STAIND – Chapter V

Staind, with their frontman Aaron Lewis, has done it again. In the late summer of 2005, the band released their fifth record called Chapter V, which is yet another great album. Even though this isn’t as hard as their previous work, it still rocks.

Aaron Lewis is a solid songwriter, but his lyrics are often very angry and depressing, like on the album Dysfunction. On this CD, he is a bit softer, and he doesn’t swear as much as he used to. The fact remains this is a man who can make excellent music, and he sings very well too.

This album goes the extra distance to prove what good music is all about. Staind is not all about angst and aggression. The band presents a grown up Lewis on this release, and this time around the listeners get something different. Their music is comprised more of mid-tempo songs than in the past, and it is also has some great guitar solos, which is not common for this band compared to previous albums. The best guitar song on the CD has to be “Everything Change,” where Mike Mushok plays some amazing guitar solos — it rocks.

It’s like Lewis has put his aggression and hate aside, and tries to dig deeper. It feels like he is trying to tackle issues he feels are important throughout the album. He isn’t so focused on the anger, but the lyrics are still not happy ones.

“Right Here”, the 1st radio single from the album, is an ultimate love song, which is far from being the best track on this CD. It is almost boring, and is a bit similar to a Richard Marx ballad, but their 2nd radio single, “Falling,” is an excellent song, with more attitude in the vocals, and some great guitar riffs and catchy chorus. For listeners who like up–tempo songs, there are two alternatives: “Paper Jesus,” one of the harder songs on the album, and “King OF All Excuses,” with screaming vocals.

Staind is a great band. They have shown their expertise and wide variety of musical talent on both this album and their previous. The band transverses every kind of Rock they have done before, and this new release is an even more musical experience than any past album.

Chapter V is a refreshing 12-track release with plenty of variety in their songs. Before this release, the band has sold more than 10 million albums, and now they will increase that number big time!