Rise Against - Appeal To Reason

Clearly taking a leadership position in punk, Chicago's Rise Against return with their fifth album. I've been waiting for a song to hit me like "The First Drop" off of their 2004 album "Siren Song of the Counter Culture". "Sufferer and the Witness" was great, but there was not a "First Drop" equivalent. Well, on this release that aggressive, anthemic hardcore stand-out is "Kotov Syndrome". It's but one of many outstanding tracks on "Appeal to Reason".

Sometimes, major labels and punk rock get along about as well as Obama and McCain do and there's a pretty long track record of bands who don't necessarily thrive while playing in the majors (see: Bad Religion, Ataris, 7 Seconds). It's through no fault of their own, but often, it's just that those releases might not get a proper amount of care and feeding. That is however changing of late. Offspring, Green Day, AFI are putting out good-as-ever music and are thriving on majors. Rise Against certainly are the most hardcore of punk bands to fall into that latter category. I suspect that it's the broad appeal of Rise Against that makes them so very popular. For me, it's pretty simple. Rise Against write great songs! Each track on this album is thoughtful, complex, provoking, emotional and most importantly...memorable!

Surprisingly, this is the most "accessible" Rise Against release yet. It's actually a really good "rock" record. Not going to call them emo or lump them in with the hard rock that is popular, because this is a hardcore punk album. But, they do blend in melodies and harmonies that evoke images of other contemporary genres.

I don't know if I have much to offer on the vocals of Tim McIlrath, but I'll offer the following. He's probably the best pure singer in punk today! I hear no weakness in his voice, enough said.

There is a style to Rise Against. There has always been, but this record sees that style mature a bit while still maintaining the raw youthful power found on some of their early Fat Wreck releases like "Revolutions and "Unraveling". Whatever the differences in style between now and then, it's clear that Rise Against is writing great, rhythmic punk songs and they deserve all the accolades that the are receiving.

I'll wrap up with another observation. Frequency of releasing records is always interesting. Wait to long...you could lose some of the faithful. Put out records to quickly...same thing, but for different reasons. I find that when a new Rise Against record hits the shelves (yes, you can actually still walk into a record store and buy one...I did it just this morning!) that it's the right time. I'm ready to listen, the record so well done that it is clearly ready to be heard and it seems like it hits at a good time for punk. I didn't hear their debut until years later, but I can say that for the bands other four records, that has been the case. After all, timing is everything. With Rise Against, that's part of it, but it's more about talent, innovation and passion that has led them to this point.

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