Avicii Tells Too Many Stories at Once

We’ve been patiently waiting two whole years now for Avicii to release a second album, and finally as of October 2 it’s here. Well here’s the problem, on a scale from 1 to Worlds, we’d give it a 6. There’s plenty of collaborations, the sounds are varied, and it’s fun. It’s not that it’s bad, it just doesn’t match the expectations that we had set for it, which is really our own fault. Tim Bergling has come a long way from Seek Bromance and Levels (never forget!), but whether this direction is a good one is yet to be determined.

It’s not that we don’t dig the reggae vibes on Can’t Catch Me, and it’s not that we don’t enjoy that Zac Brown Band collaboration, because we do. There’s just something missing from this album, maybe that something is more Avicii. The credits are full of other artists like Wyclef Jean, Chris Martin, Gavin DeGraw, Martin Garrix, Mike Posner, and (if you can believe it) many more. We appreciate it when an artist dabbles in crossing genres and blending sounds, but there’s so many artists in this mix it hardly feels like an Avicii album anymore. There’s a way to do that, we know because Darude did it on Moments, but that’s simply not the case here.

Another factor that doesn’t help Stories‘ case is that it came out during a year, month, and within a week of so many other great albums. Other albums just caught our attention in a more profound way, like Nero’s Between II Worlds, Madeon’s Adventure, Above & Beyond’s We Are All We Need, GRiZ’s Say It Loud, and Kaskade’s Automatic. It’s worth noting that all of those albums offer a lot more consistency between tracks and are arranged in such a way that makes it feel like an album, not just a compilation of singles.

We’ll keep giving Stories chances to win us over, but for now we may need some time apart. Luckily there’s no shortage of new music to check out while we take a break. We’re not giving up on you, Avicii. See you in another two years? Bring your A-game.

Let’s sit back and enjoy this throwback jam while we reminisce on “the good old days.”

What’s your favorite Avicii track of all time? What’s your favorite from Stories?