Album per day: Day 3

Artist: A Day To Remember
Album: Homesick
Released: 2009

There is usually a large gap between pop punk and metalcore, but what's in between all that? The correct answer is A Day To Remember. Listening to their third studio album, I would never think that A Day To Remember had any pop punk tendencies at all. Bar a couple of tracks, Homesick is laden with a barrage of palm muted riffs and growled vocals from Jeremy McKinnon. When he sings clean vocals, there are times, such as on You Already Know What You Are, where I can't help but hear Brendan Urie from Panic! At The Disco.
In keeping with their policy of mixing pop punk hooks with modern metal breakdowns, Homesick, as mentioned before, leans towards the latter. However, there are plenty of poppier moments on the album for the more casual listener to sink their teeth into. Kicking off with The Downfall Of Us All, the vocals resonate with the powerful backing provided by the band, and if you watch any live footage of the band, the crowd are usually singing the main vocal line of this song long before the band take to the stage; I was lucky to be a part of this at Leeds Festival last year. I'm Made of Wax, Larry, What Are You Made Of? is another belter, and tends to be a staple of the live set nowadays, and contains arguably my favourite guitar riff of the record. My favourite song of the lot though has to be Mr. Highway's Thinking About The End, which lifts the listener to heavenly heights during the chorus, but pummels during the verses, therefore finding the perfect blend of the two genres mentioned many times in this review.  There are times when I find myself hearing traces of Slipknot in this album, with the heavy blasts of sound and the switches between growled and clean vocals. A prime example of 'knot influence can be found on Welcome To The Family.
On their most recent record Common Courtesy, it is clear that the band are maturing nicely, and if they carry on this upwards trajectory, they may very well find themselves headlining all of the festivals they have graced their presence with. Criticising this record could see me on the receiving end of some harsh words from my girlfriend, but I think the only thing I can say is that there are times when I find myself thinking that one song sounds just like the rest of them. Yes, some songs are stronger than others, but this is a fan favourite of an album, and I can clearly see why.

Rating: 8/10
Recommended songs: Downfall Of Us All, Mr. Highway's Thinking About The End