Alright, I've had a few days and a dozen (plus) or so listens at this point, so I'm comfortable reviewing this for real. What an amazing album. Memento Mori was by far my favorite Flyleaf album, and Life Screams offers some major competition for that top spot. It's such a consistent album from top to bottom, there doesn't feel like there are any throwaway songs. The songwriting here is top notch, I feel it was a fantastic idea for Lacey to write with Korey Cooper of Skillet, they created some amazing things. Now on to a song-by-song ranking along with some thoughts:
1. You're Not Alone-Such a beautiful song. I liked the preview, but didn't LOVE it. That quickly changed once I heard the whole song and had the lyrics in front of me. This song has moved me to tears multiple times, I already have this in the "play at my funeral" category along with In Loving Memory. It's THAT good in my opinion. 10/10.
2. Vanity/Rot-I know these are two "separate" tracks on the album, but they deserve to be heard together as one whole song. The dialogue between Lacey and rapper Propaganda during Vanity is very intense, and perfectly leads into arguanly the heaviest song on Life Screams. The band is really tight during Rot, and it contains a standout vocal and lyrical performance from Lacey. 10/10.
3. Life Screams-another beautiful song, this was my favorite after my first couple of listens. The pre-chorus/first part of the chorus (??) gives me goosebumps thanks to Lacey's vocals (surprise, surprise). A little less emotional and memorable as You're Not Alone, but it's still a great song. 9.5/10.
4. Feels Like Forever-I've had the chance to listen to this song for a while now, and I truly believe it is better fitted for lead single than Impossible was. Another strong perfromance from the band as a whole, and this song contains probably the most anthemic chorus on the album. And I'm all for big, anthemic choruses. 9/10
5. Impossible-I immediately fell in love with this song way back when it was released as a single in late 2015, so it's ranking is definitely affected by the number of listens I gave it before the album was released. GREAT guitar work from Josh here, vintage Lacey screams for those who enjoy them, another anthemic chorus, and pretty good lyrics. Solid choice for first single and a good way to start the album. 8.5/10.
6. I'm Not Laughing-Originally was NOT a big fan of the song (Shea knows
), but it's grown on me. Solid guitar work and lyrics, I'm all for addressing the topic of bullying as I consider it an important issue, however I'm still not the biggest fan of Lacey's delivery during a couple of lines, but it's still a solid song. 7.5/10.
7. The Soldier-wasn't sure what to think about this song when the previews were released. I didn't like the vibe of the verse, but again, I just needed to listen to the full thing. This song rocks, I can imagine this being a fun one for the crowd at live shows. The only reason it's this far down on my list is because of how awesome the other songs are. 7/10.
8. Roxanne-I'm weird about people putting live recordings on studio albums, especially covers, but I liked this. It doesn't sound too bad, and the band certainly put a nice twist on the original song. Much slower and heavier, which is all good with me. The screaming is a bit much for me at times, but that's just my taste. Solid performance. 7/10.
9. Run To You-I know there a couple of you who feel very strongly about this song in the same way I do about You're Not Alone, but I'm not quite there yet. I can contribute that to not listening to it as much as other songs. It's a little too slow for me despite beautiful lyrics. I was waiting for it to kick to that "NEXT gear", it just hasn't gotten there for me yet. 7/10.
10. Faith-very very Flyleaf sounding to me. I can't put my finger on it, but I feel like I've heard parts of this song before. It's not a bad song, it just faces so much strong competition fro the others. It's also placed in a pretty poor spot IMO. The stretch from Vanity/Rot through Life Screams is absolutely amazing, and it's tough to follow. I feel this is where the album started to drop off just a tiny bit. 6/10.
If my math is right, I would rate this album 81.5/100,
which sounds about right. Great album that I'll be listening to for years to come. If you haven't
listened yet, do yourself a favor an GO CHECK OUT THIS ALBUM!