Billy Talent have always been an uncompromising mob. From their early days named after sweets (not going to pretend i've heard anything from then) to now, it's been the same all the way through. Two guitars, throbbing bass and lots of cymbals. Oh and shouting, moaning about teenage problems from guys with bad facial hair that can make you cringe but somewhere seem to stick in your brain.
Getting over the ever-imaginitive title (guess what their first two albums were called), BTIII takes a new direction with a new producer in Brendan O'Brian (so far has done 3 good Pearl Jam albums, we'll see what happens to that when Backspacer comes out) and the changes from BT, BTII and BTIII are subtle but there. Rather than sounding like you're getting bawled to in the face, you now sound like you're getting bawled at down a telephone. Whilst they're playing at the bottom of a well. There's no background noise, but there's not much else either. All of the energy which made up for the annoying parts of the first two albums seems to have vanished.
But surely it's made up for my an increased maturity factor in their song-writing, no?
No
BTII had the lovely Navy Song, which was a story about boy dying at war with a bereaved girlfriend, blah blah blah but it went on that album. Turn Your Back, (Anti-Flag-less) which was the first song heard from the new album is on here and..... it doesn't stand up. It sounds like they watched the National Geographic channel for a day then decided they were the collective minds of Bono and Bob Geldof, which is never a good thing.... seeing as they're both shitstains on society but we'll not go into that now.
BTIII does have high points though. Diamond on a Landmine does the teen-angst part just perfectly, moaning about burds and the like. And it does it angrily enough (somehow, given O'Brien's horrid production) to make you believe it. White Sparrows is a lovely heartfelt story about some other poor burd dying, and it really gets you feeling the same way they do. Pitying. That a band with such energy and noise and emotion can be condensed down into a tinny 3 minute pop song rattle.
Oh and Rusted by the Rain is shite. Sounds like the bastard off spring of a Girls Aloud b-side and anything Slipknot's ever done.
(my first review, originally posted on the 23rd of August)
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