The Next Chapter
Four years ago this month, Staind appeared from nowhere and were subsequently all over the place. I remember watching them on the Sunday afternoon at Reading in 2001 and a matter of hours later their third album 'Breaking the Cycle', was the UK's biggest seller. At the time this seemed strange as both of the band's hit singles to support the album hadn't yet had a great impact, although the fan base had obviously been building. The fact that Fred Durst was in on the act may well have made the difference. Since then they've released a fourth, which was said to be far less commercial, which brings us round to the fifth chapter, conveniently called 'Chapter V'.
This record does what you expect a Staind album to do; it's mixture of heavy rock that is a catchy combination of riffs and chorus hooks, mixed up with softer, more melodic tracks in the vain of 'Outside' and 'It's Been a While' - the songs that made them famous in every MTV subscribed household.
The lead single is 'Right Here' and it certainly stands out as exactly that, but for me the one that will become the crowd favorite in the live arena and will stand the test of time in the same way as 'Outside' did is 'Everything Changes'. It is every inch the classic rock radio anthem, not least as it sticks to the same formula as 'Outside' with it's slow tempo, melancholy vocals over a single guitar, building up into a sing-along chorus, with a decent guitar solo thrown in for good measure. There seems to be one rock track from America each year that catches the ears of radio stations everywhere and like Nickelback, Hoobastank, Puddle of Mudd and The Calling in previous years, this could be it for 2005.
Of the heavier offerings the ones that have the edge are 'Paper Jesus', 'Please' and 'Reply'. Although there is some interesting guitar work in places, the rest of the album doesn't grab you by the balls in the way a rock album should. Yes, Aaron Lewis' melancholy, or as some would call it miserable vocal style suits this kind of music well, it starts to drag you down after a while and you can't help but wonder why he doesn't sound happier about having sold over ten million records.
There is something of the Big Mac and fries about the Staind brand of rock. Well packaged and produced, commercially accessible, easy to get your head round yet unremarkable, you know exactly what you'll get and for all those reasons it's perfectly enjoyable. In the same way as I'm more than happy to stop by the McDonalds drive through when I'm hungry, there's nothing wrong with the comfort zone of the music TV hits that this band have perfected the art of producing. It's fair to say though, that a trip to a fast food restaurant doesn't excite the imagination and in the same way what has been served up here is unlikely to change my, or anybody else's lives beyond recognition.