left), it offers the look of a weathered book with stenciled orange lettering set against a solid red backdrop with an image of a bird carrying its prey. The disc itself consists of 11 new tunes, led by ‘ We Are .’ One of the band’s vocalists, Johnny 3 Tears, recently stated of the track and its background, “The song is about collective resistance. It’s the silent majority, but we’re using Los Angeles as the backdrop. Every time we work with Danny [Lohner], he takes our music to the next level. He’s willing to go as far outside the box as we are. As a whole, it’s a good introduction to ‘Notes From The Underground’ because it encompasses the band idealistically. Think of it as an ode to our misled youth.” The set also features the lead off track, ‘Dead Bite,’ which the band already previewed, as well as such standouts as ‘Another Way Out’ and ‘Believe.’ The full track listing is provided below. Hollywood Undead, ‘Notes From the Underground’ Track List: 1. ‘Dead Bite’ 2. ‘From the Ground’ 3. ‘Another Way Out,’ 4. ‘Lion’ 5. ‘We Are’ 6. ‘Pigskin’ 7. ‘Rain’ 8. ‘Kill Everyone’ 9. ‘Believe’ 10. ‘Up in Smoke’ 11. ‘Outside’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/hollywood-undead-notes-from-the-underground-webisode-1-exclusive-premiere/” title=”Next: Watch a Hollywood Undead ‘Notes From the Underground’ Webisode” align=”center”]
Posted in News Tags: a-bird-carrying, a-video-for, angeles-as-the, band, forthcoming, from-the-underground, hollywood undead, Music, news, notes-from, offers-the-look, outside-the-box, track, undead, underground No Comments »Slipknot’s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan to Direct Video for Hollywood Undead Track ‘We Are’
November 15th, 2012 Metalkult Mary Ouellette, shewillshootyou.com / Ethan Miller, Getty Images Hollywood Undead are gearing up to release their third studio album, ‘Notes From the Underground’ in 2013. With another year coming our way, rock and metal acts from around the world will attempt to create the biggest buzz of the year, capturing the spotlight for themselves and their music. To give Hollywood Undead a little extra boost for the new single ‘We Are,’ the band has recruited Slipknot ‘s Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan to direct the song’s music video. Crahan has helped Slipknot achieve phenomenal success since the group’s inception, and the artist will now seek to lend his talents to Hollywood Undead for the ‘We Are’ video. “We are very excited to be working with someone that thinks as progressively about their art as we do,” says Hollywood Undead’s Da Kurlzz. ”Clown is a great director, and together we are going to deliver something truly memorable.” Band member Johnny 3 Tears elaborates, “The song [‘We Are’] is about collective resistance. It’s the silent majority, but we’re using Los Angeles as the backdrop. Every time we work with Danny, he takes our music to the next level. Think of it as an ode to our misled youth.” Johnny continues, “We’ve maintained an underground identity. When we write songs, we’re coming from a place people don’t like to look at or talk about openly. As people get older, they get used to lying. We have a bond with so many kids because they appreciate that honesty. They don’t know how bad some things get yet. We tell them the truth.” The ‘Notes From the Underground’ album title is an homage to the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Stay tuned for the ‘We Are’ video and the 2013 release of ‘Notes From the Underground.’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/hollywood-undead-notes-from-the-underground-webisode-1-exclusive-premiere/” title=”Next: Watch the First ‘Notes From the Underground’ Webisode” align=”center”]
