This is album no 4 since lead singer took the name House Of Lords under his wings and recruited a whole new band. In all honesty, this is not House Of Lords at all, this is James Christian’s solo band as he is the only original member left. Fact is, the guy didn’t even start the band in the first place. Still, it says House Of Lords on the cover and he has the blessing to use the name from founder Gregg Giuffria, so I guess it’s his band now.
Anyway, last album Cartesian Dreams was a good enough album, but it didn’t hold a candle to its predecessor Come To My Kingdom, one of the best AOR / Melodic Rock albums I have the pleasure to own. So I’m pleased to say that Big Money is a step up from that, but maybe not Come To My Kingdom – class.
Still, James Christian is a brilliant singer and his band is really good, however the rest of the members are somewhat anonymous. The album opens with the title track, a pretty good song on the heavier side of AOR, but doesn’t really hold up all the way through. ”First To Cry” is great though, hard rock pop with a killer chorus, ”Someday When” is a great AOR track with great melodies and killer hooks and ”Livin’ In A Dream World” is a superb song with Zeppelin undertones. But the verses are stronger than the refrain, unfortunately. In ”Searchin’” the go for the bluesier side. It’s pretty good, but a little too predictable for comfort. And of course, every melodic rock album needs its power ballad and this album is no exception. ”The Next Time I Hold You” is the name of this one and even though it is a really good one, it’s still very cheesy. ”Run For Your Life” is a brilliant melodic hard rock song, ”Hologram” is nothing but fantastic with a chorus that sticks like glue, but Christian sings through a megaphone in the chorus which sounds a bit strange at first but when you get used to it, it actually sounds pretty cool and ”Blood” is a real killer, catchy as hell, but more guitar oriented than many songs on the album. It also holds a riff that almost borders on Metal.
If you’re a fan of the band, then I see no reason not to buy this album, neither if you’re an AOR / Melodic Rock fan who never heard the band (if those fans do exist…). This really has the House Of Lords sound, the songs are great, so are the musicians and the production really leaves nothing more to be desired. House Of Lords shows that melodic rock is alive and well in 2011
Jon Wilmenius (8/10)
Track listing:
1. Big Money
2. One Man Down
3. First to Cry
4. Someday When
5. Searchin’
6. Living In A Dream World
7. The Next Time I Hold You
8. Run For Your Life
9. Hologram
10. Seven
11. Once Twice
12. Blood
CD & Festival reviews 
Thanks for this. I think I’m going to check out the Come to My Kingdom album that you mentioned.
You do that. In fact, you really should check out all their albums if you’re into the band. A lot of people (not me included) holds World Upside Down as one of their finest hours. I think it’s a good album, but not THAT good.
But beware of their reunion album The Power And The Myth that includes all the original members except Gregg Giuffria. It’s no good at all.
Really!? I had always assumed the one with the original members would be among the stronger ones? What’s wrong with it? Just bad songs?
Yes. Bad songs. That’s more or less it. It feels rushed and I somehow get the feeling that their hearts weren’t really in there. Of course, they split up just weeks after its release and they didn’t play one single gig together and shortly after that Christian found new members and recorded World Upside Down