SPOILER ALERT I Couldn't resist and now I'll listen to the album In Real Time in the NME streaming. Will be updating this post (Like if anyone cares anyway)
Slip to the Void: This song is amazing. It's just what Alter Bridge is. Amazing chorus, man, even more amazing lyrics. Really, you don't see lyrics like this one on Mainstream Rock in these days. DEM SOLOS SO FULL OF AWESOME! It's exactly what I would look for in an opener. Amazing. Just amazing.
Isolation: This song hasn't grown very much on me, tbh. It was awesome when I first heard it but now... It's good, but not mind-blowing. Maybe it's because the Chorus is pretty meh IMO. The Bridge is incredible, tho.
Ghost of Days Gone By: Didn't expect a ballad so early. The verses might be a little cliché, but then again, the chorus is incredible. So powerful (TECHNICAL!
).
Wait.
YEAH! YEAH! OH MY GOD MY EARS JUST CAME OH MY GOD. The heavy part is amazing, just comes out of nowhere, builds your ears up and then... THE MINI-SOLO. HOLY SHIT. YES. THIS PLEASES ME A LOT. YES!!!!! DAT CHORUS! SHIT! FUCK YEAH!!!!!!! THEN HEAVY AGAIN. I love this song. Verses might be a little cliché, but This song is amazing.
All Hope is Gone: Well I really hope it's better than Slipknot. I had to say it. The intro is great, reminds me of One Day Remains. The Chorus is... OK, I guess. The song is good, but not as good as its predecessors. Mark's guitar really stands out in this one as well as a really dark vibe throughout the song. It's far better than the slipknot one
Still Remains: THE DAMAGE DONE!
This was my first thought when I heard the intro. DAT RIFF! This song is awesome already. Myles kicks in with some aggressive shit. I love the rhythm of this song. This is not any post-grunge shit, let me tell ya. Liked this song a lot. A LOT. DAT RIFF. DAT RIFF!!!!! Dark Lyrics and heavy guitars all the fucking way. It has a troubled and dark atmosphere overall... It's really good. Really.
Make it Right: Gosh this album has some incredible intros. The Chorus is pretty mediocre, surprisingly, but the verses, the solo (Show 'em, Mark) and the bridge are some good stuff. This one has an uplifting and more animated sound.
Wonderful Life: Another ballad, and this song would be generic as hell if it wasn't because of MYLES "I'LL MOTHERFUCKING SHOW YOU ABOUT SINGING" KENNEDY. He drives the song all to the road to epic. Lyrics are... Well, OK. But this song is one of his best performances in the album so far.
I Know it Hurts: The riff is OK, I guess. The lyrics are pretty repetitive. Yeah, carry on, you're lost but you'll be OK, Don't Stop Dancing, yeah. The music itself it's pretty good., I'm OK with it. I don't think the song is bad, tbh, and maybe I'll need the lyrics later
Show me a Sign: The verses are really good. The intro is nothing new tbh, but the verses are pretty good. The Chorus shows that Alter Bridge has already a predetermined chorus style. It can be really epic, like in "Rise Today", "Brand New Start", "Find the Real" and "Slip to the Void", but in songs like this it gets somewhat stale and repetitive. The lyrics are really good, tho. Also Mark shines again. YEAH!
Fallout: NUGGETZ! I like the way this song starts. It brings something new to the album overall. Then again, the Chorus style repeats, but it actually comes out to fit pretty good. I like this song a lot, it's really good. It's pure energy. If only the chorus was a little better... But I can't complain. Good song.
Breathe Again: Another ballad! Well this one ain't bad either. Really good guitar chords here. The Chorus is meh, but it's another uplifting song in the midst of turbulent and dark song streaks. I'm OK with this song and the bridge-solo is pretty awesome.
Coeur D'Alene: YES. AGAIN. MY EARS ARE COMING AGAIN. YES!!!!! AWESOME VERSES. INCREDIBLE! Amazing chorus, amazing. Simple, yet incredible. Definitely one of the best songs on the album.
Life Must Go On: EPIC. EPIC! The beginning is Creed-ish, but with more epicness. Yes, another "You'll Carry On, come on, lift yourself up" song, but this time it works amazingly. The harmony between all the band members is amazing. Fuck, if this song had been the only ballad in the album I wouldn't mind (Well, I'd mind Ghosts of Days Gone By tbh). FUCK YEAH. I might even say this song made my day. Incredible.
Words Darker than their Wings: Amazing closer. It just comes in when it has to be needed. It sums the album up and merges it in an amazing song. Myles and Mark are both amazing singers in this song. Yet another "Carry On" song, but fuck it. It's really great. It manages to be dark yet mellow at the same time.
Overall and as the tl;dr of this review:
after spending some more time with it I can safely say that while I feel like it doesn't really break any new ground for them, I really like the new album
This. They didn't exactly venture too far outside their "box", but this is a good album and I'm enjoying it. Opens and closes very strong, with a few weaker tracks in the middle.
-J
Those. I miss an epic song like Blackbird (Which may be their best song to date, maybe), but the album overall is OK (However they've got to be careful if they don't want their sound to become monotonous in their next releases). Amazing opener and closer, and the first and last three tracks are incredible (Except for Isolation
) and are the best them of the album, along with Still Remains and Fallout. It's still far from my favorite 2010 album so far (Anathema's We're Here Because We're Here) But it's a pretty good album. Might be listening a lot to it these days. Alter Bridge STILL ROCKS
.