Lifehouse has to be one of my favorite bands. I just love lead singer, Jason Wade's voice. Their lyrics always move me and I just have so many favorite songs of theirs. I went to the store looking for a specific group, Fireflight, to be exact, but much to my dismay, but not surprise, they did not have any albums by them. An album by this band has been exceedingly hard for me to locate so I have decided the only way is online. Anyway, I love music and like I told my son as we stood there looking at the rows of CDs, I need music; I crave it. My life would not be complete without it. Music inspires me, it guides me, it soothes me; its usually one of the first things I turn too when I need something to lean on.
I was feeling the need to add to my music collection. Sure you can buy MP3s online, but there is just something about that CD that I just want; like a book in print rather than digital. Not finding what I wanted I should have just left the store, but the bands name stuck out and struck me - hey, I like Lifehouse and I only own one CD, which I absolutely love, and had been wanting to get an older album for quite some time. Well they didn't have any older albums. The only two they had were, Smoke and Mirrors, which is the one I have and thought was their latest one and Almeria, which based on price was clearly their newest. There were two versions of that album, one with 10 songs and one with 13 songs.
Not only was I unaware they put out another album but I was pretty sure I hadn't heard any of the songs on this album either. Usually I at least have some inkling if I am gonna like it or not before I buy it, but, I bought it on a whim thinking, hey..it's Lifehouse...how could it suck? I immediately popped it into my CD player in my car and over the course of 2 days I have listened to the entire album, albeit, only once thus far, so a review may be pre-mature, but I will give you my first impressions.
The album cover is like a old western shoot out. I didn't think much of that until I heard the music. It was clear to me that Lifehouse had changed their sound from the very first song. Many of the songs have this western sort of sound to them and others very pop-sounding. It's a mix of different sounds for sure. I definitely have to give the album more of a listen before determining if I really love it or hate it, but I will tell you this, it is NOT the Lifehouse I am used to listening too. Is that bad? The verdict is still out on that, but my first impression is that I did like a couple songs, but there were others I was like, "huh?". I absolutely love their previous album, Smoke and Mirrors...love it...but this album is not in the same boat. The sound is so different. I am almost wishing I had waited and just bought an older one, as was my plan. You never know though, I could learn to really love it. I wasn't 'in-love' with Taylor Swift's newest album, Red, either...but it grew on me, now in her case her Speak Now album is still by far my favorite.
I did a bit of digging and found an article here, at Billboard, that talks about how the bad did in fact change their sound for this album, but I didn't need to read that to know as I already made that determination after listening to the album myself. The album is available on Amazon digital download for $9.99 for the version of the CD I purchased, the one with 13 songs. That is a considerable savings. The CD is available on Amazon for just under $17 for the 10 song album.
So would I recommend this? Well, this is what I say to you - listen to clips first. Search YouTube and see if anyone has full songs uploaded and decide if you want to spend the money. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, buy this album on a whim because you love Lifehouse - you will likely be disappointed. If you despise the country music sound, you will not like this album. I am not a huge fan of country music myself, but I am willing to give this CD a try, well, frankly, I have too given I already bought it! (but I could pawn it off on my son) Some of the sound on this album likened Bon Jovi's Wanted Dead or Alive - my opinion anyway.
My overall first impression rating? 3 of 5 stars. Yes, that's all I can give it and I might just be being generous because I didn't give it enough of a chance yet.
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