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Rating: After a beginning that barely does justice to the word "beautiful" with "Revolution Per Minute" and two masterpieces "Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" and "The Sufferer And The Witness," Rise Against had the bright idea of changing their style, more or less... the album is less hard and angry than their earlier works, a softening of tones, but this takes a backseat if the CD is well-made. The only problem is that Tim no longer screams like he used to, and this is the major issue with the album.
Although I have to say that the opener "Collapse (Post-Amerika)" misled me into believing nothing had changed from the past, indeed it is the song that most calls back to "The Sufferer And The Witness." Another track that recalls the previous work, albeit slightly differently, is "Kotov Syndrome," which is very beautiful and fast.
Even though the album could be summarized in two songs "Re-education (Through Labor)" and "Audience of One" which, not by coincidence, are two singles, there are tracks that offer something new, above all "Entertainment," one of the best tracks on the album, and the less successful "Whereabouts Unknown." It is not a bad song, but it lacks something, perhaps an extra push, beautiful the ending of the latter, a mix of speed and at times screamed, which is always a pleasure to hear.
There are moments where they know how to move you "Hero of War" even if we are far from others of this genre like "Swing Life Away," for instance, and other moments that make you jump to your feet like the aforementioned "Entertainment" and "Savior."
Unfortunately, there are also negative notes in the album "Long Forgotten Sons," which the first time I heard it, made my arms drop, and indeed "Whereabouts Unknown." In my opinion, the album could have ended with the beautiful and fitting "Hairline Fracture," a song rich with choruses.
The album gives us 13 tracks + bonus track, in my opinion, very beautiful and in my opinion, would not have looked out of place in the main setlist of the album, instead of more obvious songs. Nonetheless, the album has brilliant moments, but they are too few, and the absence of the screamed parts, for those like me, who got to know them with albums like "Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" or "The Sufferer And The Witness," cannot help but complain about this choice.
Passed despite not being comparable to the three previous works.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 The Dirt Whispered (03:09)
She got down on hands and knees,
One ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something,
But the dirt made not a sound tonight
Echoes of songs still lurk on distant foreign shores,
Where we danced just to please the gods that only ask for more,
So it goes
But still we give ourselves to this
We can't spend our lives waiting to live
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn’t what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
The postcard says wish you were here
But I’d rather I was there,
Holding on to the simple things before they disappear,
That’s what I meant
But that was then, and this is now
I'll make it up to you somehow
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn’t what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
A destination, a fading smile.
Another station, another mile.
Another day gone, I swore that I will.
Be there before dawn.
So be there, I will.
She got down on hands and knees,
One ear against the ground,
Holding her breath to hear something,
Anything at all
The dirt whispered, "Child, I'm coming home"
On cold nights
In a prayer for dawn
But the daylight
Isn’t what she wants
The concrete
Calls my name again
I'm falling
Through the cracks I slip
05 Kotov Syndrome (03:05)
There, high on the watchtower
Keeping the peace
Whatever that means
cause you see the world through
Crosshairs and TVs, don't you?
Ten foot walls built around us
White picket death
So quiet, so safe
But if we fall there will be nothing and no one to catch
So sit back and watch as we
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, but collide with each other
We spin out of control
Something I cannot change
I was born in a place
That lives by the sword
And thus to it's blade we're condemned
Don't you understand why we scream "no more"?
My dreams are of children
Orphaned by blood
Spilled at these hands
Here on the graves of the innocent
We raise our flag
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, but collide with each other
We spin out of control
Somethings you don't forgive, somethings you don't forget
Sometimes the fate you suffer is so much worse than death
We're way off course now and we're drifting out to sea
So cut the anchor on your heart to be set free
Set free
Set free
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Spin out of control
Try to recover, we have to recover
We fall and crash, one after the other
Spin out of control
09 Entertainment (03:34)
All we are is entertainment
Caught up in our own derangement
Tell us what to say and what to do
All we are are pretty faces
Picture perfect bottled rage
Packaged synthesized versions of you
We've all made petty fortunes, but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms (hey, hey, hey, hey)
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is coming soon
Hey!
Come one, come all, the new sensation
Guarantees then obligations
Spotlights follow every single move (move, move, move)
Basking here on ten foot stages
Pouty lips and oh so jaded
All as if we have something to prove
Despite these petty fortunes we still can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms (hey, hey, hey, hey)
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is here
And if we cared at all
about this unknown plight
then we'd do something more
to finally make this right
Is this only entertainment
Pull the curtains, places please
We've learned to sing and dance and cry on cue
But this is more than entertainment
In a world so sick with pain
This is the only thing that's real or true
We've all made petty fortunes, but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms (hey, hey, hey, hey)
They all scream bloody murder over graves already dug
But can't you see the end...
11 Savior (04:02)
It kills me not to know this but I've all but just forgotten
What the color of her eyes were and her scars or how she got them
As the telling signs of age rain down, a single tear is dropping
Through the valleys of an aging face that this world has forgotten
There is no reconciliation that will put me in my place
And there is no time like the present to drink these draining seconds
But seldom do these words ring true when I'm constantly failing you
Like walls that we just can't break through until we disappear
So tell me now if this ain't love then how do we get out?
'Cause I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you but
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have, whoa oh, whoa oh
And the day pressed on like crushing weights
For no man does it ever wait
Like memories of dying days that deafen us like hurricanes
Bathed in flames we held the brand, uncurled the fingers in your hand
Pressed into the flesh like sand, now do you understand?
So tell me now if this ain't love then how do we get out?
'Cause I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you but
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have, whoa oh, whoa oh
One thousand miles away, there's nothing left to say
But so much left that I don't know
We never had a choice, this world is too much noise
It takes me under, it takes me under once again
I don't hate you
I don't hate you, no
So tell me now if this ain't love then how do we get out?
'Cause I don't know
That's when she said I don't hate you but
I just want to save you while there's still something left to save
That's when I told her I love you girl
But I'm not the answer for the questions that you still have, whoa oh whoa oh
I don't hate you
I don't hate you, whoa oh, whoa oh
I don't hate you
I don't hate you, no, whoa oh, whoa oh
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Other reviews
By AssafetidaLover
"The opening track of 'Appeal To Reason' defines the concept of melodic hardcore in the most comprehensive way."
"McIlrath reaffirms himself as a talented songwriter, capable of crystallizing desperate fragments of reality in raw and real verses."
By Taurus
The only criticism ... is the almost total abandonment of the screamed parts that have always added an extra march to the compositions.
'Appeal to Reason' still manages to fulfill its primary purpose, which is to offer half an hour of entertainment, allowing us to escape from the worries of daily life.
