Lifehouse is one of the bands i list under "feelgood", "reliable", "steady" and gasp "boring?!" Jason wade has mad vocals and he writes some damn catchy tunes. You could play their entire catalogue on any Hits station and not miss a beat. Enter Dave Barnes, an honest song writer with some very pop friendly melodies who is waiting for the big time. Let's listen to his single first before i go into the album review
By the way, I've received some feedback that alot of you don't actually load the songs cause you read my blog @ work and so i hear crap like "hey! I'm supposed to be working!" or "The server speed is too slow!". I bet if i posted Jessica Alba breast feeding, none of this "work" rubbish would appear. And no turtle server would come between you and that child's mammogram. Anyway, i would post the songs for you to download if it weren't ILLEGAL. Not to fret, i do value your feedback/suggestions and God knows i live to serve so i will be uploading the songs Ive featured on a regular basis on a myspace page pretty soon. So you can go there and tune out. Look out for the page soon..
Ok! Sorry Mr Barnes, here is what i reckon. Verdict: I really like it. I kinda expected a 2 hit wonder from this fella from nashville but he did surprise me with about 6 keepers on a 13 track effort. He has a gorgeous tone ala Jason Wade but his musicality is much more subtle and he doesn't rely as heavily on tried and tested formulaic chord formations to churn his goodies. Listen to this lovely track "On a night like this" (Rod, Mario, you Pinoys will love this song). When he croons "On a night like this, i could fall in love with you", its perfect for unhooking the bra when you need a closing song.
So , hopefully by now you've listened to the 2 songs and are in agreement with me that he is a standout vocalist with nice hooks. The hits really roll off the album and i'm wondering why radio hasn't picked up on him. C'mon radio stations.. the world is passing by you and you're still ostriched in Flo Rida?? (ssssh but 'Low' is Da song of Da year!!! ) "When a heart breaks" is a trousers warming piece that is begging to be on some night time TV show. It's had about 3 repeat plays from me on my 1st listen and i'm still humming it in the loo.
At times, Dave's out of character gospel roots really shine through and the politically correct side of me can't help but imagine big assed, sweaty black women waving their hands in the air as they harmonize " Swing low.. sweet Chariot". So this is where the similarities to lifehouse end and the ones with fat Negroes begin. Aside from his chart friendly ala lifehouse hits, the rest of the album is speckled with his nashville upbringing and country town vibe. I for one really enjoyed certain pieces. "Believe" is crowd pleasing and really easy on the ears. At certain stages of the album , you feel Dave trying to reach out with messages of love peace and joy by addressing issues like extreme poverty and materialism. What i like is that it's all really light and fluffy without being overly sweet. Listen to "10,000 children" to hear what i mean.
Like i said, lots of treats to take away and play at home or in the car. By the way, as you've come to the end of this post, you would have realised Dave Barnes is NOT another lifehouse. ( Read the title again with the emphasis on the "not".. don't you just love perspective?)
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