A Life Like No Other

A Life Like No Other are one of the newest bands from the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas USA, and is led by native Austinite Jeff Tom. A rock band - but not bound by conventions - their eponymous LP is rich with ambience, string sections, and powerful and dynamic songs formed from memorable and instantly recognizable melodies. Carefully balancing arrangements, the songs climb from a whisper to a mini-symphony, releasing a pulsating force that finds new waves in rock and roll.

A Life Like No Other are one of the newest bands from the live music capital of the world, Austin, Texas USA, and is led by native Austinite Jeff Tom. A rock band - but not bound by conventions - their eponymous LP is rich with ambience, string sections, and powerful and dynamic songs formed from memorable and instantly recognizable melodies. Carefully balancing arrangements, the songs climb from a whisper to a mini-symphony, releasing a pulsating force that finds new waves in rock and roll. The album is self-produced, financed, released and available immediately for download in a ‘name your own price’ at www.alifelikenoother.com. "I'm the first generation to grow up in the digital age of music, and for me it wasn't about waiting for the record store to open at midnight to get the latest release, but about browsing websites and newsgroups to get latest album from my favorite band as far in advance as possible. And I don't see this in a negative light, because any artist I liked I have supported and bought their work.

The fear mentality of artists who think that the public will only take but not give is a mistake, and certainly with my own music my fear is not that someone will hear it who hasn't, but rather that there will be someone who could have value added to their lives or feel connected with the music who won't get to hear that to enrich their lives. "I've loved classical music and film scores since I was a kid," stated frontman Jeff Tom. "This is the first music I ever had a deep connection with and had to buy that had a definite impact on me and stayed with me as I turned to rock ‘n roll. The ability of bands to merge classical music with rock ‘n roll, whether it was The Beatles or The Who or Led Zeppelin, and the amalgamation of these two powerful forces has always intrigued me." "And I think this shows not only in the sometimes cinematic quality of my music, but also how the album is structured with a definite beginning, middle, and end. This literary structure is important whether one is writing a song, a joke, or a film.

There's an opening hook, some conflict, and a resolution. I feel this is overlooked today, the idea that every song is important to the whole of the album. Every song has a purpose and its part to play, and disdain for such an idea might have more to do with why album sales have tanked. I don't see this literary structure often enough, whether it's an indie band or a pop artist.

Those artists – although few and far between - who do make real albums where every song matters, and every song has its own defining qualities sell albums. Whether it's Arcade Fire or Kanye West, this is what people want but the record industry just forgot it. I think more than ever, even in this Internet era where sales are driven by singles, if people are allowed to discover an artist who makes not just songs but albums they'll pick up on it. At the core, everyone but pre-teens want an artist to produce an experience for them, and not just a catchy single which is thrown away and forgotten even more easily in the digital age. The audience wants a world to live in, to feel in, and escape to for a while.

And only an album with a vision from start to finish can do that." Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Life-Like-No-Other/27814085656?ref=ts User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..