The Art of Losing

by

American Hi-Fi

Edit

I used to dismiss American Hi-Fi as one of those radio-friendly-so-called-post-nirvana-alternative bands - boy I was wrong ! On 'The art of Losing' these guys put out 11 brilliant rock song with a razor sharp edge. There is no filler material and the album clocks in at a bit under 37 minutes - which is great. Why should they spoil a perfect album with mediocre songs just to add a bit of play time ? My favorite tracks are 'The Art of Losing' (which reminds me a bit of Adam and the Ants with the double drums in the beginning), the massive 'Breakup Song' which is followed by the fantastic 'Beautiful Disaster'. My absolute favorite is 'Built for Speed'. I just kept playing this album over and over again after I have purchased it and I am still not the slightest bit tired of these 11 tracks. This is a must buy !

American Hi-Fi released a very poignant, versatile, and emotionally charged rock debut, which spawned a fairly successful single with "Flavor of the Weak", as well as less successful, but better quality singles "Another Perfect Day" and "Safer on the Outside".

With The Art of Losing, they lost nearly all of their emotional depth. However, what they have managed to muster is an album that is a lot more fun to listen to. The first three tracks focused around the theme of breaking up (hence "The Art of Losing", "Breakup Song", and "Beautiful Disaster"), and they move with reckless abandon through crunchy and happy-go-lucky riffs and rhymes. They continue this pace for most of the album - notably in the beautiful disaster of a track called "Nothing Left to Lose", with about the same levels of fun and yet fakeness that seems to borrow from Good Charlotte.

Yet in the second half of the album, once you get past the bubble gum, they seem to pick up where they left from the debut. "Rise", screams aside, is a solid offering, followed by a nice change of pace with "This Is the Sound". The two closing tracks "Built For Speed" and "Happy" definitely leave me glad to have purchased the album, despite its imperfections. I think that this album would make for a much more entertaining live show than its predecessor, but the quality of the lyrics did take a slight dip.