Album Review: All Time Low – Straight To DVD II: Past, Present And Future Hearts

The extensively titled Straight To DVD II: Past, Present And Future Hearts is a live album by pop punk band All Time Low, this twenty one track epic, which includes two unreleased studio tracks, was recorded at Wembley Arena in March 2015. The album is normally issued in a multi format package, featuring a live album, live DVD and, if you order the deluxe version, an additional CD of unreleased recordings. I’m somewhat relieved that I was only sent the audio soundtrack as sometimes life is just too short.

This is a nineteen track live album with two unreleased bonus tracks attached, the first thing that strikes me is the crowd noise on this album, it’s so high in the mix it feels like I’m sat in the middle of the crowd, the second thing that struck me about the crowd noise on this album is that it’s extremely high pitched, it’s almost as if they’re playing exclusively to a barn full of children. Pop punk can be great, I adore Blink 182‘s Enema Of The State and Bowling For Soup‘s Drunk Enough To Dance, those are examples of a band playing punk with a poppy sheen, this is the other side of the coin. This is commercial pop music played with guitars with a slight overdrive, and to me that does not equate to punk, All Time Low are so poppy they manage to make almost every other pop punk band sound hardcore.

All Time Low may come under the pop punk banner, but as far as I’m concerned this is pop, there is no discernible punk content present on this, this is crowd pleasing pop music, nothing more nothing less. Straight To DVD II: Past, Present And Future Hearts is a compilation of radio friendly love songs played in a cavernous venue to ecstatic fans, and to be fair they sound like they’re having a marvellous time, but for me the only positive I can find in this is that I didn’t have to sit through the DVD.

Straight To DVD II: Past, Present And Future Hearts can be ordered, in an extensive array of bundles and formats, here