Album Reviews

Listening to Papa Roach’s new album “F.E.A.R.” (short for Fear Everything And Rise) is like going back in time to the early 2000’s. While these guys have always stayed on pretty much the same course, they did manage to keep things interesting with the smallest of changes here and there. Dropping the rapping for example was one of the best decisions they ever made. And for one reason or another, I’ve always somewhat liked Papa Roach. Their latest album however feels like one big throwback. And not only to their own material, the synth breakdowns sound as if they were lifted straight from a Linkin Park album. Hell, Shaddix even went back to the rapping.

Throw in some ‘the whole world is against me’ type lyrics and you are looking at an album that just isn’t good at all. I mean, hearing a guy in his late thirties going on about how he’s falling apart (“Falling Apart”) or about how ‘all that’s left is the emptiness inside of me’ (“Broken As Me”) is just kinda sad really.

Just like the band’s live show, there is zero room for spontaneity or originality here. Instead they seem content to churn out new songs in much the same way as someone working at an assembly line in a factory. These songs however are only good for the scrap yard.