Track Listing

1. Survive
2. I Won't Tell You
3. Not Enough
4. I'm Not Afraid
5. I Like It
6. Underdog
7. Pain, The
8. Spellbound
9. Wide Awake
10. Maze, The
11. Unchained
12. Shallow Life
13. Oblivion

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9743 in Music
• Released on: 2009-04-20
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .19 pounds

CD Description
This fifth album from the Italian gothic metallers, the feverishly anticipated follow-up to 2006's 'Karmacode', is a concept piece about the cult of celebrity and the ephemeral nature of 21st century living, and sees the band refining their trademark sound. These snappy, powerful, melodic songs, more concise and straight to the point than ever, are the veryepitome of modern pop metal. The album was produced by Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) and includes the single 'Spellbound'.

Customer Reviews

everything is different with them. I LIKE IT, LIKE IT!!
let me just start by saying its taken me a couple of weeks to come to this conclusion: Shallow Life is a great album, it just takes a while for it to all settle in!

firstly, no, this isn't a repeat of Comalies and Karmacode. but it is an easy evolution!

some of these songs are weak, i'm not fond of i won't tell you, or the pain. but aside from that, this is to me a pretty much perfect album!

songs like i'm not afraid, i like it, the maze, spellbound, unchained... pretty much every single song, bring joy to my day.

for a band who were previously gothic, they have evolved into a pop rock gun machine, firing out anthems as if they were hamster babies!! i really love this record. i say its their second, or third best album. comalies and karmacode are the ones fighting for the top spot along with this one!!

Rice Pudding Rock
I has not been a great many years since Italy (as with France) began
to look beyond the confines of its geographical and musical borders.

Lacuna Coil are one of those little bands who have managed to synthesise
the universal rule book of rock in an attempt to make it their own.

'Shallow Life' is in many ways no better or worse than their previous four albums.
A little more economical (most of the thirteen numbers coming in at around
the four minute mark); a little more mainstream-friendly but essentially
closer to the middle of the road than many of their more cold-blooded peers.

I have a passing fondness for Ms Scabbia's voice. It has some power, the ability
to carry a tune and a pleasing vibrato. Mr Ferro, however, is something of an
embarrassment - something to do with those long open vowels perhaps
("I'll survaaaaaaaaave" [sic] - 'Survive'; "It's not enaaaaaaaaaarf" [sic] - 'Not Enough').
He sounds pretty much like any other bad male rock singer
you will have heard at any time over the past thirty years.
They should dump him and capitalise on their solitary vocal asset.

The rest of the band play never less than competently,
which is not to say that they ever really catch fire.
The arrangements are all pretty lame truth-be-told.

'I Like It' is about the best of a bad bunch - it's a sort of
Kylie-goes-mad-on-Clacton-pier kind of song ....
( sorry, that's about as close as I can get by way of a subjective description !)

'Underdog' takes itself so seriously with its heavy-handed riff
and turgid vocal harmonies (Mr Ferro really excels with a fine display
of strutting macho braggadocio on this one !) it made me laugh out loud.

'The Maze' begins with an almost interesting semi-yodel-like ululation
from Ms Scabbia but once again her partner-in-crime pulls the rug out
from beneath her feet and beats a potentially decent song into dumb submission.

Well - you're probably getting my drift by now and I am (as so often) at
risk of droning on and on - but how to summarise (?); how to conclude (?).

If you like your rock music tame, tepid and formulaically bland then look no further.

At Your Own Risk.

Great Return To Form
Unleashed Memories & Comolies are two of the best goth metal albums arround so I expected great things from Karamcode. It should have been the album to take Lacuna Coil to worldwide fame. However it was a huge disappointment with only Our Truth and The Edge being up to standard.
I approached Shallow Life with caution then. But what a return to form it is. Gone are the meandering half songs of Karmacode and in their place punchy short melodic metal songs like the opener Survive, I Like It & Spellbound. Great production too. Lacuna Coil are back & how!