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Rating: That the Rise Against have increased their potential listener base with each album, reaching the ears of many, is a fact. Despite this, the band's proposal has always remained captivating, although something is beginning to change, and "Appeal To Reason" is the proof of it.
Not that our guys have turned to reggae, but there is a noticeable lightening of tones in favor of tracks more oriented towards mid-tempo and melody at the expense of sharp guitars, screams, and detonating drum parts in classic four-four time.
Naturally, the distinctive traits of the Chicago group remain evident, although here they are diluted and freeze-dried compared to the recent past in a punk rock that, however, does not lack modern-rock nuances and only rare hints of past melodic hc (the excellent "Kotov Syndrome" and the daring opener "Collapse (Post Amerika)").
But the present is represented by tracks such as "Re-Education (Through Labour)" and "Audience of one", straddling rock and melodic punk.
The tracks that present something new are "Entertainment" with its sudden accelerations and an vaguely folkloric interlude complete with accordion, and the finale "Whereabouts unknown" a sort of "Dancing for rain" pt.2, which brings water to the mill where McIlrath's vocal lines are more captivating and inspired than the average of the tracks.
An album still quite varied in the styles it proposes, capable of moving from playful tracks with decidedly catchy choruses like "Saviour" or "The dirt whispered" to more lively and unsettling tones like the already mentioned "Entertainment" to more intimate and reflective parts such as in the touching acoustic episode of "Hero of war", now a fixed appointment in the latest releases of the combo.
The only criticism that can be made regarding the creation of this album is the almost total abandonment of the screamed parts that have always added an extra march to the compositions, and "Whereabouts unknown" with its pyrotechnic and dizzying finale with its screamed and powerful parts is unfortunately the demonstration that for the future Rise Against might need to reconsider this choice.
An album that, even if it may not present ingenious finds in all the 13 tracks plus bonus track, despite many critical opinions scattered around the web, 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 for a while.
Approved, despite the fact that the three previous albums continue to have an extra edge.
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 RiseAgainst
The only problem is that Tim no longer screams like he used to, and this is the major issue with the album.
The album has brilliant moments, but they are too few, and the absence of the screamed parts cannot help but complain about this choice.
