release date: Apr. 23, 2007
format: cd (EMI 3926582)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Richard Rainy
label: EMI Music Denmark - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 3. "Bullet" - 4. "Monday Morning" - 5. "The Outside" - 7. "Anything That's You" - 8. "Closer" (live)
3rd studio album by Grand Avenue and the band's last with EMI. The style remains the same as on the predecessor, She from 2005, and the album is a bit like: "Was this not a song from the 2005 album?". I really can't spot any progression, and what's worse: the album (again) lacks substantial material. The title song is a fine composition, though, it also displays the band's weakness as it sounds too close to something else. Something you've heard before, either by U2 or R.E.M., and the vocal of Rasmus Walter just has that combo sound of a laidback Stipe and a high-pitched Bono in a combination that you basically never asked for. Many people tend to compare the band to Coldplay, and I hear notes and a vocal that could be linked with that - listen for instance to "Bullet" and "Anything That's You", but I really think that U2 and R.E.M. are easily the biggest influences throughout the lifespan of Grand Avenue, and on this album that inspiration is simply too strong. More than anything, the album basically lacks originality. Like was the case on the two previous albums, the cover art is credited Rasmus Walter's twin-brother Anders.
[ Gaffa.dk 3 / 6 stars ]
