Phobia

Description

Forming in 1998, and led by vocalist and guitarist, Benjamin Burnley, Breaking Benjamin have forged their own path through their angst-fuelled lyrics, crunching guitars and swelling choruses, that has seen them sell in excess of 7 million albums in the US alone as well as 5 gold albums and a number one record on the Billboard 200. With the recent release of Ember, on April 13th this year, it’s time to re-discover the catalogue of an astounding band. Review: No phobia of Phobia! - Breaking Benjamin really shaped and defined their sound with Phobia into their most powerful effort yet. Whereas Saturate was very diverse and We are not alone had a darker sound with a couple of acoustic tracks thrown in for good measure this album doesn't have any acoustic songs (except The diary of Jane acoustic bonus track) which makes the album a little more consistent and the album is very strong on the whole. The only issue is that things don't really mix up in this album and there is a somewhat analogous sound which you can either view as a positive thing or slightly negative. I have no real complaints about this album and I think the sound that was shaped on this album is very strong and epic. The artwork for this album is definitely interesting and grand with the front cover being what looks like an angel suspended over a highway with the band's logo underneath. That's pretty cool! The inner booklet seems to be pictures of an old mansion, both interior and exterior aspects shown. It definitely gives off a dark feeling which coincides with the music. With this collector's edition you get a bonus track of The diary of Jane acoustic on the CD and a 1 hour live concert filmed in Pennsylvania in 2007 for the band's homecoming on the DVD. It's a great concert with tracks from up to this point and the energy that the band displays is amazing. I love watching Ben onstage, his expressions are awesome and he`s a great band leader and showman. As for The diary of Jane acoustic on my first listen I found this version of the song awful. They have taken out all the guitars and the backdrop of music is just the piano. All the intensity has been removed with no screaming and soft melodic vocals by Ben. It's like everything which made the track appealing to me has been removed. The album starts and ends (except for the bonus track) with an intro and outro which are basically plane sounds and an airport voiceover with the sounds of a car door being shut This ties in with the theme of phobia. The outro is more musically satisfying than the intro with a heavier sound and some incredibly weird screeching noises to close out. It's also nearly twice as long. The diary of Jane is my favourite Breaking Benjamin song. It was 1 of the two first songs which I heard by the band and which I downloaded onto my mp3 player. The song is so intense and the aggression is amazing. It really conveys the feeling of a man in pain in a relationship that has gone so wrong which I can relate to. He's lost and it sounds like he just wants to remove himself from this circle of agony desperation. Epic! I also love how this song talks about trying to get his place in a diary of a girl which is different than anything else. Those are the best songs. The ones that speak to you in a different way than anything you've heard before. Breath is another one of the first songs I heard from the band and I love it. Once again the song conveys feelings of a relationship gone wrong where the guy is fighting through the pain and has discovered what this girl is really like. You is a pretty strong song. The verses are soft and builds up into a great chorus. I like how he's telling the person to leave the past behind and just ends saying `You', which is different. Evil angel is one of the best on the album with an awesome sound going from a floating verse to a powerful chorus. I love the concept of an evil angel too. Until the end is one of my two favourites. It's an incredible song about going on until the end no matter what. It says that even when you put in so much effort it's never enough but you keep going and I can totally relate to this song. Dance with the devil is another one of the best and I also really like this concept. It sounds like the situation has got so bad in whatever this guy's going through which sounds like a relationship and it's got to the point where they dance with the devil. This song has seen me through. Topless is a song which I definitely wasn't a big fan of on my initial listen but since going through some things in my life I can totally relate to it and I think even though the cursing in the chorus was a turn-off to me initially it's definitely powerful. Here we are is another of my favourites (there are a lot of awesome songs on this album!). The verse is soft and backed with acoustic guitars but the chorus is incredibly powerful and I love the melody. It mixes so well together. It also has one of the only solos in a BB song and this one is the best. The songs talks about how the couple are fighting through the problem, the loneliness and the final release of freedom which the singer yearns for. Unknown soldier begins with the sound of a helicopter and has the themes of war and a relationship torn apart. Had enough is another favourite about someone who just wants everything and how the singer will lead them into misery and they'll get what they deserve. Powerful and amazing. On my first couple of listens to You fight me I thought this song didn't really know what it wanted to be because it was so intense and aggressive and then it goes soft, but I actually like the mix of sounds. I also like the concept of this guy fighting his partner in another complicated relationship. The song is definitely diverse and different to the sound of the other songs on this album. Review: Masterpiece - One of my favourite albums ever, and favourite from BB. I've listened to this a million times on Spotify and YouTube so I had to buy myself a copy. My favourite song is You.