BY MIKEY MIGO
95% of the concerts I've seen in my life have been in Chicago. Be it a favorite like Nine Inch Nails, a festival like "Ozzfest" or "Projekt Revolution", local favorites like "Fun Club", bands on the verge of breaking it huge like a "Janus", "Fashion Bomb" or "Dirge Within", or even random shows like a "Poison" or a "Mars Volta" I seem to always wind up in Chicago. I love the city and there are some great venues, bands, and fans that make these experiences more enjoyable than sticking around the region for a local bar show. Sometimes the local bar show will rock, but the overall experience of leaving Indiana and approaching the skyline of Chicago adds a whole other level of excitement to the approaching show.
For this reason, I keep up on as much Chicagoland music as I can. For awhile, I was either attending or filming at least two shows a week. I keep an eye out on what shows come to the Metro, the Congress, Reggies, and all the great venues. I'll be the first to admit that there's a few "scenes" that I wish I'd be more on the ball about. I'm out of the loop on Chicago hip hop. I know there's some talent out there, I just miss out. I enjoy hip hop, but for some reason I've just never gotten into punk music. I respect the genre and I dig the overall style and mantra of it, but musically it's just not my thing. I enjoy the older icons like "The Stooges" and the older stuff but I think it's mainly because it still had a little bit of blues rock in there. The majority of the music that's labeled "punk" these days has whiney little girl vocals intertwined with "torturous" cries and screams. Or if it's not that, it's pussified pop-punk. That's just not my cup of tea.
None the less, with all my love for Chicago there is one pretty popular band that I've never honestly listened to. I've seen tons of promo for "Rise Against", but I've just never given them a chance. I'm positive I've seen their music videos and I've heard their radio singles. Chicago's Q101.1 plays the shit out major label local bands. The thing is that their music most likely went in one ear and out the other because it did sound like the aforementioned "current punk" music. I know I don't like "Fall Out Boy", but I can probably hum a few of their tunes and tell you more about them than I'd like to admit I know. I know nothing about "Rise Against". Maybe I was being close minded? So many people like them and they get mad props from most Chicagoland people. They ALL can't be wrong can they? So today I'm going to listen to the five studio albums of "Rise Against". Its punk, but I promise to be open minded.
Before I even put my headphones on, I want to proclaim that I'm HOPING that I enjoy this. Listening to five albums in a row of something I don't like is not how I look to spend a beautiful afternoon. Even the most negative of pricks wouldn't find pleasure in that. Like they say..."Good music is good music", right? Let's hope.
The Unraveling
Year: 2001
Duration: 40:26
Instantly the "Are you ready to rock" opening makes me like "Alive and Well". The music is more of what I call "traditional" punk. I expected something else, but it's still early. I can understand the vocals and the music has some cool change ups in it. I'm always afraid of the old "punk is 2 notes as fast as you can" stuff. It's hard to really get into for me. The musicianship here makes it much easier to be objective. "My Life Inside Your Heart" sounds familiar and is a solid track. The kind of abrupt break/change up about a minute in is pretty cool. "Great Awakening" is angry and then breaks into a semi-harmonious vocal and back and forth. I don't hate this song, but this formula could wear thin very quickly. "Six Ways ‘Til Sunday" gets me mildly headbanging and so far is the best track I've heard. "401 Kill" kind of comes and goes for me until towards the end. The droning breakdown is better than the entire song. "The Art of Losing" is the best song on the album thus far. It's not even a question. If this was my first impression of the band, I'd of probably been a fan or already listened in the least. I'm kind of happy that "Remains of Summer Memories" is only 1:17 because it's just kind of there. If it were expanded, it could have been a solid track but at such a small duration it leaves me shrugging. The title track is worth of the honor as "The Unraveling" wins for me just based on the bad ass guitar work. The opening audio clip on "Reception Fades" is great. I know I've heard/seen it before, but am totally unsure of where. The song breaks from that isn't as great, but solid. "Stained Glass and Marble" is like a four minute song sped up into a minute and a half. That doesn't sound as appealing as it came off. It really works here. "Everchanging" was a more traditionally written song and kind of stands out on the album like a sore thumb. It just didn't really fit the rest of the vibe on this debut. It takes you longer to say the title "Sometimes Selling Out is Giving Up" ten times in a William Shatner voice before the song is over. Seriously, try it. Just when I was getting into "3 Day Weekend" it ended. The opening to "1000 Good Intentions" rocks. The bass line is pimptastic and it breaks down into a very solid track. "Weight of Time" rocks and hits kind of hard, like a good punk song should. I find myself letting "Faint Resemblance" going in one ear and out the other. It just doesn't grab me or hook me at all. The only thing I notice is that it's the last song and the guitar feedback ending is "so punk rawk, yo". The album's tone is mainly angry, rebellious, and nothing too different than most "punk" I've heard. The writing on this one just didn't paint any new pictures. The lyrics just seem like spiral note book rants from the kid in the Anarchy shirt and corduroys in study hall. That's my biggest gripe. It's not all that bad. The music had me headbanging more times than not. The change ups and tempos they used really saved this one for me. I enjoy the melody, musicianship, and how they expand a little more upon the genre. At times they sound a little like "The Used", a band that I never ever liked. "Rise Against" is better than them for sure. Then at times there's some shades of "AFI", which is much more tolerable for me. Preference aside, that's a good comparison as "Rise Against" is just about right in the middle of both bands; at least on this album.
Revolutions Per Minute
Year: 2003
Duration: 37:42
The band's second full length release starts with "Black Masks and Gasoline". The uptempo of the music remains, but the vocals are crisper and cleaner this time out. I actually prefer the grittier vocals. This is already starting to sound a little more commercial. Single "Heaven Knows" sounds exactly what I don't like about the genre. It's uptempo punk rock and then Bam! Cry-screams. "Dead Ringer" brings us back to the fast pace punk and so far the best of the three opening tracks. The balls out rock of the opening of "Halfway There" rocks hard until the vocals kick in. The vocals take me out of it for awhile, but the musicianship pulls me back. Sadly, I'm just going to have to accept that THIS is the vocal styling of the band and try to make the best of it. "Like The Angel" is the most solid track of the album this far in. It's got a catchy tempo that you can't help but nod a long with. The intro guitar on "Voices of Camera" is great, but it then goes into a very muddy sounding pop-punk type of song. Again, the opening for "Blood Red, White & Blue" is great and then the break down is even greater. Then the vocals hit and it sounds like a completely different song. It reminds me of wrestling music. The opening break rocks, the wrestler comes out, and from there the music isn't nearly as important. "Broken English" tell us that when the band gets knocked down they get "right-back-up-again"! Seriously, the song is basically a paraphrased punk cover of Chumbawumba with the whole "pissing the night away" part. "Last Chance Blueprint" starts off with an audio sample from "American Beauty" and goes into a fairly up tempo head knocker. Up until the guitar slide, "To The Core" almost sounds like the opening to a Korn song and then into a fast and angry track. It would have been cool at that, but then it goes into singing in the midst of the ranting punk screams. I tune out the vocals on "Torches" and enjoy the composition. It's catchy and has a pretty rocking melody. I try the same for "Amber Changing", but it doesn't work. It's the longest track of the album, but feels the most like filler. The album finishes off with a "hidden" track. It's a solid cover of Journey's "Any Way You Want It". Flat out, most enjoyable song I've heard thus far from this album. It's not even that great, but it's not too screamo and has some attitude behind it. The opening and break downs were the best part of listening to this for me. The mainly epic music lost the entire luster for me once the high pitched vocals hit in. It's still punk, but the more polished and more screams/crying are in full effect. It kind of makes it teeter on punk rock and emo/screamo. This is something I just can't get on the same page of. It's not the content of emo that really bothers me; it's the presentation via wimpy cries and screams stuff. It is what it is. The album does sound evolved and a step forward from the first, just a step farther from where I'm at.
Siren Song of the Counter Culture
Year: 2004
Duration: 40:54
Their first major label release and third album kicks off with a head banger in "Stage of the Union". It sounds a little edgier than the last album and more like the first. This is around when I think I first started hearing about the band so I'd assume to start hearing some familiar singles. Still, the opener is not what I'd expect from the band. It's almost metal. As much as I don't want to, I find myself actually enjoying "The First Drop" more than I should. It's more of the same of the things I've complained about, but it's well done and rocks. "Life Less Frightening" is listed as a single, but I honestly don't remember it all. It sounds like a single. Not great, but just enough shiny and fluffy to put on the radio. Not like when a song stands out as something you'd want to hear over and over again. The same thing can almost be said for the single "Paper Wings", but it's noticeably a better track than the last one. I kind of dig the mellow-ish "Blood to Bleed". It's a solid down tempo track with some good guitar work in there that's given some breathing room. I can't help but envision an emo-punk version of "Westside Story" in the cheesy "To Them These Streets Belong". The guitar riffs that open "Tip the Scales" build up nicely to a very solid tune. "Anywhere But Here" seems to the pick of the liter where I call a song on the album "filler". I've heard and know "Give It All" for sure. I've heard it at least a hundred times. It's gotta be one of the band's most popular songs. It's very well done. Maybe because I have heard it before and have some of comfortableness with it I like it more, but it's easily a superior track. I was confused by the opening acoustic guitar of "Dance for Rain". It's one of the better tunes on the album, but after hearing the hit single it pales in enjoyment. The huge hit "Swing Life Away" starts off acoustic guitar as well and the vocals are sung, not screamed or cried, very beautifully over it. It's just not "punk" at all and stands out way too much to fit in with the rest of the album. It takes you out of the tone that's been set the thirty something minutes prior to this. The album ends with the wittily titled "Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated". It's more in vein of the rest of the album and styling's of the band. Nothing epic, just sorta ends. I noticed something else about this genre of music that irks me in the wrong way for some reason. Shouty backing vocals on singular words and random backing choruses of "oooh-ooh-oooh-oh" seem to fill the ears more than the music and the lead vocals in some parts. Both backing styles are as common in this music genre as Hot Topic clothing. It's just another aspect that irks me, but doesn't ruin it quite yet for me. The album does sound a lot more commercial. It's got way better production, which works on many levels but for a band like this I would think gritty and spontaneous would be crucial. It's almost like "mow-hawk prom music" at time, but still maintains a few glimmers of genuine rawness.
The Sufferer & the Witness
Year: 2006
Duration: 42:46
The fourth album starts out with a voice telling us "This is Noise". "Chamber the Cartridge" is the first song and seems to be a reasonably enjoyable track. The main set back is what I was bitching about last album. The whole single word and "whoa/ooh" backing vocals. I have no problem with it being used on occasion, but it's used so much that it turns punk into a cheerleading rally call. I get into "Injection" and headbang a little. Very solid track. The first single off the album, "Ready to Fall" sounds a little too clean. I don't remember this song at all until the chorus hits. This single is weak sauce compared to some of the others and even the other two tracks on the album. It sounds a little forced and formula fueled. It's almost like the track listing apologizes and jumps to "Bricks", a much more traditional "punk" track. "Under The Knife" has some good guitar work, but other than that nothing to write home about. The single "Prayer Of The Refugee" is solid, but I just don't remember hearing it. I'm sort of disappointed I've not heard this one. It's on the short list of best tracks thus far. The droning opening of "Drones" builds into a pretty good rock song. In all honesty this album is a good listen. I've been trying to remain objective and share my experience, but at this point the past few songs are just very well done. I guess the saying "good music is good music" is true sometimes. I dig the ranty 90's style opening of "The Approaching Curve", but then it loses me at the break down. The balls out opinions of war in "Worth Dying For" are impressive. It's blunt and one of the few tracks that actually caught my ears lyrically more than musically. I really try to get into "Behind Closed Doors", but it feels flat. I see we get another acoustic track on this one as "Roadside" takes on the gig this time around. At first I was unsure about it, but it grew on me pretty quickly. It's not really like anything else on the album, but the closest the band has gotten to being something I could enjoy on a regular basis. "The Good Left Undone", another single I don't remember, isn't that bad. I almost feel like a broken record when I say that the song was saved for me by the awesome guitar work. The awesome guitar work continues in the instrumental bridge between this and the last song, "Survive". Sadly, after the cool instrumental the song is vanilla and not a impactful way to close this out at all. "Roadside" would have made for a great last track. The vocals are way more polished here. Tim sticks to the same style as the other albums, but it just seems his voice is in better condition and smoother. It's still my biggest kick back here, but this does help listening to the album considerably. One thing I notice is that they sound the most "punk" on these songs that are short and sweet under two minute ditties. And yes, I know most "old school punk songs" are short, but in the midst of the track list it feels like they're being forced to play punk. It's almost like they're saying, "Yeah, yeah yeah, we're punk but we just don't have the time to play it in between our pop-emo-punk singles". Dudes, if you want to be Jimmy Eats Fall Out then go for it. I kid. These guys are surely of higher integrity and quality than that. You can tell by the lyrics and the genuine feel of things. I may not be into this type of thing, but I won't deny the band's ability to wear their passion on their sleeves.
Appeal to Reason
Year: 2008
Duration: 48:23
The most recent and fifth "Rise Against" album starts with "Collapse (Post-Amerika)". Outside of the vocals, it sounds more like a rock than punk song. I can already tell that this one will sound even MORE polished and "clean". But hey, they're still punk. I mean they did spell America with a "k". That's "so punk rawk, yo". "Long Forgotten Sons" bums me out. The music is sounds more and more commercial and this is pretty Wal-Mart. In my head, "punk" challenges not only authority but the listener. I feel as challenged as a Top 40 Nickelback single so far. The big single, "Re-Education" is amazingly something I don't think I've ever heard. It made 22 on the "Mainstream Rock" Billboard chart. That kind of fails on two levels, for one it's "mainstream" and for two I never heard it and I listen to a lot of music. I'm really not enjoying this album at all. There's still plenty to rebound it though. I don't want to be mean, but I have to at least say something about every song. "The Dirt Whispered" sounds like a montage song to a 4th rate "American Pie" movie. My brain shut off during "Kotov Syndrom" and didn't come back on until "From Heads Unworthy" was ending. It sounds like, yeah you guessed it, filler. I had to look it up and saw what I had expected. The band changed guitarists on this album. It's noticeable as fuck. Sadly, it's just not on par with the shredding of the other works. This is very apparent in the lackluster "The Strength to Go On" and "Audience of One". The opening to "Entertainment" is the most interesting thing on the album so far and it ends up being a solid track. It's a glimpse of light on a very disappointing album. The circus-like break down is worth the listen alone. I'm a fan of strong conviction and the occasional acoustic track, but "Hero of War" is so poorly written that it's almost insulting. It's written like a Bruce Springsteen song parody. It's all "I'll do this… then that… hey look, there's that…now this". It tells a story with as much metaphor as a math problem. I understand what they're going for, but this just feels like pretentious drivel. I recall hearing "Savior" on the radio pretty recently. I remember hearing the opening and liking it, but never enough to pursue any more of their music. I think I even mocked it by calling it "Nickelback-punk". It makes much more sense now. "Hairline Fracture" and "Whereabouts Unknown" close off a very disappointing and hopefully forgettable (sooner the better) album. Nothing to say that I've not said already. I don't know what the hell happened. I'm going to be cool and just assume that this is their weakest album and a fluke. When they get back in the studio, they'll regroup and get back on the evolving track they seemed to be on before it. This album charted the highest of any of their work and seemed to really put the band on the map, so what do I know? I'd be willing to bet that for every old school fan who has supported them since the start who ditches them based on this album there are a good dozen junior high Hot Topic kids to replace them.
THE VERDICT
The Band: Rise Against
Years: 2001 - Current.
You can almost hear the edginess of the first album dull more and more with each evolved and well produced album to follow. The first album or two felt like "pure Rise Against", but it's like more and more water was added to dilute who they were. The problem is that their poppy-commercial stuff sounds like money grabs. Way too basic and easy for a general public to get behind. I'm happy to not be a fan because I'd be pretty conflicted on the direction they went after signing with a major. It's hard for me to swallow "punk" as being rebellious and unique when there are 100 "punk" bands out there who all sound exactly like this. For a self proclaimed "anti-comformity" scene, these bands sure as fuck conform to whatever headlines "Warped Tour". I'm not judging an entire genre though; I'm looking at one band. I called a fair portion of the "Rise Against" discography "solid". This may be the best I can do. From someone who's not a fan of their genre, it's something to be said to be deemed "solid". If I were a fan of punk this would be a band I'd listen to and follow. I'm just not, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate their skill, talent, and work. I was never bored or really bothered. It's not like it's unlistenable for me, but just not what I prefer. I probably won't seek out future albums, but I'll be more open to their singles to see what they're up to. I gave it a shot. They have my respect, but I must respectful move on to something else.
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