Review Summary: Veering towards a more mainstream form of alternative rock, this album lacks the diversity of its slightly superior predecessor, but is still worth a listen to.
I must admit that I was surprisingly impressed with Saliva’s major label debut album ‘Every Six Seconds’. In amongst the bevy of bands which classified themselves as Nu-Metal in the early years of the new millennium, this group from Memphis stood near the top with that effort. This was due to the album’s diversity and ability to hook the listener in whether they were concentrating on melody, aggression or both. You could still sense that the band had not quite found their sound as yet though, so it was always going to be interesting to see how they would progress with their follow-up release.
Listeners must be warned that the opener here should not be taken as a guideline for the album as a whole. A sequel of sorts to the opening cut from the previous album, ‘Superstar II’ is not too unlike that earlier song apart from containing more swearing and including more of a tongue-in-cheek approach. While not being too bad of a track individually, the song concerns me as far as future direction goes due to so obviously attempting to make a splash one way or another. But like I said earlier, this opener is strangely the exact opposite compared to most of what is to come.
The following 4 songs can best be described as a more mainstream form of alternative rock. While most of them are solid, and Saliva proved they could pull off this kind of approach on their previous album, their placement together pretty much lays the foundations of the entire album and arguably represents a complete genre change.
In amongst them is the melodic ‘Weight of the World’, the catchy title track and the guitar-driven slower song ‘All Because of You’. However, the clear highlight of not only this quartet, but the entire album, is 1st single ‘Always’. It clearly stands above everything else here due to its killer melodic hook and excellent vocals by Josey Scott. The result is a catchy and memorable track that is extremely difficult not to sing-along to.
When Saliva finally break back out of the radio-rock style, 3rd single ‘Raise Up’ heads into rather generic and aggressive rap-rock territory, complete with corny lyrics. To then continue the jarring changes of direction caused by the track ordering, 2 ballads follow… The average ‘Separated Self’ and the much more effective 2nd single ‘Rest In Pieces’, the latter of which is clearly aiming for greater mainstream exposure via radio airplay.
Thankfully, the next 2 songs do restore some faith in the potential of Saliva. While track 9 ‘Storm’ may appear to be more of the same on the surface, I believe it to run a little deeper with its impressive melody and motivational lyrics. Following it is the infectious dose of Southern Rock that is ‘Holdin On’. Including a terrific chorus and some effective slide guitar work, the band turn what could be embarrassing into the second best track on this album. It is just a shame that the momentum cannot be continued as the semi-political patriotism of obnoxious rocker ‘Pride’ and the repetitively overlong experimental acoustic/piano ballad ‘Famous Monsters’ end the album on a rather low note.
This review was basically written as a track by track piece, which is not how I usually approach reviews. However, it was difficult not to in this case due to the questionable track ordering and the way in which it determined the overall direction concerning the LP. Whether intended or not, Saliva have headed more towards the mainstream rock that is played by the likes of Nickelback and Breaking Benjamin. That isn’t necessarily a totally bad thing, but it has limited the band and meant that this album lacks the diversity of its predecessor. As a result, even when there are moments of aggressive vocals or superior guitar-work, it almost seems at odds with the general feeling of the album. Don’t take me the wrong way though as this is still worth a listen to.
Recommended Tracks: Always, Holdin On & Storm.
