{"id":29548,"date":"2013-05-14T06:10:10","date_gmt":"2013-05-14T11:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=29548"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:35:46","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:35:46","slug":"age-of-days-radioactivity-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/age-of-days-radioactivity-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Age of Days | Radioactivity<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"AgeIf you\u2019re weary of modern hard rock that is so blatantly mainstream that every song is designed around ear-candy hooks and radio-ready choruses, then you\u2019ll want to avoid this new Age of Days (formerly Age of Daze) album. But if you can\u2019t get enough of that commercial sound, you should run out and purchase a copy with the kind of dazzling speed that would leave a cheetah in the dust. Because Radioactivity<\/em> is one of the best examples of the modern rock genre you\u2019ll hear this year.<\/p>\n

This is the album that should catapult Age of Days to the top. The first single, \u201cBombs Away,\u201d was the perfect choice, a bombastic hard rock anthem with a rollicking good chorus that rivals the best of Hinder or My Darkest Days. Peel back the angst and you might even find that it\u2019s really a romantic song; what girl\u2019s heart wouldn\u2019t go pitter-patter at lyrics like, \u201cYou\u2019re a no class, white trash, royal pain right in the ass \/ But I\u2019m here to stay.\u201d That\u2019s amore, baby.<\/p>\n

Age of Days do not break any new ground, nor is there anything brave or courageous or innovative about what they do. But that\u2019s not the point. They nail the modern hard rock formula, from the beefy production to the grittily soulful vocals to the punchy power chords to the catchy choruses to the crunchy guitars. It may not be gourmet cuisine, but it\u2019s the modern rock equivalent of a juicy cheeseburger cooked just right. If you\u2019re looking for something with fancy trimmings or an avant-garde edge, you\u2019re poking around in the wrong genre.<\/p>\n

Song-wise, the band delivers with all the writing skills of bigger names like Nickelback, Daughtry, or Rev Theory, with any dips in quality being minimal hiccups rather than major catastrophes. The flow is well-executed, the tracks arranged so that boredom is as nonexistent as the Pope\u2019s presence on a porno shoot. \u201cNow or Never\u201d has a body-moving rhythm that is impossible to resist and the chorus soars high with some tasty backing vocals. \u201cBroken\u201d is a beautifully moody, dark-hued, mid-tempo rocker with poignant lyrics; just one listen and you\u2019ll know why it was chosen to be the second single. \u201cI Did It For Love\u201d comes out cranking with some kick-ass rock \u2018n\u2019 roll chops and a spitfire chorus with a lyrical sense of humor as the singer tries to convince everyone that he \u201cdid it for love,\u201d but finally gives up and admits, \u201cF*ck it, I did it for lust.\u201d Ah, such refreshing honesty.<\/p>\n

Age of Days check off all the crucial modern hard rock criteria and do so in top-notch fashion. Notify the other albums in your collection that you\u2019ll be ignoring them for a while, because once you slip Radioactivity into your stereo, you won\u2019t want to take it out for days. There are a lot of piss-poor bands polluting the radio these days, but Age of Days sport enough of an edge and a keen knowledge of how to navigate their chosen genre to avoid being lumped into the cesspool of cookie-cutter banality. Sure they sound like a lot of other modern hard rock bands\u2026but they sound like the best of \u2018em. And that makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

Genre: Modern Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nTim Morrison (vocals, guitar)
\nMatt McLaughlin (bass, backing vocals)
\nBrent Alvey (lead guitar)
\nMike Langford (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Bombs Away
\n2. Now or Never
\n3. Broken
\n4. Justify
\n5. Live Out Loud
\n6. I Did It For Love
\n7. Ready To Go
\n8. Wrecking Machine
\n9. Not Breathing
\n10. All I Know<\/p>\n

Label: Cordova Bay Records<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.facebook.com\/ageofdays<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.6\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — If you\u2019re weary of modern hard rock that is so blatantly mainstream that every song is designed around ear-candy hooks and radio-ready choruses, then you\u2019ll want to avoid […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":29549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,2939,7531,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-29548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-modern-hard-rock","10":"tag-radioactivity","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}