Tag: Wrecking Ball

My Sunday Song – “Wrecking Ball” by Lifehouse

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For My Sunday Song #441, we are talking “Wrecking Ball”. And it is not to be confused with the Miley Cyrus song. This is its own animal. “Wrecking Ball” that I want to talk about is by the band Lifehouse and off their 2010 album ‘Smoke & Mirrors’. This was not a single, but it was my favorite song on the album. The one song that grabbed hold from the get go and I still can’t stop listening to it some 15 years later. The album went to #6 on the Billboard charts which is really great and it was produced by Jude Cole, whose solo work I really love so I found it really cool to know he produced the album, but Jude is a whole other discussion we can have.

If you are a fan of the band, you know Jason Wade is the lead singer…but not on every song. This is one of the rare instances where the bass player, Bryce Soderberg handles the lead vocals. And what a job he does. Jason originally sang it, but it didn’t work so they were going to scrap it and so Bryce gave it a shot and Wow!! The song is about a relationship that sounds like it is a little destructive. It has its good moments and its bad ones…a lot of ups & downs. But the singer can’t get enough of her. She builds him up and breaks down his walls, but then turns around a tears him down. He feels he’s riding a wrecking ball as it swings like a pendulum.

The song opens with a cool bass run and a great, yet simple guitar riff. When the verse comes in it is only the bass and drum driving the rhythm. That guitar riff comes back and then the full band is all there on the chorus. And what a great big chorus it is. Great harmonies, I mean how could it not with Jason there to handle those since he wasn’t singing. Bryce’s vocals are so smooth, and very much like Jason’s. He captures the emotion and feel of the song and you can’t help but get lost in his voice. A song that is mid-tempo song that is close to a power ballad and a straight up pop rock song. This should’ve been a single in my opinion.

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Lifehouse – The Albums Ranked Worst to First

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic18 Comments

Lifehouse started in 1996 as the band Blyss.  This was while they were in high school and by 1998, the recorded a bunch of Demos.  In 2000, the band went back and re-recorded 12 of the 15 original demos and those demos became their debut album, ‘No Name Face’.  Apparently, they decided to change the band name for this release to Lifehouse because the songs were about lead singer, Jason Wade’s life and other people’s life.  The name  was believed to be a good fit to encompass all that.

The band would go on to release 7 studio albums between 2000 and 2015.  They have had their ups and downs as a band, they have had hits, been popular and not so popular and have taken the typical roller coaster of success.  I have followed the band from the debut album all the way to today and still one of my favorites even if I haven’t liked everything they have done.  But there is more that I like than I don’t like and that is what matters.

I am going to go through all 7 albums and tell you what I like and don’t like about each as well as rank them from the Worst album to their #1 album in my book.  If you are not familiar with them, I hope this will spark an interest and you will give them a try.

WORST – STANLEY CLIMBFALL (2002)

After the success of the band’s debut, their sophomore release was a rather big disappointment for me.  It wasn’t all bad as there were some great songs such as “Spin”, “Wash” and “Take Me Away”.  Heck, the album sold 2 million copies so people liked it. It was a heavier rock sound then the first album and normally that is a good thing for me.

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Lifehouse – Deep Dive Playlist

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Lifehouse has been around since 1999 when they were known as Blyss, but it was their debut album under the name Lifehouse in 2000 that made them stars.  The album was ‘No Name Face’ and the song was “Hanging By a Moment” that brought them to my attention.  They have quietly been releasing albums ever since and now have 7 studio albums.

I think part of my enjoyment of the band is due to Jude Cole.  One of my all time favorite albums is by him called “A View From 3rd Street”.  Jude has been producing and writing songs with them for most of their career (around 2005) and that has shown through in the maturity of the songs and albums.

They finally released a greatest hits compilation back on July 14th, 2017 and it was pretty good as it had 18 tracks.  However, it was missing several songs that are better than some of the ones on the compilation.  So I figured why don’t I do a deep dive and give you the non-singles I think are the best.  I hope you enjoy.  They are in no particular order except my #1 favorite song is the last one on the list!

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