Feeling a minority........

......after reading some of the comments on reviews of Break the Cycle, even though it is 89% recommended. It seems that some people just aren't hearing what I hear from this album, which in my opinion, is generally fantastic. So here is my review.

I have been a huge Staind fan for a while and I couldn't wait for the long awaited release of their next album. I bought Break The Cycle a couple of months ago on import from the USA because I am so impatient. Unlike many, I wasn't the slightest bit disappointed with it.

Staind have blown up in the past year after Break The Cycle has hit the number one spot on both sides of the Atlantic.
This is mainly thanks to the ahem *cough* annoying man that is Fred Durst. Many know the story of how he wanted Staind taken off the bill of a concert and then wanted to sign them as soon as he heard them play. For some, this was a downfall in Staind's career. Maybe, because they have become popular and commercial, but I didn't let this faze my view of their latest offering.

I won't do a track by track review, I will highlight the best parts of the album:
Fade:
The second single taken from the album. It begins very quietly then builds up into a loud intro, calming down again for the verses. This is one of my favourites on Break The Cycle. Its a sad rock song and yet its so catchy that you have to sing along (strange I know).

Its been awhile:
Everyone has heard this song by now. If not, where on earth have you been? Despite being an overplayed song on radio stations all over the globe, one can never get sick of it. No matter how many times you hear the words "Its been awhile," you can't help but love this song. Its a very well written song and a great track. Another highlight of Break the Cycle.

Epiphany:
This is undoubtedly my favourite song from the whole album. Its enough to make a grown man cry, I swear! I listened to it a few times and it had me crying. I'll demonstrate this with some lyrics:

Cause I can't take any more of this, I wanna come apart. Or dig myself a little hole, inside your precious heart. Ohhhhhhh, cause its always raining in my head. Forget all the things I should have said.

Its a very calm and mellow song with some great vocals from Aaron. Its such a sad, and yet great song. You can't listen to it without feeling as depressed as Aaron sounds!

Suffer:
With a guitar intro and whispers of "SUFFERRRRRRR," you have to keep listening to "Suffer" all the way through because its a very interesting track. Its kinda "all over the place," you never know quite where you are with it. Nevertheless, its a very good track. Its strange to call any Staind song "sing along," but this is a very sing-along track.

Outside:
This is possibly Staind's most famous and most popular track to date thanks to Fred Durst singing it live with them. Break the Cycle includes that live version and a studio version. Its interesting that when Staind performed this live with Fred, they only had the chorus written. ALL of the verses were ad-libbed. How such a great song can be written that way is SO beyond me! Aaron must have some real talent to do that. Shame about Fred Durst though.

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Generally, this is such a good album. It has a lot of very well written lyrics, some excellent and piercing vocals from Aaron Lewis that you can't help singing along to. Break the Cycle can have you in a trance staring into space because it is very mellow. To me however, this is not a bad thing. Also you find yourself singing in harmony to Aaron because of his low voice.

With Limp Bizkit as their A&R men, Staind could never go wrong with becoming popular. Its always the same, whenever a kind of music becomes popular, it seems to go down in the ratings of the true fans. This doesn't happen to me, I feel like I'm missing something.

My only complaint would be the fact that there is not one track on this album that is in any way happy or uplifting. I get the impression that Aaron Lewis is some sort of manic depressant!

Nevertheless, its a great rock album (depressions aside) and is a must for any1 who likes anything they have heard before from Staind. Many would disagree with me, but I think this is a fantastic album. I can hardly fault it.