ALBUM OF THE WEEK #184 HOUSE OF LORDS - WORLD UPSIDE DOWN (2006)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Artist: House Of Lords

Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR

Country Of Origin: United States

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: World Upside Down

Meet The Band: James Christian (Lead Vocals/Guitar)/Jimi Bell (Guitar)/B.J. Zampa (Drums) 

Producer: James Christian

Best Songs: These Are The Times/All The Way To Heaven/Field Of Shattered Dreams/Rock Bottom/Million Miles/SOS

Disclaimer:  All "facts" come from wikipedia.com unless otherwise noted.

Something different this week.  House Of Lords was formed by Gregg Giuffria from Angel. The band was signed to Simmons Records (yep, Gene Simmons' record company) on the strength of some demos meant for Giuffria's next solo album.  Simmons insisted the band name be changed to House Of Lords and that they find another lead vocalist.  The band released three albums before Giuffria left, rejoining at a later time, leaving again, and making occasional guest appearances, as he did on this album.

• The album is stocked with decent hooks and melodies.
• The backing vocals on Field Of Shattered Dreams are reminiscent of Def Leppard.
• If nothing else, you should like the guitar playing.  It's pretty good.
• The song Rock Bottom is probably my favorite here.
• I'm not trying at all to push this as the greatest slice of melodic rock ever, but it's definitely worth at least one listen.

There, I'm taking a vacation.  I haven't done so since we started this site, so now is the time.  I'm taking the next two weeks off.  See ya in 2014.

1. Mask Of Eternity

2. These Are The Times

3. All The Way To Heaven

4. Field Of Shattered Dreams

5. I'm Free

6. All The Pieces Falling

7. Rock Bottom

8. Million Miles

9. Your Eyes

10. Ghost Of Time

11. My Generation

12. SOS

13. World Upside Down

[TageRyche]

My thoughts on the album are here.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Like I just posted on your thread, sorry about that, didn't know it was here.  But they got some extra coverage.

[TageRyche]

I wouldn't worry about it. This is your thing, what I post has nothing to do with what you post.

Double coverage all you want!

[Jon]

Out of the 13 tracks, there were only 4 I really got into, the rest was really just backgrounds music. Tracks 5-7 and 11 were the ones for me, but they still were not great. A lot of this sounded like modern-day Winger, but not as good and a lot of this sounded like some bad 80's stuff. The geetaring IS nice, but that also did not make me leap up with joy.

I'll give this middle thumbs. It's not horrible and it's not really good, it's just sitting somewhere in the middle. You summed it up perfectly with this: 'it's definitely worth at least one listen." Well, maybe not "definitely" but it's not a complete waste of time. I have a feeling that complete waste of time is coming up next for me.

[Gordon Williams]

I've got two House Of Lords releases, and both times, I bought them on a whim. Just took a chance. Found them in a cut out bin, or maybe it was at the used CD store. Got "Demons Down", which is pretty good, and got "Sahara", which is not that good...although I've only heard it a few times so far.

But this is pretty good. Better than "Sahara", but not quite as good as "Demons Down". I dont think the guitar player on this is the same guy on the earlier releases. The lead guitar on this album smokes throughout!

Best songs for me are "Rock Bottom", "My Generation", and "These Are The Times". Several songs on this one are honestly kind of dull and bland for me, but the lead guitar is so good, I would not skip those tunes. This is under consideration for purchase. Definitely would buy it if I find it cheap.