Customer Reviews

Out of Ashes [Vinyl]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

So let's get this over quick. This is essentially Linkin Park, but darker and with no rap.

The good news is that if you like Chester in LP you will love him here. Great range and vocals over the entire album and an interesting side of the screaming front man to one of my favorite bands. So those that are worried don't be. There isn't a stinker in the entire album and from start to finish it is a good listen. You have some ups and downs (well, mostly downs) since this is a truly depressing album, but it is delivered in a way that will not immediately hit you as such.

Much like LP tracks on the first 2 albums were about break-ups, heartache, and finding yourself through the flaws, yet somehow they rocked, the same is true here. Despite the depressing subject matter, I had a good time with this album. Some standouts include: "Fire", "Crawl Back In", "Let Down", "Into You", and "Walking In Circles". Really though the album flows quite well and anyone in for some rock and decent radio friendly rock should give a listen.

Now the bad news. We've been here before. "Minutes To Midnight" from LP was essentially a Chester Album, much like conversely Fort Minor's "The Rising Tied" was Mike Shinoda's album and time to shine. See, since there wasn't that much Mike on "M2M", Chester who was predominately featured really rose to the occasion there. He basically gave us everything he had and it shows here. Nothing on this album besides a few clever hooks shows anything new from Chester and that is hard for me to admit.

I am a huge LP fan and love their overall philosophy and style when it comes to writing and recording their various tracks. This album, while technically great sounding and well produced, is extremely generic. Sure there is some decent guitars and back beats from the drummer but honestly we have heard this before from Chester Bennington. Those of us expecting a new direction or new style will be wholeheartedly mistaken. As was my issue with "The Rising Tied", the parts are so much better when they are whole.

Is it a bad album? Of course not. It is slickly produced and has some pretty good writing for the most part. Is it groundbreaking? The answer to that question as a firm NO. So for fans of Bennington and LP in general this is a must buy since it really does sound a lot like LP due to Chester sticking with the same genre and overall same writing style. The average listener of the Rock music will find something to like as well, just don't expect anything groundbreaking.

"Out of Ashes" is the debut album from Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington's new band/solo act, Dead by Sunrise. Eschewing the rap-rock for some new wave and pop influences, "Out of Ashes" teams Bennington up long-time collaborators and electro-rock outfit Julien-K (which, incidentally, features ex-Orgy members Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh) and producer Howard Benson.

In all honesty, most of it sounds like it could be the sequel to "Minutes to Midnight." It's exactly the kind of polished radio-rock you'd expect from producer Howard Benson, but that's not to say that it's bad. Actually, if you dug the balladry explored on the previously mentioned album, you're likely to be swept away by many of the softer tunes Chester and company break out on their debut affair. The gorgeous melodies of "Give Me Your Name" -- in spite of some cornball lyrics -- shows that the angsty young man who once penned the lyrical genius (ahem) that is "Shut up when I'm talking to you!" has grown quite substantially. Each of these songs -- many of which originated by Bennington strumming an acoustic guitar -- could be a hit in their own right, and show that outside of his safe zone, the man can actually write just simply good songs.

In fact, most of the album can be appreciated on the most basic level, provided you can forgive the massive amount of gloss Benson applies to the material. Underneath the layers of synthesized guitar and keyboards, the songs stand strong on their own merits. Take for example, "Let Down," a song that made its debut during the ReAct Now: Music & Relief concert in 2005. While the original, stripped down version was better, the song still sounds incredible and the emotion of the song -- as intended -- cuts right through you, despite the fact that it's been doctored to sound like an 80's pop throwback. Elsewhere, the album takes some turns that might appease the Linkin Park fan who was missing the more rocking element in the band's last affair, and on that end, "My Suffering" delivers.

While the bulk of "Out of Ashes" resists the urge to break the mold, it's still a well-played and well-produced piece of music with more than a few gems to unearth. You don't even have to be a Linkin Park fan to appreciate the music here, and it's not a stretch to imagine a song or two from this album crossing over to a completely different audience altogether. At the end of day, these are good songs and deserve to be heard by an unbiased ear.

How often do you listen to a CD and love every song that you hear? That's the case with Dead By Sunrise, at least for me. Let me just say that this is not Linkin Park in the sense that there's no rapping going on here, however, if you are a fan of Linkin Park and the voice of Chester Bennington I honestly don't see how you don't walk away from this a fan of DBS. "Crawl Back In" is a great rocking first single. Chester's voice can be so tender on tracks like "Let Down" & "Give Me Your Name" and then he gives you that guttural sound from the pits of hell on "My Suffering". My favorite song is "Walking In Circles". This song is so haunting. The first thing I thought of when I heard it was the movie 2012. This would have been a great theme song for that movie. I would love to hear this song with a full orchestra. I'm just thrilled with this CD. I said earlier that Chester can produce a sound from the pits of hell but I truly believe that his voice is a gift from God.

Dead By Sunrise is a side project of Linkin Park's Chester Bennington. I would have to say that it's an amazing cd and there's no song that disappoints. I do believe that there will be some fans who purchase the cd based on Linkin Park's name and expect a similar sound to Linkin Park, but thankfully Bennington shows he can venture into a different genre of rock.

If I had to put Dead By Sunrise into a genre it would be in the alternative rock section not the hard rock/metal category that it's currently in according to Amazon. It's not to say that Dead By Sunrise doesn't have songs that you could compare with Linkin Park either.

I think one of the songs that shows this the best is Condemned and My Suffering where you will find Bennington's patented screams. Other then that I think you will have a much tougher time comparing the songs to Linkin Park, which may disappoint some.

As for the songs I think the best song on the cd is Walking in Cirles. It's a slower song more ballad like then anything, but has excellent lyrics. I would also say that Let Down which also is more of a ballad than anything would be the second best song on the cd and its lyrics are just as good.

Even with the differnt genre style of Dead By Sunrise it proves again in my mind why Chester has one of the best voices in rock music today. He can practically do any style and sound great while doing it! Excellent debut cd for Dead By Sunrise!

Let me start out by saying that I'm a Hard Rock fan in general. LP is in my top 10 groups I listen to. Chester is the MAN. This CD rocks and is mellow at times. Almost every song on this CD is great. 12 tracks and I'd say one, maybe two, are just OK, all the rest are great. The more I listen to this CD the more I like it, it just grows and grows on you. I purchased this CD about 2 weeks ago and its the only CD I've been listening to since I bought it, nothing else. I do not agree with the negitive reviews this CD is getting. Do not listen to them, buy this Cd, you won't regret it. Just recently lost my 13 year old son to cancer and the 1st track on this cd, Fire, is helping me deal with his death. Thank You Chester for writting such a beautiful song.

I've been a huge fan of Linkin Park ever since my teen years, and I have supported them by buying all of the albums. So, when I first heard that Chester Bennington is going to have his own project, I was really excited to see how will it turn out.
I have to say that it blew my expectations, this album is just amazing! Chester has really grown as an artist, and his lyrics and melodies are very good. This particular album is composed as a life story. It has some light and dark moments. I will not give the full review on the music, because I think that it's a subjective theme, but I'm giving this album 5 star rating. My favorite song is "Give Me Your Name", the lyrics are very emotional and it shows Chester's softer side as a lyricist.
The CD packaging is also great, inside the booklet you'll find various photos of the band members, taken form the promo photoshoot.
Overall, Chester proved himself to be an amazing musician, not only he formed a group of artists from other great bands, but he also added a huge amount of his personality into this album. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested to hear good rock/alternative music. You will not be disappointed!

I may receive cheers or jeers for this review but Chester Bennington has made one of the BEST releases I have heard in a long time. Surprising & powerful, I would find it hard to believe that Chester was not a fan of Toadies "Rubberneck" & early 3 Doors Down many years back, as I hear influences of both throughout, & I love it. I've read this project was created to release some darker elements than the new alternative sound of LP. Well Toadies were certainly dark with a hint of Southern Rock infused in the music, much like "Out of Ashes". I am an LP fan but was, & I hate to say it, disappointed in LP's last 2 releases until I was able to separate the two genres in my mind admitting to myself they evolved from Rap/Rock to Alternative, then gave the 2 a few more listens & finally got it, as well as realized I liked them. I must admit though, my first taste of Iridescent about brought me to tears, & I am a 39 yo man tattooed head to toe, but I am not here to review LP, just added that to say this is NOT LP, nothing of the sort. This is a sound all it's own for Chester. So if you, as I, tremendously appreciated Toadies, this will give you that good dark feeling though different from what you might expect, not quite creepy like "Rubberneck", but otherwise just as moving. I hope this is not the end of Dead by Sunrise, but the beginning of what I may consider one of my favorite bands already! Chester, if you read this PLEASE give us more! As Perfect Circle was a brilliant ongoing project for Maynard, this has even more potential. Buy this now, it will become an instant favorite in your library. I hope this review was helpful but more importantly, informative.

What an album! This one comes at you with one heck of an opener with "Fire," a song well named for it's passion. Chester sounds, well, when doesn't Chester sound good, right? The lyrics are wonderful too, unlike some of the songs that come out today that merely are catchy, then you ask yourself, "what is this nonsense I'm singing along to anyway?" Much thought and emotion went into this album and you won't feel like your IQ or principles had to be tossed aside to listen to this one.

Do yourself a favor, get it, enjoy it and listen closely, as these lyrics are well thought out.

Dead by Sunrise, Chester Bennington's side project, was formed when he wanted to bring out a number of songs that he thought were "darker and moodier" than what he had done for Linkin Park. At first thought, that may sound like ironic motivation because Linkin Park's songs are well known for being moody. Just take a listen through Given Up or No More Sorrow and you will hear the angst and anger Linkin Park expresses in their songs, so if Chester says these songs are darker and moodier, there must be something to it.

One listen-through, though, hints at the contrary. Songs like Let Down, Fire and Crawl Back In hold hope more than anything else.

Take Fire, for example, lyrics like "No need to hear your voice, or see your face to know that you are with me," are good words for those who misses a loved one, someone who may be fighting a war out there. It provides comfort in a hard-edged way and because of the rock rifts; it draws the listener into an emotional place where rock is a comfort rather than pointless noise. The same goes for Crawl Back In, the aptly titled song that represents the theme for the entire album. How Chester describes it as getting out of the funk of getting stoned and drunk all the time shows the introspective nature of the songs. How he wants out and to rise above the addictions, the evils accompanying them, is what this album is all about, and that is an admirable goal to have for an album of music.

Well, some of the songs in here do have that embittered feel. Condemned sounds like a song one listens to feeling sorry for one's self, with self-depreciating lyrics like "Treat me like an animal..." This album isn't exactly the type to listen to when you are down, per se. Songs like Into You, however, have a balance in which they express some sort of relief or recovery from an otherwise low point. So it isn't bad when it comes down to the overall package, it does have a fairly unified theme of salvation and redemption.

However, there seems to be a drag after a long listen through. Fire is a good start but it turns heavy come My Suffering, maybe even sooner. It doesn't help much when the grunge feel (intermingled with hard rock) becomes boring and mindless déjà-vu for the Linkin Park listener that, after a couple of listens, it all feels like copious and cheap amounts of rock jumbled up for the sake of putting together an album, even while listening to the better songs. The other members, Ryan Shuck and the rest from Julien-K, did a good job playing their hearts out in every song, but unfortunately they don't provide much musical diversity. Adding to that would be the presence of Chester's vocals in every one of these songs. It would've been better if Mike Shinoda, Chester's partner in vocals for Linkin Park, did something here to keep the feel fresh.

Verdict: Good grunge rock, but something you can really do without when it comes down to it, especially with bands like Coldplay or Maroon 5 around. The only reasons to get this album would be for the singles (Fire is fantastic), but don't expect a Zeppelin 5.

Without Linkin Park Chester has future, his voice and talent surpasses any LP fan expectations. Loved to hear something new and fresh.