Released: Apr 26, 2010
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Jive Records
Number Of Tracks: 11
Bullet For My Valentine's third studio album features no shortage of impressive riff work, but the band also proves it's not afraid to show its sensitive side.
FeverFeatured review by: UG Team, on april 27, 2010 10 of 16 people found this review helpful
Sound: Bullet For My Valentine has always had a fairly strong sense of melody within its past work, but the Welsh band’s latest album Fever does seem to place more emphasis on that side than ever before. As a band that has been greatly inspired by classic metal artists like Metallica and Iron Maiden, the quartet hasn’t completely abandoned its heavier roots. There is plenty of skillful guitar work to be found among the 11 tracks, and while impressive, those moments are actually overshadowed by the clean vocal parts during the choruses. Fever doesn’t deliver any huge surprises in the end, but it does show that BFMV isn’t afraid to show its sensitive side.
The CD opens with “Your Betrayal,” an incredibly catchy, standout tune that remains fairly consistent with BFMV’s past work. There is a back-and-forth approach in the chorus in terms of screaming/singing, and the general format of the song could be considered trademark BFMV. Accentuated by militaristic drum beats and energetic strumming, “Your Betrayal” is a solid choice to kick off the record. The title track is one of the heaviest on the album, and it makes you wish that the band would have delved a bit more into more of a straightforward metal sound for the entire album. Sure, there are riffs galore to be had on the album, but “Fever” has an angrier approach altogether that works extremely well. Between the pinch harmonics, the in-your-face (but clean) delivery from Matt Tuck, and an overall fresh approach to songwriting, “Fever” is the best offering on the album.
For all of the riff lovers out there that eagerly await what Tuck and Michael Paget’s latest guitar mastery, you should be pretty fulfilled with Fever. It’s jam-packed with a feast of skillful leads that range from your general Maiden-worthy licks to classically inspired material (“The Last Fight”), and those elements do elevate the album. The verdict is still out if BFMV is truly metal, as many of their tracks do have a pop sensibility underneath the core songwriting. That’s not to say that Fever is devoid of low-end, grinding riffage, but a ballad like “A Place Where You Belong” could easily be heard on a good deal of radio stations. In general, Fever doesn’t feature songs that venture too far out of the band’s comfort zone, but again, it’s a feast for the ears if you enjoy hearing various guitar techniques. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrical content on Fever is pretty standard rock material, with a good deal involving emotions/relationships. Whether it involves reflection on one’s own flaws in “Begging For Mercy” (“Please forgive me; I don't know what I'm doing; Someone help me”) or being torn over a dying affair in “Your Betrayal” (“My heart is pounding as I say goodbye; So now I dance in the flames; I love you crying and screaming my name”), the lyrics come from heartfelt emotions that a broad audience should relate with – even if they’ve heard the themes before. // 7
Impression: To BFMV’s credit, the band isn’t afraid to pull out an acoustic if it’s for the good of a song. While Tuck and Paget certainly make an effort to pepper the faster tempos with insanely impressive guitar work, songs like “A Place Where You Belong” and “Bittersweet Memories” certainly showcase a mellower side that revolves around a strong base melody. Of course, songs like that also push them away from some metal purists, but at this point BFMV has probably realized that you can’t please everyone all the time. // 7
Fever
Reviewed by:
BlackMist, on april 27, 2010 23 of 42 people found this review helpful
Sound: It has been over two years since Welsh metalcore band 'Bullet for my Valentine' have had an album released and established in the UK and US charts - however, given the lengthy amount of time the band had to work with 'Fever', it still comes as very much the same package that listeners experienced with 'The Poison', but more so 'Scream, Aim, Fire'. Essentially, this album establishes the band's sound even further instead of taking their music in a progressive direction, which is arguably the downfall of the record.
'Fever' throws no surprises at the listener at all, but rather simply sticks to the well known formula that has gotten 'Bullet for my Valentine' so far up until present, except this time it begins to wear a little thin. The band don't seem to have come an awful long way since their last record - the song structures on 'Fever' still follow a very close replica of those heard on 'Scream, Aim, Fire', and the few that don't simply seem to fall into the category of 'filler songs' on this very confused and mixed up album.
'Fever's opening track, 'Your Betrayal', begins with an intro that any self respecting guitarist has heard a thousand times over, and sad to say, almost the whole album carries on this way - dry, overused chord progressions and unimaginative use of the two guitars let this track in particular down, but not as much as the lyrics and vocals do - the concepts and ideas behind 'Bullet's' lyrics seem to follow the same trend as their actual musical composition does - write, rinse and repeat. More on the lyrics later in the review.
It is tracks such as 'Breaking Out, Breaking Down', 'Begging For Mercy' and 'Last Fight' that establish 'Fever' even further as a very predictable record in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, whilst the last two albums from this band have been very similar, neither have captured the energy and excitement that was clear throughout their début album, 'The Poison'.
The tracks all seem to be very single layered, conceptually and musically, which is probably the only thing that has actually changed about 'Bullet' over the past few years, and quite frankly I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I miss how it used to be.
The production on 'Fever' has to be questioned at times too, especially on tracks such as 'Alone' and title track 'Fever'. From my first few listens, the bass was practically unheard and the tone of the guitars is simply a clichéd max-gain humbucker fest to epic proportions. It's issues like the mastering of the guitars and poor vocal recordings that makes 'Fever' suffer at times when it could have clearly pulled itself back into the domains of an above average album rather than a simple meltdown of everything we have heard before.
The solos often seem weak and blurred - whether they lose their appeal through means of production or content, I'd say it's a mix of both. Nonetheless, disappointing guitar work on the whole. You'll hear the typical 'Bullet' harmonies and palm muted riffs on every track though, if that's your thing. // 5
Lyrics and Singing: Quite simply put, I found the lyrics to be very basic and lacking in every context you exam them in. Highlights include title track 'Fever' which fall short very badly, simply seeming to be explaining a fourteen year old's first experience at a house party. Whether this was the bands intention I don't know, but if it was they've hit the nail on the head.
Bar a couple of tracks, all the songs on 'Fever' also seem to be about the exact same thing - either liking a girl and she doesn't want to know, or liking a girl who is bad news. (Ring any bells? Yep, you guessed it - just like their first two albums.) I must be beginning to sound like a broken record, but everything on this album we have literally heard before and it's extremely disappointing from a personal point of view. I like to see artistic progression - and if this is what you are looking for, then 'Bullet for my Valentine's' new album is not the place to find it.
All lyrics are seemingly blunt and to the point, but to an all new level. There are no clever uses of metaphors or simply even songs left to the listeners interpretation, but rather everything is made perfectly clear with the very bland writing technique that was used throughout 'Fever'. At times, (as mentioned before, especially on title track 'Fever') the lyrics are almost cringe worthy to listen to, so if you're into subtle messages cleverly explained through the means of poetry and song writing, you ain't gonna get it here. // 2
Impression: Whilst I'm well aware I've been very negative about this album throughout the whole review, there are glimmers here that almost make 'Fever' more than just worthwhile, but a fair album. If you are a 'Bullet' fan and simply want more of what we've all heard in the past, you'll be in absolute bliss - this album was written for you. If, however, like me, you are looking for something slightly new and innovative from these Welsh rockers then you're going to be disappointed.
As I mentioned before, there is still some appeal in 'Fever', albeit in small doses. 'Dignity' could almost sound like a track that didn't quite make it onto 'The Poison' - though like many of the songs on the album, poor lyrics and questionable production weaken the foundations of this stand out track. 'Bittersweet Memories' is reminiscent of 'Tears Don't Fall' at times, but never quite stands up next to the classic track that brought 'Bullet' onto the scene.
In summary, 'Fever' is a very mediocre album at best. I realise I've written a lot of negative things in this review, but if I was to list the positives then there simply wouldn't be any point as I'm sure you've heard it all before with the previous two albums. Whilst parts of 'Fever' are enjoyable, it is safe to say that it doesn't equal 'Bullet for my Valentine's' past two works, and will not stand the test of time.
There is fun to be had here for die hard fans, but for the rest of us, we can only hope for a more ambitious and innovative forth album. // 5
Fever
Reviewed by:
Mr_Cbone93, on may 05, 2010 2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Sound: First of all let me start off by saying that I am a pretty big bullet fan as they were the first metal/hard rock band that I started listening to, so my review might be biast in there favor. However, I don't agree, even from a purely musical standpoint, that this album is as bad as many people claim.
For starters, this album (in my own opinion) has a better sound than either of their previous albums. And though many seem to claim that "The Poison" was their best work... in my opinion, it lacks the maturity, both in talent and feeling, of their later 2 albums. "Fever" showcases much more of Bullets skill in guitar playing than their previous atempts. There are plenty of riffs that (while slightly forgettable) still make you instinctively bang your head, or whatever else a nice heavy riff makes you do. Also Matt has learned to put much more emotion into his voice and lyrics than on the previous albums, songs "A Place Where You Belong" and "Pretty on the Outside" show this emotion at its best. The album is filled with melodious choruses and fast paced verses. And definately does not let down those who like to hear Bullet's softer side. However, if the only thing that you enjoyed about their debut album were the angry screams and typical metalcore sound, you probably should have abandoned ship after "Scream Aim Fire" as you will find this album lacks those qualities as did "Scream Aim Fire". But for those of us that stayed and watched as the band played on you will find this album far superior to their sophomore attempt. And those of you that just love Bullet should find this album superior even to their debut (again in my opinion).
Keeping in mind the previous two albums, I have to say that this album is a step in the right direction in overall sound and I'm expecting a bigger step for the fourth album. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: Although I am a bullet fan, I never have found their lyrics to be extremely great(although most of you seemed to be expecting good lyrics from "Fever"). However, I don't tend to judge songs based on lyrics... I'm more of a passive listener that likes songs that sound good. However, when I read the lyrics provided in the album (always helpful), I find that this album lacks the lyrical talent that the previous two albums showed. That being said, there are a few exceptions to the that statement, "A Place Where You Belong" is one of the saddest showings of lyrics that I've ever heard. Also "Bittersweet Memories" and "Pretty on the Outside", show strong emotion. However, as is the case with most of Bullet's previous work, the lyrics are for the most part simplistic and showcase ultimately generic subjects. The two breakthrough songs that I see are "The Last Fight" and "Dignity", as these are the two songs that don't have to do with the overused subjects of girls and relationships. Overall, the lyrics aren't extremely memorable and are far from Bullet's best. // 7
Impression: Overall, a fairly good album and a good buy if you like melodious hard rock, however i wouldn't recommend it to fans of the old Bullet. But if you liked "Scream Aim Fire" or if you thought it was just okay, you can expect "Fever" to be a fairly solid album with many catchy choruses.
The one thing that put this album above "The Poison" and "Scream Aim Fire" is the lack of a song that you just skip every time it comes on("Hit the Floor" and "End of Days" in my opinion). all of the songs are good listens.
However, if you don't plan on buying this whole album but would like to know the best songs to buy here is my list from worst to best (again, strictly in my opinion, not trying to force anything) // 9
Fever
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on may 03, 2010 2 of 3 people found this review helpful
Sound: After being a big fan with their previous 2 albums. Even "Scream Aim Fire" was a really good album, with "Poison" defines Bullet. Their newest records, "Fever", didn't pack the bass, riffs and solos that the previous albums delivered. Especially from my experiences.
The first 3 songs in the album, "Your Betrayal", "Fever" and "The Last Fight", sounded just like Bullet, what they are famous for with heavy riffs and drum beats. But there are certainly no surprise, at all, in these songs, all of it felt like it had been done a thousand times. The album still packs ballads such as "A Place Where You Belong", "Bittersweet Memories", which resembles "Say Goodnight", which is certainly, IMO, the stronger part of this album. However, not much credit can be given when the rest isn't what we expected it to be. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics, where all of it seems to go wrong. All 11 tracks in the album is based on lust, hatred according to Matt. But again, Bullet might fall mainstreams right here in this part. Screaming is certainly weaker compare to even "Scream Aim Fire". I won't deny Matt vocal is still really good, but the producer has certainly overproduced and lyrics fall short. // 3
Impression: Bullet for my Valentine has lost their original sound. Saying "The Poison" is a 10 for Bullet, "Scream Aim Fire" is a 9 and "Fever" only deserves a 6 at most. "Scream Aim Fire" had much more punch, better riffs and solos. But I do think the change of producer, to Don Gilmore, is where Bullet's problem lies. Don Gilmore has converted previously good Linkin Park, into a mediocre mainstream rock band, a rocking Good Charlotte into a pop-rock band. He had done it with Bullet too. Most of the tracks in this album fall into mainstream, with boring riffs and chord progression in the chorus. However, despite that, there is still a few worth listening tracks such as "Fever", "The Last Fight", "Alone" or "A Place Where You Belong", are my personal favourite out of the album. The album isn't a step forward but seems like a step back for Bullet, I really hope they see and correct it with their next album, with a different producer. // 5
Fever
Reviewed by:
naw2, on march 11, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: The important thing about this album is that it does not bear any resemblance to their previous record 'Scream, Aim, Fire' and has a little bit more in common with 'The Poison'. However it is a much more mature effort as I will go on and explain throughout the songs on the album. It features Matt Tuck showing why he is one of the most popular vocalists in this style of music and a band who are comfortable in their own skin, writing what they want.
This is a very well produced album. Even the Bass, which often is the simplest of parts on a BMFV album is produced well and made to sound extremely heavy and good. The Guitars have great tone and the Drums sound genuinely powerful, perhaps some of the best sounding (not in terms of what is being played but production and mixing) drums I have heard on any record I have heard since starting to listen to guitar music. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: I have to say that the lyrics are not the strong point of this album. Some of them have the problem of following too many of the cliché's set by bands that have influenced. While it works for the songs I would be hoping for a song which could have some double meanings, something to ponder on as opposed to something which (as happens a lot on this album) is immediately obvious and almost feels like it was the very last things that were thought about in the conception of this record. // 6
Impression: First up there is 'Your Betrayal', the lead single in America. This is a relatively simple song in it's concept, with the march drum intro creating a mood almost similar to that of their first album 'The Poison'. The song stays simple, drop tune guitars, little bits of screaming and the haunting Whisper's of Matt Tuck in the verse. The second huge chorus gives way to the middle section which is different to most Bullet For My Valentine as it is not a traditional Guitar solo but the almost siren like vocal line over the top of the very heavy guitar shows a maturity in song writing which is not previously present.
'Fever' is more traditional Bullet For My Valentine, a raucous drop C tuned metal number about a night in a club. It's not the fastest song on the album but in the way it is the one with possibly the most raw attitude. The highlight of this song is the vocal harmonies which sort of add to the almost sleezy element.
'The Last Fight' was the first glimpse the UK got of this album as it was the lead single. It's a driving number featuring the album's first guitar solo from Padge. It's also my personal favourite vocal performance as it features good singing as well as the shouting elements in the chorus. This is another very mature song. On an aside note about this song, the video is simple but very cool.
'A Place Where You Belong' is a similar sort of song to 'All These Things I Hate' off their first album. A softer song with heavier bits and pieces, a stereotypical sort of Metal ballad. It's almost quite a boring song until the guitar solo happens when the song picks up.
'Pleasure And Pain' is much more like it. The opening lyric of 'Come take the sacrifice' allied to a powerful opening riff make the song's opening full of impact. The rest of the song continues in a similar vein, making it one of the most intense songs on the record. Although my favourite bit happens just before the last chorus with the quiet yet tortured sounding line "You don't want, to know the truth".
'Alone' starts with the massive tapped guitar pattern and chord sequence which is almost similar to the way 'Your Betrayal' began. The synths in the verse and the string parts in the chorus give this song a real sense of occasion. It's also a catchy number with the guitar solos being at first based on simple melodies and modulating back into the D minor of the chorus. However the occasion is brought to a crashing finale with the slowing down of the intro to crawling pace almost like the epic ending to a film or (as this song possibly should have been) a massive closing track of an album.
'Breaking Out, Breaking Down' has quite a lot to live up to consider what preceded it on the record. It is one ofthe least heavy songs on the album as a whole but it features very good harmonised vocals in the pre-chours and chorus in particular. However the rest of it is quite nice but nothing else really standing out until the 2nd half of the bridge, which is almost painfully simple but effective.
'Bittersweet Memories' is a track that is simple in method and execution. It's a ballad about love gone wrong. This song isn't about one particular bit, rather the overall effect, which is profound for the type of song it is. If this isn't a single I will chop of my middle toe on my left foot and eat it.
'Dignity' is a true hark back to the musical styles utilised more on the first record. The totally harmonised opening riff brings back memories of songs like 'Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow'. It is a bit of a middle finger this song, perhaps not the most mature of lyrics either but what makes this song truly majestic is the tightness of the music allied with the melodies in the voice, particularly in the chorus. Another good thing is well sorted mixture of the Screaming and Singing. This is really by far the best song on the album.
'Begging For Mercy' is quite the beast. The heaviest song on the album after the opener. It is a song which features massive riffs and a very, very clever final chorus. However the chorus could be seen as a bit similar to 'Fever' and 'Pleasure and Pain' but I disagree and see this track as being almost monstrously heavy.
'Pretty On The Outside' is a grooving 6/8 animal featuring the least amount of cleanly sung vocals on the whole album. This song also features (in my view) the best lyrics as I believe everyone knows at least one person somewhat like this and they want to know the person better, to see if a person is quite what they seem, so this song really connected to me personally.
This album I would give around an 8/10. It is a good record, very mature musically with some very nice playing by all concerned and some mostly very good singing. However what the album falls down on is perhaps the more ballad type songs being no-where near as strong as songs like Dignity, The Last Fight, Your Betrayal and Alone which are the 4 best tracks. As mature and un-emo as it is, it is not a good a record overall as The Poison, their first album. // 8
Fever
Reviewed by:
xxxsticksxxx, on december 14, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: As a fan of BFMV I was very excited for this album, Waited what seemed like forever to see what road they would take next. After listening to the album endless amounts of times and watching few interviews with the band the comment that describes this album well is a comment made my Matt tuck "the album is the son of The Poison and Scream aim fire" which pretty much sums it up. This album is a good balance between the emotional and aggresive sound heard in the first two albums but decreasing the technical aspect of the music to let Tuck's vocals prove the critics wrong.
01. Your Betrayal - A very heavy long intro which does seem to go on forever but once the song begins it is the song that i think a lot of Bullet fans wanted them to make. (dark and creepy etc.)
02. Fever - Title track doesn't quite live up to the hype in my opinion but it is definitely a fun and different song from Bullet. A quiet surprise if you like.
03. The Last Fight - This song has it all to me; Awesome riffs, amazing vocals and harmonies, fast tempo, and a nice solo.
04. A Place Where you Belong - A cool acoustic ballad sort of style to it. Quite dark and sinister but a great softer track to add contrast.
05. Pleasure And Pain - Played live before the albums release, i like the fact that it's a very simple song and the vocal melody is awesome.
06. Alone - Muiscally, the most technical and impressive song on the album. Very old school metal feel to it. Probably general fans' favourite.
07. Breaking Out, Breaking Down - A song with a simple aim: Catchy vocal lines and old school 80's metal riffage, one of my favourites, great breakdown section.
08. Bittersweet Memories - The most radio-friendly song on the album, will be a great single no doubt. Again like the other softer track on the album, a nice, slow and likeable song.
09. Dignity - The song that sounds most like older Bullet tracks, One of my favourites on the album love the initial harmonized riff and the lonesome harmonized vocals in the verse are a nice touch.
10. Begging For Mercy - One of the heaviest tracks on the album. Shows that Tuck can still scream and that Bullet can still do what people call "real" metal. Solo is a bit odd but the pinch harmonics are a different approach I guess.
11. Pretty On The Outside - The finisher definitely doesn't disappoint, An awesome all out metal-feast throughout the roaring verses and possibly one of the catchiest chorus's Bullet have written. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: Lyrically, The album is decent. A little confusing and dissonant at times but still solid I guess. Expect usual themes of loss, death, relationships etc. The lyrics aren't totally original or anything new but the strength lies within the singing itself. The vocals are probably the best thing about the album, Matt tuck has proven that he can still sing/scream like holy hell and is one of the best musicians in modern metal when it comes down to melodies and catchy chorus lines. Almost perfect besides the actual content. // 9
Impression: This album to me, doesn't show massive improvements in musical or technical ability, but from a songwriting perspective and a marketing perspective, this album is fantastic. This album shows that bullet can write epic-sounding metal songs that appeal to quite a broad audience and still maintain an aggresive sound that their older "hardcore" fans will appreciate. In my opinion all of the people arguing that Bullet For My Valentine have sold out are wrong and have misunderstood the reasoning for this album. This album was made for the sole purpose of BFMV enjoying writing and performing the music they want to and sharing it with their fans and introducing their sound to different audiences. This music just happens to be some of the very best of modern metal. // 8
Fever
Reviewed by:
jmh765, on may 06, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: I have been listening to BFMV ever since the poison was released so, this review might be a little biased but I'm going to try to be as honest as possible with it.
I think the sound for this album was a little different than Scream Aim and Fire was and The Poison but it still kept the same BFMV characteristics too it as well. The guitar work is amazing essecially on "Alone", "Pleasure and Pain", "Begging for Mercy" and "Fever" in my opinion the four best true "metalcore" songs on the album. All four are put together beautifully both lyrically and instrumentaly. However, there are some differences in the album that are new but not necessarily bad things for Bullet.
Some of the songs such as "Pretty On The Outside" and "The Last Fight" don't exactly sound like BFMV but still are performed well and introduce a new side of BFMV that we have never seen. On the other hand many fans including myself enjoy the sound from The Poison and Scream Aim and Fire more and relate BFMV to that sound, the new sound is good but it's not completely BFMV. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: The lyrics in the song almost had the same theme for the whole album which is OK considering that each song had its own sound to it. Songs such as "Pretty On The Outside" and "Fever" were wrote in my opinion about a girl who is beautiful on the outside but bitter on the inside while the song "A Place Where You Belong" seemed to be wrote about someone who left and how the person left longs to be with them. The lyrics and instruments go well together and show BFMV's skills at putting together songs to make everyone of them capable of being a single.
Matt Tuck's voice is still amazing even after surgery and hopefully will hold up the rest of his career and keep making album's with Bullet for my Valentine. // 9
Impression: The album Fever compared to the first two albums shows Bullet's softer side and shows that they can put together a solid album with diversity on it and still not be afraid to try something new. The new album gives fans a chance to see a different side of Bullet never seen before. I can't really choose my favorite or most hated song because to me they're all good, each one has their own unique sound to it which makes the album cool.
I like how they tried to explore something new and be creative but they kinda lack their old sound. I don't mind that they don't sound the same because it would get boring hearing the same type of songs over and over again. I would recommend this album to anyone who was a Bullet for my Valentine fan before or just basically anyone, Fever is a great album and I will not be bored of listening to it for a long time. // 9
Fever
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on may 06, 2010 1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: I loved Bullet since the beginning. Their self-titled EP was great. "The Posion" I saw as their masterpiece. But things took a turn when it got to "Scream Aim Fire" and many people agree with me that it was (with no disrespect here) a shoddy album of boring, over-polished material that was made merely to show people that they could make it to no. 4 and had no actual heart put into it. It changed my view on Bullet a lot. I hated them after that album. And when promos for songs off "Fever" emerged on YouTube, like "Begging For Mercy" and the Sonisphere video of "Who Do You Think You Are? (now "Pleasure & Pain") I was determined to think that the next album was going to be even worse. But then I decided to stop dwelling on my hatred for this band and actually give them a listen without cringing and claiming they'd sold out. And thankfully I wasn't cringing anymore. More and more songs leaked onto the internet and the more I heard, the better I felt about this new album. I've always thought Bullet's sound was brilliant, always tight and nothing drowned out anything else. And the sound on "Fever" has carried on that trait. However, "Fever" is not without it's flaws. They've become a lot more simple musically in the way that the songs aren't as technical as they were on previous releases and a lot of the chord progressions we've all heard before. Like the dreaded '8th fret - 5th fret - open' in "Alone" that just won't vanish from the metalcore scene. Bullet have repeated themselves riff-wise on this album a lot, as well as ripping off many Killswitch riffs. For instance "Dignity" sounds like a mix of "Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow" and "Tears Don't Fall". "The Last Fight" plays off as a copycat of "Scream Aim Fire", as did "Disappear" of the last album. And in one song ("A Place Where You Belong") they actually rob Opeth blind with the main riff for "Hope Leaves"! But my God, with Matt tucks ingenuity for great melodies and catchy hooks it doesn't really matter anymore.
Now just for the sake of it, I'll do a track-by-track review, coz I've always wanted to do one.
01. "Your Betrayal": a great solid opening number. Yes, we've heard that same chord change in a million other songs but the pure catchiness of the chorus and the awesome oooooh aaaahhhh's behind the breakdown make this a dark, brooding song that I've aways wanted Bullet to make. 4.5/5
02. "Fever": I can tell this will become a crowd favourite. By far the most cheesy song Bullet have ever written, the song speaks about what I'm assuming is Matt Tuck seeing a girl at a gig he's playing and becoming sexually obsessed with her. Not something new to write about in the metal world and Matt's lyrics really are awful in this song, but an infectious chorus covers up some of it's flaws. 3/5
03. "The Last Fight": the first single that it already sweeping the nation. I hear people on the street talking about it all the time. It again takes the melodic thrash trait of "Scream Aim Fire" which is why a lot of people love it, but they've used the same thing so much it bores the hell out of me now. I think this is one of the worst tracks on the album as there's never really anything in the song that makes me want to keep listening to it. 2.5/5"A Place Where You Belong" - I absolutely adore this song, start to finish. It's perfect. The song comes crashing in after a beautiful clean section with Matt screaming "You're gone!". Again he writes of the death of a friend but there is so much passion in this song that it's impossible to not feel a little bit sad at some point. Incredibly catchy, a huge epic song, awesome lead work, perfect structure makes this one of the best on the album. 5/5
04. "Pleasure & Pain": "COME TAKE THIS SACRIFICE!" This is another thrashy song with melodies and hooks running all the way through. Musically it's kinda boring but again, Matt saves the day with his vocals, something that happens a lot throughout this album. 3.5/5
05. "Alone": again, I love this song. Even though the intro riff is over-used they throw some tapping over it to spice it up, give it a bit more variety. At least they're trying to make things a little different. This is one of the darker songs on the album that tells of someone dying and rotting alone for their past pretenses. Some lush duel guitar harmonies during the middle section and a pretty decent solo, and again Matt's vocal work make this another song that I've always thought would suit Bullet. And it does. 4.5/5
06. "Breaking Out, Breaking Down": this song reminds me so much of Maiden. I think it's the chorus. Cheesy as hell but still maintains some awesome 80's style riffage. The verses for me make this song awesome. The way they play a couple of power chords and stop for Matt to sing a little bit (similar to "Your Betrayal") obviously makes a good trademark for this band. And who could possibly resist the soaring bridge where Matt sings "Coz in the thick of darkened days, we know". Just gorgeous. 4/5
07. "Bittersweet Memories": love, love, love the verses. The way Matt takes a very croony style to the lyrics and throws it with the melody makes it so awesome. The chorus and such can be a little samy in the vein of "Forever & Always" which kinda takes a bit of the edge off it but this will most likely be a great song live and again a fan favourite. 3.5/5
08. "Dignity": this is an awesome little ditty. It mixes everything Bullet do well together. Some little thrashy parts, stop-and-start verses, a bit of grunted singing, duel harmony guitar work and a big wide-open chorus make this a pretty sick little number that'll definitely get you singing along and "moshing" too. 4/5
09. "Begging For Mercy": now this is the first song I heard from "Fever". At first I hated it. It was way too cheesy and the chorus almost sent me to sleep it was that boring. But over time I have learnt to love this song. Definitely one of the heaviest on the album and really has a punch that'll get the crowd going and some of the maturer listeners seeing a little bit of old Bullet in there. Always a good thing. 4.5/5
10. "Pretty On The Outside": this... is by far... the BEST song on "Fever". This song absolutely f*cking rules. The riff is a mix betwee "Ashes Of The Innocent" and KsE's "Reject Yourself" but all accusations of plagiarism are off on this account as this is probably the most badass song Bullet have ever made. The verses are just filled with awesomeness. Painful screams sound like Matt's actually going through what the narrator of the song is. The duel harmonies that Bullet do so well. The half time drum pace in the verse just makes me wanna pit it every time I hear it. Bridge is just a simple two chords, a stop and Matt sings "If... I..." and BOOM! into the chorus. "Tear you open wide, take a look inside, are you pretty?" Matt sings over the octaves and power chords. I'm not gonna say anymore as you just might as well listen to it. Albeit a different way to end an album it's pretty clever, coz it just makes you want more. // 7
Lyrics and Singing: One thing that struck me was how much better Matt's vocals sounded. In essence I believe they're probably the best part of the album. Matt obviously has a genius mind when it comes to writing hooks and such and even though this album has many flaws, the vocal work is what saves it. For instance, if it weren't for Matt's vocals Each song would probably end up going down half a star or more. The whole vocal harmonies is out-dated but I just don't know what it is, Matt makes the best vocal lines. I read that he was really pushed on this album as he said that with "Scream Aim Fire" they settled for whatever they came up with as he'd just recovered from laryngitis which is probably what made the album a little less... well, good. And he said that this time he just wanted to keep everything even simpler but Don Gilmore pushed him to not settle for any melody he came up with and I thank him so much for that because he and Matt have now perfected Bullet vocal-wise. Ya know sometimes you listen to a song and you don't like a certain melody in it so you hum over it the melody you thought would go best? Doesn't happen on this album. Everything is down to a T which is why I say it's probably the best part of the album, seeing as not all the guitar parts are great. Matt's screams are awesome now as he can control going from singing to a kind of grunt to a full on throatf*ck with ease. He's controlling his voice a lot more so in a way I'm "proud" of him. The lyrics, however, suck ass. He said in the interview on here that he loves writing about these little broken heart fiction tales that are really just getting on my nerves. A lot of people write about them, yes, it's not just Matt, but it's only because that kind of thing is easy to write about. A lot of people when writing lyrics put pen to paper and end up writing about some random, out of the blue love story. It just happens. But Matt doesn't think "I need to stop writing about this" he just goes with it which I think is really lazy. He should know more than just about romance, he's 30 for God's sake. Write about something else! Some examples of poor lyrics on this album are "Kill me now and let the good times roll", "You're what I need so come and get my money", "This finger's for our memories" and all the lyrics of the song "Fever". Honestly, they're awful. But it's not all that bad. Every now and then Matt says a really cool line like "I want you to choke when you swallow your pride" and "I'm not a saint that's easy to tell, but guess what honey, you ain't no angel" and "All the negativity forces me down into silence but still I can dream". They're not the best lyrics ever but they're just pretty cool. So singer skills are awesome but the lyrics really let it down so I'm gonna have to give it a 5. // 5
Impression: In a way I think "Fever" is the bridge between "The Poison" and "Scream Aim Fire". It's a mixture of both albums. The cheesyness and simplicity of "Scream Aim Fire" but with the melodies and slight return to form of "The Poison". It's in no way a bad album. There are just bad points. But as I've said before, Matt's vocals and hooks, some decent guitar work and mixture of all sorts of different styles make this an album definitely worth buying, even if you don't like it much. It's very interesting, and as you can tell there is a lot to talk about when it comes to it. Better than "Scream Aim Fire", almost as good as "The Poison". And I'll leave it at that. // 8
Fever
Reviewed by:
Fajita15, on may 03, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: Fever is an album where I think that BFMV drastically changed. They were not 'evolving' the way some said they were with Scream Aim Fire. Don Gilmore has made a serious change to BFMV, and it doesn't sound like them in some places. On 'Pleasure and Pain' and 'Breaking Out, Breaking Down', you can hear some very Linkin Park/Good Charlotte type of arrangements, and sound. In some cases, if Linkin Park had a better guitarist, then they would sound very similar to BFMV on Fever. However, on the upside, the music sounds pretty good, but not what I expected. Padge's monsterous solos have disappeared, replaced with slower, melodic stuff that doesn't have the same in-your-face quality that songs like 'Hand of Blood' and 'Waking the Demon' have. In some places, the intros and basic guitar parts don't even sound like they work together. On 'A Place Where You Belong', the acoustic/clean intro makes you think of 'Hearts Burst Into Fire', but then you hear notes that don't seem to fit at all, and I actually cringed when I first heard it. It grows on you, but first impressions didn't do to well for me. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: In the lyrics of Fever, there were really no surprises. The quality of the lyrics got a little better, but not extraordinarily better. Matt(and actually metal writers in general) writes his lyrics better when he's writing about something deeper than women. The best lyrics on the album come from 'The Last Fight' and 'A Place Where You Belong', singing of drug addictions and suicide, respectively. The lyrics worked for the song most of the time, but a clear standout problem was the title track 'Fever'. A thrash metal song about a strip club? The lyrics didn't work for me at all on that track. They fit pretty much everywhere else. Matt can sing (in the studio--haven't heard him anywhere else), but he carries the same whiny punk-rock voice of blink-182 and Green Day. // 6
Impression: Matt's comparisons between Fever and Metallica's Black Album are actually not that bad in his context. Both are very solid, simple, no frills albums. The problem is, that kind of album works for Metallica because that is their sound; heavy power chords, slow, consistant beat, etc. BFMV has established themselves as a much more fast-paced band, and it is not evident anywhere except 'Fever' and 'The Last Fight'. Second, Metallica backs up their solid heaviness with some pretty ridiculous solo work. BFMV can but does not on Fever, except on 'Alone'.
The standouts on Fever are 'The Last Fight', 'Your Betrayal', and 'Alone'. Each song fits together beautifully. None of them compare to 'Waking the Demon', but are great in their own respects. // 8
Fever
Reviewed by:
KramerW5150, on april 29, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: I've been a fan of Bullet since their Scream Aim Fire album. I'm not one for the ridiculous amounts of screaming in songs. I saw Bullet open for Maiden a few years ago when they had just released The Poison. They were terrible live and the music just sounded like noise...I couldn't understand a word Matt Tuck sang/screamed...and the guitar was much too distorted to even get a grasp of the licks. But after I heard Waking The Demon from the SAF album I was intrigued and had to hear more. I felt that album was great! and couldn't wait for the next record... Well here it is.
"Fever" opens with "Your Betrayal" which has a fantastic intro to a heavy and catchy chorus. I felt the guitar work in this song was great. The title track follows, 'Fever'. I liked the song overall, but it was the chorus that was best part for me, the music in the verses were just ok. For the first time on the cd we have a guitar solo in the song 'The Last Fight' it's just an awesome song from start to finish. However, the solo seems to sound an awful lot like another solo I've heard before, I just can't pin point what band had a song with a similar solo,(comment if you know). We will slow it down for the next song, probably the perfect spot on the record for a 'ballad',
I'm a sucker for solos overtop of slow guitar patterns, so I have to like 'A Place Where You Belong', it just sounds so heartfelt. Reminds me a lot of 'Say Goodnight' from their previous album. They pick the pace back up quickly with 'Pleasure and Pain'. The intro hook is awesome as is the solo. The intro to 'Alone' is also fantastic and a tad bit mind blowing...I had to learn it on guitar! 'Alone' is a solid song as well. The chorus and solo are well put together. 'Breaking Out, Breaking Down' the next song on the album isn't really anything special. So we shall move on to 'Bittersweet Memories' which starts off with a very melodic riff, and fades into some acoustic. It follows the standard 80's ballad, but lacks a solo, and instead just has a bridge. Even without the solo, I enjoyed this song very much. 'Dignity' is ok at best... I didn't feel it had a great hook or chorus for that matter... 'Begging For Mercy' has an wicked guitar riff, a good combination of screaming and singing as well. The guitar solo is ok, I think it could have been structured better. And finally, after close to an hour of Bullet's 'Fever' we have reached 'Pretty On The Outside' overall its a good song but I don't think it was the greatest way to end the cd, The album came in with a bang, but didn't leave with one. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Lyrically, this album is average. Matt Tuck shows off his real vocal talent on this album. There is a lot more singing rather than screaming. The vocal melodies fit the music perfectly on most of the songs and most of the chorus' were catchy enough to have me singing along by the second time through. // 6
Impression: Compared to Bullet's other albums, I think that this one is just below Scream Aim Fire. The amount of songs that will be in high rotation on my playlists from this album will be about 6 or 7. So just over half, similar to SAF where I really liked about half the songs.
Songs I believe you will most enjoy;
-Your Betrayal
-Pleasure and Pain
-The Last Fight
-Alone
It asks "If it were stolen/lost, would you buy it again or get something else?"
My answer: No, because I have uploaded it to itunes and if I had lost the cd, I would still have the songs on my computer and ipod.
This album is very well put together, the band is maturing as artists and is only getting better as days go by. Despite them being terrible the only time I saw them, I look forward to seeing them again now as they have taken another great step forward with this album 'Fever'. // 8
Fever
Reviewed by:
CJCKO, on april 28, 2010 3 of 12 people found this review helpful
Sound: Before I explain my opinion on this album I have to say that BFMV is my favorite band, I have been listening to them since the poison. This album which was highly anticipated is very good. I've listened to the album multiple times and in my opion I find all the songs very good. All my friends ask me which is my favorite song or worst song on the album and I cannot answer them because I love all the songs the same.
The instramental of the band is still amazing. On all there songs they have awesome guitar riffs and its amazing. The guitar solos are amazing as well. Some are heart touching (the last fight, a place where you belong, bittersweet memories) Others are just pure in your face shredding (Begging for mercy, Alone, Dignity). This band has been mostly known for their popular guitar sound from their work from 3 albums.
The vocals is the best part of the album. Before SAF matt had throat surgery and could barely sing on scream aim fire. Idk how he pullled it off and recorded scream aim fire, but you can notice the difference between his voice from scream aim fire and the poison. People were stating that matt cannnot sing on any of their songs. I strongly disagree with you. This guy can sing "he was just singing the wrong melodies" stated from an interview about their producer don gilmore. Matt now sounds like his vocals improved from all the other albums and that on some songs he screams and others he doesn't. I love his voice on all his albums but this album takes the cake on his voice. Matt is just one of my favorite singers. Somepeople say he can't sing, try singing and play guitar like him. I play guitar and its hard to play and sing BFMV songs at the same time. // 10
Lyrics and Singing: This ones going to be short. The lyrics are fine. Nothing is bad about the lyrics on the songs on fever. When BFMV was recording the vocals their producer Don Gilmore had matt rewrite the lyrics for most of the songs on the album because he thought they werent powerful enough. If don gilmore who previously worked with linkin parks hybrid theory and meteora, tell you to rewrite the lyrics then you should. This man is a professional and knows what hes doing. Sall songs have great lyrics no doubt about it. // 10
Impression: I really like this album, hands down. This is my favorite band and all the reviews I saw were negative comments about them and I felt that I had to show support. This album is great and has no bad song (in my opinion). There is no other way I can describe this review any much more. If you do not like this album, than what the hell do I know. I'm just a junior from clifton NJ. I love this album BFMV 4EVER! // 10
In my opinion there is nothing wrong with this album. i loved it! Some of it sounds like their old stuff which is cool, and some of it sounds a little different but still has the BFMV feel which is awesome.
Haven't listened to them since 'The Poison' started getting old for me. Checked out 'Scream,Aim,Fire', was disappointed, just like i was for this one.
I would like to say it would be better if they put something as good as 'The Poison'(at least for me) was but i think the reviewer is right, they've worn the style a bit thin now.
Distinctly average album imo. The only song I was really looking forward to (Pleasure And Pain) judging off the Youtube video where Matt was singing 'Who do you think you are?" in the choruses, Matt changed the lyrics and they're really, really bad, even for Matt's standards.
Personally, I hate the band this music make.
The lyrics and themes involved in the songs are whiny and predictable. But, what more could be expected from a band named "Bullet for my Valentine"?
I'm seriously NOT trying to be a dick here, but honestly... Could they have come up with a more cliche band name?
It's because of shit like that that gets this style of music labelled as emo.
I liked it but i definately like The poison the best so far. Very predictable songs where u knew what was coming next and it kinda all sounds the same.
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
pretty disappointed... all the tracks seem to have the exact same timings, same drums used everywhere, and most of guitar is based on the same sounds and notes used before, not only it seems like a copy of before songs, but are also... continuos... the album starts with one intro and that's about the difference you could tell, besides maybe the solo in "the last fight" and the intro from "bittersweet memories" for the rest it's all the same from head to tails.
what i think few people realise is that the bands name "bullet for my valentine" has to do with love. it only seems fitting to the bands name that the songs have to do with love and betrayal.. but yeah the album could have been better.
I think Matt needed to show the voice he really has, granted the past Bullet had their screaming but Matt really does have an amazing voice. The mix of Bullets insane guitar playing, fantastic drumming, and Matt's amazing voice, I personally think this album came out great
i agree with BlackMist
i thought the album was good, but it was a bit of a confused mix of The Poison and Scream Aim Fire
BFMV don't seem to have given us anything new, but are just using their old formulae that seemed to work in the past except with slightly better guitar
Good album but too unoriginal
BFMV still rocks
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
hahaha why would some of you want all albums from a band to be the same?! I think Fever is good, not to say S.A.F and The Poison were bad, all three are great, they're just different from each other.
The same issue seems to be the complaint with Atreyu, "they're not metal anymore" - well as they've mentioned in interviews, you can't do the same thing over and over...
People really need to give this a few listens before slating it. You can't just an album on "Meh I listened once and it was crap".
First listen I was pretty disappointed but i went back onto the myspace page to listen to 'Fever' again and ended up listening to the entire album again and well, it grows on you.
Lyrics were never and I doubt will ever be BFMV strong point, singing was much improved than on Scream Aim Fire mind you. Not deserving of a 2, that's being completely bitter about the album. He can sing well and theres a decent mix between scream/singing it's at the very lest deserving of a 4/5 as thats half the battle. Lyrics are generic throughout so 3/5 would be deserving, that's 7/10.
The UG review nails the album perfectly, the review by BlackMist is well written but totally out of wack with the scoring and slating the album to an unnecessary extent.
Not saying the album is good or bad but what did those that panned it think BFMV were going to do? Reinvent themselves? Their last two albums where huge for them. Can't blame them for sticking with what got them their $$$$.
the riffs are repetitive, song structure is very predictable, needs more variation throughout the songs they need time off from this music stuff, they are getting old quickly, i still listen to the poison, and sometimes scream aim fire, i'm already sick of listening to fever tracks, they are burned out
I think it's a good album. It's not as good as The Poison, but it's a hell of a lot better than Scream Aim Fire. Though Matt REALLY needs to sort out his lyrics...
I thought it was good album (but thats because im a bullet *****)i wasnt expecting it to be incredible or really bad i just thought that because they appeal to a large range of people its impossible for them to please everybody
you want to bitch about something, y dont you bitch about the "mainstream" pop and rap bullshit that seams to be clouding the music world. Everytime you go into a store anymore all it is is that shit, Finally there is more than shit to listen to, and everyone is pissed. you guys are just lucky bfmv made a new album, if they heard ur comments, they'd probably tell u to **** off!
this album was a piece of crap. three fourths of the riffs i've already heard in other bullet songs. very little screaming. minimal lead work. i used to defend bullet when people hated on them buts thats done.
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
i completely agree with you
I definately agree with these guys. yes, the poison is and was a great album. and it will most likely always be their best. but, considering the poor quality of Scream Aim Fire....This album is definately a ****ing triumph.
Your Betrayal , Begging For Mercy & Pretty On The Outside are my favourite, Scream Aim Fire was 1000X better than this album but it's good to heard some new stuff
If any of you are true BFMV fans you'll support them no matter WHAT there songs sound like. The Poison was most definately the best but this album is WAY better than S.A.F. Scream Aim Fire was great but not as good as there first and this new one. Long Live Bullet For My Valentine!
What the hell is bullet doing? What happened with their work? The Poison was such an amazing album. Bullet, get bk to your old roots. Theres no feeling in this IMO. ((
Huh, everyone seems to be completely slating this album. I gotta say, I thought it was incredibly worth the wait. I thought the vocals and riffs were excellent and the solo-ing was immense as always. Yes, it's different to The Poison and Scream Aim Fire, but that doesn't mean it's bad in any slight. For me, Fever's gonna be one of the best albums around this year.
every song on this album was bland. i liked the poison and scream aim fire. but there is absolutely NOTHING interesting on this album. it sounds to me like they quickly churned out an album so they wouldn't lose their fame and to be on the cover of revolver magazine.
Hi everyone, I hope you're all having a good day. I wrote the second review on the page and wanted to come back to get a message across that, in reflection, don't quite think I did in the review -
The main reason I gave 'Fever' such a negative grading was the fact that I was so disappointed in regards to the fact I was expecting 'Bullet for my Valentine' to come out with a fantastic album reminiscent of the status of 'The Poison' after the amount of time they had to work with it, and by reading Matt's interview here on UG. That just wasn't what I got.
I felt really let down by this band with this record - I'm a massive fan of their early work but as time goes on, they simply don't seem to be learning or changing/progressing in any way noticeable. Personally, I wanted to see more.
could have guessed it awhile ago. bullet hasn't changed. this is more of the same exact stuff they have always put out. its time for a change in sound boys!
this album beats scream aim fire hands down, its a huge step forward in the fact there isnt a song on this one i dont like and cant listen to over and over. Yes it might not be as heavy as the poison but doesnt that in itself show the band isnt sounding the same? they are getting better in my opinion, just need to work on the lyrics at bit.
i like this album a lot, i think the instruments sound great, and i need a break from screaming (its pretty much all i really listen too)so the minimal screaming is preferable to me. its just a matter of taste i guess but thats just my opinion.
this album is great. it is way better than scream aim fire, hands down. this is my favorite band im talking about. this album is not better than the poison, but a lot times better than scream aim fire
musically I can't say that i'm not sometimes impressed by what this band has to offer, but for me they always ruin their chances of me actually liking them with the vocals. I'm not one of these metal fans that is all 'i hate clean singing man', but I really don't like matts voice
this cd is god damn terrible. I like these guys but after The Poison they went downhill. this is typical generic garbage followed by horrific lyrics written by a 13 year old boy.
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
i completely agree with you
I definately agree with these guys. yes, the poison is and was a great album. and it will most likely always be their best. but, considering the poor quality of Scream Aim Fire....This album is definately a ****ing triumph.
"the lyrics are very basic and lacking in every context you exam them in."
"seeming to be explaining a fourteen year old's first experience at a house party."
"all the songs on also seem to be about the exact same thing - either liking a girl and she doesn't want to know, or liking a girl who is bad news. (Ring any bells? Yep, you guessed it - just like their first two albums.)"
"spew about shitty instruments and lack of bass"
...so nothings changed. At least people seem to have woken up to what a bad joke this band is. Hopefully they will go away now.
hmph... i didnt bullet made a new album until last night, i heard pain and pleasure and your betrayal.. pretty good songs, i like em better than most of the songs on poisin and scream.
Poisin wasn't all that great in my opionion, but i still liked it though a lil, I'm not into the whole 'mainstream emo metalcore' scene that all my peers are into, music intended for teenagers i think is horrible, even though im teen myself. but seriously, bands like Atreyu, Chiodos, Bring Me The Horizon, Killswitch Engage, and other sensitive emotional metalcore bands similiar.
Scream was more my cup of tea. I really love Thrash Metal, bands like SepulturA, TestAmenT, Slayer, MetallicA, Evile, Soulfly, etc... are just gods to me. Scream's sound was different from poisin and thats why its my fav amongst bfmv. Ashes of the Innocent is my fav bfmv song.... long live bullet!! please dont forget about fans like me!!!!!
p.s. still looking forward the 'Fever'... the two songs i heard are still growing on me
Shadowlance15 wrote:
If any of you are true BFMV fans you'll support them no matter WHAT there songs sound like.
That just seems kinda silly. I mean, you can be a fan and still recognize that something's not up to their best work.
As for the album itself, I was dissapointed. I've never been a big fan but I always have felt they have potential to grow into something good. Not this time I guess.
If you don't like it then stop complainingand go listen to someone else
Ok its not as good as poison yes I agree but better than SAF by a long shot. However if you've never liked bullet then go away with your stupid criticizing. A lot of people won't like what you listen to but I'm not over at that review telling you all how much i hate it
And i also agree some of the lyrics are a bit weak i think Matt over thinked them a little bit as "who do you think you are was actually a good song until the lyrics were changed. still gonna go in my top listens box. keep it up bullet and ignor the angry people of the internet who wouldn't have the balls to say any of this to your face. BFMV for life!
well people complain, but i thot even the poison sucked. songs drag on to long and the tracks are never lush enuff. every album is this way. same on the ep.
see I beat at least half you guys here listen to heavy shit than bullet, this new album is there best yet in my opinion, and that blackmist guy is retarded because bullet isn't metalcore, they never were and never will be. and songs arn't bout the screaming and the lyrics are really good i mean the poison obviously had better lyrics, but these were better than SAF, the guitar and solo work is amazing, i've learned the entire album by ear already and its there best. and they've always said they were hard rock with metal influences anyways so there not heavy enough for you go listen to a job for a cowboy or something like that.
When i first heard begging for mercy a couple of months ago i was pumped.there was a growl and a rising scream.i thought maybe bullet was gonna get heavier,but i was wrong.i cant understand anyone liking this album.
the riff from last fight is in like three other bullet songs.theres also a song on fever that sounds exactly like suffocating under words of sorrow. how can anyone be happy with this band putting out riffs and songs that they have ALREADY WRITTEN. the songs are monotone and boring and nothing remotely like what bullet for my valentine should be.
see I beat at least half you guys here listen to heavy shit than bullet, this new album is there best yet in my opinion, and that blackmist guy is retarded because bullet isn't metalcore, they never were and never will be. and songs arn't bout the screaming and the lyrics are really good i mean the poison obviously had better lyrics, but these were better than SAF, the guitar and solo work is amazing, i've learned the entire album by ear already and its there best. and they've always said they were hard rock with metal influences anyways so there not heavy enough for you go listen to a job for a cowboy or something like that.
I agree your right on the money. exactly what i mean if you dnt like bullet then dnt listen no one is forcing you too listen. quit dissing people who have made something of there lives they enjoy what they do so leave them alone!
Blackmist..you mad? ya you mad. seriously this is a great album. I love it and I am a huge Bullet For My Valentine fan. I don't see why there is all this hate. This album shows that BFMV has matured and changed and to me change is a good thing
you want to bitch about something, y dont you bitch about the "mainstream" pop and rap bullshit that seams to be clouding the music world. Everytime you go into a store anymore all it is is that shit, Finally there is more than shit to listen to , and everyone is pissed. you guys are just lucky bfmv made a new album, if they heard ur comments, they'd probably tell u to **** off!
There has ALWAYS been music that isn't mainstream. And compared to most artists, BFMV are pretty mainstream. I'm not using the term "mainstream" to imply negativity, many of my musical favorites fall into that category. No band is immune to criticism. Accepting something to be as good as it will get when it comes to art leads to a lack of positive progression.
Bullet has always had terrible lyrics. It's all essentially teenage angst stuff for the emo kids to pretend they're deep while singing along to it.
That being said, I've always loved their instruments even if the vocals were sub-par at best. I didn't think this album was terrible, but I didn't think it was great. I'll agree with anyone who wants to give it a 7/10.
How many more times are we going to sing about a girl though?
while it isnt a huge step up overall from scream aim fire, their biggest stride has been in the vocals. matt has really stepped it up in both his singing and screaming, working with melissa cross helped a lot.
Look at the past- the beastie boys, blink 182, the list goes on.
Whatever bands play their genre of music the closest to mainstream make the most money and get the most hype. the beastie boys were the first rap group to hit number 1 on the charts, that's because they were the most mainstream.
Blink 182 was hated by true punk fans, so was the new Green day, that's just how it works, how it has worked, and how it will always be.
True metal fans will hate this album, but it WILL be popular and they WILL make tons of $$ from it.
I found myself quickly bored with this album and as a whole let down from it. The only good songs were the first and the last...and fever has a certain charm...like a special child who just doesn't get what he's doing wrong. Though to make myself feel better i listened to Born Of Osiris's "A higher place" and was cured of this horrid fever...cheesy, this i know.
you people need to get over comparing albums to other albums, its f***** annoying...take the albums for how it is and how a band progress's. in my opinion, this album is awesome. this disc has great guitar work, drumming is sweet, and the vocals are bullet-style vocals. i mean what more do you want from a band. bands evolve just like any person does, it may sound like nothing new, but it's got the same style as anything they've produced and that's what certain people (like myself) love about bands like this. its just new material with the same band style and like i said, what more do you want.
this album was bullets good old way of saying f*** you we do what songs we like. i think its great. the vocal work was more worked on and the guitars gave it the same old bullet style.
This is just another album in BFMV's career that will be studied for the future. Just like The Poison and Scream Aim Fire were extremely different, so is this. I think BFMV is still yet to completely establish a consistency and i expect their future stuff to just keep getting more experienced and continue to mix things up until theyre right where they wanna be. But its a great album in my opinion. I love it
bullet isnt a bunch of TRUE metal fans or whatever else you fags call yourself. they're true MUSIC fans and they play whatever sounds good to them without giving a s*** about what genre you lock them into...
I think it's quite ironic that from the comments I've read here everybody rates the poison as their best but it got pretty badly slated by critics. It shows that nothing beats the excitement and energy that comes from making music like you get on a debut album. I've liked elements of all of bullets work but I feel like they are overthinking the music too much. Every song on the fever feels overthought and too much emphasis has been placed on creating the perfect hook or chorus.
I'm sure this will sell very well however and I look forward to their next effort.
bullet isnt a bunch of TRUE metal fans or whatever else you fags call yourself. they're true MUSIC fans and they play whatever sounds good to them without giving a s*** about what genre you lock them into...
Doesn't matter what genre they are, they're still garbage.
What the hell is bullet doing? What happened with their work? The Poison was such an amazing album. Bullet, get bk to your old roots. Theres no feeling in this IMO. ((
There's no feeling in this album? Are you absolutely out of your mind? Did you listen to the intense emotion in A Place Where You Belong? I bet over half of the people here didn't even hear the album and they're just being consumed with the mainstream bashing of this album all over this page. Is this album classic? No but it's great musical work. The Fever doesn't sound mostly upbeat like Scream Aim Fire and it sounds audibly more mature. People who say this album is shit just don't like the mature side of BFMV. They want the teenage angst fueled "The Poison" back so they can wallow around being emo and listening to teenage emo metal and A7X and My Chemical Romance and all that bullshit. Just be a little damn open minded to this band. Sure there are flaws but this is music.
I don't understand why people are immediately labeling this as a shitty album. I wholeheartedly agree that The Poison was BFMV's best work, that much is certain. But that doesn't mean everything after that will be complete shit. Obviously SAF was inferior. A good number of the songs were too similar, but some of my favorite songs came from that album. It was a step ina faster paced, thrashier direction, which I greatly appreciated. And yeah, the lyrics were greatly similar throughout, but that's what Matt Tuck rights about! He enjoys writing about love and such (Valentine is in the band name people...) so leave him be. Fever is just another step in a new direction, and their next album will be another step, and another, until BFMV gets to where they want to be. And they're gonna go in the direction they choose regardless of what naysayers or supporters think.
To me it sounds like a load of B sides from S.A.F (except the B sides fromt hat were awesome...)
The rhyming in Bittersweet Memories os incredibly cringeworthy.
The Last Fight and Breaking Out, Breaking Down are great, and Your Betrayal has a great chorus (but is let down by that god awful whispering)...
To be honest, it's not that they havent varied their songwriting, it's the fact some of it is IDENTICAL in sound to previous tracks in palces, and to me that just shows they should have progressed a bit more.
Personally, i will still say B4MV are still my favourite band, but at the same time, i will point new people to them, to the previous 3 offerings and tell them to avoid this for the most part....
you guys must have been listenin to a different album. Fever is a bit disapointing, but its not as crap as you guys make it out to be. I think that BFMV came along way from The Poison. Some of the songs on this album are amazing. Your Betrayal, Begging for Mercy and The Last Fight are great songs. And sure their lyrics are a bit repetitive, but so are virtualy all other bands.
Said it countless times before, and I'll say it again: This album is just terrible in all aspects. From the generic predictability of EVERY SONG to the rehashed riffs that we've heard a thousand times before, it's an all around let down. The lyrics, as said, are laugh-worthy and every song sounds the same, except the slow one or two which sound like Say Goodnight, but gay(er). This is coming from a fan of the band who loves both The Poison AND Scream Aim Fire.
Also, everybody who disagrees is wrong and only my opinion matters.
I agree that the poison was better but what people are forgetting is that most metal people want the band to get harder and faster with each CD released and 9 times out of 10 that will not happen. People that love lamb of god in the begin when they were straight hardcore hate them now because people say they are main stream. I liked the new bullet CD but i don t think they will top the poison.
i expected sooo much more, i expected more hard hitting, heavy songs, i expected more of what they sounded like on scream aim fire, which is my favorite album from them. It truly is BFMV at its best.
I expected alot more.
i really dont understand how people really think this is amazing. impressive riffs? the album is horribly generic, 2 or 3 songs are alright though. i loved the poison, and even SAF, and i was really looking forward to this. it just pisses me off that this is what bfmv say they really are, coz its really shit.
you want to bitch about something, y dont you bitch about the "mainstream" pop and rap bullshit that seams to be clouding the music world. Everytime you go into a store anymore all it is is that shit, Finally there is more than shit to listen to, and everyone is pissed. you guys are just lucky bfmv made a new album, if they heard ur comments, they'd probably tell u to **** off!
This is a discussion of the new album released by Bullet for my Valentine, not "'mainstream' rap and bullshit." If you're upset about what people are thinking about this album on this page, don't read it.
When I heard the singles, I thought there was some potential for a decent album, albeit the cliche lyric style BFMV has. After checking out some of their other songs today, I am disappointed. I haven't found either SAF or Fever to be as interesting as The Poison. Maybe they ran out of all their good ideas after one album.
i dont agree on the rating system here, BFMV are playing it safe by not adventuring too far out of their safety zone but its still has some very good tunes on it i say its a 8 out of 10!
THESE REVIES SUCK!!! THIS ALBUM CHANGED MY LIFE!!! If you think it's terrible, your the biggest idiot on the earth. Seriously, no one can match these skills. LONG LIVE BULLET!!!!!
I just went out and bought it (I know old school right) but I think its a great CD. The lyrics aren't great, and the guitar techniques aren't extremely original, but it was definately worth the 10 bucks I paid for it. Its a classic Bullet album.
after reading blackmists review i was sorta of brokenhearted... but after reading aspikes10 reply i understand that i shouldn't take these reviews so seriously. i'm sure i'll give it a try sooner or later...
KSEjunkie2468 wrote:
listening to teenage emo metal and A7X
I'll bet you $20 that A7X's new album in July OBLITERATES Fever.
Lyrics are cringe worthy as ever, but I still like it. Poison's overrated, SAF was hit-and-miss, this is more of a mishmash. each song has awesome parts, but they aren't interesting enough to listen to the whole thing. (Alone has awesome verse, lame chorus; Your Betrayal has awesome chorus, lame verse; Place where you belong & Bittersweet Memories have WAY too long intros).
its what I expected though, and I like it, not gonna lie. Still more excited for new A7X/Trivium.
i know everyone hates this album to death but i think stepping out of there emo hardcore roots is a good thing. "A Place Where You Belong" is nothing short of sad it's a powerful song that some of us can relate to if we lost someone we loved very much and the song "Fever" is just a sexy song for that hot chick we all know and like in our lives.
But some people are caught up in what made a band great and can't see that musicians change with the years and some artists like to explore their feelings and apply them in different ways to their music.
Maybe some of you will take a listen years from now and think hey i can see why they approached the album in this way or that.
This is interesting. All the BFMV fans at my school love the new album and can't stop talking about how great it is but everywhere online it's getting shit.
I saw them open for A7X back in '08 and they were ****ing horrible but mostly because their sound technician must have been high or drunk cuz the microphone wasn't even turned on. But even that aside, their Melissa Cross fry vocals ****ing suck and they are nothing but hot topic drag queens to me.
I'm sorry but I liked the music on the Poison, lyrics didn't bother me that much, Scream Aim Fire was okay, but man, I heard the two first songs from Fever, and honestly ― well, first, the cover is horrible ― the music is so generic that all I could hear was the vocals and I was disgusted when I heard them clearly sing "she's so beautiful on her knees rip those clothes off you make me lose control". come on. Seriously.
i'll agree SAF and the poison were both a hit-and-miss, same with Fever, but you really can't please everyone with just one album. i reckon this was a decent album with possibly the best being "a place where you belong" or "bittersweet memories". BlackMist had a point with some of it being a bit samey through the album, but i don't care, i don't want Bullet to "evolve" as a band, Escape the Fate tried with their new songs and failed miserably, coming up as some poor ripoff of early slipknot, i don't want one of my favourite bands to stop doing what theyre doing because people are too judgemental. ETF caved to the pressure and went from "my apocalypse" and "guillotine pt 2" to "bad blood" and "behind the mask".. listen and compare the two sets, unless your braindead you'll know where they were better off.
"Metal Bands" have to have some acoustic songs to show they are true musicians and not just idiots with distortion. Metallica fans got all upset over nothing else matters and fade to black when they first heard them because they thought a great metal band had gone soft, but looking back now everyone can agree they are classic songs. Just like AX7 would not be as epic as it is not without "seize the day", or disturbed without "darkness", or a day to remember without "you had me at hello"
All the songs were decent, though ill admit the repetetive intro to your betrayal was a bit of a fail though the rest of the song was pretty good.
If they changed to be a "true metal band" we'd lose Padget's melodic solos and Matt's great voice; the greatest things about BFMV (jason and moose are great too), all lost to overdriven shredding and excessive screaming.. yeah.. that would soo make a great album because we havent heard that from every second rate killswitch engage wannabe.
People can say the album was a big let down and a waste of CDs, but lets face it, as soon as complete tabs for the whole album are posted people are going to be learning every song because a real band is based on its riffage, and guess who always delivers?
In my honest opinion the album it self was good. no not there best work, but still good. I don't know why everyone hates on scream aim fire. with songs such as waking the demon, hearts burst into fire, say goodnight, eye of the storm, scream aim fire, end of days and especially ashes of the innocent. those are all amazing songs. ya it had a couple fillers in it imo but even the fillers are enjoyable if you really listen to them. i personally like SAF more than the poison. the poison is a very good album though. I think this album fever is just not up to par. although, in fever they do have some of the heavier growls compared to the other two albums. lyrically, fever was by far the worst album of them all hands down. the whispers? ouch. the lyrics from a couple of the songs gave me the sense of (what were they thinking)? I think they album lacked a little in there solo's too. ya it has some cool solo's but i think bullet should throw there wammy's away, because everytime i heard wammy, it started to kill the solo's. but still vocals were pretty good, (just whispers and lyrics was a major downfall). WHO ELSE LIKES SCREAM AIM FIRE?!?! I mean, you can't judge an album horribly cause it has a few fillers.
It's funny how nobody gets the fact a band isn't gonna try and do something they have always done. The Poison is their best and probably will be their best for a long time. every album is gonna sound different. it's called maturing. and if you were a true bullet fan, you would support them anyway. The album was pretty good. Pretty on the outside is my favorite
bullet isnt a bunch of TRUE metal fans or whatever else you fags call yourself. they're true MUSIC fans and they play whatever sounds good to them without giving a s*** about what genre you lock them into...
YA that's what i want to hear. +10 for you having a common sense.
Much better than Scream Aim Fire. But coming from me that doesn't mean much. BFMV were my favourite band up until I first heard Scream Aim Fire. This album is better though, it's pretty much what I expected. A lot like their old stuff and it has a BFMV 'feel' to it. When I personally like.
Although the lyrics might be 'generic' and what not, it still sounds good and I don't find the lyrics to be BAD or anything. Sure, they're average but they don't suck.
Haven't listened to all the songs yet so hopefully it gets better. But all it all it's mostly what I expected.
I think a lot of people also don't like it BECAUSE it's similar to their old stuff, so you tend to get a bit sick of the same old thing. (Similar to an extent)
Oh well, just my $0.02 Hope they come back to Australia soon .
OH and I haven't heard Fever yet, but I agree with Space Frog that the line "she's so beautiful on her knees rip those clothes off you make me lose control" sounds pretty bad...
Listening to Fever right now.
Not liking it a whole lot.
One part actually reminded me of Nickelback. Random I know but hey it did.
"Come here you naughty girl you're such a tease
You look so beautiful down on your knees
Keep on those high heel shoes rip off all your clothes
You smell so ****ing good it makes me lose control!"
Can't say that bit was very good. Lyrics, and just how it sounded. Though I am personally not a big fan of sware words in songs. Sounds lazy and immature.
Not a terrible song. Could have been much better.
Still got my hopes up for this album
Lets see how the rest of it turns out.
If you not heard any of their previous work, this album would garner a great deal of attention. Obviously the diehard fans will love anything BFMV put out, but I have to say that this just feels like they have found a sound and song formula that they are comfortable with and have just cranked out another version of the Poison. I like most of the tracks, but don't hear a lot of progression of their work, so that in itself is a bit disappointing. I'll take it, but was expecting hear something that progresses from the last one.
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
All that means is that the last album should have been rated even lower
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
As a die hard (but realitic) fan i bought this the day of its release and i agree 100%..while it might not be the bands best work it definately is a step up from Scream, Aim, Fire. this album will be appreciated much more once the deluxe version appears but all in all a solid 6.5-7/10 is deserved..mind u i am as i said a die hard but realistic BFMV fan
ehhh this album was ok. its not a masterpiece, but its not a failure either. i agree with 75% of people here, ive heard it all before. that said, there were some good tracks, and after a few listens it has started to grow on me. i give it a 7/10, dissapointing because of all the hype i was expecting to be blown away. with matt's voice being better and all, but there was minimal screaming. well ima go give the poison a spin to make myself feel better.
It's funny how nobody gets the fact a band isn't gonna try and do something they have always done. The Poison is their best and probably will be their best for a long time. every album is gonna sound different. it's called maturing. and if you were a true bullet fan, you would support them anyway. The album was pretty good. Pretty on the outside is my favorite
A valid point until you listen to the album, and realise they havent matured in any way. Same song topics, same sound, and in some cases, virtually identical riffs...
Scream Aim Fire was a great and underrated album in my opinion, this just sounds like they've tried to add to it, rather than build on it, and the result is something which isnt new or different or of the same standard...sure it has a few good tracks, but on the whole, not as good...
(and i'm already getting pissed off with listening to it, and halfway through going "wait, i've heard that before", whether it be lyrics, progressions, riffs etc...fair enough ripping off other people's ideas, you can disguise it, and begrudgingly it is a part of music...but when you do it to your own music, you can't disguise it! and that shows in spades here)
bullet isnt a bunch of TRUE metal fans or whatever else you fags call yourself. they're true MUSIC fans and they play whatever sounds good to them without giving a s*** about what genre you lock them into...
Doesn't matter what genre they are, they're still garbage.
One thing that has made me laugh is if you have listened to all of bullet for my valentines music, you will hear the lyrics (tables turn) i believe 4 times throughout there albums. In Fever matt say's it in Alone, SAF has it in Ashes of the Innocent, and also in Last To Know. I'm pretty sure there is another song where they say that lol, correct me if im wrong. anyways, getting to the point, i find it a little unoriginal :p
As a big fan of the EP and The Poison, SAF was quite a let down. Although (as stated plenty times before) it doesn't break new ground or do anything outside of Bullet's comfort zone, I still enjoyed the album.
It could be argued that when bands change they lose a majority of their fans (In Flames and Metallica to name a couple) so it's hard to strike a balance between keeping your own sound but not becoming stale. Iron Maiden have barely changed their sound throughout their career, for example, but they still remain relevant to a lot of people.
I find this album to be really good. The poison will always be their best b/c it was their first. I think this album did do better than SAF. I give the album an 8/10 stars
Please forgive me/ I don't know what I'm doing/ Someone help me These lines sum up the whole album well. I loved BFMV's previous stuff, including Scream Aim Fire, but this album is a total let down.
I rate this 10/10... You probably find this odd but I honestly thought this album was DIFFERENT from the others... It shown a softer side of Bullet. Every band has their soft side and it's about time Bullet had shown it. They have their share of heavier songs like Your Betrayal, Begging for Mercy, and Pretty on the Outside but maybe they weren't searching for heavier for this album... Wait they said they wanted a Hard Rock album. Remember Hard Rock... This is a great Hard Rock album... beats any other Hard Rock album if you ask me... Nickelback suck, Shinedown are okay, but Bullet pull this off very well... They keep their riffage similar I will say but thats what made us Bullet fans happy and everyone out there that disses A Place Where you Belong has issues cause that song is terrific.
This is just another album in BFMV's career that will be studied for the future. Just like The Poison and Scream Aim Fire were extremely different, so is this. I think BFMV is still yet to completely establish a consistency and i expect their future stuff to just keep getting more experienced and continue to mix things up until theyre right where they wanna be. But its a great album in my opinion. I love it
Completely agree. This is only their third album and im glad that all three sound slightly different from each other. IMO all three are great albums and i cant wait till the next one. But until then i will enjoy fever
TO EVERYONE WHO DISSES THIS BAND: I'd like to see you do better...
Fever is great if you like the band. If your new, definitely start with the poison. I'm not dissapointed at all despite the lack of heavier songs, and if you miss the heavy stuff, there's plenty of similar harsher music out there - the closest is atreyu.
I think it's kinda funny how they say this album is so generic and mediocre, but then complain about how it isn't like The Poison. The Poison is metalcore, extremally generic. What about screamo huh? All those songs sound the same, review one of those. And if it's sooooo generic try learning a Bullet song. Go ahead try... Now that you've tried I hope you realize that they're incredibally talented.
Said it countless times before, and I'll say it again: This album is just terrible in all aspects.
Also, everybody who disagrees is wrong and only my opinion matters.
Really? You think you're just that special huh? If you want to get a point across and be persuasive and then don't say completely irreverent ignorant shit. Thank you
I will start out by saying that Fever puts Scream Aim Fire to shame. It is a more well put together CD all around.So they don't change up very much. They stick with what we the fans like. With that being said I am glad they put another song on here to tie the other two together. I like how The End, Say Goodnight and now A place where you belong tell a story. Most people who want to talk trash on this band are usualy to close minded to get the deeper meanings to the song.It you want to takl trash about BFMV then just go back to the crap you call good music. BFMV is and always will be a great band.
Funny thing is - I bet BFMV makes several more albums before any of the haters who are bashing the new record make one. Personally, I think the new album rocks and if you don't like it, don't listen to it. Simple as that.
i love this album, and Matt tuck himself said he doesn't give a **** if people hate the album because its one that bullet enjoyed making unlike scream aim fire which bored them because they wrote that album to please the people who claimed they weren't proper metal.also don't forget Matt wrote the lyrics at the same time as they were coming up with the songs rather than after the instruments were recorded like most bands do, so you cant really complain about the lyrics being deep, besides i doubt any of you actually thought that they might have a message in the lyrics e.g the last fight just from looking at the lyrics would you have guessed it was about someone trying to help a drug addict but having it thrown back in their face? i wouldn't have unless i had read it , and on this album they had a new producer who pushed them to sound different, whereas before they would do that themselves.
I don't like the sound of it, not because it's bad, but it is just too average.
What I do think makes this album a bit more accessible is that there is alot more passion and energy in the songs than in Scream, Aim Fire.
I was very impressed with fever. It delivered no shortage if awsome riffs, powerful vocals, amazing drumming and basslines that stood out. A place where you belong once again proved bullets diversity and the ability to competantly play mellower tracks, just like say goodnight did on scream aim fire and curses on the EP. Yeah it's not their best work but it's deffinately an awsome piece of musical mastery.
Lyrically its a strong album which people can relate too which in turn gives an audience a link to the songs. And as a song writer I can assure you this is no easy trait xD
But the thing that most impresses me with fever is that bullet did this album as something they enjoy to do and not to please a crowd. I have great respect for that and you can see in their live performances of the album that it's what they love doing
i love bullet, and i like the album, alot. But i will agree about the lyrics being a bit cheesy, but i like alot of the vocal melodys, guitar work is top notch.
Listening to Fever right now.
Not liking it a whole lot.
One part actually reminded me of Nickelback. Random I know but hey it did.
"Come here you naughty girl you're such a tease
You look so beautiful down on your knees
Keep on those high heel shoes rip off all your clothes
You smell so ****ing good it makes me lose control!"
Can't say that bit was very good. Lyrics, and just how it sounded. Though I am personally not a big fan of sware words in songs. Sounds lazy and immature.
Not a terrible song. Could have been much better.
Still got my hopes up for this album
Lets see how the rest of it turns out.
If you've ever listened to The Poison, then this wouldn't have sounded like a Nickleback song to you. Have you ever heard Hit The Floor or My Fist Your Mouth Her Scars? This isn't something new.
yea yu r very harsh!! bullet is legend!! all yu who say this album suck, well then y dont yu smart f#?%s go and make yur own album with unbelievable guitar riffs, amazing clean and screaming vocals and deep meaningful lyrics?? then we can all judge yu!!
love yu bullet!! forever BFMV
G\
This album sounds like something a group of teens could have written.
I like it but I don't love it, and I was hoping to love this album.
Well maybe you could give the songs you like a couple more listens until they catch on. Personally I think that saying "an album a group of teens could have written" really isn't saying much. For example Metallica wrote the Ride The Lightning album a complete classic when they were teens so whats wrong about something like that?
People are missing the point here. If you were a Bullet fan to begin with you would see where and how Fever shines.
(Does everybody really expect them to just keep getting harder, more technical and "Holy SHIT this is even HARDER than the last album!! =D").
It's called evolution. Unfortunately alot of people see that as only staying the same.
I thought this was a great rock album with some metal edge to it. If you have anything negative to say about it you're saying it to Matt, the crew and what "they" want from their sound. There was some ballady stuff, but they're human man. They felt the tracks fit so let them have their cake while we eat it, too.
People need to stop basing their opinions on reviews and getting upset over negative scores. Music is subjective so it's pretty obvious many people here aren't going to like the album. As for me, I'd have to agree with the reviews that gave it a 7. Lyrically and innovatively, this isn't the greatest album but for those wanting a solid rock album with no screaming and some solid guitar riffs, that's what you get. The album isn't much of an evolution but chances are if it was, people would still think it sucks.
Oh dear.. I'm horrified by these bullet fans. "omg these guyz hav so much more skillz than uu!! bullet 4ever!"... These guys are really giving BFMV fans the wrong image.. And I use to be like that too.. Jesus. Anyway, I didn't think this album was too bad,it certainly did not meet my expectations but it's an alright listen. I'd give it a 7 or 6/10. It is definitely not worth a 10/10 score.
When you skim off all the fat at the end of the day, I felt that Bittersweet Memories, Pain For Pleasure (the new version) and Pretty On The Outside were musically the weakest links. From a Bullet standpoint (aside from Pain For Pleasure, which were comparable to Three Days Grace, lyrically).
Scream Aim Fire was and still is my favorite album by these guys.. I just enjoy them more when they bring the thrash element into it. I do like this album and the poison alot as well. Favorite tracks off this cd are Fever, Begging for you mercy, Dignity, and Breaking out Breaking down.... i would give this album and the poison an 8.5 and scream aim fire a 9
IMO, this is my album breakdown: The Poison has the best lyrics and most power, SAF had a much more thrash feel to it, and Fever put two and two together. That doesn't mean its a great album but if there is anything Bullet is consistant with, its having a fair amount of songs that have a wide appeal. As for people complaining about lyrics, thats their style of music and how they write let it be. As for the generic tone, its pretty generic BFMV they haven't grown much.
I think it's kinda funny how they say this album is so generic and mediocre, but then complain about how it isn't like The Poison. The Poison is metalcore, extremally generic. What about screamo huh? All those songs sound the same, review one of those. And if it's sooooo generic try learning a Bullet song. Go ahead try... Now that you've tried I hope you realize that they're incredibally talented.
1. You don't what screamo is.
2. BFMV's songs are really easy to play, sorry to break your bubble.
And for those saying "If you don't like it, don't comment", isn't the whole point of commenting to express an opinion?
While obviously me saying that everyone else should disregard everyone else's opinion and just be happy to have their own, saying that would make me a hypocrite considering I'm going to type out my opinion for people to agree and disagree with at length.
This album was safe. While that may not sound like a damning indictment of it I want to explain that fully. This album was so safe as to inspire not a single emotional response from me. I mean even albums I hate by bands I loathe evoke such a response from me so I can at least give them that, This album has no right nor merit to exist. It is the same easily packaged cookie cutter lyrics, songs, riffs, solos, shoutalong choruses and breakdowns that anyone with even a remote concept of metal has heard 1000 times over to the point of nausea. There is not a single original idea to be found on this album, not one thing that hasn't been done already by someone else, better (or by them I may add).
So, that's my opinion, glad that's out the way.
PS. No one on this forum can honestly say they aren't sick of hearing the hackneyed "bass drum and single guitar preverse". Ignoring the fact that it's been abused more than a veteran Taiwanese hooker with bad taste in men, you could easily sicken yourself of it purely from this album alone
u guys just preach that u have a right to review these bands so harshly but are so ****ing biased towards genres you dont like, basically u say things like "this album was a big disappointment, but metalcore/deathcore is the worst music ever and is the only thing worse than this
People should stop comparing it to their past stuff, its a different style =\ you can't call it bad for that reason. They made the album to sound how they wanted it to.. Personally, i love the album, just wish it had more songs.
A few good moments.. maybe only 3-4 songs worth multiple listens however.. ill give it a very mediocre 5/10, maybe just because im still high on these guys from their first album.
This reminds me of when Atreyu released Lead Sails Paper Anchor after awesome albums like "The Curse"(one of my all time faves) and everyone was like WTF..same song different verse here. Atreyu has yet to get their balls back hopefully BFMV regains their edge..
Nobody who releases an album (A hard rock one at that) of our generation, and sells that much, cannot and will not, suck. They're too heavy or they're too light for you or you don't like the vocals (which are at their best here I think), but that doesn't dismantle the integrity of the album.
I found it was very well produced and, original for "them" in the vision they saw fit to alter their sound. Kind of their way of saying "Okay, well we gave you two albums that probably sound more similar to one another than this one, so we're due for some creativity switch-ups".
Think of Linkin Park's "Minutes To Midnight" in contrast". Well produced but a severing of the balls.
The evidence is irrefutable no matter who disagrees.
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
i agree. its no "The Poison" but it's sure as hell better that SAF
Yes it's not the poison but this is no way a 5/10 album. It's more like a 6/7. Here's why:
- At least 5 of the songs are better than anything on Scream Aim Fire. Hands down.
- There aren't as many poor songs on here. There are some but all bar 4 of Scream Aim Fire was unacceptable and it immediatly outstrips that. Go back and listen to S.A.F after listening to this. You'll see the difference. This is better. S.A.F was a 5/10 album. This isn't.
- The album is rammed with great riffs, and even if the lyrics are complete gash (standard bullet i'm afraid. IMO this is the one thing holding them back) the vocal melodies are much improved.
For these reasons i'd give this more than 5/10. 6.5 or possibly 7. It's not a classic album but compared to their last album it's a triumph.
i agree. its no "The Poison" but it's sure as hell better that SAF
Come here you naughty girl you're such a tease
You look so beautiful down on your knees
Keep on those high heel shoes rip off all your clothes
You smell so ****ing good it makes me lose control!
i do respect the effort this album has taken, the hard work and so on. BUT FEVER IS NEVER EVER BETTER THAN SCREAM AIM FIRE!! saf has a lot more harder riffs and cathy songs!! the solos are pretty lame. they don't show padge's real skills! and the excerpt of the lyrics above... common dude... that's kinda 50-cent or something like that.
I've finally had a chance to listen to this album. I saw somebody on here say that this album is "safe" and I have to agree. BFMV have delivered an album the fans will enjoy, but there certainly isn't any new ground to be found here.
Personally that doesn't really bother me. I don't care if a band sticks to their sound. Sometimes 'evolving' doesn't work and people wish the band had just stuck to their guns. This album has its moments, I actually like the simple more melodic lead playing, but it certainly has moments which I would be embarrassed to have blasting in my car as a I drive around (some of the lyrics and melodies are just to girly for my liking). All in all, a solid album. 6.5/10. BFMV fanatics will love it.
So far to me Fever is good but just average for BFMV. After coming off of Poison which was amazing, and Scream Aim Fire which wasn't bad, was kind of a let down. The guitar is so basic and nothing different than cliche metal. i like the singing and rythms of the songs but the energy, innovation, and suprise was not there. Its not that just because the Poison is heavier is what it makes it the best album by them but because every song had its own guitar, its own singing, and own feel. it was full of energy and excitement that Fever couldn't live up to. IMO, I think with talent like that in a band, you could come up with some sick riffs and innovated music that would blow ppl away every album.
Im gonna open this by saying BMFV are four of the most amazing people that have walked on this earth... Yeah fever was great, but it didnt deserve all the hype it recieved. It was still an amazing album and i bought it in a second, but i was expecting more.
Whether the numerical value is high or low, all of the reviews seem to be saying generally the same thing...BFMV's latest rendition gives fans more of their trademark sound, but ultimately plays this album very safe. How you decide to feel about that is up to you. But while the songs may be catchy and more melodic it's hard not to notice how much some tunes resemble their older hits. Many of them are in the same key and use chords the band has played since the beginning. Such as Dignity, which is a very catchy song, but may owe this to the fact that it's constructed so similarly to older songs of there's. The main riff is in the same tempo and key as Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow. The Pre-Chorus uses the same chords from Tears Don't Fall's chorus and Hearts Burst into Fire's main riff. And the verse is built from many of the same chords from Tears Don't Fall and Deliver us from Evil...basically many of the songs from Fever sound like reconstructed versions of their older tracks. If you like their past music then many of you simply won't care and will just enjoy it for what it is. However, many others will be a bit peeved that they didn't strive for progression and more unique riffs.
While I am a little disappointed not to see them try something new, I also know that more complex riffs and technical skills don't necessarily make for a better song. When you look at Killswitch Engage's newest self title album, it's probably the most technical variety and complexity in any of their albums, however, this doesn't make it their strongest either. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't step out of your comfort zone once in a while. Overall, solid catchy tunes, but more of the same and lacking in creativity and improvement.
after a few more listens, this album has grown on me. i enjoy this album alot, but its still only decent. question, what happened to matt and page's harmonised guitar riffs that BFMV is so famous for? I heard none on this album.
Not sure if a comment left this late will be read but here goes.
I loved SAF, it was much more mature-sounding than the Poison. Fever goes back to the Poison-esque emo-ish lyrics which is annoying and cheesy at times (The guys are in their 30s for christ sake!).
There are a few good tracks on it but overall it's nowhere near SAF or the Poison unfortunately. Tuck needs to mix it up for the next one, it's like they have no concept of what sounds cheesy or something. Whispering in the betrayal? "I can feel your you fever taking over"? ... yeah... then again "Breaking Out, Breaking Down" is brilliant so I dunno what to think. To conclude, well worth a listen if you liked their the previous stuff, otherwise give it a miss
why do people get so crazy when a band sounds like there self? People saying this sounds like the poison do realize it is the same band right. If i go and see them in concert i want to hear BFMV songs not there new stuff that sounds like goo goo dolls which what sounds like what some people want. I wanted another BFMV album and thats what they delivered.
Im the kind of guy that will only put in his two cents if he has listened to the entire album.
well i have, and i can say with confidence and pride, that it blows a huge load. the lyrics that sum up this album are, "And now i ****ing hate you! with all of my heart!"
Am i the only person here who thinks the whispering in Your Betrayal was ok, better than just screaming all the way thru most songs like on 'the poison'
It's only been out for a day and it's already the worst thing ever? Did everbody already forget aboot Nickelback?
XD ur right
Well actually if any of u guys have heard Nickelbacks heavier stuff, its more metallic than Metallica in places, listen to side of a bullet and beleive it or not
I thought this album was great but i miss the badassness of the poison... I miss the days Matt could scream clearly, before he got the surgery. If they could bring that back that would be great
Very bad album
Much the same but then worse overall
Lyrics are bad, guitar riffs are less in my opinion and the solo's are 5times easier?? not that more difficult solo's are always better, most time not but this is very dissapointing.
But The Last Fight is a good song thought
To be perfectly honest i wonder wheather im listening to the same album as some people. this is the first album they have released properly in a studio environenment since matt had his operation and his voice is sounding better than ever, the acoustic version of the last fight is an incredible example. this album is about exploring some different options for the boys and tbh the riffs are some of there best, alone is incredible and i think the only trully weak track is bittersweet memories. each song has a fantastic riff or melody and the solos are beautiful, everyone fits perfectly with the song and the multiple layers of synth strings and vocals are unbelievable if you listen hard enough, clearly some people havent listened hard enough because they cant hear them. thats the real secret of this album,the musicianship is amazing, and there is certianly nothing wrong with the production either, everything is clear and sounds fantastic. the only let down really is the lyrics, and tbh there actually pretty good too, not the best thing about bullet, but i think there working on that and the lyrical musical and productional content is such a huge step up from scream aim fire, scream is no where near as strong.what alot of people havent realised is that matt has said in his interviews is that they stripped the songs down to make them simple, but they compensate with the layers underneath the tracks, and the riffs are amazing. matts voice is sounding its best, more guttural vocals from matt in future i hope but this is definitley a progression album. there will be even better to come, that i am sure of. just really absorb this album before rating it, theres far too much criticism, and reviews should be about the music and the album, not the genre or wheather there lryics are typical. the musical content is immense. negaitivity is not the way to go about it, we dont want another band we want bullet, and this album is all bullet, and a very strong effort. 9 out of 10 for me.
This album is pretty good but I was expecting more like the poison which is still my favourite album by Bullet. Most of my friends hate this album because it isn't really the Bullet from the poison because the poison had some pretty epic songs like Tears Dont Fall and All These Things I Hate.
I personally liked this album a bit more than SAF but it is true that some songs were kinda predictable, but it is still an album to crank up loud and piss the neighborhood off with lol.
Fav song is probably Pretty on the Outside, yeah we've all heard songs about the same topic, but none have had such an emotional impact. I know plenty of people who have been played by a selfish cold hearted B*tch and can easily relate to this song.
A place where you belong, Alone, Bittersweet Memories, and Begging for Mercy were pretty sick too, not as hardout as their old stuff, but pretty sweet too.
Fever lacked a sense of meaning to me after listening to the lyrics in the bridge, and Your Betrayal was a great hook into the album i reckon, enough to make you get up in the middle of class and head bang like crazy.
Ah well just my opinion but still it is a good album.
I own all BFMV studio albums and I listen to them a lot.
In my opinion:
- Hand of Blood EP and The Poison : a masterpiece of emo / metalcore music, I like it a lot.
- Scream Aim Fire and its bonus tracks: good work, but not as good as The Poison.
- Fever: not bad, but worse than The Poison and SAF plus many songs are too much similar to other songs of them. I like most only the first 3 songs!
The best I'd say is "Betrayal" and Fever the album wasn't that good. Most of the songs are basically based on "Scream Aim Fire" and "The Poison". If they are going to make another album all I hope is that it'll be way better than any heavy albums that ever lived in this planet called Earth
[Black Mist said][/so if you're into subtle messages cleverly explained through the means of poetry and song writing, you ain't gonna get it here. // 2
]
Nice to finally see someone with a high standard for lyrics on this site.
Fever and Your Betrayal happens to be the only good songs on the album. To be honest I think it's a great album but I'll only listen to it for a week and then throw it away. Hand of Blood EP was the best so far. Can't wait the next album but if it sucks then I'm afraid they should go on hiatus
I personally thought Scream Aim Fire was a masterpiece, and The Poison was the worse one. I still love The Poison, but it's just a more emo record than the other two.
Fever is really good if you listen to it at once. There are some great staples on that album, like Begging For Mercy and The Last Fight, along with the obvious Your Betrayal and Fever.
Scream Aim Fire was just heavier. That's why I like it. It may not have stuck with BMFV's roots, but I still consider it a thrash classic. I mean, Scream Aim Fire, Waking the Demon, Eye of the Storm, and Hearts Burst Into Fire are all spectacular.
I can understand some people are a tad butthurt because they didn't stick to their guns, but sometimes you should change for the better. Glad they did, I still think Scream and Fever beat out the Poison. I do love Tears Don't Fall and All These Things I Hate though.
((