Though this might come across as a gross generalization, I’ve found that most everyone can remember their First band. The First band they fell in love with. The First band they cried with. The First band they jammed to, head bobbing like a maniac as onlookers glanced their way with caution. For me (and a lot of other teenagers who went through what I like to call the ‘angst’ phase), this was Breaking Benjamin, and on June 23, they will be releasing their new album Dark Before Dawn after several years of dead air.
Having grown up in Music City (especially during a time when we were stereotypically limited to honky-tonk tunes and country wails), I rejected the sounds of my youth and went for the grunge and rock bands. I had many go-to guys—like Papa Roach, Nine Inch Nails, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! At the Disco—but of them all, Breaking Benjamin was the band that defined my teenage years, and their 2006 album Phobia got me through some of the toughest moments of my adolescent life—love, hate, apathy, you name it, and Breaking Benjamin had the song to define it and make it better.
So, of course, when I heard that Breaking Benjamin has a new album available for pre-order, the dormant teenager in me squealed. I headed to iTunes to get a taste of the newest tracks from the band that graced me with favorites like “Diary of Jane” (from their 2006 album Phobia) and “Rain” (from their 2004 album We Are Not Alone) and was not disappointed. The first glance alone had me practically dizzy with excitement.
With twelve tracks, their titles, the first being “Dark” and the last being “Dawn,” promise the same story-like quality of Breaking Benjamin’s previous albums. Three songs are currently available for purchase—“Angels Fall,” “Failure (http://ppcorn.com//breaking-benjamin-failure-single-review/),” and “Defeated”—and through these, we get a small taste of the album, which promises of both hell and redemption—a powerful combination emphasized by the smooth, yet gravelly vocals and hypnotic solos. Of the three available tracks, “Angels Fall” was my favorite, though “Defeated” and “Failure” were more reminiscent of the band’s earlier work. With just one listen-through, the chorus of “Angels Fall” was running through my head, and I was singing along, the poetry reminding me of every reason I fell in love with Breaking Benjamin in the first place. Though Ben Burnley, lead vocalist, is the only member of the original band who remains, the sound stays true to the original composition, and fans of their previous albums will not be disappointed by their new release.
FDRMX Eyes: UK based country hit makers Jess and The Bandits bring down the house with their electric cover of Bonnie Raitt’s “Love Sneaking Up On You.” Watch them perform the single in the studio in their newest mdic video!
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