Customer Reviews

You and Others

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first heard "Life is Beautiful" on Grey's Anatomy and once I found out the name of the group, I listened to other songs from this CD on their website and liked them. Their sound is similar to Snow Patrol, Coldplay and other British groups that I like so I decided I'd give them a try. The price on Amazon was so outrageous (and it's gone up $6 since I bought it), I checked out the Amazon UK site and found that with the exchange rate and even paying for airmail shipping, it was cheaper to buy it there. I saved over $5 at that time (and based on the current cost I've saved over $10). My CD arrived in just a few days and it has been well worth it. Other than my favorite, "Life is Beautiful" which is similar to Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars, some of the other highlights are Traffic Jam, Bullets, and Let It Go. If you like Snow Patrol, take a chance and buy this CD (but buy it from Amazon UK!).

6/11/2007 The current price is substantially less than the price I paid and mentioned in my review 6 months ago (previously dated December 8, 2006--prior to this update). It was more than twice the current amount which is in the normal price range for CDs as of this date. I still highly recommend it and am glad to see that Vega4 has started getting more US fans. I'm occasionally hearing "Life is Beautiful" played on the radio and even in a restaurant today. There is so much more to the CD that is worth listening too so I hope people will buy the CD and love it as much as I do.

This is a great cd. If you like Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Embrace, The Fray you'll love this group. There are many great tracks here!

I'm enjoy Indie/Alternative bands and I decided to venture out and try new bands. I listened to one of the songs from Vega4 and enjoyed it so I bought the CD. At first I was a bit disappointed but the CD quickly intrigued me and I now love it.

There's nothing particularly groundbreaking about this album. In fact, one might say that Vega4's principal gift was recording songs that are reminiscent of songs from much better known Brit-Pop type bands--U2, Coldplay, Oasis, Muse, Stereophonics, et al. It's light rock, mope rock, pop rock, whatever. And though the songs are quite "poppy," You and Others is an extremely even album. There arguably are no throw away songs. And over the past two years, I have found myself going back to this album far more than I have any of the albums from the aforementioned better-known bands (all of whom I like very much). In fact, listening to the album again today is what moved me to write this review. Almost to my surprise, and after countless listenings, my enjoyment of this album has not waned, at all.

It is sad that Vega 4 is no longer a group. Their music has powerful Lyrics. Like their song bullets, anyone who has ever lost their first love can relate to this song. Johnny McDaid, has a wonderful voice with great range and emotion. Add songs like Life Is Beautiful, which was the first song of theirs I heard, and you have a CD worth checking into. Great CD. I would recommend it.

Vega4 has been around for years, although, like Cold Play, the band wasn't as well known on the U.S. side of the pond until several years after its debut.

Like Cold Play's Chris Martin, Vega4's lead singer, Johnny McDaid, has a hauntingly beautiful voice, well-suited to the alternative rock band's melodic music.

Unlike Cold Play, however, which signed with Capitol Records, Vega4 signed with Epic. While Capitol built Cold Play into a massive force, leading to Grammy after Grammy, Epic mishandled Vega4's promotion, and the band never received the recognition or attention it deserved. Vega4 "disbanded" in 2008.

If you like Cold Play, as I do, you will absolutely love Vega4. Vega4 wrote better music than Cold Play. Johnny McDaid sings better than Chris Martin. I really, really wish I could personally b*tch-slap the Epic Records' employees responsible for this band's demise. Incompetents.

Example: I listen to KINK out of Portland, Ore. KINK plays Augustana ad nauseum. Vega4 toured with Augustana -- opened for them -- yet KINK never played Vega4. I never heard of Vega4, never heard any of their songs, until I just happened to catch Life Is Beautiful on an old TV show, of all places.

Augustana is OK. I bought one of their CDs. I even saw the band live when it opened for the Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows. But Augustana shines at about 10 watts compared to Vega4's blinding spotlight.

This is a great CD. Nearly every track is excellent; I highly recommend it. I hope Johnny McDaid continues to create music, and I sincerely hope he hooks up with someone more intuitive and effective than the fools at Epic Records.

I heard "Life if Beautiful" and wanted to learn more about this group. I am glad I did. The entire album is filled with amazing music. I agree they have a sound that may remind you of Snow Patrol, which is another great group, but they still have their own unique quality.

This album is great, wish I had discovered this band while they were still together. Definitely will listen to this cd over and over again.

I found this on I-tunes as a similar sound to Coldplay. True, but I find their songs to have deeper meaning. The lyrics are well written and the music is powerful. It is at the top of that dramatic alternative rock genre. I'd expect to see it on many shows in long dramatic sequences for years to come. Their earlier cd, SATELLITES is also good. Both have great music with powerful messages.

I bought the entire cd on i-tunes but later decided to order the cd here from amazon, I was disappointed that the artwork was COMPLETELY different. Oh, well, they're a band worth supporting with this second purchase.

Think early Coldplay with less piano, or think Snow Patrol, what their 'Eyes Open' album should have been, and Vega4 lands somewhere in the middle. Check out the harsh ballad of "Bullets" (a true test of their talent) and don't overlook the dark gem of "If This Is It."