Why Don’t We’s long awaited album, The Good Times and The Bad Ones, was finally released on January 15th. The band promised to drop another album soon after the release of their first studio album, 8 Letters, in 2018. As time passed, fans grew more and more impatient, hoping a new album would come out soon. Instead, twelve non-album singles were released. Fans enjoyed getting a new song each month during the year 2019. They anticipated the twelve singles to be grouped together into one unified album, but Why Don’t We never did so. Instead, the group decided to embark on a musical hiatus because they needed a break from the media. It has been over two years since the release of their last album and almost nine months since they released their last song, “Chills.”

“Fallin’” is the opening song of the album and was the first single to be dropped so the band could announce that a new album was to come in the near future. After Why Don’t We’s nine month break, this comeback song was a bold way to return to the world. “Fallin’” starts off with a killer drum introduction which samples drums from “Black Skinhead,” a track on Kanye West’s 2013 album Yeezus. This song gave me high hopes for the rest of the album because it was such a hype jam. It was later given the second name “Adrenaline” because they had already released a song called “Falling” in their 8 Letters 2018 album. The two similarly named songs have very different sounds and overall meanings behind them, so honestly, I think “Adrenaline” suits this album’s song better as it pumped me up like I had adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Shortly after “Fallin’ (Adrenaline)” came out, the second album single, “Lotus Inn,” was released. Overall, I enjoyed this song, except for a portion of the chorus. The higher notes in the chorus sounded weirdly distorted. On the other hand, they could have just simply been altered to sound that way on purpose. As a huge fan of Why Don’t We, I can recognize exactly which member sang that part of “Lotus Inn” and the way they made his voice sound on the track is very different from his usual singing style and tone of voice. The music video for this song was really cute making it seem like a mini-movie, and to tell you the truth, I liked the music video more than the actual song. As of that moment, the first two singles of The Good Times and The Bad Ones made me excited and eager to hear the rest of the album, but unfortunately, those feelings dissipated when their final album single, “Slow Down,” was released. When I first listened to the song, I thought it was quite underwhelming. I could tell from its title that this song would be slower and calmer than the others but I expected more from Why Don’t We. They had promised this upcoming album would bring fans a new and different sound, one that showcased more of their individual musical talents, but “Slow Down” was merely an okay background song. At this point, my expectations for the rest of the album were quite lower than before.

When the other seven songs on the album dropped on January 15th, I found that my low expectations were pretty accurate. The first of the seven, “Be Myself,” was simply boring. It’s a nice background song, but I don’t think I would want to listen to it again. The next song, “Love Song,” was a little simple, but sweet. I vibed with its light-hearted and romantic tone. In the track “Grey,” I really liked the raw piano at the beginning. It reminded me of similar piano chords used in “Say Something” by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera. The first words sung in “Grey” were a little forward, overpowering the piano, but the second verse made up for it by adding gorgeous strings. Overall, I thought this was a beautiful song. “For You” had a cool sound used at the beginning. I cannot tell what it is exactly, but I liked that it was something different from what we usually hear in pop songs. Still, I was disappointed they resorted to using the same style from their Invitation EP with the generic snaps, taps, and beat. I also dislike some of the stylistic choices they made in the song’s mixing. They cut their notes short, making “For You” sound like every other pop song made today. The song “I’ll Be Okay” was a bop and listening to it made me want to get up and dance. The pulsing beat at the beginning reminded me of “You Make My Dreams” by Hall & Oates. The “ha ha’s” introduced after the first the chorus sounded awkward, reminding me of a panting dog. This could have been better but I just don’t think it was executed well. I did not like the weird end build-up in “I’ll Be Okay” that was put right before the last repeat of refrain. It was strange how they dialed up the vocals. However, I liked the incorporation of the album’s title, The Good Times and the Bad Ones, in the lyrics of this song. The next track, “Look At Me,” had a dark, creepy tone. The addition of the laughing at the beginning sounded like it came straight out of a horror movie where the crazy psychopath laughs. I liked the abrupt silent moment before the second singing of the chorus. Looking back on The Good Times and the Bad Ones, this song had a different vibe then the rest of the album. The final song on the album was “Stay.” The beginning sounds just like Bazzi and Camila Cabello’s “Beautiful” but in a lower key. The pre-chorus sounds just like “Feel Something” by Bea Miller and the high notes in the chorus are very similar to Lauv’s high notes in his song “Paranoid.” I did not like the incorporation of generic, overused beats. “Stay” feels like Why Don’t We was trying too hard to sound like every popular song on TikTok.

Overall, Why Don’t We’s The Good Times and The Bad Ones album was underwhelming. I expected it to be more upbeat like a feel-good album, but it wasn’t really. The songs were not horrible, but I don’t think I want to listen to some of them again. I enjoyed listening to “Lotus Inn”, “Grey”, and “I’ll Be Okay”, but hands down, the best song on this album is “Fallin’ (Adrenaline).” Why Don’t We incorporated their instrumental talents as well as their singing abilities into this song. They created the image of a classic band, not a typical boy band. I did appreciate how they only included vocals and instruments strictly played by themselves. Although I did not like the whole album, the first song of their twelve non-album singles, “Big Plans,” really foretold their future because in all honesty, they did have big plans!