STARFIRE Posted May 22, 2011 Report Share Posted May 22, 2011 HOUSE OF LORDS World Upside Down (2007) Locomotive Records Produced by: James Christian For the Genre: ***** (5/5) Compared to the Era: ***** (5/5) World Upside Down echoes shades of Dokken, a little Yngwie Malmsteen, and even Eddie Money. Yet, this is another masterpiece by Kal Stahlenberg, his mastering and Dennis Ward’s legendary mix delivering a modern sound that is sharp and heavy. Melodic Rock fans will enjoy founding member Gregg Giuffria’s keyboard synthesizer work, but it is tasteful and far from contrived. Rather than overbearing, it heightens the definition of the melody in each song. However, my favorite audio aspect of this record is the rock solid, heavy and steady drum work by B. J. Zampa from his studio in Connecticut where he also tracked the legendary Jimi Bell. I could have used a deeper timbre with greater breadth in sound on the guitar solos, and there were some inconsistencies on the drum tracks—particularly on the snare where, at times, it too sounded a bit thin. Nevertheless, I am seriously nitpicking when I cite these things, as I feel an honest review has to be critical. The fact of the matter is, I enjoyed listening to this record over and over and over again because it’s just so strong. The heaviest songs were, “I’m Free,” “These are the Times,” and “Rock Bottom” with “These are the Times” SO thoroughly addictive, I not only bought the MP3, but it made me go onto buy the CD. I’m glad I did, as MONOWASP—again—hits it out with some of the most fantastic album artwork that I have ever seen. While not heavy metal, hard rock songs included “All the Way to Heaven,” “Million Miles,” “Ghost of Time,” and all three are absolutely PERFECT. I was especially fond of the melody in Million Miles but the groove on “Ghost of Time” is thoroughly captivating. A slower rock track, “Your Eyes” is right on par with “Million Miles,” but with, perhaps even better lyrics. I can’t pick a favorite among these because each had a different way of thrilling me. No AOR album would be complete without a great rock ballad, and we find them in great songs like “Field of Shattered Dreams,” “All the Pieces Falling,” and “World Upside Down” with my favorite being the first. Just a gorgeous acoustic guitar intro, a beautiful set of melodies and wonderful tone and patterns on the drum tracks. Tying with “These are the Times” as my favorite song on this CD is “My Generation.” Aside from the tremendous chorus—and I mean so tremendous, you will literally stop what you are doing when you hear it—the lyrics just say it all: “My generation will take your breath away, just let the music play. My generation will always lead the way, just like yesterday.” AMEN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIM (2) Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 Interesting. This means you think the album's as good as "Demon's Down"? I definitely think "World Upside Down" is their last great album but I don't think it's flawless, even if "Million Miles" is one of my fave songs of the past 10 years or so. I'd probably rate all this bands first 3 albums above it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Planet Posted May 24, 2011 Report Share Posted May 24, 2011 I've got to admit that "World Upside Down" is my favorite HOL release so far...although Demons Down is a very close 2nd... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted May 25, 2011 Report Share Posted May 25, 2011 I'd put 'World Upside Down' 3rd after the debut and 'Demons Down.' I like 'Sahara' but would definitely rate it above that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightrain Posted May 25, 2011 Report Share Posted May 25, 2011 I rate this higher than the first two, but very close to Demon's Down, might be the best of their career. CTMK is still good, but then they started to sound the same and that also applied to their latest album, CD. Hopefully the new album this year will be a little bit inventive in terms of sound, but also stays majestic, especially on the choruses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heaven&hell Posted May 25, 2011 Report Share Posted May 25, 2011 1. Sahara 2. Demons Down 3. World Upside Down 4. S/T 5. Cartesian Dreams 6. Come to my Kingdom 7. Power and the Myth I'm one of those weirdos that worships "Sahara" but really love all of them except "Power and the Myth". "World Upside Down" is amazing and doesn't have one tune I don't like and has some of the best songs they've ever done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TIM (2) Posted May 26, 2011 Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 1. Demons Down 2. S/T 3. Sahara 4. World Upside Down 5. Come to my Kingdom Oh, and these two turkeys... =6. Cartesian Dreams =6. Power and the Myth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 1. Demons Down 2. S/T 3. Sahara 4. World Upside Down 5. Come to my Kingdom Oh, and these two turkeys... =6. Cartesian Dreams =6. Power and the Myth Closer. Wes was way off, though. Here's the proper one: 1. Demons Down 2. S/T 3. World Upside Down 4. Come to my Kingdom 5. Sahara 6. Cartesian Dreams And only because it's probably respectful to name all of their CDs, vomit inducing as this one is: 7. Power and the Myth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rocker Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 1. Demons Down 2. World Upside Down 3. Sahara 4. S/T 5. Come To My Kingdom 6. Cartesian Dreams I can't even rate the other one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heaven&hell Posted May 27, 2011 Report Share Posted May 27, 2011 1. Demons Down 2. S/T 3. Sahara 4. World Upside Down 5. Come to my Kingdom Oh, and these two turkeys... =6. Cartesian Dreams =6. Power and the Myth Closer. Wes was way off, though. Here's the proper one: 1. Demons Down 2. S/T 3. World Upside Down 4. Come to my Kingdom 5. Sahara 6. Cartesian Dreams Sorry cousin but I was right on. What's up with the no love for Cartesian Dreams? I thought it was better than Come to My Kingdom which was real good but was a b version of World Upside Down and didn't rock enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STARFIRE Posted July 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 Interesting. This means you think the album's as good as "Demon's Down"? I definitely think "World Upside Down" is their last great album but I don't think it's flawless, even if "Million Miles" is one of my fave songs of the past 10 years or so. I'd probably rate all this bands first 3 albums above it... Most definitely. Demons Down did not have nearly the number of catchy or intense tracks that World Upside Down had in my opinion. Their debut album is timeless classic and one that, I feel, didn't get the radio attention it deserved at the time, but even that record wasn't as good as WUD. I'm kinda hoping that HOL's new album I'm hearing about is more along those lines than Cartesian Dreams. It was powerful sounding but really didn't grab me the same way WUD did; These are the Times is simply one of the best heavy melodic rock songs I've heard in the last five years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.