Band : Lifehouse
Album Title : Smoke & Mirrors
Label : Geffen
Distribution : Universal Records
Release date : May 2010
Review : CD

Lifehouse is an alternative rock band from Los Angeles that instantly achieved a breakthrough in 2000-2001 with the hit single “Hanging By A Moment” from their debut album “No Name Face”. The main man of Lifehouse is singer/guitarist Jason Wade, who nowadays has Rick Woolstenhulme Jr (drums), Bryce Soderberg (bass) and Ben Carey (guitar) as fellow musicians. The success of Lifehouse –who sold over eight million singles and albums worldwide- is based on the appealing mixture of anthemic rock tracks and catchy pop songs, wherein the melancholic voice and subtle songwriting of Jason Wade excel.

These elements are also warmly present on their fifth album, “Smoke & Mirrors”. Nice to know is that the track “Had Enough” was co-written by Jason Wade with Chris Daughtry (who also performs guest vocals on the song) and Richard Marx.“Smoke & Mirrors” contains 17 songs and has a playing time of 67 minutes. Highlights of the album are the opening track “All In”, “Had Enough”, the first single “Halfway Gone”, “It Is What It Is”, “From Where You Are”, “Falling In”, “By Your Side”, “All That I’m Asking For”, “Crash And Burn, and the live in studio version of “Everything”.

Lifehouse is coming to Europe in September and October 2010, with for instance three dates in the Netherlands: 013, Tilburg on September 22nd; Paradiso, Amsterdam on September 23rd and Oosterpoort, Groningen on September 24th 2010.

88/100

Erik.