This is what I said on LPA:
This is a few weeks too late, but after giving the album proper chance and listening to it for good 20-30 times I have to say this is absolutely the worst LP album to date (and that included Recharged). The album just seems terribly forced and creatively blank with any presented problem being solved throwing heavy riffs or screams at it. The album is such a huge step backwards and exactly the kind of album I'd have hoped LP would avoid making. I'll try to break it down a little bit.
Music:
The album is, obviously, meant to serve as a heavy "bring rock back" type of album. I think at the basic level, this is a very good idea from LP. The problem is that it seems as though they forgot how to write these type of songs. Having spent 3 albums trying to be "heavy without being metal" and succeeding (in my opinion) it must have been very hard to get back try to do traditional heavy rock songs. And let's be honest, most fault here probably lays with Brad who couldn't write a guitar solo, for example, to save his life. His riffs are ok but only that and even with that it seems like he can't reproduce them live (from what we've heard from GATS). Further, Mike and Brad as producers seem to have this huge obsession with playing those riffs for a prolonged periods of time for no other purpose than to "make it heavy" (as evident in MTG and GATS). On the other hand Rob has stepped up his game tremendously and has to be acknowledged as a shining beacon on this album. His performance is great and carries many of the songs.
Lyrics:
Once again this seems to be a huge step backwards to the HT or Meteora days of angsty lyrics. The lyrics are, for the most part, atrocious. This is evident from the very beginning with KTTK and Chester's chorus which is one of the most cringeworthy things since "Take me out of my fucking misery". Which is a shame cause the chorus has a nice melody that could have been used for better things. Mike's "tough guy" rapping comes off as incredibly lame and overdone after LT and ATS. The lyrics themselves in his rap verses are also quite awful, even if you do like the tough guy style rap. I would say FM and MTG are probably the only songs with solid lyrics on this album. ALITS maybe too, but "give me back what's mine" isn't exactly a much of a move forward from the HT days of "shut up when I'm talking to you". This album does have one of the best rap verses on an LP record though, Rakim's verse.
Singing:
I think this is another example of LP trying desperately to make a heavy album without understanding it too deeply. Chester is so underutilised it hurts. All he does this album is scream. That's it. He doesn't try to hit the notes, to sing, he's just told to scream. ALITS is the biggest offender with this. Mike's singing is fine, but sometimes I wished it was Chester singing instead. CHester can still nail it when he's given a chance like in FM. Mike's rapping style is pretty good I actually enjoy the flow of his verses (apart from the "five star general" part in AFN since he throws out rhyming structure and the flow out of the window). I would like him to go back to the old HT/Meteora style as well sometimes though. ALITS reminded me of it a bit.
Now to review the songs individually and quickly.
Keys to the Kingdom- A sold opener and pretty energetic song. I feel like it's a bit like a longer version of Victimized. Having said that the chorus just ruins it for me. I wanted to turn the song off immediately after first hearing "I'm my own casualty/ I fuck up everything I say". 6.5/10
All for Nothing- Mike's verses have a nice swag and Chester's "All for nothing/all for nothing" is nice but this song doesn't really do much memorable stuff. Altogether quite forgettable. 5/10
Guilty All the Same- Waaaay too long for what it is. Chester has 2 short verses, a chorus that is sang almost like always hitting the same note and 1 rap verse. It doesn't need to be 5 and half a minutes long. Sure the intro is nice but it overstays its welcome. It's almost like LP thought this was their heaviest song and wanted to make sure you damn /well knew it was heavy. (hint, it's not their heaviest song). When you compare it to other long heavy rock songs this is really could have been 3 minutes. 7/10
The Summoning- Nice interlude.
War- I actually like it but it's super unpolished. Chester doesn't only scream but actually tries to sing this one. There's not much happening in the song, but it's a nice high tempo punk song. 7/10
Wastelands- I gave this song shit when it was first released through the live performance. Since then I come to appreciate it as the song gets better halfway through Mike's first verse when the electronics in the background kick in. The chorus is uninspired and once again sounds like Chester hitting the same note over and over. But it's your typical Bleed it Out/Lie, Greed Misery LP song. 6.5/10
Until It's Gone- I really enjoy the transition from Wastelands to this song and I appreciate the drums here more for that. The song is typical LP mid-tempo ballad. I do like Chester's singing on this one though, especially the "whoah" parts. The lyrics are really creatively bankrupt though, with the repetition of a well known cliche. There are some hidden gems lyrically here like "finding what you've got sometimes, means finding it alone" which is better than 90% of the album but that's balanced out by "something made my realise that I was wrong". 7/10
Rebellion- I think this song is a nice evolution of Castle of Glass. I like the lyrics and how it changes from "I" to "we" once Chester starts singing. I always liked Chester and Mike harmonies when chester is the second vocal, because he does it so well and you hear two distinct but complimentary voices. The guitar is pretty amazing. The only thing that's holding this song from perfection is the lazy LP bridge of "let's shout and shout before the final chorus". 8/10
Mark the Graves- The song is pretty nice and it's kinda the direction I would like longer, rock-heavy LP songs to take, but it seems like it runs out of steam and ideas halfway through. After the first two verses are sang and the chorus kicks in the song seems to be really just repeating itself. The chorus is always way too simple for it to happen. When you have a 4 and half minute song you can't have 12 lines of lyrics. That's just a huge waste. 7/10
Drawbar- It's a nice little instrumental but really more of an interlude than anything else. The song never builds into anything big and it's more like a longer version of Wake. 6/10 (although I like it much more than the score would suggest, but it's definitely not better than the songs I've scored 6.5 and above)
Final Masquerade- Best song on the album. Ironically the one that the least heavy. This is a song that was just written without any need to make it heavy for the sake of being heavy and it's just its own thing. I think this is the best ballad LP have ever written. The instruments are really nice in the background and Chester gives one of his best vocal performances in years. The man practically carries the whole song by himself. The lyrics are also quite good and much more grown up in the way they talk about heartbreak. Both Chester and lyrics complement themselves very well and from the very first "tearing me apart with the words you wouldn't say" I could tell this was going to be an amazing song. 9.5/10
A Light in the Sand- when I heard the first verse, followed by the guitars and then the second verse I literally said there is no way this song won't end up being epic. Well I was wrong. The song is held back once again by the need to make it unnecessarily heavy through Chester's chorus. After a few listens I got used to it, but it took a while. Also the lyrics to the chorus are much less mature than than the lyrics Mike sings or raps. The "solo" was pathetic though and it was only saved by Chester's screaming at the end (here I thought it complimented the song well) with the guitars in the background. I did love that moment in the second verse when Chester comes in in harmony with Mike. Also Mike's rapping is quite nice. 8.5/10
Overall: 7/10
My overall LP rating:
ATS>LT>Reanimation>MTM>Meteora>HT(because I heard Meteora before HT so HT, to me was the rehash that Meteora was for everyone else)>Recharged>Collision Course>THP.
and big + for Rob Bourdon - finally they let him show his talent
