 
Ah talking about Papa Roach is making me feel
like a teenager again, back in the days when “…To
Be Loved” and “Between Insects and
Angels” dominating house parties, under
18 night clubs, and generally anywhere rebellious
teens were found, what a magical time in my teenage
years dancing along to the classics. That was
the whole thing with Papa Roach, they produced
these really lively upbeat rock anthems that most
people will tell you take them back to a more
youthful time. The previous release Metamorphosis
was more of this but displaying a slight darker
side and favouring lighter elements of their style
with anthems like “Lifeline”, “Hollywood
Whore” and “Had Enough”, this
time around it will be interesting to see whether
they shake it up again or whether they risk exhausting
their age old sound.
From the first few notes of “Still Swinging”
you instantly feel which way they’ve decided
to go and I’m not going to lie it is absolutely
fascinating; electronic elements like auto tune
and heavy bass, sinister sounding distortion yet
still an upbeat sound and an absolute monster
of a riff! I am absolutely smitten with this album
it’s so addictive, both me and my girlfriend
have had it on in my car for a few days now and
I adore every single song on it. My favourites
include “Still Swinging”, “Silence
Is The Enemy” for its atmospheric feel and
fast paced nature, “Leader of the Broken
Hearts” for the pure emotion, “Breathe
You In” for the chorus lines alone let alone
with how phenomenal the rest of the track is.
I’ve had to stop myself there because I’d
list every single damn song as “one of my
favourites” because I genuinely love all
of them.
What lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix said about the
album was that they had gone back to the beginning
to really regain the elements that encompasses
Papa Roach as a band; I would have to completely
disagree with that as what Papa Roach were –
have always been – is perform songs that
are based at a younger fan base, bubbly and that
you could really dance to, what this album has
grown them into is mature recording artists that
can appeal to a now more varied audience. The
maturity I mean is that they’ve grown with
the scene, it’s not out of place for them
to have incorporated these electronic elements
as there has always been an element of rap to
their material so it fits perfectly, the deeper
themes and the darker style as well just really
gives it that wow factor.
1 album, 13 songs equal 1 extremely happy music
fan and a number 1 contender for my album of the
year (yes I have an ongoing list that I keep updating).
I’m still in disbelief about how much I
love this record; this review has flowed out of
me in no less than 45 minutes with ease as I just
had so much to say about it. All I must say is
if you’re a rock fan, a metal fan, a prog
fan, a pop music fan it doesn’t matter this
is an album that spreads itself across genres
and I hope will one day be a timeless classic.
5/5
Review by James Webb
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