So Coby Dick and
his buddies have come out with their sophomore record, “Getting
Away With Murder”. What was sorta cool about their
last album, Infest, was their heavily ‘borrowed’
Iron Maiden riffs. Dick had that whole I am a frustrated
teenager vibe going, which worked alright, despite it being
a little overwhelming for their debut. But I suppose the
frustrated vibe is what hooked the TRL audience. I was hoping
that Infest’s recording sessions and the subsequent
tour dates had given Dick enough room to exercise his adolescent
woes. I was wrong for the most part, although Getting Away
with Murder does have its semi-positive moments (like Dick
urging people to live their life in Stop Looking Start Seeing).
Their first single, same name as the album (Getting Away
With Murder), really gave the impression that Papa Roach
had maybe expanded their sound a little bit while still
maintaining their ferociousness that so many of their fans
identify with. Well they did expand on their sound, but
not in the gritty sense. You have a song like Scars, which
has Dick singing about his weakness of caring too much.
Despite the depressing lyrics, the melody is pretty uplifting,
but nothing spectacular that warrants kudos for a mind blowing
display of musicianship.
My main problem with this record is in Rock n Roll there
are two ways to go. Either find a cause and fight, a la
Rage Against the Machine, or have fun like Bowling for Soup
or the Murderdolls. There’s enough starving people
in the world, actually in the United States, that no one
feels sorry for a rock star who cries a river over the superficialities
of fame. Do you want some cheese with that whine?
Overall, the boys of Papa Roach maintained their signature
riffs, the alternation of staccato and wah, and their same
simple verse refrain verse song structure, which will serves
to tie their newer sound to their older material. Coby has
gone a little less metal and a little more punk on this
new one, getting upbeat and more rhythmic. Unfortunately,
the catch hooks are soon made unlistenable by weird chord
combinations, too much distortion, and Dick’s droning.
If you liked their old record, you’ll probably like
this one if you can stand someone complaining about being
a rock-star. While Getting Away With Murder isn’t
as well produced, as it sounds a little flat, Papa Roach
does experiment a little which is always appreciated.
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