This is an open forum for staff members, contributers, and fans alike to submit their reviews on the latest music releases and concerts. In an industry that is drowning with overprocessed, grossly overrated, unoriginal crap these days, this is our chance to allow the real stars to shine, if only on our humble, little stage; and expose you to some of our favorite talents.
Reviews are given 1 - 5 stars.
1. Stay Alive (Studio)
2. Everything to Lose (Studio)
3. Stillframe
4. Made of Glass
5. Hollowman
6. Stand Up
7. Skin Deep
8. Echo
9. Disconnected
10. Waiting
11. Headstrong
Ok, before I start I have to say that I was never really a big Trapt fan. I had heard their first (self-titled) CD at a friend’s house and liked a song here and there, but that wasn’t enough of an incentive for me to go out and buy the CD. To me, it seemed like every song was about fighting or “breaking someone’s face”, and personally I can’t stand this inspiring yet violent form of lyrical composition. But I had never thought of Trapt as a bad band and always respected them for what they do. After listening to Trapt LIVE! I have gained even more respect for the band. Not only are the two new studio tracks appealing, but their live show is great! The sound isn’t far from listening to the actual CD’s, and to me the live show is one of the most important aspects of a bands musical arsenal, if not THE most important.
The CD kicks off with “Stay Alive”, one of the two new studio songs. It’s not a bad song, has good guitar work and a chorus that isn’t annoyingly catchy. It has all the same elements of a Trapt song- Chris’ voice hasn’t changed a bit, and some of the parts will have you singing along without realizing it. The music sounds like a Trapt song usually does- nothing too technical, toe tapping rhythms, etc. The next studio song, “Everything to Lose”, is my favorite of the two new songs though. It gets off to a slow start, but when it really gets going you will want to get up and jump around. The chorus features the lyrics “That mask you wear is wearing you” which I think are pretty amazing because personally I can relate that to a whole lot of people. The chugging palm mutes of the pre-chorus are mosh-worthy and are a nice surprise after the slower verses. If these songs are any indicator of how their next CD will sound, they may have gained a new fan.
Now on to the live section of the album. Like I said before, Trapt sounds great live. They also seemed to get the crowd involved a lot. These are great things because I know there are bands that I loved, but when I saw them live I lost my likeness for them because they sounded nothing like their recordings. Or sometimes bands are great live, but they don’t get the crowd involved at all during their live shows. I absolutely loved the song choices for the live CD. “Stillframe”, “Made of Glass”, “Hollowman”, and “Echo” were all songs that I found to be great from their self titled debut CD. Not a big fan of the singles “Headstrong” or “Stand Up”, but they did perform them great. There were also some songs from “Someone In Control” that I had never heard but were a welcome surprise. Most of the songs are from the self-titled CD though, so if you are not a big fan of that album in particular then I would not suggest you buy this CD.
Overall, I was very pleased with this album and would definitely recommend it to any fan of rock music. However, it is how you would expect Trapt to sound, so don’t expect any surprises here. If you are not a fan of their singles, then this is not for you!
Reviewed by: Justin Thomas | October 2007
