Plain White T's- Big Bad World

I became a fan of Plain White T’s two years ago, when Every Second Counts just came out. I instantly fell in love with the melodic sounds of frontman Tom Higgenson and the angry break-up songs which always had a way of making you feel better, as if you had gone through that pain, and I even liked Hey There Delilah, before it blew up over the radio. I was a fan of the band before all the youngin's learned who they were and I enjoyed the low-key feel they had. I’m still a closet fan (I guess not so closet anymore…) but when Big Bad World came out, I was just so disappointed while listening to the album that I’ve all but lost my faith in them. It’s Infinity on High all over again.

I didn’t want to make this a mean review of Plain White T’s fifth album but I felt like I was watching a kids show while listening to Big Bad World. If they had done something more like what they’d previously done, it would have been much better and they would have received a much better response from their long time fans.

The album opens with "Big Bad World" which makes me want to watch High School Musical or something one would find on early Saturday morning kids television.

"Natural Disaster" and "Serious Mistake" are a couple of those songs that are just so bad that they never leaves your head. I kept hoping without payoff that it would get better.

"Rainy Day" gives the listener a relief of bad music by reverting to their previously tried and true options. I almost left the album on repeat so I wouldn't have to bear any further pain. It's too bad I didn't.

"1,2,3,4" sounds like a bad Beatles' cover and it's just not that well-done of a song. The backup vocals are nice but the song is just so cheezy and over-done that I felt like I've heard it from 10 other pop artists before.

"That Girl" and "Sunlight" are just badly composed and finished. "That Girl" says nothing of substance and it's a song that not even kids shows would put into their repertoire. "Sunlight" starts off with a flat thud and stays sad and nonplus.

"I Really Want You" takes us back to another attempt at becoming The Beatles again and again, fails to make the grade. "Meet Me In California" has its moments where it's good but it's not when anyone is singing. The guitar parts are well done but it could have been put to a different song. Something with more power would make it a much better song, quite possibly a hit.

"Someday" is the other good song of the album, making the "good song count" finish at two. It's a good song and it reminds me of their previous albums but with 80 percent of the songs not being good enough to want to listen to again, "Big Bad World" bites the big one.