Review Summary: TFK with a little less flair than before. They still can't write lyrics, but wow can they EVER deliver a crappy line well.
Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK) is a band much more suited for very die-hard rock fans. If you are one of these listeners that requires intellectual stimulation from your music, their obnoxious pump-up lyrics could cause nausea. If you require something that is easy-listening, their bursts of guitar and screams could take away from that kind of experience. You even need to get over their slightly queer navy-style outfits. But if you don’t mind these things and are a fan of some kind of testosterone-filled sport (in my case, hockey), TFK fits into that lifestyle and music taste very well. “The Art of Breaking” was the third studio album from the band and followed up the sensational album “Phenomenon” which is easily this Peterborough-based band’s strongest effort to date. But “The Art of Breaking” has its own strengths to contend against it.
The first thing to notice is the consistency in how loud and heavy the album is, it is their heaviest even compared today. The lead single “Move” is ferocious compared to the rest of their catalog as Trevor McNeven growls out the chorus. The other main point to mention is how much better TFK has become in writing the intros to their songs. Never have they had so many songs on an album grasp the listener’s attention and build into solid verses. The main example for this would have to be the title-track as TFK glides into their first verse with a curious and subtle riff. In “Hurt”, they have an eerie undertone with McNeven’s lyrics giving off a breathless tone really reminding me of Pete Loeffler from
Chevelle.
Speaking just in terms of lyrics though, TFK has never been strong in terms of the actual content of the lyrics, they are better with the way they deliver them. Opener “Absolute” has many generic verses, an example being: “We can’t have it all, but we can break the fall. This time I’m letting go cuz I can’t take it anymore”. Every angst-filled rock band has something along the lines of these lyrics. TFK surprisingly can make these lyrics effective though. In “Hit the Floor”, McNeven uses his voice to build up from soft verses to a very catchy chorus with lots of energy. You almost forget the lyrics worthy of forehead-smacking: “I’m too strong to hurt you, too weak to crush” or “I’m too close to see you, too far to touch”. But Trevor McNeven literally owns his material. It almost feels like he improvises how he delivers the words in “Slow to Bleed” as his tone could be completely different between choruses and verses.
There are also many things wrong with TFK both in this album and in general. How many more one-word action verb titles do you think they can think of before they run out? Practically every album has them: Bounce, Move, Go, Scream (from their latest album). What about those songs titled with short commands: Lift It, Hit the Floor, Fire it Up? While “Go” is a fairly strong song with good build-up, I laughed at the lyrics in the chorus. Have you taken the time to read them?
“Go, when I feel, like I feel, the way I feel
Go, I’m into you, just help me find a way this time
Go, when I feel, like I feel, the way I feel
Go, let it grow, wind me up and let me go”
...And then “Go” repeated 4 times in the last chorus (it just sucks when you are trying to like an album from a band you enjoy and these are the lyrics they write).
“The Art of Breaking” also has its weaker songs. The overly-cocky “Hand Grenade” reminds me of
Cage the Elephant’s whiny lyrics done very poorly. “Make Me a Believer” is a repetitive mess and the album finishes off too softly with “Breathe You In”. I don’t mind acoustic songs but TFK does them poorly. It’s not even the Christian theme, that song is just boring. Some of the harder songs also lag a bit, something TFK has not had an issue with before. “Stranger” sometimes sounds like the band is just barely chugging along with their riffs.
All in all, my girlfriend is still not going to approve of these guys, and all my hard rock and metal for that matter. It’s much of the same guitar bursts and heavy riffs like you’ve seen before with a LOT less rapping than in previous albums. TFK fans and hard rock fans should enjoy this after a few listens to adjust, it’s definitely loud and crunchy enough. Hockey fans will always enjoy this music at games, not noticing who it’s by most of the time. It’s a strong effort by a band who, even to this day, has not topped “Phenomenon” but is still producing strong rock music.
Recommended Songs:
Absolute
The Art of Breaking
Hurt
Hit the Floor
