Everything after Appeal to Reason feels so lifeless and safe. Really sad I don't enjoy anything they put out after that album.
I still think they have moments of great songwriting, but they definitely lost some of the fire and intensity as they got more radio-friendly.
It's definitely the turning point in their discography imo, it's when they started getting "safer"... but it still has great tracks in spite of that.
I think Appeal, Endgame, Black Market, and Wolves are all great album with great songs and while they arent quite as timeless they are very prescient to the era they were released in (Appeal is a scathing critique of Bush, Conservatives, a direct response to the deconstructive, dumbing down of America that administration yielded. Endgame is more tuned into natural disasters and how destructive humans can be no matter what country theyre in, oil spills, hurricanes, suicides, and the inhuman longevity that comes with serving in the military. Black Market is a little less political but still touches on a lot of at the time important issues like religious obstruction, lower class struggles, etc its probably the most ambiguous of the newer albums and doesnt reeeeally have any particular themes except the very general ones mentioned earlier. Wolves is very clearly anti trump administration and time will tell what their followup has to say regarding the administration.) i love this band a whole lot
I would say that End Game/BM/Wolves have great songs, but not great albums if that makes sense. For me a few of their best songs are on these albums like The Great Die Off, Satellite and The Politics of Love, but these aren't albums I throw on and listen through from front to back. Appeal falls in a weird space for me where I actually like every single song on it, but doesn't have me coming back to it very often except select songs. I can listen through Revolutions-Siren-Sufferer all the way through on repeat and still love it. Classics.
i think i like pretty much every song on those albums but some more than others for sure. I'd throw Appeal into the same league as Sirens, RPM, and Sufferer i think its a fantastic album. Endgame BM and Wolves arent quite up to that level but theyre good
I think if they put the guitars louder in the mix on the last 3 albums they’d be liked a lot more. I think there’s some great songs there, they just all tend to blur into each other as they’re made more radio friendly. Live the newer songs still generally tend to kill it.
Also I agree with CoffeeEyes on Appeal, it’s a great album and I’d definitely put it up there with the 3 before it.
I’ve been on a RA binge again recently. Love these guys and they are all really good dudes too. I have to admit their new stuff doesn’t quite hold a candle to their old but they still knock out solid songs each release which add to the RA playlist I have going off. They just need to get Megaphone and Broadcast on Apple Music and I’ll be happy!
Appeal was actually the album that got me into this band, honestly it does still hold up very well, especially lyrically. Musically I put RPM, Sirens, and Sufferer as top-tier Rise Against, but their albums after all absolutely have some great songs. Lyrically they've never dropped the ball at all and I always love the issues they tackle, musically my preference is still for the more aggressive, raw sound of my favorite 3 albums but they're still a great band don't get me wrong. Still plenty of their later stuff that I love as well.
RPM, Siren Song, Sufferer are one of the greatest trios in any punk discography. And Wolves is their best effort since.
Tim always does good lyrics for sure. After Appeal I’d argue TBM has some of his strongest ones on there post Sufferer. I think Wolves is a pretty good return to form I just miss the fast paced punk songs.
yeah Tims always been ace lyrically. Zach Blair is a big reason why they went more mainstream and rock-ish i think. Idk why per se because theyve never really addressed what the catalyst for it was or anything but once he joined there was definitly a shift in musical direction with the occasional aggressive, old school style here and there. Appeal also has my favorite b-sides from this band
For anyone that misses Chris Chasse’s influence in Rise Against, he just finished Great Collapse’s second album. Awesome band! Thomas Barnett of Strike Anywhere is the singer.
I think Zach just writes hard rock riffs whereas Chris wrote punk riffs. That's a massive oversimplification I know.
i know we are past any kind of anniversary, but i wonder if we get a Sufferer tour this year. nothing from Wolves has really caught fire, and they've been opening holiday shows with Chamber and also playing Bricks on top of Prayer, Good Left Undone. if it happens, 10/10, would attend/weep.
Im interested to see how House on Fire does. They pushed the SHIT out of The Violence. Worst song on the album, imo.
I would have went with the title track or Far from Perfect for singles probably, but who knows what will end up sticking with the masses.
Far From Perfect would be a great single but may be one of the worst Rise Against songs, just feels so uninspired