Greg Holden, World War Me Review

Pop

Greg Holden, World War Me Review

Greg Holden, World War Me Review 1

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Greg Holden is a singer and songwriter that was raised in England but is now based in Los Angeles. Having garnered recognition as an independent artist for the past several years, Holden caught a lot of attention for writing American Idol winner Phillip Phillips’ hit debut single, “Home,” which sold over five million copies in the U.S. and earned Holden an ASCAP Pop Award.  Holden is an accomplished musician with a myriad of talents, his music has also been featured on notable television shows including Sons of Anarchy, Private Practice, and One Tree Hill. Holden nearly gave up on the music business in the early days of his career. After self-funding his Tony Berg-produced sophomore album, I Don’t Believe You (2011), the label due to release it folded, thus the promotional efforts for the record. He then went into debt during a sold-out tour of Europe, so much so that he basically called it quits while on the road. Most artists would have thrown in the towel at this juncture, but Holden persisted through these setbacks, leading to the well-deserved, massive success of “Home.”  These experiences have built a solid musical character that comes through in his music, a character of unending perseverance, selflessness, and his sincerity stand out throughout his songs. Holden is releasing his fourth studio album, World War Me on BMG Recordings. Holden speaks of the project, “World War Me was conceptualized during my Great Existential Crisis of 2016 and written during the ongoing Existential Crises of 2017 & 2018.” The nine songs on the album manifested themselves at a time when Holden was “quite literally at war” with himself. He had moved his entire life from New York to Los Angeles for his label/career and was welcomed into the city of angels by being dropped by his label. However, Holden is a man of perseverance and we now get to enjoy the beautiful music he has created on World War Me.

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Positives:

Holden has a solid voice and excellent writing skills. The tunes have meaningful lyrics and catchy melodies.

Bottom Line:

World War Me has solid productions, clarity of form and songs that are relatable. The album finds a perfect balance between these feelings of love and empathy with songs like “I’m Not Your Enemy,” “Nobody’s Perfect” and “Something Beautiful” and defiance, with tracks like “The Power Shift” and “Chase the Money,” penned about this country’s ruling class and our obsession with money and power. Holden explains, “I am incredibly proud of what I have achieved personally during the making of this album. Despite the fact that I am still a cliché-ridden, male singer-songwriter, I believe that people will be able to at least relate to World War Me. I have no idea if it will help them or not, but I turned the vocals up pretty loud so at least I know they’ll hear me.” There is nothing cliché about big choruses and well-written melodies, which is characteristic of all nine tracks on World War Me. There is a constant honesty about Holden’s lyrics as he takes us through the storylines in a pop/rock styled setting. This is a personal statement from Holden, he created the artwork for the album, took some of his own press shots and even wrote his own bio. The result is a stunningly honest and self-reflective body of work. Holden wrote the majority of the album with his good friend and fellow esteemed songwriter GarrisonStarr, and with the exception of “On the Run,” recorded by the legendary producer/songwriter Butch Walker, recorded every song on the album himself, in his home studio in Los Angeles. The result, great music from the heart of Holden speaking to ours, solid stuff. That’s the short of it!

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