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LA RECENSIONE
"The way I am / you'll never change / 'cause the way I am / is the way I am" sings Aaron Lewis in "The Way I Am," one of the songs from the brand new sixth Staind album, and he's not joking: this "The Illusion Of Progress", even after several listens, is exactly what the Springfield rock band has accustomed us to for almost 10 years, without the slightest change in direction: albums referring to post-grunge, with flashes of Nu Metal and pop from TRL, with songwriting deeply focused on explaining how much life sucks.
And also in this album, as in its predecessors, it opens with one of the Hardest tracks of the work,"This Is It", where Staind revisit the raw Nu Metal of "Dysfunction"; moving along the same lines are "Break Away" and "Raining Again", both more than adequate, but strategically enigmatically placed: being rather heavy tracks, they could have served to raise the pace among the numerous ballads, but are oddly relegated almost to the last position.
Other positive notes of "The Illusion Of Progress" are indeed the ballads "Tangled Up In You" and "The Corner": the first, acoustic, thanks to a particularly inspired performance by Lewis and a beautiful violin backing represents the album's highest emotional point, while the second is a remarkable epic ballad featuring the vocal addition of an African-American gospel choir; these described episodes have above all the merit of opening new horizons for the band, and are surely what Lewis was referring to as this being the most "musical" and technically inspired Staind album.
However, it is a pity that the great musicality and inspiration sadly stop here: other episodes like the aforementioned "The Way I Am" and the hit "Believe" suffer from a heavily insufficient songwriting, see for example the chorus of "The Way I Am" or that of "Believe": "If you believe in me / life's not always what it seems / believe in me / 'cause I was made for chasing dreams" brr.. (however, the video for the single is amazing, with the only flaw being a worryingly overweight Lewis).
The list of insufficient tracks unfortunately doesn't end here: there's the very boring "Save Me", which seems to read the listener’s mental invocation, or pieces like "Rainy Day Parade" and "Nothing Left To Say", simply flat.
On the instrumental side, I'd point out a good rhythmic section in "The Way I Am" and a very good guitar work in "Pardon Me", but, for the rest, the instrumental aspect often willingly leaves space to Lewis's voice.
In short, when all is said and done, we are faced with yet another transitional work for Staind, who simply refuse to return to the excellent levels of "Break The Cycle"; certainly, there are notable tracks, but they are overshadowed by too many "filler" tracks. The concluding "Nothing Left To Say", then, leaves a spontaneous, sad interpretation: that Staind, after this mediocre album, really have nothing more to say?
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Summary by Bot
Staind’s sixth album, The Illusion Of Progress, sticks closely to the band’s established post-grunge style without significant evolution. While there are strong emotional ballads like "Tangled Up In You" and "The Corner," much of the album suffers from weak songwriting and uninspired tracks. The instrumental work is uneven, favoring Aaron Lewis's vocals. Overall, the album feels like a transitional effort that fails to match the quality of the band's earlier work.Tracklist Lyrics Videos
11 Rainy Day Parade (04:17)
You the great pretenders love to paint your pictures
While you're stepping over fallen people lying in the streets
You the great offenders only your views matter
While your heart grows colder I wish that you could open up and feel
For a while
See if you can take it
And see
Your life this is all part of it
And feel
Could it be that we're all afraid
Cause it feels
Like a rainy day parade
We the great believers blood is legal tender
And i will not surrender what it was our fathers died to bear
We the people stated not negotiated
Just to be forgotten I wish that you could open up and see
For a while
See if you can take it
And see
Your life this is all part of it
And feel
Can't you see that we're all afraid
Cause it feels
Like a rainy day parade
What I see is all to real
What I need is what you steal
And all I reap is what you take
I burn my back on which you break
And i just wish that we could rise above this
Feel
For a while see if you can take it
Feel
Your life this is all part of it
Feel
Could it be that we're all afraid
Cause it feels like a rainy day parade
Staind
Staind is an American rock band from Springfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. Reviews emphasize their early-2000s breakthrough with “Dysfunction” and especially “Break the Cycle,” their association with Fred Durst/Flip Records, and lyrics focused on dark personal themes; later albums are often judged against that peak, with notable comeback claims for the 2011 self-titled and 2023 “Confessions Of The Fallen.”12 Reviews
