One major positive of this album is the grit in Tim's voice (and lack of broken vowels which grew old around the Endgame era). I feel like the bass playing and drums, in particular, are more varied and creative than they have been for a long time as well. Still really digging this one.
Great read. I agree about most of his rankings although having ATR above Siren Song and RPM is blasphemy, and it seems like the band is a little lower on Siren Song because they didn't record it with Stevenson. But that album changed my life and is still their best front to back imo. I mean what a closing trio. Not to mention Paper Wings, Blood to Bleed, Give It All. My goodness. Sorry in advance but Siren Song Sufferer RPM ATR Nowhere Generation Wolves Endgame Unraveling Black Market ATR-Endgame (or even Unraveling when the mood is right) are all interchangeable for now. ATR gets to the top for Savior basically, and because it feels like the last gasp of the band's absolute peak.
Oh man Middle of a Dream is so great. Would have ended the record really perfectly. Rules of Play is alright it just doesn't feel as much like a closer.
This is the list. ATR is a BIT above the others you mentioned, particularly because the opener, Dirt and Kotov are all absolute barnburners. I desperately wish they played any of them live.
Re-listened to Wolves after Nowhere Generation and I never realised how muffled it sounds. Just terrible. Very few songs had stuck with me either. I still like it but I think I'd move it below Endgame for now. Architects and This Is Letting Go are really good, and I like the closing title track too.
Disparity By Design might be my favorite song since sufferer came out. The lyrics are fantastic and the music rips. It’s probably their most Bad Religion influenced track. I still find it insanely underrated for them. It would make a great acoustic song too. …We pulled on these bootstraps so hard that they broke… Gets me everytime.
Been listening to RA alot this past week and goddamn they are so consistently good. Best albums are definitely Sirens and Sufferer but albums since then has at least been pretty good and catchy
Holy shit this is their best album since Sufferer. They kind of lost me after Appeal to Reason so I didn't expect much from this one but it took me right back to that mid 00's era
I'm super hyped on the new record. Bought a ticket to see them in August in Birmingham. Haven't been able to see them before so I'm changing that and what album tour to do it on!
It’s like that for all the vinyls. Prolly has something to do with production and don’t want a quite track to end side a so they flipped it and put it at the start of side b
From tonight’s show. Really solid I hope this is the set for the entire tour Rise Against Setlist at Beachland Ballroom and Tavern, Cleveland
their show here tonight is an outdoor amphitheater. i’m vaxxed up of course but still a bit nervous. probably gonna double mask it. but i’m still excited.
The Cleveland show was awesome. Always been a casual RA fan but when I saw they were playing a 500 cap venue I had to go. It was last week, no covid symptoms for me thankfully.
I was almost expecting like a youth choir or something to appear doing backing vocals or something on that alt version too