![]() "The Approaching Curve" has McIlrath reading a story he had written years ago and decided to adapt into a song. There are two songs on Sufferer that sound different from the rest, the first being less-so than the other. On Siren Song of the Counter Culture, the one song that stood out from the rest of the album was undoubtedly "Swing Life Away", as it was an acoustic song, and predictably appealed to a wide range of people, making it feel like a gimmicky inclusion. Other standout songs are "Drones", which begins with a thundering bass intro and becomes one of the heavier numbers, and "Worth Dying For", a speedy number that initially sounds like a throwback to something from Revolutions Per Minute starts off with the memorable lyric " Set me off like dynamite strapped tight around my waist / We are the ones in competition but claim this ain't no race." However, the shortest song, "Bricks", sounds like it came straight from The Unraveling or Revolutions Per Minute clocking in at a brisk 1:30 and displaying the speed their older material often consisted of, making it a highlight of the album and one of my personal favorite tracks. Only two songs fall under three minutes in length, which seems about right at this point as they have slowly evolved from a band with mostly short songs to writing longer, less straightforward tunes. In some respects, The Sufferer and the Witness is faster and heavier than Siren Song of the Counter Culture, but those awesome, soaring choruses that allow Tim McIlrath to show off his vocals are still there along with the tasteful guitar solos, as always. Whereas their last album had a sound that mixed their own style established on Revolutions Per Minute with a sound more akin to Atlantic-era Bad Religion, The Sufferer and the Witness expands on it a bit, adding a noticeable increase in bass volume that gives some of the songs added kick and heaviness that was lacking a bit on Siren Song of the Counter Culture. They continue to write (mostly) fast, melodic hardcore punk that wouldn't sound out of place in Fat Wreck's catalogue. Once you've finished rejoicing over the fact that Rise Against decided not to use clip art to present their new album, you'll pop it in and notice that The Sufferer and the Witness is anything but a far cry from the rest of their material, which is a good thing. And it doesn't have shitty artwork that Siren Song of the Counter Culture did! Hooray! That said, The Sufferer and the Witness more or less starts off right where their major label debut, Siren Song of the Counter Culture ended. Rise Against continues to prove that a major label doesn't mean shit when it comes to writing their music, which is one of the small reasons I like them so much. It's always nice when a band that exhibited incredible promise coming up through indie labels continues to show evolution without distancing themselves from their roots once they've hit major label status. Yeah, "life for me has been less than kind," but this album helped me survive.Rise Against – The Sufferer and the Witness - Geffen, 2006 Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, to give up on your-" "Somewhere between happy and total ***ing wreck,įeet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge, But the strong personal connection, something hiding just behind the bones of my ear, that little synergistic pull, makes me fall in love with a different song every time I listen the whole way through. ![]() The Sufferer and the Witness brought me through tough times-learning to love with But Tonight We Dance, a tough breakup with The Approaching Curve and Roadside, crawling out of strict parental control with Prayer of the Refugee, crouched over a vomit-filled toilet with Injection and shouldering medication-induced side effects with Under the Knife, grappling with burdensome religious heritage yet instinctual agnosticism with Drones, ready to give up with Ready to Fall and Behind Closed Doors, not sure what to do with Worth Dying For, and, of course, ready to tackle life with Survive.Ĭatchy while balancing innovative lyrics and explosive punk rock, the album would surpass a 4.5 rating for me. An album, totally imperfect, becomes wonderful. Something bizarre and wonderful takes hold for an album that you grow up with, jumping the hurdles of adolescence without any natural ability or sense of direction. Bricks bores me, even though hardcore interests me, and Rise Against's older albums that skew closer to dysrhythmia end up pumping me up for the next few hours every time the record spins. I feel an obligation to acknowledge that I don't even like every song on this album. Review Summary: "Somewhere between happy and total fucking wreck." ![]()
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