I was wrong. There I said it. I was W-R-O-N-G about this band. I wrote them off, figuring they'd have a hit or two and disappear into the abyss with past one hit wonders like Marcy Playground (that my friends, was justice!), and Dishwalla. I didn't want to believe the hype surrounding the band (fan hype, not necessarily critical hype, of which I don't remember much), and I wrote them off as one of those "nu-metal" bands who discovered melody for one song, never to use it again.

It wasn't until I heard Fade that I stood up and took notice. That HOOK was awesome, and I loved the pure agony in lead singer Aaron Lewis' voice as he sang the lines "I just needed someone to talk to, you were just too busy with yourself, you were never there for me to express how I felt." It was after hearing Fade about 5 or 6 times that I finally caved in and bought Break the Cycle, the band's third album, second since being discovered by Mr. Egomaniac himself, Fred Durst.

This whole album sparkles with pain, anguish and reflection. It's a mix that works so well, yet one the music world hasn't really seen since Pearl Jam unleashed their debut on the world ten years ago. I hate to compare the band to Pearl Jam, because I think they are kind of like apples and oranges, but lyrically and thematically, that's what this album reminds me of: early Pearl Jam.

The opening track, Open Your Eyes is a rocker that reminds me an awful lot of Sevendust musically. Lyrically though, Lewis proves early that he isn't your normal songwriter. He tackles society, namely the prison system, the war on drugs, the homeless problem, and bad parenting in convincing fashion. The words Open Your Eyes never appear in the song at all, but rather they represent the ultimate message of the song.

Pressure might be my least favorite song on the album. It's probably the track that could best be described as "filler," and it kind of just drones on and on, never truly going anywhere interesting.

I've already talked about Fade, but I do have to repeat myself, because this song is just plainly fabulous. The quiet tension that builds up through the chorus until it's release is gorgeous yet haunting, tantalizing yet beautiful.

It's interesting that a band that was once lumped in with Godsmack and even Limp Bizkit as untalented noise-makers has now gotten their most exposure through two acoustic ballads. The first, Outside, was actually a hit before it even appeared on the album. A Lewis solo version from the Family Values 99 album, with Fred Durst backing Lewis up vocally became a monster hit. While I don't exactly like Durst (as you may have guessed), I think his voice added a certain frailty to that live version. I think that frailty is missing from this full band version. It actually is tough to decide which one I like more, but I think the bridge on this version is much better, more emotional and tortured.

The other acoustic ballad, for those of you living under some kind of rock, is It's Been Awhile, a song that has gotten the type of airplay no song should ever get, if nothing else than for the sake of the song. I think Lewis' writing is good on this song, but I think there's also much better material on this record. I understand why this became a hit, I just don't understand why it became THIS BIG.

One of the things I don't like about this record is that some of it is repetitive. A lot of the songs start out with some very metal sounding riffage, only to slow down and become dense and ringing. Change suffers from this, as does Safe Place. Can't Believe, meanwhile, is just a mumbling, screaming mess.

The band sounds about as good as can be though on Suffer, which kind of has a self mocking and self deprecating tone to it that is pretty refreshing. I also think it shows off Lewis' true talent as a vocalist, as he changes his delivery throughout the song to fit the mood of the music, even sounding *gasp* hopeful at one point.

There are a couple duds with this album, but on the whole, it might be one of the two best rock records I've heard in a while (System of a Down's Toxicity is the other). I also think that Staind has the rare quality of being greater than the sum of it's individual parts. Their drummer isn't very innovative, their guitarist doesn't show me much, and their bassist is barely heard above the thundering crunch half the time. I think Lewis brings the most out of them. That said, I think Staind breaks the cycle of ultra-crappy rock releases with an album that is what every NEW rock band out there is afraid to be: honest.





Recommended: Yes