|
| |
|
|
|
Review Summary: Lifeless: frightening Nowhere Generation answers a question no one has ever bothered to ask: what happens when a midlife-crisis ridden dad opts for the becoming-a-rockstar trope… but he already fronts a successful rock band? Well, this, apparently. The reason no soul has ever thought of that particular question before is abundantly clear: Rise Against’s new full length feels absolutely drained. It’s the worst type of album to listen to, not because it’s notably awful or unlistenable, but because it leaves you feeling as hollow as the music itself. It repeats the same verse rhythms, stadium-sized melodic choruses, slightly heavier bridges and lyrical themes of every song the band have ever put out, with the only change being the present-day utter lack of palpable energy. When your success hinges on your ability to pump out convincing anthems of rebellion, fading passion is your worst enemy.
The album’s title track puts forth a confusing surprise in the band’s strongest chorus in a decade, and yet, the lyrics “ We are the nowhere generation / We are the kids that no one wants” feel sadly true. Instead of being vaguely empowering in their active othering of the self, the words appear to state a painful truth. No one wants this incarnation of Rise Against, a band so worn out they’re still rebelling against nothing in particular, no matter how broken and sub-par their weaponry may be. Like a dog begging to be put out of its misery, Nowhere Generation occasionally weakly repeats some old tricks like ‘Monarch’s decent riff or the aforementioned memorable chorus, but ultimately it’s just… sad. With no pulse but their eyes open, Rise Against have become shells of shells of their former selves.
| other reviews of this album |
|
Album Rating: 2.5
album not good lol
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Thought this was their best record since "Appeal To Reason", especially in the seond half.
| | |
Second half isn't bad at all yeah
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
onionboobs, it's time to update your pickslide count
| | |
"Nowhere Generation answers a question no one has ever bothered to ask: what happens when a midlife-crisis ridden dad opts for the becoming-a-rockstar trope… but he already fronts a successful rock band?"
Haha, nice first sentence Jesper! I'm gonna stay away from this one.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
thanks sunny, good plan haha!
edit: oof, vanishing sowing comments
| | |
Huh, where is Sowings comment gone?
Anyway, I just wanted to say writing from a perspective you didn't experience yourself is not disingenuous at all lol. Humans are generally empathetic and if you do your research well you can write from basically any perspective you want. You can do a bad job of course, criticism can be fair, but saying it's disingenuous in general ... weird perspective imo.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
yeah agreed kalk! i feel like rise against's/tim's problem is that the effort doesn't show here; the lyrics remain super vague/generally applicable and lack any kind of punch imo. it's a step in the right direction tho, perhaps they'll rediscover some passion at some point maybe perhaps possibly
| | |
I definitely agree with the consensus that Rise Against 'lost' something after Appeal to Reason (maybe after Sufferer for some), but I can't quite put my finger on it. Sure, we can call it a lack of passion, but how does that translate to music? I, for one, think their hooks have become a lot poorer, but dunno what else is missing.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Haha oops. I realized I gave away a good chunk of the ideas behind my own review so I swiped it before I thought anyone saw it. Since I've been found out here it is again:
I enjoyed this one and thought it was their best since Appeal to Reason (although not nearly as good as that one, still). This pretty consistently brings energy and hooks, although none of it is as highlight worthy as their career bests. Nice succinct summation of where the band stands though, I couldn't agree more with your overall depiction of how their passion waned over the years. I think it's almost impossible to keep the same level of anti-establishment enthusiasm throughout a decade spanning career, I just want to see a band like that evolve into a mature role down the line. I don't think they necessarily reach it here, but maybe it's a step in the right direction? I like how they interviewed Gen Y and Z fans to get a feel for the struggles they're going through (crippling student debt, poverty wages, etc.). It may seem disingenuous to write about something you're not experiencing yourself, but hey, at least they're not still rebelling against the Bush administration!
| | |
I think it translates to the music this way:
The band had a formula, but they managed to write songs that were pretty distinct from one another. They did it five albums in a row. It's a Endgame just got very samey, the songs had a similar pace the choruses were kinda sucky (Heeeeelp is oooooon the waaaaay!), the riffs weren't as memorable etc.
Now, The Black Market was another album that kind of creativity, but RA shifted more into alt rock territory than every before and not everyone liked that.
By now the formula just got stale, because RA seem unable to change things up and keep it fresh. I swear, I have heared most of the melodies in the song Politics of Love from Tim before.
| | |
10/10 summary
"Rise Against’s new full length feels absolutely drained. It’s the worst type of album to listen to, not because it’s notably awful or unlistenable, but because it leaves you feeling as hollow as the music itself"
kinda sad to read this tbh - I passed on this band post-Endgame and think of them mainly in association with passion and vitality etcetc, almost cert gonna miss this one too. nice smolqt rev though ily
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
"onionboobs, it's time to update your pickslide count"
only time i tried to listen i was too bored to keep track and only made it like 6 songs in. will try again some time today
| | |
rise against rise against
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
They should just go full on alt-rock territory with longer, massive sounding songs like "Numbers"...
| | |
Definitely better than Wolves and the singles weren't the best songs. Also t/t has a great chorus, just sucky lyrics
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
hearing best since Appeal To Reason is so baffling.
both Endgame and TBM were significantly better than the last 2
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
anyway, Rules of Play and Monarch are both pretty good. those are probably i'll ever come back to
| | |
This band has always been painfully derivative and formulaic, but at least they had intensity and hooks to carry them back in the day
| | |
"a band so worn out they’re still rebelling against nothing in particular"
great line
| | | |
|
| |
