But in truth, nothing on “Smoke & Mirrors” is significantly more notable than anything else. Meanwhile, “Falling In” and “From Where You Are” sound like folky follow-ups to “You and Me,” Lifehouse’s 2005 wedding-band staple. Chris Daughtry contributes guest vocals to the particularly tuneful song “Had Enough” (which the “American Idol” star co-wrote with Lifehouse frontman Jason Wade and Richard Marx), while lead single “Halfway Gone” benefits from a songwriting assist by Kevin Rudolf. Like its predecessors, the new album is another solid set of no-frills, meat-and-potatoes rock, with plenty of catchy melodies, surging guitars and midtempo grooves perfect for pumping one fist while gripping a warm can of beer in the other. Fans will be pleased to find Alkaline Trio remembering what it’s like to be itself.ĭespite the title of their fifth studio album, “Smoke & Mirrors,” the members of rock act Lifehouse don’t engage in any unexpected trickery. Luckily, the good outweighs the bad (which isn’t all that terrible). Listeners who still aren’t convinced should turn to the raw-sounding and lyrically bitter “Piss and Vinegar,” which could easily fit on the band’s 2001 effort, “From Here to Infirmary.” But the addition of synthesizers (“Eating Me Alive”) and trumpet blares (“Lead Poisoning”) seems out of place both on the album and in the group’s repertoire. The song “Off the Map” is a no-fuss rock cut, complete with throbbing bassline and drug metaphors for domestic dysfunction (“I’m like a junkie for your smart mouth”). But on its seventh studio album, “This Addiction,” frontman Matt Skiba follows through on a promise he made in interviews that the band would return to its DIY songwriting approach. In recent years, some fans have criticized Alkaline Trio for straying too far from its punk roots. ARTIST: ALKALINE TRIOĪLBUM: THIS ADDICTION (Epitaph/Heart & Skull Reflective but never bitter, “I’m New Here” contains the musings of a poet wizened by hard luck. Rhythmic slam delivery over a minimalist industrial beat weaves a gray tapestry of city life on “Your Soul and Mine,” and “On Coming From a Broken Home” is a touching tribute to the grandmother who raised him. Scott-Heron’s raspy voice cries over a throbbing beat on the Robert Johnson cover “Me and the Devil,” while the title track touches on hope for redemption (“No matter how far wrong you’ve gone, you can always turn around”). The neo-soul shimmer of his 1970 recordings may be absent on his latest release, “I’m New Here,” but it’s replaced by a dark candor that carries the weight of his 60 years. NEW YORK (Billboard) - Since the release of his last album, “Spirits,” in 1994, proto-rap singer-songwriter Gil Scott-Heron has struggled with drug addiction and prison. ARTIST: GIL SCOTT-HERON ALBUM: I’M NEW HERE
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |