Review Summary: Your mom's favorite band has completely shed the skin of its former self.
When Chris Daughtry burst onto the scene during the fifth season of
American Idol, I think it was immediately apparent that he was an exceptionally gifted vocalist, even for the post-grunge flavor of rock he played to. His range, power and personality could amplify just about any composition in front of him. But when his flagship band dropped their eponymous debut in 2006, the fanfare of commercial success was juxtaposed against a much more cynical pool of critics, who felt Daughtry too often played it safe, pandering to a softer, adult-contemporary format. That apprehension only mounted when 2013's
Baptized somewhat jarringly oscillated towards neutered synthpop stylings. When Daughtry promised more guitars and the follow-up
Cage to Rattle didn't have them, it seemed like they were waving the white flag; they would join the ranks of all those who once filled up VH1 Saturday mornings with forgettable pop rock dross (think Lifehouse, OneRepublic, The Fray and Maroon 5).
But then a few things happened. Daughtry left RCA, released the independent return to form
Dearly Beloved, and the band's namesake frontman lost his mother and daughter in the span of a week, the latter to suicide.
Shock to the System (Part One) suggests, by its very title, that more new music is looming on the horizon from Chris and company. But this initial batch of songs leave no room for ambiguity about what story they're trying to tell. Chris Daughtry no doubt took these losses hard, and the music offered up is his means to process his varying emotions.
Shock (Part One) is bar none, the heaviest and darkest material this band has
ever recorded. They were probably your mom's favorite band to the point of that becoming a meme, but Daughtry have now (Chris especially) completely shed the skin of their former selves.
This new EP picks up where
Dearly Beloved left off, further exploring and fleshing out its predecessor's scant traces of political commentary, particularly relative to Chris' much more jaded outlook. On the project's lead single "Artificial", which features a f*cking
breakdown on the bridge, Daughtry comments on the rise of AI with a brooding level of dread and alarm. "Welcome to your worst nightmare," he cautions. Maybe a bit gimmicky, but no doubt a solid benchmark to start from. As we scan these six songs, Chris toys with a bevy of sensations that define this somber chapter of his life. Having gone through a rough patch myself (lost my grandma and my job this year), I honestly find myself in a lot of the lyrics. On "Pieces", one of the more 'hopeful' tracks, Chris succinctly bemoans how he's trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel ("Learning to live with this hole in my soul/Trying to cope while I do the best that I can"). On "Nervous", which strips back the instruments and casts the spotlight squarely on Chris' voice and haunting beats, he laments that there's seemingly no turning the page ("After all this time, I should feel better now/I'm just being honest, cause everything is f*cked/I'll never be the same").
"The Reckoning" is probably the only track here that really attempts to transcend the sadness rather than anguish in it. Chris emphatically declares "death to the misery" on the punishing choruses, which are built primarily on new drummer Jeremy Schaffer's purposeful fills. Closing cut "The Dam" discards this glimmer of sunlight, but compensates by serving up what might have a case for being the song of Daughtry's career. This one boasts of an untrammeled ferocity not seen
anywhere in Daughtry's prior catalog. Gliding in on skittering and ominous beats, Chris seems to pre-eulogize himself, at least, the
old him. As if the other five songs didn't already establish that he was a changed person, this
towering jaunt reinforces it with the force of a battering ram. "I feel the doom impending, the ground underneath me shaking. I can see my world upending," he bitterly admits. With that, the affair ends as it began; dark, gloomy, crestfallen.
Shock to the System (Part One) will no doubt service fans with plenty of accessible radio rock romps, but just past the surface lies an unbridled rage that, to this point, was waiting to be unleashed. The solemnity definitely drowns out the underlying hope embedded deep within, and perhaps an additional song that touched on less murky themes could have sufficed to balance it all out. But as someone who's enjoyed Chris Daughtry's music since day one, and who also really needed something to latch onto in this sadder juncture of my own life, I won't complain. This EP is Daughtry's most artistically significant, and perhaps best, release to date. I know I myself will take those glints of light that are present, and use them to navigate the uncertainty of my road ahead. It will be tough, but I think I can do it, regardless of whatever is coming. Fire away and let it rain.
