Breakup Album

Theory Of A Deadman came onto the scene in 2002 with their self-titled debut album. The Nickelback proteges signed onto the record label owned by Nickelback’s lead singer Chad Kroeger. The Canadian band has had a string of hits on both of their last two albums.

Scars and Souvenirs blasts off with “So Happy,” a hard-driving song that has been released as their first single. The song sounds like a mix of Alice In Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, though not as good as either. This song is their latest attempt at writing the perfect breakup song.  The line just before the chorus is “Ever wonder what I’ve been thinkin’ about? / I’ve been thinkin’ bout throwin’ you out.” It’s not the most original song in the world, but it will likely dominate rock radio for the next month or two.

The breakup theme continues with “By The Way.” This brooding hard-rock ballad also sounds similar to the Stone Temple Pilots with lead singer Tyler Connolly’s aggressive but smooth vocals that sound reminiscent of STP’s lead singer Scott Weiland.

The melodic power ballad “Not Meant To Be” has all the hallmarks of one of the biggest rock-radio hits of the summer, if Deadman chooses to release it as a single. The song isn’t original enough to have much of an identity, but sounds like something that Nickelback or Hinder would write.

Nearly every song on this album sounds like it could be a radio hit. Although the songs mostly sound like they’ve been done before, rarely is a band capable of making an entire of album of songs that could all be good enough to be a single.

This album seems softer than their previous work, but still there is a good mixture of fast-paced hard rock and soft power ballads. If you find yourself listening to rock radio a lot, then you may consider this one of the best albums of the year, but if you are tired of bands like Nickelback and Hinder, this release will seem jaded and cliche.

There’s nothing extraordinarily original here, but Scars And Souvenirs is a fun ride through and through.