{"id":31589,"date":"2013-08-25T10:01:36","date_gmt":"2013-08-25T15:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=31589"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:37:27","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:37:27","slug":"another-lost-year-better-days-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/another-lost-year-better-days-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Lost Year | Better Days<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"ALY-BetterHailing from the heart of NASCAR country (Charlotte, North Carolina) is the five-piece alternative rock, metal band known as Another Lost Year. They had released their debut album, Better Days, in late 2012, and have spent much of their time touring with some big name acts. They have opened for Hinder, Pop Evil, SevenDust, Skid Row, Rev Theroy, and CandleBox \u2013 to name a few, and hit the stage along most of the East Coast and central US.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter Days\u201d opens with big booming bass and drums courtesy of Lee Norris and Jason Lovelace \u2013 who make a tight bottom end throughout the balance of the album. Strong guitar riffs from Dave Whitaker and Adam Hall pile on, and the deep voice of Clinton Cunanan kicks in (and he can kick up to a neat growl when needed). Neat acoustic guitars and muffled vocals open \u201cWar On The Inside\u201d, but the same murky lyrics, sluggish tempo, and pounding riffs don\u2019t do too much to differentiate this track from the others. Cunanan does an admirable job with the layered vocals, and his smooth and deep voice suits the track well. Bouncing bass and solid drum support drive \u201cAll That We Are\u201d and the heavier, more metal \u201cBroken.\u201d Finally the tempo changes a bit in the more upbeat \u201cWhat I Deserve,\u201d but the lyrical content is typical brooding alternative.<\/p>\n

The second half of Better Days starts out more diverse and appealing. \u201cAngels\u201d is a true standout track, featuring a great duet with Cunanan and a female singer credited as \u201cLish.\u201d The instruments are secondary to this amazing vocal performance. Fine acoustic guitars and great vocals again make the more commercial rock \u201cRun Away\u201d a very good track, allowing the entire band to step forward and have their moments. \u201cYour Last Goodbye\u201d is the only track that is really poor \u2013 it is simply dull and clich\u00e9d. \u201cWriting On The Wall\u201d is a weird mix of pop, punk, and grit \u2013 sounds like they just assembled random pieces of other tracks to make it. These two tracks are so out of place that they seem like time-fillers, and drag the rest of the album down a bit. \u201cCome And Gone\u201d is Nickelback reincarnated \u2013 well done. The album wraps with \u201cForget About Us,\u201d right back to the heavy standard guitar riff – sluggish melody line \u2013 booming bass \/ drum \u2013 soaring chorus formula.<\/p>\n

Better Days<\/em> is a hit and miss album. There is no doubt that the members of the band are immensely talented, as their performance on the CD is nothing short of excellent. Unfortunately there is little to set them apart from almost every other \u201calternative\u201d rock act out there today. The musical style is not unique or fresh, and neither is the subject matter of their lyrics. It is only on the few tracks that are \u201cdifferent\u201d do they break the general \u201csameness\u201d of the album and show their full potential. The album itself is very well mixed and engineered, particularly when it comes to Cunanan\u2019s vocals. The mix brings out a warmth not always present in alternative genres. Unfortunately the musical variety and content don\u2019t live up to the technical and musical performances, resulting in pretty much another formulaic, cookie-cutter alternative rock release.<\/p>\n

If you are into Top 40 radio alternative rock, then Another Lost Year is the band for you. If you are looking for something revolutionary (or even simply evolutionary), look elsewhere because despite all their talents and vast potential, the boys in ALY don\u2019t really bring anything new to the table (yet). Maybe they\u2019ll push for their sophomore release\u2026<\/p>\n

Genre: Alternative Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nDave Whitaker (guitar)
\nClinton Cunanan (vocals)
\nAdam Hall (guitar)
\nLee Norris (drums)
\nJason Lovelace (bass)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tBetter Days
\n2.\tWar on the Inside
\n3.\tAll That We Are
\n4.\tBroken
\n5.\tWhat I Deserve
\n6.\tAngels
\n7.\tRun Away
\n8.\tLast Goodbye
\n9.\tWriting on the Wall
\n10.\tCome and Gone
\n11.\tForgot About Us<\/p>\n

Label: Thermal Entertainment<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/www.anotherlostyear.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis – Senior Columnist — Hailing from the heart of NASCAR country (Charlotte, North Carolina) is the five-piece alternative rock, metal band known as Another Lost Year. They had released their debut album, […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":31590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[2317],"class_list":{"0":"post-31589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31589","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=31589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}