Papa Roach absolutely ROCKS on this album!

Papa Roach formed in 1993 and hail from Northern California. They went triple-platinum in 2000 with Infest on the strength of alternative rap/metal hits “Last Resort”, “Between Angels and Insects”, “Blood Brothers” and “Broken Home.” Then lovehatetragedy happened in 2002 and that travesty almost made me completely forget Papa Roach even existed, that is until they released Getting Away With Murder in 2004. For obvious reasons I was reluctant to buy the album but was very pleased with what I heard when I got the opportunity to listen to it over the holiday season.

I think we can safely say that Papa Roach has all but forgotten their rapcore/metal roots and have concentrated all their energy on writing some short hard rocking tunes. There’s nothing on Getting Away With Murder that is longer than 3m30s. I can’t express this enough, don’t go into this album expecting Infest II, because this is a very different band nowadays. In my opinion, these guys should never had toured with “rappers” as this has apparently stigmatized the band in the eyes of the metal world and hard rocking community.

In any event, the music on Getting Away With Murder is similar in a way to the music we find on recent releases by Saliva, Silvertide, Tesla and Monster Magnet.

Album Highlights:

“Blood” is an OK opening track. There’s something to be said about opening an album with the following line: "I will forgive but I won't forget and I hope you know you've lost my respect." There's some irony in that lyric that also rings true for fans of the band, even though I think Jacoby Shaddix meant to send fans who abandoned the band a message of his own. Anyway, the soft opening and slow intro was so totally different for the band that it immediately caught my attention and then when the band quickly blended everything with something totally familiar...I swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker!

“Not Listening” has perhaps more familiarity with Infest than any other track on this album. The one two punch of “Blood” and “Not Listening” truly bridges the old Papa Roach sound and music circa 2000 with the new Papa Roach of today. Same guys, they just have a different musical vision now.

“I'm not listening, not anymore
The more I learn, the more I ignore
I'm not listening, not anymore
The more I hear, the more I ignore
No I'm not listening, not anymore, No”

“Take Me” sounds like it could have been a hit single, don’t know if it was or not, but it’s very catchy and radio friendly material. Jacoby Shaddix is a seasoned vocalist with some solid chops, capable of whispering, yelling, screaming and just plain old singing like the best rock singers in the business right now. Even sounds like he’s doing a duet (with himself) in the chorus here...

“Does anyone around me feel the same
Just put your fist up and vent your pain”

“Be Free” has got Saliva written all over it. Jocaby Shaddix simply does an excellent Josey Scott impersonation. Actually, I think he does a better job than Scott could have done himself. “Be Free” is a hard rocking track, very fun to listen too even though the theme is one of ending a relationship.

“I wanna be free from this ball and chain and
Be free from this life of pain and
Be free from this ball and chain
I wanna be free from you”

“Done With You” continues with the same theme that appears throughout the album. This track “chugs” along quite nicely. I was reminded of Linkin’ Park during the dual vocal parts. Very energetic track. The guys must have been going through some serious relationship problems when they wrote the album because a lot of these songs are like break up news letters.

“So help me, save me, tell me that you end this here
Help me, save me, tell me that you end this here
I am done with you”

“Scars” was a single and is perhaps the most recognizable track on the album. It’s a slower paced track with some heartfelt lyrics but this is not the best track on the album as far as I’m concerned. In fact, I really don’t like the abrupt ending to the song, very disappointing...

“I can't help you fix yourself
But at least I can say I tried
I'm sorry but I gotta move on with my own life

I tear my heart open, I sow myself shut
and my weakness is that I care too much
and our scars remind us that the past is real
I tear my heart open just to feel”

“Blanket of Fear” is one of the heavier tracks on the album. The lyrics are a little better here and I like this track a lot. The guys really create a great vibe here and sound really comfortable rocking hard. Just a straight forward hard rocking performance...excellent tune!

“So hold on to your dreams,
Because your nightmares
might seem like they're your reality”

The album closes with “Do or Die”, another heavy track. Perhaps a few too many repetitious moments but overall a better than average track.

“Today I saw my hero fall apart,
The one who taught me to be strong,
On the outside I look fine,
But on the inside I am dying”

The remaining tracks: “Stop Looking”, “Getting Away With Murder”, “Sometimes” and “Tyranny of Normality” are all average rock tracks, yet some of you might actually enjoy them as they’re perhaps better than much of the rock we’re hearing on the radio these days. And I’m only talking about the “throw-away” tracks here. Add all of the highlights I’ve talked about and you’ve got yourself a very solid hard rocking album, much better than Saliva’s Survival of the Sickest that's for sure!

~Vanwarp~