{"id":23992,"date":"2012-11-21T10:46:04","date_gmt":"2012-11-21T15:46:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=23992"},"modified":"2013-02-05T16:40:47","modified_gmt":"2013-02-05T21:40:47","slug":"flyleaf-new-horizons-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/flyleaf-new-horizons-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Flyleaf | New Horizons<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Flyleaf\"It seems like only yesterday the Christian rock world was stunned by the news that Lacey Sturm, the distinctive voiced front-woman for Flyleaf, was flying the coop. Even as fans collapsed into mourning and lamentations, they began to ponder if the quality of this new album would suffer or if Lacey and company would knock it out of the park for her swan song. After all, following a heavy-edged and well-received debut, the band\u2019s last effort (Memento Mori) left a lot of fans cold by incorporating progressive flourishes and theatrical elements. Would New Horizons continue down that experimental path\u2026or return Flyleaf to the hard-hitting rock style that won them legions of followers in the first place? <\/p>\n

And the answer is\u2026<\/p>\n

New Horizons<\/em> is equal to\u2014if not better than\u2014the band\u2019s acclaimed debut. Perhaps inspired by Lacey\u2019s imminent departure, Flyleaf seem to have poured their hearts and souls into this release, crafting a catchy modern rock album that conforms to the commercial rock format while coloring outside the lines enough to avoid sounding like just another corporate clone. The variety here is welcome; you have blistering metal songs, mid-tempo radio-ready tracks, and \u201csafe rock\u201d tunes perfect for Christian radio. Variety also provides verve in the lyrical department, with some songs blatantly professing Flyleaf\u2019s faith-hope-love message, while others are more symbolic<\/p>\n

The band has always used Lacey\u2019s powerful pipes as a focal point and this album is no exception. Sturm is front and center, her voice comprised of both strength and fragility, a yin-yang syndrome if you will, and while this delicate-meets-dangerous tone may be nails-on-chalkboard for some listeners, this is album number three from these guys (and gal) so you should know by now whether you enjoy her voice or not. While she does not cut loose with any banshee screams like she did on the debut, she makes up for their dearth with that fragile power that is so unlike most other female rock vocalists. She is not Doro Pesch or Lzzy Hale; instead, she sounds like Alanis Morissette might sound if Alanis ever converted to hard rock.<\/p>\n

Matching the strong vocal performance is some strong songwriting. Not perfect, mind you\u2014some tracks meander off into mediocrity\u2014but many of the songs are equipped with ear-pleasing hooks and a sharp catchiness factor. \u201cFire Fire\u201d gets the album off to a red-hot start, a spiffy little spitfire of a rocker with the kind of urgent chorus hook that sticks in your brain. \u201cCall You Out\u201d cranks it up with a headbanging rhythm monstrous enough to bruise brontosaurus bones. The album\u2019s highlight is \u201cSaving Grace,\u201d an earnest, prayerful, mid-tempo track with a big sing along chorus that has more hit single potential than Solomon had concubines.<\/p>\n

Lacey\u2019s farewell to Flyleaf firmly cements the band\u2019s status within the Christian modern rock community, an album infused with invigorating energy and freshness of spirit. New singer Kristin May will have her work cut out for her trying to top this one, but that is a ways off in the future, barely a speck on a distant musical horizon. The Flyleaf of the future may be uncertain and loaded with questions that cannot yet be answered, but the Flyleaf of the here and now has given us an album worthy of Lacey\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

Genre: Modern Hard Rock, Christian Rock, Female-Fronted Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nLacey Sturm (vocals)
\nSameer Bhattacharya (lead guitar, backing vocals)
\nJames Culpepper (drums, percussion)
\nJared Hartmann (rhythm guitar)
\nPat Seals (bass, backing vocals)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Fire Fire
\n2. New Horizons
\n3. Call You Out
\n4. Cage on the Ground
\n5. Great Love
\n6. Bury Your Heart
\n7. Freedom
\n8. Saving Grace
\n9. Stand
\n10. Green Heart
\n11. Broken Wings<\/p>\n

Label: A&N\/Octone<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.facebook.com\/flyleafmusic<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7.7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — It seems like only yesterday the Christian rock world was stunned by the news that Lacey Sturm, the distinctive voiced front-woman for Flyleaf, was flying the coop. Even […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[336,5176,5783,2939,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-23992","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-christian-rock","9":"tag-flyleaf","10":"tag-modern-hard-rock","11":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}