Customer Reviews

World Upside Down

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Easily the best return to form since Stryper's 'Reborn' last year. Boasting a brand new line up around the nucleus of James Christian this may be the ultimate release under the HOL monikor yet. We finally have a guitar hero in the finest tradition in Jimi Bell (who sounds not unlike a hybrid between the great Aldo Nova and Vinnie Vincent) burning the fret board in the oldest and best Hard Rock traditions. Not only that we now have a writing team in the group that gells in every way too. Great songs, great attitude. I was dubious about Greg Giuffria's involvement in the pre-release press and he indeed does not play here, but his influence as producer of the keyboards is keenly noticable and welcome in giving the songs that grandeur they deserve. Tune wise we have sublime songs, sung as if Mr Christian's life depended upon it. No boredom evident here as heard on "Power and The Myth". We have a big rock opener in "These Are the Times" but it is track two "All The Way To Heaven" which places me into musical rapture with its chorus that won't quit and lightning guitars and the bass pulsing off those keyboards that simmer beneath. A classic. Speaking of classics I really can't find a duff one on here. Try the sombre and thought provoking "Field of Shattered Dreams" about bravery in modern battle, "All the Pieces Falling" which is jaw dropping mature rock built upon a Zeppelin like acoustic opening before building into a climactic masterpiece containing another killer chorus. "Rock Bottom" is a solid ball of rock built on a mean riff and never leaves your head once heard. Still not convinced try "Million Miles" which at song eight is a favourite to me sonically melodic is how I would describe it. "Your Eyes" is Aldo Nova territory for sure built off a speedy riff, and again the chorus is perfect ditto for "Ghost of Time" only better again. "My Generation" is unique in being a song about how great this bands generation of musos are, a neat twist on the teenage rock anthem saying let the masters tell you how it is, and indeed on "World Upside Down" they really do tell us how its done. FANTASTIC!!

I remember buying the original House of lords way back in......a long time ago,ok.They had a majestic sound which set them apart from Ratt,Motley crue,Bon Jovi,.....and so on.Their first 2 cd's were really good,and then I quit listening for some reason.I have never heard demons dawn,but I decided to give them another listen with The Power & The Myth,and needless to say,I wasn't blown away.Well,all of that has changed with their latest offering "World Upside Down". I rank this right up there with their best offerings,and I believe that it will equal or outshine anything out there currently today. It's a shame that all of the groups like this are performing overseas because the market here is so small for them. Do yourself a favor and give Nickelback a break and try the House Of Lords "World Upside Down". You will be pleasantly surprised.

The songwriting on this album is stellar. The production on this album is absolutely huge. The drumming is great. The guitar solos are awesome and long and fast and melodic. The vocals are very powerful and there are great backing vocals to match. Overall this is a must have CD for all melodic rock fans who like their music on the heavy side. What a great find!! Thanks to all the other 5 star reviews on this site and melodicrock.com who made me buy this album.

I would not even be writing this review had I not heard 'Rock Bottom' on satellite radio one day when borrowing a relative's car. I liked the song so much I decided to purchase the entire CD without knowing much else about it. This CD quickly became one of my all-time favorite CDs, and that is out of a collection of nearly 900! This CD is MELODIC HARD ROCK at its best!!

The album is full of diverse tracks that keep your interest throughout. There are not any obvious filler tracks that you immediately want to skip over. 'These are the Times', 'Rock Bottom', 'Million Miles' and 'Your Eyes' are my favorites, but I could easily mention six or seven more that I really like as well. 'Your Eyes' is one of the BEST power ballads I have EVER heard. I was singing that FOR DAYS in my head after listening to it. In fact, most of these songs are of the type that will be stuck in your head long after listening to them. This is just a tremendous album all around. I have a couple other House of Lords CDs, but this blows them away by far. I have not tried 'Come to my Kingdom' yet, but will be getting it soon. If you love melodic hard rock, this is a must for your collection. The real shame is that it took me this long to discover it!!

This is some of the best hard rock music EVER made! The whole album is great and you won't be able to get the songs out of your head. You will get a ton of bang for your buck by buying this one! It is well worth the price and would make an excellent addition to any hard rock music collection. It isn't often that an album comes around in which nearly EVERY song on it is above average. Such is the case with this one!

I must have been under a rock someplace, I stumbled into these guys by accident and this is the sound I have been looking for. To me its like the best of Dokken and Scorpions combined, "These Are The Times" is easily one of the best tracks I have listened to in years. If you like rock with some melody and harmony this is what you want. 5 stars easily earned .....

This is the best CD the band has released yet, The musicianship is better than all their previous releases. This is the comeback CD that should of been released instead of "The Power & The Myth". If they had released this disc first they would of had better momentum and would of reclaimed a larger part of their fan base. The best songs on the disc are "These Are the Times", "All The Way To Heaven", "All The Pieces Falling", & "World Upside Down" you could actually list all the tracks from the CD as the best songs, that's how strong this CD is. If you are a long time fan this is the CD to get to come back into the fold.

If you are new fan checking them out for the first time this is a great place to start. After that do yourself a favour and pick up their CD "Sahara" their cover of "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith is hands down the best cover tune ever. After that go and get yourself the two "Giuffria" releases you'll love them, also check out "Angel" if you can find them they were one of very few bands in the mid to late 70's who were out there rocking.

This is very good melodic rock,james is still got a great voice.this cd
is worth buying.

This disc has been in my player more than any other over the last few months. It's great! I first heard Jimi Bell on Vescera's "The Altar" so the name rang a bell when I read a review. One great album. Eclectic, great hooks, great mix of songs, and groovin'. You won't be sad.

All the songs are good; excellent use of keyboards along with the guitar riffs.
The intro and the 2nd song are awesome!
HOL is a really good rock band.