Search - Lullacry :: Vol. 4

Kenneth W. (Eyesore) from TAUNTON, MA
Reviewed on 12/4/2007...

Finland's Lullacry may seem to be a fish out of water when stacked up against most of the bands that Finland have unleashed upon the metal world in the last few years, but don't let their brand of pop-metal/rock fool you, this band means business. Many of you may have already had to hold down your last meal at the mere mention of the word "pop," but this band is not so gut-wrenching. Formed in 1998, Lullacry have been at this for a long time now. After three demos they released their first full-length, Sweet Desire (now out of print), in 1999. Six years later they've released three more full-length albums, an EP and a few singles. Vol. 4 is their unimaginatively titled fourth album. I really hate it when bands name albums after their numerical order in their discography! It's just lazy and boring, but I realize that the music is more important so I'll stop my tirade before it begins and discuss the matter at hand.

So what of the music? I choose not to take the path of many reviewers out there and claim this band has tried to go mainstream with this album, that sort of statement comes from ignorant reviewers who have no purpose reviewing the album in the first place considering Lullacry have been doing this since day one. The problem is that the mainstream music world has changed in recent years. So this is likely what those types of reviewers know, what they're subjected to, bombarded with the likes of Lindsey "Why The Hell Were You Taking A Shower At 46-Year Old Bryan Adams' House?" Lohan and Hilary "Horse Veneers" Duff performing -- for lack of a better word -- this new brand of pop-rock it's the only thing they have to compare them to. And, sadly, I have to admit, Lullacry isn't so different. It's frightening to think like that, but when you get down to it if you add a good dose of integrity and metal to what those two "artists" (don't) play, you'd not be too far off the mark in reference to what Lullacry plays. The difference is that they're not trying to get in on any pop-metal/rock cash cow, they've been riding high for years now.

That may make it sound generic, but they're far from generic, it's just that the pool isn't so deep. What you get with Vol. 4 is nine guitar-driven, extremely catchy anthemic rockers and one ballad. Basically, if you've heard Lullacry before, you know what to expect. This time out they've once again taken a few pages from the book of "How To Write A Def Leppard Chorus," but at times it can be like sweets, too much is sometimes just too much.

The album starts with one of the heavier numbers called "Perfect Tonight," this song has a mild chorus compared to some, but it's typical musically with the chord-heavy, verse-chorus-verse structure throughout. It's a good song, a nice opening track. "Love, Lust, Desire" begins like the Guano Apes cover of "Big In Japan," and it's much more representative of the overall style of the album with it's melodically sweet verses and catchy-as-all-hell chorus. A damn good tune. The next track is the debut single, "Fire Within," and it's apparent why it was chosen as a single, it's an energetic, guitar-driven, heavier number with a pounding verse and another chorus that's about as addicting as crystal meth in chocolate chip cookie dough. "Stranger In You" is easily the catchiest song on this CD, it's rather mid-paced and typical of the Lullacry style, but I cannot keep this song out of my head. It's an awesome song.

The dividing line of this album is the ballad "Heart Shaped Scars," -- bridging the gap between the previous mid-paced and upcoming heavier songs -- it kind of meanders by like a slow moving stream, not really doing much other than simply being there, all nice and pretty, slowly guiding you to the next half of the disc. After this the album kicks out some heavy numbers -- relatively speaking, of course -- with the likes of "Killing Time," "King Of Pain," and "Zero," forgoing the extreme catchiness for something a little more ballsy. The band easily works both sides of the coin well. It's a good mix with the heavier tunes at the end, taking a step back from the catchiness of the earlier songs, but still maintaining a consistency that makes the overall experience quite enjoyable when you're in the mood for it.

So what is bad about this album? Nothing really, but sometimes something can be a little too good. This album is so catchy that sometimes I find myself wanting a bad song to come on. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but like I said earlier when I compared it to sweets, sometimes too much can make you sick. How would you like some Candy Corn right now? Sounds good, right? What happens when you actually eat some Candy Corn around Halloween, a handful in and you're sick of them! They can only be eaten in moderation once a year, and while I will undoubtedly listen to this album more than once a year, I will definitely have to take it in moderation, one spin at a time. I can't imagine having this album on repeat very often. Regardless, it's a damn good CD with no apparent expiration date. If only a band like this could make a living like the Lohans and Duffs of the world.

Website: http://www.lullacry.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/lullacry

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Fistful of anger makes me stronger

incubus1 | 02/23/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Despite Lullacry's rocky past efforts, I highly anticipated this album. Tanja has a great rock voice and the band has gotten progressively better so I figured there'd be a considerable amount of maturation, but no. This is the same Lullacry of past efforts. Needless to say, this is undoubtedly Lullacry's best to date, but is that really saying much?



From the opening seconds of Perfect Tonight you can see growth, vocally and musically, but as the song progresses you can tell that Lullacry has changed very little. They don't experiment with their sound AT ALL. You can expect exactly the same thing as previous CDs, hard rocking songs with varying degrees of quality, and at least one ballad. What has changed though is the fact that they've thrown some male yelling into the mix. The yelling isn't extremely prominent though, so we got lucky with that.



I will admit that the songs are considerably better this time around. The lyrics are leaps and bounds better than Be My God and Crucify My Heart, and there are even some good guitar parts included. Vol. 4 incorporates their traditional sound but Tanja is the one who has stepped up her game and made this CD what it is, no song proves that better than Soul In Half. It's the typical 'power ballad' yet Tanja puts enough of her own twist on it to make it seem somewhat fresh. If you're a fan of Lullacry's harder songs then you'll no doubt rejoice in songs like Love, Lust, Desire and Killing Time. Both offer above average music and attitude driven vocals.



My favorite songs are Love, Lust, Desire, Heart Shaped Scars, Soul In Half, and Killing Time. If you are on the fence about getting this thinking it'll just be another retread of Be My God and Crucify My Heart, then you might just wanna turn away right now because Lullacry does little to further or alter their sound from those releases, which is a huge disappointment. However, if you did enjoy the other releases, then you'll love this CD. For those of us who like to see bands evolve and mature though, this is a big letdown."