Ember [LP]

So....I will admit that I went for years enjoying breaking ben singles without ever purchasing an album. Why you may ask? Why indeed? in retrospect...sadly I listened to their songs over and over again on the radio and quite frankly, I thought they were one of many who had some great songs on each album but could never create a whole album like them. Their hits are...as you know...insanely catchy and I never thought a full album could stand up. I was wrong... Anybody reading this is probably familiar with the top three: red cold River, tourniquet, and torn in two. All three fantastic songs...do you like them? Have you heard the rest of the album? If not, you are truly doing a disservice to yourself. The first two are in my opinion awesome songs, but far from the best on this monster...torn in two...will always hold a special place for me. The singing on this album is perfect, the intensity is perfect, the songs...I have had every single song on here stuck in my head for days. The album starts off almost hateful, like every person and thing in the world is to make a person suffer. Around the middle the mood starts shifting to the belief that love can end the suffering. A bit cliché but it may be a message that we all need to hear. This album has, in my opinion the best 3 song group I have ever heard. This is kindof the transition from hate to acceptance, to love. It includes "the dark of me" to "down" to "torn in two", if this does not make your heart bleed, I don't know what will. (And two of the three aren't singles). I don't think this is a concept album, but I do think it tells a dark story of where we are as a people. The singles are great, but the rest of the songs could easily be singles. I was wrong about breaking Benjamin...this is a piece of art from beginning to end. If you like the singles...please don't deprive yourself of the rest of this...masterpiece...there i said it. Check it out for yourself and tell me you don't agree!!

After listening to Dark Before Dawn, I had a feeling that Breaking Benjamin was an album away from something really special. Audio quality had been restored from its slump in Dear Agony and it was a general return to form. However, the album played it a little too safe for me. The lineup was new at the time, so I took it as a kind of testing grounds; a successful experiment. Ember takes what was learned from Dark Before Dawn and runs with it to great effect. It's a collaborative effort between band members that maintains a consistently high standard throughout. When it's heavy, it's really heavy. When it's soft, it's beautiful. Ember wastes no time demonstrating this, going from a brief piano-led opening track to slamming you into a wall of sonic excellence. This album is loud. You'll learn that early on with Feed the Wolf. Thankfully, it doesn't fall into a pit of heavily distorted compression that assaults your ears. The audio quality is crystal clear and it constantly begs you to turn it up. Think the quality of Phobia mixed with a heavier We Are Not Alone and you get Ember. There tends to be at least one song that I skip on every album, but that's not the case here. There isn't a single bad track here. I was floored by the care and consistent attention to detail throughout the CD. If you're curious about this one but aren't totally sold at the moment, try Feed the Wolf, Blood, or Red Cold River for the heavier stuff or The Dark of You or Torn in Two if you're looking for something soft. Ember is a great addition to Breaking Benjamin's discography. It marks a new high point for the band. Its excellent mixing, mastering, and musicianship make it a worthy addition not just to Breaking Benjamin fans, but anyone who is a fan of rock n' roll. This is one album I definitely don't regret reserving. Jump on this one.

Ok, this is gonna be a weird review. I do love this album . . . partially because Breaking Benjamin is one of my favorite bands . . . but i have to admit that it's not their best album (for me that would be Dark Before Dawn). Also, I'm REALLY fighting the urge to make a bunch of puns in my review with their previous song titles . . . maybe I'll add that at the end. Anyway, it's a solid album and it really has that unique feel that is so very much theirs, but none of the songs are really grabbing me the way some of the earlier ones did. However, I can say that I've been listening to it on repeat for the past 6 hours and I haven't felt the need to skip anything. Stand Out Songs: Feed the Wolf, Psycho, Blood, Close Your Eyes, Vega Pun Review: Breaking Benjamin's new album, breaking the silence of a 3 year gap since their last album, honestly leaves me a little hollow. It's not a failure, per se, but it does crawl a bit. I'm not one given to hopeless worry, so I did stick it out until the end. I'm not so cold as to say forget it, I did listen to it quite a few times and it is ok, but sooner or later I'm going to have had enough of this one and it will most likely fade away in favor of their earlier masterpieces.

Prodotto arrivato rapidamente e senza problemi durante il trasporto. Conoscevo il disco in formato digitale e ho voluto comprare la versione vinile, la registrazione ha la stessa qualità della versione HQ in digitale. Ottima qualità di stampa in quanto non presenta fruscii o scricchiolii dati da una cattiva stampa. Molto piacevole la definizione del suono, i bassi vengono resi bene e per chi apprezza la i Breaking Benjamin questa è la perfetta aggiunta alla propria collezione.

Ember is Breaking Benjamin’s eighth studio album released on 13th April 2018 and is the second album since the band’s hiatus and new line-up. The cover incorporates the band’s logo into fire (or an ember) within an eye and the booklet artwork follows the theme. Before Ben had formed the current band line-up with all new members beside for himself, he had already written all the songs for the comeback album Dark before dawn. The band only wrote one song together for that album (Never again) and that only just made it onto the album. After the success of writing together, Ben was inspired to write this next album as a band. Dark before dawn was produced and almost entirely written by Burnley but this album was produced and almost entirely written by the band as a collective. In fact, 9 out of 12 songs were written with at least one other member. The band has continued to develop their sound and Ben states that it is the most difficult album to play. Ben had apparently given in to fans’ demand for a heavier sound. I’m not sure who they were but it wasn’t me – I was more than happy with their last album! The music is undeniably heavier, features more screaming and generally cranks up the intensity. The album does vary in sound and displays quieter moments, sometimes throughout a song and sometimes mixed into the heaviness. The variety is what makes this album another intriguing listen and why Ben is one of the greatest songwriters. This album, like Dark before dawn and going back to Phobia; has an intro and outro (or prologue and epilogue if you will). Lyra and Vega (two constellations) are instrumentals that sandwich the main body of the album. Feed the wolf begins with heavy guitars and Ben immediately proclaiming, “I can feel the animal within”, kicking us off for a powerful and emotive journey. It sounds a bit different but it’s clearly Breaking Benjamin, with Ben’s hard-hitting lyrics and powerful vocals. The lead single Red cold river took a bit of getting used to for me. It mixes soft verses with a screaming, repetitive bridge, working into a decent chorus. Tourniquet is a definite highlight, with rhythmic guitar from the start, a building verse and awesome melodies we’ve come accustomed to, especially in the epic chorus. The lyrics are about the familiar struggle, anger and that little bit of implied hope. Psycho follows, equally powerful, but with less aggression and a more uplifting chorus. The dark of you changes sound; slowing things down with soft vocals amongst thought provoking lyrics and a big, extended chorus. Stylistically it’s different with an unusual arrangement. There’s only one verse and then a repeated chorus and outro. Down has rhythmical verses and a familiar chorus with the power to keep us going on. Torn in two was the second single, mixing heavy verses with a soft chorus, featuring higher register vocals. It’s clever. Blood is such an exciting track with so much rhythm and energy. You may notice Ben’s only use of a curse word on the album. On the last one there were none. The chorus is a proper headbanger with screaming but also a somewhat pop feel. It’s really catchy. The verses of Save yourself mixes sung vocals with screaming, followed by an interesting chorus. Close your eyes has energetic verses, which build up to a slower, trudging chorus that really pulls the listener in. Ben tells us how he will keep a dream alive and his emotion provides a rewarding experience. It’s a compelling ending. Ember is another amazing album for the Breaking Benjamin collection and a testament to Ben, not just as a songwriter but as a person. After being forced to completely change the band and releasing the comeback album, he decided to include everyone in the songwriting this time and it is clearly a success. I have the utmost respect for Ben as a songwriter because he continues to deliver a sound that has obviously progressed but continues to please the fans. So many bands have lost their way experimenting, but Ben has the ability to develop the sound and stay loyal to the band’s sound we love, and I admire that. Ben may still be writing about the same themes in a similar style but it’s why I love this band in the first place. Long may it continue!

Bestes Album für mich von BB! Hab bereits einige alten Klassiker wie mein Lieblingslied „Blow me Away!“ oder „Diary of Jane“ rauf und runter gehört, aber das Album gibt mir echt andere Vibes! Tolles Ding!

Muy recomendable. Ahora abusan de los coros en plan grave, pero más que antes. Me gustan prácticamente todas las canciones, pero las instrumentales del principio y final no aportan mucho.

One more to the collection