Anno 2006. In giro c'è ancora gente che tira fuori dai proprio strumenti musicali un semplice ma mai disprezzato (da me) punk rock. Non selvaggio HC, non pop-dark-emomerda punk, non tiratissimo street punk, semplicemente punk rock, veloce e melodico quanto basta. Quello che rende tutto più piacevole in questo disco è la voce di Tim McIlrath, definita da alcuni la migliore voce del punk dei giorni nostri, calma e calda nei pezzi lenti e nei cori, roca e aggressiva quando c'è da sbraitare, cosa che purtroppo in queste 13 tracce non fa spessissimo. Si parte alla grande con "Chamber The Cartridge", veloce quanto basta e ritornello in cui subentrano seconda voce e cori, cosa che apprezzo molto; si continua ancora meglio con la successiva "Injection": una di quelle tracce che dopo il primo ascolto passa ininterrottamente nel mio lettore mp3 come minimo per una settimana, colpisce al volo per il riff iniziale di chitarra, ritornello che ti entra subito in testa, cosa che a dire la verità accade più volte, data la semplicità di questi ultimi (so give me the drug! keep me alive! give me what left's of my life! don't let me gooo wuoooh oh!) e intermezzo di Tim "VoceRauca" da far rizzare il pelo; avanti con "Ready To Fall", da qui capisco che se Tim sbraitasse sempre come fa in certi stacchi, sarebbe un album favoloso; "Bricks" traccia abbastanza anonima, passa via in un minuto e mezzo, lascia spazio a un'altra mezza ciofeca quale "Under The Knife", la melodia prende il sopravvento e mi fa storcere abbastanza il naso, così come la successiva "Prayer Of The Refugee" che quantomeno si risolleva nel ritornello. Non ci sono altri sussulti nei successivi brani, purtroppo tutti più o meno abbastanza lineari, "Worth Dying For" altra traccia di rilievo, ci si ferma un pò su "Roadside", melodie lente e malinconiche, ci starebbe meglio se fosse circondata da tracce spaccatimpani, tanto per tirare un pò il fiato, cosa che è abbastanza inutile in questo cd. Track finale una piccola perla, rappresenta personalmente come vorrei qualunque song dei Rise: chitarra e batteria che dettano i tempi, ritornello meraviglioso e voci che si sovrappogono, fossero tutte così..
In generale un disco apprezzabile da chi comunque non cerca emozioni forti, a sfruttare a dovere quella poderosa voce e limitando le svolte melodiche ne sarebbe uscito un album con la A maiuscola. Un disco senza infamia e senza lode. Preferisco il precedente Siren Song Of The Counter Culture.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Chamber the Cartridge (03:19)
This is noise...
Down beyond these city streets through gutters filled with black debris
In alleys void of any light where nameless things live out of sight
Down through the scrapers of the sky past neon words glowing all night
Echoes my name between each car, "Are you happy where you are?"
Blind to this impending fate
We let the world carry our weight
Its back breaks with every mile
But we all live in denial
Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine
Let's go!
And so we carry on each day as if our lives are not so grey
While every breath that we take, we only suffocate
Brush past a myriad of scenes a homeless vet crashed
On Wall Street, a single mom of three, a TV personality
I'm blind to this impending fate
They let the world carry their weight
Its back breaks with every mile
But they all live in denial
Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine!
02 Injection (03:21)
Do you spend your days counting the hours you're awake?
And when night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same
It's a burden you've been bearing in spite of all your prayers
As a light turns off inside your heart
Can you remember what it's like to care?
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe
So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa
The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way
If you never meant to leave then you only had to stay
But the memories that haunt us are cherished just the same
As the words that bring us closer to the sky
No matter how I pray that I fall through these clouds
Leaves me screaming....
Give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa
This grip loosens but it never breaks
[NEVER BREAKS!]
We carry nothing but a name you will forsake
Your words are always there to break my fall
[BREAK MY FALL!]
And I might find the comfort to see through it all
Guide me through unchartered waters
Before we lose our way again
Will you be my compass until forever?
Until forever ends!?
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe.....
......So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa
Don't let me go, whooaa
Don't let me go, whooaa
04 Bricks (01:30)
When faith alone is not enough,
To keep our hands barely above,
We look for reason and come up empty-handed.
And when our children fight our wars,
while we sit back just keeping score,
We're teaching murder not understanding now.
We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change.
The lieves our buried sons have laid,
We'll cancel debts we've yet to pay,
How could we justify anything now,
As long as we blindly obey and do exactly what they say,
We'll no one to blame but ourselves now.
We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change.
We run on the fumes of injustice,
We'll never die with the fuel that you give us,
Keep it coming 'cause I'm prepared to burn,
Keep running from me at every turn.
Your life around,
(into something true, into something true)
So turn your life around,
(into something true, something true)
We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change.
05 Under the Knife (02:44)
Wake me up inside
Tell me there's a reason
Take another step
To get up off my knees and,
Follow this path of most resistance,
How ever it takes us,
Whatever it faces and wherever it leads,
Wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
though we looked awake, inside we're all still sleeping
I spent my time here alive, but barely there
Do you believe we will ever make it?
Do you think we will ever really say?
Wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
Wake me up inside
these dreams all tired
wake me up inside
today wont start if we just kill them
(CAUSE YOU'LL BE ANYTHING)
Just wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
06 Prayer of the Refugee (03:19)
Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I’ll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.
Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
Down!
We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones who kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.
But we’ve been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We’ve been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you’ve known.
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
So open your eyes child,
Let’s be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.
Keep quiet no longer,
We’ll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we’ve lost,
And the lives we’ve reclaimed.
Go!
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
Don’t hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don’t need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!
Don’t hold me up…
(I don’t need your help, I’ll stand my ground)
Don’t hold me up…
(I don’t need your help)
No! No! No!
Don’t hold me up!
(I don’t need your help, I’ll stand my ground)
Don’t hold me up!
(I don’t need your help, I’ll stand my ground)
Don’t let me down, down, down, down, down!
07 Drones (02:59)
Deep inside these burning buildings
Voices die to be heard
Years we spent teaching a lesson
We ourselves had never learned
And if strength is born from heartbreak
Many mountains I could move
And if walls could speak I'd pray
That they would tell me what to do
If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.
No signs of life here, save the embers, the occasional flame,
We'd know the way but can't remember, conception to the grave,
Shout confessions from the greatest heights, where no one can hear,
All my fears, my insecurities are falling like tears.
If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.
The drones will slave away, they're working overtime,
They serve a faceless queen, they never question why.
Disciples of a God, they neither live nor breathe, (I won't come back!)
But we have bills to pay, yeah we have mouths to feed! (I won't come back!)
I won't come back!
And if you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.
I'm coming back to you!
08 The Approaching Curve (03:45)
[Spoken:]
The music played with a calming frequency.
The speakers gently seeped the sound of ambient keyboards and light percussion,
creating a seductive soundtrack to our midnight drive through curtains of blackness.
The windows were cold to the touch, reflecting the icy conditions in our immediate extremity.
Salt stains and fingerprints littered the glass, and streaks with melted snow cascaded down its length.
The music pulsed louder, yet gentle, like the far away squeal of a pot of boiling water.
The skylight was glowing faintly with a vague hints of an impending dawn.
The car raced along a painfully straight stretch of road,
and she hadn't so much as turned the steering wheel two degrees in the past twenty minutes
no word was spoken.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
They'll remember, only our smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
[Spoken:]
"Why are you doing this?" she spoke without expecting a response.
Her voice penetrated the still air of our speechless drive, so silent my heart had jumped.
"I'm not doing anything," I said, but I didn't even believe that myself.
"This is what's best, for me, for you, for us, or maybe just for me," I thought,
as a tear formed in the pit of her eye. The music poured through the speakers
and we were losing ourselves in the cadence. She looked down momentarily and closed her eyes
for a bit longer than a standard blink. Then she was crying. Then she was shouting.
Then I was shouting, now pouring confessions, having no answers, or solutions,
we barely even heard the questions.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
They'll remember, only our smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
Don't put me underground, I was meant for a life somewhere else.
Please, love, give me the Wheel, before both of our hearts You...
Will steal tonight. (Will steal tonight.)
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
They'll remember, only your smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.
[Spoken:]
Our cracking voices became part of the music.
The car pressed on faster through the night. As our voices lowered,
The cadence again overtook the air.
Up ahead there was a curve approaching.
She made no indications of slowing.
09 Worth Dying For (03:22)
Set me off like dynamite strapped tight around my waist
We are the ones in competition but claim this ain't no race
(Let's go!)
Take a breath and explode like bullets
Tearing through the wind
Cut me up with a razor blade
Then try to separate the skin
Now when the
White flames are burning flags
We found a world worth dying for yeah
We've been battered so hard that
We don't feel anymore
Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
Send me off on the morning breeze so far away from here
Fill your eyes in the strains of thought outside the warm embracing air
I'm moving slow
Like a glacier melting
Watch me dissipate
I switched to love in an empty world
But all I found was hate
Now when the
White flames are burning flags
We found a world worth dying for, yeah
We've been battered so hard that
We don't feel anymore
Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
Don't ask me why
'Cuz I don't know
Don't ask me how
I'm gonna solve this on my own
Don't ask me why
'Cuz I don't know
These things I'll never face
Scratch out the warning race
The wreckage of a job well done
I saw a place I'd never seen before, yeah
And that morning I refused to close my eyes anymore
Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all
die young?
So take me
So take me
10 Behind Closed Doors (03:12)
Chairs thrown and tables toppled,
Hands armed with broken bottles,
Standing no chance to win but,
We're not running, we're not running.
There's a point I think we're missing,
It's in the air we raise our fists in,
In the smiles we cast each other,
My sister, my brother.
About the time we gave up hope and
We never find these locks still open,
Stumbling on stones unturned,
The hurt we feel, we all have found.
The lives we've lost in such a change,
but all they see is treason
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors.
Bonfires burn like beacons,
Guiding the lost and weakened.
Flames dance on crashing waves,
Guiding ships who've gone a stray
Time out, let's stop and think this through,
We've all got better things to do,
A talk in circles run in place,
Answers inches from my face.
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors.
Black eyes, broken fingers,
Blood drips and I let it run
down my lips and to my swollen gums
When hope is non-existent,
Our instincts all scream "Run",
We never turn our backs or even bite our tongue.
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors.
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors.
11 Roadside (03:23)
Tell me what I'm supposed to do,
With all these left over feelings of you;
'Cause I don't know
And tell me how I'm supposed to feel,
When all these nightmares become real;
'Cause I don't know
And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you,
And I don't know how we separate the lies here from the truth;
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do.
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry;
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry.
And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you;
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do.
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry;
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry.
'Cause I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you,
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do,
exactly what to do.
12 The Good Left Undone (02:59)
In fields where nothing grew but weeds,
I found a flower at my feet,
Bending there in my direction,
I wrapped a hand around its stem,
I pulled until the roots gave in,
Finding now what I’ve been missing,
But I know…
So I tell myself, I tell myself it’s wrong.
There’s a point we pass from which we can’t return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.
All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.
Inside my hands these petals brown,
Dried up, falling to the ground
But it was already too late now.
I push my fingers through the earth,
Return this flower to the dirt,
So it can live.
I walk away now.
But I know…
Not a day goes by that I don’t feel it’s spurn.
There’s a point we pass from which we can’t return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.
All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long,
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.
All because of you…
All because of you…
All because of you,
I haven’t slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down,
Inside these arms of yours.
All because of you,
I believe in angels.
Not the kind with wings,
No, not the kind with halos,
The kind that bring you home,
When home becomes a strange place.
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.
13 Survive (04:47)
Somewhere between happy, and total fucking wreck
Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge
To spend your waking moments, simply counting time
Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, to give up on your...
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive is what makes us who we are
An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile
A deep nod in agreement, a status-quo exile
I shirk my obligations, I miss all your deadlines
I excel at quitting early, and fucking up my life
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive is what makes us who we are
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so fucking great
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so great
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this) Life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this) Life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this) Are we verging on an answer,
Or fucking up our...
Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive is what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
That's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
What makes us who we are
(Who we are)
That's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
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Altre recensioni
Di Taurus
Injection vi porterà a premere il tasto repeat sullo stereo con un accoppiata riff/refrain da paura!
I Rise Against continuano a sfornare ottimi dischi e non deludere la schiera di fedeli che li segue intorno al globo.
