Absolutely. Looked up the producer and somewhat surprised he doesn't have more big releases to his name given this and the fact he produced the first RATM which also still sounds fresh 33 years later.
Been doing a relisten of their discography and so far I think from Unraveling to Sufferer it's an uphill trajectory. Appeal is somewhere in the middle, it's enjoyable but ultimately average. That's where I'm at right now.
After spending all day with their discography yesterday, here is where I landed and it even surprises me. Siren Song - Perfect album. Not much else to say. Best opener, best closer, best deep cut (To Them These Streets Belong), best acoustic track, best RA 'pop-punk' song (Paper Wings). It's just amazing. Revolutions Per Minute - Black Mask's & Gasoline is the reason I got into this band. It still gives me chills. Nowhere Generation - Something about this album takes me back to the first two albums above. IMO, The Numbers is their best song since Siren Song era. Throw NGII songs into this mix and it's even better. Sufferer and the Witness - I love the melodic changes in songs like Refugee and Good Left Undone. This is such a 4th of July album for me. Endgame - Probably my favorite Lyrics from Tim as a whole. This one grew on me the most over the years. Disparity by Design, Make It Stop, Survivor's Guilt, Satellite, and Endgame are so so so good. Appeal To Reason - Their most timeless sounding album, IMO. I put this album below Endgame because Endgame just seemed more consistent and more leaned out as a whole. Unraveling - One of the BEST hardcore albums of our time. Fun Fact: My college Spanish professor produced this album. Ricochet - I love the aesthetic of this album and I think most songs are good to strong, but it's a frustrating listen due to the production. 8th spot because its new and I'm always excited for new RA. Black Market - Half awesome, half meh. A lot of spots lose my interest. Many parts on this album kind of scream writers-block to me after listening. There are a few very underrated songs on this album though. VERY underrated songs. Wolves - I'm surprised this one was last on this list for me. It's good and it scratched a major itch I was having when it came out. I don't mind the production on this one. It feels raw to me. I think I had such high expectations for this album given the time it came out that I felt a little let down over time. Miracle should be on every setlist. Black Market has higher highs compared to this one. Pretty incredible discography though. Not a bad album. I didn't realize Tim was only 46 too. I thought he was at least 50! So his songwriting over the years impresses me even more now that I know that!
Arguably the album that changed my listening habits more than any other, such intensity and aggression yet so so so fucking catchy
100% agree with this. I had listened to mostly metal and rock before hearing Siren Song. It was the album that made me want to find others that sounded like it.
Hate to say this, but I'm finding this a really "challenging" listen. Will always respect the guys for the part they've played in my life, but I don't think I can fathom this sort of Rise Against.
So The riff from damage is done is from the appeal era. Found that out tonight also def sounds like there will be a ghost notes 2, possibly a live album(if they do one it will be recorded in Chicago), and when they have enough a long forgotten songs 2 album.
Forgot to add this early but During the signing I asked Tim about how that surprise performance with Linkin park came to be and he just wanted to go to the show as a fan and hit them up and Mike asked him if he wanted to join/sing on one step closer and Tim’s response to me was “you don’t say no to that”
Going through another listen and I actually still find a lot to like here. My main complaint is Tim’s performance though. I don’t think he crafted the best melodies at times, which contributes to the sluggish feel of many songs. Some choruses don’t hit like they have in their hard rockier songs in the past (thinking of those on Appeal To Reason).
Doing a full discography run and man it hits different. Appeal was probably their most prolific era once you take into account all the B-sides they recorded at the same time. It has a weak ending with Hairline and Whereabouts, but the good stuff hits good.
I remember being so disappointed with Appeal to Reason at the time because it fell short of the amazing run of Revolutions-Sufferer, but I’ve grown to appreciate it more in time and it also has a top 5 song in the discography in the Dirt Whispered.
Appeal To Reason is the one to me that I’ve never really gotten into much. I was huge on Siren Songs and Sufferer then came back around with Endgame
I will say it is genuinely interesting to read the variety of opinions in this thread (even if some of you are wrong) Testament to the strength of the discography that there really is something for everyone EDIT: Also I realise this is a minor point but the "complete collection" on Spotify doesn't have Wolves and has a bunch of redundancies like also adding in music videos, so whoever's in charge of that for the label did a 10/10 job too
Charts are out for some countries.(handful of top 15/20s) Really interested to see where this and the new Chevelle album hit on the billboard 200. Neither will be in the top 10