No Name Face is the debutstudio album by the rock bandLifehouse. It was released on October 31, 2000, and it produced the hit "Hanging by a Moment" which went on to be the most played song on radio the following year. This album launched Lifehouse into the limelight, and produced many radio-friendly hits. It has sold over four million copies worldwide, with 2,670,000 copies sold in the US alone. Lead singer and songwriterJason Wade originally formed Lifehouse as a church rock band, and often performed for church worship services before signing to the commercial record labelDreamWorks.
Reception
Critical reception
Liana Jonas of Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars, noting how the "music aptly supports Wade's sonorous voice." She further commented on Wade's songwriting abilities by saying that Wade "is a lyrical wunderkind, writing words generally reserved for his older counterparts." iTunes compared Wade's voice on the album to Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Scott Stapp of Creed, and Scott Weiland formerly of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver. They then commented on the musicality of the album by saying, "it's an intelligent musical formula sorely missed in much music of the early 21st century". John DiBiase of Jesus Freak Hideout gave the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, and called the album a "good mainstream album to check out from a band who seems to have a lot to offer which we're bound to see in the near future". Dave Urbanski from Today's Christian Music applauded the instrumentation on the album and also said that the band had "skillful musicianship, poetic insight, unflinching takes on faith".
Promotion
On August 7, 2001, DreamWorks Records announced that Lifehouse was preparing for their first headlining tour in support of No Name Face. It was also announced that the opening acts would be The Calling and Michelle Branch. When asked how the band approaches live performances in an interview with MTV Radio, Wade said, "On the record, there's a couple tracks that are more mellow, with acoustic guitars and stuff. But in our live show, we've been trying to keep it really up-tempo. It's gotten a lot rockier than on the record. We try to step it up with the guitars, getting them crunchier and picking the tempos up to draw the crowd in more. So the live show's a little more energetic than the record."
