Howie Day's debut "Austrailia" was a wonderful album, great songs with plenty of edge. (i love edge) The problem was the backing band simply wasn't strong enough and it was a choppy album, but that comes from how it was recorded. Day would record a few songs then go tour until he had enough money to record more. Well Howie got himself a record deal, so he's got plenty of money and time. Both were well spent.
This album is much more cohesive than Austrailia, it just feels more like an album. Standout tracks include the explosive and wildly catchy "Brace Yourself" the sweet, simplistic "Collide" the driving with your windows down anthem "Sunday Morning Song" and the U2-esque "You & a Promise." Of course, I say that before I think of "I'll Take You On" or "Numbness for Sound." The album is practically flawless. Granted Howie wears his favourite artists on his sleeve, you can practically smell Richard Ashcroft or Jeff Buckley when you listen, but if I have to smell two grown me while I'm listening to music, those would be two of my picks, Howie does it gracefully.
The album is definitely where Howie wants to be and it shows wonderful growth, even the re-recording of "Austrailia"'s strongest track "She Says" is worlds better than the original version. If you don't have it, pick it up. If you do have it, you get a cookie.
This CD is simply amazing. To start off, I have never heard of Howie Day, needless to say his music before...at least not until I happened to be at Fry's Electronics a few weeks ago in northern Cal when the store was playing this album out loud at its music demo station. The moment the first song on this album "Brace Yourself" started playing, I dropped what I was doing and followed the sound of this beautiful song to where the music was playing just to try and figure out who it was by. At first I thought it was a new song by the group "Five For Fighting". Only later did I realize that it was by Howie Day (a name I've never heard of before, but whose music I'm sure I will embrace from now on). Well, after listening to "brace yourself", I thought to myself whether this is one of those CDs with just one good song, so I scanned the rest of the tracks, and to my surprise almost every single song on this CD is beyond my expectation. I love "Brace Yourself". Other of my favs are "Perfect Time Of Day", "Collide", "Trouble In Here", "You & A Promise" & "She Says". By the way, I noticed that everytime the store puts this CD on, it always attracts someone's attention. It's just that good!
If you get the special edition of this album, it comes with a DVD that offers you a glimpse at the production team behind Howie Day's music. It includes things like recording session footage and interview. The DVD disk is approximately 30 min long.
Yes it may be true that Howie was going to release Australia whether Epic signed him or not but Epic should have invested in this phenomenal talent at the get go. Instead Australia was a decent album that did not due the performer justice. . With that being said, Stop All The World was a shock! After being disappointed by John Mayer's quasi sophomore (actually 3rd album) attempt, to the point of tears. . . I was elated by this (dare I say) masterpiece!!! There was big money to invest in this sleeping giant of a talent for Epic. Spend they did with a shiny very dressed up production value that Howie Day deserved. Funny thing is Howie came through with fresh, exciting, powerful, material that meshed perfectly with what was intended. At the first listening I was hooked by reminders of days past with quality well thought out productions by the likes of Brian Eno (U2's Joshua Tree, The Unforgettable Fire). A "perfect" recipe for a wonderful album blending emotional melodies with meaningful lyrics, a strong vocal ability, impeccable arrangements, with a splash of strings to cap off this true work of art. Apology accepted Epic for blowing this future Rock And Roll Hall Of Farmer's first impression with the album buying public and the big fat tour bus doesn't hurt either! Mark my words readers! This album will sell and sell big. It will be on many a music lovers list of one of the 10 albums you wish you had if stranded on an island. In other words RUN, do not walk, to the nearest record store for this fantastic piece of ear candy. Well done Howie! And again I will remind you what I told you when we met 2 years ago. "You are going to be a huge star. . . .......
There are two Howie Days (studio and live).
The studio Howie Day (at least the one that showed up to do Stop All The World Now) generally follows a similar formula thats been seen recently with other singer/songwriters' major label debuts (John Mayer's Room For Squares, Jason Mraz's Waiting For My Rocket to Come, and to a lesser extent, Matt Nathanson's Beneath These Fireworks). All of these albums are great pop/rock records that are a little overproduced, a little too synthesized, with a full band, and most importantly, UNREFLECTIVE of the true spirit of their music. Anyone that has been to a solo Howie Day show knows that he doesn't sound like this record does. Same applies to Mayer's solo show (pre-2002), Mraz's 3-piece acoustic show, or Nathanson's solo show.
The live Howie Day plays solo acoustic shows, using a variety of pedals to create effects that change the way his songs are structured. His live songs are infinitely layered, soaked in effects, and showcase outtros that constantly change and can't be shown on a studio record. If you want to really experience Howie, go see him live. You won't believe it's the same Howie you heard on Stop All The World Now.
That being said, SATWN in my eyes is still a great disc, largely because it's Howie, and largely because I could care less that it's an overproduced corporate-influenced offering. It's still good, it's still catchy, it's still reflective of his songwriting ability. For a guy who structures his songs around 4 chord progressions, he's a hell of a songwriter. Great voice, great emotion, etc.
1) Brace Yourself (8/10): Live debut in late 2002. Nice hook, gloomy tone, upbeat in a dark kind of way. Wouldn't be a bad single.
2) Perfect Time of Day (8/10): First single from the album. As far as I know, it was written in studio. I LOVED it at first, and it's hard for me to admit that. Great chorus. Upbeat, happy song. Very radio friendly; but doens't translate well solo live.
3) Collide (9/10): This is where it gets controversial. Stripped down, it's a great song. Simple, pretty, emotional. Studio version is overproduced and a little cheesy. My fear is that Collide will become to Howie what "Crash into Me" became for Dave Matthews and what "Your Body is a Wonderland" became for John Mayer; standout ballads that will largely appeal to radio listeners. If anyone remembers, Crash into Me and YBIAW were also simple, pretty, emotional songs - absolutely amazing songs before they became dulled by studio overproduction.
4) Trouble in Here (4/10): Not impressed. Another song written in studio. It's just not that good; nothing really stands out. And since there is no live counterpart, I can't say that it's just the studio version that's lacking.
5) Sunday Morning Song (6/10): It's simple, it's a bit catchy, it grows on you. It's a decent song, it's just not capable of being a Howie staple the way Sorry or Morning After are. I think Howie knows this too; he rarely plays it solo live.
6) I'll Take You On (9/10): Great ballad. My favorite lyrics of all the new material. Slow, delicate, emotional. Translates very well live.
7) She Says (9/10): The one old song on the album, redone with a full band. I love the old solo version, and definetely prefer it, especially with Howie's interlude using U2's "One" and the outtro featuring Radiohead's "Idioteque". Because it's a familiar song, it gets a high mark from me. I'm not in love with the new one, but it's pretty damn good and Howie did say that this is the way he envisioned the song to sound when he wrote it, so..
8) Numbness For Sound (8/10): I really, really like it. I love the lyrics. Like I'll Take You On, it translates well live. Slow and moving. Pretty underrated in the Howie community.
9) You & a Promise (6/10): Chorus has a nice hook, but it doesn't really have lasting appeal for me. Doens't translate well live. Overproduced. I listened to it a lot when the demo version came out on the Madrigals E.P., but it gets lost in the shuffle.
10) End of Our Days (6/10): The music arrangements are really good. The vocal line could be better. Doensn't translate well live. Piano-based, which is kinda blasphemous to me (at least until I heard So, Goodbye). Don't get me wrong, I love piano, just not used to Howie playing it.
11) Come Lay Down (3/10): The least accessible song here. Howie's love for Thom Yorke and Radiohead shows up in this one; it sounds like his attempt at creating something that could be tacked onto the end of Radiohead's Kid A. It's just a mess. The vocal line isn't that bad, but it's just way too cluttered, too noisy, too confused. Doesn't fit with Howie's sound at all. BTW, I am a Radiohead fan; but this isn't a good homage.
For kicks, I'll review the 2 bonus studio tracks that are found on the Special Edition of the album.
12) This Time Around (7/10): It really grew on me. It's simplistic and has some of the faults that the other studio songs have, but it just seems to work on this one. It's never going to be part of Howie's rotation, but it's a decent studio song. Catchy chorus, nice mood.
13) Standing in the Sun (5/10): Ehh...very average, especially for Howie. Lyrics are a bit juvenile. Sounds awkward at times.
I hope you find this review informative...I'm not a Howie expert but I've seen him about a dozen times since 1999 and pretty much have watched him evolve, so I feel I have a pretty good sense of where he is as an artist and what he's capable of. Also, as a guitar player, I have a pretty good idea of his musical ability, and I take all of these things into account when reviewing him.
I had been a devoted follower of Howie's growing magnification, and lately I've felt a little let down ...
This comment probably makes no difference since Howie and his supporters are very successful without my opinion. However, I simpy wanted to mention that my first experience with Howie Day was when he opened-up for Tori Amos at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago a few years back. I fell in love!!! He had amazing solo stage-presence. I enjoyed him so much, that I went out & bought AUSTRALIA the next day, and I completely fawned at the MADRIGALS release.
I was so excited when I found out he was headlining Chicago's Vic Theatre in October (2003) & immediately bought tickets. A few days later, I purchased STOP ALL THE WORLD NOW. I loved the piano ballad, but otherwise I was disappointed in the rather "poppy" sound in a majority of the album, but figured the upcoming live show would make up for it.
The show at the Vic was even more disappointing than his new release. His cheesy backup band really turned me off. I am much more fond his solo performances with sinewy, emotional vocals and echoing guitar rifs... They were much more powerful, and I wish I could hear more! Until then, I've strayed away. I miss the "old Howie"!!!
