Alter Bridge Album: “AB III”

While the Creed reunion has been good in that it has kept Scott Stapp busy enough to stop chucking

bottles at women, it has also put the superior Alter Bridge on the backburner. Money talks, and when Mark Tremonti, Scott Philips and Brian Marshall stepped away from the band to relive their turn-of-the-century glory days, no one could blame them. Had it meant the end to Alter Bridge - a band that is getting progressively better and better with each album - then surely it would be a tragedy. No worries though, as the band has reconvened with frontman Myles Kennedy and producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (who oversaw production for 2007's "

" as well) to craft their epic third effort, simply titled "AB III."

Upon first listen to the album's dark and moody opening track, "Slip to the Void," it is obvious that Alter Bridge is ready and willing to step into new territory. No longer confined by their other dayjob, Tremonti and company let loose all over the record. Although more restrained than the riff-heavy "Blackbird," "AB III" shows a band branching out and honing their craft to perfection. These three guys play off of each other so naturally that they might as well be sharing a brain at this point. That's not to say Kennedy is a slouch himself, though. Quite the contrary, it is the singer who drives the bulk of the album. Whereas album's past were led by Tremonti's riffage and the solid rhythm section of Philips and Marshall, this record truly belongs to Kennedy. As one of the most unique and soulful singers in rock music today, Kennedy has become perhaps one of the most underrated frontmen in recent memory. His versatile voice, combined with the dark subject matter of songs like "Words Darker than Their Wings" makes this sprawling set a compelling listen.

If anything serves to slow "AB III" down, however, it's that the album is almost too jam-packed with songs like "I Know It Hurts" and "Show Me a Sign" which don't offer anything particularly fresh or exciting and only serve to slow down the pace of the record. Minor grievances aside, however, this is about as good as modern hard rock gets. If you are approaching this with prejudice because of Creed, perhaps nothing aside from the quality of the music itself can change your mind. Alter Bridge is everything a rock band should be nowadays; Progressive yet accessible and technically skilled song-writers who keep their music down to Earth. Not only are they outdoing themselves with each consecutive release, but they are putting quite a few of their contemporaries to shame in the process. It won't be long now before Creed has to live in Alter Bridge's shadow.

"AB III" is currently set for a November 9th release in the U.S.

First of all the band is fantastic! Musically, this is a great piece of work. I only wish I could hear it. The production and mix is disturbingly lacking in quality and quantity. I bought the CD but it sounds like a poorly compressed cheap mp3. Seriously, I have mp3s with better sound quality than this CD. It's really unfortunate that a great band capable of writing great music and executing it with similar mastery allows the producer/engineer to completely destroy all of their efforts. It's hard for me to believe this was planned by the band to sound this way. If I was allowed to listen to this disk before buying it, I wouldn't have because the sound quality is disgusting. I listen-compare this disk with anything else I have and it is noticeably lacking in audio range and dynamics-there are none. The engineering is what keeps me from giving a full 5 stars. I will give the band 5 stars and the producer gets 0 so I averaged it out at 3. As I mentioned, I'd really like to HEAR this CD but the production makes this extremely difficult.

This album continues where Blackbird left off, and it continues to advance the phenomenal work performed by the entire Alter Bridge crew. The progression from the first album continues to evolve into a great set of songs. There aren't any songs that I rush to skip when listening to the album. They musicianship is perfect with just the right mix of balladry, hard rocking, and even a splash of metal here and there. Kennedy's vocals soar and both his and Tremonti's guitar work here is top notch. Marshall and Phillips of course keep things tight with their solid grooves. For me the highlight tracks are "Slip to the Void" and "Words Darker Than Their Wings". Check out the latter for some lead vocals from Tremonti. What really strikes me about this album is the lyrics. The band members kept stating that this album would be darker than previous attempts, and in some cases they are right. But for the most part what I found was that their focus was on striving through and surviving the hard times. To me this didn't necessarily constitute darker lyrics but more realistic.

Overall the album is most definitely worth getting. Once you have it, make sure you give it a few listens. Alter Bridge has never really pushed to be a radio friendly band, and I actually think that gives their music more depth and even after hearing a song more than 50 times I can still find something new that I didn't notice before. Be sure to check these guys out live too. Their show is one I would pay triple what I've paid to see. Their live show takes what you hear on the cd to a whole new level, unlike some bands who sound like they can't sing and walk at the same time. Get to a show. You will not be disappointed.

Is this a great album. Yes! Is it better than most of the crap out there today. YES! But very few albums in the history of rock deserve a 5 star rating. Metallica's Black Album, 5 stars. Guns N Roses Appetite for Destruction, 5 stars. This album is a GREAT 3 star album. Has some incredible songs. But it doesn't really contain any songs you are going to be hearing everywhere for the next 50 years. Life Must Go On is the best, Couer d Alene is also awesome. I think Blackbird is their best album, then their debut album, then this. Great band, great guys, great music. But nothing that screams Rock n Roll Hall of Fame

It's official. These guys are unstoppable. What with Mark's guitar prowess, Myles' superb vocals, and the rhythm section, Brian's learned bass playing and Scott's absolute drumming, you have the rock band of these early 2000s. There's chemistry here between all four band members, and it shows through clearly on this album. You will hear Myles take the lead on guitar more than previous releases, and the same idea applies to Mark's vocals. On almost every track, Tremonti's backing vocals here or there, and on "Words Darker Than Wings," he even sings lead. Mark's actually an excellent singer in his own right, as revealed on the aforementioned track, and the same is also with Myles' guitar work. All this considered, I couldn't want anything more. And I never have, which is why I esteem this group so highly. As a side-note, Brian Marshall's bass is killer on this album, and Scott Phillips' drumming is infectious. Check out the bonus track "Zero" for Marshall's bass, and "Isolation" for Phillip's drumming.