Hollywood Undead- Notes from the Underground review

\"\" by Reggie Edwards Hollywood Undead’s releases are some of the highest-anticipated of the year. Their third studio release, Notes from the Underground, set to release January 8, is no exception. Notes from the Underground is a follow-up to 2011’s American Tragedy and follows suit of the 2011 release in that it sees the band take a different musical direction than on the previous record. HU have evolved more than we’ve seen other artists do, which is refreshing. It tends to get annoying when a band sounds exactly the same from record-to-record.  Are you listening, Breaking Benjamin? Interviews with the band leading up to the release of Notes from the Underground showed the band saying it would sound more like Swan Songs than American Tragedy. In all reality, the album is more of a Swan songs-American Tragedy hybrid rather than being more like one than the other. One aspect that is similar to Swan Songs is that there are more hip-hop and rap-infused tracks than on the sophomore album. Songs like ”Pigskin,” “Kill Everyone,” and “Up in Smoke” are of a very heavy rap influence. There are more serious songs  than on the freshman release, which shadows American Tragedy, which saw songs like “Comin’ Back Down.” “Lion” and “Rain” show Hollywood Undead taking us into the depths of their hearts and souls and echo a dimension of angst, anger and emotion that we love to see from the band and which gives their fans a stronger sense of connection with the band. From the first verse of the first song, “Dead Bite,” (“Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the dead bite”) to the last beat of the final song, “Outside,” which is also a very serious song, it’s clear that Hollywood Undead are continuing the momentum they picked up with their last album. Hollywood Undead aren’t just here to stay, they’re gonna dig into your head and stay there. Rating: 8.5/10