Album Review
Alkaline Trio - DamnesiaAlkaline Trio – Damnesia

Over the past fifteen years Alkaline Trio have grown to be one of the most influential punk bands of their time, they have a huge hardcore following of fans that have the classic Alkaline Trio heart skull tattooed over their bodies and also support every release and tour that the band does and to celebrate their fifteenth anniversary the band have put together a very special album in the name of ‘Damnesia’ which is a stripped down acoustic album which features reworkings of 12 classic tracks, 2 new tracks and a cover song.

‘Damnesia’ is a very unique album and it is an album aimed at the hardcore fans and features the majority of the fan favourites which help make the album appear like a greatest hits with the acoustic stripped down sound giving it that extra special feel as each song sounds slightly new.

The album kicks off with the opening track from Agony And Irony ‘Calling All Skeletons’ and despite the stripped down nature of the song it still blasts in as fast as the original and the whole acoustic sounds make the song sound pretty tasty.

‘This Could Me Love’ is my all time favourite Alkaline Trio song due to its catchy nature and really dark twisted lyrics which tell a fucked up love tale, well the reworking of the song here sounds slightly slower yet even darker due to the addition of the piano which adds a slightly spookier edge to the song, whilst Matt Skiba’s vocals sound as clear and easy listening as ever.

The video that Alkaline Trio released to preview the album was for ‘Clavicle’ and the song is your basic stripped down acoustic song with not much more to offer, now some people may find this slightly bland but compared to the original version of the song it is a decent variation and quite a simple listen.

The reworked version of ‘Mercy Me’ works really well as the whole acoustic guitars help add to the catchy vibe of the song and the dual vocals from Dan Andriano and Matt Skiba pretty much run the show proving that you don’t need electronics when your vocals are so good.

Some of the tracks on ‘Damnesia’ sound quite different such as ‘The American Scream’ which opens with an eerie sounding piano piece rather than the fast paced guitar assault like the original, ‘We’ve Had Enough’ features a double bass which really adds to the atmosphere, whilst ‘Private Eye’ is majorly slowed down.

The cover song featured on the album is a cover of The Violent Femmes ‘I Held Her In My Arms’ and it features a massive upbeat positive twang kicking off an almost country music feel, the two new tracks featured on the album are ‘Olde English 800’ which is a short catchy song which features Matt Skiba taking charge of the melodic vocals, whilst the second new track is ‘I Remember A Rooftop’ and despite being very basic sounding it features Dan Andriano at his best with his vocals on top form.

There is only one way to finish an greatest hits style Alkaline Trio compilation and that is everyone’s favourite sing-a-long track ‘Radio’ and it really does end ‘Damnesia’ in a perfect way with its massive sing-a-long verses which sound rawer than ever.

Now when Alkaline trio announced plans for ‘Damnesia’ I am sure that many people wondered how relevant the release was, but considering that Alkaline Trio only released their last studio album last year and that they wanted to give something back to their fans who have been there supporting them over the last 15 years ‘Damnesia’ is the perfect release as it proves that old songs can be reworked and also gives the fans something to enjoy whilst waiting for the next Alkaline Trio album release.

4/5

Review by Trigger
 Band Members

Matt Skiba (Vocals, Guitar)
Daniel Andriano (Bass, Vocals)
Derek Grant (Drums, Vocals)
 Track Listing
1. Calling All Skeltons
2. Nose Over Tail
3. This Could Be Love
4. Every Thug Needs A Lady
5. Clavicle
6. Mercy Me
7. The Amercian Scream
8. We've Had Enough
9. Olde English 800
10. I Held Her In My Arms
11. Blue In The Face
12. I Remember A Rooftop
13. Private Eye
14. You've Got So Far To Go
15. Radio
 Band Related Links
Alkaline Trio Myspace
Alkalinetrio Official Site
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?