About the production of Hard to Be Human
Hard to Be Human is Chiba-Kens' second studio album which was released on April 9, 2009. During the record of the album the band and their label Gotham Records split up for unknown reasons. The band relocated to Los Angeles, California the same time and got one of the successful acts at the Sunset Strip since moving from New York to LA. Hard to Be Human was produced by Mike Watts (Hopesfall, As Tall As Lions) and Rich Liegey (ex-bass player of Wheatus and currently musician of The Smashup). The album was recorded between November 2008 and March 2009 at VuDu Studios. Hard to Be Human was released as CD with 12 tracks and as Digital Album with two bonus songs. Singer George William worked as actor (All My Children) on TV and theatre (Tony n´ Tina´s Wedding)
Cover
The cover artwork of Hard to Be Human shows a sadly-looking angel sitting on a bed watching in a mirror on the opponent side of the room. The mirror image of the angels' face looks angry. The angel wings are hanging in a wardrobe with opened doors. This cover shows the listener what the album might tell to them. The artwork was designed by Lena Brunstein.
Lyrics
The lyrics were written by Chiba-Ken vocalist George William. They're dealing with society problems, depression, political problems and religion criticism. Sometimes lyrics and accords are written at the same time by the band. While writing the lyrics George William pays attention to be lyrical backgrounds and the emotions of each song. In his lyrics he wants show the listener his anger on the modern society in a dark satirical way.
Music
The band play a quieter sound than on the early releases. Chiba-Ken started as a Post Hardcore influenced band and it seems that they changed their style into a Alternative Rock sounds with influences of Pop-Rock and Post-Grunge. George William stopped using Screaming vocals on most songs. On the early releases (I name Faces of the Moment and Are We Innocent?) he screamed in each song. Songs where he use screamed vocals are The War and The Funeral which are only available on the Digital Album version.
Review
I like this release by Chiba-Ken cuz it shows that the band isn't like one of millions mainstream rock bands. The album is produced in a nearly perfect way. Sounds and lyrics fit together in a perfect way so the message got a stronger intension. Best songs are Hard to Be Human (second track on the album), The War (bonus track no. 2 on the Digital Album) and Moonlight Mass (eleventh track on Hard to Be Human). Hard to Be Human is a song which act about society problems. The message of the song gets increased by confronting the listener with contrasts between poor and rich or ugly and "beautiful" people. For this song Chiba-Ken made a video collage which was published on Youtube. Moonlight Mass deals with depression, suicide and religion criticism. The protagonist describes the listener the hopelessness of a depressive moment or a mental disorder. Later the protagonist want commit suicide. Near the end of the song the protagonist asks God is he would'nt be able to „come down“ and replace him. Another great track is the bonus song The War which is only available on the Download Album version. The song describes war scenes in a brutal way. The War sounds harder and vocalist William use screamed vocals to increase the effect of the lyrics. As on Hard to Be Human Chiba-Ken made a video collage for this song which is played in the background when the band play the song at concerts. All in all the album is a nearly perfect produced release. I'm asking myself why Chiba-Ken aren't as successful as many other rock bands in the world but I think that Hard to Be Human is the first step on the way of success.
Fazit
This release is for everyone who likes melodic rock music and even for fans of acts like Glassjaw, From Autumn to Ashes, On Broken Wings and Boysetsfire. Hard to Be Human is a must for every rock music fan.
Hard to Be Human is the last album of Chiba-Ken. George William formed a new band called Save Our Souls in 2010 which play a different style of music.
