Addison Road
Always Loved You EP

By Valerie B.

In the City Music, LLC, June 2005
Genre: Modern/College Rock
Official Artist Site: www.addisonroad.com
Rating: 4 out of 5 

With two albums under their belt, Addison Road comes back at full force with the Always Loved You EP. Billing themselves under the college rock set, Addison Road is far from the whirlwind that college seems to be. The members of the group bring a new passion to rock and the true message of love to go along with it.

Musically
From a musical standpoint, Addison Road relies heavily on the guitar. But in “Need You Now” in the latter part of the praise song, they choose to focus on the richness of the piano. On “I Have Always Loved You” the band starts the 6 song EP off with a drum line to rival all drum lines. It sets the stage for the rest of the EP and manages to draw the listener in with open arms. This type of powerful drumming can be found throughout, which helps to tie in the music lyrically as well, providing a great sounding board for the beautiful voice of Jenny Simmons. “Wait” follows in much the same tradition as “I Have Always Loved You,” a rumbling drum line, a deep bass, and a guitar riff that make you want to jump up and dance. On “Rejoice” the song mellows out and brings out the worship side of the group. The sound a bit slow, but still carries the same intensity found on the other songs. The drums are simple and so are the chords, but such a simple melody is truly a melody for the King.

Lyrically/Vocally
A 6-song album can make it difficult to get your message across, but Addison Road manages to do so beautifully. The group wastes no time in making sure the lyrics impact their audience. Words such as “I thought you knew who you were” found in the song “Where Are You.”  This song tackles the brutal truth of relationships that end up with a broken heart. Another song dealing with relationships is “Wait.” It urges people to “stop messing around and just be you,” a strong message to teens and adults when faced with love and life. Other songs, like “Rejoice” and “I Have Always Loved You” focus on worshiping God, trusting in him and knowing that He is always. “It’s your perfect love that we see in everything,” adequately expresses the feelings of joy for loving God in the song “Rejoice.” Jenny Simmons leads the group with her folksy voice. She sings straight from the heart and having written three of the songs on this album, her passion for the Lord and for singing is extremely evident. The four guys, who compromise the rest of the band, have some backing vocals, but Jenny completes the rock background with her light, but strong vocals.

Even with recent success of a spot on the Centrifuge worship CD and earning an award nod from the American Christian Music Awards, Addison Road manages to not let the stardom go to their, by keeping their lyrics and their music focused on what they know to be true.