Brutally Honest Album Reviews: Phillip Phillips' Behind The Light

No, it's not a typo. The man who has the same name twice, almost, is back. If you're wondering, that is his actual name if you have never heard of him. If you have heard of him though, you now how big this guy has become. His new album is in for this new year. Titled "Behind The Light", it's looking to match or better the previous album. Is it Boring, O.K. or Brilliant? Here is the full review.

What I listened to: "Behind The Light (Deluxe)" By: Phillip Phillips
How did I listen to it: 320 kbps on Apple EarPods

Phillip Phillip's sound could be described, in my view, with a very close Mumford and Sons sound. What is that? Kick drums on the bass beat, acoustic guitar, some banjo and crazy long folky harmonies. That voice is similar, too. Just, minus the accent. If you were a big fan of Phillip's first album, you might be iffy about this one. Before, it was acoustic guitar driven. This album has less of that and a more electric guitar. It still has acoustic guitar but it is nothing to boast about.
The album starts off with the song "Searchlight". It leads into the second track, "Raging Fire". These two tracks are what you would expect with one of his albums. Then, "Trigger" kinda goes off beat a bit. It's a good song but this is where things start to become a little different. He shows off his singing ability but the song feels over done and is what you would expect from the other artists on the radio.
The fourth track, "Lead On" has the piano droning notes along with an orchestra sound. Lyrically it's good. It sounds as though he uses the auto tune a bit higher than normal when the song breaks down, though. Unless his voice that that strange thing naturally..I will leave you to be the judge of that.
"Alive Again" is one of those songs where he kinda grows his sound. The harmonies are fantastic. Kind of what you would expect him to do.
What I am finding at this point in the album is each song becomes this, grand anthem. Meaning an amazing chorus of vocals from something simple. Drum beats turn into this 'great thing'. It's great but it's the same problem I had with another review: it gets old and annoying/boring fast. Each song is starting to become like the one before it. At this point I'm seven songs in, and there isn't a slower tune that is acoustically driven. From his first album, we had a great song titled "Tell Me A Story". You find something like that around, maybe track eleven, a song titled "FACE". Ten tracks of nearly the same sounding songs is a lot. The first two-thirds of this album, sounds so bloated, 'big' and relatively the same.
"Fool For You" has big drums and electric guitars. Something that wasn't very common for him. "Thicket" is another over produced song. It's more rock. Heck, this whole album is more soft rock then anything. You will, however, still hear more acoustic guitar on this record than any country record today.
It's not a bad sound. He pulls it off...I'm just telling you, fans, beware that his sound has changed.
"Fly" is another one of those anthem songs. Starting from nothing to this grand 'big' sound.
Going back to "FACE", it's bluesy and acoustically driven all the way. His voice is great for this song, too. It makes me wish the album had more acoustic stuff like this one. Not necessarily bluesy but just more of what made him into who he is today. "FACE" is a great song. Best on the album, in my honest opinion.
The 'anthem' songs continue but after the change of pace from "FACE", it's welcomed. Titled "Midnight Sun", it's a good song. Writing is crafted nice, but the ever popular "Ohhhh-ohhh-ohhhhh's" are in this song as well. I wish people wouldn't resort to this level of creation. There are so many things you could do....such as.....not add them at all! Just a suggestion.
Now, if you had the original album or the regular album, this would be where your musical experience comes to an end. However, if you have the deluxe edition of this album, you have three more additional tracks. Those tracks include "My Boy", "Don't Trust Me" and "Armless Crawler".
"My Boy" is acoustic heavy and his voice is nothing but great here. You will enjoy this song. "Don't Trust Me" is a continuation of this new 'rock' sound he has going for this album. It reminds me of a song that could be played in an introduction to a James Bond movie.
"Armless Crawler" finishes the album on that new sound he has going. It's not that there is anything wrong with it, it's different. It makes me wonder where his next album will go. Will it continue to blend with everything else on the radio or will he start to be Phillip Phillips again?

So..........is this album Boring, O.K. or Brilliant?

Verdict: O.K.

To me, his latest album tried to go for a more contemporary sound. Something that you would find on the radio as opposed to something you find purely on a Philip Phillips album. This album became the project where his music grew and it is when his sound started to change. Some will like this new change in his music, others might feel iffy about it. He went from the more acoustic guitar driven material to an electric guitar, drums, big rock sound in this album. Will his next album do away with the acoustic guitar? Will he continue to grow into a more rock or soft rock driven artist? With an artist such as he, he should not be the one following the industry music sound. He should be creating the new industry sound. This album feels like it was heavily influenced by too many of such industry folks. See how repetitive the word industry got?
There were some songs that you expect to find on a Philip Phillips album, but the majority of the songs seemed to sound like everything else...for the exception of his voice.
If you like Philip Phillips give this album a shot. You may or may not like the direction he is going, but if you are a heavy fan I guess you're going to buy it anyways. I think I will pass on this one and wait for his next one.