The Audition exploded onto the scene with their first album, Controversy Loves Company.

Their sophomore follow-up album, Champion, was released in late 2007 and hasn’t been accepted with as much affection.

Their first album was a dazzling mix of rock with a good measure of pop thrown in that had me and plenty of others wholly addicted.

I know that after listening to the album, I promptly went on a one-woman mission to make all of my friends listen to it until they loved it just as much as me. Suffice it to say I didn’t have to try that hard. It’s tough not to shake it and float off to whatever you imagine when you like an album.

Champion didn’t produce the growth fans anticipated, and many rated it 2.5 stars out of 5. It wasn’t a total write-off, though, and a few songs on this album did show evidence of their earlier panache. With this in mind, I thought it only fair to give their third album a good old bash.

The opening track is Running Man, with catchy, sing-along lyrics and no menacing guitar riffs.

One minute and 50 seconds into the song, and the guys slow us down with a break that shouldn’t work but is surprisingly good. The Way That You Move tunes its way in next and has a poppy sound that will have many of you singing along with a hairbrush. Here is where I started to get disappointed, but I’ll get to that in a minute. My Temperature Is Rising follows, and Danny (lead vocals and guitar) tells us he has never felt this way before and will show us he has substance. With that line, I couldn’t help but wish the songs did.

Don’t get me wrong; these songs aren’t what I would define as evil. They just feel reminiscent of their previous album, and the pieces don’t sound too different from each other. It’s good sometimes for uncomplicated lyrics, but I found this album lacked any depth. I enjoyed the 1st album’s metaphors and slightly more complicated and heavier sound.

 Its Gonna Be Hard (When I’m Gone) is just over halfway through and is a very likeable love song that grew on me like fungus. The acoustic guitar opens and has a beautiful tune; when the electric guitar comes in, the music builds to draw you further in. Amy means a lot to Danny.  After this, the only other song that stands out in Los Angeles; I’m not sure if this is due to the music or if a good friend of mine loves it. Danny hits notes perfectly; the drums are catchy, and the song follows the same formula as the others.

Stand out track on this album is – It’s Gonna Be Hard (When I’m Gone). What can I say; I’m a sucker for love songs!

The boys have found a formula that they want to stick by. For rock fans, I doubt it will keep them interested for much longer. That’s if they haven’t lost interest already! If you like pop/rock and just love to bop around your room, I’m sure you’ll love this.