Lit is a basic alternative/rock band which can now be considered as a two-hit wonder of the 90’s. The members of Lit - A.Jay Popoff [Vocals], Jeremy Popoff [Guitar], Kevin Baldes [Bass], and Allen Shellenberger [Drums] are all Southern California natives who went to the same high school in Anaheim, California. During their high school years, the four guys formed a metal band entitled Razzle, which was popular throughout Los Angeles at that time. Razzle finally died down, a few more names went into action, but the king of them all… and the one with the most success was Lit.
To be honest with you, I never heard of Lit till My Own Worst Enemy appeared on MTV and on FM radio. The song caught my attention, but it wasn’t anything so exciting or original that I just had to have it. Miserable was the next single, which I liked better than that My Own Worst Enemy for a few reasons which I’ll talk about later, but I still didn’t think there was anything to be raving about. So about a year later or so… I decided to head over to The Wherehouse and pick up A Place in the Sun. Why? Cuz’ I was anxious to spend money and waddaya’ know? I see a copy of A Place in the Sun under my nose. Is the album good? Read the review to find out.
And for your information, Lit has three other albums under their belt, in which I cannot comment on any of them because I don’t have them [or listen to them for that matter] - Five Smokin Tracks from… Lit [1996], Tripping the Light Fantastic [1997], and Atomic [2001].
Four
My Own Worst Enemy
Down.
Miserable
No Big Thing
Zip-Lock
Lovely Day
Perfect One
Quicksand
Happy
The Best is Yet to Come Undone
A Place in the Sun
A Place in the Sun opens up with Four which starts out with a strong guitar riff, but when the vocals start to appear, the song converts over to a more poppy sounding song, but nothing to the likes of Justin Timberlake or anything like that. There’s still the rock roots, just some poppy vocals. The theme of Four [if you could really call it a theme] has to do with apprehension of dating and being a “couple.” I like this upbeat song, even though there’s nothing special about it. My Own Worst Enemy is next, which is great song to play if you’re at a party or you feel like getting pumped up. The song is self-explanatory [talking about being your own worst enemy, duh!], has a good, repeating beat, and has a semi-catchy chorus. [Please tell me why/ My Car is in the front yard/ And I’m sleeping with my clothes on/ Came in through the window last night/ And your gone]. Down is alright. When the song begins, A.Jay Popoff’s vocals sound much different than the previous songs, but when the chorus finally comes along, you can tell it’s him – barely. Down has a mid tempo beat. Like the lyrics on the songs prior Down, they are nothing special.
Well, there’s lots of ups and downs to being in a relationship, right? Well… Miserable gives us a closer look at the downsides [for example: lots of time consumption]. Miserable is definitely one of the best tracks on the album, without a doubt. I love the vocals, lyrics, guitar, catchy chorus, beat… and the music video. You know what I’m talking about… The video where the giant Pamela Anderson gobbles up all the small members of Lit. Anyway, be sure to check out Miserable. No Big Thing is exactly what the title hints at, the song is nothing big. The song has a solid rock beat, but the lyrics and vocals are nothing to get excited about. It’s something that might stick in your head for about a minute, but will then slowly disintegrate. Zip-Lock was released as a single, but never made its way up to the previous two singles. The lyrics and vocals in the song feel rushed and just seem to bore me. The songs talks about losing, and if you could have your way, you would stick your chance into a zip-lock bag. Pretty cheesy, don’t ya think? Lovely Day is a good song, especially the chorus. The vocals just seem different than the rest of the album, which is a good thing. They sound a lot more happy. The song itself talks about living in a world of your own, where everything is how you want it to be.
Perfect One is a slow ballad where Mr. Popoff attempts to whisper [and just doesn’t work]. The music is nice and calm and gives a short break from all the madness and loudness. The lyrics are nothing original… it’s talks about being an ordinary person and finding the “perfect one.” Quicksand starts out pretty cool and has this funky, beat that sounds like lasers shooting out of laser guns, but soon goes downhill when the vocals come along. The song is monotone, mid-tempo, boring, doesn’t have a real theme, and overall is all filler, no killer [get the joke, Sum 41 fans? :-P]. In contrast to Quicksand, Happy is a stand-out track, for the music. Trumpets can be heard in the background, which is much different and makes the track, well… different. Lyrically, there’s nothing special. It talks about wanting to be happy. Whoop-de-do! I like the music, though. The Best is Yet to Come Undone is a slower, song… but I actually like it. The lyrics and vocals seem to flow nicely on this one, unlike a lot of others. [I touched the world/ Felt the sun/ I know the best is yet to come undone] And finally, A Place in the Sun is alright [mixed feelings on this one], and is darker than most of the other songs [for the most part, anyway]. The song talks about the consequences of making bad choices in life and is mid/up tempo. My favorite part in the song would have to be when A.Jay sings [Lost in a place in the sun/ And it’s going down].
Favorite Tracks: My Own Worst Enemy, Miserable, The Best Is Yet to Come Undone
Worst Track: Quicksand
As you can probably tell from my feelings about all the songs on A Place in the Sun, I didn’t really like the vocals too much. For some reason, A.Jay’s voice just didn’t seem to match with the music that was playing, and ruined the song. They just seemed too monotone and started to get on my nerves after a while. I will, however, give credit to the other band members of Lit. They did a great job on playing the electric and bass guitar, and the drums were pretty good, also.
Lyrically, there was nothing too original here. Girls and regret [some songs include both] seem to be the major themes of A Place in the Sun. I can almost guarantee you that you won’t hear anything you haven’t heard before.
And note that there is no parental advisory sticker on this album, but there are a few cuss words [two sh-its and one fu-ck if I can remember correctly] and one drug reference [in Lovely Day, it says roll it up and smoke it]. Sex? Nope, not really. The worst thing that appears on the album [sexually] is a part in Four that talks about sleeping naked. Nothing grafic or anything like that. But that's about it, for sex. Kids ages 12 and up could probably listen to this album and not be completely shocked because of the content.
Overall, would I recommend A Place in the Sun? Hmmm… It’s taking a while to think about it, but my final answer is gonna be no. Sorry A.Jay, but you need to either retire or give a little more range when you sing. But the music is good [sounds like the 90’s], so that’s why I’m giving it three stars. If you’re bored and have nothing else to do, then I’d listen to Lit. But Lit definitely would not be my first choice…
Thanks for reading.
