To follow up on their debut album “Everyday Life”, Tennessee hard rockers One Less Reason return with the release of their newest addition “Getting Back Your Self Esteem”, a 6 track EP that will make you smile and cry at the same time. OLR formed back in 1998 under the name of Lappdog and later renamed to One Less Reason back in 2002. They have a lot to show for themselves after splitting with Universal Records back in 2004 and now are promoting their EP independently. OLR consists of vocalist and guitarist Cris Brown (not to be confused with newcomer R&B star Chris Brown), bassist Jerome Hubble and drummer Kevin Scott.

Filled with a soft acoustic touch and later added heavy guitar riffs to feel the emotion in the song, “I’m Not (Happy For You)” is just that. The song has a great feel to it has a great sound to it as well. Next we have “If You Want Me”, a love ballad filled with a great melody and a nice soft sound to show how effective this song can be. ‘If you want me, then you've got me, just never leave me alone’ If you want someone, go for it and don’t look back because you might regret it later in life. This song is guaranteed to shed a tear for those who listen to it. Next we have perhaps the only hard edge rock track of the entire album “Better Days”. The track is filled with a hard-edge energetic sound and very touching lyrics. It’s basically about a relationship gone sour with the guy hurting more because of how the girl treated him. If we keep on listening, next we have “Labeled”, my personal favorite. There was a different version of this song that the band had recorded a while back and now has mastered it into a beautiful and touching track that will make you feel a lot of emotion. The song has a great melody added to it and the sound is just amazing. The song deals with a guy who is into a girl but the girl rejects him and this has clearly broken him up inside. Believe me, I’ve been there and I know the emotion that is felt in this song. ’I know someone sings the song, the song of your heart, I guess I didn't have the voice and I'm sorry‘. He knew he had nothing for her and was trying all for nothing as she is interested in someone else. If you have found the one but she/he is not interested in you, you might as well add ‘alone’ to your label. Like I said, the lyrics in this song are very catching and can make you cry while listening to them. I’ve made a few people listen to this song, and they all agreed and some of them have gone through the same thing. The album closes off with another heart-felt track entitled “September”. All about waiting until September for commitment but the month has pasted and nothing has been done. This track basically sums up the entire album with the words ‘So easy to forget and hard to remember, I remember, the way to getting back our self-esteem’. He waited for the one to love to come back and she never did so ‘I think I’ll close my eyes before I start to scream’. Just forget about something you cannot have and just move on. Cris’ voice just amazes me and the sound in this track is just pure gold.

In all, “Getting Back Your Self-Esteem” would have been better as a full length album so we could get a chance to listen to the entire story of love and hate that has been portrayed. Even as being released independently, OLR have done a great job and the music and lyrics are just outstanding and cannot wait to see what else One Less Reason has to offer for their fans. If you liked this EP, I suggest you go pick up their debut album “Everyday Life” with their hit single “Favorite Color”, a track that deals with how much a guy love a girl and would do anything for her, die for her, kill for her. It’s amazing what a girl will do for you, but hey, it’s called love and most of us can’t live without it. This album has to be the best album of 2006 that I have listened to, and for that it deserves a full star rating. Good job guys.

Rating: 5/5