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Post by gogonutz on May 25, 2015 16:25:39 GMT -5
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and when it comes to the mixing/production of the album I tend to agree on most points. Many of the songs would come out better (IMHO) had a few different choices been made. About the mood radically changing, I think that is by design as they view OOTW as a collage of their work thusfar. For me it also doesn't quite feel like an album but more like a collection of songs, however I do feel there is a lot more passion and conviction in this record than I have heard in the previous two. Mixing/production might mask it a little but for me it still comes through. But you may view it differently. Thanks for voicing your thoughts
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Post by lh778 on May 25, 2015 21:09:04 GMT -5
Yup everyone has their own opinion. I personally like Alien a lot. I try not to focus on if autotune was used. If I like the sound and the lyrics, then I like it. Just like with Only You're the One from Almeria. I loved that song.
This album in my opinion is really good, and I don't think it's fair to base it off of the "old" Lifehouse. Like people have said on here, the band has changed, like it or not. Seems like they are almost finding their new style and I have no doubts their next album can be even better than this one. Alien, Firing Squad, Runaways, Stardust, Hurt This Way, Central Park and Yesterday's Son really stand out. Hourglass and Wish however, I can't tell. I don't think they really "fit" on this album. One For The Pain, and Hourglass I think are somewhat the weaker ones on this album. I didn't mention Flight or Hurricane, because we already heard of them before the album. Both are great songs.
Just my thoughts.
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Post by ledvedderman on May 25, 2015 22:25:18 GMT -5
Just as a heads up, the album is up on iTunes now
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Post by lh778 on May 25, 2015 22:30:49 GMT -5
Yup! I was just about to post my thoughts on the two bonus tracks.
Hindsight: wow. I wasn't expecting how much rock is in it lol I thought this should have been on the album actually. You Are Not Alone: the lyrics are so moving. This isn't as rock-ish as the other, but I really like it. This I can also see on the album.
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Post by Robert on May 25, 2015 22:36:33 GMT -5
Yup! I was just about to post my thoughts on the two bonus tracks. Hindsight: wow. I wasn't expecting how much rock is in it lol I thought this should have been on the album actually. You Are Not Alone: the lyrics are so moving. This isn't as rock-ish as the other, but I really like it. This I can also see on the album. I know right? Hindsight is actually the most rockish song on the album, funny enough. It'll be a great live song, that's for sure! Still not feeling You Are Not Alone, I agree that the lyrics are beautiful and classic Jason but it's just not grabbing me at the moment. Give it time... Welp, I have the iTunes version, so now I'm waiting on the Target Collector editions in the mail! The next few weeks will be fun
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Post by mkice9 on May 25, 2015 23:35:08 GMT -5
I’m so happy Lifehouse is back! Wasn’t able to connect with almost anything on the last two albums. OOTW is a vast improvement.
1. Hurricane: When the single came out, I listened to it once and stopped. Too similar to the super poppy sounding First Time. I’ve listened to Hurricane a ton now on the Pandora stream and eh, it’s still just okay. Catchy while it is on but not memorable. 2. One for the Pain: Better than Hurricane but still just okay. Interesting sounding though. 3. Flight: One of the best, if not the best, song on the album. I listened to this for days on repeat when it first came out last year. Epic and uplifting. 4. Runaways: Love this one! Caught my attention right away when streaming the album for the first time. Not a fan of the buzzy sounding vocals at the very beginning but after that it’s great! 5. Firing Squad: Really like this one too. The chorus is really catchy. I like the lyrics. This is the song I find myself randomly humming. 6. Wish: Okay. Sweet. A bit boring. 7. Stardust: Another favorite of the album. Caught my attention right away. Energetic and so much fun. However, this doesn’t sound like a Lifehouse song at all! It’s a really great song but it seems out of place. I wish they kept it as a KOMOX song…but then I do love the mix of Bryce and Jason’s voices in this version. 8. Alien: Enjoyable. 9. Central Park: A good song but too monotonous. 10. Hurt This Way: This has really grown on me! Love it now! Great lyrics. 11. Yesterday's Son: Another song that has grown on me. Love the lyrics on this one. I wish the vocals didn’t sound so processed/ buzzy though. Great build at the end. 12. Hourglass: Not a big fan of this one. Too slow for me. Too cute. Makes me think I’m watching an animated Disney princess film.
So overall, a good number of standout songs and nothing that makes me cringe (like Moveonday and Nobody Listen). I wasn’t going to spend the $$$ to see them open for Nickelback (<--not a fan) but this album changed my mind. Hopefully they will play several of these songs.
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Post by escalibur on May 25, 2015 23:36:58 GMT -5
The album is out on Spotify too. (sadly no bonus tracks) Hindsight (based on the preview) sounds rockish but why on Earth the drums are mixed like a beat machine and chorus is once again reminding me of Katy Perry.
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Post by aminta on May 26, 2015 2:51:56 GMT -5
ps. Sorry for my poor english and for my rudeness about this record. I just wanted to be honest and give you a honest opinion/review. I'm sure this result is a sum of many things including our agening, music industry development, mixing, production etc.. So it is what it is. It was good to read!
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Post by dewey on May 26, 2015 3:16:34 GMT -5
I'm a long-time fan since the beginning and was not very pleased with "Almería". I made my point on here a few times and while I hated to put down something Lifehouse released, I couldnt hide how I felt. I felt like it was rush job with no creativity or passion behind it. Anyway, that album did eventually grow on me over many months, but its still at the bottom of the bunch.
ONTO OOTW:
I am now on my 4th listen of this record. The really strange thing is... I loved the first half first listen, and thought the 2nd half was OK. By the third listen, it changed. The songs "Alien", "Central Park" and "Hourglass" really, really grew after repeated listens. Especially "Alien", which I honestly did not like at first. Felt too generic sounding to me. Now I love it. Go figure. I absolutely love "One For The Pain" and feel its strong enough to be a 2nd single. Its such a great 2nd track, because it keeps your interest right as "Hurricane" ends. Im sure this has been said about "Central Park" before, but I get a STRONG 2005 S/T vibe from that one. Could easily hear that sandwiched between "Into The Sun" and "Undone" or something. I know its an older song, what year was that demoed? You hardcore fans know. 2008?
Who in god's name gave the approval for "Yesterday's Son"? I cant wait to see Jason on their next headlining tour where I can ask what was the reasoning for the vocal effects. I want an honest answer. It overpowers the music and steals the strength of the music. I hope they can answer that honestly. Also not a fan of those effects on "Runaways", but its such a solid song, I can overlook it. I know some of this echoes what some of you have posted, but overall, Im very pleased. I have yet to hear the TARGET exclusives (I will pick up my CD today), but the iTunes songs are very good. I would have preferred Hindsight on the record over a few, but very happy w/ it as a bonus track. Over the years, Ive learned to accept the fact that sometimes their b-sides just beat out songs on the actual albums. So, this is no surprise. Im sure the TARGET songs will be just as good as the record, if not better.
My Lifehouse ratings (as of 2015-05-26) are as follows:
NNF (come on, nothing is beating this) WWA (still have a huge love for this AND the wonderful b-sides it brought us) SC S/T OOTW S&M Almería
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Post by klein on May 26, 2015 3:45:23 GMT -5
I wish LH would go back to the days where they proudly proclaimed to be against overusing effects/protools.
I get the feeling with each record they release since WWA that they somehow feel like they have to experiment with effects/vocal layering effects in order to sound modern. I feel like they completely forget that Jason's raw voice is what really sells these songs, and what has sold their previous successful albums/singles. His voice in its raw untouched form is what makes Lifehouse what it is, it does not NEED these overpowering vocal effects. I agree with some of the previous posters, that some of the songs on this new album would have sounded a lot better and more honest if they hadn't gone all crazy with the effects.
I feel like if they relied less on technology and went back a bit more to their raw/organic/natural sound the songs would come across a lot more honest and actually be more listenable.
Perfect example "Yesterday's Son". Such a good song, great lyrics. The live-in-studio version was really nice and I was really happy to hear some great songwriting by Jason again. I can't even bring myself to listen to the album version anymore because it just sounds so forced and mechanical with the effects, to the point where the production really doesn't let me take the lyrics seriously anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I am actually quite happy with the record. Some great songs on there, it's not perfect, it doesnt match their NNF days of course, but as many have said this is not a fair comparison. I just think that the album could have been a lot better without the unnecessary vocal effects.
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Post by Robert on May 26, 2015 7:26:37 GMT -5
I agree with both dewey and klein, the vocal effects are a bit much in Yesterday's Son. That said, I couldn't stand the album version when I first heard it, and now it might be my favourite on the album... Besides YS, I feel like they did a good job choosing the tracks to which they'd apply vocal effects. They work with the sound of the tracks. I have to think of the voice like an instrument, in which case I think of effects like a guitar pedal or amp. They refrained from it in all the right spots (Flight, Central Park, Hourglass) and used it to their advantage in One for the Pain, Runaways, etc. Funny enough, my least favourite song on the whole record is Hurricane.
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Post by Shawn on May 26, 2015 10:36:00 GMT -5
Any word on the exclusive track from the LH webstore? No email yet for me... I picked up the Target version this morning since I was too impatient to wait for UPS later today and plus it's been a tradition since SCF.
Exhale is the best of the four bonus tracks IMO. It's haunting and dark and reminds me of DLD/NNF in the mood of the track.
Clarity is a folksy song with a harmonica intro. Sort of western acoustic vibe going on here. It's a decent song but seems underwhelming and lacking any sort of energy that you can feel building up.
ALV still needs more time with me. This is another acoustic track and sounds like it may have been from the Papercuts sessions.
Angeline... I was hoping, really hoping this beautiful song would've turned into a rock track almost on par with Georgianna or at the very least a stripped acoustic like he used to play live. Instead, this is more reminiscent of a Jack Johnson song. Not bad but not the best it could be IMHO.
As far as the iTunes bonus tracks go, Hindsight is good but the chorus sounds too poppy. Not bad, but could be better. You Are Not Alone is a decent track but just like Clarity I feel like it's building up and could've used an explosive chorus but falls short. All 6 tracks are good but Exhale is great.
Still hoping the LH exclusive is not one of these already released. Fingers crossed for LAX! I think that's the only song they've talked about that hadn't been released/mentioned.
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Post by Robert on May 26, 2015 13:12:46 GMT -5
Wow, Clarity could exactly have come from John Mayer's album Born & Raised... never expected that (it's one of my favourite albums)! It's also super duper Elliott-inspired (could have also come off XO). Totally loving this one, one of my favourites! I would probably have switched this one with Wish on the standard version... The vocals on Après La Vie sound as though it was a ST b-side, same vein as Along the Way. It's actually kinda like La Vie En Rose, particularly the version Cristin Milioti sang in How I Met Your Mother (but I digress)... Not sure I love the beachy vibe of Angeline, but the chorus is sort of 'magical' which is cool. The live version is still my favourite... Exhale is the closest song from the entire OOTW group to pre-ST Lifehouse (particularly Blyss), totally cool (along the lines of Through These Times).
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Post by escalibur on May 26, 2015 14:03:40 GMT -5
ps. Sorry for my poor english and for my rudeness about this record. I just wanted to be honest and give you a honest opinion/review. I'm sure this result is a sum of many things including our agening, music industry development, mixing, production etc.. So it is what it is. It was good to read! Thaks. Wish I could hear Target bonus tracks somewhere. Ordering it from eBay will take ages to get but I think I have no options... ps. Once again no thanks to the fans...
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Post by Robert on May 26, 2015 14:06:26 GMT -5
I saw that too escalibur... unless they consider us fans their friends (I like to think we are). They thank us so much on social media that I'll let it pass (on Almería I didn't).
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