Four-year-old UK quintet Livan came into my life a week ago today. They were lucky enough to open up for Alice Cooper at The Palace Theatre, along with eight other locations. I've already described them in some detail in the review blog, but I did not mention their third studio album, Off the Grid, which came out last year. In four years, the band have created three albums- that's pretty impressive, and proves how talented and ambitious they are, and it shows in this album.

Front man Livan hails from Greece, and is a great musical force to be reckoned with. He is very unique and basically a beautifully demented genius, and his music is an elixir of all things that make him who he is. He alone sounds like David Bowie, as many people have said, sewn together with goth, electronic, industrial, punk and rock sounds and vibes, with a hint of MSI and Rocky Horror Picture Show, which Livan personally told me was his vision for his band. Off the Grid is just that- a happy-but-dark album complete with fast and catchy sounds and lyrics that aren't normally put together. In my opinion, Livan is "off the grid," but they have created a completely new one which will pave the way for future bands hoping to follow in their footsteps.

The album has 17 tracks, including two covers-David Gray's "Meet Me on the Other Side" and Roland Orzabel and Ian Stanley's "Shout." He sings of fantastical things such as kings and queens and "Liberated Mr. Hyde's," while also giving individual songs as well as the album as a whole oxymoronic qualities. The song titles go from "Sad" to "Happy Returns" and "King of the World" to "Underground." My favorite song, "The Silence," carries one of the best juxtapositions with "and while you're shooting stars I'm counting fallen angles, the everlasting silence filled with noise," which is accompanied by noisy instrumentals and a dim-to-loud background voice. The final song, "Mr. Liberated Hyde," could easily symbolize Livan himself- after performing he feels a sense of liberation, and all 17 tracks are so opposite but yet but together in such a cohesive way that all go together on one album, just like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde- the same person.

This album definitely takes you on an adventure you've never been on before, but it's a place you want to go back to time and time again. These guys are so awesome, genuine and grateful for all of their success thus far. There is no doubt in my mind that they will go far in the music world.

I give this album four guitars!

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