Lifted - Sitting On High / 2003 Wesscott Marketing / 22 Tracks / http://www.liftedsongs.com / [email protected] / Released December 2003 / Reviewed 11 January 2004
While their promo kit is abound with the number of accomplishments that they have garnered in such a short period of time, I still don’t see Lifted as the type of band that really pushes the envelope in any way. Rather a band that would just go through the oft-traveled ruts of such bands as Delirious? and Audio Adrenaline, this type of rock is stale, innocuous, and truly trite. While songs like “Humbled” are well-played and contain catchy vocals, the simple fact is that this same style of music, this same approach, this same everything has been iterated and reiterated in the last decade, with bands like Rusty and Big Sugar blazing trails that Lifted so callously claim as original and interesting. Everything seems sincere, but the fact is that there is very little of substance for true music fans to grab onto – essentially all of the music that is created on this disc could be created with a high school-aged drummer and guitarists (albeit with access to a good recording studio and ample amounts of pedals).
Each track on this disc may be one that is catchy, but the tracks (day I say it) are not radio-friendly due to a lack of hooks and attractive vocals. Lifted makes sure to go and include a sheet of all of the different radio stations that their EP is currently gaining radio play on, revealing a disturbing factoid about popular radio. If something this bland, this plastic, could gain radio play on over thirty different radio stations, I honestly have serious fears about the future of the music industry. There are a number of individuals on radio and music video stations that individuals always tag as shallow – for example, Britney Spears and Three Doors Down – but Lifted vaults beyond those two individuals, beyond the Avril Lavignes and Three Day Graces’ of society into making the most uninspired record of the last decade.
I cannot think of one positive thing to say about Lifted, about “Sitting On High” or even anything remotely neutral about the band. This is what is wrong with popular music. This is the result of Clearchannel and other multi-nationals controlling popular music: bad, bland music that cannot be discerned from a hundred other acts that sound exactly the same. Some bands are bad because they don’t know how to write a song or play their instruments; this is not the case for Lifted. Lifted makes the typical tripe that has plagued popular music for 50 years now, and I want people to read this review, and want to change the system. I want people to download this album, realize how dangerous it is, and start up pirate radio stations, start up innovative bands, or start up magazines to stop shit like this from being created.
Rating : 0.0/10
Top Tracks : None