Review Summary: Not better or worse; just different.
The funny thing about band experimentation is that it
still shocks people when it actually happens. How many people complain when they put in a
Vheissu-equivalent album hoping to hear a grittier, further defined sound they ardently worshiped on an
Artist in the Ambulance-like corroboration only to be so disappointed and baffled by the change that they drag their fanboyish sentiments for the band out into the backyard and put them down? Perhaps it just shocks me that certain consumers are of the mindset that bands are inhuman, stagnant music factories existing solely to pump out the same repetitive style that sends them into a 'roid rage without the negative testicular impact. Hell, lostprophets were called out for being sell outs simply because they remastered their first album
The Fake Sound of Progress, which went comparatively unknown compared to their next outings.
I often muse how many aforementioned listeners reacted in bewildered hatred when
Liberation Transmission first made it to their ears. Although lostprophets received national recognition in the UK for their lively performances pre-
Start Something, it wasn't until their second album that they gained international popularity and success. As such, most lostprophets fans cut their teeth on such tracks as Burn Burn, Last Train Home, Last Summer as well as some heavier tracks like We are Godzilla, You are Japan (if you weren't American), We Still Kill the Old Way and To Hell We Ride.
This built a sonic base from which lostprophets would project album number three, but a
Start Something part two it isn't. Whilst spicks and specks of their old sound are present here, they have tuned themselves for a poppier album than the last.
Liberation Transmission does away with all of the distorted guitar riffs and vocal chord straining in favour of a lighter, bouncier atmosphere. Initially I was turned off by the changes (ironic, considering my first paragraph) but after a while it started to tickle the pleasure centre of my cochlea. The charm and simple energetic vibe that courses through this album is undeniably hard to resist, and eventually becomes as infectious as corruption in the senate (hur hur). A Town Call Hypocrisy, Everybody's Screaming!!! and Can’t Catch Tomorrow characterise this feel good alt-rock flow, cultimating in the anthemic sing-a-long Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast).
Lyrics, on the other hand, are still bogged in the samey pseudo-rebellious quagmire of
Start Something. While competent and congruent with the theme of both the band and album, the lyrics wallow around cliche phrases and tired predictability. It's not a deal breaker, but if they just tried squeezing a kernel of originality into the words, it would make for a much more compelling listen. To their credit, though, catchy hooks are best sung with simplicity.
To get this punchy, head-bobbing sound, however, lostprophets sacrificed their well known heavy hitting aspect to their songs that helped propel them to stardom. In this instance, it doesn't hamper at all, unless you were a die-hard fan of killing the old way while you rode to hell. If those fast paced, head banging elements were crucial to your enjoyment of this Welsh band, then you'd be better rewarded with sticking with
Start Something and leap-frogging over this to
The Betrayed, which recalls them with striking clarity from the get-go.
Even if this wasn't a huge progression, the experimentation was worth it. While some bands mix the wrong chemicals together only to have the beaker explode in their face, lostprophets instead have toyed with a more mainstream rock sound, and in the end it forged a delightfully upbeat record while still maintaining their identity. I find it hard to say that this album is better or worse than
Start Something; really, it's neither. It's just different. Variety is the spice of life, and
Liberation Transmission is a welcome example.
