The Fires of Life| Posted August 14, 2008
Wow. Sometimes the simplest of music can be the most powerful. It can also have the most depth without having a thousand instruments going on at once. The lyrics of Cool Hand Luke are a major reason for the depth of what, on the surface, may seem simple. The acoustic guitar is a focus in a good amount of the songs and sets the tone for a very atmospheric and moving album. Radiohead and Tool were definitely influences as well. In 'Rats In the Cellar' you can pick up some Maynard vibes vocally. Make no mistake though, Cool Hand Luke have their own sound and do get in your face after starting songs off slowly. There is just some great build-ups to high climaxes that really work. The pseudo-love song 'Friendly Jas' is a good example of this as it just explodes halfway through.
I really feel I should talk more about the lyrics though. I can't overstate enough how amazing they are and contribute to this being a great album. This is a Christian band and the lyrics reflect as such so I suppose if you can't relate you won't find them amazing like I do. The best example is 'The Zombie Song', a title that seems weird when you look on the back of the CD case but once you listen it all makes sense. Mark compares some people's walk with Christ as if they are the living dead, going through the motions and taking for granted all they have been given. In the aforementioned 'Rats In the Cellar', which they cite a C.S. Lewis work as inspiration, Mark sings of mistakes we try to hide in the dark but ultimately get exposed as they need to be in order for us to move on and overcome. 'Cinematic' is another moving piece that compares our life to a movie on the silver screen. One verse claims: "I want to live in such a way/That when I'm gone my friends would say/That if my life was turned to film/I'd be standing on a mountain shouting victory in the end". At the end there are great thought-provoking questions sung: "What if it ended here?/What if the credits rolled now?/What would the critics say?/Would it be the biggest let down?"
The bottom line is this is a challenging, deep album that is so very rewarding if you take the time to dig a little. It's honest and thought-provoking in all the best ways and made all the more potent with the beautiful composition of the music. Though it's a bit of a softer album and at times that can lose the listener's interest if they aren't paying full attention it can be addictive just because of the vocals and piano melodies. And to those who dig deep enough this may very well be considered an artistic masterpiece as Mark paints a new picture with every song's imagery.
Gems of this album are: 'Rats In the Cellar', 'Cinematic', 'Friendly Jas', 'The Zombie Song'
to add lyrics if not listed.
