Having gotten their start in Stockholm, Sweden under the name "Underfree" during the first two years of their career, Marcus Dahlstrom (drums), Simon Grenehed (guitar), Christian Lindskog (vocals) and Tomas Naslund (bass) eventually changed their name to Blindside upon the release of their second demo in 1996. Being a regular in the Christian heavy metal scene of Sweden, Day-Glo Records eventually followed with the release of Blindside's self-titled first album in 1997. After a distribution deal with Tooth and Nail Records, the Empty Box EP came out the following year. The Thought Crushed My Mind followed in early 2000. Two years later, the band released Silence, their first for Elektra. Tours with Hoobastank and P.O.D. followed in September and October. (Taken from mtv.com profile on Blindside)
Blindside is:
Marcus Dahlstrom - Drums
Simon Grenehed - Guitar
Christian Lindskog - Vocals
Tomas Naslund - Bass
Introduction:
After being a huge fan of Blindside's previous album "Silence" I figured that their album would bring a new set of similar songs. Because while that album was very good, a lot of the songs sounded the same, at least the music did, not the vocals. But thats another story. Anyways,
About A Burning Fire really surprised me. I had never seen a band make such a huge experimental step before. Initially I was dissapointed with a lot of what I heard. But after a few more listens this album really grew on me.
1. Eye of the Storm
Really good opening to the album with Christian singing the opening lines "I think ive stayed for the last time, goodbye!" During the verses there is a good alternation between softly talking, to screaming, then singing. I think the quick silence of everything except Simon's guitar before the chorus sounds great. 8.5/10
2. Follow You Down
Really good verses where Christian is nearly whispering with thee drums in the background. The chorus is great. The first line of the chorus "But this time im not going to follow you down" is one of my favorite lines of the album. Then the bridge comes where the song gets heavier but soonafter slows down and builds up to the chorus. 8.5/10
3. All of Us
First and as far as I know only single from this album. A really slow track. Verses arent too great. The chorus is excellent. It really changes the mood and flow of the song. Christian really shows off his vocals abilities in the chorus, hitting high notes and holding them for a long time. I like how after the bridge the words of the chorus are changed to make the ending of the track, adding screaming and making th end of the track sound more explosive. 9/10
4. Shekina
By far the most experimental track ive heard from just about any band. The song is very slow all the way through, and the first halves of the verses are sung in Swedish. I guess the only thing i really dont like about this song is the girl singing during the intro and outro of the song. It does fit in well with the song, but does get annoying after a while. When I saw Blindside live, there was a backing track of the girl singing this part for the intro, and Christian sang the outro part. Besides this i like the song. 8/10
5. Hooray, It's L.A
Good track. It includes Billy Corgan on Guitar. Very energetic song. The drum beat after the verse building up to the chorus is pretty cool, dont really hear that very often. The only thing that can get kind of annoying is how Christian studders some of words of the chorus (on purpose obviously), so it gets quite repetative. 7.5/10
6. Swallow
My least favorite track of the album. No intro to the song, it just begins with the verse, which is kinda lame. This song has a fast simple riff that goes throughout alot of the song that i guess could get kidna boring. The lyrics of the chorus are dumbed down compared to all of Blindside's other songs "taste and swallow, swallow down." The bridge is pretty good compared to the rest of the song though. 5/10
7. Die Buying
This seems like somewhat of a filler track to me. Its got a cool opening guitar riff that leads into the versees. The chorus has some great lyrics. "Cant buy this freedom with another slogan another lie...buy or die." Like i said, kind of a filler, verses and bridge are nothing special. 8/10
8. Acrosss Waters Again
This is another filler track. Much like "Die Buying" this song has a good chorus but the rest of the song isn't quite up to par with the rest of Blindside's songs. Besides that some things i do like, are the bass during the verses. It fits really well with the lyrics. Also the heavy guitar riff during the bridge which also ends the track. 7.5/10
9. After You're Gone
One of my favorites off this album. The first time i listened to it I didn't really like it but it really grew on me. Slow opening to the song, which leads to the first chorus which is quiet as well, just lyrics with subtle bass and drums in the back. The song keeps building up until the second half of the second verse. This is where the song really starts to kick a**. The chorus has some fast guitar with Christian singing at the top of his lungs. After the bridge the chorus lyrics change, which is always cool. 9/10
10. Where the Sun Never Dies
Great riffage during the verses, and great lyrics. The chorus revolves around the title of the song, the backing vocals sound really good. "Shine away my shadow...where its bright when i shut my eyes." During the bridge, the heavy guitar riff sounds awesome. The outro of the song is interesting. It almost seems like something that you would end an album with, possibly leading into a bonus track. The song lingers on as Marcus lays down a good drumroll which leads into almost a dance music kind of beat, that goes on for about a minute. Hard to explain, never heard anything quite like it. 8.5/10
11. Roads
The lyrics in this track are some of the best off the album. "I follow every word like streetlights." The lyrics begin in kind of dark and hopeless mood and end up with optimism. the most obvious occurances of this is in the changes of the chorus from beginning to end. "I think its time to sober up and die...to sober up and live." Often in slow songs, all of the instruments are a bit quieter and the vocals take over. This is no exception. But while i like heavy guitar riffs, Simon writes a simple, yet great little riff for this slow track. Kind of a mezmerizing sound. The song includes piano throughout most of the song and a pretty cool saxophone solo during the bridge. 8/10
12. About a Burning Fire
Here's where you see Blindside's loud and crazy energy from the previous albums, but this time you see it perfected. Easily the heaviest song on the album. The song opens with a kickass chorus. "I thought about fire in the sky..." Then the bridge brings what one would not expect the song to do. It slows down, a lot. The bridge breaks down into just Christian singing with piano in the back. then the song builds back up, But it doesnt return to the chorus. It ends with the album title finally being sung "I thought about a burning fire." it ends with Christian screaming "I thought about your love, your love." Quite possibly the best ending to an album I have ever heard. 10/10
Summary:
After reading many reviews, I have come to believe that a lot of you think that when bands change their music it is almost always a good thing because it captivates listeners and shows a new side of what the band is capable of (System of a Down being a good example). I think
About A Burning Fire is really a compliment to how Blindside can write songs. While Christian is a very good singer and writer, he and the others show that they don't necessarily need lots of distortion and screaming to write good music. While I think "Silence" is slightly better than this, I think that this is a definite buy for anyone who liked that album.
