Matchbox Twenty have been one of the biggest pop rock bands of the past decade, and after a lengthy hiatus from the recording studio, they’re back with their first full length album in 10 years.
Hitting the shelves just before their Australian tour, is the band’s new album North and it’s neither disappointing or anything to rave about… just another Matchbox Twenty album.
Kicking off with the track ‘Parade’, you are immediately hit with that classic Matchbox sound, a good catchy opening number that would see you dancing along.
The rest of the album sees a few new and exciting songs from the effects-laden ‘Put Your Hands Up’, to the sing-a-long upbeat ‘Our Song’ and the current radio flogged single ‘She’s So Mean’.
Unfortunately the rest of the album just doesn’t quite follow through, with a whole heap of songs that could have just as easily have been mistaken for tunes that got cut off old albums. They’re the same old songs from Rob Thomas and his crew that really don’t offer anything exciting at all.
The musicianship is good with some notable guitar work on ‘Like Sugar’, however, apart from the few aforementioned tracks mentioned, you are left looking forward to the end of the album, not because the songs are bad but you just feel like you’ve heard them all before.
With a total of 15 new tracks to compensate for their absence, you can’t help but feel that maybe the guys just simple went for too much with North.
