Lifehouse - "Disarray" (2007)

You may not believe me, but I was onto Lifehouse before anyone else. OK maybe not anyone, but I was pretty close. I got their debut No Name Face for Christmas in 2000. I loved that CD and it became the soundtrack to the second half of my junior year of high school. They had a great pop sound but also rocked which was cool. Plus Jason Wade’s lyrics dealt a lot with trying to figure things out for yourself and that resonated with me at sixteen. Eventually everyone else found out about the band I thought only I knew and their hit single “Hanging By a Moment” went on to become the most played song on the radio in 2001. They followed up in 2002 with Stanley Climbfall, a great collection of tracks that seemed to rock a little harder than their previous work. The single “Spin” was great and saw a little airplay but it was no “Hanging By a Moment” and Lifehouse kind of faded out for a while. After some lineup changes, they came back strong with their self-titled third album in spring of 2005. It yielded probably their next biggest radio hit “You and Me” which could be construed as cheesy, but it’s a great pop song that is destined to be played at weddings for years to come. I liked Lifehouse, but I didn’t really listen to it as much as I did the other albums. I guess my musical tastes changed somewhat over those years. It’s still a really good album. Now Lifehouse have released their fourth album Who We Are. I think this one harkens back to No Name Face a little bit, with first single “First Time” re-capturing a little of the magic “Hanging By a Moment.” They also turn up the amps a little more on this as can be heard on today’s song, the album’s opener. Another bonus for fans that have dug around and found Lifehouse rarities online, is the re-recording of the track “Storm.” This song was originally released on a CD called Diff’s Lucky Day, back when Lifehouse were known as Blyss. “Storm” was always one of my favorites of those old songs and it’s great to hear a new version of it. All in all, Who We Are is a solid album of pop-rock songs that don’t disappoint. As long as Lifehouse are making music, I’ll be paying attention.

Lifehouse - Disarray