LIFE OF AGONY
Broken Valley
Epic Records 2005
www.lifeofagony.com

What’s the 4-1-1?
Life of Agony has reunited with all four original members, have released their first brand new studio release in 8 years.

Genre
Hard rock / metal

The Good
The music on this album is generally top notch, especially in the case of the more hard rocking songs. I loved the rapid fire vocal delivery of singer Keith Caputo on the song “Last Cigarette.”The band’s lyrics deal with a lot of negative experiences that can occur in everyday life including the murder of a loved one in the superb rocker “The Day He Died.” The best song on the album is the lead off track, the hard driving radio hit “Love To Let You Down.” The song has been getting a lot of airtime on the rock and metal radio stations, and it’s very deserving. I’ve already added it to my list of candidates for best song of the year.

The Bad
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy most of the songs on this album. I know the music was pretty good, but I didn’t enjoy the majority of the vocals. Some of the songs had odd vocal arrangements that I just couldn’t get into. It’s not that I consider this a failure of the band’s songwriting craft, more that I personally didn’t enjoy them.

The Verdict
While I didn’t end up enjoying most of the album, I’m sure that this is an album that will surely thrill the band’s long time fans. I just don’t know if beyond “Love To Let You Down”, that there will be anything that will expand that fan base.
I had really been excited to hear the full album after hearing the lead single, but I ended up rather disappointed.

Did You Know?
When singer Keith Caputo left the band in 1997, former Ugly Kid Joe vocalist Whitfield Crane was hired to take his place. The band counts Metallica, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and surprisingly enough, Radiohead among their influences.

Rating: out of 5

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-- Jay Roberts