This was a first for the PiercingMetal Musings Blog in terms of a live streaming concert and it was pretty cool to be able to offer it to the readership. Now that the original live stream for this show has ended it now appears to be able to be enjoyed via the link below as an archive. With this being the case I have embedded the updated link for your viewing pleasure. A brief synopsis of this show will be posted shortly on the main website and the blog so kindly stay tuned (we saw a secret Anthrax show and The Big Four this week and there is only so much time in the day to put it all together).
For those in the unaware, the band was performing at Best Buy Theater as part of a 9-11 benefit to help the Answer The Call charity. This organization raises money for the police and firemen’s widows and children fund. Tickets were only $9.11 and the venue was seemingly packed with the bands hard core supporters.
UPDATE: My review and photo gallery from this show can be enjoyed HERE
Artist: Staind Title: “The Illusion Of Progress” Label: Atlantic Records Release Date: 8/19/2008 Genre: Alternative Hard Rock Rating: 3.5/5
I know that I was one of the first out of my circle of music friends who found themselves keyed into the melancholy despair that the guys in Staind were laying down on their incredible CD “Break The Cycle”. I had to admit that at the time they were a fresh sounding outfit to a listener like me who had grown tired of what the mainstream was offering the listeners who tuned in, but of course their blockbuster popularity would open the doors to far too many sub-standard acts who tried to be just as heavy while being just as solemn about it at the same time. After absorbing the greatness of tunes like “Outside” and “It’s Been Awhile” I found my own tastes changing and as result hardly followed the guys into their future releases “14 Shades Of Grey” and “Chapter V”, but when I heard samples of what was to be heard on “Illusion Of Progress” I found myself intrigued by a band who had taken what was deemed as their signature sound and had moved forward with it in a slightly more mature and musical fashion that I again found appealing. If you were one of those listeners that also stopped early on based on musical ideas changing and now wanted something similar to what the band is best known for then this is a solid release for no matter how hard one tries there is only so far from a signature sound that a band can move away from. As result a lot of the hooks and grooves that we found so tasty are here to enjoy again even though they are braving a little more in terms of the depth of the song structure. Singer Aaron Lewis still sounds in pain and suffering from some personal inner demons from time to time across the album but perhaps not as much as we found on the bands earlier catalog. To be honest if we found him singing about sunshine and rainbows many of the listeners would not feel this to be an honest album. There are songs that hold levels of promise such as “All I Want” which brews with a sense of positivity that I didn’t actually expect from such a band. There are a couple of the pre-requisite ballad type songs and this makes sense since the pair mentioned earlier in this review were songs that put these guys on the map. We find “Save Me” to be one such song and while its good it is hardly an “Outside” but in all fairness that is a tough track to easily top. I also found some appeal in “This Is It”, the albums rocking opener and “The Way I Am” since it possessed a different groove from what I had grown used to from the band. Continue reading “The Illusion Of Progress” by Staind→
Artist: Staind Title: 1996-2006 The Singles (Greatest Hits) Label: Atlantic Records Release Date: 11/14/2006 Genre: Alternative Metal Rating: 4/5
With Staind, Aaron Lewis and company most certainly dished out the Melancholy with their major label debut “Break The Cycle”. It was an album whose lead single actually owed some level of popularity based on Fred Durst’s (Limp Bizkit) initial interest in them. Durst had performed the song “Outside” with Lewis on the Family Values tour before the albums release in 2001. The performance built an interest and buzz that kept until the album hit. As a band Staind laid down the radio friendly Alt-Metal with apparent ease and this hits collection is a great way to remember their finest moments from the span of their releases. “BTC” has four presentations on the album, and sadly the studio version is omitted to include the acoustic pairing with Durst. While it’s a good version I am sure that many fans would prefer to have had the darker and heavier studio cut included. Other highlights include the hits from “14 Shades Of Grey”, an album that found the group a little more mainstream as they sang tributes to fallen friends and their family as well. A touching track is “Zoe Jane”, Lewis’ daughter. It was an album that showed there was also light inside the once dark and brooding band. In addition to the main hits there are several acoustic numbers and among them are covers of both Pink Floyd and Tool. The songs show that there is added passion to this group and it’s an interesting manner to hear a Tool song in the first place. Floyd generally translates well acoustically and on this I found the classic track “Comfortably Numb” to be just a little more ominous. Continue reading “1996-2006 The Singles” by Staind→
