It took five years to make but finally the public can experience Luxury's magnum opus Health & Sport. This album has a little bit of everything for everybody. It has straight-ahead rock moments ("I Have Been Everywhere the Grass Is Green, I Have Seen All There Is To See" for example). These blazing gems tickle the ear and get the heart pumping from beginning to end. The softer, gentler moments though cut right to the heart. "He Watches Over Thee" the album's closer is such a tender ballad, it laments the distance friends often experience when they live apart from one another. This is a problem most of us have faced it's good to hear encouragement from someone who has been through that as well. Herein lies the attraction Luxury has with their audience, namely their open honesty in the lyrics they write. Lee Bozeman's words simply put are literature for the working class. They are artful and spiritual yet unashamedly human. They are the backbone to the impressive body of work the band has put out thus far.
These finely crafted songs are mature beyond measure they intelligently discuss many topics such as: sex, suicide, work, and love all in the context of God's grace which He extends to us all. These are songs that ten years from now will still sound fresh and new. The standout track has to be the ominous, industrial-drenched "Shake More Hands, Give More Hugs." This could easily be the song of the year. The slow dark grinding drum loop sets the tone for this epic eleven-minute masterpiece. Two minutes into the song you are not sure whether Trent Reznor or Lee Bozeman is going to start singing. Throughout "Health & Sport" you get the feeling that Luxury has made the album they always wanted to make, because everything sounds so natural; nothing is forced. On top of that there is a thread of contentment which underlines each song. If T.S. Eliot were alive today he would have this CD on heavy rotation because of the depth and beauty that it contains. Health & Sport requires multiple listens to fully appreciate all the sounds and themes that are being presented. The drumming is non-predictable and inspired, the guitars drip with emotion, the bass thunders forcefully throughout; allowing the listener to glimpse the glory of heaven with these ten compositions.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
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