Some bands thrive on having “That Song”. You know, the one mega-hit with the intro that pops into your head the second someone says their name. The problem is, “That Song” is often the one that doesn’t represent a band’s sound as a whole – think The Stranglers ‘Golden Brown’ – and that was exactly where Rise Against sat in 2005. ‘Swing Life Away’ is a lovely acoustic ballad, and one that sent their debut, ‘Siren Song Of The Counter Culture’, into the charts…but it wasn’t what the defiantly punk band were all about. Their label sent them into the studio with Rage Against The Machine’s producer to record their followup in order to create a polished, radio-friendly followup. Telling four outspoken punks to tone down the social commentary and write nice songs went exactly as well as you’d expect, and the sessions broke down.
What we got instead as a sophomore album was ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’: written in three weeks, a string of singles and the birth of the definitive melodic...
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