Album Reviews

Hawthorne Heights

If Only You Were Lonely

RS: 3of 5 Stars Average User Rating: 3of 5 Stars

2006

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Hawthorne Heights went gold with their 2004 debut, The Silence in Black and White, a catchier-than-average screamo record that helped make these Dayton, Ohio, boys one of the most beloved bands on MySpace. On If Only You Were Lonely, Hawthorne Heights up the drama-punk ante, channeling tricky rhythms, shimmery soft parts and a metal-schooled three-ax attack into songs that are both action-packed and gratuitously stylized. The busy music suits the controlled agonizing of JT Woodruff, who alternates between little-lost-boy murmur and chorus-driving yowl on darkly catchy barnburners like "We Are So Last Year." Woodruff finds a dozen-plus ways to say he's sorry, but If Only You Were Lonely works best when he lets his mates do most of the talking. "Where Can I Stab Myself in the Ears" plows through metal-march power chords, a desperate call-and-response chorus and a tense half-time breakdown before giving way to the piano-splashed mood music of the closing "Decembers." This combination of grand ambitions and gut-level emotional impact should keep Hawthorne Heights' online-friends list healthy for years to come.



CHRISTIAN HOARD

(Posted: Feb 21, 2006)

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Review 1 of 1

hitlaura writes:

1of 5 Stars


From "the silence in black and white" to this recent poor excuse for a 'rock' album comes Hawthorne Heights' "if only you were lonely".
Now lets be completely honest, HH aren't exactly your 'hardcore' band, they did at some point however exhibit some more 'thrashy' tunes A loose example here is 'dissovle and decay' from "the silence..." which was a fairly okay album but they have taken the 180' degree turn with this album.
"if only..." shows that HH are nothing more than a pop band dressed in 'wannabe' punk/hardcore clothing.
With songs such as 'saying sorry' all one can do is burn and mourn over the disc.
One can say that yes, HH's popularity will bloom from the release of this disc because your pre-teen child is in love, and its HH that are their idols, it is NOT because they created an album that stands to be anything worth listening to.

Jan 29, 2007 05:35:34

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