Billy Talent - III

Billy Talent is the best group to come out of Canada since Rush. At least after listening to their third album I bleieve that. I enjoyed the first two albums, but this is the album where the band really starts to shine. Gone are the days of screaming Punk/Metal angriness. Now comes the cool, collected, well thought out mastery of a band that has been studying and learning. Ian D'Sa (guitar and vocals), Jon Gallant (bass and vocals), Ben Kowalewicz (voice) and Aaron Solowonium (drums) have crafted a collection of eleven songs that are almost all brilliant.

Devil On My Shoulder opens up the album. This has a great riff, and an even better sound. I love how thick and heavy the mix is on this song. This is the rock I love, thick, raw, heavy, and fist pumping. I mean this song angries up the blood a little, but think about what the title is, and then go from there. Also the the solo is perfect. It's not some blistering showboat solo, it flows right with the song, and then there's the bass break down, and the thundering return of the instruments.

By the time Rusted From The Rain reaches the one minute marker I'm banging my head with slow weight. This song gives me hope for the future. Not only is it musically beautiful, but it's lyrically well done. "I stumble through the wreckage, rusted from the rain / There's nothing left to salvage, no one left to blame / Among the broken mirrors, I don't look the same / I'm rusted from the rain, I'm rusted from the rain / Dissect me until my blood runs down into the drain / My bitter heart is pumping oil into my veins / I'm nothing but a tin man, don't feel any pain / I don't feel any pain, I don't feel any pain" I just find myself cranking this song louder and louder everytime I hear it, and howling to the moon that "I'm rusted from the rain".

When it comes to lyrics Billy Talent really delivers. They write stories, poetry, and real thoughts. It's not some cheap Pop crap, that's all "Hey Baby." Instead it's "No one ever thought that she was capable / And the damage done is irreversible / Now she clings to life inside a hospital / Like she's trapped inside a frozen waterfall / Always said her life was never meant to be / Stuck here living someone else's dream / Well beyond your window there is so much more / Even every prison has an open door / Veronica, Saint Veronica / You can't leave this world behind / So be strong enough, to hold on to us / It's just not your time to die". That's not including the music, which in the case of Saint Veronika is a bit basic for this band, but still heavy as fuck.

The best way I can think of to describe Billy Talent III is Danzig meets Metallica, meets The Sex Pistols, meets Canadian musical genius.

Tears Into Wine is the first song on this album that falters in any way, and that just because it sounds like it may have been a left over from the previous album, in musical style. It sounds a bit stock for them, but the lead guitar work is really cool, and I love the tones they opted to use for it.

White Sparrows is a bit laid back and mellow. This track is a little Emo for my liking, but it has a great pick up into the chorus. It's the best part of the songs, when you hit the mid section. Pretty much around the 2 minute marker this song just let's it all out in a rage fitting of Darth Vader learning Padame died.

Sometimes the easiest songs are always the best ones. Pocketful Of Dream, is a very simple song, but I love it. The arrangements are a bit complex, but what's being played is very basic, but great Rock N' Roll basic. It's all about rocking out on this song.

One of my favourite things about Billy Talent III is that it's really a diverse album. Each song clearly sounds like Billy Talent, but they keep changing it up for every song. For example The Dead Can't Testify has major heavy bottom end pumping through, and the lyrical content is scary as shit "So they marched me down to the center of town, / With their pitchforks high in the air. / I was chained and bound with a blindfold around / So the judge wouldn't catch my stare. / And they hung my soul from the gallows pole / But the witch they never found. / So to those who don't fit society's mold, / Learn to swim or you will drown.". However, this song is just musically astounding. There is such an intense beauty to the guitar work that I can't help but love this song.

Okay, so every album has to have that one song that you don't know what to make of it, and on this one it's Diamond On A Landmine. It's a really good song, but I have no clue how to accurately depict this one. It's probably the most Popish song on the album, and has a weird upbeat sound to it considering what the lyrics are."Forever, forever / I'll walk a thousand miles / Just to tell her, to tell her / Our love is still alive / And I'll never, I'll never / I'll never let it die / Well you'd better watch your step / She's a diamond on a landmine".

The bassist in this group knows how to play rhythm, and the producer Brendan O'Brien understands how to use it. The groove on Turn You Back is so damn thick, that it's a big, fat, chubby hard-on for the bassist in me. This song is like Billy Talent's Dirty Deeds, if that song had mostly bass playing the whole way through.

It's easier to list which songs don't get me off, than it is to list the ones that do. Sudden Moments is the second of two. It's an okay song, but it's stock for Billy Talent. It's a filler, before the last track on the album. However, it's still a decent tune.

The album ends with Definition Of Destiny. "So get off my road, no, I won’t be told / Cause I got my own / Definition of destiny / Yeah, take back control and don’t let it go / The future’s unknown / Definition of destiny / Definition of destiny". Simple, yet when mixed with the music, this song becomes a beast. This is how an album is supposed to finish. It's not just some cheap little track. It's a full blown exercise in musical prowess. These guys are whipping it out and beating everything with the instrumental erections.

This is honestly the first CD I have bought that came out in the last decade, by a group that came out in the new millenium, that is hands down amazing. If it weren't for the two kind of weak songs on this album it would be a perfect ten to me. It's everything that great music is supposed to be.

9/10 - content

10/10 - production

10/10 - personal bias