Cornered! A Weekly CD Review.

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American Hi-Fi’s third release, ‘Hearts On Parade’ brings one of the more melodic, yet softer offerings from the group since their 2001 self-title debut album.
While the band definitely takes a pop-rock approach to music, ‘Hearts’ is the next progression of the band’s sound. With hit singles in past like ‘Flavor of the Week’ and platinum status, prospects looked very good for the band, but American Hi-Fi wanted to take a different direction with their music.
Yet despite their status, they were dismissed from their label. As such, ‘Hearts On Parade,’ was self-produced and sold to a different label and maintains American Hi-Fi’s original artistic vision.
The single, ‘The Geeks Get the Girls’ could have fallen out of the first two albums and sounds more like the singles American Hi-Fi is known for, but the rest of the album is a step in a different direction.
The band wanted a more melodic sound; the music consists of easy rhythms, instrumentals free of distortions and clear vocals.
As expected from a pop-rock album titled ‘Hearts on Parade,’ the songs are mostly about relationships, changing and all the accompanying anxieties. While the songs are catchy, the overall style of the lyrics can be described as the melancholy below the surface.
‘Heats On Parade,’ the album’s namesake best illustrates the lyrics theme: ‘Take a look at what we’ve become / Where do we go from here? / I don’t wanna disappear / Our hearts are on parade / So you can watch them fade.’
As the band states on their Web site, ‘the entire feel of the album comes from change, both as a band and within each of us individually. Moving across the country, getting a fresh start, it all started the transition process for us.’

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