Nothing More, and The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Nothing More at Chicago Open Air, 2016

Nothing More's new album, The Stories We Tell Ourselves, was released late last week, and is already receiving rave reviews... and I'm adding to that list. This is a rave review. This is the best hard rock album I've heard so far in 2017. I can't stop listening to it.

Powerful, heavy-hitting and emotional lyrics, beautiful sounds, intense drumming, each song very different but so very connected; haunting earworms, moving from hard, headbanging and screaming rock to ballad and back; at times metal, at times prog, a touch of industrial, but always Nothing More.

The lyrics: a decaying relationship... hanging on in love... family members growing older... anger, resentment, hope... Don't be surprised if you have an emotional, as well as a musical, response.

Tonight we're growing closer, closer to the end

Nothing More, Chicago Open Air 2016

You may already have heard two or three of the songs on the radio; at one time recently there were three Nothing More songs in the Octane Big 'Uns. But this is not simply a collection of songs, packaged together; it's a true album, a listen-all-the-way-through rock album, the sort of thing that we used to wait months and years for, back in the days before streaming and MP3. Just start at the beginning, and listen to it all the way through...

Everybody always wants to change the world, no one ever wants to change themselves

I first saw Nothing More at Aftershock Festival, Sacramento, in 2013. That year they played early in the day, tucked away on the smallest stage. Then again, last year, at Chicago Open Air, on the main stage before a much bigger crowd.,Their live show is something to see (described here).

I plan on experiencing the show again in a couple of weeks, at Louder Than Life, in Kentucky, and then here in Sacramento, back at Aftershock once more!

The bottom line is above our heads

And go buy the album, if you haven't already. This is one for the ages. (There are a very few special packages left through Pledge here, including vinyl, and the album is for sale through all the usual outlets and CD stores.)

IMHO, Nothing More will be headlining festivals worldwide, very, very soon.

Nothing More are Jonny Hawkins, Mark Vollelunga, Daniel Oliver and Don Anderson. For more info, see their website and follow them on Facebook. As well as the festivals mentioned here, Nothing More are in the middle of a huge USA and Canada tour, and then they are off to the UK and Europe. Find a date or two near you here!

Here's Go To War: