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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ten Years Later, And Still In Their Prime., March 6, 2007
If 2006 was a tough year for the five men of Sevendust, you wouldn't know it on the first listen to "Alpha," their toughest and most cohesive album since 2001,'s "Animosity." Despite how quickly the album came together, not one shred of quality or integrity has been sacrificed. Perhaps they work best under pressure. Afterall, it was about this time last year that their previous record label had crumbled, not even half a year after the release of "Next," leaving them without tour support. Add to that a string of bad luck for drummer and song-writer Morgan Rose which landed him briefly in jail and with a difficult divorce, and it's easy to see why Sevendust sound so much hungrier than they have in years.
Beginning with the instant assault of "Deathstar," Sevendust sound leaner and meaner than they did on their previous effort, 2005's "Next." With guitarist Sonny Mayo now fully integrated into the fold for the making of this album, the band sounds more complete than they did before. "Alpha" is 100% Sevendust. Everything good that they know how to do, all at once. Songs like "Suffer," "Under" and the first single, "Driven" are classic Sevendust, effortlessly fusing their grasp of melody with the driving intensity that is now their signature. Rest assured, though, none of the songs on "Alpha" are a bargain for radio-play. In fact, they seem to have given up any hopes of being a popular rock band, and it definitely works in their favor. "Beg To Differ" and "Story Of Your Life" show that they are still the best at making the simplest, yet most effective heavy songs on the hard rock scene. "Aggression" is probably the most experimental moment, a slow-building piano-driven song that sounds like Sevendust's best attempt at covering Nine Inch Nails. Such a song shows that Sevendust are more than just that tried-and-true road-warrior band, and are capable of doing things you probably didn't expect them to do before -- like a nine minute song by the name of "Burn."
Is there a negative aspect to this album? Well, no. It's right up there with "Home" and "Animosity" as their best work. True, if you never liked Sevendust before, you're not going to change your mind here, but if you've been with them throughout the years, you're going to find that they haven't missed a single step and still rock like they're in their prime, when many of their former peers have fallen to the wayside. "Alpha" is simply a shing 12-song example of Sevendust at their best, and lord, I can only imagine what these songs must sound like live.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sevendust At Their Finest, March 20, 2007
Before this album was released, I was reading a lot of reviews saying that its sound is a return to the style they had on their 1999 album, "Home." But that seemed slightly inaccurate to me because I thought that their last album, "Next", was more of a return to that sound. THIS album seems more balls-out heavy. I've also heard several Sevendust fans including my good friend say that this is possibly their best album yet.
While I must admit that this is an awesome album, I think "Animosity" will always be their masterpiece to me. However, I can say that its probably their best album since "Animosity." The second you press play on your stereo, the album bursts into the fast n' heavy tune "Deathstar." The album's first single is "Driven" and it reminds me a lot of "Ugly" from their last album. "Burn" clocks in somewhere around 9 minutes long, but to me this track seems like 2 songs put together as a medley rather than being just one long song. But it's definitely among the most powerful songs they've written. The album closes with the title-track "Alpha" and it's one of those very heavy "f-you" type songs. This album is a very good example of Sevendust at their loudest and heaviest. My only complaint is that the album didn't offer up much variety. Even though I prefer Sevendust to be heavy, I think 2 or 3 melodic songs are necessary to balance an album out, but this album is pretty much one cruncher after another. This album also doesn't offer up much of a change in the band's style, but I think that's ok because Sevendust sounds good as they are. This is definitely a great album by the band that you should consider picking up.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alpha is Sevendust's Best Album to Date and a Masterpiece, March 9, 2007
I have never posted a review for an album before, but had to review Alpha from Sevendust, as I am a longtime fan of theirs, and own all of their albums, and Alpha is a bona fide monster of an album. In my opinion, Alpha is Sevendust's best and most compelte album, and it is one of the best metal/rock albums that has ever been made.
All of the reviews that have given this gem of an album 5 stars, I think have hit the nail on the head. I don't think there is one bad song on this album, and there are at least 6 or 7 downright legendary songs on this CD. More on that in a second.
Strangely, and It doesn't seem like everyone shares these feelings, but I think that every album they have put out has been pretty much excellent in my opinion. I also think that Next although a bit uneven, with a little too much screaming in some places (I prefer Lajon's majestic vocals), was their best work, up until Alpha. It contained, I believe the best individual songs that they have ever written. Between Failure, too ugly, See and Believe, Pieces, and This life, as well as Silence and Hero, I thought Next was just bonecrunching and outstanding. Then again, Seasons and Animosity were outstanding as well, but Next was better in my opinion. Strangely I thought Home was the weakest of the albums even though Denial is one of the greatest songs ever written, and to this day remains that way. that being said, Home is a great album.
Alpha outdoes Next, and everything else they have done every way. Burn may just well be one of the greatest songs ever put on a CD. ANd Under, confessions of hatred, Aggression, Driven, Feed, Suffer, Beg to Differ and ALpha are all masterpieces or near masterpieces. Death Star is great as well. I think I named pretty much the entire album. It's that good.
Even the screaming, for some odd reason does not phase me too much on Alpha. It just fits a little more smoothly. What bothers me about the way Sevendust gets treated is that for some reason, if Sevendust revert to their majestic vocals only, they are somehow seen as softer than they were. And if they go in hard as nails, they are called repetitive, and not evolving. I don't get it, every band evolves,and is allowed to evolve, all except for Sevendust. It just seems that they are the only band that is not allowed to evolve musically. I hear people complain that Sevendust needs to make up their minds as to whether they want to be hard as nails or melodic.
Well, I say this. Sevendust doesn't have to do a g-----n m------f----g thing. The diversity of their albums is what makes them so outstanding. On their worst day, they are the best band out there, and on their best day, they are simply one of the greatest bands of all time. ALpha accomplishes all of the things that I am sure they wanted to do, and brings it all together, and it's one of the hardest albums I have heard. I don't care what anyone says, screaming does not make an album hard. It's the bonecrunching distortion and double bass that does it. Alpha is as hard musically as music can be. Period.
One final note. Sevendust are gifted, they have a right to hit us between the eyes in different ways every time they come out with something new. So if their next album is unplugged with no screaming and just singing, it will probably be a masterpiece in its own right. That being said, as long as they keep returning with the super hard albums, I look forward to everything they put out. I'll keep being a fan. Maybe this is more of a diatribe than a review, but I don't care. I just hope that everyone that reads what I wrote comes to only one conclusion. That they need to buy Alpha, and support this legendary band. Thanks for your time.
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