Australia pop punk sensation Tonight Alive have released their second song from their upcoming album Limitless, which will be released in March next year. Though fans have been debating on social media whether the band has left their punk roots behind. With one Facebook user stating they didn’t know that Hilary Duff had joined the band.

Tonight Alive originate from Sydney and released their new first album in 2010. Though they did not start seeing success until their second debut album ‘The Other Side’ was released in 2013 which debuted at No.5 on the ARIA charts.

The band received global recognition when they performed ‘The Edge’ which was The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s main theme song. This resulted in them embarking on an American and European tour. Now they are returning to Australia, where they will be touring briefly at the start of 2016 before they are back off to Europe.

So has their sound changed?

Most of Tonight Alive’s fans would have started with the Other Side, this album was grunge and really brought punk pop back on the Australian scene. Though clearly there has been a transition in their sound, To Be Free has less of a grunge feel and more electric guitars and electronic music. It has the feel that they have moved away from the traditional punk band vibe and perhaps are implementing more pop elements into their music. Many fans on their social media are claiming the latest release is “trying to be mainstream”. Though this is not the first time we have seen a band change their sound.

Metallica are one of the big four metal bands from the 80’s. Yet when they released the album Load many fans felt they had ‘soldout’. Load was a drastic change from their other albums such as Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. When they released St. Anger fans felt they started to return to their roots though many still argued the band had sold out long ago. This similarly happened with Linkin Park, when you compare their Living Things album to Meteora it is clear their sound has changed from grunge rock. They, like Tonight Alive, further implemented electronic music.

When a band changes their sound is it correct to say they have sold out? Tonight Alive is a very young band and they have years of refining ahead of them. Music also changes as society changes, metal of the 80’s is completely different to the metal bands today. Many bands have changed their sound over time, usually as they have progressed in life and have learnt from past experiences.

Here at The Baffleplate we still love Tonight Alive and feel they are still a great Australian band. Check out the videos below and see what you think about their new sound.



