Letlive (Yes, they try hard to be Glassjaw...though actually succeeding at it?)

[ANattyRat]

Just got home from seeing Deftones for the first time in over three years, and now I find out the album has leaked? Yessss. letlive. seem to be very hit and miss with their fans on this forum, but I've always loved their music. I will say that the songs released so far haven't caught me as much as usual (except Good Mourning America, love that song), but they've changed their direction quite a bit for this album it seems, going more extreme in every direction, taking their other genre influences and maximising them, so I guess it's somewhat experimental for them in that respect. The Blackest Beautiful is my favourite album from them by far, but we'll see.

[ANattyRat]

A Weak Ago is the tiny little snippet Jason posted ages ago. Thought it seemed familiar. Catchy song, I bet they'll play that one live.

After listening to the album, they said there's more singing than screaming, but there's a LOT more singing than screaming. People who want mostly-energetic music are going to be very disappointed. You can see more of the other genre influences coming through. Hell, the melody in Foreign Cab Rides reminds me of Alicia Keys, haha. I think the album is awesome, it's just not what you expect (or hope for) from a letlive. album. There are heavy moments, but they're not as raw-heavy as usual, and there aren't many songs that have a strong, energetic vibe. It'll be their most controversial/divisive album, for sure.

My only negative is I don't know how the songs are going to fit into their sets, the songs generally don't have a 'go wild' feel to them. Then again, live and studio can be very different.

[LG95]

It's astounding how mediocre this is.

[LG95]

This album is so frustrating. I think letlive have the potential to make outstanding music but there's always something that gets in the way of me getting really pumped about them. On TBB it was the reprehensible production. On this, the production has improved but the music falls annoyingly short. It's not a genuinely bad album - I wish it was because I could then just dismiss it - but it consistently misses the mark. There are so many songs on this record that contain parts that sound pretty decent but just never erupt into anything special. As a result, a lot of it becomes forgettable.

Some of the praise it's already getting is fucking ridiculous to be quite honest. Jason the best vocalist in rock music? Listen to the abysmal chorus of Another Offensive Song and fuck off.

[E-Money]

Major letdown.yikes... Was never a huge fan but thought they were sick live when I saw them a few years back..

[ANattyRat]

Some of the praise it's already getting is fucking ridiculous to be quite honest. Jason the best vocalist in rock music? Listen to the abysmal chorus of Another Offensive Song and fuck off.

The chorus of one song isn't exactly grounds for dismissal. Not that I think he's the best vocalist in rock music, but reviews always tend to make exaggerations like that.

Anyway, I think the album is awesome, it just isn't people's idea of letlive. and the kind of music they tend to make. Not a lot of energy or aggression, which people always expect from this band (at least to an extent), and I imagine that throws a lot of people off. For myself, I wish there were more energetic or heavier parts in certain songs where it'd be well-placed, I feel like they've missed some good opportunities for it. But still I'm happy with the album. Think the first half is nowhere near as good as the second half though, and the first few songs are quite slow, which I don't think is a good way to start the album, but eh.

On this forum/thread, I seem to be more or less the only one who enjoyed The Blackest Beautiful, everyone else pretty much stops at Fake History, which I don't get, but because of that, I'm not surprised at all that none of you like the album. Closer to The Blackest Beautiful than Fake History, and then some.

[LG95]

Some of the praise it's already getting is fucking ridiculous to be quite honest. Jason the best vocalist in rock music? Listen to the abysmal chorus of Another Offensive Song and fuck off.

The chorus of one song isn't exactly grounds for dismissal. Not that I think he's the best vocalist in rock music, but reviews always tend to make exaggerations like that.

Anyway, I think the album is awesome, it just isn't people's idea of letlive. and the kind of music they tend to make. Not a lot of energy or aggression, which people always expect from this band (at least to an extent), and I imagine that throws a lot of people off. For myself, I wish there were more energetic or heavier parts in certain songs where it'd be well-placed, I feel like they've missed some good opportunities for it. But still I'm happy with the album. Think the first half is nowhere near as good as the second half though, and the first few songs are quite slow, which I don't think is a good way to start the album, but eh.

On this forum/thread, I seem to be more or less the only one who enjoyed The Blackest Beautiful, everyone else pretty much stops at Fake History, which I don't get, but because of that, I'm not surprised at all that none of you like the album. Closer to The Blackest Beautiful than Fake History, and then some.

I enjoyed The Blackest Beautiful a lot, I just wish the production wasn't so poor. Honestly, if the production had been merely competent on it, I think TBB would have been pretty close to a 10/10 record, that's how much I liked the songs.

If I'm The Devil though is just not as well written as it should have been. I have no problem with the style change - indeed, I was excited to see how they evolved on this album - but there's far too much on it that has potential but ultimately falls flat. Half-cocked choruses, some pretty dull musicianship in places, and repetition without it being 'earned'. If it was any other band, I'd be more forgiving, but it's letlive. and they can do better than this. I quite like I've Learned To Love Myself, Who You Are Not, A Weak Ago and Foreign Cab Rides. Everything else is either just ok or has parts that let it down.

[ANattyRat]

Yeah, I feel quite lucky that I don't have an ear for production like most do, otherwise it might have taken away from the album for me, as it has done for many, which is a shame.

I've Learned to Love Myself is probably my least favourite song on the album. I appreciate it for what it is, but as an opening song too, it's just too slow and takes too long to get into. I find myself skipping it to hurry up to the second part of the album that I prefer. Foreign Cab Rides I think is a brilliant song, it's been on repeat. I can understand your issues with the choruses, and for myself I think there are a lot of great lyrics, but lyrically it seems to be generally a step down from The Blackest Beautiful. But then again, it's a different style and theme of album, so maybe that plays a part.

Hopefully it'll grow on you, it's a shame when you're disappointed in the album of a band you love, but sometimes we just don't like everything they do. Maybe next time.

[ANattyRat]

https://www.facebook.com/theletlive/photos/a.128957402014.116819.127456477014/10154316232952015/?type=3&theater

letlive. have broken up. Or they're on a hiatus, the wording is kind of vague. But basically they want to go in different directions. Not surprising; all the interviews about If I'm the Devil mentioned that Jason wanted to do mostly singing, whereas the others (or some others, anyway) wanted to go heavier. I'm guessing Loniel in particular wanted to go heavier since I think he's a fan of a lot of metal bands. But yeah, so from that point of view it's not surprising, but I assumed they worked things out, so I'm very sad. I got to see them three times but I wish I'd seen them more, and I wish I got to meet them and hear them play some of their newer songs.

I love letlive. as much as I love Deftones, so I'm pretty devastated, hoping they can work things out. If not, hopefully they'll make new awesome bands.

[LG95]

That's really disappointing. Great band when they were at the top of their game. Fake History is great, TBB would be amazing with good production. Didn't think much of IITD and it's a shame they've gone out on that but it's a bigger shame that they've gone at all.

I want to see what Jason does next. Man is a serious talent.

[N0S3BLEED976]

Banshee is still my jam. Glad I was able to see them performing live in 2013. They tore that place down! Let's hope these guys still make music in one way or another. They are truly, truly talented people

[ANattyRat]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see Jason in some RnB type of band instead, haha. But I kind of hope not, his stage presence is very much suited to heavier genres. Hopefully they'll still be putting out music.

[ANattyRat]

Looks like Jason is in a new band called The Fever, with Aric Improta (Night Verses) and Stephen Harrison (The Chariot). Three crazy dudes making music together. Nice. They're playing a show at a place called Randy's Donuts: https://www.instagram.com/p/BWDkG8Ll_2q/?taken-by=thefever333

It's funny, I assumed he'd next be in a chilled out band because it was his idea to do so much singing on If I'm the Devil, but...I really can't see how this band will be anything but crazy. I'm glad though, I hope it becomes a proper band and not just a fun side-project kind of thing, because I desperately want to see these guys on stage.

[ANattyRat]

Here's a live video of one of their songs, it's called Hunting Season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVVCjGULw3o

[LG95]

Pumped!

[ANattyRat]

Me too. Hard to have an opinion on the music just yet, but three energetic dudes making awesome music is what it seems like to me

[ANattyRat]

First song by The Fever on Soundcloud, called We're Coming In: https://soundcloud.com/thefever333

[LG95]

Second song's out as well now.

Both of them are pretty boring.

[ANattyRat]

It's funny, the first two sound quite similar, but I've seen videos from the show they did on the 31st, and some of them sound more like letlive. songs, and some of them just sound different. They probably should've had the second song be something different to show that they don't all sound like the first two songs.

[ANattyRat]

For those of you that aren't a fan of The Fever, Jason's in a new hardcore band called Pressure Cracks. They just released their first song, Be A Wolf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzwCipj42FE