Search - Hidden in Plain View :: Life in Dreaming

Hidden in Plain View
Life in Dreaming
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock

Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
1. Bleed for You - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
2. Ashes Ashes - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
3. A Minor Detail - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
4. The Point - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
5. Twenty Below - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
6. Garden Statement - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
7. The Innocent Ones - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
8. American Classic - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
9. In Memory - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
10. Top 5 Addictions - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
11. Halcyon Daze - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
Track Listings (18) - Disc #2
1. Bleed for You - Hidden in Plain View, Hidden In Plain Vie
2. Sydney - Hidden in Plain View, Halifax
3. Better Love - Hidden in Plain View,
4. Decoration - Hidden in Plain View,
5. Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn - Hidden in Plain View,
6. D² - Hidden in Plain View,
7. Cross My Heart - Hidden in Plain View, Lohrbach, Adam
8. The Best Happiness Money Can Buy - Hidden in Plain View, Enders, Arthur
9. Eastern Homes and Western Hearts - Hidden in Plain View, Barker
10. Tonight (The Process) - Hidden in Plain View,
11. The Doctor - Hidden in Plain View,
12. Unnoticeable - Hidden in Plain View,
13. Symphony (Six the Hard Way) - Hidden in Plain View,
14. Exit, Emergency - Hidden in Plain View,
15. A Over B Squared - Hidden in Plain View,
16. Talk Radio - Hidden in Plain View,
17. Attention - Hidden in Plain View,
18. Jamie - Hidden in Plain View,

There are a thousand ways for the world to cut you up and cut you off. On their Drive-Thru Records debut full-length CD Life in Dreaming, Hidden in Plain View explores a few of them. A brutal rape in a back alley. A car ... more »wreck on the turnpike. Standing alone on a high rooftop and contemplating the fast way down. Unafraid to confront such dark impulses, the hard-rocking New Jersey quintet ultimately makes an eloquent hard-rocking case for the human spirit.Produced by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Something Corporate) and mixed by Josh Wilbur, Life In Dreaming rips the head off of most rock & roll conventions. A good example is "Bleed For You," a searing account of a date rape. Sings lead vocalist Joe Reo: "The cold concrete cuts against her back/and her spirit spills with blood onto the pavement/hands tied so tight behind her neck/and a silence falls and everything changes." Notes lead guitarist/lyricist Rob Freeman, "Two friends of mine were rape victims, and seeing how much pain they were in I wanted to relieve them. It's one of the rawest things I ever wrote and when I played it for one of them, she had tears in her eyes, and she said 'You nailed it.'""Ashes, Ashes" is a crushing rocker that shines light on what the band calls moral suicide. "It's about being true to yourself," says Rob, "and not taking things for granted." The neo-symphonic seven-minute-long "Garden Statement" traces the anguished reflections of a soul on fire. "They broke you down and now you're broken/And it's sadder than the saddest movie/I ever saw but without the beauty/So I stopped watching I stopped caring," sings Joe Reo.Other songs, like "Twenty Below" and "A Minor Detail," keep up the pressure. Says Joe of the band's songwriting process, "When we get together, we sit in a circle with our amps plugged in and we share ideas. If we like an idea we jam on it." Adds Rob: "We write the songs together. The best stuff always comes from what you're feeling."The track "In Memory" carries that notion further. "Rob's grandfather had passed away," says Joe, "and a friend of mine was dying from cancer. So we were looking at it from the same point of view, which gave the song more emotion." Songs like "Halcyon Daze," with its string flourishes, show a more intimate side, while "Top 5 Addictions" and "American Classic" showcase HIPV's ability to blend power with melody. Says Rob, "'American Classic' is about growing up and the friends you grow apart from. You go to college, life takes over. Things aren't as sincere as when you're young."

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CD Details

All Artists: Hidden in Plain View
Title: Life in Dreaming
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Drive Thru
Release Date: 3/21/2005
Album Type: Import
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Style: Hardcore & Punk
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 060768362222, 5050749600127

Synopsis

Album Description

There are a thousand ways for the world to cut you up and cut you off. On their Drive-Thru Records debut full-length CD Life in Dreaming, Hidden in Plain View explores a few of them. A brutal rape in a back alley. A car wreck on the turnpike. Standing alone on a high rooftop and contemplating the fast way down. Unafraid to confront such dark impulses, the hard-rocking New Jersey quintet ultimately makes an eloquent hard-rocking case for the human spirit.Produced by Jim Wirt (Incubus, Something Corporate) and mixed by Josh Wilbur, Life In Dreaming rips the head off of most rock & roll conventions. A good example is "Bleed For You," a searing account of a date rape. Sings lead vocalist Joe Reo: "The cold concrete cuts against her back/and her spirit spills with blood onto the pavement/hands tied so tight behind her neck/and a silence falls and everything changes." Notes lead guitarist/lyricist Rob Freeman, "Two friends of mine were rape victims, and seeing how much pain they were in I wanted to relieve them. It's one of the rawest things I ever wrote and when I played it for one of them, she had tears in her eyes, and she said 'You nailed it.'""Ashes, Ashes" is a crushing rocker that shines light on what the band calls moral suicide. "It's about being true to yourself," says Rob, "and not taking things for granted." The neo-symphonic seven-minute-long "Garden Statement" traces the anguished reflections of a soul on fire. "They broke you down and now you're broken/And it's sadder than the saddest movie/I ever saw but without the beauty/So I stopped watching I stopped caring," sings Joe Reo.Other songs, like "Twenty Below" and "A Minor Detail," keep up the pressure. Says Joe of the band's songwriting process, "When we get together, we sit in a circle with our amps plugged in and we share ideas. If we like an idea we jam on it." Adds Rob: "We write the songs together. The best stuff always comes from what you're feeling."The track "In Memory" carries that notion further. "Rob's grandfather had passed away," says Joe, "and a friend of mine was dying from cancer. So we were looking at it from the same point of view, which gave the song more emotion." Songs like "Halcyon Daze," with its string flourishes, show a more intimate side, while "Top 5 Addictions" and "American Classic" showcase HIPV's ability to blend power with melody. Says Rob, "'American Classic' is about growing up and the friends you grow apart from. You go to college, life takes over. Things aren't as sincere as when you're young."

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CD Reviews

Hidden in plain view delivers a stellar debut!

A. Stoltz | illlinois | 03/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"the new album "life in dreaming" is a spectacular debut from hidden in plain view. definitely one of the best albumS of 2005 so far and will probably be in the top 10 of the year. the album is full of catchy hooks, tight riffs, double bass, and the singing is excellent. every song is full of emotion and you can really see some talent in this young band. i would say they sound like a mix between taking back sunday and senses fail. i admit that this album isn't anything new to the scene and they're very emoish but i think hipv will definitely make a dint in this already overcrowded scene. my only complaint is that the new version of "twenty below" isn't as good as it was on their ep, but it's still good. hipv don't really bring nething new to the table but their music is heartfelt and is a solid emo/punk record. definitely worth your money."

Not Original?

Xian Melgar | USA | 03/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'd have to disagree with anyone saying that this CD is a piece of crap. Yeah, it does sound alot like Taking Back Sunday but they are still a very good band and this is a really good CD. I don't get why many people say that everyone sounds like TBS when that is so not true. Hawthorne Heights, Armor for Sleep, Senses Fail, My Chemical Romance, and Underoath are all good bands that can fall into the whole punk/emo genre and they sound nothing like TBS. This and Matchbook Romance are the only bands I know that sound like TBS. I like TBS for their music so if your gonna say that a band sounds like them don't expect me to be like "thats not original, they suck" , but definetly expect me to check them out."

Good sissy punk

Icarus Falls | Everywhere, U.S.A. | 12/21/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw these guys opening for Slick Shoes a few years ago, and I was completely blown away by their energy. They are still my most favorite live act. Anyways, I bought this CD, which turned out to not really sound anything like their live stuff. At first I wasn't too fond of the album, but the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me and now I play it regularly. I would say that it is similar to other sissy punk bands like NFG or MxPx, but HIPV seem to pay more attention to the artistic aspect of music. The vocals are meaningful and metaphoric; the music is layered and well thought-out. This isn't an aggressive skateboarding CD. It is more of a hanging-out-and-enjoying-the-moment CD. You won't find any of these songs on any Punk-O-Rama, but true to the Drive-Thru label, it is a melodic and well-produced work of art."

Missed Potential

Matthew Berdan | Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania | 10/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a huge fan of Drive Thru records for a number a long time, so I've known of Hidden In Plain View for quite some time. I saw them four years ago with New Found Glory and thought they were on the cusp of greatness, espicially with the way they left everything on the stage and played for nearly two hours. When I first purchased "Life In Dreaming" I was expecting an underground hit, something similar to My Chemical Romance's "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" that would eventually find its way into mainstream music, however that never happened.

After the first couple times listening to the CD, I kept wanting more but had no idea why. There wasn't a single track that jumped out to me as unbelievable, yet I couldn't take it out of my CD player either. Eventually I started singing some of the songs in my head, a dead giveaway that a CD has begun to wear on you, and I sit here today still able to say that the CD is in constant rotation in my car a year later.

Don't get me wrong, this CD did not reach the potential that I thought it could, but there are signs that the band is close to making something of themselves. Anyone claiming they are similar to such acts as "Creed" or "Limp Bizkit" didn't listen to the CD and is just going on what others told them for the sound, instruments, producing, and lyrics have no similarities to either ninties rock acts. There are 11 tracks on the CD, 7 of which I will always listen to, 4 of which are "EXCELLENT" songs.

Track 1, "Bleed For You" should have been the first single for the band. It's fast paced, utilizes the strengths of the band which are hard guitars, one singer belting out harmonic pleads while the other screams over top. Plain and simple, an excellent track and worth downloading if not interested in the CD as a whole. Track 3, "A Minor Detail" might seem ordinary on the CD, but the band plays remarkebly well live, which is why I will give it a better grade then most. Again, fast paced with both singers used frequently. The best track on the CD, and actually one of the best rock tracks I have heard in quite some time, is track 5 "Twenty Below". This is really the first track where the band begins to let some of their emotions out, but what makes it special is the ability for the band to almost change sounds entirely on three different occasions on the track. The song starts slow, picks up in the middle, and then dies down completely to a heart wrenching end. Its a roller coaster of a song that anyone that has lost a loved one would not only understand, but appreciate. To me, the best of the track is the very end, after the belting vocals of "Feel like twenty below?" to go back to an acoustic set for the final "Just wait and you'll see you're everything I want...". It is an absolute perfect ending to a great track. The final song, "Halcyon Daze" is one of the weaker songs to most critics because of its slow pace and blandness. I won't dispute either case as there is nothing extraordinary at first listen. What one needs to do is listen to the words though and understand that its a story, not just a filler song. Put yourself in place of the Rob singing the song and I promise you'll appreciate the song.

I wish I could give this CD 5 stars, but even though some of the tracks are excellent, having four songs that I will always skip doesn't allow me to give the CD a perfect grade. The promise is still their for greatness, it just hasn't been reached yet."

A solid Drive Thru album

daniel beard | Rochester, WA USA | 04/06/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"3 Stars for this album is by no means negative. I reserve my 4 star ratings bands that are a little more original, and the 5 stars for albums that are stellar.

When I purchased this album, I was torn between "Life in Dreaming" and the latest Armor for Sleep album. In the end, the $7.99 for Hidden in Plain View won out. It ended up being a good purchase.

Fans of the HIPV EP will not be let down. The full length release is better musically and lyrically. The sound of the album of the album is somewhat of Something Corporate (minus the piano) mixed with Taking Back Sunday.

Lyrically, you get what you expect from emo (even though I hate to label music into genres). You get heartfelt emotions about love and life gone wrong.

Personally, I love the songs that are upbeat such as the first 4. But, as with most emo albums out now, there is a need to slow things down and add a strings section. These tracks are not as powerful, but they do convey emotion and make you feel something.

Overall, this is a solid album that I enjoy listening to. I love the vocals and the faster songs. Fans of upbeat emo bands with that Drive Thru sound will not be disappointed. HIPV has plenty of potential."