Hollywood, 2009
6/10
Breaking Benjamin peddles the sort of heavy, radio-friendly rock that’s hard not to like. Sure, there will always be those who detest this style of metal, but it’s hard to dispute the band’s success. Stylistically Breaking Benjamin reminds me a lot of Staind, both for their use of somber themes and in the variety of songs they are capable of writing. “Crawl”, “Fade Away”, and “Lights Out” show off a quite heavy side full of solid down-tuned riffs. To the other extreme are the depressive-sounding ballads “Give Me A Sign” and “Anthem Of The Angels”. The rest of album is chock-full of slow and mid-tempo melodic tunes that retain enough meat to avoid sounding bland. For the most part the album is enjoyable and easy to listen to, but a couple weak tracks slip in – “I Will Not Bow” deserving dishonorable mention for its annoying chorus. Hold on for the end of the album, because two of the best songs, “Dear Agony” and “Without Out”, are sequenced in the last three tracks. Despite a relatively low mark of 6, I actually really enjoy Dear Agony. I just can’t bring myself to heap lavish praises on a band that sounds like so many others. The bottom line is that if you like bands like Staind, Sevendust, and Soil you can’t go wrong with adding Breaking Benjamin to your collection. People that don’t like this sort of made-for-radio rock won’t be convinced, however.
Breaking Benjamin will be appearing at Target Center in Minneapolis on Monday, May 24 as direct support to Nickelback. Additional support will come from Shinedown and Sick Puppies.
No comments:
Post a Comment