''Lonely House'' is the debut studio album by American rock band

Grammatrain Grammatrain is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington that formed in 1994. The band was active in the Christian rock industry during the 1990s. Grammatrain disbanded in 1998 and reunited in 2009. According to drummer Paul Joseph Rorabac ...

, released on September 19, 1995 on

ForeFront Records ForeFront Records is a contemporary Christian music and Christian rock record label founded in 1987 by Dan R. Brock, Eddie DeGarmo, Dana Key, and Ron W. Griffin. It was purchased by EMI in 1996 from Dan R. Brock and Eddie DeGarmo, and is a divis ...

. The album's sound is a combination of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

, and

post-grunge Post-grunge is an offshoot of grunge that has a less abrasive or intense tone than traditional grunge. Originally, the term was used almost pejoratively to label mid-1990s alternative rock bands such as Bush (British band), Bush, Candlebox, Colle ...

with

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

lyrics. Two songs from the album, "Believe" and "She Don't Know", were released as singles.

Recording history

Before the release of ''Lonely House'', Grammatrain released both a self-titled three-track demo cassette tape independently and a self-titled demo CD on Zoe Worldwide Records in 1994. The demo tape's songs included "Drown", "Mindform" and "Need", the second of which was exclusive to the tape. The demo tape was recorded and mixed on March 19 and 20, 1994 at Cascade Recording in

Cle Elum, Washington Cle Elum ( ) is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,157 at the 2020 census. About by car from Seattle, Cle Elum is a popular area for camping and outdoor activities. It is also unofficially considered ...

. Seven songs from the self-titled demo CD, with the exception of "For Me", appear in a re-recorded form on ''Lonely House.'' "For Me" would later be re-recorded for Grammatrain's second studio album, '' Flying'', in 1997. ''Lonely House'' was recorded in 1995 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. A music video, directed by Henry Shepherd, was made for the song "Believe". In a

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. His ...

article, the band stated "Sick of Will" as being their favorite track on the album. During an interview on ''Jesus Freaks: Vinyl to Digital'' in 2021, drummer Paul Joseph Roraback said his daughter was the person on the front cover of ''Lonely House'' and that the album was recorded in a few weeks.

Track listing

: song re-recorded from ''Grammatrain'' demo CD (1994) : live acoustic recording appears on ''Grammatrain'' demo CD (1994) : song re-recorded from ''Grammatrain'' demo cassette (1994) : live recording appears on ''Live 120798'' (1999)

Reception

''Lonely House'' received positive reviews from critics. Mike Rimmer of Cross Rhythms described the album as "a powerful rock performance that deserves to place Grammatrain at the front of the queue for

Christian rock Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. This music is typically performed by Christians, Christian individuals. The extent to whi ...

" and said about Grammatrain in his review "If you were looking for a Christian band with the power of

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

without the paranoia, you've found them!" In 1996, ''Lonely House'' was nominated for best "Modern Rock/Alternative Album" at the 27th Annual GMA Dove Awards and the "Believe" music video was nominated for "Best New Artist Clip, Contemporary Christian" at the Billboard Music Video Awards.

Personnel

Grammatrain *Pete Stewart – vocals, guitar *Dalton Roraback – bass guitar *Paul Joseph Roraback – drums, percussion Additional musician *Hans Fredrickson – cello ("Need") Production *Aaron Sprinkle,

– producers, engineers *Dan R. Brock,

Eddie DeGarmo Eddie DeGarmo (born October 3, 1954) is an American contemporary Christian music recording artist, keyboardist, producer and singer. He became best friends with guitarist/lead vocalist Dana Key in first grade, and co-founded the Christian roc ...

– executive producers *Aaron Sprinkle – mixer *Kip Beelman, John Burton, Charles Meserole, Kevin Suggs – assistant mixers *Mixed at

Bad Animals ''Bad Animals'' is the ninth studio album by American Rock music, rock band Heart (band), Heart, released on May 15, 1987, by Capitol Records. The album continues the mainstream hard rock style from the band's Heart (Heart album), 1985 self-tit ...

(Seattle) *Aaron Mlasko – drum technical director *Jim Dantzler – art direction *Flywheel Design (Seattle) – design, layout *Karen Mason – photography *Sheri Jongeward, Aaron McRae – additional live photos *Doug Mann – A&R *Ken Love – mastering at MasterMix (

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Grammatrain albums 1995 albums ForeFront Records albums