Customer Reviews

Silence

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been counting down the minutes until this album release. Blindside has been my personal favorite band for three years now. Blindside's first album, self-titled, was and still is a mosh-worthy disc. Hardcore's rants and raves blended with punk's speed and experimental song structures. Their second album, A Thought Crushed My Mind, was and still is my all-time favorite album. Amazing vocals, lyrics, breakdowns and musicianship tucked under a tornado of harsh, emotional hardcore. The months leading up to Silence seemed to never end. When the first single, "Pitiful", was released I quickly downloaded it, promising that it would be the only peek I would gain before the release of the album. The song first hit me like a ton of bricks. Bricks made of feathery litmus paper, that is. I hated it! "Why is Christian singing?", I asked. It took me many listens to uncover the highs of the track. Marcus could drum this song with one hand, Simon is playing the same, catchy riff repeatedly, and Christian is, well, singing! I instantly solved the mystery of the change. The bands two previous albums were first written in Swedish, then translated into English and released in the Americas. This was obviously written in English right from the beginning. The quirky breakdowns and off-timed choruses of old were scarcely to be found. After overcoming the frustration of not receiving the brutal hardcore of the bands previous effort, I started to unravel the greatness that is "Pitiful". Christians' lyrics make the song. He displays his stance before his Holy and Just Creator. As he screams "And I'll remember every word you said!", one can easily understand why he is such an emotional vocalist. One cannot understand what this band has gone through in their experiences while in their homeland of Stockholm, Sweden. Sweden is known for exhibiting some of the best satanic Death and Black Metal known in this world. Blindside has gone through much persecution from a people of another side of the world that don't view religious freedom as we in America do. Knowing this makes Christian's words all the wiser unto his fans. The album, itself, starts out with the nu-metalish "Caught A Glimpse". It opens with sweetly sung vocals that crash into a pummeling chorus. The riffery on "Caught A Glimpse" and "Pitiful" are quite similar. Much different from anything heard from Simon before. "Sleepwalking" is bound to be a fan favorite, as well as a concert favorite. The first verse is a hard-hitting rant-fest of double bass work and cymbal crashing. Then, unexpectedly, a brilliantly written chorus rises out of the ashes of the destructive verse. This ends the hard-hitting nu-metal of the disc. "Cute Boring Love", "The Endings", "You Can Hide It" and later the brilliant "Painting" all contain one incredible hook after another. The most remarkable aspect of these hooks is that they are as original as they are well written. There is not one metal band, secular or Christian, that can compete with the song writing on these tracks, nor the entire album. "Thought Like Flames" fulfills some of my favorite Blindside cliché's. Off-timed vocals and unexpected, out of left field, riffs exactly like the ones on the first two albums, just in a lighter package. And then I died.... Or at least I might have well had. The blistering "Time Will Change Your Heart" blew out my 200-watt speakers instantly with Christians' best hardcore screams to date. Marcus' drumming in the chorus is similar to "Act" (as well as the whole track) of two years ago. Marcus' varied cymbal work quickly brought me back to the days of old. The track instantaneously became my favorite, and is the song I play for anyone that wants to give Blindside a listen. It perfectly describes everything that Blindside was, is, and ever will be. "Midnight" is an astounding praise song. "This world has nothing to offer a human soul reaching for the sky, so Father of Light, keep my human spirit alive. Will I try to hide away in the secret space of my heart, will I try in time. Will I try with my feet on the ground of shadows but my hand towards the Light" is what I find myself singing while walking down the pagan-filled halls of everyday life. A true masterpiece of worship unto our Everlasting Lord of Hosts. "Coming Back To Life" and "She Shut Your Eyes" end the body of the album with more marvelous hooks, fills, riffs, and licks. Silence closes with the slow acoustic ballad, "Silence". This song displays everything a Christian should feel for his Savior. "So I think I'll stay, caught up in a silent prayer". There's nothing else I can say about this song. It tells of how the believer feels love for his Savior, even when he doesn't understand, whatsoever, why he feels so. Sometimes we must be caught up in silent prayer because we know naught what we ought to pray. So the Spirit makes intercession for us, to the Father, with words that cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26). Silence may not be the Blindside many of us have grown to love over the last few years, but as long as the boys are bent on glorifying their Lord and Savior with their lives, their music will be just as gratifying.

Blindside's third LP, "Silence" combines raw emotion and power. As I listen to this album it's obvious that the listener is getting a glimpse into the heart of Blindside. The topics range from personal pride, to superficial love, to Ultimate Reality. What sets Blindside apart from many bands is their realness. There is substance to each song. Some cds have lyrics worth pondering, this is one of them. If you like to be challenged to grow in your thinking, Blindside is for you. The music of "Silence" is lighter than past Blindside efforts, but is still very good. Christian's raw scream can still be heard on almost all the songs. But it's his unique, Swedish singing voice that draws the listener in. The production on this cd is really good, clean, but not over polished. They don't sound like a band in a plastic box, it's real.

After A Thought Crushed My Mind(blindside's second release)'s brazen hardcore screaming and guitars, Silence saw them maturing in huge ways, and opting for a more melodic (yet without watering down anything) and modern rock-ish feel. Christian's vocals have improved drastically, both in the scream department and singing.

1. *Caught a Glimpse* (10/10) A kick butt way to start off an awesome album. Starts with a soft intro, then explodes into a huge melodic hardcore sympathy, with Christian's vocals fading from singing to screaming.

2. *Pitiful* (10/10) My all-time favorite song, the catchy riffs and angst ridden lyrics tell it all. Christian displays so much emotion it's just crazy.

3. *Sleepwalking* (10/10) One word. Haunting. Crazy hardcore riffing here, almost breakdown-ish with the chug-chug-wee-wee-wee of the verse. The chorus is haunting, and the bridge is chaotic.

4. *Cute Boring Love* (7/10) The post-hardcore ranting lets up here for some good modern rock.

5. *The Endings* (7/10) Another anthemic modern rock track.

6. *You can Hide it* (7/10)

7. *Thought Like Flames* (10/10) This song displays the raw emotion that makes me love Blindside so much. I think it's written about a friend of Christian's, and is generally about self mutilation. Beautiful.

8. *Time Will Change Your Heart* (10/10) This song is a glimpse into Blindside's past. It rocks extremely hard, screaming and heavy verses with a melodic yet heavy chorus.

9. *Painting* (8/10) Once again I think about Christian's friend. Awesome song with amazing hooks.

10. *Midnight* (9/10) One of the only mellow tracks, yet the lyrics are brilliantly written and it has a very eerie feel to it, creating the "midnight-ish" atmosphere.

11. *Coming Back to Life* (5/10) I don't really feel this track, it's got a really nu-metal sound to it. Also very short.

12. *She Shut Your Eyes* (7/10) Brilliantly written on Christian's part.

13. *Silence* (10/10) Finally the title track comes to us, and instead of another guitar onslaught, we get an acoustic, seemingly under produced masterpiece. The sound of a heartbeat (made by Simon tapping on his guitar) resounds, with Christian's broken crooning echoing throughout the song, raw emotion resounds.

I have been listening to all the normal music that I do, Living Sacrifice and Project 86, mostly. I haven't bought a CD this refreshing in a long time. It's something that no one else has done recently: A singer that sometimes yells, and sometimes doesn't, which is accompanied by hard rock. My favorite track so far would have to be Silence, track 13. Blindside is a lot like Taproot in the way they sing. The guitars are like Project 86's. The drums are somewhat like Trust Company's. This CD is a nice hypbrid of everything ever done.

I bought this cd a little over a month ago and its got to be my favorite cd. I'm not a big "postive"/christain music listener in fact i enjoy Tool, Korn, Godsmack, etc... This cd doesn't overly enphsize christain belifes as i'm listening to it it just sounds like another great rock band. Buy This CD

Take a listen to Blindside's debut album (the real debut album) self titled, "Blindside". What you'll hear is simple and raw music with funky rhythms, unexpected stops and starts, and, of course, Christian's wonderful vocal stylings.

With their next album, A Thought Crushed My Mind, they threw their hip hop influences out the window and constructed a new sound with a heavier punk swagger.

This time around, once signed to Elektra, POD producer Howard Benson was contracted to formulate a more commercially viable sound. To my ears, the new album suffers significant over-production syndrom. The vocals are tightly dubbed (in the same veign as POD's vocal sound) with harmonies flying every which way. The heart of what made Blindside special, the groove and the simple but beautiful vocals, has become washed out. The singles, Pitiful and Caught a Glimpse are well done (and also start the album off) and are receiving significant play on MTV and radio stations. Unfortunately, after the first couple of tracks, every chorus begins to sound practically the same as the song before. Take any track on the album on its own and you'd have a kickin' song. But, take them all in the context of an album and you get a slightly monotonous blur.

The new sound is interesting and has potential. However, the band needs to reconnect with a slightly simpler formulae where their songwriting and emotion can flow freely.

I'd be very interested to see how the band performs the material live, without the studio tomfoolery. I bet it's easier to digest. And that's my opinion.

One of the things I appreciate the most about Blindside is that as a Christian band, they have struck that rare golden balance- they don't make an obtrusive show of their faith because they don't have to. It's simply part of who they are and what they do, and this, I think, explains why they have such great integrity and still so much appeal to secular audiences as well. Lindskog's lyrics deal with a lot of the overlooked nuances of a personal relationship with God, which he expresses with a very unique turn of phrase. Whether this comes from a truly keen perception or just infamiliarity with English idiom, I have no idea, but it certainly makes for some powerful and interesting lyrics. Add this to the band's unique sound and structure of their songs, and you get the kind of distinct, memorable music that only Blindside can pull off.

Each of Blindside's albums has it's share of musical gems, but frankly, Silence has the most. The songs are mellower and clearer than those on "A Thought Crushed My Mind," but they don't lose any of their punch. Likewise, they feel much more unified than those on the next two albums-- there are no empty spaces on Silence, no places where the formula goes sour. In other words, although some are better than others, the songs that may strike you as filler on the first listen become much richer and more complex the longer the disc spins in the player. In usual Blindside fashion, each song has movements and elements in it that emerge on each listen. For such typically loud music,it employs a lot of melodic subtlety too.

The album starts off heavily and dramatically with "Caught a Glimpse," then roars into "Pitiful" and "Sleepwalking," two of the strongest tracks the group has ever done, in my opinion. "The Endings" and "Painting" are both very unique and powerful, with a sort of soaring quality that melds seamlessly back into driving guitars. They seem to break up the slower parts of the album, which closes with "Silence." "Silence" will either strike you as profoundly beautiful or absurdly boring; it has a very simple, almost empty, haunting sound which adds a lot of potency to it's deep lyrics. But don't just listen to me, listen to it- buy this disc because you need it. If you're already a fan, don't miss out on this; if you want to be, the songs on this cd will make the successes on all of the others all the more meaningful.
In general, "Silence" meets all of my qualifications for a solid album: good lyrics, a unique sound, a high volume of songs that hold up well on their own, and redemptive elements in the ones that don't. There are a lot of things to enjoy about Blindside's message and their music, and "Silence" is a showcase of all of them.

First of all, let me just say that this album is AMAZING. There is NO songs to skip on this album. In fact, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you skipped any of these songs because the entire album experience is BREATHTAKING. The album starts out with the incredible "Caught A Glimpse," a perfect opener, and easily one of the best songs on the album. Head-bangers will love the next song, "Pitiful," which was the lead single for this album and the song that made me go out and by this album. The lyrics, penned by Christian Lindskog are superb in this one too. Christian creates an amazing picture of how he was essentially nailing Jesus' hands onto the cross with the sin in his life. And then He comes to grips with the fact that he needs a gracious Savior to forgive Him: "But I know, as I hammered those nails into your beautiful hands, your eyes still tried to search for mine, but I look away. Now your eyes are the only thing that can save me. I'm still so afraid of their piercing. You're breaking into my prison... My soul is dying... I'll remember every word you said. This time I won't look away." As Christian screams "I'll remember..." he is so passionate about the message he is trying to relay. Moving on, "Sleepwalking" somehow slightly tops the previous 2 songs as my favorite song on the album, my favorite Blindside song, and frankly, my favorite SONG OF ALL TIME. From experiencing this song in concert, I can tell it's definitely a fan favorite as well.

Even though the bar was set extremely high after the first 3 incredible songs, the bar remarkably still says high throughout the whole album. "Cute Boring Love" is a concert favorite and a great song, and "The Endings" is a one of my many favorite songs on the album. The next two songs, "You Can Hide It," "Thought Like Flames," are both beautifully executed. Even though they lower the decibel level on the verses, don't be misled. They build into great infectious rock songs with some background screams that fit perfectly. They'll have you singing along to the chorus after only a couple listens. After this onslaught of hooks, the "Time Will Change Your Heart" goes in a little different direction. Right from the start, after the fast punk-infused guitar intro, Christian isn't singing mellow verses anymore. He screams every word in the verses with so much emotion, it reminds me of 2000's "A Thought Crushed My Mind." Delivering exactly what I was looking for to pick up the pace again in the middle of the album, this song quickly became a favorite of mine, and it's a great song to belt out ever word in the car.

"Painting is another brilliantly composed song with a wonderful chorus. "Midnight" is an astonishing song with a fast food-stomping-punk pace with some great reflective lyrics: "This world has nothing to offer a human soul reaching for the sky, so Father of Light, keep my human spirit alive. Will I try to hide away in the secret space of my heart? Will I try in time? Will I try with my feet on the ground of shadows but my hand towards the Light?" Those lyrics are definitely a highlight of the album. "Coming Back To Life" gets more upbeat and has some more great hooks. "She Shut Your Eyes" is one of my favorites on the album. There is so much passion and energy in this song that it gives me chills every time I yell this one at the top of my lungs in my car (whether other people are in the car or not).

Silence closes with the title track, in which the fast pace abruptly changes with a chilling intro that kind of sounds like an earthquake. "Silence" is a brilliant acoustic ballad that pretty much demands one to ponder the highly meditative lyrics. This song displays everything a Christian should feel for his Savior: "I can't explain or understand. I just love you. So I think I'll stay caught up in silent prayer, cause I believe in silence. Our hearts speak the same words. So why don't we just walk along the shoreline with our silent song?". You'll have to listen to this one for yourself to truly appreciate it. It's incredibly reflective, convicting and personal. The Bible says that we should be in constant prayer. Why don't we constantly walk around with a silent song of praise to God?

Silence is definitely a different direction from the first 2 Blindside albums. It's definitely more polished and it's not as raw. I love the direction they chose. While I like the first 2 albums, as well as the 2 albums that followed "Silence" ("About a Burning Fire" & "The Great Depression"), this album is BY FAR their best album. Each song is consistently phenomenal. There is some remarkable diversity within "Silence," (just as the with "...Burning Fire" & "...Depression") but there's just something special about this album. Out of the hundreds of rock albums I've collected over the past 10 years or so, it definitely ranks as one of my top 5 albums of all time, which is pretty good compared to the massive collection I have attained. If you only get one Blindside album, without a doubt, get Silence. Trust me, it's breathtaking.

This album is great. I like it start to finish. Here's proof that better music comes from other countries, mainly Sweden, from which this band is from. They're so awesome, I can't even begin to explain. If you haven't seen the "Pitiful" video, you need to download it or something. Christian Lindskog has so much energy in him. I can't wait until I can actually go to one of their concerts.

I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!!!

My favorite song is "Caught A Glimpse," closely followed by "Time Will Change Your Heart." But all the songs rock! I have all their CD's, but this one's my favorite. But there's not one of them that don't shine through or fail to impress.

If you like this band, you need to get the documentary DVD, Ten Years Running Blind. It's got some funny moments, and really digs deep into their starter days. Plus it's got a few concerts on there.

Check this band out!!!

I did not know this was a christian band until a couple weeks ago. I thought christian bands as newsboys and third day but these guys really rock. I am not dogging on those bands and if you like christian rock they are worth picking up but I would have to say blindside is one of my favorate bands. My favorite song is sleepwalking.