Staind
Dysfunction (1999)
Genre: Nu Metal, Alternative
Metal
Staind is one of the few band that came out of the Nu Metal era of music
during the early 2000's that really leaned more on hard rock, grunge and post
grunge, than on hip hop, rap metal or funk metal. Now this first official album
with a label, Torment that came out in 1996 is more like a demo album. Now
Dysfunction is the rawest and most
unfiltered production in their catalogue, and is recommendable to people like
thick sounding heavy music.
Vocals and Lyric: Aaron Lewis is dude that needs therapy, this guy is
pretty depressed and angry about a lot of stuff and on this album it works,
plus vocally he's pretty impressive he can sing really well with a nice range,
and he's no slouch in the screaming department either. 10
Instrumentation:
Guitar: Mike Mushok riffs hit you like a ton of bricks
and the way he uses certain chords to
give texture make things interesting for the listener
Bass: Johnny April is and always will be lazy Bass player
he doesn't do much, but the son of bitch lands a fantastic bass line on Mud Shovel,
that's so stupid that it's awesome.
Drums: Jon Wysocki is a impressive drummer.6.6
Melody and/or
Structure: Staind is one of the more melodic of the Nu Metal band. 12
Sound, Production and Feeling: The band
sound really good the guitar distortion sounds sick and the heavier songs sound super aggressive. 10
Songs: The album divides in two types of
songs super heavy ones that are Nu Metalish and super depressed power
ballade 11
The Bad: I love the song "Bring the
Noise" with Fred Durst but it just
doesn't fit in on this album, it should have been put on a Limp Bizkit album,
or compilation album.
Originality: These guys get a lot
of heat for leaning a bit much on their influences like Alice in Chains, but they have good songs and Mike Mushok
playing has tons of feeling and that set
these guys apart. 8
Overall: 57.6
Break the Cycle (2001)
Genre: Nu Metal, Post Grunge, Alternative Metal
This is Staind's second album and it's more of a commercial
affair, drawing more on lighter Nu Metal and Post Grunge, but the material in general
is really good.
Vocals and Lyric: Ok we get that Aaron is still has to ventilate some
issues, the guy seem to be sad all of the time, but he pens a super hit
"It's Been Awhile" that is super radio friendly that will make it big
with the ladies. 10
Instrumentation: The same formula from the previous album, everything
rides on Mike's guitar chugging out riffs 6.6
Melody and/or
Structure: The band keeps on growing in their song writing skills and excellent
use of melody.12
Sound, Production and Feeling: The band
sound les muscular and heavy, that sort of ticks me off when a band waters down
their sound to reach larger audiences. 9
Songs: Album divides itself in depressed Nu Metal
rockers and depressed power ballads, in
general this album is good from front to back. 13
The Bad: The "Epiphany" track is just
terrible. -1
Originality: This album broke
Staind into the mainstream, and you can hear certain growth in their song
writing, this is the best introductory album to get into this band 10
Overall: 59.6
14 Shades of Grey (2003)
Genre: Alternative Metal/Rock, Post-Grunge, Hard Rock
The band moves away from Nu Metal maybe courting
a wider hard rock and commercial post
grunge audience, and one can immediately
notice that the tone of the song are not as depressed, Aaron travel new lyrical
terrain, the dude sounds almost happy at moments, jajajaja. Most of the songs
are pretty good but and "So far Away" is a simple but brilliant rock anthem. Now there are a
couple redundant tracks on this album and are overly dependent the choruses,
other than that this radio friendly production is enjoyable, just do not make
another album like this.
Overall: 52.5
Chapter V (2005)
Genre: Alternative Metal, Alternative Rock, Post
Grunge, Hard Rock
Staind remembered they are principally a metal band
and come out swing on this album, reinvigorated, there is actually a double
kick drum on one of the tracks,
"Paper Jesus". Mike doing more interesting stuff, and the band
in general is more at forefront it not
as Aaron centric as 14 Shades. This album is balanced, there is the same amount
of heavy songs as radio friendly stuff.
Overall: 50.5
The Illusion of Progress (2008)
Genre: Alternative Rock/Metal, Post Grunge
Staind has been getting away recycling ideas for awhile but this album is
just a regurgitation of past stuff and
it'spretty watered down, there is some good stuff on this production but it's
mostly redundant.
Overall: 46.2
Staind (2011)
Genre: Alternative Metal, Nu Metal, Post Grunge, Heavy Metal
It's a back to basics album really bringing leaning on their heavy and aggressive
origins, it good to hear that they sound hungry again and the good thing is Mike shreds on a couple
of tracks, the only bad thing on this album is the Rap Metal track Wanna Be is just terrible.
Overall: 55
Live from the Mohegan Sun (2012)
Genre: Nu Metal, Alternative Metal, Post Grunge
It's a good live album the band sounds great, Mike get
his moments to shine ripping a couple solos, and even though Aaron's singing is fantastic
you can tell that on some songs he's having issues sustaining his voice like
he's running out of air. The band has a great track selection for a live set, too
bad they don't try anything new of have a special guest or something to add a
extra plus to the album.
Overall: 59
Aaron Lewis
The Road (2012)
Genre: Country
Holy crap Aaron made a full on country album, I don't know much about
the genre but the album is Ok, Aaron's voice lends its self pretty well for the
songs. For some reason I thought it was only him on a acoustic guitar, but he
has a complete full on band. The thing is I don't care much for this type of
music so it never ends up on my play list.
Overall: 47
Jason Newsted
Heavy Metal Music (2013)
Genre: Heavy Metal
I put this album in this post because Mike Mushok actually plays the
guitar on Jason Newsted's (Ex Metalica) project. I really tripped out when I learned
that these two guys where working together, but the result is painfully
mediocre, super generic and doesn't have much personality, too bad.
Overall: 45
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