Posted on: November 10, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

There are so many disparate influences that start off “Daylight”, of which the largest seem to be Howie Day, Nickelback and Phil Collins. All of these influences conglomerate to allow Needtobreathe to come up with the most emotional and intense brand of rock since Lifehouse released their first album a few years back. Each of the tracks on “Daylight” seem to come up with a slightly different set of influences that completely recasts how Needtobreathe are thought of by their fans. “Quit” mixes a very seventies (Elton John, Three Dog Night) style with the harder elements of emo and Foo Fighters rock, but does not fair to really bring listeners along for the ride.

“Shine On” brings a little bit of Fischerspooner into the instrumentation; tying together the college rock radio to these seems to be a Herculean task, but is ultimately one that the band does in the four minutes of the track. The band is one of those rare acts that could conceivably have everyone one of the tracks from “Daylight” be a major hit on the radio and MTV but still maintain their own specific sound, never once trying to maximize their success by pandering to the lowest common denominator. The fact that there seems to be a tension present in a number of the tracks on “Daylight”, including “Don’t Leave Just Yet” between organic and electronic just furthers the dimensions in which one can construe this disc. Needtobreathe really seem to feel the void that Live left after they stopped creating music; there is a kernel of rock in which the band layers on different influences until they have a full sound that appeals to the largest segment of society. It is rare when one of these bands that have seemingly came out of nowhere has such an unqualified success, but Needtobreathe does this and more on this album.

With equal parts college rock, angular Franz Ferdinand style and electronic, “Digital Ash” type of sound, the disparate strains of Needtobreathe will tantalize and excite. Including clapping on “Knew It all”, itself a very small motion, seems to really show why exactly Needtobreathe is such a great act. One just does not know what to expect from the band at any one given time, and the disc reflects a band that has just started experimenting. Hope to hear more from Needtobreathe in the next few years.

Top Tracks: Don’t Wait For Daylight, Shine On

Rating: 7.3/10

Needtobreathe – Daylight / 2006 Atlantic / 11 Tracks / http://www.needtobreathe.net / http://www.atlantic-records.com/ Reviewed 24 February 2006

[JMcQ]

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