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Post by celticflower on May 29, 2015 9:39:57 GMT -5
Lifehouse is not the only one where I have problems with the production..it's so many bands/artists lately...they all make good music so I don't see the reason for it..I have to admit after a couple of listens, I do really like this album:D
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Post by celticflower on May 29, 2015 9:40:25 GMT -5
also, sorry for the weird sentence structure:p
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Post by Robert on May 29, 2015 9:44:07 GMT -5
I think we can conclude that Lifehouse isn't a rock band anymore (if ever they were, but that's a whole different discussion) but I still hope that on the next record they enlist the help of engineer/mixing/producing professionals who are used to working with relatively raw rock acts because they will tell them to keep production more simple and let the strength of the songwriting, vocals and actual instruments be the lead of the tracks instead of this overproduction that takes out about 3/4 of the album's emotion (because the songwriting and performance really do evoke emotion but the production masks it completely). In general I am very happy with this album because: 1. They really seem to believe in their own songs again and it shows 2. The songwriting (both music and lyrics) have so much more substance than the last two albums 3. There's a certain freshness and enthusiasm to it that inspires the listener to feel the same Now if only the production suits the songs more naturally, Lifehouse is completely back where they once were. ^^ Literally 15 seconds before I read your post I was thinking that their next album should have more rock, that's so weird... This record is much like Who We Are in that it's pop/rock with glossy production and works on the strength of the songwriting. They captured the lightness of the self-titled and the edge of WWA. The good news is that after Almería (which quite literally had no rock whatsoever), they're getting back to it. That recent electric performance of Hurricane had a very heavy alt-rock sound like Stanley Climbfall, which was refreshing to hear... I have a feeling the concerts will rock harder than the album (much like in the NNF days).
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Post by gogonutz on May 29, 2015 10:04:37 GMT -5
I was discussing this yesterday. The songs of OOTW have the potential to be taken to new level in live settings because they won't be 'sauced' in production. So I'm looking forward to hearing 'm like that!
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Post by Humbug on May 29, 2015 15:57:33 GMT -5
I think we can conclude that Lifehouse isn't a rock band anymore ( if ever they were, but that's a whole different discussion) but I still hope that on the next record they enlist the help of engineer/mixing/producing professionals who are used to working with relatively raw rock acts because they will tell them to keep production more simple and let the strength of the songwriting, vocals and actual instruments be the lead of the tracks instead of this overproduction that takes out about 3/4 of the album's emotion (because the songwriting and performance really do evoke emotion but the production masks it completely). In general I am very happy with this album because: 1. They really seem to believe in their own songs again and it shows 2. The songwriting (both music and lyrics) have so much more substance than the last two albums 3. There's a certain freshness and enthusiasm to it that inspires the listener to feel the same Now if only the production suits the songs more naturally, Lifehouse is completely back where they once were. I'd have to disagree on that, Lifehouse started out as a rock band, their first two albums were primarily rock (even their first single was rock). Their self-titled album is when they started to shy away from that and kinda go soft rock but some songs (like Blind) still had that rock element to them. I think their next album should have that Stanley Climbfall Rock vibe, but I think Jason just has different taste in music now than he did when he was in his early 20's. The young Jason seemed to have been into more Rock, I think he said in an interview a while back that his influences were Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc. I think this album's biggest problem is that there aren't any emotional melancholy songs. The melodies on this album all seem to be in a higher key than they usually write their songs (I noticed in the Guitar Sessions Behind The Scenes video that Jason was using a capo). Even the melancholy "Wish" was revamped in a higher key to match the rest of the album.
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Post by Humbug on May 29, 2015 15:59:14 GMT -5
I think we can conclude that Lifehouse isn't a rock band anymore (if ever they were, but that's a whole different discussion) but I still hope that on the next record they enlist the help of engineer/mixing/producing professionals who are used to working with relatively raw rock acts because they will tell them to keep production more simple and let the strength of the songwriting, vocals and actual instruments be the lead of the tracks instead of this overproduction that takes out about 3/4 of the album's emotion (because the songwriting and performance really do evoke emotion but the production masks it completely). In general I am very happy with this album because: 1. They really seem to believe in their own songs again and it shows 2. The songwriting (both music and lyrics) have so much more substance than the last two albums 3. There's a certain freshness and enthusiasm to it that inspires the listener to feel the same Now if only the production suits the songs more naturally, Lifehouse is completely back where they once were. ^^ Literally 15 seconds before I read your post I was thinking that their next album should have more rock, that's so weird... This record is much like Who We Are in that it's pop/rock with glossy production and works on the strength of the songwriting. They captured the lightness of the self-titled and the edge of WWA. The good news is that after Almería (which quite literally had no rock whatsoever), they're getting back to it. That recent electric performance of Hurricane had a very heavy alt-rock sound like Stanley Climbfall, which was refreshing to hear... I have a feeling the concerts will rock harder than the album (much like in the NNF days). I noticed that in the live performance of Hurricane too! It sounded much more rock than the studio version and reminded me of the Stanley Climbfall era. I hope their live performances (along with their next album) have a more rock vibe. I think this album is lacking in that department.
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Post by klein on May 29, 2015 16:07:24 GMT -5
I think the reason for them playing certain songs in higher keys (i.e. Wish) is simply that Jason's vocal range has shifted and his comfort zone is now a little higher than it used to be. I don't think that's a bad thing actually because he can really let rip now, see the ending of Flight for example. That will be an interesting song to see live.
Also I gotta say so far I really like their new live guitarist. He sounds great.
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Post by Humbug on May 29, 2015 16:35:12 GMT -5
I think the reason for them playing certain songs in higher keys (i.e. Wish) is simply that Jason's vocal range has shifted and his comfort zone is now a little higher than it used to be. I don't think that's a bad thing actually because he can really let rip now, see the ending of Flight for example. That will be an interesting song to see live. Also I gotta say so far I really like their new live guitarist. He sounds great. That is true as well, but they just started playing songs in a higher key. Jason has been singing the same since S&M so I think the higher key is just the "sound" they wanted to achieve in this album. But Jason's vocal range has expaned quite a bit since the first three albums.
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Post by gogonutz on May 30, 2015 5:04:37 GMT -5
I think we can conclude that Lifehouse isn't a rock band anymore ( if ever they were, but that's a whole different discussion) but I still hope that on the next record they enlist the help of engineer/mixing/producing professionals who are used to working with relatively raw rock acts because they will tell them to keep production more simple and let the strength of the songwriting, vocals and actual instruments be the lead of the tracks instead of this overproduction that takes out about 3/4 of the album's emotion (because the songwriting and performance really do evoke emotion but the production masks it completely). In general I am very happy with this album because: 1. They really seem to believe in their own songs again and it shows 2. The songwriting (both music and lyrics) have so much more substance than the last two albums 3. There's a certain freshness and enthusiasm to it that inspires the listener to feel the same Now if only the production suits the songs more naturally, Lifehouse is completely back where they once were. I'd have to disagree on that, Lifehouse started out as a rock band, their first two albums were primarily rock (even their first single was rock). Their self-titled album is when they started to shy away from that and kinda go soft rock but some songs (like Blind) still had that rock element to them. I think their next album should have that Stanley Climbfall Rock vibe, but I think Jason just has different taste in music now than he did when he was in his early 20's. The young Jason seemed to have been into more Rock, I think he said in an interview a while back that his influences were Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc. I think this album's biggest problem is that there aren't any emotional melancholy songs. The melodies on this album all seem to be in a higher key than they usually write their songs (I noticed in the Guitar Sessions Behind The Scenes video that Jason was using a capo). Even the melancholy "Wish" was revamped in a higher key to match the rest of the album. That is why I said it was a discussion. I do consider them a rock band up until WWA actually (even though ST & WWA were primarily pop albums but their approach, for the most part, was still rock-oriented). However, it depends on how you define rock (which is a never-ending discussion that has nothing to do with the new album, that's why I didn't go into it). From that time on they shifted to becoming more of a pop band with the occasional rock anthem. On this new album I feel there is more of a rock-oriented approach in the songwriting but not in the execution, which is what throws me off and why I think (and this is purely my opinion) a more rock-oriented producer/engineer would be a good idea for the next go around. But it may be that's not what they are aiming for, in which case they should do what they feel is right. It was just throwing in my two cents. Edit: Having said that, I really do enjoy the new album. The songs are very well-written. In the way I experience it, there are a couple of songs on the album that don't reach their maximum potential in the recorded rendition as it appears on the album. But hey, in the end it's all in the eyes (or ears) of the beholder, right?
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