Bastille - Doom Days

Bastille
Doom Days
2019
Spotify

Bastille have always felt like a bit of unfulfilled potential. Their first album was tremendous and shot them into a new area of stardom that they likely weren't quite ready for. A rather anemic follow up diminished their standing a bit, but that also can be chalked up to a massive change in pop taste. The anthemic alt rock of Bastille was no longer in vogue, replaced with syrupy trap and R&B. Mainstream success also meant Bastille has a wider audience to appeal to including a collaboration with the bane of pop music Marshmello that shot to number one. That watered down version of EDM did not do much for their critical acclaim, but did make them a tremendous amount of money. That's why the way Doom Days went was extremely important for the rest of Bastille's career. Were they going to push through with this generic rock-pop style and ride the wave until it crashes? Or were they going to try something a bit different and recapture the success of their first record. The answer is a little of column A and a little of column B. This middle ground actually feels like the worst of Bastille. Their best songs are the ones that blend history and modern sounds into something big and anthemic, something you want to scream and pump your fist to. There is almost no fire in this album, no rallying cry and instead just some mildly catchy tracks.

There are certinaly no lingering effects from this record like theirs of the past. You don't find yourself wanting to go back and discet what they are saying to garner the true meaning. Instead all we get is songs like "Those Nights" about the same old tired shit that all those songs are about. "Joy" has this wonderful classic Bastille beat, but then is about some absolute nonsense. It's really kinda sad to see honestly. The album comes and goes with few standout moments. I think this album will be successful commerically because there sare some songs that bop, but I don't think this record will do the band any favors in the long run.

6.9 out of 10