I downloaded Vol. 1 by Hurt on a whim and was taken away buy it's melodic soft tones with smooth and sudden transitions into hard rock. It's just what i'd been looking for and i was very pleased, but after Vol. 2 i can see that this band is much more than what i originally encountered, the vocals, instrumentals, everything is top notch.

There is truly something about this band that is starting to truly set them apart from rock bands that are up and coming right now.
First off, I have to say that I was one of those that likened them with Tool upon hearing their first album. But after listening to it a bit more I said to myself, to heck with the Tool reference. They are putting themselves in their own category now in my opinion. If i was going to compare them to a band I would have to back even farther than Tool and say, oh they sound to me like some old school Stabbing Westward if anyone remembers that great band. But now after seeing them at WJJO's Band Camp on Sunday, as well as getting to meet them all. Their live set albeit short gave me a new love for the band that they are.
They can do something heavy like Ten Ton Brick and Rapture but then turn around and do something like the song Losing that is profound with emotion and istrumental prowess. Not only does J Loren bring a great sound to the front of the band but each instrument has its own unique sound in each of their songs.
Loren also being multi-talented did this several minute long Violin solo during their performance at band camp. And I can't say I've ever seen a rock band pull out a violin during their set.

I love this album, and the first one, and the songs on Re-consumation.
I'm going to go see them again tomorrow night in their element as a headline show and I can't wait for it.

Get this CD you won't be disappointed.

Frontman J. Loren utters the above quote in the song "Alone with the Sea", but ironically this album proves that statement wrong. With "Vol. 2", the followup to their fantastic debut album, Hurt have only gotten better. Their stylish blend of emotionally powerful and musically sophisticated hard rock really separates these guys from the herd. The great thing about this album is that they have expanded and developed their sound, playing up the progressive elements of their music a bit more, while still retaining all of the raw emotional earnesty displayed before.

"Summers Lost" begins quiet and plaintive, slowly and subtly building up by the end. "Ten Ton Brick" and "Loded" are jagged, heavy, and angry, while "Aftermath" and "Better" are contrastingly wistful and subdued. "Et Al" and "Abuse of Sid" are stellar melodic hard rock tunes, and "Assurance" and "Alone with the Sea" are stunning acoustic ballads that perfectly showcase Loren's incredible voice (and the latter contains the coolest use of banjo in a rock song since Porcupine Tree's "Trains"). "Talking to God" is where some of the more progressive leanings come into play, with its myriad time changes, nifty drum work, and a gospel sounding choir that comes in almost out of nowhere. Furthermore, the lyrics make a nice companion to the previous album's "Rapture", once again brilliantly lambasting the hypocrisies of Christianity.

The album ends with "Thank You for Listening", which is similarly epic and huge, with Loren's soaring vocal delivery, and a massive guitar solo that brings the glory days of Pearl Jam or Temple of the Dog to mind. A powerful closer to a fantastic album. If there's one thing to complain about here, as opposed to the first album, it's that the violin is perhaps not quite as pronounced as before. Still plenty of it in there though (like the sweet solo spot in "On the Radio", backed brilliantly by Evan's jazzy drumming), and hey, how much violin do you really need on a hard rock album anyway?

All in all, this album doesn't disappoint. Sure, the band may not be so great at coming up with album titles (will there be a "Hurt Vol. 12" one day?), but when it comes to great music, they've got it in spades. Hurt is shaping up to be one of the best rock bands to come around in a while. I'm definitely looking forward to..."Vol. 3"? Or uh, whatever they come up with next. :)

Oh, and also, the singer wears a cool hat that gives him a completely different look from what you might expect just going by his voice. And that is awesome.

I want to keep this short. I can only think of two albums released over the last 10 years that I would say are as good as Vol. II. I can think of no greater praise for it.

I cannot honestly recall having been so impacted from a rock album as I have from Hurt- Vol. II. I probably sound crazy, but when you listen to it, the album sounds almost alive. It just grabs a hold of you, and I almost laugh at myself, because even if I find myself wanting to turn off the CD player, just to get out of the car or something, I hear a song from this album, and I just can't do it. Moreover, the album is so incredibly diverse. If someone can honestly point out to me better rock songs than 10 ton Brick, Better, Abuse of Sid(just amazing), Talking to god, Assurance,and Alone with the Sea, I invite you to do so. I don't any such songs exist.

The album is so diverse, the vocals are phenomenal. It's hard as nails, acoustic, classical, amotional, grooves incredibly. Vol. II grabs you like a ten ton freight train, and simply will not let you go. Then again, you don't even want it to, once you pop it in the CD player.

PLEASE, PLEASE do yourselves a favor and buy this album.

J. Loren and crew have definitely come out of their shell with the release of their sophomore record "Volume II." What exactly makes it better than Volume I? Well, how about much tighter sound, better controlled atmosphere, and maturity?

The sound of Vol 2 is just plain good, in a hit-or-miss kind of way. I believe people are mislead by "Ten Ton Brick" and assume that the rest of the album is going to sound exactly like it, which it does not. Most of the songs are not as hard instrumentally as TTB but are definitely as good. You just have to have an open mind to music. Actually listen to the music while you listen to the singer. The lyrics are dark, yes, the music perhaps darker. This is not your dad's 80's metal.

There are a couple songs worth noting that may appeal to the fans of Brick though, including "Summers Lost," and "Talking To God" for instance. Summers Lost starts slowly and mysteriously if you will, but eventually escalates into a blaze of vocal glory and uplifting (or perhaps depressing?) guitar work. Talking To God is, as I note later, a pseudo-sequel to a Volume I song. I find this song to be one of the better ones on Volume II. Loren's lyrics leave much to be interpreted here..."how can you talk to God when you won't talk to me?" The initial drum beat towards the beginning of the song compliment it well before it launches into what feels like an insulted tone.

Overall the experience is one worth listening through at least once, so long as you don't dive headlong into it expecting consistent double bass drums or screaming guitars. The matured sound of Hurt is apparent here, and it will be interesting to see if they can maintain their maturity and perhaps even nail that 5-star record on the next run through the studio.

*Side Note* For anyone considering purchasing Volume II who have not listened to Volume I, I highly recommend you listen to Volume I first, despite how much of an improvement V2 is. Volume II contains no less than 4 tracks that have to do with the continuation of the "story" from Volume I, and even very obvious sounds/references to Volume I (listen to the intro to "Talking To God" from Volume II and you'll recognize the notes from a Volume I song).