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[gogonutz]

Daniel never said he despised Lifehouse or its members. Just the way they are going about the songwriting lately. And I really don't feel that's the way to go either. I'm okay with pop songs, but a good song with a lot of pop sensibility can still be personal and creative. And on the past few albums I kind of feel like the songs are just songs (not all of them, but more than before) and not songs with a deeper meaning or personal story behind them. Kind of like the songs are drifting.

I don't know if it's label influence, laziness, lack of inspiration, commercial mindset or whatever and frankly, Lifehouse is free to make the choices they prefer and I'll support it, but it doesn't mean I'll always like it. Like I mentioned before, I will have to listen to the full album, get more context and I'm sure more songs will start to make sense, but so far with the overusage of autotune, compression and unnecessary synth/electronics (that just distract from the actual song in my opinion), I'm very hesitant about Almeria. But at the same time there are definitely signs of greatness.

[klein]

Nov 28, 2012 19:02:30 GMT -5 @disarray said:

These guys have to make a living. Jason has an amazing ability to write a hit song. He should be able to capitalize on that to provide for his future.

Without wanting to sound like a douche that's probably the worst defense for a band I've ever heard. Sorry to say.
Yes, they have to make a living. So do I. Why should I spend my money on them if their music just sounds to me like it was written to pay their bills?

I've always been a supporter of the band. But I was disappointed with the last album for the same reasons I am disappointed with this one (from what I've heard so far). I want to support a band that I can still take seriously for singing songs that mean something to them. I just don't see that with LH anymore.

[celticflower]

agree that it not a strong defense: If the music inspiration goes, they can make a living in any other way..but I think that if you write music just to mke money that it will never work (so, do not read that I feel that Lifehouse is doing this, since I do not think so, but I will like their music or I will not, and whether that pays their bills or leaves them homeless, sorry..not relevant!*

I liked sam very much, and for me the songs speak to me..just lately I feel I miss a certain kind of feeling connection to the songs..they can be a concept, but should also do something to me, I think.

[gogonutz]

On the other hand, I would like to point out that we all still stick around here, or at least come back when something relevant with Lifehouse is going on. So we all still do care and made many friends and acquaintances and that is something their music, through the years, has accomplished. Just wanted to emphasize that.

[lh778]

That is so true, even when a forum is getting taken down, such as Sick Cycle, we seem to migrate to the next forum. I like that, it shows that we each enjoy each other and still want to support the band. If it weren't for Lifehouse, I never would have met you guys, and for that I am very grateful. No matter if we have our differences, Lifehouse is the reason we all met.

[celticflower]

yes, I would not be here at this point in my life, the person who I am without all of you and Lifehouse:D for that I will be forever thankful!

[escalibur]

I have a feeling that the guys need a break. Jason should have a kid or few and then get back to business and record some powerful stuff. So many of songs from the 3 latest records are lacking the deepness they had with first two records.

NNF was so great that I'm feeling it like a tattoo on my skin (not that I have one).


I'm one of you guys who think that they should leave radio frendly autotune songs for the others. LH's potential is way too big to be wasted on that.

[lh778]

Nov 29, 2012 13:33:32 GMT -5 escalibur said:

NNF was so great that I'm feeling it like a tattoo on my skin (not that I have one).

...uhuh....I bet you do have one!!! lol ;D

[disarray]

It's not about defending them. It's a reality. We all know that Lifehouse has never had the commercial success they should have. To play arenas, they had to open for Chris Daughtry. I love Daughtry, but at that point in their careers, no way should they be an opening act for anyone. I'm sure at some point, Lifehouse will end, Jason will want to start a family and that will be that for a long while. I honestly think Jason and the rest of the band like the stuff they are making. I remember Jason saying his favorite track on SaM was Halfway Gone. Definitely the most pop/radio friendly song on the record. When I said they have to make a living, I wasn't trying to imply they are half assing anything to make $$. I believe they have more integrity than that.

[celticflower]

I feel this about some of the comments: speculating is a good thing, thinking about a direction the band could go is a good thing..but the only ones who know what they want or not, where they want to go in live or not, musically, professionally is Lifehouse themselves..

a reality? how? it's an opinion, not necessarily fact, I think

[gogonutz]

I'm not sure. However, Lifehouse is going in the direction they are going in, for whatever the reasons may be and some people are going to love it, some people are going to be okay with it and some people are not going to like it at all. I think that's all fine, regardless.

I'm not suggesting they are half-assing around as you put it, I actually said I didn't know what the reason was and that it is the band's choice to make. I just wonder how and why this happens, out of curiosity and because I care.
The point that they have to make a living from the music is a valid point, I think, but fans are an integral part of that business as they are buying the music and merchandise, visit the shows and spread the word. So fans do have a right to discuss and question the music in my opinion. In the end, bands and musicians have to make music they believe in, otherwise they won't be able to stand behind it and that will reflect in the sales, simple as that. Whatever it is they believe in, is different per band/musician and can change during a career. It may very well that as they grew up, their interests and musical inspiration (and thus their musical output) has changed. As a fan, I just wonder if it did, and if so, why/how. I think that's okay?

And about opening up? Actually, I think that wasn't so weird. It's just the way the music industry has evolved. A lot of bands and musicians get in the charts with a lot of fanfare, get all the limelight and play big venues and even arena's, while bands that steadily worked their way to success get a little bit less attention. However, those bands tend to stick around and keep things steady, both musically and financially. I think Lifehouse would fall in that category.

I'm absolutely positive that everyone in this discussion wishes the best for Lifehouse. Everyone's voicing his or her opinion the way he/she feels it. Whether that is very positive about certain changes or by raising questions about what's going on. And like me, I think there are others that may very well see opinions change (perhaps several times) as the new material is released and once it sinks in. Fact is, the music they make now is different from the music they made in the past. When there is change, it has an effect on people and that leads to discussion, which I think is okay.

[klein]

Nov 29, 2012 13:48:09 GMT -5 @disarray said:

It's not about defending them. It's a reality. We all know that Lifehouse has never had the commercial success they should have. To play arenas, they had to open for Chris Daughtry. I love Daughtry, but at that point in their careers, no way should they be an opening act for anyone. I'm sure at some point, Lifehouse will end, Jason will want to start a family and that will be that for a long while. I honestly think Jason and the rest of the band like the stuff they are making. I remember Jason saying his favorite track on SaM was Halfway Gone. Definitely the most pop/radio friendly song on the record. When I said they have to make a living, I wasn't trying to imply they are half assing anything to make $$. I believe they have more integrity than that.

Why do they need to be playing arenas anyway? Why is that such an important goal? I mean I could understand why they would want to. But I would never make that a bigger goal than staying true to my music and true to my fans.

As for Jason saying his favorite song on S&M was Halfway Gone. Guess what, he was probably told to say that. He also said S&M was his favorite album. I wonder why? Oh wait, probably because he said it right when Halfway Gone and Smoke & Mirrors came out and Halfway Gone just happened to be the lead single. It's called marketing strategy. I mean, just reading the most recent interview on BMI it just sounded like a rehash of what they've been saying for years now "we felt like our sound needed to evolve and to change. this time we wrote the songs without preconceived notions and the music just came to us naturally, blah blah blah".... then you look at the writing credits and it seems like they can barely complete a song without having somebody else co-write it with them. And you listen to the single and while it is surely "different" in a way, it is still just an other pop song that will be shrugged off by the rest of the music community.

I'm really not trying to be a source of negativity here, trust me. But I am really honestly disappointed in the way the band has evolved, and I've lost quite a bit of respect for them as a result.

In my opinion Lifehouse should not focus so much on writing music that will enable them to play arenas or have a song on the radio, but instead should focus on bringing back the humbleness, honesty, depth and story telling imagery they used to have. Their music used to inspire me. Heck, as many of you already pointed out, whole friendships were formed because of them. I was part of that too. But I can no longer honestly call myself a die-hard Lifehouse fan with the new material they have been putting out and it saddens me.

That said, I do really like the preview of "Aftermath" (it almost sounds like an homage to 'classic Lifehouse') and a couple other songs on this album.

As others have said, I think at this point it would be best for them to take a break from it all and reflect on themselves for a few years. Maybe it will help them.

[YesNoMaybe]

I can see where you're coming from when you say you're disappointed. I also really loved the honesty, depth and imagery on the first two albums. And it would be great if they could bring that back. So I agree with you on that. However, this is something that you and I as fans want. But what we want may be different from what the band wants and believes in. Put differently, Lifehouse may well be staying true to their music by taking the road that they are going down now. It just may not be the road that we would like to see them go down. I would hope that Lifehouse stays true to their music. But that's something only they know.

As for the comments on Halfway Gone and Smoke and Mirrors. I actually believe it when Jason said that his favorite song on SAM is HG. When the song first came out, I loved it. I didn't think it was classic Lifehouse, but I still loved the song. As for the fave album, when you play the same songs over and over again each night, I can imagine that every new album becomes your favorite as soon as it's out. As for rehashing things that they've been saying for years: agreed. That is just some blah blah that they need to do for the press

Despite me pointing out some things that I like less about the new album (or rather, things I liked more about the older albums), this does not mean that I don't like the new album. I love the alt-rock-grunge vibe Lifehouse used to have, but I'm quite partial to poppy songs as well. And I really think the new album has a few gems of songs on there, which causes me to be really excited.

[disarray]

I'm not trying to argue with anyone, so I will bow out of the discussions for now. I believe Lifehouse enjoys the music they are making and are committed to not recording the same song over and over (think Matchbox Twenty). I believe they have integrity and I'm still on board until what they create no longer interests me. Band and fans evolve -- sometimes not together.

[LHfanMI]

The only thing I wholeheartedly disagree with here is Disarray's opinion that MB20 records the same song over and over.

Couldn't disagree more.