Break the Cycle [PA] by Staind

Although, I'm not a huge fan of Staind, I do enjoy their music. Sure, it isn't the best out there and it does put you in a very depressing mood after listening to them, but overall it's good stuff. One day, I went crazy and bought a few of the band's albums. I had reviewed Staind's Dysfunction and I'll admit, it wasn't that great, but Break The Cycle is a CD that did break that cycle. The band still might have kept their infamous depressing tone, but this depression is worth listening to.


Track Listing:(Best in bold)
Open Your Eyes
Pressure
Fade
It's Been A While
Change
Can't Believe
Epiphany
Suffer
Safe Place
For You
Outside
Waste
Take It

The top selling song on this record is It's Been A While. As soon as those soothing guitars begin, you are grabbed by the song and you won't be able to back out. It's a song of sorrowful acoustic guitars and a mild bass to give the song a tiny kick. Aaron is definitely at his best here with his voice; pure emotion as he says It's been a while since I said sorry.. Another song like this is Epiphany. The rhythmic pattern in the guitars and bass is touching and Aaron's echoes are haunting. Cause it's always raining in my head, so I speak to you in riddles. Outside follows the pattern of ballad greatness. I think this the song that I listen most on the album; the chorus drags with Aaron's groggy vocals, but it's extremely catchy and it's It's Been A While tone works as well. But I'm looking on the outside, I'm looking in, I can see through you.

Now, while Break The Cycle does have great depressing ballads, what about the depressing rock Staind gives? However, I think this is the weakest link of Staind; they are great on the ballads and although there are a few good rock songs here and there, the ballads keep us coming back for more. Can't Believe stains my mind more than any of them. The aggressive guitar licks and Aaron's snarls on the verses while echoing on the chorus is bliss; however, it gets repetitive quite quickly. Open Your Eyes is a decent song; the mood is quite jumbled up with the guitars and clunky bass. And Pressure is slightly better, but the chorus is just junk. Fade is better than both of them; the slightly It's Been A While routine and Aaron's emotional voice on the chorus. These four songs are average compared to the ones above.

When Staind does pull off a really good rock song, Suffer is one of the few. The guitar licks may not have much creative thought in them, but Aaron's ghastly yells and whispers take the song to another level. You're all programmed to feel this way to live another day within a world that loves to suffer. A song to Aaron's mother and father, For You is oh so eerie. The guitars and bass have a great rhythm and Aaron's voice is just amazing, you just have to listen to it to understand why. This silence gets us no where! Gets us no where too fast! The silence is what kills me.

As much I appreciate Safe Place and Waste's energy, they are just not great songs. The energy flows with the crunchy guitars and loud bass, but Aaron's voice is absolutely without direction. Waste however, is a tad more enjoyable than Safe Place. At least, the chorus is aggressive enough to enjoy. Take It, being the last song on the record has a decent album closer. The guitars are crunchy and clunky. Aaron's voice, although his direction is decent enough, I think the song could have been better instead the chorus only being the highlight.

Staind may not be the best post-grudge band ever or even the worst, they will always have an impact on their fans. Break The Cycle, being their best material to date, is an amazing experience to listen to, but with Staind's reputation of depressing music AND this album's "bummers" of songs, it only feels average. However, that is saying a whole lot because this is the best Staind album! If you don't count the greatest hits CD of course.