Flyleaf: Flyleaf
Friday, 11 Jan 2008 11:24
US metal hopefuls Flyleaf make their UK bow.
A&M/Octone Records, out January 14th.
In a nutshell:
Painfully over-blown US angst rock
What's it all about?
No-one does overwrought angst rock with an enormous side portion of super-glossy production values like the Yanks do. Generally us Brits tend to take these sort of things with a pinch of salt, hence the fact that the likes of Daughtry and Alter Bridge don't find themselves playing enormo-domes when they tour the UK.
That same attitude probably explains why this, the debut full-length by female-fronted, Texan outfit Flyleaf has taken more than two years since its release Stateside to make it to the UK.
Now, with the band set to hit the UK supporting nu-metal stalwarts Korn, it's being granted a full release over here, delivering eleven tracks of the kind of slick, brooding alt rock that's guaranteed to strike a chord with sulky kids everywhere but is likely to leave anyone who's over the age of 15 feeling decidedly unsatsfied.
Who's it by?
Hailing from Belton, Texas, five-piece Flyleaf are hardly the most prolific outfit, forming in 2000 with the distinctly uninspring moniker Passerby and releasing just a handful of EPs and this album over the past eight years.
The band have long been a certified 'big deal' on the US Christian rock circuit which, strange as it might seem over here where the concept of mixing religion and rock is almost unknown (anyone remember Delirious? No, I didn't think so), makes them very popular indeed.
The presence of photogenic, charismatic lead singer Lacey Mosley among their ranks certainly hasn't done them any harm either, and with tours with the likes of Staind, Korn, Disturbed and Stone Sour under their belt, Flyleaf have 'radio-friendly unit-shifters' written all over them – as the one million plus sales of this debut prove.
As an example...
"I'm so sick, infected with where I live/Let me live without this, empty bliss." – I'm So Sick
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Easily accessible music? Check. Photogenic lead singer? Check. There's no reason to think that when album number two eventually hits, this lot won't find themselves up for best alternative newcomer, eight years into their career.
What the others say
"[Flyleaf] remains a polished rock album, with striking, soaring vocals from feisty frontwoman Lacey Mosley." – MSNEntertainment
So is it any good?
It's absolutely no surprise Flyleaf are massive in the States, and it'll be no surprise if, now its receiving a full UK release, this album won't make them very popular indeed with hordes of fourteen-year-old children with a penchant for wearing far too much black.
For those of us who, thankfully, grew out of that stage several years ago, Flyleaf is just a reminder why big, brash and hyped doesn't always equal best.
While promising opener I'm So Sick, with its metal overtones and Lacey Mosley's voice more growl than ethereal wispiness, there's hope of some Deftones-lite alt-metal quality. Unfortunately it's very much a false hope as the album soon lurches into a bland, turgid mix of powerful but unexciting riffing and drab melodies. The band's 'unique selling point' is singer Lacey Mosley, but it soon transpires that her heavily-accented vocal delivery simply falls somewhere between Amy Lee of Evanescence infamy and Paramore's emo-pop starlet Hayley Williams.
By the time the album reaches the slow-moving So I Thought, it seems like the rest of the band have forgotten they're involved at all, with any aggression a distant memory and Mosley left to perform her by-now-somewhat-annoying vocal histrionics. The fact that, at times, she bizarrely sounds like a West Country farmer surely says it all.
If you think My Chemical Romance are for kids, then you'll positively hate this album.
4/10
Nick Mann
"I'm sorry but why say that Flyleaf are for 14-year-olds? The band have so much to offer, it's unreal. They are true in everything they say and do and this album is a great debut. Sure, it has been toned down a bit since their demos, but that's due to them starting out with a big record label who wanted more radio friendly songs. If you have heard their old EPs and demos, which the label has actually released Stateside now, you would notice the difference. And honestly, there is no use comparing Lacey with Amy or Hayley as all three have COMPLETELY different styles and tones of voice, it's very stereotypical because they are a female-fronted rock band." - Ben Gell
"Flyleaf are massive in the States? Hardly. They have one Gold album, and can't sell out a 500-seat venue. Check your facts, my friend." - Al Broccoli
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