5SOS’ Sounds Good Feels Good album review

The first song on the album, with an introduction that can’t help but make you smile. It ends with Ashton saying “for real, for real” and the song starts with a part of the chorus loud in your ears “take my money!” You already get pumped with the first lyrics of the song. It has a groovy rythm making you wanna dance and jump around. The perfect song to play live, especially with the lyrics “And in the front row, you’re going insane, and in the back row, you’re killing the game. Everybody’s gonna go big tonight, in a couple hours we’ll be like…” And then the chorus gets in. 5SOS made a pretty great choice for this to be the first song on the album, giving you a hint on the pop punk vibes of the rest of it.

 Everyone heard it before, as it was their first single from the album. This song really introduce you to the New Broken Scene. According to Zakk Cervini, the drums and guitars are unique on this track, which I agree with. With weird noises through the song, like an elephant in the first verse and an incredible guitar solo, you can’t not love it. You also want to bang your head through the whole chorus. “We are the Kings and the Queens of the new broken scene” sums up the message. A pretty original song, it even plays on the radio all over the world!

Starting with Luke saying “Sounds Good Feels Good”, it could have been the first song on the album. However, it just goes on with the idea of the first tracks, a song with a pop punk attitude making you want to dance and jump. Another amazing song to play live. The moment they sing the chorus with just the same guitar riff playing in the back gives you chills and some kind of confidence, bringing you to the New Broken Scene. The lyrics are a new topic 5SOS never really talked about, money. Knowing they lived in a world where they had money troubles, they give you the message of how we live in a society that goes around it a lot, yet it’s okay if you’re having trouble living with it. They tell you it doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough money to go through, because you eventually will, “We can’t afford to give up, we gotta make our own luck”. Basically, never give up and work your way out of it. Keep on dreaming!

One of my favourite song on the album. It still goes on with the New Broken Scene. Again, this song has pop punk vibes, making you want to rock out to it. I’ve seen it live and couldn’t wait to hear the studio version, just like all 5SOS’ fans. This song makes you proud to be part of this whole new broken scene. “Congratulations, your imitations are taking over the radio stations. Corporations, calculations, we’re the voice of the new generation.” brings the image of a society under the control of the mass, so everyone’s the same, yet it also brings the idea of a new generation against it, being different and even if everyone looks at them like they’re wrong, they’re doing fine. Those lyrics first said in Michael’s solo with the drums in the back, then all the boys singing it together with all the instruments is like this new generation is becoming bigger.

Remember the first time 5SOS’ fans heard that song? They all died inside, not only because of the deep lyrics and the improvement they saw in this track, but also because of Michael who literally owns this song. He puts so much emotions into it and that’s what makes the difference. With lyrics starting with “Everybody’s got their demons, even wide awake or dreaming. I’m the one who ends up leaving, make it okay”, you realize how far 5SOS have come lyrically, from their first to second album. The depth of this song and the emotions Luke, Ashton, Calum and Michael put in it make it one of their all time best song.

Alex Gaskarth, a talented singer and writer from the band known as All Time Low, helped on writing this song. This one is more peaceful and has more of a pop sound. It’s not like the first rocking out songs of the album, it’s more like you want to listen to the lyrics and understand the message behind it. A lot of 5SOS’ fans are more into pop music, so this one is for them. “All my life, I’ve been waiting for moments to come. When I catch fire and wash over you like the sun. I will fight to fix up and get things right. I can’t change the world but maybe I’ll change your mind” looks like a love song giving you hope. I’m more into pop punk than pop music, but I think this one is really great, and even if you don’t love pop, you’ll like it.

We’ve heard this song from the She’s Kinda Hot EP. John Feldmann said this song was written when 5SOS were still on tour with One Direction. Sounding like a pop punk song, there’s a bit more pop production. The lyrics make you think of a revolution, going along with the New Broken Scene. Ashton singing “Raise ourselves to the middle finger, cuz they all think we’re twisted” is one of the best part of the song. The message behind those lyrics is strong, and that’s what I love!

Such a different song. There’s a different vibe, a different beat, yet it makes it original and beautiful. It might remind you a bit of the 1975! Luke’s vocals are insane, we all know he’s a super talented singer, but you’ve seen nothing of what he can do before listening to this song. There’s even an interlude at the end of it, a new thing with 5SOS and I love it. I hope they make more of those, it adds a little something more on the album and its originality.

Oh what to say about Vapor. The chills you get when listening to it are heaven. With the keyboards and the London’s symphonic orchestra who seems to have gotten in the back of this song, it makes it deep and real. The repetitions in the verses give something more to the impact of the lyrics. It gives a different sound in the song and makes it better. “I want to breathe you in like a vapor” is another proof of 5SOS’ lyrical improvement.

I can’t tell the feelings I have when I listen to the first 30 seconds of this track. It reminds me of Tomorrow Never Dies from 5SOS’ self-titled album. Again, deep lyrics and a real pop-punk, I’d even go for the punk rock side, sound. I really hope they play this song live, it’ll be a great one to rock out to. The drums are what brings everything to it, such a great song.

Another song we’ve heard before, and another song we can be proud about. Once again, 5SOS impress us with deep lyrics. One of the slow songs on the album, the emotion is strong. Those “is anyone there at all?” lyrics gives you chills and water in your eyes. And a fun fact, the drum sound has been made with the help of a playground set. That’s what Zakk Cervini said: “Ashton had an idea to put the microphone inside of the slide of the playground set, so has he played the drums the microphone outside would pick it up, and that’s the drum sound of this song”. We can agree this was a pretty great idea! London’s symphonic orchestra is once again on it. The idea of working with them for 5SOS’ second album was a great thing, as it brings a little something more.

The deepest lyrics on the album are in this song. It’s the most emotive one in my eyes. It literally makes you cry, and if you can relate to it, it’s even harder to not cry. Today, a lot of people can relate to this “broken home” thing. The world is made of marriages ending in divorce today. The Madden brothers, who’ve experienced a broken home, just like Ashton, put their life experience into it. This song talks about seeing your family, your house break in front of you, yet you can’t do much about it. It really talks about a subject that is important today and that a huge part of the population can relate to. London’s simphonic orchestra also worked on this one, making it even more emotive and deep. One of the best tracks, it’s more mature, perfect for the album.

 This one is more of a happy song, which is great because it lets the album be deep and emotive but also fun and groovy. This is a song to rock out to. “I won’t waste another day, wishing this would fade away. Running, we’re not looking back”, those lyrics make you dream. I love the vibe of the song, it makes you wanna dance and rock out your socks out!

Another deep song. Something that really impressed me on this album is how far 5SOS have come lyrically and musically. They’ve come so far, just from one album to another one. I’m already looking forward to the next one! London’s symphonic orchestra worked on this song, bringing the emotive side of it again. The last seconds of this track are the best, because it’s only the orchestra. No need for more, it gives you all you need to feel, the emotions, the depth of it. This song talks about being there but not really being there, like you have no influence, you feel alone. This song can be interpreted differently depending of the life experience of each person, and that’s also what I love on it. You can appropriate it to yourself and relate to it in so may ways. One of the best slow songs on this album!

Punk rock with a little bit of pop sounds. I love this song. “Airplanes cut through the clouds, like angels can fly, we’ll never die. ” the chorus is great, it gives you some confidence, some happiness. The vibes are good and they give you inspiration. A nice metaphore, the lyrics are deep. The boys put the perfect emotions into it and their note changes are the best on the album.

This one is more slow, an acoustic sound mixed with London’s symphonic orchestra. The contrast between the slower and the faster and stronger parts give an originality to this track. The lyrics are once again deeper. There’s also an interlude at the end of the song, kinda sounding like the introduction to another song, makes it pretty cool. Calum owns the beginning  of the song, with his exceptional voice no one else has in the band. He puts the emotion into it. It’s raw, it’s great.

The last and longest song on the album. Almost 7 minutes long, it’s something new. The whole song is different from all the album, it has punk vibes, but it has a little something making it pretty different from the whole album yet so great. 5SOS wrote that song looking at the ocean, which explain why it’s so inspirational and peaceful. Between “Outer Space” and “Carry On” you can hear the waves of the ocean, then Luke sings peacefully following with 5SOS’ chorus all together. It gives you hope. The end of the song “Carry on, outlast the ignorance, moving on, survive the innocence. Won’t be long, won’t be long. You know it’s gonna get better” gives you confidence and it makes you feel good. One of the best lyrics on the whole album. A great choice to end this extraordinary album.

18. Catch 22 (the Space Between a Rock and a Hard Place) – Target bonus song

I never thought 5SOS would have such a long title for a song. It reminds me of Mayday Parade, for those of you who don’t know them, they tend to have long titles for most of their songs. This one is rock with a pop chorus. Sometimes you wanna rock out to it, sometimes you just wanna dance to it. This song feels great and the vocals are raw at some points, making it even better.

19. Story of Another Us – Target bonus song

Slow and peaceful verses and a pop rock chorus. Everything you love in one song. The boys suceeded once again on writing deep lyrics. This song is serious yet you still wanna dance and rock out to it. The vocals are on point, starting slowly and lower and ending faster and louder. Another pretty great song on the album.