Review Summary: For a debut this is a great one. Has some of Breaking Benjamin's best work included. Something for those that like the mainstream Breaking Benjamin to check out.
Lately Breaking Benjamin have had tons of play on mainstream radio air waves with their hit “Diary of Jane”, but were a great band to begin with to many people’s surprise. The band consists of a four-man lineup from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. On vocals and rhythm guitar is Ben Burley, who played with the lead guitarist Aaron Fink since high school. Mark James Klepaski is the bassist, and Jermey Hummel plays drums. What’s significant about the lineup is that Fink and Klepaski left a successful alternative metal band called Lifter in 2000, and joined with Hummel and Burley. The four man crew shares many of the same characteristics as Lifter, but is alternative rock not metal. As far as their influences go they an intense post-grunge era band, that has drawn many influences from bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Live, Bush, and Stone Temple Pilots.
“Saturate” is Breaking Benjamin’s first full length effort, which came out in 2002 on Hollywood Records. “Saturate” consists of twelve powerful tracks, all of which I have taken a liking to. Although they are not alternative metal Breaking Benjamin is definitely a hard rock band that makes it easy to headbang to their songs. Burley’s vocals are dark and go well with the overall constant heaviness throughout “Saturate”. Hummel’s hard pounding drum beats don’t go unnoticed through the vocals and guitars, and stand out. Klepaski and Fink do what their expected to do and create many heavy, catchy riffs throughout “Saturate”.
Track By Track Description
To start everything off “Wish I May” does a great job. It starts off with distortion and after a half a minute explodes into blaring bass and guitar riffs, and is kicked off by a loud yell by Burley. Klepaski’s bass line is a force in “Wish I May” and headlines the assault on your headphones. Fink and Burley add a solo or two to the mix, but for the most part do the catchiness of the sound and leave the heaviness to Klepaski. Burley’s vocals shift from happy feelings in the verse and chorus, and then shift to angry grunts and wails everywhere else in the song. Finally the song ends almost the same way as it began, except in reverse, Burley lets out one more powerful yell and everyone else plays their hardest until distortion takes the song to its end. “Medicate” is the next track, which was a bit of a grower on me. At first the lack of heaviness in comparison to “Wish I May” steered me away from this track. Then I began to enjoy the catchier riffs, Burley’s overpowering vocals, and the great choruses which are the heavier parts of the song. Hummel’s drums stand out in “Medicate”, and keep a steady beat going. “Medicate” isn’t anything mind blowing, but it’s a great track none the less.
The third track is “Polyamorous”, which got Breaking Benjamin their first real air play. A local DJ from an alternative rock station started playing it and the DJ also financed the recording of Breaking Benjamin’s first EP in 2001. “Polyamorous” starts off like most rock songs, the classic hitting of the drum sticks and soft guitar intro. Then the bass comes in along with rhythm guitar and starts things off pretty heavy. After that the verse is somewhat softer, with steady bass and guitar riffs blending well with Burley’s dark vocals. Choruses are also the heavier parts of the song that include Burley’s vocals turning into a grunt at times, and a heavy combination of bass and guitar. The fifth song on “Saturate” is “Skin”. The intro is heavier for a change, led by catchy guitar and bass riffs. Klepaski’s bass play stands out more in “Skin” staying constantly choppy and upbeat throughout. Burley’s vocals stand out the most though, staying strong and loud from start to finish. Towards the middle of the song Burley lets out his signature grunt that signals a heavy part, which includes a small guitar solo and a heavy bass riff in the background. “Skin” is somewhat repetitive but is an enjoyable track.
“Natural Life” is the next song, and is definitely the best track yet. Beginning with distortion similar to “Wish I May”, “Natural Life” begins with a soft guitar intro that explodes into a very heavy sequence led by a powerful riff by Klepaski. Klepaski mimics the constant choppy bass play from the previous song “Skin” in the verses of the song. In “Natural Life” the verses are heavier than the choruses for a change, and are better than most before it. Just like “Skin”, “Natural Life” includes that one apex of the song towards the ending that makes the song that much better. Finally the song ends just as heavy as it began and includes some strange breathing noises by Burley. Taking a small break from the constant heaviness is “Next to nothing”. You can pretty quickly from the intro that the acoustic guitar means this track isn’t quite as heavy as the ones before it. Vocals and a catchy drum beat headline this song, but the catchy guitar riffs throughout the choruses also make the song better. There’s not much to say about “Next to nothing” it’s very repetitive and isn’t very great.
If there is any song that can get better than “Natural Life” it’s definitely the next track which is “Water”. The intro in itself is just enough to make anyone get up and headbang until they break their neck. Every aspect of Breaking Benjamin’s play is heavier from drums to vocals. “Water” consists of dark heavy verses and lighter more upbeat choruses, similar to “Natural Life”. Burley’s vocal range is stretched in “Water” going from very low to higher pitched screams and yells. “Water” is a nonstop thrill ride from beginning to end, and one of the heavier tracks on “Saturate”.
Breaking Benjamin has a habit of turning childhood stories and songs into influence for their songs, and “Home” is no exception. The beginning includes a clip from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” which has a character from the movie “The Wicked Witch of the West” talking. That clues you in that the lyrics of the song are mainly based on “The Wizard of Oz”. “Home” is the third standout track in a row, which isn’t as heavy as “Water” but makes up for it with catchier choruses and riffs. Burley’s vocals stay mainly similar throughout, only screaming once or twice, to clearly relay the lyrical aspect of the song. Hummel’s drumming stands out in “Home” providing a nice background, and stand out during the choruses. The ninth song on “Saturate” is “Phase” which has a very different intro compared to most of the songs on the album. “Phase” begins with an assortment of many different instruments including maracas, African drum sounding beats, and much more. About a minute and a half in the instrumental play all comes to a halt and in explodes into the intro of the song with a fast paced combination of bass and guitar. Burley adds more crescendos to his vocal style in “Phase”, making much of the words longer and makes the song different. Finally towards the end “Phase” also includes the one heavy part of the song that ends the song with a bang.
Taking a break Breaking Benjamin adds a much softer track on “Saturate”, which is “No Games”. An acoustic guitar opens up the song, then Fink and Klepaski add a heavy dose of riffs to shake off the softer feeling. The ends of the verses mimic the intro with the acoustic guitar and powerful entrance of the bass and guitar riffs. Burley’s vocals and Hummel’s hard pounding drum beats keep the listener interested until the ending where Klepaski throws down one of the heaviest bass riffs on the album and ends “No Games” 100 times heavier than it started. “Sugarcoat” is next, which starts off the opposite of “No Games”. The intro is heavy guitar and bass play by Fink and Klepaski, then goes into a chorus with acoustic guitar. Verses in “Sugarcoat” stand out more than the choruses, led by loud screams by Burley. For the most part “Sugarcoat” stays with the chorus and verses shifting back and forth and not changing much. It’s somewhat repetitive, but not a bad track, just an okay one.
If “Wish I May” did a good job opening up the album the last track “Shallow Bay” is an amazing way to close out the album. The intro includes heavy and choppy bass play from Klepsaki, and then is joined by Fink to begin the verse. “Shallow Bay” is similar to “Water” in the sense that it is more based on heaviness instead of catchy choruses. The acoustic guitar is also added in the choruses, something that doesn’t happen much on “Saturate” except for “No Games”. “Shallow Bay” lacks the heaviness of some heavyweights on “Saturate” but has the vocals and great standout drumming by Hummel to back it up.
So that’s “Saturate”, all in all a great album with mostly every track being a great listen. Nothing completely amazing but a few really great standout tracks that are among Breaking Benjamin’s best. It has a lot more pros than cons to it, and definitely something to check out before you only listen to Breaking Benjamin for “Diary of Jane”.
Pros
- Heavy throughout
- Great vocally
- A lot of good drum work
- The bass and guitar work are consistently good
- A lot more good tracks than bad
- Never gets too boring
- Great for a debut album
Cons
- Can get repetitive
- Tough to listen to all the way through but do-able
- Somewhat bland tracks
