'Whatever' album review

Hot Chelle Rae are a pop rock band from Nashville. Including members Ryan, Nash, Ian and Jamie, the group released their second album early this year.'Whatever' is a mostly feel good album that is easily related to by its target audience of teens. I came across Hot Chelle Rae accidentally one day, as Nash's brother Chord is in the TV show Glee. As soon as I heard the first single from the album, 'Tonight Tonight', I was hooked.

Hot Chelle Rae are virtually unknown in the UK, their first album was only released in the USA so I was eager to learn more about this band. I bought 'Whatever' and, as you do with every album, I listened over and over, trying to find even one song that didn't live up to expectations. I couldn't. Every song on the album is either musically or lyrically genius. Sometimes both. Songs like "Whatever" are fun and upbeat, their lyrics just tell us to say "Whatever" to a bad situation and let go. However, there are songs about love too, such as "Why don't you love me?", which, as with most Hot Chelle Rae songs, include great metaphors in the lyrics and great music to accompany it.

Hot Chelle Rae's target audience are teenagers, and I feel this album appeals very well to them. Partying, letting go and experiencing love and loss are all things that teenagers face in their years of learning a way of life. The fact that Hot Chelle Rae are virtually unknown right now also increases the appeal; Teenagers want to discover and experience new things and music is definitely one of them. Having that one form of escapism that no one else knows about is an amazing feeling for some people and an album like this by an up and coming artist really allows people to escape from everything else and just enjoy the feeling that music gives them.

For me, this is just one reason why I love this album. Another reason is that, as a fan of the members themselves, I can understand how the lyrics reflect them. Also, the album is hugely diverse. There are 11 songs on the album, and 6 of these are about love and relationships, but not in the way you'd expect, they're not slow and 'soppy', they're actually quite upbeat, and reflect all different kinds of relationship. The other 5 are all about partying and having fun, one song even inspiring many Hot Chelle Rae fans to name themselves "Beautiful Freaks".

The simple denotation, at first glance, of this album is the "typical boy band with generic lyrics" idea, but if you look, or listen deeper, you'd find it was much more than that. Of course, many people won't look past it, and there will be some who, when they do, don't like what they hear. This is all simply based on opinion, and some feel their songs are generic and the lyrics are too simple. I, as stated, would disagree with this but, of course this is opinion. I have heard from some people who feel it's "Not quite pop, not quite rock" and others saying "They're trying too hard", but for me, this further adds to their appeal. They have diverse music and clearly care about their fans.

The album as a whole, in my opinion, is simply brilliant. Every song is one I'd listen to if it came up on 'shuffle', and I can't say that about many albums. It's not perfect, but nothing really is. However, it's the perfect album for me and my diverse music taste, and I love it.
10/10 is too easy a star rating for this, so I'd happily give it 8/10, maybe the drawbacks being the lack of a slow song, or too little songs on the album!!
And if you don't like it, whatever!

Below: A Hot Chelle Rae interview discussing "Whatever".