Category:
Punk

Try if you like:
A Wilhelm Scream, Much The Same, Strike Anywhere

I'm not going to play the "Rise Against sold out" card here. No, I respect bands who work to get their music to a much wider audience. Hopefully that means not dumbing down their music. The thing with Rise Against is that they have established a formula. When you listen to Appeal To Reason, their follow-up to the Billboard charting The Sufferer & The Witness, you won't be blown away, you won't be surprised, in fact you've probably already formulated your own opinion. If you liked their previous album, chances are, there will be much more of the same to sink your teeth into here.

I really enjoyed most of the album. They have a solid sound and if there was to be a poster band for punk rock of 2008, I'd be more than happy to have Rise Against be the band. Tracks like "Kotov Syndrome" are powerful and yet so fun the way they deliver them. I do have to give Bill Stevenson some credit here too. He seems to have found a way to give Rise Against a little more sheen, making them ready for even more of the masses.

Unfortunately some tracks border on a Nickleback sound. If "From Head Unworthy" were produced by Mutt Lange then we would have a follow-up to Nickleback's latest single. It's quite ironic when they sing:

"I'm not after fame and fortune, I'm after you"

But look at the band's choice for lead single. "Re-Education (Through Labor)" is as good a song they could have chosen here. It's got that sing along flavor that Rise Against do so well. One other gem is their folky "Hero of War" where Tim McIlrath sings a war ballad in which he supposedly wrote from many letters from 

All in all Appeal To Reason is a very strong and radio ready album, sure to bring in legions of new Rise Against fans and not turning away many of their current fans.