reviews
The band you hate to love return -- bigger, better and ballsier.
Hawthorne Heights - If Only You Were LonelyScott Heisel on 5/24/06 @ 11:30 AM
Lonely comes as top-loaded as any record in recent memory-the first five songs could easily be smash singles individually. Back-to-back rockers "This Is Who We Are" and "We Are So Last Year" leap out of your speakers (thanks to stellar production from David Bendeth), showing a marked improvement from 2004's The Silence In Black And White, with frontman JT Woodruff finally realizing his voice is built for solid tenor melodies, instead of letting it cash out at the bottom of his range on previous singles like "Niki FM." These two songs also show a newfound aggression and overall cohesiveness from the band, letting them firmly plant their feet as top dogs of their genre.
Another improvement over Black And White is the placement of guitarist Casey Calvert's screaming parts. In this nü-screamo musical landscape, where so many bands are saturating every last song with blood-curdling shrieks, Calvert has learned his role in this band, reserving his screams for key moments. While there are a few missteps vocally, Calvert and the band really step up to the plate on "Dead In The Water" and "Where Can I Stab Myself In The Ears," delivering metalcore breakdowns more akin to something we'd expect from Killswitch Engage. As much as your older brother might think he hates this band, if he were to walk into your room during one of those moments, he'd be into it.
However, the best parts of Lonely are also the album's downfall: Hawthorne Heights are quickly becoming the kings of writing knockout choruses, as evidenced on each of Lonely's dozen tracks; but when you write choruses as immediately infectious as the ones in "Saying Sorry" or "Cross Me Off Your List," it's damned near impossible to write verses that are anywhere near as memorable (see "Pens And Needles" or "I Am On Your Side"). That, coupled with Woodruff's somewhat limited songwriting vocabulary (virtually every song on Lonely is about loving someone, missing someone, writing to someone, going to sleep or a combination of the four), is what really holds the album from "great" status. However, when the band push their own predefined musical boundaries, as in the subdued bridge of "Pens And Needles" or the straight-up balladry of "Decembers," you can't help but wonder what other ideas were brought up in band practice but shot down for "not being Hawthorne Heights-y enough."
If Only You Were Lonely will buy Hawthorne Heights a few more minutes beyond the 15 they've already received. Here's to hoping they'll use that time to think outside of the box a little more while they write LP3. (VICTORY) Scott Heisel
ROCKS LIKE: Armor For Sleep's What To Do When You Are Dead • Lorene Drive's Romantic Wealth • Hawthorne Heights' The Silence In Black And White
Official Website: http://www.victoryrecords.com
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hawthorne heights are amazing. unfortunately, they are starting to go downhill now that casey has died. kodos to hh for staying faithful and not replacing casey, but maybe it's time to move on and find a screamer that casey would have loved, or maybe micah should learn to scream. i love hh and forever will, but the last thing i want is for them to become sellouts, and i am so scared tht tht is what is going to happen in a couple of years. RIP casey :(
I like themmm....i saw themm oncee. but thier tooo poppy now.. SUCKKKAAGGGEE
i miss casey... and now i cant really listen to them without getting this big emotional feeling on the inside so it's kind of hard for me to listen to them anymore... it's weird because i love them and always will.
AHG!! i've been posting things on their facebook like sooo many times i'm soo gonna not listen to them anymore if they dont get a new screamer i'd scream and yell and hate evryone
I liked the CD but it was the normal hh. They really need a screamer. I think it was very noble of them to not replace him, but it doesn't seem the same =[
i think theyre trying their best, and i think that everyone should learn to love the new HH. give them a break, atleast their trying to make it work.
Hawthorne heights is an amazing band and this is an amazing album it deserves 5 stars i love this album its one of my all time favorites!