Album already leaked last week.

Is it any good?

song is ehhh

never got the hype for this band

"Is it any good?"
On par with AB III imo.

Really? Are the released songs an indication of the album's overall sound?

That was okay, these guys really need to progress though, this song structure and predictability is getting extremely old.

First listen through: not as good as Fortress, but about on par with III.

ugh didn't like III

This might be the worst song AB has ever written. The lyrics are so cheesy! Why did they have to take the super mainstream radio Rock path?

"Why did they have to take the super mainstream radio Rock path?"

They remembered how much they used to make in Creed.

brutal

check eminem kill

I mean they are so talented I don't know why, as musicians, they would continue to produce the same shtick over and over again. Even when Tremonti made his solo stuff he stuck to the exact same formula. Probably the money unfortunately.

Why can't they go back to Blackbird's sound tho?

Fun stuff, but too safe again... Clear backtrack from Fortress.

No way near AB III. Much heavier with focus on riffs rather than melodies

feels like a Fortress b-side

This whole album feels like its going to be Fortresses b-side.

Sounds like they're going through the motions. Bummer. They've written some really good material.

Lol guys the singles are absolutely no indication at all of the album as a whole. These are the three most radio accessible songs...outside of these three, the majority of the album is pretty aggressive. Besides, what's wrong with a good ole classic rockish hook-heavy fun tune. If this was written by a band like Guns N Roses, people wouldn't whine nearly as much lol

I wasn't saying it sounds LIKE III, I'm saying quality wise it's on par with III, which I have no issues with.

Yeah it's not quite as consistent as Fortress but has a few good standout tracks like most AB albums

Overall sound of this album is basically AB + Slash + Tremonti. At it's core it's clearly an Alter Bridge record, but the Slash and Tremonti influences are clearly noticeable. Slash mostly in the vocal melodies and Tremonti in the heavyness.

Quality is quite hard to place as it's very inconsistent. On one hand it's got some of the best tracks they've ever recorded like The Last Hero, This Side of Fate and Cradle to the Grave; but on the other hand there are some really generic radio rock tunes. The worst tracks are those with the most Slash influences. Slash and AB is a really bad combination IMO.

The biggest takeaway for me from this album is that Tremonti should stop lying to himself and start writing prog songs. Song lengths like on Karnivool's Sound Awake should be the standard. 5-6 minutes with a few 7-8 minute tracks and one or two 10+ minute epics. It's no coincidence the longest songs are the best anymore.

Wow sorry for the long ramble guys. Just a bit frustrated.