1. Hold On
2. Song For The Broken
3. Confession
4. Be Alive In Me
5. Here We Are Now
6. Providence
7. City Lights
8. Safe In Your Arms
9. Atmosphere
10. Here Waiting
11. Your Love Lifts Me Up
12. Hero
After competently permeating the outer edges of the CCM scene with two self-titled EP releases, Abandon return with a fully-fledged album project. It's important to note from the start that fans of the San Antonio based rockers are likely to be disappointed by the record, which contains seven tracks previously seen on the EP projects released earlier this year. Everyone else, however, should find their Killers influenced style and sound to be quite refreshing compared to lots of the other bands on the scene at the moment. Although more than half of the recordings have been recycled from previous... Read More After competently permeating the outer edges of the CCM scene with two self-titled EP releases, Abandon return with a fully-fledged album project. It's important to note from the start that fans of the San Antonio based rockers are likely to be disappointed by the record, which contains seven tracks previously seen on the EP projects released earlier this year. Everyone else, however, should find their Killers influenced style and sound to be quite refreshing compared to lots of the other bands on the scene at the moment. Although more than half of the recordings have been recycled from previous releases, at least Abandon chose some excellent tunes to recycle!
One of these, 'Song For The Broken', is a wonderfully layered song, creating a wonderful atmosphere and setting the benchmark for the record to come. Another, 'Be Alive In Me' serves has a great anthem like quality, showcased perfectly in the resounding chorus: 'be alive in me, I know I'm yours forever!' The pick of the bunch is undoubtedly Providence, a prime example of fresh and passionate songwriting, which contains one of the best choruses that you'll hear this summer.
It isn't all good news though. Whilst almost all of the songs are of a high standard, the fact that the recordings have been taken from other projects and slotted together gives 'Searchlights' an unnatural feel. The album clearly wasn't conceived from scratch, and a sloppy track arrangement causes some of the recordings to clash. There also doesn't seem to be any clear theme or direction to the record. In short, it feels like a compilation of good songs that haven't quite gained popularity yet; a very premature greatest hits album. It's certainly an interesting animal, and the bags of potential showcased in the early EPs remains intact. However, I don't think that this will be the breakthrough album that Abandon are clearly capable of producing. Individually, the songs are excellent, but the record just doesn't feel like a complete package.
Review by J Alexander
LTTM Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars Stand Out Tracks Providence
Song For The Broken
Be Alive In Me
