Papa Roach Album: “Lovehatetragedy [PA]”

I figured I'd put in my opinion sence so many people seem to give this CD such a bad rep. Even large Papa Roach fans really seem to put down this CD. The fact is this is all around a great CD. The whole CD has a type of hopeless/angry moodset which I think turns people away, but infact, this is what makes it such a great CD. It's how Papa Roach draws their great energy and puts it into the music. It's one of the best modern Hard Rock albums fueled by these emotions. Getting to the actual songs.... Standout songs from the album are probably M-80 (Explosive Energy Movement), Time and Time Again, She Loves Me Not, Code Of Energy, and Gouge Away. I personally love all the songs. It is true that Papa Roach doesn't venture out much to try to make their songs drasticly different, but it kind of keeps with the albums mood. I should also mention that their vocalist is pretty freaking amazing, a great modern Hard Rock vocalist. Point is you probly have to hear it for yourself. If the only hard rock your into is like AC/DC, the fun stuff, then this probly isn't for you. A little more on the darker serious side.

Papa Roach's new album does not (in my opinion) compare to "Infest". I am, however, glad they got rid of [most] of the rap. Now I will review the songs.

1.M-80 (Explosive Energy Movement)-2/5-Punkier than the rest of the tracks, this song would be fairly good if it wasn't for the stupid lyrics.

2.Life Is A Bullet-4/4-A slower song, about someone "living life in the fsat lane". It's good, but gets boring after hearing it too many times.

3.Time And Time Again-5/5-Rappier than all the other tracks, only it's not rappy enough to be called...rap. Whatever, it's just good.

4.Walking Thru Barbed Wire-3/5-This is a pretty boring song. That's all I can say. Sounds no different from the rest.

5.Decompression Period-2/5-I always skip this one. It's melodic, and I usaully like melodic stuff, but this dosen't stand out at all.

6.Born With Nothing, Die With Everything-5/5-My favorite song on the album. Good guitars, bass, drums, singing, lyrics, everything.

7.She Loves Me Not-4/5-...Yeah, you've heard it...

8. Singular Indestructible Droid-5/5-Another cool track with good lyrics. I like the chorus.

9.Black Clouds-3/5-Slow song, like "Decompression Period", only it reminds me of Crazy Town's "Black Cloud" too much, and that song annoys me.

10.Code Of Energy-?-5-I haven't listened to this that much yet.

11.Lovehatetragedy-0/5-I am sorry, but nothing stands out to me in this song at all.

-------------------------Bonus Tracks----------------------------

12.Gouge Away-0/5-The singing in this is horrible, so horrible I've only been able to stand 30 seconds of the song. This should've been a normal track, that way they could've gotten a good song for the bonus.

13.Never Said It-0/5-...See previous.

Overall, this is an Ok Cd when noty compared to "Infest", which I think is better. The songs on here all sound pretty much the same, and the bonus tracks are nothing special, AND the special computer bonus footage dosen't work on my computer, so I'm pretty mad about that.

.....this album is really better than I had thought at first. I wrote a review giving it only four stars. (Well, actually 4 and a half stars.) This album is really a lot better than I gave it credit. I've had a chance to listen to this album more and more, and the more I hear it...the more I like it.

Unlike the first album, "Infest," "Lovehatetragedy," steers away from rock-rap and just dives into rock. With the exception of the last verse of "she loves me not," there is virtually no rapping at all. That may anger some fans....and yet, it may make fans more happier. I know it did for me. The lead singer really does have a great voice, and he takes advantage of it more than on the first album.

The songs are written a lot better, especially lyric wise. They're more deeper and emotional, even darker at times. The guitars also have improved more, as well as the drumming.

EVERY song on this album is good. My favorite songs still have not changed from the previous review, with the exception of adding "gouge away" to that list. But really, this is an album you can put on and not worry about what song it's on. A great album to play when driving! I still think that the only weak point of the album is the length. It's not even fourty minutes long. It would've been nice to have it longer. Then again, when do you get to hear an album with no bad songs? So I guess that makes up for it.

If you really like the group, I suggest getting the limited editon of this album. It has two extra songs, which are awesome, and it includes two live videos for the computer.

I've noticed that some people have been complaining about the "whining" that this band does in the songs. Dude, this is what rock and music is all about. How else are these guys going to get their emotions out? Isn't that why they wanted to be in a band in the first place? They may be famous, but they still have problems just like you and me. Just because you have it all, doesn't mean you HAVE it all, you know.

So, I've upgraded my rating of "Lovehatetragedy" to five stars. It really deserves it, and should've been the rating on my first review. Sorry about that. It's nice to see that the boys are starting to leave rap-rock and just play great rock music. Heavy, and brutally honest and emotion packed, "Lovehatetragedy," is a great album. If they keep it up, it looks like they will be around for a long time. It'll be something to see how these guys change when they come out with a third album.

I don't see whats wrong with this album.Its very good.Most of the songs are great.I don't own Infest,but I heard that there was alot of rapping on there and on here they canned it.Thats a good thing.I don't wan't to hear 'The artist formely known as Dick' rap alot on here(the only song that he raps a little on is the single, "She Loves Me Not").Yeah,they are kinda mainstream...But they are still very good.Yes,I would recomend this album if your a rock music fan(and try to get this limited edition version,too because the extra tracks are awesome!).So,go for it.

Papa Roach publicly stated that they wanted the follow-up to their debut album, Infest, to have a much more mature tone, and on that point they rightfully succeeded. By creating a healthy mix of rock and rap-influenced-rock lead singer Jacoby Shaddix (formally Coby Dick) is able to sing more, and rap less, which, depending on your liking of Papa Roach's music, is good or bad.

To those missing the hard-rock, rap-stunts aspect of Infest, you will find a much older band with much more melody. lovehatetragedy's first single, "She Loves Me Not," is a pop-inspired romp through a troubled relationship which feels somewhat alienated on the CD. The real winning tracks come in the form of "Time and Time Again," which has been recently featured in Pepsi Blue commercials, and the title track "lovehatetragedy."

As a prerequisite for most bands in this day and age, Papa Roach decided to feature a cover track of the Pixies "Gouge Away." As an example of the new emotional tone to Papa Roach, the song "Dark Clouds," Jacoby proclaims:

"This is making me crazy / These black clouds following me / So I look for signs of light / But rarely I see them."

You can see that things are much more organized, it almost feels as though the album was designed with a clear mind, instead of the disjointed Infest which stuck with a general tone, but featured ideas all over the place. With lovehatetragedy, things appear more concise with several ongoing themes present in each song including references to skin, depression, and love.

With a more emotional sound album, Papa Roach no longer becomes mixed in the shuffle of "hardcore bands" who scream, whim, and come off with a bad attitude. While the latest addition is not quite punk, it's not quite nu-metal, and it's not quite straight rock and roll, it does feature elements from all three of those genres and melds them together in a sometimes melody filled, sometimes beat filled rock session that brings Papa Roach to the surface of MTV wannabe's and rejects. Not saying that Papa Roach is wanting to be on MTV, it just may be better to remove them from that mindset and let them creatively explore their music rather than think about what some inane VJ thinks.

As a follow-up to Infest, lovehatetragedy proves that the sophomore curse isn't always as bad as some band's make it out to be. Even with the more emotion filled music with may drive off longtime, hardcore Papa Roach fans, this CD proves that bands get better with age and maturity.

-Erich Becker has a love/relationship with himself.