Papa Roach - The Connection

Published October 03 2012

*=Staff's pick	Engage Still Swingin' Where Did The Angels Go* Silence Is The Enemy* Before I Die Wish You Never Met Me* Give Me Back My Life Breathe Me In Leader Of The Broken Hearts Not That Beautiful* Walking Dead Won't Let Up As Far As I Remember

Genre	Alternative Metal	Jacoby Shaddix	Vocals
Tracks	13	Jerry Horton	Guitar
Running time	46 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Eleven Seven Music/EMI	Tobin Esperance	Bass
Release	01 October 2012	Tony Palermo	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	James Michael, John Feldmann
Similar artists	---

Papa Roach sixth full length studio album in fifteen years and they are soon to be called veterans on the scene. I must admit that I haven't listened that often to Papa Roach's music before. I have been of the impression that they have a few hits, suitable for American radio broadcasting, on each record and then a bunch of songs to fill the huge void left by those hits. Someone may correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just saying.

The Connection shows some sort of well polished and somehow very captivating modern rock or metal light. It's easily digested and the choruses hit you like a ton of bricks and stays somewhere deep rooted in your mind. Papa Roach is mainly a chorus band, meaning they more often than not have softer, slower and rhythmic verses, yet heavy from time to time, followed by an extreme climax when hitting the choruses of the songs. Not different from many other bands, but here there are hardly no exceptions to the rule. They still apply their rap or nu-metal roots and rhythms or whatever you want to call them. That's something I could have lived without, but to be honest, only a couple of songs shows really heavy influences of it and really makes me think of all those nu-metal songs that hit us over a decade ago.

I'm a bit surprised with the choice of releasing one of the heavier songs off the album, Still Swingin', as the first single. Songs like Wish You Never Met Me and Not That Beautiful have immense hit factors that probably would outrun the already released single. Perhaps with this choice, they want to show a cooler, meaner and heavier side of the band and release softer songs as singles later?

This album is a very good one. Well produced and definitely worth checking out if you're into this type of music and if you're not, check it out anyway. I'm glad I did. Unfortunately, I can't compare this release to their past work, so I don't know how it stands up to their other albums, but I can tell you one thing for sure. It rocks. 7 chalices to Papa Roach and their new album.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	5	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe