A Day To Remember Find Themselves Again On ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 1’

Ocala scene veterans A Day To Remember have returned with their eighth studio album, with ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 1’. This marks their first release since 2021’s ‘You’re Welcome’. This album dives a lot back into what made this band special throughout during their golden years, as well as diving into trying out new sounds in the process to make a pretty varietal sounding record.

The album opens with one of the singles, with “Make It Make Sense”. It brings such nu-metal vibes during the verses, as the guitars really capture that vibe. It makes for a pretty decent opening track to the record, and it’s got a solid chorus that takes me back to their 2016 record ‘Bad Vibrations’.

We follow up with the second single from the album, with “Feedback”. This one is probably my least favorite track on the record, as I’m not as big on the lyrics being focused on simply saying fuck the haters. But I appreciate that it keeps the energy going as the album starts at least.

We start a pretty great five track run, starting with “Bad Blood”. This one gives off pretty standard rock vibes, but in a great way that this band does really well. It’s got a solid hook during the chorus, a hard hitting breakdown, and even catchy instrumentals to accompany this one. Like it’s just a good balance of both heavy and melodic, and it feels like this band is starting to feel like themselves again.

We follow up with one of, if not the most singalong track on this record with “All My Friends”. It’s such a pop-punk anthem type song that this band also shines in delivering, as they have many times over the years. It gives off real State Champs vibes from the first listen. You can already imagine beach balls being thrown during their live sets to this song. It’s got a real “for the boys” type of vibe to it, that I appreciate it being on this record.

We ramp up the energy real fast with the dedicated heavy track on the record, with “To the Death”. It’s such a fun and bouncy song to have on this album, and a fitting and catchy chorus to have in the middle of this hard hitter. It gives off real Fit for a King vibes when it comes to the metalcore aspect of this one, especially when that breakdown hits.

We follow up with maybe the biggest surprise and strongest tracks for the album, with “Flowers”. It gives off more major pop-punk vibes in the best way, and really dives into what makes this band so earnest during their golden years. They shine lyrically on here, as it dives into saying what’s needed to the ones you love while they’re still here. Plus, that chorus is huge and it makes for one of their best choruses to date.

We keep the pop-punk energy going with one of the other singles, with “LeBron”. This one out of all the songs gives off vibes from what I feel to be their best album, in 2013’s ‘Common Courtesy’. It makes for such an easy highlight in this ear worm of a song, with another one of their catchiest choruses as well. I can also see this one going over really well live, it’s just got so much bounce and fun to it. And it feels very in spirit of the classic era of this band.

We follow up with even more melodies with maybe the poppiest track on this album, with “Die for Me”. This out of all the songs feels so directly influenced by Bring Me the Horizon. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the song Oli Sykes helped with the melody for. I’m not the biggest fan of how vocalist Jeremy McKinnon’s voice sounds so auto tuned on this song after multiple listens, but it makes for another catchy track otherwise.

We jump to the first single from the album back in 2022, with “Miracle”. This one feels very modern metalcore inspired, balancing melody and heavy aspects really well once again. It’s got a truly massive chorus, and I still think this is the best breakdown on the record personally. It’s just an incredibly solid track even three years later, and fits quite nicely on this album.

We jump to similar vibes on the next track, with “Same Team”. This one feels the most Octane type song, but in a good way. Like the melodies feel straightforward, yet effective in its delivery. It reminds me of someone like Bad Omens and the kind of sound they’ve influenced for the past few years. The breakdown is a solid one too to round this one out.

We reach the penultimate track on the record, and the most traditionally metal inspired song here with “Silence”. It’s also probably the most unique song on the album, as it felt like a surprise compared to the other songs. I appreciate them for going in different directions on this record to give in to the variety.

We reach the end of the record with my personal favorite on this entire album, with “Closer Than You Think”. It gives me such vibes from the band’s 2010 record in ‘What Separates Me from You’. It’s the era of this band that makes me feel the most nostalgic for some reason, and this song is a pure example of that. These have some of my favorite lyrics of the album, such as “I know your heart’s still hurting, you can take it out on me. There’s a light up ahead a little closer than you think”. It’s just so simple, yet earnest in its lyrics and their delivery. I also appreciate the callback lyric to 2009’s “Have Faith In Me” with “I’m on the outside looking in”. It ends this record on such a high note, and it gives us one of this band’s best songs in over a decade.

So I have to say, ‘Big Ole Album Vol. 1’ feels like a return to form for A Day To Remember. It may not be perfect, but it really puts this band on the right track again in such a good way. And this is without a doubt their best record since ‘Common Courtesy’, as this album shares a lot of that variety. And there feels like there’s something for everyone who’s a fan of this band on this record.