“Fashionably Late” by Falling In Reverse – Album Review

Ronnie Radke and Pirates of Dark Water…whoops (I’ve really got to get that name right). Falling In Reverse turned a lot of heads with their first single off of “Fashionably Late” (2013). C’mon you remember, that horribly bad pseudo nu-metal track that caused the biggest reaction of “dafuq” since Ronnie Radke got that shark tattoo (no I’m never going to let that go).

However, having given the rest of the album a listen, there are moments of greatness for FIR, hell, some of the best post-hardcore I’ve listened to in a while. There are times where I go “hey, this sounds like what you released initially, y’know, before you became an Eminem cover band.” There are also times where I facepalm so hard that my hand goes through my face.

Seriously…I think it’s watching me

For the most part, this album does not follow the trend set by that awfully awful debut single. Songs like “Champion” and “Born To Lead” and the title track are all standard post-hardcore tracks, featuring Radke actually doing what he does best, and yes, even sharing some of the spotlight with Jacky Vincent, a man that shreds so much that he might as well be the Ninja Turtles main antagonist. Some of these songs are genuinely good! Hells there’s even some heaviness on this record, like “Self-Destruct Personality”, seriously, it’s just balls out angry (RONNIE SMASH!!).

“Bad Girls Club” and “Fuck The Rest” (despite childish lyrical content) also bring that old, pop-punk feel back to the table, almost like “Good Girls, Bad Guys” did on “The Drug In Me Is You” (2011), whilst others like “Game Over” sounds a bit like I Fight Dragons (only y’know, a shit version).

Where this album falls short is again, when Radke tries to bring rap and hip-hop into his music. Lyrically, some of these lines just don’t make sense, or are purely noncensical, such as:

“Ready to cut you up and gut you like a fucking avocado” –  Ronnie Radke (Fashionably Late)

Really Ronnie? I get that you like rap and that your skills on some songs (like “Champion”) are pretty admirable…but they don’t belong on a post-hardcore record. Seriously “It’s Over When It’s Over” sounds like a rip-off of Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” (why anyone would want to cover that I’ve no idea, *cough* Framing Hanley *cough*)

Overall, there are moments when this album is great. There are times where I think the songs fit nicely together and that I was wrong about Falling In Reverse as a whole. Then Ronnie Radke starts rapping and I just can’t take it seriously anymore. This is definitely a wild card record, and not one to check out if you’re not into post-hardcore (and even if you are it’s a bit of a stretch). However, if you like old pop-punk, if you want something to laugh at, or you’re a pre-pubescent girl then this is perfect for you.

I’m rating “Fashionably Late” with a:

Fashionably Late – 2.5/5

“Fashionably Late” is currently streaming on YouTube and is out on June 18th via Epitaph

“Alone” by Falling In Reverse – Song Review

When last we left Ronnie in Rev…sorry…Falling In Reverse, they’d just finished touring their, relatively successful, debut record “The Drug In Me Is You” (2011). If however this new single/music video combo is anything to go by, then this isn’t looking too good for Ronnie and the boys. Frontman Ronnie Radke claims to have been influenced by early hip-hop records such as “The Chronic” (1992) and that he’s some form of reincarnation of Dr. Dre, when really it’s just Fred Durst with a shark tattooed on his head.

“Alone” sounds a lot like Limp Bizkit and Attack Attack! had an illegitimate child. The guitars are practically non-existent and are poorly mixed on top of a mesh of various synths, and of course, Radke’s vocals are top of the mix, aka, pretty damn bad.

That being said however I am a fan of Radke’s rhythmic use of growled vocals, especially in that first verse. This does not excuse however the quite confusing lyrical layout: moving from bragging, to slagging people off and then singing about being left alone.  There are some quite comedic attempts to appear like a “hustler,” seriously, this makes Vanilla Ice look tough, and I quote

“All I do is work, straight up hustle and grind.”. – Ronnie Radke (Fashinably Late)

This is clearly just one man’s self-obsessed rant, blaming pretty much everyone else for his problems…real mature Ronnie. Also, where’s all that awesome shredding from axeman Jacky Vincent that we had on the first record? Something tells me Mr. Radke doesn’t like sharing, a job for Supernanny maybe?

All in all, I can see this being quite catchy. Catchiness and quality however don’t always go hand in hand, not if this song is anything to go by. Of course you can’t judge an album based on one song, maybe this one’s just experimental? I don’t know. What I do know is that Nu-Metal is now crying in a corner somewhere wondering what the hell happened.

“Alone” – 3/10

“Fahionably Late” is out on June 18th via Epitaph Records.