On The Same Level as the Lighthouse Family?
This three piece is coming straight from America, offering us an album full of melancholy and beauty. 'Lifehouse' follows two much acclaimed releases and is produced John Alagia (Dave Matthews Band) who also participated on the album by playing various instruments (bass and guitar among others). The band has had much success State side, having a top 10 billboard album ('Stanley Climbfall') and a no.1 single ('Hanging by a moment').
Lifehouse are considered a Christian band though the singer prefers people to make up their own mind about the lyrics. Each and every person should analyse and interpret the lyrics as he/she wants. This self-titled album is the third opus of the band, and although all the songs are touching, they don't really differentiate themselves from each other. After six songs you start getting a bit bored. The musicality, the vocals are excellent, there is no doubt about it. But you would expect a bit more diversity in their songs.
The opening track, 'Comeback Down' is an excellent slow romantic tune, with brilliant vocals and guitars. When I first heard it, I was impressed by the originality of the sound, and thought that there is finally a band that stands out from the crowd and is capable of doing an original pop sound. 'You and Me', 'Blind' and 'All in All' follow. And at that point you still enjoy their popish ballades.
But as the album goes on you barely see any difference between each of the tracks and you lose the feeling that you had when you started listening to the CD- that of surprise at being faced with some original material.
These guys could have done much, much better. But even if you want to listen more carefully to the lyrics you lose the interest of trying to interpret them in your own way, which is quite a pity as these guys have loads of talent. Overall it's a good album but lacking a bit of originality.