Staind

It is a sad fact to admit, but the truth remains that in today’s music scene, few bands actually are able to stick together long enough to release five albums. Bands, especially in the new rock community, go in and out of style like the latest fashion trend and even if they do last as long as five albums, the end is usually near. An exception to these disappointing truths is Massachusetts nu-metal band Staind. The band is close to celebrating ten years of releasing solid new rock with the recent release of their fifth album, appropriately titled Chapter V. And while most would agree that Staind’s last album, 2003’s 14 Shades of Grey was a bit of a letdown, Chapter V is a very decent album and a return to form for the band.

Staind waste no time getting into the hard stuff with Chapter V’s opening track, “Run Away.” The song features a cool thrashing guitar riff and some trademark depressing lyrics from lead singer Aaron Lewis, a perfect way to start off any Staind album. Next comes the first single “Right Here,” arguably the best song on the album. This track is a bit peculiar as it seems to be a love song, but the band performs it in a hard, angst filled way. Lewis’ verses are filled with anguish, but the love part of the song comes in on the chorus, a bit of a strange tune, but definitely one of the best. Track three “Paper Jesus” is probably the hardest song on Chapter V and the one that most resembles old Staind from the late 1990s. The song is pretty decent, but it seems like the band is holding back slightly and could have made the song even harder and better than it already is. The next song “Schizophrenic Conversations” is itself a bit schizophrenic as it starts off very slowly but gets harder as Lewis’ vocals become more tension filled. My second favorite song on Chapter V comes at track five with “Falling.” The song features one of the album’s best guitar riffs and catchiest choruses as Lewis professes that “falling is easy, it’s getting back up that becomes the problem…” The first half of Chapter V wraps up with “Cross to Bear,” another song with a cool guitar riff, but Lewis sounds just a tad bit too whiny on the chorus.

The band seems to get the hard songs out of their system on the first half of Chapter V as most of the last six songs are slower, more mid tempo songs. “Devil” is perhaps the most melodic song on the record, but it also contains a haunting, disturbing type of vibe. The next song “Please” also has a melodic touch to it, but the chorus is too long and again, a bit too whiny. The only real ballad on the album comes next with the track “Everything Changes,” a song reminiscent of previous Staind hits such as “Epiphany” and “So Far Away.” The song features the only appearance of a piano on the disc and while it’s definitely a good song, it doesn’t quite match up with the two aforementioned Staind hits. The next track “Take This” is another melodic number, similar to the band’s big hit from 2001, “It’s Been Awhile.” The only real hard song on the second half of Chapter V comes at track eleven, “King of All Excuses.” The song features Lewis at his angriest on the record and the band at their hardest. The worst song on the album also happens to come last, the monotonous “Reply.” At this point, the band just seems to run out of steam because the song is not up to par with the rest of the record.

Staind has returned to form. Chapter V contains a number of solid rock songs that seem far more focused and well thought out than the collection that appeared on their previous release. Aside from the album closer, none of the songs are really bad, although they are not all classics. While nu-metal might be but a thing of the past, Staind has proven on their new album that they are more than simply a passing fad.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Run Away
02. Right Here
03. Paper Jesus
04. Schizophrenic Conversations
05. Falling
06. Cross to Bear
07. Devil
08. Please
09. Everything Changes
10. Trippy
11. King of All Excuses
12. Reply

Run Time: 50:35