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What Happened?

The Lone Sharks

Nine Lives

Steve Winwood

Moneyland

Various Artists

I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack)

Various Artists

Home Before Dark

Neil Diamond

Toby Keith's 35 BIGGEST Hits

Toby Keith

It's A Shame About Ray (Collector's Edition)

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Break the Cycle

Staind

I can remember a time when rock and roll was all about rebellion. Now, it’s all about whining, and complaining. Stylistically, Staind stand clearly with the whiners. On the one hand, they are yet another angry and disturbed group with a lead singer who complains about his screwed up psyche while the band bashes through heavily distorted power chords. They fit that stereotype almost to a tee. On the other hand, they do it with more finesse than most. For one thing, lead singer and lyricist Aaron Lewis embraces melody in an original way, and he has an attractive voice. He’s also a bit more thoughtful and reflective than others of his ilk, giving Staind a distinct advantage over the dozens of other bands who make their living on MTV by blaming everyone and everything for their precious, damaged psyches.

Musically, this disk sounds like a perfectly choreographed mudslide. The thick guitars and heavy rhythm section hardly ever relent. When they finally do, Lewis belts out the gorgeous ballad “Epiphany,” and he does it without having it resemble anything so rank as a power ballad. I think it’s the best track here. “Waste” is good, too, as are the singles.

Lewis does give his parents (or at least his old man) a break from his anger on the potty-mouthed hit “It’s Been Awhile”, singing, “I cannot blame this on my father. He did the best he could for me.” Otherwise, though, the subject matter remains pretty tedious. It’s dark, heavy and relentlessly, monotonously, predictable. When it comes to topics, Lewis is not exactly a visionary. To be honest, he appears to be a one-trick pony, because his song topics never seem to change. “Safe Places” just about sums things up, when Lewis sings, “Just another day inside my world.” Yeah, and it sucks. If you don’t mind listening to someone else’s problems for nearly an hour, then you might stand a better chance with this.
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