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| Bastille: Guitarist/Bassist Will Farquarson, Drummer Chris Wood, Lead Vocalist Dan Smith, Keyboardist/Percussionist Kyle Simmons |
Hey guys, Lia here...with a Bastille song!
Bastille, or BΔSTILLE, is a English alternative/pop band that has taken the alternative charts by storm with their song, "Pompeii" and, the song I'm reviewing right now, "Bad Blood." The name Bastille came from the fact that Dan Smith, lead singer, has his birthday on Bastille Day, or the French national day. At the release of their album Bad Blood and their compilation album All This BΔd Blood, Bastille gained a lot of praise for their unique sound. I actually have All This BΔd Blood and it's really good. The album includes the original Bad Blood album with 13 additional songs (that, in my opinion, are sometimes better than the ones on the Bad Blood disc!). My favorite from the second disc of the album, "Durban Skies," just sounds more substantial than some of the Bad Blood songs.
I'm a fan of eclectic sound and Bastille, with their synth beats and Dan's soulful voice, definitely fits that category. I really like how "Bad Blood" (the song) takes what could have been a really ordinary pop song and turns it on its head with an 80's influenced synth keyboard and heavily reverberated vocals. You can really hear some of the bands they're influenced by (MGMT, Empire of the Sun, Coldplay) from this song. Lyrically, "Bad Blood" is a simple song that is all about letting go of the past and whatever 'bad blood' exists between friends to start anew and try to rebuild the friendship/connection they had.
All in all, "Bad Blood" is pretty good for a song that's a bit more pop than alternative. Although some of my criticisms of the song would be that it sounds too ethereal and unbalanced, making the song lack focus and sound too spread out. Also, Bastille get a lot of disapproval for relying too much on computer generated sounds, but I'm only a bit bothered by it. Dan's singing saves the song (and the album) from sounding inauthentic.
Check out the song below and comment on what you think!
Here's a live version that basically strips this song and gets to the core of it. Plus, Dan's singing is amazing.
Rating: 3 RECORDS
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