Review Summary: For the most part, Shallow Bay is filled with good tracks-and yet, unless you're a die-hard fan of Breaking Benjamin, this album is essentially pointless.
So, here it is. The album that literally tore this band in half. For those unfamiliar with the story, the shortened version is quite simply that Aaron Fink (Lead guitarist) and Mark James (Bassist) released a remix of popular Breaking Benjamin track Blow Me Away, and the album we are discussing here, without Benjamin Burnley-vocalist, rhythm guitarist and front man-ever knowing a thing. This ended in Mark and Aaron being fired from the group, leaving only Benjamin and Chad Szeliga (Drummer) to hire new band members and continue onwards. So what is this album that caused such an uproar? Something totally outrageous? Something experimental nobody expected Breaking Benjamin to do and Burnley disapproved of?
Um, actually no, it’s just a Best of Collection.
Shallow Bay-The Best of Breaking Benjamin is available in two editions. The first is a single disc containing every Breaking Benjamin single ever released in chronological order. Basically, you are paying £15-£20 for a playlist/CD you could create yourself for free, assuming you own all their CDs. The Deluxe Edition, however, contains a second disc comprised of previously unreleased tracks, rarities, acoustic versions, live performances and covers. Ultimately this edition is far more worth your money, and, frankly, your time.
There isn’t a lot that can be said about the first CD. Breaking Benjamin generally picks their singles well-the album is comprised of mostly their finest work, and although a few non-single gems have been missed out for obvious reasons, you really are for the most part getting the “Best of” Breaking Benjamin-not just the Radio-friendly side. Highlights include Diary of Jane, So Cold, Polyamorous, I Will Not Bow, and Rain. Come the 13th and final track, however, you will find this album fall flat on its face. The remixed version of Blow Me Away is an utter disaster. The drums being brought forward was a nice touch, and collaborative tracks from two artists can often be interesting, but Valora, along with all the stupid electronic effects, complete destroy what was an otherwise great song. It’s no wonder Ben was annoyed. All in all, Disc 1 is what you’d expect from Breaking Benjamin-an entertaining listen, with some catchy tunes and a fair dose of talent, but no real innovation.
Disc 2-the Rarities-is where things start to get really interesting. The CD kicks off with a polished-up version of Ordinary Man-a track only available on the Japanese Import version of We Are Not Alone. It’s a nice way to start the disc, and this is actually one of my favourite Breaking Benjamin songs. It’s nothing special, but it’s got a nice riff, a catchy chorus and will stick around in your head for a while. It’s one of two songs on this CD from the Japanese Export We Are Not Alone, the other being track 8, Ladybug. This is a strange song, at least coming from Breaking Benjamin it is. It has a very distinct punk flair and, although I have to give them credit for experimenting, trying something new and delving into other genres (How often do radio rock bands do that, eh?), it really doesn’t suit the band. It’s still not a bad song. There are also two brand new unreleased songs on this disc-Better Days and Lie to Me. Better Days is an optimistic, mid-tempo song that flutters between acoustic and electric guitars. It’s a decent song, pretty popish and ultimately very skippable (although catchy). Lie To Me is a slower, acoustic song, although again very catchy, and certainly a step up from Better Days. The rest of the disc is basically two covers (Who Wants To Live Forever-a good cover that shows off Benjamin’s vocal prowess-and Enjoy The Silence-a pretty good track although the start is butchered by stupid electronic effects) and a bunch of acoustic tracks. All of which are good, nothing you wouldn’t expect from acoustic versions of previously released songs. There’s also an EP version of Water, a track from Saturate, which is completely pointless and hardly sounds any different from the original.
Personally, I’ve never really seen the point in Best Of Collections. I understand Aaron and Mark’s thinking here though-after all, the band has been on hiatus for a while and it could be even longer before Benjamin has fully recovered, so they were merely trying to keep people’s interest by putting this out along with some unreleased rarities and covers to keep heads turned their way while they waited until they could return to top form. If you’re a big fan of the band you may as well get the Deluxe Edition for the rarities, but in all honesty for anyone else this release is entirely pointless and there are better recent albums you could be focusing your attention on too. None of the songs here are bad, with the exception of the Blow Me Away Remix, but then again, there’s nothing new or particularly interesting. Unless you really are a die-hard fan, I wouldn’t throw away any money on this collection.
