After releasing their debut album Aim and Ignite in 2009, FUN bursts back on the music scene with their sophomore album Some Nights. While some minor aspects of the band’s sound remain the same, overall the new project pails in comparison with the 2009 release.

Clearly the band used this project to attempt to gain some major radio play and success. Working along mainstream producer Jeff Bhasker (producer of 808’s and Heartbreaks, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy) the group tried to incorporate the sounds used typically by big recording artists in their album.

The most prominent aspect of Aim and Ignite was Nate Ruess’s incredible voice. He sounded like a blend of Freddy Mercury and a Broadway star.  Completely neglecting this asset throughout most of the album, FUN tries to incorporate auto tune into their songs. “Stars” starts out as a promising prospect on the album; however, the last half of the song turns into a four minute auto tuned mess that frankly feels out of place and unnecessary.

FUN also completely altered their overall sound for Some Nights. While Aim and Ignite was filled with a variety of instruments, ranging from orchestral violins and bluesy piano riffs, to jazzy saxophones and hard hitting guitar solos. All of this gets traded in for heavy baselines and dull pounding drums, probably due to producer Bhasker’s hip-hop background. “One Foot” sounds nothing like a song an indi pop rock band would create. It sounds more like a terrible rap beat with someone trying to sing over it.

Still not all aspects of the band have been lost. “Carry On” despite its heavy drums features an acoustic guitar and soft piano reminiscent of how the band sounds in 2009. Then at random times during songs the bass and drum beat will drop and Ruess’s voice will come through strong and powerfully reminding the listener of the reason why they listen to fun.

With the release of Some Nights FUN simply lost what makes them fun. Instead of remaining unique the band members made a decision to attempt a mainstream success. What could have been a solid and promising second album gets drowned in a sea of robotic voices and crashing beats and booming bass. Some Nights gets 1 out of 4 stars.