In 2008 Hollywood Undead released their first studio album, Swan Songs, and, given that prior to Swan Songs they were heard only on the indie music scene of myspace, the album was a tremendous success. Swan Songs was a beautiful blend of rap and rock that earned HU a hell of a reputation with some even claiming they would dethrone the long standing kings of rap/metal, Linkin Park. Swan Songs was clever, smooth, snarky, deep and catchy as hell so when the band kicked Deuce, one of the founders of the band, out and announced their second album American Tragedy many fans were left worrying if the boys could repeat the kind of magic they achieved on Swan Songs. Last Friday when the band began streaming American Tragedy on their myspace page we discovered the answer was a resounding no. It seems Charlie Scene, Johnny 3 Tears, Funny Man, J-Dog, Da Kurlzz, and new member Danny Boy were not content with simply producing an album that was as good as their last, they wanted to blow Swan Songs out of the water and, astoundingly, they succeeded. American Tragedy is far more sophisticated and complicated than Swan Songs and, while it maintains that same unmistakable HU sound established on Swan Songs, the difference in detail and quality between the two albums is like that between a Honda and a Lamborghini. American Tragedy is even braver than Swan Songs; while all the tracks on Swan Songs were fantastic they were all very similar, all the same very specific genre. American Tragedy, on the other hand, delves into multiple different subgenres of rock and rap and even goes reggae on one song. More importantly, HU pulls off all these genres flawlessly while maintaining one cohesive sound and theme that pulls the whole album together.
Honestly, I could go on for pages about Johnny’s emotional lyrics, Charlie’s wit, Funny’s flow, Danny’s choruses, J-dog’s verses, or whatever the hell it is that Da Kurlzz does, and how much I love the lot of them, but I’ll just leave it at this: if you have any respect for rap, hedonism, nihilism, and sex, drugs, and rock & roll give Swan Songs and American Tragedy a listen.
