Review - Bastille - All This Bad Blood

British alt-rockers/pop aficionados Bastille have decided to continue the success of their debut album ‘Bad Blood’ by re-releasing it with a second disc. This is common practice these days--sell a ton of copies of your CD, and just as the buzz dies and the lives of your singles quiet, re-release it with a bunch of new songs and see your sales pick back up. A new version of an already-existing and popular album is probably a lot cheaper and easier than an entire new campaign.

‘All This Bad Blood’ is the companion album to ‘Bad Blood’, and I do mean album literally. Instead of adding a few new tracks, the boys have given us 13 new songs, many of which we’ve never heard. A number of the songs were previously featured on mixtapes the band released before making it big, but those aren’t popular, so these will be shiny and new Bastille tracks for all of those but the diehard fans.

If you were a fan of the original album, you’re going to be almost as in love with this new LP. ‘All This...’ is essentially more of the same, but perhaps without the long life caused by single after single. Lead cut “Of The Night” is actually a mashup/cover of two 90’s dance jams, and Bastille not only make it their own, they create another brooding, expressive masterpiece. Expect more of the same beautiful instrumentation and lyrics, and lead singer Dan Smith doesn’t get better.

I was trying to think of how to phrase the sentence “If you could only have one of the discs…”, but you can just as easily own both, so why not?

Listen to: “Of The Night”, “Durban Skies”, “What Would You Do” (yes, a cover of the City High song from back in the day)