With the release of Mumford & Sons third album, “Wilder Minds”, the banjo strumming, foot stomping, guitar mashing Mumford & Sons is dead. With Wilder, Minds Mumford & Sons departs entirely from the folksy acoustic sound of their first two albums. This album is an electric explosion and will come blasting out of your speakers in only a way Mumford can. Through out the album the skeleton of a Mumford & Sons album is there, with songs swelling into dramatic climaxis accompany by the passion filled Marcus Mumford singing at the top of his lungs.

The albums opener, Tompkins Square Park, is decent. Musically, pretty basic and constant, mainly focusing on the lyrics of the song. It does have the common thread of Mumford lyrics, with a man wanting a second chance with his girl. The next two tracks Believe and The Wolf move into more upbeat territory of pounding drums and screeching guitars. Both songs were released earlier, to show the band’s evolving musical style and they both do so wonderfully. The album then slows down a bit for the title track Wilder Minds, similar to the first track, pretty constant paced and more focused on the lyrics. Just Smoke is next. One of my favorite songs on the album, sounds like it is meant to be sung a the top of your lungs in your car or among friends. Next comes Monster, which is another slower ballad song and is also the albums signature song that swears. So far on each album, there is one song that says the F-word in it and Monster is this albums. The next two songs Snake Eyes and Broad Shouldered Beast follow the similar Mumford sound of starting slow and ending in a dramatic climax. The next track, Cold Arms, is the closest to old Mumford & Sons this album gets to. Just imaging an acoustic guitar instead of electric and this song could be off of Babel. Next is the song Ditmas. That is pretty consistent with the rest of the album and sound similar to the rest. The last two songs on the album end it on a high note. First is Only Love, this song if a perfect example of the slow build up in a song that works so well. Starting out slowly and calm then exploding into awesomeness. The final track is Hot Gates, and it ends the album in quiet dignified fashion. The song is nothing special musically like some of the other songs on the album, but thrives with its lyrical content. Leaving the album on a poignant note with the final lyrics, “Let my blood only run out when my world decides/there is no way out of your only life/So run on, run on.”

The deluxe edition of the album only includes live versions of 4 of the albums songs, so it is not an necessity to buy, unless you enjoy live recordings. If you wanted another classic Mumford & Sons album of folksy glory, then I would not recommend this album to you because that it is not. This album is something new entirely, a new medium of sound for Mumford & Sons to express their lives’ through. It is an excellent album and I would recommend that you listen to it and especially listen to the lyrics because that is one of the bands strong suites and deserve to be focused on.