As the title suggests, the second album is considerably darker in lyrical tone and musicality than the first. Negative, harsh and cynical, "Good Time for a Bad Attitude" is not an easy album to listen to; however, the brutal honesty of lead singer/songwriter Art Alexakis makes it compelling.
The album's instrumentation favors bludgeoning guitars and stays away from the whimsical touches of "Learning How to Smile," which featured a full-blown orchestra in one track and a light-hearted, unironic cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."
Instead, "Bad Attitude" relies on unadulterated bitterness. In the cynical "Rock Star," Alexakis dispenses with various platitudes about "doing it for the music" and instead baldly states, "I just want to be a rock star / I want to be the king / I want to be on top."
The album, overall, does not have the instant catchiness of the band's earlier hits like "Father of Mine" and "I Will Buy You a New Life." While the melody lines are as strong as ever, the lyrics are blurred because they are often shouted and distorted.
This is the perfect album to play on the boombox when you're angry and want to throw things around your room. Even the rare quiet song, like "The Good Witch of the North," is designed to satisfy your black mood.
When the storm is over, the last song ties the album back to Volume 1. Entitled "Song From an American Movie Part 2," it continues the first song on Volume 1. While Alexakis expresses the utter hopelessness he occasionally feels-"Sometimes I get to a point where / I feel numb and I just don't care"-he then turns to his daughter Annabelle as the guiding light in his life: "The only thing that ever made / sense in my life / Is the sound of my / little girl laughing."
Annabelle is a positive presence throughout Volume 1, and "Learning How to Smile" is all about capturing moments of joy. In Volume 2, her presence is the only lifeline to which Alexakis clings when all his angst explodes out from him and into the album's embittered music.