Review Summary: Not a revolution, but the long march has begun.
Sometimes, it’s just best not to listen to the fans. I have respect for artists who don’t just write for the fans, but write from a place they’re at in their life. Doesn’t mean that I will always love the album (Papa Roach’s
Metamorphosis) immediately comes to mind, but I won’t hop on the “they sold out” bandwagon too quickly either. Pillar is a band that clearly writes for the fans, like puppets on a string. Don’t believe me? Remember
The Reckoning, an experimental record that had some progress but needed structure? The fans didn’t like it. So what happened? Pillar decided to release the crap-tastic
For The Love Of The Game, which was “100 percent old-school Pillar”. Then, Pillar got smart and left two of its original members, releasing the powerful-but-not-perfect
Confessions. And of course, the fans complained. It wasn’t “old-school Pillar”,after all. Nevermind the fact that it was a massive improvement over any of the band’s past discog. So, what did Pillar do after a long hiatus? Reformed with all of its original members under the banner of- well, I don’t need to say it. Not to mention the fact that they also decided to get back with generally subpar producer Travis Wyrick. All of these things combined really scared me for
One Love Revolution, as I was wondering this: is this for the fans, or is this for the band?
Ok, I’ll have to give Wyrick more credit than normal here: maybe he just happened to take a listen to every other modern rock band on the radio, and actually decided to work on production this time. The record, at least in that manner, sounds fantastic. It doesn’t quite have the Rob Graves touch of Confessions, but credit should be given where it is due, and it is amply due here. However, on the first track of the record, we run into something interesting: Fred Durst traded his hat for a fauxhaw and converted to Christianity, DJ Lethal wanted to mess with more synth samples, and Wes Borland decided to get more rhythmically oriented and tune up a couple steps. Yes, this is a poor attempt to revive the rap/rock of the late 90s and early 2000s, something Pillar didn’t do too well in its heyday. It’s a pretty bad way to start the record, but “Disconnect” is a solid, mid-tempo rock tune that hits hard with some chunky riffing and hoarse, empowered screams in the bridge. The chorus is also anthemic and the lyrics are some of the best Pillar has written. Carrying over the strong lyrical content is “Nails”, a bouncy, riffy fist-pump of a song that screams in the face of darkness and chokes the life out of the devil. These two are some of the best songs Pillar has written, and do make up for the title track. “We Ride” follows both tracks up as a sort of synthesis of the two, blending the screams and distortion of the latter with the more pensive, reflective feel of the former. It, too, packs a brilliantly explosive chorus, not unlike Falling Up’s “New Hope Generation”. “Embrace The Chorus” continues the trends of tracks like “Not Without A Fight” and “Whatever It Takes” by being much heavier than most anything the band has done, and I can’t help but get a Skillet feel from the track. Pillar still makes it their own, but it’s undeniable where the foundation from this came from. Also, like most of Skillet’s work, the guitar solo feels really out of place, but the bruising finale makes up for it. (Note: The bruising finale doesn't apply to Skillet. At all.)
Pillar also throw some new things into their arsenal this time, even if they aren’t immediately apparent. “Shooting Star” sounds similar to a track like “The Bird And The Worm” from The Used, especially with the eerie guitar melodies and nervous, schizophrenic tempo. “Lion Leads The Way” is a djent-influenced, bouncy number that brings (at least in the intro and main guitar riff) Shokran or Periphery to mind.
Lyrically, moments like “Nails”, “Disconnect”, and “Embrace The Chaos” are great and carry on the improved trend from the previous outing. However, a lot of this is a massive step back. Take “We Ride”, for example, which shows that Rob hasn’t quite mastered subtly and makes what I would call a “For Today mistake”. He reads a passage from Revelation about the pale horse bringing death, but the white horse (God) bringing life. Ok, that’s fair. But then he just decides to start screaming “we ride with the one on the white horse”. If you’re a Christian, you’ll probably get this reference. If not, you’ll be fairly dumbfounded. Not to mention this: it sounds really tacky either way. There’s a way to talk about your faith without being so pushy about it. The entirety of the title track is brutally painful, and these are only a few examples.
Furthermore, there’s a large degree of filler here, filler that drags down the record. “Ember of Hope” is a nice instrumental, but when it leads into the generic “Paratrooper”, both songs are hurt deeply. Also, there’s a serious problem with balladry here, something that it seems only Rob Graves was able to help the band with
This is another of those times that I wish I had staff powers, because while this isn’t the previous record, it’s surely their second best. I know it knocked my expectations off their feet, and I think it’s safe to assess that a fair bit of this was for the band, not just for the fans. If you liked
Confessions or ever were interested in the group, this is a good place to start.
Recommended Tracks: “Disconnect”, “Nails”, “The Lion Leads The Way”, “We Ride” (though watch out for those lyrics), “Embrace The Chaos”
Maybes: “Shooting Star”- If you like a slightly heavier The Used, this is for you.
My Rating: 3.3
