I really wanted to like the new Alter Bridge album. I enjoyed their debut One Day Remains to an extent, and their show at Summerfest 2005 was quite good. But their new disc, Blackbird, is a mess.
It's a wonder that this album was two years in the making, as a handful of the songs feel forced and rushed. "One By One" and "Wayward Home" sound as if the band looked at a calendar in early September and thought, "Oh shit, we only have a month left." Too many songs are just stuck in neutral modern-rock mode, seemingly the musical equivalent of a Geo Metro trying to climb a steep hill.
With 13 tracks on the record, one could logically assume that the collection holds some kind of variety. Nope. The majority of the songs structure-wise are interchangeable with the accompanying lyrics. If the songs had no titles, for example, no one would notice if the lyrics to "Brand New Start" were swapped for those of "Break Me Down."
The lyrics are easily the worst part of this album. The first single, "Rise Today," (even the song title is clichéd) features groaners like "Are we ever gonna change/ Can we stop the blood from running?" Hello, Alter Bridge: You guys missed that fashion trend by at least three years. Or how about "Buried Alive," with the soon-to-be-classic "I've been buried alive/ And I don't wanna be here anymore." This unoriginality could make any fan wonder if the troupe stole some high school student's notebook for ideas.
Poor lyrics aside, there is one change on the new record that I am happy to report: Guitarist Mark Tremonti has finally learned that faster guitar solos do not necessarily result in better ones. The solos in the title track show this better than any other song. There is actual melody in them, not just Tremonti playing as fast as possible. Do not get me wrong, that is nice once in a while, but not on every song.
Speaking of the title track, the song as a whole is one of the few glimmers of hope for future endeavors of this band. It displays some experimentation with the "traditional" Alter Bridge vibe — not only for being eight minutes — but for having a musical interlude and breaking the modern rock chorus formula to which they adhere against their wills, suggesting some sort of Jedi mind trick.
As a whole, Blackbird travels down darker territory than its predecessor, both musically and lyrically. There are really only a couple songs that resemble the uplifting spirit of their break-out hit "Open Your Eyes." The best of these is "Before Tomorrow Comes," which sounds organic and like it came naturally.
To be sure, darker is not necessarily bad. The occasional depressing song is a good way to deal with sadness, but a record stuffed with downer songs from a band known for inspirational music just does not work.
There is a whole lot more to gripe about on this record like the nu-metal style (gag) that the band picked up on "Ties That Bind" and "White Knuckles." This album was simply a colossal let down for a band that has serious potential. The aforementioned "Open Your Eyes" might put it best: "Constantly it burdens me/ Hard to trust and can't believe." Yeah, no kidding.
