Review Summary: Despite all the odds, "We All Bleed" turns out to be a solid release.
Crossfade isn’t too popular a band, which is a bit of an unfortunate feat for this band because I thought that this band had a lot of potential, especially with their album “We All Bleed.” But surprisingly enough, many older fans of Crossfade have blatantly dismissed this album as a total abomination and people even considered this album to be the worst Crossfade album. Maybe it’s because I’m a newer fan of Crossfade, but I found this album to be really enjoyable.
Even if all the songs aren’t really all that it’s hyped up to be, there are some very well made songs such as “Killing Me Inside” with a well preformed solo by new lead guitarist Les Hall, “Prove You Wrong,” which adds a bit of electronics in the music, and “Dear Cocaine,” which is probably the best song vocally. Speaking of solos, it probably is worth mentioning that guitar solos are a constant in this album, with the exception of two songs. The overall sound in this album is a different approach for the band, moving from nu-metal, to soft rock, to a darker, harder rock, possibly a hint of post-grunge. The vocals are also a different approach for the singer, Ed Sloan. He’s beginning sounds less and less like something from Theory of a Deadman and starting to sound more of a Three Days Grace-esk sound. The lyrics, along with the music reflect on the darker side of the band, as if their singing about their deep troubles. The albums finale “Make Me a Believer” is the best song musically. The ten-minute song shows off more and more of Les Hall’s talent as a guitarist, including great solos, tempo changes and great vocals. The song “I Think You Should Know” approaches the albums emotional tone but at a lighter pace. It’s not particularly deep with it being somewhat predictable in terms of music, but it is a nice ballad with great vocals.
Negatives include the somewhat lack of creativeness and uniqueness that this band put out on this album. To me, this album sounds like a combination of Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and maybe a hint of (unfortunately) Nickelback. The album does have a darker tone, but like “I Think You Should Know,” the album kind of lacks depth with lyrics that have somewhat of the same message in over half of the songs in which they keep singing about pain and sadness and it does get dull afer a while. I would’ve also liked to hear more faster-paced songs because most of the songs are slow. They have different tempos, but they're slow.
I really enjoyed this album and I hope that many people who like radio rock these days will enjoy it too. I don’t really know why this album is really underrated to many fans. Just because they sound different, doesn’t mean that they’re a horrible band. It’s darker, heavier, and just overall a decent album.
Recommended Songs:
Prove You Wrong
Dear Cocaine
Suffocate
Make Me A Believer
