The coolest thing about Rise Against as far as I’m concerned is that they are a punkrock band that doesn’t shy away from speaking their mind while wrapping their messages in hook-filled songs that go down as smoothly and easily as Jenna Jameson in one of her movies. With albums like “Appeal To Reason” they pulled out all the stops, losing a bit of the aggression of their early days along the way but without trading in their ideals. It earned them the #3 position in the Billboard 200, which is not a bad place to be. Especially if you can get there without selling out.
These dudes began working on album number late last year after having just finished touring in support of “Appeal To Reason”. We’re barely seven months later and “Endgame” is about to be released. The least you can say about them is that they know how to keep busy.
If you were expecting Rise Against to go back to the sounds of “The Unraveling” or “Revolutions Per Minute”, you’ll be in for a disappointment. “Appeal To Reason” was no fluke. It’s simply the new direction the band is heading. Their punkrock roots are still over the album in songs like "Disparity By Design", "Broken Mirrors" and "A Gentleman's Coup"… no worries there. The arena-size choruses and slick melodies are equally omnipresent however. Take a song like “Make It Stop (September’s Children)” and you’ll hear the new Rise Against with a children choir coming up in the intro. It’s the kind of song that will not only do great on the airwaves, it will also severely kick the ass of the majority of music that ends up on the radio.
Listening to “Endgame”, I have no problem whatsoever with Rise Against growing up.
Score: 8.5 out of 10
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