Rise Against - Revolutions Per Minute
Track Listing
1. Black Masks and Gasoline --- 2. Dead Ringer --- 3. Halfway There
4. Like the Angel --- 5. Voices Off Camera --- 6. Blood Red, White & Blue
7. Broken English --- 8. Last Chance Blueprint --- 9. To The Core
10. Torches --- 11. Amber Changing --- 12. Heaven Knows --- 13. Anyway You Want It
Genre
Punk/Punk Rock
Artist Information
Rise Against is a punk band, formed in Chicago in 1999. They used to be known as Transistor Revolt, releasing their self-titled album a year before signing to Fat Wreck Chords. The line-up has seen a few changes, mainly involving their guitarists. At first, they had a guitarist known as Mr. Precision, who left in 2001 and was replaced by Todd Mohney, who left shortly after they signed with Geffen Records, and was replaced by Chris Chasse. Some members of Rise Against are straightedge, and all are vegetarian.
Song Details
Black Masks and Gasoline:
Pro-revolution songs seem to be Rise Against's specialty. Repetitive chorus, even for a punk song, but good. High energy, definitely something you could have a lot of fun with at a concert or for driving really fuckin' fast, but not the best song to be listening to on a plane or a bus, where you can't actually do something.
Dead Ringer:
A reminiscent song, angrier and more energetic than Black Masks, I wouldn't want to be caught in a mosh pit with this song on. That might be because there are a lot of people hardcore dancing in mosh pits lately, but still. Short song, only a minute and a half, it starts out extremely fast, then slows down, in the last 15 seconds, it gets to the original speed. Not a great transistion into the next song.
Halfway There:
Slow start, into a moderate tempo, slower vocals. Lyrics are extremely simplistic, and Tim goes from a raspy singing into nu-metal-ish growling, ironically, about halfway through the song. Longest song on the CD, honestly not their best work. Probably good for the band to just relax during a concert.
Like the Angel:
Starts out with a nice, basic intro. Not the typical hardcore style song, it's a lot calmer than the rest of the CD, but it still retains the Rise Against appeal. At 1:31, a guitar solo comes in, reminding me of, for some reason, 80's rock where solos were cool. My favorite song on the CD. ((Something I found amusing, in Final Fantasy X, if you start playing "Like the Angel" when Lulu is finishing up her last line before Yuna performs the Sending at Kilika Port, it'll match up great, and end at just about the same time. I've only tried it a few times with the album version, and it's hard to get it just right, but definitely worth a try if you have both available at the same time.))
Voices Off Camera:
Great energy throughout, if you connect with music, it's a good self-esteem boost. Strikes me as a great song for vagabonds and wanderers. Second favorite song.
Blood Red, White & Blue:
Slow start, at around 0:35, they speed up into an old-school punk style, but the fact that it's 3:39 long, it doesn't really have the punk charm. At 1:27, it goes back to how slow the intro was. Only temporary, but the pauses make it hard to enjoy this CD sometimes. Pretty basic propaganda, but it's hard to really listen to opinions on punk CDs after "American Idiot." The music sounds like it was done on The Punk-O-Matic. At 3:07, it just gets better, but it's too little, too late.
Broken English:
Single guitar intro, then the drums kick in, the other guitar comes in, at around 0:37, Tim starts singing, another great self-esteem song. Basic message: you can beat the hell out of us, tell us we're wrong, doesn't matter. We'll keep doing what we do. One of those songs the crowd would be yelling every word to at Warped Tour. Not a bad mosh pit song, but hardcore dancing would be the absolute WORST thing to do. Seriously, you kids need to stop. Chuck Norris is the only one allowed to hardcore dance. It's over 3 minutes long, which isn't bad for such a good song, but when it's fast, it just seems drawn out.
Last Chance Blueprint:
Hate the spoken word intro. I hate those kids that call themselves freaks, because they're totally not. I should know, I used to be one. Sounds like they're singing about an addiction, but it's obviously not an addiction to drugs. At around 1:27, another spoken word portion. Sounds like a clip from a movie, but I'm not sure. Good song, just... Not for the lyrical content.
To the Core:
They just sound pissed here. Kind of hard to understand what they're saying, and I can interpret Ozzy Osbourne. Minute and a half long, this is one of the most punk songs on their CD, up to around 0:52, they just drop off and start building up again. The ending sounds almost like AFI. Then at the very end, they bring it back up to the hard shit. Weird.
Torches:
3:41, the music is fast, the singing is fairly slow, one of the few ways to do a good, long punk song. Another propaganda song, or it sounds like it at times, about waking up and seeing what's going on. Apparently, Tim already knew and he's waiting for others to realize it. Sounds like quite a few people I know. This makes him seem a bit more... Extremist than he should be. First time they really sound forceful on this CD, which sucks. I hate hardliners. The ending just sucks. Everything slows down WAY too much, then they speed up again. C'mon, guys, you're a punk band. You shouldn't need that much rest, and it's only a 40-minute album.
Amber Changing:
Another generic punk intro, the rhythm in this song sounds so much better than the others, I can almost listen to it as I would a hip-hop song. This is the most important thing to me, reaching out to a diverse audience. A very "live-for-the-moment" song, Tim says "there's no place that I'd rather be, than right here right now." Despite all his hippie whining, he enjoys his life. You should too.
I swear, if I ever see an emo kid listening to Rise Against and being depressed, I'm gonna' beat him.
Maybe it's how the CD was ripped, but there's a minute of nothing on the end of my copy of the song. Anyone know?
Heaven Knows:
Sounds like more filler-punk. Or written specifically for live shows. Seriously, they could have taken most of their songs and split them into two seperate songs. This really sounds like two songs, but, alas, it's not. Nothing worth listening to on repeat.
Anyway You Want It:
I LOVE this song. The intro is made to sound like tuning a radio, then they go into a punk cover of the Journey song. Something about this just seems fun. I can almost hear Tim smiling, which sounds weird, but listen to people when they talk. You can actually hear their emotions and facial expressions sometimes. Great ending to a great punk CD.
Overall Opinion
Revolutions Per Minute is my favorite album by my favorite punk band, so of course I'm gonna' rate it high. A lot of moments where they could have just done better, there's no CD I'd rather listen to over and over on, say, a road trip (with a lot of pit stops to just get out and run around) or before going to a show. Any show. Seriously, this'll get a Mall Goth pumped to see Chevelle. Hard to hear the bass in these songs unless you're listening, but it's there, and it's good. Listen to it at 1.4x the original speed, it's even better. You should be able to pick up a copy for like, 9 bucks at Borders or Best Buy. If you don't wanna' pay that, there's a .torrent at Torrent Reactor, I think, that has all three of their CD's. Keep in mind, this is before The Sufferer and The Witness is released, so good luck finding that.
Overall Score:
85/100
Listen to Some of Their Stuff
1. Black Masks and Gasoline --- 2. Dead Ringer --- 3. Halfway There
4. Like the Angel --- 5. Voices Off Camera --- 6. Blood Red, White & Blue
7. Broken English --- 8. Last Chance Blueprint --- 9. To The Core
10. Torches --- 11. Amber Changing --- 12. Heaven Knows --- 13. Anyway You Want It
Genre
Punk/Punk Rock
Artist Information
Rise Against is a punk band, formed in Chicago in 1999. They used to be known as Transistor Revolt, releasing their self-titled album a year before signing to Fat Wreck Chords. The line-up has seen a few changes, mainly involving their guitarists. At first, they had a guitarist known as Mr. Precision, who left in 2001 and was replaced by Todd Mohney, who left shortly after they signed with Geffen Records, and was replaced by Chris Chasse. Some members of Rise Against are straightedge, and all are vegetarian.
Song Details
Black Masks and Gasoline:
Pro-revolution songs seem to be Rise Against's specialty. Repetitive chorus, even for a punk song, but good. High energy, definitely something you could have a lot of fun with at a concert or for driving really fuckin' fast, but not the best song to be listening to on a plane or a bus, where you can't actually do something.
Dead Ringer:
A reminiscent song, angrier and more energetic than Black Masks, I wouldn't want to be caught in a mosh pit with this song on. That might be because there are a lot of people hardcore dancing in mosh pits lately, but still. Short song, only a minute and a half, it starts out extremely fast, then slows down, in the last 15 seconds, it gets to the original speed. Not a great transistion into the next song.
Halfway There:
Slow start, into a moderate tempo, slower vocals. Lyrics are extremely simplistic, and Tim goes from a raspy singing into nu-metal-ish growling, ironically, about halfway through the song. Longest song on the CD, honestly not their best work. Probably good for the band to just relax during a concert.
Like the Angel:
Starts out with a nice, basic intro. Not the typical hardcore style song, it's a lot calmer than the rest of the CD, but it still retains the Rise Against appeal. At 1:31, a guitar solo comes in, reminding me of, for some reason, 80's rock where solos were cool. My favorite song on the CD. ((Something I found amusing, in Final Fantasy X, if you start playing "Like the Angel" when Lulu is finishing up her last line before Yuna performs the Sending at Kilika Port, it'll match up great, and end at just about the same time. I've only tried it a few times with the album version, and it's hard to get it just right, but definitely worth a try if you have both available at the same time.))
Voices Off Camera:
Great energy throughout, if you connect with music, it's a good self-esteem boost. Strikes me as a great song for vagabonds and wanderers. Second favorite song.
Blood Red, White & Blue:
Slow start, at around 0:35, they speed up into an old-school punk style, but the fact that it's 3:39 long, it doesn't really have the punk charm. At 1:27, it goes back to how slow the intro was. Only temporary, but the pauses make it hard to enjoy this CD sometimes. Pretty basic propaganda, but it's hard to really listen to opinions on punk CDs after "American Idiot." The music sounds like it was done on The Punk-O-Matic. At 3:07, it just gets better, but it's too little, too late.
Broken English:
Single guitar intro, then the drums kick in, the other guitar comes in, at around 0:37, Tim starts singing, another great self-esteem song. Basic message: you can beat the hell out of us, tell us we're wrong, doesn't matter. We'll keep doing what we do. One of those songs the crowd would be yelling every word to at Warped Tour. Not a bad mosh pit song, but hardcore dancing would be the absolute WORST thing to do. Seriously, you kids need to stop. Chuck Norris is the only one allowed to hardcore dance. It's over 3 minutes long, which isn't bad for such a good song, but when it's fast, it just seems drawn out.
Last Chance Blueprint:
Hate the spoken word intro. I hate those kids that call themselves freaks, because they're totally not. I should know, I used to be one. Sounds like they're singing about an addiction, but it's obviously not an addiction to drugs. At around 1:27, another spoken word portion. Sounds like a clip from a movie, but I'm not sure. Good song, just... Not for the lyrical content.
To the Core:
They just sound pissed here. Kind of hard to understand what they're saying, and I can interpret Ozzy Osbourne. Minute and a half long, this is one of the most punk songs on their CD, up to around 0:52, they just drop off and start building up again. The ending sounds almost like AFI. Then at the very end, they bring it back up to the hard shit. Weird.
Torches:
3:41, the music is fast, the singing is fairly slow, one of the few ways to do a good, long punk song. Another propaganda song, or it sounds like it at times, about waking up and seeing what's going on. Apparently, Tim already knew and he's waiting for others to realize it. Sounds like quite a few people I know. This makes him seem a bit more... Extremist than he should be. First time they really sound forceful on this CD, which sucks. I hate hardliners. The ending just sucks. Everything slows down WAY too much, then they speed up again. C'mon, guys, you're a punk band. You shouldn't need that much rest, and it's only a 40-minute album.
Amber Changing:
Another generic punk intro, the rhythm in this song sounds so much better than the others, I can almost listen to it as I would a hip-hop song. This is the most important thing to me, reaching out to a diverse audience. A very "live-for-the-moment" song, Tim says "there's no place that I'd rather be, than right here right now." Despite all his hippie whining, he enjoys his life. You should too.
I swear, if I ever see an emo kid listening to Rise Against and being depressed, I'm gonna' beat him.
Maybe it's how the CD was ripped, but there's a minute of nothing on the end of my copy of the song. Anyone know?
Heaven Knows:
Sounds like more filler-punk. Or written specifically for live shows. Seriously, they could have taken most of their songs and split them into two seperate songs. This really sounds like two songs, but, alas, it's not. Nothing worth listening to on repeat.
Anyway You Want It:
I LOVE this song. The intro is made to sound like tuning a radio, then they go into a punk cover of the Journey song. Something about this just seems fun. I can almost hear Tim smiling, which sounds weird, but listen to people when they talk. You can actually hear their emotions and facial expressions sometimes. Great ending to a great punk CD.
Overall Opinion
Revolutions Per Minute is my favorite album by my favorite punk band, so of course I'm gonna' rate it high. A lot of moments where they could have just done better, there's no CD I'd rather listen to over and over on, say, a road trip (with a lot of pit stops to just get out and run around) or before going to a show. Any show. Seriously, this'll get a Mall Goth pumped to see Chevelle. Hard to hear the bass in these songs unless you're listening, but it's there, and it's good. Listen to it at 1.4x the original speed, it's even better. You should be able to pick up a copy for like, 9 bucks at Borders or Best Buy. If you don't wanna' pay that, there's a .torrent at Torrent Reactor, I think, that has all three of their CD's. Keep in mind, this is before The Sufferer and The Witness is released, so good luck finding that.
Overall Score:
85/100
Listen to Some of Their Stuff
posted by Trust at 2:34 PM
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