March 11, All at Once by The Airborne Toxic Event

Genre: Alternative rock
Year: 2011
Runtime: 43:49
Total tracks: 11
Songs you might know:
– “Numb”
– “Changing”
– “All I Ever Wanted” (ft. The Calder Quartet)

My prior relationship with this album: I went through a pretty hardcore Airborne Toxic Event phase in the late spring of 2017 and it was primarily fueled by this album. I fell into an Airborne Toxic Event rabbit hole, relished in it, and eventually bought both this and their self-titled debut. While it’s impossible to pick a best song of all time, “All I Ever Wanted” might just be the one I would pick depending on what week it is, and I also love “Welcome to Your Wedding Day.” That being said, this is definitely one where I’m more likely to skip around to my favorite tracks rather than listen to the whole thing beginning to end.

My impressions this time around: The album is surprisingly cohesive for the amount of variety it has. There’s some catchy hooks here and there, but also a fair number tracks that weren’t even trying to be radio friendly, such as “The Kids Are Ready to Die.” Lyrically it’s kind of all over the place, with some political commentary with “The Kids Are Ready to Die” and its complimentary “Welcome to Your Wedding Day.” Yet, we also have more introspective songs like “Numb” as well as frustration with a significant other as shown in “Changing.” This makes for an album that is simultaneously emotional and analytical in a wonderful way. It’s noncommittal enough that no song sticks out in a bad way, but yet it doesn’t cross the line into eclectic or disjointed.

That being said, there’s enough forgettable filler that All at Once isn’t really a masterpiece either, and that didn’t change on this listen. Both “Half of Something Else” and “Strange Girl” gave me that “Oh yeah. This. Huh.” feeling you get when you eat under seasoned mashed potatoes. I had literally banished “All For a Woman” from my mind entirely and was caught off guard when it showed up again here. Not because it’s a bad song, but because it’s just that forgettable. While I wouldn’t say I dislike any song, “All I Ever Wanted” and “Welcome to Your Wedding Day” are probably the only two I wouldn’t skip if I were to shuffle my whole library.

Who would enjoy it? People who like/are willing to tolerate a relatively generic alternative rock sound for outside-the-norm lyrics. Though “All I Ever Wanted” should be heard by EVERYONE.