After the huge success of their third album ?Break The Cycle?, Staind got popular worldwide and the expectations on the next record increased rapidly. So they surely asked theirself, how the next step should look like. Fans and magazines surely asked instead how to top ?Break The Cycle?.
The title of their next step was called ?14 Shades Of Grey?. They didn?t try to make a ?Break The Cycle Part 2? what is good but the bad thing about this is, that ?14 Shades Of Grey? can?t convince. They lost a lot of their energy and depressive touch, what was an important Staind trademark. The overall sound is very balanced, what is kind of bad because you can?t get into a special mood because the mood of the songs changes constantly. What I want to say is, that you really fast lose lust hearing the whole thing. On the other hand it offers different sounds, so they definitely advanced.
This record will appeal more to people, which like the melodic side of Staind because of the mentioned energy loss. Almost every song follows the same formula, namely a soft, mostly acoustic, played verse which leads into a slow heavy chorus and so on. Although almost every song is ballad-like you mustn?t expect songs from the quality of ?Outside? or ?It?s Been Awhile?.
But ?14 Shades? contains some standout songs. One of them is the opener, alternatively the first single ?Price To Play? which is the heaviest song on the whole record with palm muted guitars in the verse but a typical ?14 Shades ?? refrain. Of all the balladlike songs, ?So Far Away? is the most successed. The song has a positive vibe with lyrics about hope and a new found self-confidence what is in my opinion strange to hear from Aaron Lewis. The third title I want to mention is ?Falling Down? which is the height of the album. It?s a very honest and emotional song. The lyrics are also very creative and appealing.
Overall it?s an okay record which you can listen to from time to time. Nothing more, nothing less.
This Message Edited On 02.15.07
