Simply, what should the album include to make you happy? If you really want to say vague things like "good songs", "guitar solos", "good musicianship" or "good lyrics" then go for it, but maybe some could try to be a little more specific too? Also if you want to say something farfetched like "an album of full on hard rock bordering on metal" then feel free, but I'll try to be somewhat realistic based on what we've heard so far.
My checklist:
- At least 3 proper rock songs. We were promised a "riff rock" album, so 3 songs in that vein shouldn't be too much to ask.
- At least 2 songs over 5 minutes. This has really annoyed me about the last few albums: we haven't had a song over 5 minutes since 2002, and haven't had a single over 5 minutes since 2000! Time to get over your fear of length boys!
- A really good ballad. Neither Bounce nor HAND really had one IMO, but with Make A Memory they created something I found really interesting and different, so more of that please!
- A good opening song, NOT We Weren't Born To Follow. Just a pet peeve of mine, having the lead single open the album. Let's get a big fat rock song in there instead.
- General vague stuff about good lyrics, production, songs, musicianship etc. I had to put it in here somewhere
- Since there are no post 2000 songs in my list of top 20 BJ songs, I'd quite like some songs that have the potential to be put in that list!
And that'll just about do me I think. Any more for any more?