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Rise Against - Appeal To Reason
| Avclub |
| Rise Against grew up on a steady diet of Black Flag, Descendents, and Minor Threat, but with 2004's "Swing Life Away," the Chicago band demonstrated that by translating such influences to acoustic guitar, it could find a surprisingly warm reception at mainstream radio. Two years later, The Sufferer & The Witness proved the band could sustain mass appeal not just through ballads, but through a string of faster, more politically charged singles that flirted with modern rock without forsaking the band's hardcore roots. On Appeal To Reason, however, that flirtation gives way to full-on romance: After a charging opener, "Collapse (Post-Amerika)," that finds vocalist Tim McIlrath belting out America-as-Rome metaphors in especially galvanizing form, Rise Against downshifts into a series of mid-paced tunes (including another acoustic ballad, "Hero Of War") that use melodic-hardcore traditions primarily as exclamation points. Longtime fans need not worry: Uptempo anthems like "Savior," "Kotov Syndrome," and "Entertainment" should satisfy anyone still uneasy about Rise Against's radio aspirations. And for the wider world that may have trouble swallowing a song accusing the Bush administration of fascism (first single "Re-Education (Through Labor)"), some wah-wah pedals, a big chorus, and a bit of post-grunge sheen provide the necessary spoonful of sugar....full text |
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| Billboard |
| This hard-touring Chicago quartet has spent the last few years adding polish to its earnest protest punk, an effort that's been rewarded handily at modern rock radio. Yet Rise Against's heightened profile hasn't led to a change of focus. On "Appeal to Reason," the band's third major-label set, singer Tim McIlrath is still concerned with the plight of the little guy and how his welfare often gets short shrift "From Heads Unworthy," as McIlrath puts it in one track. Beyond the acoustic "Hero of War," there's nothing here you haven't heard before from Rise Against—or, indeed, from Bad Religion before that. But producers Bill Stevenson (of the Descendents and All) and Jason Livermore keep the music moving at a breakneck pace that gives everything the gleam of urgency anyway.—Mikael Wood...full text |
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| Rollingstone |
| With hardcore anthems that raged against teen apathy in the Bush era, these Chicagoans began as a thinking punk's alternative to the chain-wallet angst of groups like Good Charlotte and A Simple Plan. Then they cracked the Top 10 with 2006's excellent The Sufferer and the Witness — and now they're wondering out loud if their message got muddled on the way to the Warped Tour. Appeal to Reason is an honest appraisal of their rise from the indie trenches into the mainstream. "Our shoulders bear an awful weight," singer Tim McIlrath admits on "The Strength to Go On," and on "Entertainment," he worries, "All we are is entertainment/Caught up in our own derangement."...full text |
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