Live & Learn

House of Fools | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 6, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drive Thru
• ASIN: B000MMLPBO
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,435 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Introduction

2. It Could Be Easy

3. Until It's Over

4. My Life Before Today

5. Kiss the Haze

6. Me & Everyone I Know

7. What Are We Supposed to Do

8. Go Down

9. Better Part of Me

10. Interested

11. Pour Me Out

12. I Heard a Rumor

13. Coke & Smoke

14. Live and Learn

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The [...] Album Review by Scott Irvine, March 6, 2007

By 

Brian S. Popowitz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live & Learn (Audio CD)

[...]

Though second-guessing was extensive when I first jumped into Live and Learn, it soon become strikingly blatant that House of Fools is so subtly brilliant that it's a wonder this band hasn't made it further than they have. First impressions hardly grasp the finer points of the album, so I'm glad I came back to Fools's debut as quickly as I did. Hailing from North Carolina, this sextet is just one of those bands that really doesn't need much explanation. Rhythmically solid collectivity and well orchestrated country-influenced pop cadence flow through all fourteen tracks exceptionally, only stumbling on a few tracks here and there. It's no wonder they were confidently scooped up by Drive-Thru and have been on "Look Out For..." lists ever since. With the release of their incredible debut, Live and Learn, expect a scene of fools for House of Fools real soon.

With a couple songs still lingering on the debut that date back to the band's self-titled EP ("My Life Before Today", "Kiss the Haze"), we get a chance to sample both the old and the new. But the tracks we're still rocking from the EP hold their charm and are in fact some of the best songs on Live and Learn. "Kiss the Haze" is undeniably the highlight of the album's first half simply because its completely unique sound and best example of that collectivity I spoke of earlier. If it's not bassist Jeff Linn's irreplaceable arpeggio-based grooves fronting drummer Phil Bell's one-two beat, its Matt Bowers's organ-like keyboard tone backing vocalist Josh King's lively chorus lead.

And as I witness this perfect soundtrack to warm Southern days, so graciously peppered with hints of The Beatles and The Format, nothing so delightful could be led by any better than the former mentioned frontman. Josh King's freshly reserved vocals rarely miss a beat, and the rest of the band is staunch to propel King's vocal style to new heights. Lyrically, Drive-Thru aptly describes them as "open-hearted". Though standard, if not cliché, biography terminology, it really undermines King's lyrical range.

"Diving like a bird/I picked the blue out of your eyes/Hijack a plane to France/If we could watch the moon/Dance across the street into a bar/I would never leave/But I know I'll have to go sometime/You're hold on me is stronger than the alcohol/That is slowly killing me."

The second half of the album lacks the energy of the first seven songs, but more down-to-earth tracks such as "Better Part of Me" and "Coke and Smoke" makes up for the fact there are uncharacteristically slower-tempo, etc. songs finishing off the album. I mean, songs like "I Heard a Rumor" are just painful, considering the fantastic formula the band established previously. However, the title-track album closer, "Live and Learn", finishes the album off nicely with a pleasing piano based jive to jam-band outro.

Though I find myself less and less interested in the going-ons of Drive-Thru Records, House of Fools has the label once again part of my life with one of my favorite releases for 2007 thus far. Live and Learn is a feel-good rock album that experiments with engaging folk elements; evening out to a thoroughly good debut from quite a promising collective. Though a couple of songs included were previously released, there's no reason why one who even had a slight interest in the EP should pass up this beauty. Live and Learn is gorgeous.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith in music restores, February 19, 2008

By 

AquaboyTpa (Tampa FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live & Learn (Audio CD)

Radio as a means to discover good music lost my faith long ago. Until I pidcked up this CD, I thought I'd lost my faith entirely in the music industry. But then one day a friend of mine played "Pour me Out" for me, and I knew that there was still some magic left out there.

The band refers to their style as rock/folk/experimental, and they're not far off. In fact, in some songs you'll find on genre at the beginning and wind up with another at the end. Their musicianship, song craftsmanship and production rival in quality (although not in style) to contemporary masters like the Dave Mathews Band.

The cd starts out sedately but well, but by the time you're 1/3 into "Until it's Over", you don't know what you're in for. It starts out sweetly, and then becomes this anthemic 1970s guitar romp that changes chord patterns and tempos several times, shifting finally to a piano taking the stage. "My Life Before Today" just sparkles. This is a band that makes you feel good because the music is so good. "Kiss the Haze"... what can I say. Why this single never really took off is beyond me. It's fun (a harpsichord and a brass band in a ska tune? Who knew?)and is extremely well-recorded. "Me and Everyone I Know" channels the band's inner Mark Knopfler. "What are we Supposed to Do?" is sublimely beautiful with rich strings and synths. The prog side of the band escapes toward the end of "Go Down", rivaling Muse in arpeggios and crunching guitars. The stunner on this amazing disc has to be "Better Part of Me" which is just brilliantly sunny. The arrangement is breathtaking, with guitars, organs and banjos taking turns in the foreground. It's one of those shiny summery songs you just don't want to end. I wish they'd added another verse. The lone vocal track that seemed out of place with the rest of the album was "Interested", which is followed by the dark of "Pour Me Out" which at first recalled to me early work by a little known band called Ours. Beautifully dark. "I Heard a Rumour" ends with a Muse/Queen-esque a capella. The album comes to it's "official" end with "Live and Learn" which starts out with a somewhat creepy piano intro--again, with a retrofitted psychodelic-era chord pattern. It ends in a glorious celebration of sound.

The vocals are brilliant--only occasionally sparking into bombast, giving the album an honesty and believability that is hard to find these days.

For those of you who drive a lot, this is a CD that will help you forget the traffic for awhile.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best albums in the last 10 years, July 15, 2009

By 

Andrew Hall - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live & Learn (Audio CD)

If you listen to this band once and aren't crazy about them or if you just listen to the sample and are undecided buy the album. It takes a little while to sink in simply because you naturally want to classify it in a specific genre but can't. This is rock in it's purest form, this band is the real deal. To me they sound like The Format and Queen fuzed together with some bluegrass influence. Although I can listen to this whole album on repeat for hours, Live and Learn, the title track, was the song I originally fell in love with. Live and Learn starts out soft and slow with piano and eventually swells into this epic rock opus the likes of which i haven't heard since Led Zeppelin and Queen. Buy this album and enjoy.