Andrew W.K. - You're Not Alone

Wow, I have needed this album for so long, and I think rock and metal need more of what Andrew W.K. puts forth on this new record. I wasn’t too familiar with his stuff until now, but man I will definitely be looking deeper into his catalog. What carries this album isn’t supreme instrumental virtuosity, a mind-blowingly avant garde sound, or even some visceral heaviness, but rather its attitude. Upon my first listen I thought it was straight cheesy and just well-intentioned positive rock music. And it is both of those things, but I’ve found myself coming back to it because it tackles and simplifies the big abstract problems everyone finds themselves faced with at some point, and it’s not trying to be super deep or focused on itself with its inspiration. It’s poetic in a more straightforward than unnecessarily cryptic manner. Andrew has a few short tracks with quick, uplifting speeches about enjoying life despite of and even because of its challenges, and they help keep the analogies on the songs tethered to his overall message of partying, which he defines as just doing the best you can with your own life and finding joy in the struggles it gives and being thankful for the opportunity to grow through them. It all sounds like a bunch of typical motivational speaker mumble jumble the way I’m putting it here in its abridged form, but music in general these days could use more of this life-affirming attitude, especially fringe genres and their communities like metal, which reaches pretty deeply into the darkest and most depressive recesses of the human psyche.

I know that often when inspired to create, myself and the other more formidable artists I look up to often draw from times of turmoil or observed negativity, not necessarily on some faux-artistic quest to find suffering to make our art better, but just out of pattern. This isn’t a bad thing, as the art and its process is helpful and therapeutic for both the artist and the audience, but I know how easy it can be to get sucked into the rabbit hole of negativity for art’s sake thinking it’s for something good and later realizing the toll it can gradually take, which can be immense. I’ve caught myself slipping down this slope multiple times, not entirely as the result of artistic creation (other stresses definitely contribute to it), but enough to know I need to step back for a bit from making some things or even from just listening to certain things, and recuperate with something like this.

I know I went off on a bit of a tangent, but I think including a yin to the yang of depressive black metal and nihilistic death metal is a balance a lot of people need and don’t give themselves, and I know I can fall into that group too. Music like this is important, and even though it’s not hitting the same spots that music measured by other metrics does, it’s merits often do have crossover appeal that make it possible to enjoy alongside the super dark shit out there. It should go without saying, but not all of music should be focused on just one style, emotion, genre, etc. Part of why I like Gojira so much and why I consider Magma one of, if not the, best albums this decade is how well the band and that album particularly work positive and negative into an interwoven structure. Magma came from and revelled in death, and yet it was so life-affirming at literally the same time. That doesn’t mean this more positive kind of stuff gets a stamp of approval for just being there and possibly being rarer, but the same things that make me like a Leviathan project or a Cattle Decapitation project aren’t what I should be looking for in an Andrew W.K. project. I’d argue that you shouldn’t always really go into new music looking for something, but that’s a whole other monster discussion. On to Andrew W.K.

You’re Not Alone starts (after its intro) with a majestic song that just simply says something that means so much to me, and definitely a lot of other people, “Music Is Worth Living For”. A great way to start the album, it takes on very well the kind of power metal vibe that a lot of the rest of the album does later, except rather than talking about medieval swordfights and dragons and shit, Andrew makes a testament to the beauty of life for having something as wonderful as music, which has gotten me and many others through some of life’s biggest roadblocks. It’s so uplifting with the keys accenting the inspirational guitar riffing and Andrew’s soaring singing of the title. And the fact that the music that Andrew says is worth living for includes the highs and the lows, the “Congratulations” and the “Entrails Ripped from a Virgin’s Cunt” and the “Disposable Heroes”, is so beautiful and cathartic. I love this song, it’s definitely a favorite this year for me. The two tracks that follow it keep the energy high and the resilience strong as well, “Ever Again” finding Andrew pointing to his own improved outlook on life as an example of what he wants for all his listeners, with the next song, “I Don’t Know Anything” contrasting it’s predecessor with a rapid-paced admittance of his own inability to answer all life’s questions even though he tries. The album’s other highlights include the spoken interludes that help string the album together and that are actually pretty enjoyable and similarly inspiring messages from Andrew. The dude is a pretty good speaker; even with no instruments behind him his positive attitude is contagious.

“The Party Never Dies” sounds like it could fit straight on a power metal album, with minor lyrical alterations, but it captures the anthemic qualities of the style excellently. “Give up on You” doesn’t exactly say anything super unique, but it’s a nice ode to support and comraderie through difficult times. The song “Total Freedom” sounds like something that Dream Theater might have put on The Astonishing, but ultimately the directness and simplicity of the lyrics fit in with the song better than a lot of the corny moments on Dream Theater’s last album.

“The Devil’s on Your Side” was one that I didn’t much care for at first, but it grew on me over a few listens and now I’m glad it’s a part of the album. The album isn’t immune to criticism though; as far as weak spots go, “Party Mindset” reminded me of some campy slow tempo party rock song from the Metalocalypse rock opera, but minus the humor, and “Break the Curse” got a little bogged down in the darker metaphorical lyrics for most of its length before its payoff.

The title track wraps the album’s main theme up much like most of the other songs, so not very sonically unique, but it is worth paying attention to as a concise summarizing statement of Andrew’s message on the album.

I’m glad I checked this album out; its place in the world of metal and music in general is often an underappreciated one, but for those open to something less sonically sadistic after being long submerged in the darkest depths of heavy, abrasive music, it will be a breath of fresh air sonically and emotionally. Andrew W.K. doesn’t just take an amateurish happy approach to music, even though the album is intentionally overblown and cheesy. I talked a lot about the lyrics being pretty simplistic, but ultimately it’s to the album’s benefit. Andrew doesn’t have to abuse a thesaurus to get his message across, and that’s honestly more impressive than a wide vocabulary used haphazardly to try to come off as more artistic. You’re Not Alone is authentic and it’s clear both in the spoken moments when Andrew stops the music to speak hope to his listeners and when the music comes on again and reminds you that it’s worth living for.