 
American rockers Staind have had a rough time
in the UK over the past few years, with a new
UK tour announced in much smaller venues and brand
new 7th studio album “Staind”, the
band are hoping to finally win us over. I am not
going to lie the band have been rejected by the
UK rock scene with good reason, their live shows
in this country that I’ve been in attendance
at have been nothing short of abysmal; no energy
in their set, front man Aaron Lewis mumbles between
songs, I’ve never been more bored at a concert
in my life. Having slated their live performances
I must state for the record I am a Staind fan,
“Chapter VI” is one of my favourite
albums and in my opinion their best release to
date, I was just utterly disappointed with their
live set.
After “Chapter VI” came “The
Illusion of Progress”, which was light compared
with the majority of their past work; that’s
not to say that it wasn’t a great album
because some of the material was absolutely beautiful,
it was just an unexpected change. Having seen
quotes by lead vocalist Aaron Lewis stating “every
song on the new record is as heavy as or heavier
than the heaviest song on the last record”
and others from guitarist Mike Mushok stating
the band are “looking to make a heavy record
but also explore some of the things we did on
the last record and take them somewhere new”
leaves certain exciting thoughts floating around
on how the band are going to incorporate both
different sides of the band into 1 album.
Wasting no time “Eyes Wide Open” brings
imagination to life; heavy riff laced with really
thick sounding guitars, sinister clean vocals
mixed with aggressive screaming along with memorable
lyrics and a catchy chorus.“Not Again”
is also a very heavy, sinister track with the
same structure but a bit heavier; still catchy
with a great chorus though, to be honest the only
song on the album with the same structure as these
that isn’t really on par would be “Paper
Wings” its just not got the same passion.
One other heavy track I’m going to mention
here is “Wannabe” which has a message
which is extremely relevant to today’s society;
the musical content is great as well, bouncy riff,
catchy chorus yet again, great conflicting vocal
styles which also includes some rapping, I wasn’t
expecting that as it sounds a lot like Fred Durst
when in reality its Aaron but it fits surprisingly
well.
Some of the best songs on the album are the tracks
that really fulfil expectations by utilising the
two conflicting styles together perfectly; “Falling”,
“Something to Remind You” and “Throw
It All Away” are definitely the best efforts
in the style. “Falling” in particular
has become new personal favourite of mine, it’s
just got a great feel to it and the lyrics are
so relatable that it’s almost impossible
to keep it out of your head. Whilst the music
may be lighter there are sections where it picks
up and even some screams are involved, it’s
surreal.
At the end of it all this album has some fantastic
guitar solos, thick chunky riffs, some terrific
vocal work with great lyrical work, compared to
the older stuff it matches up as some of the greatest
material they’ve ever written and it absolutely
obliterates “The Illusion of Progress”.
If they can take control of their live shows and
put some energy into it, then I see no reason
this time around why they wouldn’t be able
to take the UK by storm in October.
4/5
Review by James Webb
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