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Life Of Agony

Broken Valley

Written by: PP on 28/07/2005 03:24:38

Many longtime fans of Life of Agony have rated "Broken Valley" as a bad album in comparison to the other records. Sure, the band gained almost a legendary status in the grunge/post-grunge scene with the 1993 and 1995 albums "River Runs Red" and "Ugly" respectively, and this record in no way compares to those early releases neither in style nor quality. But think about it: How many bands do you know whose each and every album is a masterpiece? I'll vote for none. All this being said, this is by no means a bad album. It kicks off with the solid, aggressive, dirty "Love To Let You Down" - a song which is easy to fall for already during the first listen, while it gives you an idea of the direction the rest of the album will head towards: a solid, aggressive and a memorable post-grunge record. Another thing many fans have been saying is that nearly every song on "Broken Valley" gives the listener a feeling 'Hey, I must have heard this before somewhere..' and not without a reason. Throughout the album it feels like you're listening to either one of the post-grunge supergroups Velvet Revolver or Audioslave. Some judge this as a bad aspect, but in my assessment, "Broken Valley"'s songs sound a light-year better than "Be Yourself" or "Slither" on any given day. "Junk Sick", for instance, could be a song on Audioslave's debut album, and it would be the catchiest, grungiest, most enjoyable song on the disc. And with careful listening, it is also possible to draw a close - almost too close - comparison to Tom Morello's guitar effects in his RATM solos during "Don't Bother"'s solo. So is this album a rip off from all of the aforementioned bands? Life of Agony are playing with fire here, and a possible follow up to "Broken Valley" will answer this question with more basis for judgement. But if you're just looking for a solid, catchy heavy rock/grunge/post-grunge album, go for this one.

Download: Love To Let You Down, Junk Sick
For the fans of: Audioslave, Stone Temple Pilots

Release date 14.06.2005
Sony