Continuing with the music reviews:
Breaking Benjamin – Phobia
I've never been a huge fan of Breaking Benjamin, their albums have been ok overall, though I love a choice few of their songs, so I've always had an eye on what they're up to. They always come across as a bunch of fun loving guys that respect their influences and managed to get caught up in the mainstream spotlight and are riding the wave with confidence and competence. Like I said before, I didn't find their albums amazing, I liked a few songs off each record and those in particular were really good, but on the whole they didn't really hold for me. The new record, though, Phobia, managed to keep my attention the whole way through. I think that it doesn't really have any truly stand-out tracks other than the single, The Diary of Jane, but it has a consistency that I like, and is probably for me the best album out of the three because of that. I really like that it has an intro and outro, and while they may not be especially clever they do add to the overall mood of the album and I think they are well done.
Evanescence - The Open Door
Evanescence is another band I don't love, but I do like their approach to that nu-metal sound. Their first album Fallen is a solid record, and while it was played a lot everywhere I still think it has some good tracks and that it is a uniformly sound album. I didn't really know about The Open Door until just before it dropped, so it was nice to have a listen. I think the main problem with Fallen was that it was an album of hits, and that they pretty much went as far as they could with their sound in that album. Consequently their second album lacks much impact because it's a lot of the same, despite that in itself possibly being a good thing. I do like the single, Call Me When You're Sober, and a few other tracks like Snow White Queen and Weight of the World, but overall this album was nothing to write home about.
10 Years - The Autumn Effect
Another nu-metal kind of band, I never knew about them until a friend of mine introduced me to them. I didn't think much of the album at first, it seemed like the same old thing, but it ended up staying on my hard drive and it took a few listens through to really get noticed. I think the appeal is the vocals that sound a bit like Maynard James Keenan from Tool. Overall this is an alright album, and I thought I'd mention it because it would fit alongside the other two mentioned above.
Flyleaf - Flyleaf
I'd never heard of this band either until this year. I think that musically they aren't really anything special, the band sounds a bit derivative and throughout the album they have opportunities to stretch a little but just don't stray from their basic sound. Another thing that's a little irritating is that the average song length is something like 2 minutes. This is an appallingly short album and it doesn't bode well for them if they can't step up a notch and try and insert a bit of complexity in their music. Simplicity can be a good thing, but not always, and I think that they could become a much better band if they decide to brave the waters a little. I guess the main reason I even listened to the band at all was the singer. She has a unique voice and singing style that fits the grungy music, and manages to keep me listening through the record. All in all though, it's alright.
Breaking Benjamin – Phobia
I've never been a huge fan of Breaking Benjamin, their albums have been ok overall, though I love a choice few of their songs, so I've always had an eye on what they're up to. They always come across as a bunch of fun loving guys that respect their influences and managed to get caught up in the mainstream spotlight and are riding the wave with confidence and competence. Like I said before, I didn't find their albums amazing, I liked a few songs off each record and those in particular were really good, but on the whole they didn't really hold for me. The new record, though, Phobia, managed to keep my attention the whole way through. I think that it doesn't really have any truly stand-out tracks other than the single, The Diary of Jane, but it has a consistency that I like, and is probably for me the best album out of the three because of that. I really like that it has an intro and outro, and while they may not be especially clever they do add to the overall mood of the album and I think they are well done.
Evanescence - The Open Door
Evanescence is another band I don't love, but I do like their approach to that nu-metal sound. Their first album Fallen is a solid record, and while it was played a lot everywhere I still think it has some good tracks and that it is a uniformly sound album. I didn't really know about The Open Door until just before it dropped, so it was nice to have a listen. I think the main problem with Fallen was that it was an album of hits, and that they pretty much went as far as they could with their sound in that album. Consequently their second album lacks much impact because it's a lot of the same, despite that in itself possibly being a good thing. I do like the single, Call Me When You're Sober, and a few other tracks like Snow White Queen and Weight of the World, but overall this album was nothing to write home about.
10 Years - The Autumn Effect
Another nu-metal kind of band, I never knew about them until a friend of mine introduced me to them. I didn't think much of the album at first, it seemed like the same old thing, but it ended up staying on my hard drive and it took a few listens through to really get noticed. I think the appeal is the vocals that sound a bit like Maynard James Keenan from Tool. Overall this is an alright album, and I thought I'd mention it because it would fit alongside the other two mentioned above.
Flyleaf - Flyleaf
I'd never heard of this band either until this year. I think that musically they aren't really anything special, the band sounds a bit derivative and throughout the album they have opportunities to stretch a little but just don't stray from their basic sound. Another thing that's a little irritating is that the average song length is something like 2 minutes. This is an appallingly short album and it doesn't bode well for them if they can't step up a notch and try and insert a bit of complexity in their music. Simplicity can be a good thing, but not always, and I think that they could become a much better band if they decide to brave the waters a little. I guess the main reason I even listened to the band at all was the singer. She has a unique voice and singing style that fits the grungy music, and manages to keep me listening through the record. All in all though, it's alright.
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