Lacey Sturm, ‘Life Screams’ – Album Review

Lacey Sturm left Flyleaf in 2012 after spending a decade in the band. Her tenure with the group included three studio albums, all which topped the Christian album chart and also landed in the Billboard 200 album chart.

Over the past few years Sturm has lent her talents to We As Human’s hit single “Take The Bullets Away,” wrote her autobiography The Reason and has done motivational speaking across the country.

Now, Sturm has returned with her debut solo album, Life Screams. Her collaborators on the record include her husband, guitarist Josh Sturm, along with Skillet’s Korey Cooper and Grammy Award winning writer/producer David Hodges (Evanescence).

The album kicks off with the first single “Impossible.” It’s hard rock in the Flyleaf vein with heavy guitars, a catchy chorus and Sturm’s instantly recognizable vocal style. The track immediately climbed into the Top 5 of the iTunes rock songs chart. Another anthemic song on the album that should become a live favorite is the track “I’m Not Laughing."

In addition to larger than life rockers, Sturm also delivers more intimate and personal songs on Life Screams, most notably the title track. It ebbs and flows from quiet introspection to full power ballad mode and back again. “Faith” is another dynamic song with a powerful message.

Though touching on many emotions, Life Screams’ message is a positive one. One of the reasons Sturm was inspired to write the album was an absence of positive themes in mainstream radio. She told Loudwire, “When I was growing up, it was good to have somebody that could relate with the darkness that I was going through, but at the same time if it just left me there, it actually was destructive in my life.”

The album has a cover song, with Sturm tackling the Police hit “Roxanne.” The original has a reggae flavor, but Sturm’s version is an all-out rocker with the tempo slowed down. She puts her own spin on it, including screams that Sting could never dream of doing.

The album wraps up on a subdued note with the earnest “Run to You.” With Life Screams, Sturm will satisfy Flyleaf fans with plenty of memorable, melodic hard rock, but her new band also helps expand and explore different musical paths.

Lacey Sturm Talks Life Screams + More