The Sufferer & the Witness

by

Rise Against

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I was all prepared to accuse Rise Against off selling out after the release of their single "Swing Life Away" from "Siren Song of the Counter Culture," released in 2004. But after listening to their 2006 album "The Sufferer and the Witness" I realize that they haven't sold out, they have simply outgrown the limitations of the punk-genre. And it's all good.

2001 saw the release of "The Unraveling," a quality punk album with 16 tracks clocking in at under 37 minutes. (Do the math.) With 2003 came "Revolutions Per Minute," which is as much hardcore as punk with its pummeling drums and group-shouted refrains. "Siren Song" displays Rise Against's evolution as a band, mixing into the hardcore-punk base a few more fleshed-out rock songs that break out of the three chord mold. At a mainstream length 12 songs and 40 minutes and the inclusion of several acoustic moments (not to mention the MTV-embraced "Swing Life Away"), this album shows definite growth.

Now we have the completion of the process, "The Sufferer and the Witness." The leadoff track "Chamber the Cartridge" proves their punk bona fides have not withered away. Next is "Injection" and the pattern of complex, melodic punk-rock is established. Most of the album continues with this pattern, with occasional deviations, always for the better. Some of the best tracks are in the middle of the album. "Prayer of the Refugee" for example begins with an acoustic-ballad sound before roaring into a dramatically uptempo screaming chorus. Next is "Drones," which hews toward punk-emo if there is such a thing, and I mean that in a good way. Rise Against forgoes the typical social commentary/establishment criticism for a personal song with the refrain "If you see me please just walk on by, walk on by...forget my name, and I'll forget it too."

"The Sufferer and the Witness" might not be a purely-punk album, but neither is it a sell-out album. It is, simply, an awesome, genre-defying rock masterpiece showing a band at the apex of their career.

This is a LONG review, but if you want an honest take on " Sufferer And The Witness ", then read on...

I first started listening to Rise Against when they released their highly acclaimed " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture ", loved by music fans of all genres. This album was great because it offered so much variety within its catchy tunes. All the songs were good, except " State Of The Union " and " Swing Life Away ". Of all the cd's I own, Siren Song is near the top of the list of my favorites.

When this album came out mere days ago, I came here to read the reviews. There were only 7 on the day of the release, but each were perfect 5-star reviews praising Rise Against for another great album. I listened to some song clips and it sounded ok, so I went into the album with low expectations hoping they wound be risen. But after listening to " Suffer And The Witness " full through, I cant help but say I am disappointed.

The problem that plagues this album is the overall lack of polish that Siren Song had. Now in reality, each band always changes their sound every release to keep their music fresh. I can understand that fans either like the new change or not. Even without that notion though, " Sufferer And The Witness " is an average record at best.

The first thing I noticed when I popped the cd into my car to listen to the opener of the album, " Chamber The Cartridge " was the change in vocals. Tim sounds alot less raspy then he did in previous releases, but the real wonder is what Chris Lord-Alge (the producer) was thinking when it came to hearing the sounds of Joe and Chris (the backup vocalists of the band). They almost sound like robots in this album - at least clearly in the chorus of " Chamber The Cartridge ".

Following " Chamber The Cartridge" are some of the best tracks on the cd in " Injection " and " Ready To Fall ". Both of these songs ooze with polish and feel like they couldve been on " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture ". " Bricks " is classic Rise Against, which makes for a fast track overflowing with energy and continues the pace set forth at the beginning of the cd. But as the album progresses on, however, flaws start to be exposed.

The biggest problem with this album is that the tracks start to become to generic. " Prayer And The Refugee " and " Drones " are two prime examples of this opinion. Both songs have great choruses and verses (Prayer's haunting guitars are excellent), but arent long enough. The chorus of " Drones " is sang only once at the end of the song and is no different from the choruses earlier in the song - the same with " Prayer ". If only they threw in some harmonies at the end or something, wouldve made these tracks phenomenal. They arent bad cuts, but they feel like they are missing something. " The Approaching Curve " is a little too experimental to enjoy.

Of the last four tracks on the cd, " Roadside " is the only one worth mentioning. The female vocals in this song work great, and the whole feel is relaxed and mysterious. This is one of the better slow songs that Rise Against has produced during their tenure in the scene.

All in all, " The Sufferer And The Witness " isnt a bad album, but its just so average. All the greatness that was produced in " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture " seemed to be lost in the tradition. Go listen to " Tip The Scales ", " Paper Wings ", and " Rumors Of My Demise " and then listen to this album. Nothing is varied like those songs. I highly reccomend sampling some tracks from this album to see if you like it. You are always better safe then sorry. If I could I would give it 2.5 stars.

Other Notes:

- As evident from the cover of this album, there is a PA sticker on it. There are only 4 curse words on the cd, all being F words on the last cut, " Survive ". Other then that, there is no cursing on the album.

- The insert of the cd contains the lyrics and a few pictures of the band playing live. The lyrics are written in an artsy version of cursive, so some parts are difficult to read. To be honest, you really arent missing much if you dont get the insert, so buying the album online via a digital distribution service like iTunes is not that bad of an option to consider.

- If you buy the album at Best Buy, you get a ticket inside the jewel case that lets you download a live version of " Life Less Frightening " online. If you get the album at Target, you can get a live version of " Paper Wings " as well as a bonus track entitled " The Boy's No Good ".

I hope you enjoyed my review, and thanks for reading.