Life Of Agony - Broken Valley

[Charlie Parker]

Formed in the late '80s, New York hardcore act Life of Agony have had an odd career, with most of its fan base reserving their fondness for their clunky debut record River Runs Red and being dubious of their more radio friendly late '90s material, leading to critical acclaim but poor sales. After an extended hiatus and several shit side projects, LOA are back and have never sounded better. Combining the bottom-heavy menace of their early days with the soaring anthemic grunge of Soul Searching Sun, Broken Valley is their most focused and varied effort yet.

All in all, Broken Valley is an album that puts both Velvet Revolver and Audioslave to shame. Last Cigarette and Don’t Bother are prime slices of rabid punk grunge complete with Scott Weiland-like vocal distortion as Keith Caputo spits and froths over biting riffs and lurching drums. Junk Sick and Unjustified are slow-burning crawlers, rolling amid the same muck as Sabbath and Alice in Chains at their heights. But it’s not all grunge throwbacks: Love to Let You Go is a hook-ridden radio-friendly rocker, Strung Out is a chest beating anthem and No One Survives is a slow, short meditation over twinkling piano chords.

Not a ground-breaking rock record, it probably won‘t sell any more copies than any of their other albums, just one that has enough dirt under its fingernails and song suss that raises it above so-called super groups by about a zillion miles.


Broken Valley is out now on Epic Records.

http://www.lifeofagony.com/

[Hayabusa]

Here, here. I really like 'Broken Valley', it was a lot better than i expected it to be. The bonus DVD has a lot of cool easter eggs on it too.

[Charlie Parker]

Unfortunately review copies don't contain dvds

[$exy $teph]

I didn't get a DVD with my CD either...and you'd think that I would've got one considering I got my copy when I was in New York to see them in Gigantour and since they're from Brooklyn...gutted! Still, They rocked in Gigantour and it was a brill gig cos it was pretty near their home town so loads of Brooklyn guys came down for it...plus I met the band afterwards!

Slightly disappointed when Keith said that his favourite band were Travis though. Apparantly Keith's good mates with them. Why does everything from Scotland have to come back to Travis? Argh!

Anyways, if you'd like to have a night out on Thursday, my band Twilight's Kiss will be doing a cover of a Life of Agony song on Thursday night in Rockers as a tribute to the gig played on Tuesday! Be there or feel my wrath!

http://www.myspace.com/twilightskiss
http://www.myspace.com/xdevilshalox

[Hayabusa]

What LOA song are you covering?

[Ultima]

Wait and bleed.

[$exy $teph]

The River Runs Red ......and I think I'm DYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYIN'! *riff*

[Joe Spinebuster]

the soaring anthemic grunge of Soul Searching Sun

You'd describe "Soul Searching Sun" as grunge? I have no problem with grunge or anything at all, but I'd definitely say that "Soul Searching Sun" has the cleanest sound, highest production values and just overall least grungey sound of ANY Life Of Agony album ever.

Love to Let You Go

"Love To Let You Down"*

[Charlie Parker]

You'd describe "Soul Searching Sun" as grunge? I have no problem with grunge or anything at all, but I'd definitely say that "Soul Searching Sun" has the cleanest sound, highest production values and just overall least grungey sound of ANY Life Of Agony album ever."Love To Let You Down"*

Grunge records aren't supposed to have clean sounds?
Ten, Nevermind, Superunknown........

As for your correction so fucking what? I got one word wrong. Oh boohoo!

[Joe Spinebuster]

I would most definitely say that those three albums you listed have pretty dirty sounds on the guitar distortion of pretty much every track from start to finish. I don't see how that's disaptable... In fact, I should thank you for proving my point, really. Cheers!

[Charlie Parker]

Ten or Superunknown isn't distorted in any sense to my ears but I know fuck all about guitars which I'm quite glad of as it's a really boring subject.
To my mind you can easily slot Soul Searching Sun into what grunge had become by 1997. It's no less a polished set of straight up grungy radio rock than similar albums that year by acts like Fuel or Stone Temple Pilots. Hell the previous years final releases by Alice In Chains and Soundgarden were as nowhere near "distorted" than what those two had released previously.
Fuck it Weeds crashes and burns in the same sense as Go or Sex Type Thing and Heroin Dreams is an effort to write a grunge radio hit so I haven't proven any points of yours!

[Joe Spinebuster]

When you compare "Soul Searching Sun" to what a lot of Grunge bands were doing at the time, I suppose there ARE similarities between the sound on that album and the sound of bands like Fuel and Stone Temple Pilots around then. Both of THOSE bands always seemed a little bit more polished by this point than the original wave of grunge to me, though, and seemed like they had become generic "rock" music more than anything else.
So I guess I can see where your basis for comparison to "grunge" lies somewhat, but I still don't really agree with it. That's probably as good as we're gonan get here.

To be honest I just think you seem to label EVERYTHING you like as "grunge" somehow or other, though. That's the only reason I mentioned it.

[Charlie Parker]

To be honest I just think you seem to label EVERYTHING you like as "grunge" somehow or other, though. That's the only reason I mentioned it.

Slight exaggeration