Search - Sick Puppies :: Dressed Up As Life

"It's All the Same"... or is it?

Susan L. Beck | Waukesha, WI USA | 04/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ever since I first saw the Free Hugs video on Youtube, I have been in love with Sick Puppies. On their US debut, Sick Puppies did anything but disappoint me. Surprise me, yes. I was very surprised with how totally SOLID this CD was. Song after song, I found my hand retracting from the skip button. I can honestly listen to the entire CD right through and enjoy every minute of it. However, if you're in it just for the song "All the Same", you're in for a surprise when you hear the rest of the music.



Sick Puppies definitely surprised me with the diversity of sounds they had coming from the CD. Although "All the Same" is a great slow ballad reminiscing of a slight Creed-like sound, much of their music is a bit more raw than I expected. A few songs I almost found myself head banging to, most notably the songs "Cancer" and "Anywhere From Here". For a few seconds when I first heard those two songs, I almost thought I was listening to a completely different band. In the song "Deliverance", they pull off a My Chemical Romance sound, and "The Bottom" almost reminds me a bit of Avenged Sevenfold. "Pitiful" and "A-hole Father" are some of my other personal favorites on the CD. Heck, all of the songs are good (with awesome, catchy lyrics might I add)!



Overall, I was extremely impressed with the musicianship on Sick Puppies' US debut. As another review states, it isn't going to be revolutionary in any way, but it's still easily my favorite CD so far this year. Definitely pick up a copy, pop it in your stereo, and turn it up loud! I know that's something I'm going to be doing for many upcoming years."

A little story of the little puppies who could.

T. C. Deans | Whistler, Canada BC | 05/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"few people into the sick puppies outside australia would know that dressed up as life is actually the bands second LP. they're first LP was called 'welcome to the realworld' and released on transistor records who dropped the band after the cd wasn't a breakout hit like it should of been.



i've been into the pups since they we're discovered on Triple J with the song nothing really matters. (JJJ is OZ's largest and best youth radio station.) that first album and the follow up EP 'FLY' are both awesome and ironically no longer in print which is a shame. although since i own original copies of both means they are probly worth alot now that the puppies have been shot to stardom thanks to youtube and a little song called 'all the same'.



anyway that earlier work was brilliantly layered songwriting. it was alot more angrier and beautiful than D.U.A.L but completely ignored and unpopular. this was mainly due to the bands sound being to heavy and full of swearing - a big no-no for commercial radio (case in point google the lyrics for 'rock kids')



they were soon dropped by the label and fell into obscurity. i genuinly thought it would be the last of the pups but i heard rumours they had moved to LA to colaborate with muso's. several years later a free hugs campaign filmed by singer/guitarist shimon to the bands song 'all the same' hit you tube and was an overnight success.



this was my first taste of the sick puppies new songs and sound which was completely noticible straight away to me. i want to make it clear that i really like the bands new album (hence the 4 stars) and am excited this little aussie 3 piece could crack the hard international market. and all they had to do was keep the same great songwriting, just tone down the language and up the ballads. the lyrics in D.U.A.L are ok but some are lame and slightly emo (i'm sure gerard way could of written the lyrics for pitiful.) regardless this album has some great songs and is completely solid, personal favourites include my world, what are you looking for, all the same, too many words and cancer.



anyway congratulations sick puppies, i'm proud. and cheers 4 reading.





"

Not a bad buy...

D. Back | Voorhees, NJ, USA | 05/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A quality album with a few top notch songs. In a nutshell, however, most of the songs aren't as great as "All The Same" -- which is probably what brought the album to your attention in the first place. That being said, at least a couple other tracks such as "World" and "Deliverance" make it well worth the buy. I wouldn't hesitate to see them live and still recommend the album."