Alex Band: We've All Been There

By Melanie Chung

My teenage years were defined by a whole new youth culture that was hot off the heels of boy bands and girl power; teen angst post John Hughes. Back when beepers were cool and IM'ing was just called chatting. When dating was harder because I would have to catch my guy on the home line and introduce myself to his suspicious mother instead of sending an inconspicuous "hey there smiley face" via text message. We were yearning to break out of our parents idea of what it meant to be a teen and we weren't even 90210 like our older brothers and sisters. Half Baked and Tommy Boy were the background noise to our lives; and Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer revived an entire genre but was geared towards the house partying freaks of my generation. We were a generation that was edgier but paradoxically so, innocent in comparison to today. We lived vicariously through the onslaught of teen dramas that cropped up like Dawson's Creek and the uber wholesome 7th Heaven. There, right there proves how I'm a product of my culture. 'Uber' has yet to leave my vocabulary regardless of how many years have gone by since my Buffy the Vampire Slayer (or affectionately know as BTVS) obsessed days. And just before I was to set sail from my youth, Smallville entered onto the scene. As a self proclaimed pop culture expert, there was no way I was passing up the opportunity to tune in to a show that combined my knowledge of comics and another set of fresh faced teenagers that were supposed to be like me. (I also know how much of a geek that last sentence makes me sound). And that's how I was introduced to The Calling.

Launching their career with the hit Wherever You Will Go, The Calling became one of the staple bands to infiltrate the teenage drama. It was emo before emo was a quantifiable genre. They steadily carved out a name for themselves in the soundtrack world, even making their way onto one of the Spidey discs with For You.

Then nothing.

After nearly five years since The Calling, frontman Alex Band returns to the music scene with his solo debut We’ve All Been There. And in the past five years, Band has gone through it all; the demise of The Calling, marriage, divorce, the illness of a loved one, loss and a couple major label kerfuffle’s from RCA to Geffen and finally partnering with EMI. Though completed in 2007, the restructuring at Geffen put the album into limbo, and the passing of Band’s manager of over ten years redirected Band and set him onto a different course. After investing a considerable amount of his personal funds to buy back the album’s master from Geffen, Band spent the next year starting up his own label, AMB Records to release We’ve All Been There. But through it all, he's come out of it tougher, maybe a little jaded, but more than anything, stronger.

As difficult as the process was for Band to release this album, the wait has been well worth it for avid fans. Hands down We’ve All Been There is Band’s strongest body of work - both organic and captivating. And though familiar in The Calling sound and the Californian rock/pop vibe texture, Band has released an album filled with genuine emotional sentiment and kick ass melodies. Sure, in many ways it’s very classically “(rock) pop” but it’s utterly irresistible. I can get into many of the technical upsides, but bottom line is, it appeals to me on, yes, a romantic level. Filled with songs about his own personal struggles, Band begins to really put himself out there. His earlier work in The Calling is, in comparison, not on the same level of maturity. Granted he was a fifteen year old (albeit a talented one) when some of the tracks for The Calling’s first album Camino Palmero was written. But not even into The Calling’s sophomore album, Two, did his work exhibit the same maturity as We've All Been There. His work in The Calling had a tinge of pretension with embellished lyrics and fancy words. But here, he's stripped all of that away and as a result his songs are much more poetic and feel from the heart. I'm a true believer in less is more, and Band proves this with his poetry. And hardly ever do I go on and on about the album as a whole, but here I do. It’s a full body of work that’s polished but not manufactured. Everything fits together like puzzle pieces. Easily it flows from track to track; if one were missing it'd feel like a decapitated limb. I'd miss it that much.

The album’s first single Tonight is fun, infectious, and catchy and did I mention fun? And I hate to use the term adorable - who the hell uses the word adorable to describe a song? - but it is adorable. Not in the cheese eating, corn dog hankering, 'I love Bieber Bieber' way, but in the way that it puts a smile on my face and makes me want to sing along. At the top of my lungs. And usually I feel that artists get it wrong when releasing their first single – there is usually a track that better gives a first impression – but Band’s got it right.

The album’s title track kicks off the disc with the fiery mantra “Here I am/wearing these scars on my hands/doing what I can.” The foot stomping anthem sets up its themes and from there on out it takes you on an emotional and personal journey. The simplistic honesty, both lyrically and in melody arrangement weaves Band’s story together from the devoted Forever Yours to Leave (Today is the Day) to Start Over Again like an open journal. A love letter written from the most vulnerable of moments to the rise of a once broken soul.

Will Not Back Down is one of the major highlights of the disc, complimented perfectly by Band’s vocal rasp, carrying an emotional yearning that can be felt through and through. Also a standout, the existential and beautifully poetic Please exhibits Band’s questioning in faith and demand for answers.

Incredibly humanistic, We’ve All Been There captures Band’s journey from his rise and fall and rise again with love, loss and doubt in a tapestry of open wounds and healing. For anyone who has been a fan of The Calling, Band’s debut will without doubt impress with his candor and commitment to his art through breathtaking harmonies and heartbreaking poetry. We’ve All Been There is a must for any Calling fan, but also worth a serious listen from any music fan to skeptics of the rock pop genre. Band is sure to prove that his work is worth more than poppy television campaigns and the disposability of teen culture.

So where does the half point hit come in? The disc, the compact disc version, for the die hard fans who even believe in vinyl, get jipped. Only thorugh the online purchase of We've All Been There from iTunes, is there a track number 15 - a duet with Canadian songstress Chantal Kreviazuk titled Cruel One. Sucks to be a CD purist.

Release Date: June 29, 2010