Staind are from Massachussetts and play loud, dark, crunchy grunge with
minimal melodic lines on Dysfunction (Elektra, 1999).
Suffocate and Mudshovel are state-of-the-art heavy metal.
A Flat flirts with Soundgarden's melodic hard-rock before derailing
in grindcore growls.
The band proves capable of more affecting dynamics with the
Nirvana-style power-ballad Just Go
and with the progressive-metal of Raw, that take hints from
Prong, Metallica and Dream Theater.
Bring The Noise pays tribute to rap-metal and industrial music.
The album is varied and the musicians are competent. What is missing is
personality.
The gentler, slower
Break The Cycle (Elektra, 2001) fares even worse. Not only the melodic
element is much stronger (as in "sell out") but the songs range from the
obnoxious (Open Your Eyes< Take It) to the trivial
(Fade, For You, Can't Believe).
Lamer ballads than It's Been Awhile or Epiphany or Outside
are made only in Nashville.
The only moments of passable emotion come from two Nirvana-style rants:
Pressure and Waste.
Every single note on this album has been done before generations before.
Basically, this is an exercise in necrophilia.
14 Shades of Grey (East West, 2003) is even
more shallow and formulaic.
Chapter V (Elektra, 2005) is another bland recapitulation
of Staind cliches.
The Illusion Of Progress (2008) was a sell-out to the midtempo power-ballad;
but Staind (2011) was even worse.
