Posts Tagged: lifehouse

2008 / 3 stars / reviews / the gallery — No Comments
12
Dec 08

If You Know What I Mean (2008) by The Gallery

The Gallery
If You Know What I Mean
2008, Blue Duck Records
rock

This country-rockish debut by Massachusetts-based band The Gallery is reminiscent of 3 Doors Down before they feasted on sentimentality and Creed before they got boring. Yet The Gallery manages to be far more melodic than either, leading the listener down a well-traveled yet bumpy path to the end. What fascinated me was how the songs were arranged, so that the band grows lyrically and emotionally as the album wears on. There are some playful and hopeful elements, such as “Circus Song,” but most of the album reiterates the ‘it’s me against the world’ sentiment. A decent debut, but this band requires their own sound and some truly personal and unique lyrics to really make a statement for itself.

Disclosure: The Gallery was brought to my attention by Joe Urban from Third World Industries, and he was nice enough to provide a copy of the album. Please see my review policy for more.

“Circus Song,” “Drift,” “The Introduction.”
myspace, last.fm
Lifehouse’s No Name Face

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2005 / 3 stars / lifehouse / reviews — No Comments
8
Dec 08

Lifehouse (2005) by Lifehouse

Genre: pop, alternative
Rating:
“Undone,” “You and Me,” and “Blind.”
myspace, last.fm
Lifehouse’s Who We Are, Dishwalla’s Opaline

In this first album since member Sergio Andrade left the band, Lifehouse uses their music to ‘detoxify’ and find their footing. The lyrics returned to Wade’s familiar territory of teenage angst for parents and the world, while the arrangements softened to give the album a supposedly-introspective feel. Instead, much of the album induces somnolence, most especially the repetition of the ridiculous lyrics in their hit single, “You and Me.” Thankfully, Lifehouse returned in 2007 with the much more palatable Who We Are.

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2007 / 4 stars / lifehouse / reviews — 1 Comment
16
Sep 08

Who We Are (2007) by Lifehouse

Genre: pop, rock
Rating:
Check Out: “Easier to Be,” “Broken,” “Storm,” and “Whatever It Takes.”
myspace

After two huge missteps in their previous albums Stanley Climbfall and Lifehouse, Lifehouse has finally returned to their roots in pop and rock in Who We Are. The great thing about this album is frontman and lead songwriter Jason Wade’s simultaneous return to honest lyrics which served to set him apart in No Name Face back in 2000. In fact, there’s a literal return to his lyrical roots with the album’s last song “Storm,” which was first written and recorded way back before No Name Face, when Lifehouse was called Blyss. I’m glad to see they didn’t ruin the song by attempting to ‘update’ it and simply remade it a capella.

While it’s disappointing to see how comfortable these boys are in pop glory after their promising debut with the harder-sounding No Name Face, at least they’ve finally adjusted to a sound that works for them. Thankfully, Lifehouse will continue to separate themselves from most pop drivel with their lyrics.

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