Sound: Melodic, activist hardcore with a dire urgency for social change delivered through Tim McIlrath’s commanding bark, throaty screams and lots of rally-cry choruses.
Look For: The jarring change of pace in the form of their strings-and-female-backing-vocal ballad “Roadside.” We’re lucky, it could have been much worse. This is just a caution that such a song exists amongst the rest of the amped-up rock.
Heavy Rotation tracks: “Chamber the Cartridge“; “Drones
“; “Ready To Fall
”
Medium Rotation tracks: “The Good Left Undone“; “Under the Knife
“; “Behind Closed Doors
”
Recommended: If you like your issue-heavy aggression balanced with sing-along hooks.
Grade: A- (Top 20 Albums of 2006 Candidate)
(As posted 7/24/06 on davepowersmusic.com)
Buy CD/Listen to Tracks
Dave … ironically I liked this band because a friend told me about one of their songs “Swing Life Away.” I fell in love with the song and went to see what else they had. Imagine my surprise when I realized the rest of the album was not quite the same sound as that track.
Parsons
Parsons…good to hear from you.
Rise Against are usually good for a nice ballad here are there. “Swing Life Away” is a lovely song…it’s just a bit misrepresentative of their aggressive sound.
As you can see, I felt it necessary to issue the disclaimer about “Roadside” on their latest album. Decent song, but doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the stuff.