Review Summary: After hitting high on the charts as an unsigned artist he caught the attention of many. He formed a huge fanbase online and slowly worked his way up the charts catching the attention of record labels. His voice and lyrics are unique in his own way. Guaren
Now Secondhand Serenade is prob one of my favorite bands. With his cathcy tunes and the wide range he has with his voice, it sets a situation for great music. Now I downloaded the whole cd so I don't know what order the songs go in.
Half Alive - The first song I ever heard from Secondhand Serenade. Prob one of the best songs on the album. the song starts out with his vocals and guitar in the background. The major feat of this song is his vocals and lyrics.(but then again isnt the whole album like that). The song is more or less about him and most likely his wife and how he can't live without her and he needs her. very catchy song.
Broken - This song is essentially a slow and melodic song. Obvious. The song starts out with slow guitar, and he slowly eases in his vocals. This is one of those songs that you will always catch yourself singing to yourself with knowing it, even though most of us would never be able to reach his vocal range. The song is mainly about breakup and fixing well fixing whats broken in the relationship.
"And time Is all I ask for Time I just need one more day And time You ve been crying too long Time And your tears wrote this song Stay" - I feel that this really makes this song great. It really wraps up the song. And the fact that he overdubbed his voice over this part makes it even better.
Maybe - Starts up with guitar picking. and picks up with strumming which is overdubbing the picking. As the verse comes in he palm mutes the chords adding a soft feeling to the song. (or makes the song even more softer than it is). This song is pretty much about breakup and the emotions of the afteraffect. He hits home with his lyrics and you can sense sadness in his voice when he sings thi song. Again amazing effect of his overdubbing. He sings his own backup vocals adding a sort of overwhelming affect, but in a good way. Overall a good song.
Awake - The album being named after this song probably makes me think that this song has a good overview of what the rest of the album would sound like. In this song its not just his overwhelming vocals, lyrics and guitar that really get but that he adds piano in the back, adding more emotion and adds a softer but also a more harder and faster side of the song. With the mix of overdubbing, piano, guitar and vocals this is easily one of the best maybe even the best song on the album.
End - Overall a good song, but the only downside is that it is very repetitous and even though it is an amazing it takes some patience to get to the rest of the song and to the good parts. He vocalizes a lot in this song, making a very deep effect. But he does it a lot before he starts singing. By the end of the song you'll catch yourself closing your eyes and probably thinking of that special someone, one of the more emotional songs.
I Hate This Song - This start starts up with a guitar picking and another coming in with strumming as the song progresses. The song is about his experiences with a girl.(bad experiences) "You know that I hate this song, You know that I hate this song Because it was written for you" - Obviously he had negative feelings toward her. Again he captures you with his voice. But then again what else is new.
Let it Roll - Starting up with a catchy guitar riff is just the beginning of this song. The whole song is played around the him picking, with strumming to back up the picking and his vocals. The song is about how to just go with the flow take live as it is.
The Last Song Ever - His feelings toward escaping pain is wrapped up in this song. You can feel a sense of sadness and hope in his voice and lyrics. The whole song is played with strumming. and you can hear male backup singers in the background. It's about the pain that comes along with love. A touching song, one that really hits home. a really great song, one of the highlights of the album. The last part of the song where sings "scream at me make it the best i ever heard laugh out loud i no it sounds absurd scream at me make it the best i ever heard your everything your everything" really shows off his vocal range and the array of notes he can hit. Making this song a lot better than it already is.
Stay Close Don't Go - one of the only songs with an actual band backing him up. We usually dont hear electric guitar and drums with Secondhand Serenade so this really adds to the sound. The song is about his trying to keep his significant other close, hes trying to keep her from leaving. Something most of us probably have felt before. Later in the song the electric guitar and drums get a beat before the bridge adding little "flavor" to the song. With electric guitar, drums, acoustic and piano this song has everything essential for an amazing song.
Tested and True - Another song with band backup . A really good song, but by the time you hear it you've been listening to songs that sound a lot the same. Even though his songs have a lot of variety to them ,theres a sense of similarity that gives off a repetitous feeling, and this song is very much like the songs you heard before. A great song but sounds to much like the other songs, the only thing that sticks out is the band backup.
Vulnerable - The song that has a music video that appeared on the MTV and easily the most popular song written by him. A crowd favorite. Probably the thing that sticks out the most about this song is feeling he puts in his lyrics and voice. Now we all know that he does that with everysong, but this song excells at that. You can be blind and have a heart of stone and still feel something when hearing this song. In the bridge he plays between strumming and palm muting and then ends it in his vocalizing in the background with him singing via overdub. A really fitting ending to an amazing.
Your Call - Probably the best song on the album. If you didn't like any of the other songs this will definitely catch your attention. The whole song revolves a picking progression and is backed up with vocalizing and piano in the background. If anything this is the most emotional song on the album. Although a little sappy, the song is extremely romantic in its own way. The song is about his love for a girl(wife probably) and he really does great in expressing that in his lyrics and in his vocals. He hits a wide range of notes in this song, with his backup vocalizing hitting high notes and his singing(overdubbed) singing in a low tone. Making them contrast adds a very emotional effect that really hits home. Best song on the album.
