![]() My first is the large inconsistency the album has. My biggest gripes with the album are, strangely on opposite ends of the spectrum. Oh wait, never mind, this is punk, lets not get ahead of ourselves. How much more could ask for but a string section. It’s sweet, powerful, and has a haunting ending. It’s the most obviously concept related song on the album, detailing a conversation between a young couple breaking up. Obviously, spoken word songs depend on excellent songwriting ability, and it of course contains just that. There’s no true strong point to the album in lyrical quality, as its generally strong throughout, except for the mostly spoken word song The Approaching Curve. While some of the lyrics are obviously over the top, slanted in one direction, or leaning towards being overly righteous, it’s obvious that Rise Against have some strong beliefs. Regardless, it’s got a strong series of messages to impart, and its written in perfect fashion for Tim’s voice (although it also means he doesn’t have to try much unique…). Supposedly it’s a loose concept album, but in my traipses with the album, I really only got an overall theme than any sort of storyline as I was informed on. The album lyrically is actually not too shabby, considering the pretenses I came in on. A few vocal lessons would Tim a tremendous amount of good, and perhaps develop him into one of the better vocalists in music in general. In contrast, the chorus to Prayer of the Refugee as Tim yells “ Let me Down Down Down!” loses most of its emotional punch as its sung in the exact same manner as the rest of the song. He gets closest to this in the chorus to The Approaching Curve, but even then, he continues to be too monotone to be enjoyable for long. It’s a cripple, as many songs could have benefited from more vocal dynamics. However, he ruins all this by having a painfully small range, often keeping essentially the same exact volume throughout any given song. Tim certainly does not have a generic voice it’s certainly got its own unique tone and pitch, and combined with the way Tim delivers his vocals, he sounds more like Serj Tanakian of System of a Down than a variety of other punk vocalists. However, my biggest gripe with both punk in general and Rise Against is the vocals. Yes, the musicianship is particularly good. The biggest surprise for me on the album was the quality of the basslines, with bassist Joe Principe creating highlights on the album with his basslines in Ready to Fall and Drones. The rhythm section is similarly tight, with solid drumbeats and fills being scattered throughout the album. The guitarists, while not on the level of a band like A Wilhelm Scream, in general play their parts quite well, making inventive riffs and putting their effects pedals to good use, AKA using them when they need to be used, and forgetting about them otherwise (some other guitarists could learn a trick or two from them…). The musicianship in general is very solid, particularly for their brand of punk/melodic hardcore. This may have been my major folly, as having this album playing clearly was a major plus in its favor. I did not buy Siren Song of the Counter Culture rather, I gave it one listen in a car. However, the release of their new album, The Sufferer & The Witness, has proven me wrong in a way. I still believe myself to be right in regards to that album. I thought it was rather boring, generic stuff with a terrible singer. ![]() Rise Against had always been a part of this well, at least since they had released Siren Song of the Counter Culture. ![]() Sure, I’m able to get into some (albeit more accessible) hardcore, and much of my recent listening has come from what’s been classified as post-hardcore, I still have a rather strong distaste for most punk. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |