Source: Album Artwork
It’s hard to believe that yet another classic pop punk album turns ten years old this year, but now it is the turn of Mayday Parade‘s incredible 2007 album A Lesson In Romantics. To celebrate, the band have repackaged the iconic album with five demo versions of some of the biggest tracks, plus one new song.
The new track ‘Coming Back With Winter’ will sound remarkably familiar to Mayday Parade fans, as it features what ended up being the chorus of their massive 2009 song ‘Save Your Heart’. This new track has everything you’d expect from a Mayday number; front man Derek Sanders‘ remarkable, recognisable vocals bundled up with a dose of classic, heart wrenching pop punk lyrics.
Demo versions are always amazing to hear, it’s super interesting to experience the rougher, normally unheard early sketches of tracks, especially ones we have grown to know so well. Mayday always have very polished mastered tracks which tends to smooth out the vocals a little, whereas the demos have a much rawer sound akin to the band’s live performance. In all honesty, some of the demos work even better than the released versions – ‘You Be The Anchor That Keeps Me Feet On The Ground…’ packs even more of a punch with the gritty vocals of the demo with double the emotion. At the other end of the emotional scale, but equally as good, the anger and power of ‘If You Wanted A Song…’ also lends itself perfectly to the raw sound of Sanders’ untampered voice and Jake Bundrick‘s beat perfect vigorous drumming.
Whilst the ‘new’ track was slightly disappointing as we’ve already heard half of it on a later album, it’s still fun to have something else from the band, and the demos make up for it – wonderfully refreshing and spirited. Mayday Parade are also heading out on an anniversary tour and are hitting up the UK in September.
