Customer Reviews

The Sufferer & the Witness [Vinyl]

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was all prepared to accuse Rise Against off selling out after the release of their single "Swing Life Away" from "Siren Song of the Counter Culture," released in 2004. But after listening to their 2006 album "The Sufferer and the Witness" I realize that they haven't sold out, they have simply outgrown the limitations of the punk-genre. And it's all good.

2001 saw the release of "The Unraveling," a quality punk album with 16 tracks clocking in at under 37 minutes. (Do the math.) With 2003 came "Revolutions Per Minute," which is as much hardcore as punk with its pummeling drums and group-shouted refrains. "Siren Song" displays Rise Against's evolution as a band, mixing into the hardcore-punk base a few more fleshed-out rock songs that break out of the three chord mold. At a mainstream length 12 songs and 40 minutes and the inclusion of several acoustic moments (not to mention the MTV-embraced "Swing Life Away"), this album shows definite growth.

Now we have the completion of the process, "The Sufferer and the Witness." The leadoff track "Chamber the Cartridge" proves their punk bona fides have not withered away. Next is "Injection" and the pattern of complex, melodic punk-rock is established. Most of the album continues with this pattern, with occasional deviations, always for the better. Some of the best tracks are in the middle of the album. "Prayer of the Refugee" for example begins with an acoustic-ballad sound before roaring into a dramatically uptempo screaming chorus. Next is "Drones," which hews toward punk-emo if there is such a thing, and I mean that in a good way. Rise Against forgoes the typical social commentary/establishment criticism for a personal song with the refrain "If you see me please just walk on by, walk on by...forget my name, and I'll forget it too."

"The Sufferer and the Witness" might not be a purely-punk album, but neither is it a sell-out album. It is, simply, an awesome, genre-defying rock masterpiece showing a band at the apex of their career.

Up on top, it's nothing but gold teeth, big cars and big butts; trolling in the underground, you meet a lot of blind moles that think they know what "independent" means. Rise Against and bands of their ilk fall by the wayside in critical circles. Their music is somehow too abrasive for MTV but not nifty-keen enough for hipsters.

This critical hazing ritual has been enough to net them a "punk" badge in the past, but with "The Sufferer and the Witness," these punks rise to bridge the gap with a fresh ear and a newfound knack for fusing fury with sensitivity-- without illicting jaded groans. Comparisons to The Who for their teenage angst ("Ready to Fall") are not without merit, but the caterwauling evocative-of-the-Pete-Townshend-windmill guitarwork is yet more appropriate. "Chamber the Cartridge" opens innocently enough with war drumming and the dire lilt of distorted electric guitar. Then everything goes to hell and back in just under 43 minutes.

"The Sufferer and the Witness" contains enough adrenaline to kill. The "Chamber"-"Injection"-"Ready" trifecta hooks ears, then Rise Against throws "Bricks" at us for a minute and a half. Anthemic riffing on "Behind Closed Doors" pumps the proverbial fist into the air, sitting twice as well next to the impassioned, Ginsberg-infused howl of singer Tim McIlrath. Things settle down only on the restrained, but surprisingly powerful "Roadside," a duet with Emily Schambra of Holy Roman Empire which conquers the orchestral side of the coin in terms of emotional intensity and proves that Rise Against learned something from critics' response to the maudlin "Swing Life Away" (from 2004's "Siren Song of the Counterculture").

"Survive" is a perfect closer. It's all over the map--sections supported by spastic hardcore punk drumming break into dizzying pedal tone riffs break into a swirling mass of driving harmony, concluding the record with hammer-to-nail finality.

The final word is pretty straightforward, really. Fans of Bad Religion, Social Distortion, and other long-running American punk combos will dig this record mightily even as naysayers dig its grave. In the end, it's just damn good rock music that takes no prisoners. If that doesn't count for crossover appeal, what does?

This CD really lived up to my expectations. I think it is somewhat like the CD "Revolutions Per Minute". In my opinion, the best track is "Drones". I thought "Siren Song of the Counter Culture" was a letdown and they were getting soft, but this CD changed my mind. Even though the song "Ready to Fall" is their most popular song, I did not like it. Still, this might be their best CD yet! There is one problem, though. Most of their CDs are very similar to each other. For example, "Survive" and "Broken English" have basically indentical rhythm. I don't know if i would buy the entire CD.

I had very high expectations for this album, and they were almost met.

"Chamber the Cartridge" 10/10: A very good opener, but still not as good as "Black Masks & Gasoline."
"Injection" 9/10: Possibly the follow-up to "Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated," but not as good as the original.
"Ready to Fall" 10+/10: From the first chord, you know this song is going to be amazing. The lyrics are superb.
"Bricks" 10/10: They can still play pure punk.
"Under the Knife" 9/10: A slightly calmer song. It's a good change of pace after "Bricks."
"Prayer of the Refugee" 10/10: A few simple chords get real addictive.
"Drones" 8/10: The chorus is kind of disappointing.
"The Approaching Curve" 5/10: Call this experimental if you must. It sounds like somebody reading stream of consciousness poetry with a chorus thrown in.
"Worth Dying For" 7/10: It starts good, and then it just deteriorates.
"Behind Closed Doors" 10/10: This is what I expect from Rise Against.
"Roadside" 5/10: The "Swing Life Away" / "Everchanging" track. Some people like it, but I don't.
"The Good Left Undone" 9/10: This song is missing something lyrically, and I can't quite put my finger on it. The instrumental at the end is cool.
"Survive" 10+/10: Just like with "Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated," they close with their best track. I was wondering why the album had an explicit language warning.
"Built to Last" 7/10: For those fans like me who have to collect every recording, this is a cover of Sick Of It All's "Built to Last" available on the import version. I wouldn't recommend it. Sick Of It All isn't even that good of a band. Tim's best cover was The Killing Tree's version of "Jesus Christ Pose."

Overall, it's a great album, possibly the best album of the year, but it's still not as solid as "Revolutions Per Minute."

This is a LONG review, but if you want an honest take on " Sufferer And The Witness ", then read on...

I first started listening to Rise Against when they released their highly acclaimed " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture ", loved by music fans of all genres. This album was great because it offered so much variety within its catchy tunes. All the songs were good, except " State Of The Union " and " Swing Life Away ". Of all the cd's I own, Siren Song is near the top of the list of my favorites.

When this album came out mere days ago, I came here to read the reviews. There were only 7 on the day of the release, but each were perfect 5-star reviews praising Rise Against for another great album. I listened to some song clips and it sounded ok, so I went into the album with low expectations hoping they wound be risen. But after listening to " Suffer And The Witness " full through, I cant help but say I am disappointed.

The problem that plagues this album is the overall lack of polish that Siren Song had. Now in reality, each band always changes their sound every release to keep their music fresh. I can understand that fans either like the new change or not. Even without that notion though, " Sufferer And The Witness " is an average record at best.

The first thing I noticed when I popped the cd into my car to listen to the opener of the album, " Chamber The Cartridge " was the change in vocals. Tim sounds alot less raspy then he did in previous releases, but the real wonder is what Chris Lord-Alge (the producer) was thinking when it came to hearing the sounds of Joe and Chris (the backup vocalists of the band). They almost sound like robots in this album - at least clearly in the chorus of " Chamber The Cartridge ".

Following " Chamber The Cartridge" are some of the best tracks on the cd in " Injection " and " Ready To Fall ". Both of these songs ooze with polish and feel like they couldve been on " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture ". " Bricks " is classic Rise Against, which makes for a fast track overflowing with energy and continues the pace set forth at the beginning of the cd. But as the album progresses on, however, flaws start to be exposed.

The biggest problem with this album is that the tracks start to become to generic. " Prayer And The Refugee " and " Drones " are two prime examples of this opinion. Both songs have great choruses and verses (Prayer's haunting guitars are excellent), but arent long enough. The chorus of " Drones " is sang only once at the end of the song and is no different from the choruses earlier in the song - the same with " Prayer ". If only they threw in some harmonies at the end or something, wouldve made these tracks phenomenal. They arent bad cuts, but they feel like they are missing something. " The Approaching Curve " is a little too experimental to enjoy.

Of the last four tracks on the cd, " Roadside " is the only one worth mentioning. The female vocals in this song work great, and the whole feel is relaxed and mysterious. This is one of the better slow songs that Rise Against has produced during their tenure in the scene.

All in all, " The Sufferer And The Witness " isnt a bad album, but its just so average. All the greatness that was produced in " Siren Song Of The Counter Culture " seemed to be lost in the tradition. Go listen to " Tip The Scales ", " Paper Wings ", and " Rumors Of My Demise " and then listen to this album. Nothing is varied like those songs. I highly reccomend sampling some tracks from this album to see if you like it. You are always better safe then sorry. If I could I would give it 2.5 stars.

Other Notes:

- As evident from the cover of this album, there is a PA sticker on it. There are only 4 curse words on the cd, all being F words on the last cut, " Survive ". Other then that, there is no cursing on the album.

- The insert of the cd contains the lyrics and a few pictures of the band playing live. The lyrics are written in an artsy version of cursive, so some parts are difficult to read. To be honest, you really arent missing much if you dont get the insert, so buying the album online via a digital distribution service like iTunes is not that bad of an option to consider.

- If you buy the album at Best Buy, you get a ticket inside the jewel case that lets you download a live version of " Life Less Frightening " online. If you get the album at Target, you can get a live version of " Paper Wings " as well as a bonus track entitled " The Boy's No Good ".

I hope you enjoyed my review, and thanks for reading.

Upon listening to the album and reading the lyrics alongside, I have realized that the Sufferer and the Witness is a fantastic album. An opinion not formed upon previous material, Siren Song the Counter Culture being the popular example, I found that Rise Against have created thirteen tracks all of which are great, the majority of them brilliant. The fast pace is one factor, though slower songs the Approaching Curve and Roadside come off to wonderful effect, the passion, the lyrics and the hardcore raw sound are all parts that make this album excellent. The range of topics on show complete the songs, from personal to political, the videos Ready to Fall and Prayer of the Refugee being prime examples and the aforementioned Approaching Curve.
Of course, it is important to compare an album off its predecessors, and it might pale in comparison but for any Rise Against newbies, I definitely suggest a listen, whilst the old fans, I hope you like it.
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please note that before I continue with my review, I'd like to bash the shoddy job of the RIAA because the last song "Survive" is the only song to feature strong profanities (four f-words.) RIAA, you better start listening to albums that appear on your desk and actually take note that the parents should be in charge.

Now let me get back to reviewing this non-stop in-your-face album that is "The Sufferer and the Witness." This disk is nothing more but powerful fury all under one hour, and while a few songs get a bit repetetive, it still will allow you to come back for more. Starting from "Chamber the Cartridge" to the heavy conclusion "Survive", you will find out just how awesome punk is since Rancid. Even Rise Against has a soft spot for harmony as you get to "Roadside", possibly the best ballad Rise Against has ever done. So just buy the album and you'll enjoy what you'll hear.

I had no idea that I liked punk!

Now that I know this, I'm quite pleased, and I've got Rise Against to thank for that. So thanks, Rise Against, finding you guys is almost as good as when I found Stage a year ago; or learning to make French Toast; or hiring a maid service to clean my apartment (they're much cheaper than you think, and they clean WAY better than I could ever hope to).

Like most people, I found them through the radio. Since it's a rare thing for me to actually listen to the radio, it was shear luck that I caught "Prayer of the Refugee" when I did, and all I could remember from the song were the lyrics "We are the angry and desperate...". Thankfully, Texas invented the internet a few years back, so all I had to do was Google it, up came "The Sufferer and the Witness", and I haven't looked back since.

Prior to this, the only punk I've really listened to were the Ramones, so I made the faulty assumption that all punk was disjointed and over simplified. Not so with Rise Against, folks. They're loud, rhythmic, and damn awesome!

The album is best listened to as a whole. Instead of being a collection of songs, it's more like an extended story with varying measures of timbre. It flows similar to how '90s indie hip-hop albums did; every proceeding track complements the preceding track, and one song will occasionally flow right into the next one with out skipping a beat.

There isn't a single miss on here, and the album's organization is top notch. My favorite track is still probably "Prayer of the Refugee", but I'm starting to lean more toward "Survive". I love the way it slowly builds, and then just explodes all over the place!

The Bottom Line: Not everyone's cup of tea, but if you enjoy any of the singles, I guarantee you'll love the album!

I'll keep it short and sweet. This is one of the best punk rock albums I've ever had the pleasure to hear, hands down. It is hard and edgy, driven, but unlike so many punk bands doesn't sacrifice melody and harmony to get that power. The lead singer can yell and still sound good!? I can't wait 'till I get the chance to see these guys live.

These guys rock. I love this cd. I can't stop playing it. The guitar riffs are freaking sweet. These guys have become one of my favorites. I'm shocked they aren't as well known as a band like Green Day. In my opinion these guys are better than Green Day. I can get sick of Green Day but not this. I think these guys are alot like Fuel. One of the most under rated bands out there. They deserve so much credit.