THE PARIAH, THE PARROT, THE DELUSION

I very much enjoy dredg so the two stars I give it were not given without a certain amount of trepidation. Perhaps I need to give the album a bit more time? I did with el cielo, but it's one of my favorite albums, always in rotation. Six or seven listens later I'm still caught, with the embarrassment I get by being caught listening to a 311 album. What I hear is formulaic music by competent musicians, musicians that used to catch my attention and make me want to listen (the 311 analogy will pick up in a moment, not here so much). What I hear is crappy lyrics (if you tell me otherwise then I'll assume you sit in a Starbucks and listen to an open mic there) layered over an attempt to spread a listening base that is accustomed to, well 311, Godsmack, Disturbed, Blink 182, or whatever superfluous fluff they have glued to their ear. This album seems like a desperate album, and not in a good way. There is no passion here. Passion exhaled from el Cielo. It wilts here.

It makes me angry writing about it, this band is great, let's not mistake that fact, this album however is not.

Tight band(dredg 2009) x tight production = not a great album+(sadness on my part)