June 29, 2004 - We Are Not Alone

It's a double release day! Two years after their debut album "Saturate", Breaking Benjamin released their second album "We Are Not Alone" on June 29, 2004. This was their big breakthrough with a few succesful singles and it propelled Breaking Benjamin and their post-grunge/alternative metal style into the mainstream. Let's check out the latest!

The album kicks off with it's lead single "So Cold" and Benjamin Burnley plays a slow but decently epic rhythm guitar riff, Aaron Fink adds some nice light lead guitar and once Mark Klepaski and Jeremy Hummel come in with the heavy rhythm section Fink switches to some pretty cool and heavy lead guitar. They quiet things back down for the start of the verse and Burnley sounds super epic and solid singing softly for the most part but mixing in some nice yells as well. Things get heavy again as they shift to the chorus and Burnley sings a catchy and solid chorus overtop. This seems to be the perfect blend of Breaking Benjamin's heavy side with their lighter, melodic side and everything is very smoothly done so it's easy to see why this was a successful lead single. There's a pretty epic guitar solo after the next round overtop a nice heavy backing riff and they end the song on a pretty sweet headbanging riff as well. Very cool and epic stuff! Up next is "Simple Design" and they jump right into a groovy and pretty cool main riff with Fink playing some nice stop-and-start guitar to lead the way. Burnley sounds pretty epic once again with his singing and he nicely turns up the heaviness to match the mood with some nice borderline yells/screams overtop the heavier parts. The chorus is super catchy and solid and I'm a little shocked this one wasn't a single as I find it super accessible while still being quite good! They end it with another really solid closing riff and both of these songs so far have been strong and catchy the whole way through! Track 3 is "Follow" and it's got a solid little main riff that is upbeat and catchy even though it's a little repetitive. Hummel's drums are pretty solid and Burnely leads another pretty catchy verse. He holds some nice long notes in the radio-friendly chorus and these guys seem to have really polished up their sound; making them way more accessible but also much more epic! This song is easily the simplest and most accessible song so far, but it was still a good jam! The next track is "Firefly" and Burnely and Fink sync up for a loud, heavy and hard-hitting main riff that is pretty impossible not to headbang along with! Hummel's drums are really quite awesome throughout this whole song and once again Burnley delivers a smooth and epic verse that is mostly lighter, but has it's nice heavy moments. They slam nicely into the heavy chorus riff as Burnley belts out a super catchy chorus and everything sounds pretty sweet to me! Words really don't do proper justice to all the catchy and cool hooks in this song and it seems every song could have been a single, especially this one! Burnley has a couple full-fledged screams as well and this is just a such a wonderful little accessible metal package! My favourite song so far for sure! Track 5 is "Break My Fall" and it's got another catchy main riff that starts and stops and Burnley fills the gaps with a slow verse in between the main riff. The chorus is a little sappy but I think Burnley's voice sounds very powerful and he's definitely the highlight. Yet another song that seems like single material, but also another pretty solid tune! Up next is "Forget It" and it starts off very quiet and calm with Burnley playing acoustic guitar and singing a very soft verse to match. This is easily the sappiest song so far and it's still decent, but it's easily the least exciting and most boring song on the album for me. Track 7 is "Sooner Or Later" and they're back to a more typical hard rock main riff with a solid rhythm section driving things and Fink adding some cool lead guitar overtop. They quiet things down for the verse, but nicely return to loud for the chorus as Burnley sounds pretty epic singing the solid chorus. They stick to the main drag on this one but it's a fairly solid main drag and I didn't find that things dragged at all. The next track is "Breakdown" and it opens with a short bit of piano that is atypical but sounds pretty cool, then Burnely shouts "Breakdown!" and they slam into a heavy and pretty sweet chorus riff that is super catchy as well! They shift into a quieter verse with some epic drums by Hummel, then they nicely build things back up to the heavy chorus riff. The bass is pretty solid as well as everyone is doing a pretty great job on this super catchy song! Really nicely done! Track 9 is "Away" and it's driven by a super catchy and pretty cool main riff that easily gets the head banging. Burnley sings a smooth and solid verse overtop the catchy swinging riff and things flow very smoothly into another super catchy chorus. After a couple rounds Burnley gives us a pretty good short scream that sets the stage for a nice heavy new part and after a final chorus they close out the song with more heavy and pretty cool stuff. They are just full of super catchy yet more than solid songs on this album! Up next is "Believe" and you could say it fits the same template for sure, but when that template is yet another unique, decently heavy and very catchy main riff there are no complaints here! Burnley delivers another catchy and solid verse overtop the catchy stop-and-start main riff and he screams most of the chorus and he's got a great scream when he wants to use it(which isn't nearly enough)! The chorus riff is plenty heavy and yet also super hook-y and catchy and these guys have come a long way since their debut just a couple years ago! This is easily my favourite song on the album, and it's a decently high bar too! What an awesome song! The final song on the album is "Rain" and it's very much unlike the rest of the album as it's just Burnley! He carries things with a super slow acoustic guitar riff that is pretty smooth and he sings a really high verse overtop that is atypical and pretty pop-y, but he's doing a pretty good job in this setting as well even if it's obviously not their usual headbanging stuff. It's a well done song even if it's very out of place with the rest of the album and an odd choice for the closer if you ask me.

That is the end of "We Are Not Alone" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album by Breaking Benjamin! Almost every song is super catchy and easy to get into and they are just exploding with all kinds of cool metal riffs and Benjamin Burnley is a pretty sweet frontman. The whole band took some major strides and I think it's way better than their debut album "Saturate'. I'll be here to see if they can somehow top this one, though it's gonna be pretty tough!