Search - His Name Is Alive :: Ft Lake

HNIA's truly "band" album, sex-obsessed and groovy

Christopher Culver | 06/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Warn Defever is a genius, truly. Over the last 11 years his project His Name is Alive has covered myriad musical genres and displayed impressive talent in songwriting, instrumentation, and productions. FT. LAKE, HNIA's 1998 album, is perhaps Defever's most instantly likeable release.Here on FT. LAKE the atmosphere is more of collaboration than Defever's single-handed directing. Defever has brought together many of his past singers and instrumentalists, such as Karin Oliver and Trey Many, as well as some new faces. Lovetta Pippin, who's sang in the gospel choir of the last song on STARS ON E.S.P. (and who will be the centerpiece of HNIA's next album, SOMEDAY MY BLUES...), here bestows her soul charm on three tracks. The track lyrics are saturated with cleverly-hidden sexual-innuendo, just like with most HNIA albums, and any HNIA fan will be happy to see that, if Warren's got his mind in the gutter, at least he's being creative about it.The songs on FT. LAKE are an interesting mesh of oldies, 70's guitar-heavy R&B, and Warn's own electronic stylings. This album, in a HNIA first, features guitar-jams, here on the songs "Rock and Roll Girl..." and "Wish I Had A Wishing Ring" (the latter had to be cut from 17 minutes of Hendrix-style jamming).This album is one of the best introductions to His Name is Alive, even though Warn's already moved past its style (SOMEDAY MY BLUES will be straight-out R&B). FT. LAKE is a pure rock n' roll experience, and is so much better than anything you would hear on the radio. If you like FT. LAKE, I recommend the "Can't Always be Loved" single, which includes the radio edit of that song as well as the full-length version of "Wish I Had a Wishing Ring.""

HNIA's best album

10/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a HNIA fan since I first heard "Home Is In Your Head" almost 10 years ago. The band has produced a truly eclectic catalog of albums, spanning a variety of different styles. This album showcases their more recent direction, which is more band-oriented and relies heavily on Lovetta Pippin's soulful vocals. Unlike the more recent album, this one still includes other vocalists as well, and that makes for a more interesting listen."