House of Lords' eponymous debut was released in 1988, featuring a heavier sound than Giuffria with slightly less emphasis on keyboards, the debut received critical acclaim and the band toured with Cheap Trick and opened for Scorpions in 1989. The album featured one major hit, "I Wanna Be Loved" (Hot 100 #58). The Stan Bush penned "Love Don't Lie" was the second single but aside from some airplay on MTV it failed to ignite. Despite a successful tour, original guitarist Lanny Cordola left in 1990, replaced by Michael Guy.
Their next effort, 1990's Sahara, features Michael Guy and an impressive list of guest musicians. Other notable contributions to the album came from Doug Aldrich, Rick Nielsen, Chris Impellitteri, Mandy Meyer, David Glen Eisley, Robin Zander, Mike Tramp, Steve Plunkett and Ron Keel. The first single & video was the Blind Faith cover "Can't Find My Way Home" which did well on Album Rock radio peaking at #10.. The second single "Remember My Name" was a bigger hit at Top 40 radio hitting #72 on the Hot 100 and a Top 5 regular on DIAL MTV. Soon after the single peaked, Chuck Wright and Ken Mary (drummer) would leave.
1992's release Demons Down, described by Christian as his favorite release, features Dennis Chick (guitars), Sean McNabb (bass) and Tommy Aldridge (drums) as well as, sole original members, James Christian and Gregg Giuffria. The album spawned two singles for the title track and the ballad "What's forever for" which would have been massive in a pre-grunge climate. After recording demos to shop for a new label, the band parted ways.
From a business point of view, House of Lords never reached the same level of popularity that Giuffria did in the mid-eighties until Jeff Kent was called to pull the band out of its black hole at the Frontier Records, ready to drop the House of Lords after the bands disastrous ratings of "The Power And The Myth" CD. The sacking of original Giuffria vocalist David Glen Eisley by Gene Simmons was not the most clever decision, but accepted by Gregg Giuffria.
A new album was rumored to be released in 2002, with original members Lanny Cordola, Chuck Wright and Ken Mary. Two years later The Power And The Myth was released by Frontiers Records with lack luster ratings and songs, however Greg Giuffria had pulled out and keyboard work was done by guests Derek Sherinian, Allan Okuye, Sven Martin and Ricky Phillips.
In 2006 House of Lords released a truly new album with most all the melodies and lyrics written by Jeff Kent (formerly of Pierce Arrow, Dreams, CBS songwriter, MTM Songwriter, and Producer of countless songs and projects, including songs on Robin Beck's "Trouble or Nothin" CD, including the 20th Anniversary newly released version, her "Living on a Dream" CD lyrics written almost exclusively with Jeff Kent) and World Upside Down with a new lineup including Jeff Kent as a “full band member” pictured in his barrette on the CD cover as well as all over the inside jacket of credits. Jeff Kent also played all the Keyboard parts in spite of what their fans were told about Gregg Giuffria, who backed out at the last minute, but was paid for the use of his name and credits to keep the band’s continuity with their fans.
Soon to follow was a live album HOL released Live in the UK which was released in January 2007. To the band’s great pleasure, Melodicrock.com also included two of Jeff Kent's co-compositions on the double 20th Anniversary CD, regularly released by MELODICROCK.COM, the greatest authority on Heavy Melodic Rock music in the world today.
2008 was marked with the release of the long awaited next new studio album, where Jeff Kent was again solicited to write “all the lyrics and melodies” with the exception of one song on this new amazing CD. Even the title came from Jeff Kent's Lyric on the song “Come to My Kingdom”, used as the title of the entire CD Come to My Kingdom, which was again followed by a limited European, US tour. However, unfortunately, due to poor business decisions, this barely supported and promoted new album rated at 97% on Melodicrock.com's website. Jeff Kent's work on the World Upside Down CD raised the bar on Melodicrock.com to being rated at 96% after the bands poor effort on "The Power And The Myth." Recently, the band was asked to play for the first time in Brazil, together with White Lion and Tyketto (both for the first time in Brazil as well), in the Hard in Rio II Hard Rock Festival.
In 2009, the band plans to resume limited touring and continue the infamous Come to My Kingdom tour of Europe, starting in September 2009.
These Are The Times
House of Lords Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All of the signs were given
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
Blue is the color of her eyes
They turn black in the dead of the night
She's got to always know
She's the center of attention
She's like a cat scratching at your bed
She's always been the queen of infatuation
I use to love the danger
We used to run on the edge of the knife
She was a fallen angel
Another tabloid socialite
These are the times we live in
All of the signs were given
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
So far away
(So far away)
Red was the color of her lips
She had the magic and did all the tricks
She played the games of the master magician
The way she moved her hips
Was like a hustler trying to make it rich
I finally figured out her unholy mission
I use to feed her fire
I never thought I'd feel the burn
She was my sole desire
That was the hardest lesson to learn
These are the times we live in
All of the signs were given
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
(So far away)
She was my sole desire
That was the hardest lesson to learn
These are the times we live in
All of the signs were given
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
These are the times we live in
All of the signs were given
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
(So far away)
These lyrics from House of Lords's song These Are The Times describe the reality of the present time which is marked by signs that had long been predicted but were never fully realized until they blew us away. This implies that we are living in an age where the world is changing tremendously and that changes are gradually taking root. However, this change has been gradual, and nobody ever imagined that it would take place in the manner it did, leaving everyone in shock.
The song also talks about a woman with whom the singer (presumably a man) was in a relationship. He describes her physical appearance, from the color of her eyes to that of her lips. She is a captivating figure who demands attention, and the way she moves portrays her as a hustler. The song highlights that the woman's actions were a masterful display of deception, and he later learned that his feelings towards her were misplaced.
Overall, the lyrics talk about how things are not always what they seem, and people should be aware of the illusions before them. These illusions are shown within the woman and also the world that we live in, with signs hinting at the changes we see in our world today.
Line by Line Meaning
These are the times we live in
We are living in a specific era
All of the signs were given
The warnings were present
We never dreamed they'd blow us away
We did not expect the outcome
Blue is the color of her eyes
Her eyes are blue
They turn black in the dead of the night
Her eyes appear dark at night
She's got to always know
She has to be aware
She's the center of attention
She receives a lot of focus
The way she holds her head
Her head's position
She's like a cat scratching at your bed
She's like a cat that scratches furniture
She's always been the queen of infatuation
She was always the ruler of obsession
I use to love the danger
I used to enjoy risks
We used to run on the edge of the knife
We used to take serious risks
She was a fallen angel
She was once pure but now corrupt
Another tabloid socialite
Another celebrity in the media
Red was the color of her lips
Her lips are red
She had the magic and did all the tricks
She was skilled in deception
She played the games of the master magician
She played elaborate tricks
The way she moved her hips
Her hip movements
Was like a hustler trying to make it rich
She moved like someone trying to make money
I finally figured out her unholy mission
I eventually understood her immoral goals
I use to feed her fire
I used to add fuel to her intentions
I never thought I'd feel the burn
I never thought I'd get hurt
She was my sole desire
She was my only want
That was the hardest lesson to learn
That was the most difficult thing to realize
So far away
The outcome is too distant
She was my sole desire
She was the only thing I wanted
Contributed by Landon W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.