Rise Against - Appeal to Reason (review with interview quotes)
By Jason Gardner, Photo By Adam Diaz
3.5 stars

Let’s just cut to the chase here – Rise Against’s fifth full-length album Appeal to Reason is an ambitiously written concoction of the band’s usual punk rock fare and interesting textures and timbres that while a solid album tends to fall short in terms of staying power and overall impact when compared to its predecessors. Sure, it has some awesome punk rock songs worthy of fist-raising and circle pitting, and even has an acoustic track that at least this person feels puts even “Swing Life Away” to shame. But in the ambitiousness of trying out a few new things and even sounding like a straight up pop-punk band, it is in fact a bit of a letdown as a whole – though some of these sounds shouldn’t be too much of as surprise since Rise Against mouthpiece Tim McIlrath did tell WV over the summer the band would be using “tempos and feels that we’ve never done before.”

“Collapse (Post-Amerika)” opens the album in typical Rise Against fashion with gritty punk guitars backed my easily placed melodies – all leading up to our first of many upfront and current lyrics in this album (‘When our rivers run dry and our crops cease to grow’). You get your usual shout-sing vocals from McIlrath, something that makes these lyrics jump out even more than on following tracks when he tends to lean more into a less standard vocal attack. Some people feel the lyrics on this album are not as good as previous albums, but I personally feel that the lyrics don’t sound the same because of the varied vocal deliveries heard throughout Appeal to Reason. McIlrath commented on the vocals of the album, saying “Bill is one of the only guys I can do vocals with that will tell me it will suck and I’ll believe him.” You can’t blame the band for attempting to try some different things, but it does render the impact of everything when you throw in odd things – more on that later though.

Kicking off with a pulsing bassline, “Long Forgotten Sons” is a guitar-fest moving between the sparser chordings of the verses and the faster riffage seen in the choruses. However, the song just loses steam and ends up losing the impact that could have been set up by the opening. The album’s first single, “Re-Education (Through Labor)”, has a more straight-forward rock approach than most of the album. It’s a great choice for a single with some good guitar melodies and some interesting vocal approaches strewn about. It is a smart choice for a single because of a catchy chorus and good lyrical writing, however it just doesn’t have the impact as “Ready to Fall” did when The Sufferer and the Witness came out.

At this point, it’s safe to say that the production job manned once again by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room is again quite impressive. The album sounds tight without sounding overly slick, and ranges different tones across the board. It is easy to see that Rise Against has found a comforting environment that still allows them to push themselves. “It creates a comfort zone,” says RA drummer Brandon Barnes of working with Stevenson and Livermore for the third time. “They know exactly what we are going for. On our third record, we went with Garth Richardson and there was some disconnect – though we did have a good time. They are like extra members of the band now and I think we’ll keep going back to them,” says Barnes.

“The Dirt Whispered” is as close to pop-punk as it gets without this being an old New Found Glory record. Granted, it still has the grit of a Rise Against song, but upbeat chord progressions and bigger vocals lend themselves to something a little more poppy without sounding unnatural. “Kotov Syndrome” follows a similarly drawn punk rock formula, relying on McIlrath’s vocals and a one-two punch of driving drums and guitars to move things along. McIlrath’s smooth vocals during the chorus (‘Spin out of control’) make this an easy singalong the first time around. “From Heads Unworthy” puts a huge focus on vocals, showcasing them in the first verse and adding gang vocals to the prechorus. Lines like ‘This is a war that was lost the day it began’ and ‘We read you like a polygraph / not one single bone in your back’ stand out as biting examples that these boys still put it all out there lyrically.

“The Strength to Go On” is a straightforward rocker that mixes in a bit of punk rock for mixed results. The lyrics are decent, but the feel of the beat to the verses is bland enough to make you lose interest in everything but the on-par choruses. The next track “Audience of One” is so huge during most of the track that it just does not sound like Rise Against, even with McIlrath’s vocals in the background. This one certainly takes a few listens to get into, but is decent nonetheless. “Entertainment” starts off with a promising intro that kicks into full gear with buzzing guitars and driving drums. It’s a good song that takes a weird turn when it turns into a circus/waltz-like beat for a portion of the track – an interesting idea that while funny at first makes the song lose steam.

Something about the song “Hero of War”, a gravely honest acoustic track about someone who joins the armed forces, just hits the right notes. The lyrics are brutally honest here, mentioning acts of prisoner torture and the killing of civilians without presenting them in a condescending light. Kudos to the guys for tackling a subject like this in a way that is both revealing and honest.

“Savior”, a favorite of Barnes, touches on the personal side of Rise Against’s lyrical repertoire (‘That’s when I told her I love you girl / but I’m not the answer to the questions that you still have’). These lyrics are backed by one of the better musical arrangements on the disc – chock full of fast moving punk rock guitars and pulsing drums. “Hairline Fracture” drifts into a less aggressive punk-rock groove, with a big chorus (‘A crack in the surface / a flaw in the plans / plans we made together, almost buried in the sand’) that sounds ready to rock theaters and even arenas in the near future. Album finale “Whereabouts Unknown” starts off a bit slow, giving the impression of a ballad or slower rock song, giving way to a solid rock riff that indeed ends up being a mid-tempo rocker with not much remnants of punk rock to spare.

In the end, this record is an interesting move for the band. While the punk rock core is still alive and well, Appeal to Reason sees the band move a little further away from their roots with mixed results. However, this is still a solid record from the punk rock veterans with some powerful messages for those who are willing to listen.