4lyn – Hello

Release date: 25-01-2008, Label: Rodeostar
By: Nina Mende

  The German foursome known as 4lyn has made some serious strides since forming
  shortly after the dawn of the 21st century. They’ve released four charting,
  well-received albums, along with a slew of successful singles. They’ve
  toured the length and breadth of Europe with such stars as Papa Roach, Thumb
  and Therapy?–including a July 2006 gig in exotic Istanbul, Turkey, as sole
  support act for Guns ’N Roses, where 4lyn raised the roof with a rocking
  performance in front of 15,000 appreciative fans.

  Half a dozen music videos have received prominent airplay from a variety of
  sources, including MTV Europe, VIVA, VIVA Plus, NBC GIGA and many more. They’ve
  made numerous appearances on European television, including MTV Select and “Top
  of the Pops.” They contributed a song, “Me vs. Me,” to the top
  action movie of 2002, the Vin Diesel vehicle “XXX” (“Triple X”),
  and also had their tune “Kisses of a Strobe Light” chosen for a worldwide
  television campaign by French auto maker Renault. Video game manufacturer Sega
  hand-picked the band to do music for their popular “Sega Soccer Slam”
  title…and as if that weren’t enough, they also composed the theme
  song, “Go, Sea Devils,” for the local NFL Europe squad, the Hamburg
  Sea Devils, and performed at halftime during several of their games.

  An impressive résumé for a young band, no? Now, though, the Hamburg-based
  quartet is ready to take it to a higher level yet with the January 2008 release
  of “Hello,” their fifth studio album.
  And this album is also the one I will try giving you an impression of.

  As I listened to the album for the first three times it caused mayor confusion.
  I really did not know what to think of it.
  4lyn is a rock band, I would even say hard rock band some times, but this album
  seemed different. The album starts out quite hard. The catchy lyrics at the
  chorus of “The Grind” remind of some big hits from the 90s. It continues
  with “Shadow Valley”, a song with a very catchy melody, perfect for
  a radio song. The beginning of “Hello (For You I’m Dying)” gives
  you the impression of Ron (the singer) being around because of the clear and
  somehow close vocals right at your ear. “Hello …” also sounds
  like a great new anthem for gigs, which the fans of 4lyn can shout until the
  band comes on stage. Let’s see if they think so too. The following “World’s
  Gone Crazy” sounds nice melodic and melancholic with a nice voice there.
  “Too Much Of Anything” sticks out somehow, because of the sound, the
  lyrics and just the whole arrangement of the song. My favorite on the album,
  “Nostalgia”, is a great and powerful song with very thoughtful lyrics.
  “This Heart” sounds quite sad.
  All in all the album rocks big time. It varies from slow and melancholic, hard
  rock and quite aggressive and even sounds mainstream and pop at some times.
  Very interesting to listen to. The lyrics on the album are easy to memorize
  and some of the melodies sound quite familiar, therefore nice for live shows
  because people will get the impression they know the songs already. Take your
  chance to check them out on tour.

01. The Grind   02. Shadow Valley   03. Hello (For You I’m Dying)   04. World’s Gone Crazy   05. Too Much Of Anything   06. Nostalgia   07. Lovemaker/Soulshaker   08. The Jumpoff   09. This Heart   10. Cowboys   11. Kissing The Barrel (Limited Edition Only)   12. One Day I Come Along (Limited Edition Only)   13. Don’t Take Me For Granted (Limited Edition Only)

Links:

4lyn MySpace