Thursday, November 3, 2011

Lifehouse



Lifehouse is an American rock band. They came to prominence in 2000 with the hit single "Hanging by a Moment" from their debut album, No Name Face. The single won a Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year, beating out Janet Jackson and Alicia Keys for the No.1 Single of 2001. In 2002, they released their follow up album Stanley Climbfall. The band's third album, self-titled Lifehouse, was released in 2005. The band recently released their fourth studio album, Who We Are, on June 19, 2007. The trio consists of Jason Wade, Rick Woolstenhulme Jr. and Bryce Soderberg, but they add another guitarist when they tour.
The group first came together under the name Bliss, and recorded an EP, Diff's Lucky Day, in 1999.
In 2000, Lifehouse entered the recording studio to record their first LP. Five of the twelve tracks from Diff's Lucky Day were remixed and released on No Name Face. Because of his charisma and talent, DreamWorks Records focused their sights solely on frontman Jason Wade, and by the time the debut album was released on October 31, 2000, Wade and Andrade were the only remaining founding members. Shortly after recording the first album, Rick Woolstenhulme replaced Jon Palmer on drums. Lifehouse's international fan base began to grow and while fans of the band considered Wade's lyrics to be deep, questioning, and profoundly spiritual, some found Lifehouse's output to be "drab FM-radio rock."
"Sick Cycle Carousel" was released by the band as the first commercial release single, however it was "Hanging by a Moment" a song written by Jason Wade on the spur of the moment that affirmed the band a place in musical history, being labeled the "Most Played Song of 2001." "Hanging" was only the third song in chart history, after Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs' "Wooly Bully" in 1965 and Faith Hill's "Breathe" in 2000, to be named the number one song of the year on the Billboard Hot 100 without having reached No. 1 on any weekly Hot 100 survey. The third and final single from No Name Face was "Breathing" which, though performing better than "Sick Cycle Carousel," had far less chart impact than "Hanging by a Moment."
The song "Everything" was also used in both the pilot and first-season finale episodes of the future hit WB drama, Smallville, and would go on to be placed on the series' first soundtrack (Smallville: The Talon Mix). This began the long-standing affair between the band and the series, as Lifehouse would go on to have seven songs played during the series' first four seasons, ending with a live performance in the fourth-season prom episode, and landing yet another song on Smallville: The Metropolis Mix ("You And Me (Wedding Version)").
Shortly after a long tour for No Name Face, Lifehouse re-entered the studio to cut their second album Stanley Climbfall. Though the album features all original songs with uniqueness and style similar to the first album, its success was shortlived and its singles, "Spin" and "Take Me Away", were vastly overshadowed by the success of the first album and its singles. Shortly after the release of this album, Rick's brother Sean Woolstenhulme (of The Calling) was officially made the fourth member of the band in June of 2002 after touring with Lifehouse.
In April 2004, Sergio Andrade confirmed that he had decided to leave the band to pursue individual projects. Shortly after this, Sean also left the band to pursue other musical projects such as Abandoned Pools and The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex.
Jason Wade and Rick Woolstenhulme remained the active members of Lifehouse. In late 2004, Bryce Soderberg signed on as Lifehouse's new bass guitarist. On July 6, 2004, they went to Maryland to begin work on their eponymous third album. Lifehouse was released on March 22, 2005 and was produced by John Alagia.
The album's first single, "You and Me," was released for airplay on January 18, 2005. It was written several years prior and was originally performed by Jason Wade in the 2000 independent film All Over Again. The song also appears on the soundtrack to Smallville. One episode, "Spirit," featured the band actually performing it and three other songs from the album ("Come Back Down", "Blind", and "Undone") on the show. The song has also appeared on Boston Legal and Medium.
The music video for the album's second single, "Blind", was released October 19, 2005. It stars Tina Majorino and features several recent thespians, such as Sarch McClain, Stephen Cheung, and Andy Walters.
Their fourth album, entitled Who We Are, was released on June 19, 2007. The album's release was followed by a tour with The Goo Goo Dolls and Colbie Caillat, which began June 15 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ. The album features Wade, Woolstenhulme and Soderberg as its lineup.
The band claims that the album will "rock a little harder" than their self-titled album, Lifehouse. The album was recorded in Kiefer Sutherland and Jude Cole's recording studio, Ironworks Studios, in Los Angeles.
It has also been confirmed by Rick Woolstenhulme that after their tour with the Goo Goo Dolls, Lifehouse will go on a "world-wide headlining tour."
Lifehouse has been touring with Ben Carey from Australia as their guitarist
The first single to this album was "First Time", released on April 24, 2007. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 48 in May.
"First Time" topped at #3 on the Hot Adult Top 40 Charts. The band's new single, "Whatever It Takes," was released to radio stations Oct. 29.
The music video for "Whatever It Takes" premiered on Yahoo Music on Friday, November 16, 2007.
Shortly after his death, the band performed an acoustic rendition of George Harrison's "Something" on Last Call With Carson Daly. The band has also covered the Keane single "Somewhere Only We Know" live on Yahoo Music. Lifehouse has also stated that Keane is one of their favorite musical groups. In 2007, the band did a cover of The Rolling Stone's "Beast of Burden" for the Stripped Music Sessions. The band says that they wanted to "pay homage to the godfathers of rock". Since the Stripped Sessions were released onto the internet, the band added that song to their setlist at concerts.
Jason Wade recently wrote the song, "From Where You Are," for Allstate's Teen Driving Program. The single was made available on iTunes on Tuesday, November 6, 2007.

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