Rise Against - The Black Market

Simple, but interesting album art

In short, this album is about what you would expect it to be.  Similarly to End Game, this album has a few standout songs but ultimately fades into the background of the Rise Against library.  Now, that doesn't mean this is a bad album by any stretch of the imagination.  But when you're a band that has classics like The Sufferer and the Witness and Appeal to Reason, it's hard to make albums that stand up to those.

The beginning of this album is actually the best and most memorable part.  The album starts with a simple but emotional orchestral intro that seems slightly out of place when the guitars, bass, and drums kick in; but it's cool enough of an intro where I can give it a pass and still enjoy it for what it is.

The second track, "I Don't Want to Be Here Anymore" is an incredible single like how "Satellite" was for the previous album.  The song starts off pretty good but it isn't evidently destined for greatness until the assault of bass and drums pumps you up during the first verse.  The transition from the verse into the pre-chorus is also a great fit as the pre-chorus would kind of show up randomly without it.  The chorus is instantly memorable even though nothing particularly outstanding is happening in it.  It's just very well written.  The bridge is also very well written from a transitional standpoint.  Even amongst accomplished writers, it's unusual to find bridges that fit as seamlessly as the one in this song; which has a perfect lead-in back into the final chorus and outro.  If you don't plan on checking out this album, the few minutes to check out this song is definitely worth your time.

The third song, "Tragedy-Time," stands out mainly because it sounds pretty different from anything else Rise Against has written.  It's much more melodic than their other songs, especially in the lead guitar parts.  Right from the start, the lead guitar grasps you with an incredibly catchy melodic-punk riff and overall, this song is very well written as well.  I've noticed in recent months that this song has gotten a fair amount of airplay on my local alternative station and, I would say, rightly so.  It's a good change-up to the rest of the shit on that station anyways...

The rest of the album is actually very unmemorable, but there are a few songs that devout Rise Against fans may want to check out.  "The Eco-Terrorist in Me" has a very reminiscent feel to it that will remind you of Revolutions Per Minute.  It's also not a half-bad song; it'll get you pumped.  Other than that, the end of the album also has a phoned-in acoustic ballad, "People Live Here" that isn't bad but doesn't stand up to "Hero of War" or "Roadside."

At the end of the day, not a bad album but one that will most certainly fall victim to being overshadowed by an already incredible discography.  For Rise Against fans that want something new to listen to, I would say that you should definitely get this.  For every listener, a couple of the more generic songs that I didn't mention in this review will probably find a spot with you where it didn't for me.  However, if you're more of just a generic punk fan, it's probably not worth your time to check out the whole album and the first three songs that I discussed would probably be the only ones worth your while.

The Black Market Image:  http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91FYDwsLixL._SL1500_.jpg