Lacuna Coil - 2009 - Shallow Life

ARTiST....: Lacuna Coil
ALBUM.....: Shallow Life
BiTRATE...: 221kbps avg
QUALiTY...: LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL.....: Century Media / EMI
GENRE.....: Rock
SiZE......: 80.14 megs
PLAYTiME..: 0h 48min 07sec total
RiP DATE..: 2009-04-17
STORE DATE: 2009-04-17

Track List:
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01. Survive                          3:34
02. I Won't Tell You                 3:49
03. Not Enough                       3:40
04. I'm Not Afraid                   3:22
05. I Like It                        3:42
06. Underdog                         3:40
07. The Pain                         4:00
08. Spellbound                       3:21
09. Wide Awake                       3:51
10. The Maze                         3:38
11. Unchained                        3:22
12. Shallow Life                     4:00
13. Oblivion (Bonus Track)           4:08

Release Notes:
--------
For the past few years Lacuna Coil has been a band in transition. The first
signs of this transition were displayed on Comalies, but it wasn’t until
Karamcode that it became blatantly obvious. Karmacode presented a band
struggling to move beyond minor league success even if it meant losing their own
individuality. It was an album that blatantly stole from nu metal and discarded
much of what had made them previously appealing. Apparently the band didn’t
achieve their desired results because Shallow Life continues their search for a
more profitable identity but this time they’ve gone in a different, more
logical, direction. Shallow Life finds the band dropping the nu metal of
Karmacode and moving towards mainstream metal similar to Linkin Park’s current
sound - only instead of a rapper Lacuna Coil have Cristina Scabbia and instead
of a whiney emo-boy they have a tone-deaf Italian.

All jokes aside, it would be easy to focus on how the band continue to be too
reliant on other bands’ techniques but to do so would be to sell this album
short. Suffice it to say that they have definitely moved in a more mainstream
direction, but that they have finally found their niche as well. A look at the
band’s past should remind that they’ve never really had great riffs, powerful
vocals (male vocals, anyway), or engaging atmospheres; they’ve only ever
succeeded on the strength of Cristina’s voice (and looks) and a penchant for
writing moderately catchy tunes, and those are the qualities emphasized on this
album. That’s not to say that the band has totally moved away from heavier
sections (as the opening to “I Survive” proves); it’s just that they’re now
intermingled with melodic, unobtrusive riffs that take a back seat to strong
choruses.

By focusing on the chorus as the apex of each song, the band has managed to
create some of the strongest hooks of their career. It’s the strong choruses
that save a few songs such as “I Like It” with its asinine lyrics and weak
verses, and make them into something that’s still worth listening to. Another
way the band have managed to accentuate their strengths is through the
near-constant use of subtle keyboard melodies and sound effects. These stylish
flourishes work in tandem with the guitar riffs and strong choruses to create
songs that are memorable while still retaining the slightest edge. Of course,
some may see these influences as shortcomings but they really have helped the
band move forward.

The band’s actual shortcoming is the same one that they’ve had since their
inception, the weak vocals of Andrea Ferro. Andrea still delivers his vocals the
same way that he always has - in an uncontrolled, atonal shout that lacks any
power or grace. In his defense he does sound better than on previous albums, but
that probably has more to do with a larger budget to clean up his vocal
deficiencies than any actual increase in ability. Having said that, the few
times where he is allowed to take the spotlight with minimal musical
accompaniment, such as on “This Maze”, he is absolutely terrible; apparently no
amount of studio tricks can help him completely. Much less of a limitation is
that the band is obviously still getting used to their new style, causing them
to occasionally introduce awkward lyrics or musical sections but they’re never
bad enough to kill a song.

Lacuna Coil’s shift into mainstream metal will probably be met with some
backlash by long-time fans, but most of it will be completely unwarranted. The
band has only ever been good at a few things and deciding to emphasize those
elements is a completely logical step. This focus has resulted in a good
collection of memorable songs that end up being an enjoyable listen. There will
be obvious complaints about a lack of heavy riffs, gothic influences and
whatever else they’ve discarded, but the fact remains that they weren’t good at
those things in the first place. At the end of the day, this album might not be
what the change-resistant fans wanted to hear but it was necessary and more
importantly, they pull it off quite well.