The Way It Was

Parachute’s 2011 sophomore long-player The Way It Was succeeds at offering a little something for everyone. The album’s first cut “White Dress” plays like a fast-driving American version of Coldplay with a more explosive chorus before echoing Kings Of Leon’s Southern-tinged formula on the “Something to Believe In.” The power ballad “Forever and Always” wraps a sentimental Kelly Clarkson-esque narrative (involving an engaged couple) inside the melody. The uplifting “American Secrets” even taps into the small-town sentiment of those heartland hymns cranked out of Music City — all it needs is a pedal steel mixed in to get airplay on Contemporary Country radio stations. “Philadelphia” ends with some blue-eyed-soul flirtations.