Unfortunately, when I popped in Life Starts Here, I wasn’t afforded the same experience.

I Love Three Days Grace.  I bought the DVD the day it was released.  I have seen them in concert.  And they rock.

All Three Days Grace fans have waiting for the follow-up album to One-X for over 3 years, and unfortunately what we received didn’t meet my lofty expectations. 

There isn’t single bad song between their first two albums, each composed mostly of excellent, powerful songs with an occasional “only good” song sprinkled in.  I can listen to both the self-titled album and One-X from beginning to end and find myself singing along the entire time.  This album may be more evolved, but evolution is not always good.  I am reminded of Minutes to Midnight by Linkin Park where more than half the songs are god awful.  Now, I am not insinuating that any of these songs are horrible.  For the most part, they are passable, but in many cases they are saved only by the fact that Adam Gontier has such an amazing, dynamic voice, and sometimes I will drown out the music itself and simply enjoy Gontier’s vocals.

Are there any good songs?  The first single, Break, will grow on you, as will several others after several listen-throughs.  The best song on the album is by far Track 7 Last to Know.  But overall, there seems to be something missing, something that i just can’t put my finger on.  Unfortunately, there is no Just Like You or I Hate Everything or Home.  There is no Animal I Have Become or Pain or Riot.  There is no song you fall in love with immediately, and its upsetting.

Maybe I set my sights to high.  Maybe I am being unfair.  Maybe I haven’t listened to the album enough to appreciate all of the nuances.  And maybe I am right.  Three Days Grace followed up their first album so perfectly with One-X that I thought they could never falter

And I’ll be honest… I Don’t Care, the song Gontier provides vocals for for Apacolyptica’s “World’s Collide” was freaking awesome.  Just perfect.  It was more Three Days Grace than any of the songs on their new album.  And maybe hearing that song raised my expectations too high.

All of that said, I still have Life Starts Here in my CD changer in my car.  And I listen to it when the sports talk radio goes to one of their insane 5 minute commercial breaks.  I listen to a lot, trying to like it, but too often I find myself goign directly to a handful of songs. 

I never had to do that with the two previous albums because they were great from first note, from first lyric, to the last.

Technorati Tags: alternative, Chevelle, Life Starts Here, musci, reviews, Sci-Fi crimes, Three Days Grace

But onto the new album by Chevelle, Sci-Fi Crimes.  And I’ll simply say that I like.  Its different than their four previous albums (yes, I’m including Point #1″).  It is a mature album than the earlier ones.  It sounds more refined.  And the individual songs seem to explore more themes and styles.  I’m not saying that I didn’t like the previous four albums.  I do.  Alot.  In fact, i wouldn’t even say that it is my favorite Chevelle album.  But it is fun to listen to as the each song offers something different.

Jarswas the first single, and while a good song, its far from my favorite.  But that shouldn’t surprise anyone.  How often is the first single the best song?  It often carries the catchiest tune but rarely is the best.  Case in point, their second album, “Wonder What’s Next”.  Send The Pain Below and The Red were the first singles, but far from the best songs.  But they were the most radio-friendly.  Closure is arguably the best song, with Comfortable Liar and Don’t Fake This not far behind.  In fact, The Red is probably my least favorite song from that album.

What sets this album apart from the previous offerings is that it starts strong, as all all of the previous albums do, with a song that sets the mood for the album, but it also ends very strong.  In this case,  Sleep Apnea, probably the best song on the album, sets the opening tone, and The Circus, the final song, closes it out perfectly.  Whats in between is interesting and enjoyable.  The music, as a whole, is slower, with less screaming and more vocal range from Pete Loeffler.  There are a few misses (unlike Wonder What’s Next, which is marred only by One Last Visitor, which is a little bizarre), but no songs I would skip over.  One of the best songs, “Fell Into Your Shoes” is very reminiscent musically and vocally of “Where is My Mind” by the Pixies, and even makes me think of the scene from Fight Club where the city burns to the sounds of the Pixies.

If you like Chevelle, you have probably already picked up the album.  And hopefully you weren’t disappointed.  But if you are interested but haven’t committed yet, go get it.  It may take a couple of listen-throughs to appreciate what you’re hearing, but its worth the cash and the time.

Technorati Tags: alternative, Chevelle, Disturbed, Music, Pixies, Review, Sci-Fi crimes