The eight full album from Papa Roach looks into the rebirth and maturity of the nu-metal heroes. Do Jacoby Shaddix and company offer something intense and compelling like in the past?
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Text Review:
Whether you like the nu-metal genre of the early 2000’s or not, Papa Roach has an enormous fanbase, devoted following, and consistently sell out concerts due to their energetic live performances. It’s also safe to say that the band has matured after 15 years from their breakout album Infest with the teenage angst anthem Last Resort.
Seeing Papa Roach live and hearing them in interviews gives evidence that these men will always be youthful in a sense and will always love music. It’s evident that performing and playing is their passion. It’s natural over time though for a band to evolve from where they started. After marriages, children, and other life events, your perspective in other aspects of life INCLUDING music will undoubtedly change.
After seven full albums comes FEAR. An acronym for Face Everything And Rise. While Papa Roach are no strangers to the recording process, it was said by Jacoby Shaddix that this was the first record where the band went into the studio with no recorded material or demos. They literally walked into the studio blind and started from scratch.
Regardless of the preparation for FEAR, Shaddix gave an interview to Loudwire stating just how strong the album is, saying:
“‘F.E.A.R. is…“the sickest, most illest P-Roach record to date.” …, “It’s fiery. It’s like I’m holding a light orb in my hand and when I put it to the sky, I take off like a superhero if that makes any sense. It’s for real.”
Over the past couple weeks the new songs have slowly been released online, with the album’s title track being played consistently on radio.
Face Everything And Rise is definitely one of the highlights of the new album. The more electronic sound with synthesized mixing adds a different element that Papa Roach has becoming more accustomed to with their music over the past couple years. Lyrically it stands out as a ballad and you can tell this song was made a commercial song to advertise the new message of the new album.
If you enjoy this style of song, then F.E.A.R. the album may be up your alley because this style is used frequently. The downside is that there are quite a few tracks that sound extremely similar to the point of forgetting which song you are listening to.
There are a few songs like Never Have To Say Goodbye and Gravity that break the mold that is used throughout the album, but listening to songs like Broken As Me and Warriors and you can tell that there was a formula used for many of these songs in the writing and music composure. When you are as capable of selling records as well as Papa roach though, it’s hard to argue a formula for success.
Broken As Me isn’t a bad song by any means, but it really feels like it is a generic anthem for a bad upbringing in adolescence. Many people I’m sure can relate to the lyrics which is a huge drive for listening, but musically there isn’t much substance worth visiting.
Taking the format of Papa Roach and adding electronic mixing and then remixed vocals while layering in several different audio effects can have merit on paper. Being innovative and trying to create something new is a great asset for a band to have. But when you keep hearing the same presentation on a loop from track to track, it can become repetitive and doesn’t give much appeal for replay.
With the album FEAR comes a band who has proven they are capable of delivering their own unique style and that they can stand the test of time. While this album is undeniably a proud product of a long running band, it may not be for everyone.
Overall, if you love Papa Roach or love the title track from this album and its style, then you may like FEAR just fine. If you are looking for a lot of diversity between tracks and aren’t a fan of the electronic and remixed rock, then you may not be satisfied.
