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Rating: And here we go again.
A welcome back (or a welcome, depending), to the DeBaser users who will read this, my fourth review. After "System Of A Down," "Tool," and "Lacuna Coil," I've decided to review the only album by a band that's not very famous in Italy; maybe you knew them by another name. Anyway, these guys are four (specifically, Scott Phillips on drums, Brian Marshall on bass, Mark Tremonti, vocals + guitar and leader, and Myles Kennedy vocals) and they gather under a curious name: Alter Bridge.
From the little I know, and it's really little, the current Alter Bridge is nothing more than a band born from the ashes of the "Creed," of which Phillips, Marshall, and Tremonti were indeed part. In short, these are Creed with a different voice. Period.
The group's name is curious: it is said that, when Tremonti was a kid, there was a bridge in his village that he and his friends called "Alter Bridge" because they thought it was a meeting point between Earth and the Hereafter. Well, it wouldn’t be a bad idea, although I wouldn't want to see the spirits of deceased people fluttering around the village square, but we're digressing. Let's go back to the album in question and try to analyze it point by point. First of all, the cover. It's beautiful, very poetic, depicting once again this blessed bridge, but the effect is as suggestive as ever, as it is represented from an unusual point of view, namely from the river, under a kind of gallery. The sky is interesting: in the foreground, it's beautiful blue covered with small clouds, in the background reddish with black hues. Then the lyrics booklet. Here there's a negative note, as all the songs are transcribed in an ancient way that makes them almost unreadable unless one places oneself three centimeters from the page with a magnifying glass.
Finally, the CD. A premise: it's absolutely nothing new. These are songs with rhythmic and melodic patterns used many times (and even surpassed). But I quite liked this album. Anyway, now let's get into the details. There are 11 tracks, all of a hard rock nature with slight metal and (oh God! Don’t shoot me) grunge influences. The album opens with "Find The Real" which has a decidedly dark start with a sharp and violent guitar riff, the verses are excellently sung by Kennedy who, as far as vocal skills are concerned, is no novice, but the chorus, in my opinion, is a bit subpar, as it's on the verge of pop (listen to it and you'll tell me). Despite this, the song regains strength in the subsequent verses, and the end is really nice, with Kennedy letting out a scream for a good fifteen seconds, then followed by a drum roll. The second song is self-titled and has a slight electronic flavor, although it's still Tremonti dominating with his electric guitar. Once again, the chorus loses intensity compared to the verses, and halfway through the song, there's a vocal virtuosity by Kennedy that didn't convince me. The third composition is called "Open Your Eyes", it was chosen as the band's third single, and I must say that it's fundamentally the right choice, as the song's alleged initial roughness (which opens with a fake hard rock melody) fades more and more over the seconds until it resumes at the chorus and then calms down again. An excellent performance by Marshall here who, amidst the halfway song frenzy, explodes into a wonderful solo. The fourth track, titled "Burn It Down", starts with a very calm solo guitar, and all in all, it's not a wild song, but it's really too long, and it loses its way. The fifth song "Metalingus" is perhaps the wildest of the entire album: preceded by a drum roll, it's very hard rock throughout its duration, the chorus is delightful (even though the song is practically composed solely of it), and the finale is definitely explosive, with Kennedy rising in all his vocal power while behind him, Phillips and Tremonti explode furiously into a devastating riff. A curiosity: it's the entrance music of the current WWE champion Edge since 2005. Of a completely different nature - and this is a song that left me decidedly surprised - is the sixth track, "Broken Wings", a blues from start to finish (especially the start) that turns into a rocking song after forty seconds and shifts into a determined hard rock in the chorus, only to revert to the initial blues. A track that requires four or five listens to fully understand but is absolutely worth it. Song number 7, "In Loving Memory", one of the album's flaws, as it's dedicated to Kennedy's mother and surely nauseatingly sappy, not even the roaring guitars give the rock effect needed to properly lift the song up. All in all, the eighth composition "Down To My Last" is pleasant, hard rock just right, without many frills, with the guitar riffs and vocal parts in their place, without flaws, and it's perhaps this absurd perfection that makes the text a bit lifeless. But the path changes decisively - and I stress decisively - with the ninth song, titled "Watch Your Words". The start is menacing, with an echo of a melody that sinisterly resonates, and shortly afterward the song explodes in a terrifying way, with Tremonti’s riffs sounding very harsh and seemingly crafted to shake the hair to the rhythm of the music. The verses are well constructed: after a brief vocalization by Myles Kennedy, here's Tremonti and Marshall resuming the opening "melody," but then the song takes a significant stylistic drop, transforming from metal to soft rock, with yet another similar-pop chorus and more determined verses, with a newly metal attitude.
Another flaw with song number 10, "Shed My Skin", which doesn't have a precise rhythm and this time it goes randomly and not even the four Americans seem to be as strong as before, but let themselves be guided by a possible cue and implant a song that doesn't hold up. Finally, the closure, in my opinion worthy, of a good album: "The End Is Here", still raw hard rock with these young people proving to be a good promise for the future. They are not certainly exceptional, and they definitely need to improve the choruses, but as they are, they can be a good listen to chase away stress and clear the mind.
P.S. One last note: the average length of the songs is five minutes, and all in all, the 15 euros for the album are more than acceptably spent. Now let's hear your comments. Peace.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Find the Real (04:43)
Stuck in the middle, I burrow inside,
back to the cradle.
Away from the burdens of all my crimes,
before it's fatal.
My past has found me, the truth's come out,
all is remembered.
With no place to fall, but straight down,
I must surrender.
Well it seems I've finally thought of everything,
I wanna love, I wanna feel,
find peace, find the real.
There's a face I put on all my life,
the face of an angel.
But I look in the mirror only to find,
the face of a stranger.
And with all I've taken I hunger for more,
cause I'm selfish.
And all I'm left with is a crown of thorns,
and I'm helpless.
Well it seems I've finally thought of everything,
I wanna love, I wanna feel,
find peace, find the real.
I'll trade these lives for something right.
I will kill what hurts with something pure.
I will be redeemed so I can breathe again.
(Instrumental)
Well it seems I've finally thought of everything,
I wanna love, I wanna feel,
find peace, find the real.
Well it seems I've finally thought of everything,
I wanna love, I wanna feel,
find peace, find the real.
03 Open Your Eyes (04:58)
Looking back I clearly see
What it is that's killing me
Through the eyes of one I know
I see a vision once let go
I had it all
Constantly it burdens me
Hard to trust and can't believe
Lost the faith and lost the love
When the day is done
Will they open their eyes
And realize we are one
On and on we stand alone
Until our day has come
When they open their eyes
And realize we are one
I love the way I feel today
But how I know the sun will fade
Darker days seem to be
What will always live in me
But still I run
It's hard to walk this path alone
Hard to know which way to go
Will I ever save this day
Will it ever change
Will they open their eyes
And realize we are one
Stand the pain and carry on
I know the day will come
When they open their eyes
And realize we are one
ohhh... ohhhhh.... ohhhh....
Will they open their eyes
And realize we are one
(its hard to walk this path alone
hard to know which way to go)
Will they open their eyes
and realize we are one
(lost the faith and lost the love when the day is done)
Will they open their eyes
And realize we are one
05 Metalingus (04:19)
I've been defeated and brought down
Dropped to my knees when hope ran out
The time has come to change my ways
On this day
I see clearly
Everything has come to life
A bitter place and a broken dream
And we'll leave it all
Leave it all behind
I'll never long for what might have been
Regret won't waste my life again
I won't look back I'll fight to remain
On this day
I see clearly
Everything has come to life
A bitter place and a broken dream
And we'll leave it all behind
On this day
It's so real to me
Everything has come to life
Another chance to chase a dream
Another chance to feel
Chance to feel alive
Fear will kill me
All I could be
Lift these sorrows
Let me breathe
Could you set me free
Could you set me free
On this day
I see clearly
Everything has come to life
A bitter place and a broken dream
And we'll leave it all behind
On this day
It's so real to me
Everything has come to life
Another chance to chase a dream
Another chance to feel
Chance to feel alive
06 Broken Wings (05:06)
Fight the fight alone
When the world is full of victims
Dims a fading light
in our souls
Leave the peace alone
Now we all are slowly changing
Dims a fading light
in our souls
In my opinion seeing is to know
The things we hold are always first to go
And who's to say we won't end up alone
On broken wings I'm falling
and it won't be long
The skin on me is burning
by the fires of the sun
On skinned knees I'm bleeding
and it won't be long
I've got to find that meaning
and I'll search for so long
Cry ourselves to sleep
We will sleep alone forever
Will you lay me down
in the same place with all I love
Mend the broken homes
Care for them
they are our brothers
Save the fading light in our souls
In my opinion seeing is to know
What you give will always carry you
And who's to say we won't survive it too
On broken wings I'm falling
and it won't be long
The skin on me is burning
by the fires of the sun
On skinned knees I'm bleeding
and it won't be long
I've got to find that meaning
and I'll search for so long
Set a free all
Relying on their will
to make me all that I am
and all that I'll be
Set a free all
Will fall between the cracks
with memories of all that I am
and all that I'll be
On broken wings I'm falling
and it won't be long
The skin on me is burning
by the fires of the sun
On skinned knees I'm bleeding
and it won't be long
I've got to find that meaning
and I'll search for so long
10 Shed My Skin (05:08)
I am not alone
I live with the memories, regret is my home
This is my true freedom
Express all the feelings of what I've become
I watch the rising sun
I hope I find some peace today
It seems I've gone away
It seems I've lost myself
It seems I've really lost my way
It seems I've lost my self
It seems I've...
Shed my skin
Are you ready for me?
Or purge my love
Are you ready for me?
A bitter, sinking feeling
Awake to the fact there's no going back
To the world in which I was living
I'm searching for something, but found less than nothing
I watch the rising sun
I hope I find some peace today
It seems I've gone away
It seems I've lost myself
It seems I've really lost my way
It seems I've lost my self
It seems I've...
Shed my skin
Are you ready for me?
Or purge my love
Are you ready for me?
Oh 'cause I'm dying to feel
What I have lost
Oh and what I was
All my life I've waited
Endless days have taken
Taken what made me free
Years have gone
I'm broken
Left the past unspoken
Those years...
Oh and they haunt me still
Shed my Skin
Are you ready for me?
Or purge my love
Are you ready for me?
And shed my skin
11 The End Is Here (04:57)
Endless days
we search for what we hold inside
so hard to find
Luck turns
will the fallen ever reach within
and rise again
For the rest of my life..
I will find the answers that were always here
I will find the meaning this time
I will fight the end
till the end is here..
wasted time
with words that seem to break our will
they bind us still
without a care
they tarnish what we hold so dear
what was once so clear
For the rest of my life
I will find the answers that were always here
I will find the meaning this time
I will fight the end
till the end is here..
the end is here
the end is here
the end is here
the end is here
For the rest of my life
I will find the answers that were always here
I will find the meaning this time
I will fight the end
till the end is here..
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Other reviews
By Enrico Martello
Finally, there’s a good presence of GUITAR SOLOS! Thank God that damn Mark Tremonti realized he could play it.
Alter Bridge is one of the few bands that tries to keep alive what little is left of melodic grunge rock.
By Gallagher87
"Metalingus is the masterpiece of the album, a powerful track with sharp lyrics and a sound between crossover and nu-metal."
"Open Your Eyes is among the best tracks of the album where M. Kennedy fully expresses his vocal talents."
