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CD reviews

Lucy

Candlebox - Lucy Audio CD

A fair review of the Candlebox "Lucy" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Candlebox reviews here, or go back to the Candlebox tabs.

Band: Candlebox
Title: Lucy
Rating:

Release Date: 2007-03-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Simple Lessons 2: Drowned 3: Lucy 4: Best Friend 5: Become (To Tell) 6: Understanding 7: Crooked Halo 8: Bothered 9: Butterfly 10: It's Amazing 11: Vulgar Before Me 12: Butterfly (Reprise)

overlooked and underrated. The first album screwed this one!!!
I liked both of which went on too sell 10 million and 30 million copies worldwide. This album came out about the time Live Throwing Copper and Aanis Morisettes Jagged Little Pill came out. I also bought Lucy around the same time which sold only 500,000 copies. Sorry but the difference in sales between the first 2 albums and lucy is not the best way too judge Lucy. The other 2 caught lightning in a bottle. As they say timing is everything. Of which unfortunately Lucy had bad timng and closed minded expectations. Most people would consider Lives Throwing Copper to be their first album. Hardly anyone ever heard of Live or Mental Jewelery until they became big from THrowing Copper. Jagged Little Pill was definitely Morrisettes first big U. S. release. So they had no expectations of prior albums to be judged by. Look were they`re follow albums went after these landmark sounding albums. Well Lucy would have been a great first album just as throwing copper and jagged little pill were.

The first album essentially sabotaged their chance for growth that took place in the 2nd album. I mean their are still traces of the 1st album in here. Bothered, Amazing and Simple Lessons would have sounded natural on the first album. I guess some narrow minded simpletons just want cookie cutter stuff. Understanding and Vulgar before me touched me.
I did not know these guys had a poigniant depth to their music. The first was str8 rock. This is more a well rounded effort with depth.
Worthy of at least the 4 million copies of the first album. E.

Underrated
I know some people do not like the album, because it doesn't have many up-tempo selections like the debut self-titled album, but I think this album has a nice combination of melody and raw rock music. This is a really solid collection of songs.

darker, but still worth a listen
Kevin Martin and company dig deeper for a more definative sound in their followup to major success self-titled debute 2 years prior to this release. Taken for garbage as grunge was pretty much dead by the time this ablum comes out, Lucy still provided memorable tracks and noteworthy lyrics. Lucy trys capturing a more theme sound of darker, more pungent rawness to each song.

To begin, the single "Simple Lessons," a considerably short song flames w/ a great guitar line, and furious fit of rage w/in Kevin's voice playing an earful of rock rage throughout the chorus.

With "Drowned", a sense of depression type mood sets over for any down to earth emotional song. It's really a beautiful song if you just give it a shot and really listen to the lyrics. The words are open enough for anyone one really to relate to them.

The title track has somewhat of a rythmic trance which resonates throughout the song. The vocals are rather soft, but I feel like it is similar to "He Calls Home" with a much more darker atmosphere lingering upon the guitars.

"Best Friends" is a little off page to the albums general feel. This song is a little more poppier, and less moodier. If you like the song "Can't Give In" off the Airheads ST, then ya might like this song.

The album peaks with "Become (To Tell)" and "Understanding. " Both are remarkably dark but less forceful than anything on the self-titled album. "Become" is a little uptempo w/ a great beat, but "Understanding" is what I consider the little brother of "Change. " It has the soft lead up to a strong rage. Instead of being 'written down' Martin wants to 'raise it on my own'. "Understanding" may sound like "Change" but the lyrics are very different in meaning.

I'll go ahead and give "Crooked Halo" and "Bothered" the titles of fillers. I don't mind listening to them at any time, but I just could never really get into either song. Thus the reason why only 4 stars.

"Butterfly" and "Butterfly (Reprise)" are esentially one huge song obviously, but we get "It's Amazing" and "Vulgar Before Me" in between. The last 4 songs here are all great with my fav being VBM out of the 4. All correlate the whole 'dark aura' feel as w/ the rest of the album. Each are somewhat less rock, and more deeper w/ introduction to what we will eventually get on Happy Pills.

All in all, Lucy is no slouch except for a few songs. It's somewhat more of a transitional album than a hits album, and more themed. Lucy was never really judged fairly, and although more of a sway away from grunge and more into the post-grunge area a la Bush, Our Lady Peace, Better Than Ezra, Everclear, and Foo Fighters major debuts that came out about at the same time. .

1995 was just an odd year for music
Despite the hugely successful self titled release two years prior, lucy was discarded by everybody as soon as it was released. At a time when grunge was certainly in decline, and hard rock/heavy metal acts like Korn, Pantera, etc, were growing in popularity, Candlebox was unfairly neglected by radio, music lovers, and MTV. And it was their finest work.

Many people complain that Candlebox didn't have a "defined" sound, which was perfectly reflected in lucy. I disagree with those people who see a dramatic shift between the band's first and second albums, but I suppose that is mainly subjective. Lyrically, lucy is simple; Kevin Martin chooses rhyming over substance in many songs, which is fine for the time period when everything was so serious and bleak. I don't see the overall bleakness of lucy like others, although uplifting is not a word one would use for the album or the band itself.

Musically, lucy is defined by the standouts: Simple Lessons, Understanding, and Butterfly (Reprise). Not the radio friendly music the self titled release contained, musically lucy is more "in your face" and raw. Combined with Martin's emotional yet simple lyrics, lucy is a powerful album. Unfortunately the emotion and power was lost on a generation of confused music listeners and has fallen into oblivion. But this is definitely an album worth buying if you're a fan of the first Candlebox album, Our Lady Peace, or Seven Mary Three. .

Tough Call
It doesn't convey a mood you want to put yourself in very often, and I think that's part of why this album seems less popular than thier others, and the singles from it have faded from radio airplay. I won't agree with the reviews that call this "bad music" -- however, it is very sullen and wistful.

I think tracks #5 "Become (To Tell)" and #8 "Bothered" to me are the standouts. Crunchy, locomotive hard rock, with heavy 1970s-style distortion that you just don't hear musicians attempt much anymore. Get that air guitar out when you play these!

But overall, it's an album for fans that want to spend time investigating Candlebox. . . It takes effort to like this CD.

You can see a complete list of all Candlebox discography, or go back to the Candlebox tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.