Alter Bridge – Alter Bridge

Hard Rock | Heavy Metal

70%

 

To my mind a self-titled album is a statement of intent. It’s saying to the world “this is who we are!” – hence why they’re usually reserved for debuts. When a band releases a self-titled album many years into their career, it generally projects one of two things. Either they’re going through some stylistic reinvention and are seeking a fresh start, or they believe that this latest body of work offers a snapshot of them at their best, and truly encapsulates their sound. That’s the idea anyway. Sometimes an eponymous record seems named so, simply because the band have become so bankrupt of ideas that they can’t even think of a name for their new album. 

I was curious enough about what a self-titled record would mean for Alter Bridge, that I felt a need to check back in with them for the first time in a good long while. Their first few records were truly formative for me in my teenage years. There was a time when I called them one of my favourite bands, and listened to their music every day, but truth be told that feels like a lifetime ago now. I’m not sure I even bothered to listen to their last few records – or if I did, they left such a meagre impression that I’ve long forgotten them. It’s not that they possessed some great failing or major misstep, rather they just felt like tired. Over time becoming a photocopy of a photocopy; the same again, but with less definition and clarity of purpose each time. This latest record sadly continues that trend. 

It’s an enjoyable enough listen – Myles Kennedy is still an A tier vocalist, bringing soaring hooks to what may be some of the band’s heaviest work yet. Mark Tremonti’s guitar work is in fine form, with the blistering solo on ‘Rue The Day’ and the sprawling extended guitar passages on the closing epic ‘Slave To Master’ proving to be some of the album’s highlights. I can’t really point a finger at anything especially wrong with this record, and if this was your first encounter with Alter Bridge then you may well find a lot here to love, yet I can’t help but come away feeling like the band have lost something.

I listen to ‘Slave To Master’, their longest and arguably most ambitious cut to date, expecting to awed by this latest epic, but it only captures a fraction of the grandeur, atmosphere and storytelling that their opus ‘Blackbird’ did nearly 20 years ago. When I heard the stripped back balladry of ‘Hang by a Thread’, I was expecting to be gripped by something as beautiful and moving as ‘Wonderful Life’ or ‘Watch Over You’, but the only way it pulled at my heartstrings was by reminding me of older, better songs. This latest record, and what little I recall of the few releases that came before it, suffers from a lack of heart. The musicianship, the hooks, the vocals etc are still as great as they’ve ever been, but it feels like there is less emotion behind them. No inner passion let fly, no long held grief at last offered some cathartic release, no compelling story waiting to be told. 

Perhaps I’m blinded by nostalgia; putting the songs I grew up with on a pedestal, content to leave all that came after in their shadow. Or perhaps Alter Bridge have reached the point of their career where they’re simply going through the motions. I suspect the truth lies somewhere between the two. This self-titled album is not representative of the band at their best, and it’s certainly not a meaningful reinvention. I think if we’re ever to see Alter Bridge at their best once again, what’s needed is not some monumental stylistic shift, but simply a rekindling of the heart and humanity that was once so central to their music,