THE SUMMER OBSESSION
This is Where You Belong
Virgin Records 2006
www.thesummerobsession.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
The Florida rockers debut their upbeat rock and roll song style on the national stage with this 12 song CD.

Genre
Rock / melodic rock / pop rock

The Good
The album kicks off with a solid track in “8 AM.” It starts off as a bit of a quiet number, and then really takes off. It’s got a great tempo and a solid rock foundation. The general feel of the album is of an upbeat nature. They do have one song called “Death Said” that features a conversation between death and the main character of the song. You’d think that was something that would come off as a rather depressing number, but it actually works out nicely. I liked the up tempo number “Never Coming Back” which also featured the nice lyric line “…cause reality is illusion anyway.” The band’s single “Do You Remember” is a song about a girl that’s abused by her father. The song was written by frontman Lucien Walker and it was inspired by a similar story involving a fan of the band. The best song on the CD for me was “Disappear.” It’s a marvelous mixture of all four band mates and could really be a massive radio single if this was a better day and age for radio.

The Bad
The album’s material is kind of front loaded. The first eight songs are far superior to the final 4 tracks. I didn’t dislike those last four tracks but they felt of a weaker nature than the other songs. The vocals for “8 AM” have a slightly whiny sound to them, and get a bit buried in the mix during the faster musical flourishes.

The Verdict
This was a really outstanding debut album. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when first playing the CD. The band has a nice ability to go from soft lush openings to firing away with their all out rock and roll fervor. A lively upbeat rock and roll debut CD that dares you to keep that sourpuss on your face in the face of the positive nature of the band’s material.

Did You Know?
Josh Freese (Sting, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle) provided the drum tracks for the CD. His commitments to Sting didn’t allow him to stay with the band however. He was replaced by ex-Good Charlotte drummer Chris Wilson.
Two songs from the album, “Disappear” and “Death Said” appeared on a compilation CD attached to the James Patterson novel Maximum Ride: School’s Out Forever.

Rating: out of 5

-- Jay Roberts