TechnoTV - Appeal to Reason [Ecopack]

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Manufacturer: DGC / Interscope

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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0602517826625
Label: DGC / Interscope
Manufacturer: DGC / Interscope
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: DGC / Interscope
Release Date: 2008-10-07
Studio: DGC / Interscope

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Teeth are less sharp but the music is still good
Comment: It isn't as hard as their previous releases. If you loved mosh anthems such as State of the Union or Bricks you may be disappointed. BUT....(and its a big BUT), the song Hero of War (love that song!!!!) on this CD saves it. Even though its acoustic and slow, the lyrics are as hardcore as ever and shows that Rise Against are still themselves, just trying to reach a larger audience. If your a continuing fan or new to Rise, i highly recommend this CD, its not their best but its still better than most of the other new music out right now.

Customer Rating:

Summary: More great Rise Against
Comment: Less punk than albums one and two (The Unraveling and Revolutions Per Minute) but still great music.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Top of the modern punk scene.
Comment: I have to start by saying that I have been largely disenfranchised by what the punk scene has to offer these days. You either find predictable distortion driven 4/4 timing accompanied by childish whining, or you find cacophonous garbage. Rise Against seems to do a good job of balancing aggression with productivity. For starters the music is very well produced. It has a great sound quality that seems to get overlooked too often. The message of the music is in no way hidden. It embodies the sense of protest and frustration with a lack of ways to change how things are going. Overall I think it is a great effort well worth the purchase. The one problem I have with it is the same problem I have with the other credible punk cohorts of today. The music has a tendancy to come across as somewhat pop sounding. In no way would I let that stop you from purchasing this product though. It is a breath of fresh air at a time when the radio seems to be filled with zombified echoes of what use to be legitimate music.

Customer Rating:

Summary: AMAZING CD!!!
Comment: I PERSONALLY LOVE RISE AGAINST AND THIS CD IS AMAZING!!! EVERY CD EVER MADE BY RISE AGAINST IS A WINNER IN MY MIND!!! AHHA

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Re-Education of Rise Against
Comment: Rise Against continues with the style they seemingly perfected on The Sufferer & the Witness: the melding of a blazing atomic punk sound with an impressive amount of melody, guided by Tim McIlrath's vocals, which fuse the grittiness of sandpaper and the sweetness of sugar. The album opens with the blazing "Collapse (Post-Amerika)," an energetic indictment of our modern civilization, then slides into the epic-sounding "Long Forgotten Sons," which shimmers with fluctuating guitar chords and background "woahs" that give it a majestic, grandiose sound.

From that promising start, though, the album slips into the ordinary-sounding "Re-Education (Through Labor)," and by the time we reach the overly harmonious and slick-sounding "The Dirt Whispered," the sound for the album has been set. As on their previous album, Rise Against try to unify punk with pop, only this time, pop wins out, and the songs take a turn for the sickeningly sweet. There's the obligatory harder song ("Kotov Syndrome") which isn't as hard as it should be, as well as the soft, acoustic song ("Hero of War"), which is too soft. Surrounding these are songs that exist merely to serve as a buildup to a melodic bridge and chorus. As a result of this similar structure, even after repeated spins, the songs all start to blend into each other. This is not to say the music is bad, because it's not - it just sounds ordinary and dull most of the time. The first two tracks, as well as the mid-tempo "Audience of One," are standouts, but the others are largely forgettable.

All the same, it's nice to see the band actually perform in accordance with their doctrines and beliefs. The CD is packaged in an "Ecopack," which contains no plastic (save for the CD itself): the CD packaging is all paper and still includes full-color artwork and a lyric booklet. Some may object to this packaging, which is much more vulnerable and flimsy than a standard jewel case, but there's something about it that I kind of like. Maybe it's the way it folds open, with the lyrics booklet on the inner left flap and the CD housed inside the right flap that strikes me as similar to a gatefold vinyl album. Also, the CD comes with a sticker promoting PETA2's "Meat's Not Green" campaign (the band has been veg for a while).

While I can't wholeheartedly recommend this album, it still boasts a few killer cuts and distinctive packaging that some will embrace and others will detest. If this is a sign of the direction RA is heading in, it won't be long before their punk past isn't even recognizable anymore. Their music may be slipping into generic hard-edged fluff, but there's still some heart hiding behind the squeaky-clean sound. With their politics and beliefs still strong, Rise Against is still a punk band, and "Appeal to Reason" is at least worth a listen.

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Editorial Reviews:

STANDARD COLORED VINYL ALBUM - (INCLUDES FULL ALBUM PLUS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD CARD OF MP3'S OF ALL TRACKS)

Chicago's Rise Against is anything but a single-minded musical outfit. An astounding fusion of unhinged power, ear grasping melodies, stimulating lyrics and the ability to reach audienced in both underground and mainstream circles, they have redefined the rules. To date, the band has released four albums plus a rare material EP, and a DVD called Generation Lost. Each of their past two albums have sold just shy of 1/2 million copies in the U.S. with each album garnering three full on Modern Rock radio hits. The first single is 'Re-education (Through Labor)' hit radio airwaves in August 2008.