Customer Reviews

Only Through the Pain

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Trapt is the most amazing band. There is no band that comes close to what they do. They are hard to describe well to someone who hasn't heard their sound, so I say emogrunge for lack of a better account.

A good band goes through certain stages, and the trend while young is usually that they just keep getting better (until the band starts peaking).

Trapt's is not like most bands' evolutions.

They are no longer a young band or young musicians, and this album makes it clear that their growth has not diminished a bit. Trapt just keeps getting better and this album shows it.

Only Through the Pain - solidifies for me the fact that Trapt's growth continues (perhaps has not even slowed).

The originality, sound quality (from all four band members), the content, and just the band's overall musical depth and breadth are quite amazing.

I am sure this album will take me places in my heart and head that I did not know existed.

Although Trapt albums take me months of daily listening experience to fully appreciate, I would say that this album is as good as Someone in Control which has been my favorite album for over two years.

The bottom line: These guys are serious rock musicians and serious about creating beautiful and powerful works of temporal art, and this album shows this as well or better than any previous works.

A few months ago, I reviewd Trapt's self-titled debut album and gave it a less-than-appreciative review. The only highlight was the track "Headstrong". So, naturally, I was skeptical of ONLY THROUGH THE PAIN when I picked it up. Trapt, however, has changed drastically over six years, creating a much tighter record that is stronger on a song-for-song basis than TRAPT.

While the variety of sounds on this album might turn off many of the fans of Trapt's two previous albums (see the two reviews below mine), this album feels so much more radio-ready than anything on TRAPT minus "Headstrong". "Who's Going Home With You Tonight?", "Contagious" and "Curiosity Kills" are more of the classic, heavier Trapt, with quiet verses staggered between hammering guitar-and-bass choruses, complemented by Chris Taylor Brown's much-improved lyrics. This time around, the general focus of the album is a more searching one, placing emphasis upon improving relationships rather than destroying them. "Ready When You Are" is a straight-up ballad about learning to be patient in a romantic relationship, and "Only One in Color" is a sweeping slow-rocker comparing life before and after discovering the right person. "The Last Tear" is an acoustic-inflected track with a surprisingly bitter twist, questioning the behaviors of a drama queen. While being an awkward closer, it is one of the stronger tracks nonetheless.

In terms of musical technique, this album is much improved over TRAPT. "Wasteland" is one of the best openers I've heard in a long time, with a grinding guitar riff over a pummeling rhythm section; "Black Rose" contains a superb guitar solo in the bridge from new guitarist Rob Torres; "Forget About the Rain" has a reggae feel within the guitars and in Chris Brown's smooth, streamlined vocal delivery. "Curiosity Kills" takes bassist Peter Charrell's thumping and carries it to a whole new level, completely taking control of the song. "Cover Up" combines a fantastic melody with a more pop-like rhythm than most of Trapt's songs. Song for song, the unique twist in each track keeps this album enjoyable throughout its tight 45 minutes.

Even if you didn't enjoy Trapt's first album, give this album a try. Trapt has clearly heightened their appeal and appear to be very serious about evolving and taking their sound to new levels. This is an impressive album that I hope will get them another big hit and take them out of the shadow of "Headstrong".

What the heck happened? This album sounds like something from Chicago. All whinny monotonous love songs. Trapt has lost their edge. Don't waste your money on this one. Even as a long time fan this album gets no play from me.

I was, and still am, a huge fan of Trapt's self-titled debut. From the epic "Headstrong" to the dynamic "Made of Glass" to the satisfying "Stories" to the uber-catchy "These Walls" to the gritty "When All Is Said And Done", the disc was filled with substance and edge, showing vast potential of where Trapt could go as a band.

Fast forward to "Only Through The Pain". After a couple listens, I feel unsatisfied. There's just...............nothing there. A cd should be MEMORABLE, filled with moments that make you want to listen again, and I don't think this album has that quality.

There's one exception, and that's the single "Who's Going Home With You Tonight". And it's not even the whole song, it's just the incredibly infectious guitar hook at the beginning. But it's the only 5-Star song on the album. There are a few more that are at least 4-star caliber for me. "Wherever She Goes" is kind of a cool song. I don't dislike "Ready When You Are" either, and "Forget About The Rain" is respectable because it's different. It kind of sounds like it belongs on an OAR cd.

Other than that, OTTP is just bland, filled with non-entities like "Cover Up" and "Contagious". Has anyone else noticed that the 3rd song on Trapt CD's are always the worst ones? Yeah...this CD does nothing to change that. Like "Hollowman" and "Victim", this album's 3rd offering, Contagious, kinda sucks. The closer, "The Last Tear", isn't amazing either, but at least they stopped trying to write a big epic song for their finale and fail, like they did with "New Beginning" and "Product of my Own Design". I don't like it that much, but the soft style of the song works with the rest of the CD, a-la "Dear God" on the newest Avenged Sevenfold disc. And then there's "Black Rose". The title itself is an emo-kid's wet dream. I remember when they released that song on their Myspace page.....there were tons of comments saying things like "OMG it is sooooooo dark and beautiful at the same time." To me it's a completely average song posing as some sort of masterpiece.

In conclusion, I think I'm done with Trapt. "Only Through the Pain" isn't horrible by any means, but they've gone from excellent to good to mediocre, and I don't like where that progression leads. Come to think of it, I hope Trust Company doesn't follow the same pattern, being that their first 2 CD's also went from excellent to good. Anyways, I'll give this one a generous 3 stars, simply because of the stellar intro to "Who's Going Home With You Tonight". I hope they can surprise me with their next effort.

I am a huge fan of Trapt, especially of "Someone In Control". That album, in my opinion was much better than their first release both lyrically and musically. I assumed that their new release would be a further evolution of both of those but unfortunately they're not. Most of the songs have flat meaningless lyrics and musically they decided to leave the guitars in their cases. Hopefully they will learn from their mistakes and release a solid album next time around.

Apparently the band is over whatever anger and hurt feelings led to the great rock album "Someone in Control." What we have now is a homogenized pop album geared towards teenage girls. I should have known this album was bad news when there were no song previews available, but their first two albums were worth buying; sadly, this one is not.

"Who's going home with you tonight" is a good song and worth a purchase as a single. As for the rest of the album, I highly suggest you preview the songs first.

Softer work here, but the songs are still no less compelling. Thus, it's worth picking up if you're a fan of the lighter side of this group.

...but that doesn't mean the music is not going to be good, of course. Trapt's third full length album, Only Through the Pain is better than Someone in Control, but it's not as good as their debut. Wasteland is my favorite track, starting off pretty catchy, but the other songs still have some of the thing that made Someone in Control a less interesting album. Forget About the Rain is a reggae-like track, which is my second favorite track. I also like Only One In Color, and Curiosity Kills. But that darned album cover also weakens this album. I really hate it when people think sexual images like that are OK for an album cover, which are never acceptable. But aside that flaw, this album is still pretty good.

Rating: 4 stars/5 stars

This review is gonna be short and sweet. Trapt has made the best album of their career so far (notice how I said so far.) Ever song on this album is a hit. You can listen to this album all the way through and you won't even think about skipping a single song. BUY THIS ONE!!!

This album by Trapt is very meaningful to me. Only Through the Pain came out in 2008, and now it's 2010, and I'm still listening to it. If your a fan of Trapt, I advise you to buy it. The best songs are "Wasteland, WGHWYT, Contagious, Black Rose, and Only One in Color," (at least they're the best in my opinion) but I like every song. The album had to grow on me because it's different from their previous albums, but that has turned out to be great. I can openly say that Trapt is my favorite band because of how much the music connects to me, and because of the awesome sound. I'm eagerly looking forward to Trapt's next album, which should come out sometime this year (2010).