Alive and Screaming

Jake Walden | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 5, 2008)
• Original Release Date: February 5, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jake Walden Music
• ASIN: B0012ONPS2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,986 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

To hear Jake Walden tell it, the singer/songwriter spent the first half of his life as some kind of Alex P. Keaton-style would-be capitalist, rebelling against “his very hippie Northern California upbringing by making big plans to earn,“ as he says, “lots of money.“

“I was a child of the 1980's,“ he explains, laughing. “I was strong-willed and gregarious, and that was what I thought I wanted.“ By his 17th birthday, drenched in youthful discovery and freshly home from a year abroad, he immersed himself in friendship, philosophy, music, the search for self, connection and relationships undefined...following in the footsteps of his parents journey.

Several years would pass. Los Angeles would attempt to consume another. SAG cards acquired, glimpses of possible meaning and fleeting creativity came and went as quickly as the T.V. and indie film sets they accompanied. But this path would end in a single night. “I lost somebody, in a way that shattered me. And one night I had a dream. A vivid, life changing image of who I was, of whom I had to be. I could see myself, clear and alive. I knew my meaning, if only for that moment.“ He hesitates to reveal any details. “I basically opened the windows of my apartment and sat with a hazy gaze in the midnight black and, for two years, with my bare feet sliding on the cold wood floor I curled over the piano and sang into an old microphone trying to make sense of everything.“ Now, having just finished recording his debut album, Alive & Screaming, at Hollywood's Engine Room Studios, Jake says, with quiet confidence, “I think the world was conspiring for me to go in this direction.“

Indeed Jake began performing in earnest only a couple years back, but his regular gigs at L.A.'s celebrated Hotel Café quickly became legendary among his legions of devoted fans. Jake displays an unusual interest in and aptitude for forging a meaningful connection with his audience. I don t just sit up there and sing, he says. I tell stories. I play my piano with every ounce of emotion that I possibly can. Jake's soaring, melodic, heartfelt music, coupled with his distinctively emotive velvet gravel voice- which is aesthetically informed by a steady childhood diet of Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Cat Stevens, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young is both intensely personal and universal. “I want to be as raw and truthful as I can. When I'm playing a show, I try and engage myself fully with every person, as if it were just our time. If I haven't made half of the audience cry, not out of sadness, but out of hope, then I haven't done my job, or lived up to my dream. I am trying to inspire them to remember what it is they are seeking.“ He pauses and smiles with a look of heartache, “For hope is so easily swept away by the storms of our lives.“

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and MOVING, August 13, 2008

By 

Tom Lucero (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alive and Screaming (Audio CD)

Last month, I was watching LOGO. It basically was wallpaper. Just music in the backgorund. I was in the kitchen and I began to hear something that LITERALLY stopped me in my tracks. It was the video "For Someone" by Jake Walden. I instantly felt a lump in my throat and sat down to watch. While the video was obviously made for little to no money, it was simply gorgeous. Jake's eyes and movements were in complete harmony with the words that were coming out of his mouth. His voice was vulnerable and imperfect, and stunning. I FELT what he was singing.
The next day, I emailed him and he was kind enough to respond. I got his CD soon after and it hasn't left my ear since. It's easy to create one great song. Jake has come up with an album filled with them. Each one is a unique character that I have come to know, and love. I visit with them often. Some more than others, but everyone gets their turn.
Please give it a listen. You won't regret it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jake Walden IS really that good, August 13, 2009

By 

J. Spenser "JGS" (Sedona, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alive and Screaming (Audio CD)

The first review above wasn't kidding . . . Jake Walden IS really that good(!) -- the no fooling around lasting kind of good that makes for a gem in one's CD collection. I took a total chance and bought this CD from Amazon after listening to the 30 second clips posted. As "Alive and Screaming" slowly worked it's way into my soul, I just wanted to listen to it over and over again. Jake Walden has a lot to offer -- the songs are beautifully crafted and the lyrics are pretty amazing all delivered with his gravely warm voice. I have come away with the sense that this guy is the real deal and has a lot an awful lot of insight to share. All in all, I would definitely recommend this album.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One to treasure..., August 28, 2009

By 

R. Galik (Emerald City, Vermont) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alive and Screaming (Audio CD)

This is an amazing album, both vocally and lyrically. Jake Walden has a voice that sounds sometimes like Joe Cocker and sometimes like early Gordon Lightfoot, and is perfectly matched to the intimacy of this music. When he sings over-and-over the line, "I don't wanna be alone," his vulnerability is almost painful. This is an album I've seldom stopped playing in the two months I had it, and have already given as gifts to several people.