Released: Mar 22, 2011
Genre: Hard rock, Post-grunge
Label: Island Records
Number Of Tracks: 10
Power ballads rival the number of typical rock anthems on the latest Saliva offering Under Your Skin.
Under Your SkinFeatured review by: UG Team, on march 22, 2011 0 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: Saliva’s singles over the past few years have had an uncanny way of ending up as the theme songs for various televised events – particularly of the wrestling variety. So with the release of the band’s seventh full-length studio record Under Your Skin, one could expect that Saliva might churn out another batch of energetic, in-your-face anthems cut in the same cloth as “Click Click Boom.” But this time the band has looked to its more emotional side for a good batch of the tracks, with those laid-back tunes rivaling the number of traditional rock songs.
Saliva has a good thing going with a major label (Island Records), so you don’t necessarily expect them to take a huge leap in an experimental direction. That assumption would be correct on Under Your Skin. Yes, there are a couple catchy rock-driven tunes that will once again find themselves as theme songs, but the vast majority of the tracks don’t ever venture into dramatically new territory musically. Saliva has simply decided to explore their mellow, emotional side, and that approach – although possibly straight from the heart – doesn’t lend itself to making Under Your Skin a highly memorable album.
For those who will relish songs in the vein of “Ladies and Gentlemen,” look no further than the new tracks “Badass” and “Burn It Up.” Those two songs are trademark Saliva through and through, with Josey Scott once again delivering his distinctive blend of aggressive rapping/yelling throughout. Other up-tempo tracks like “Get Out Alive” are fairly run of the mill in terms of a rock formula and do tend to feel like fillers.
What stands out most about Under Your Skin are the ballads, and there are quite a few of them. Many of those tracks do build to a bigger chorus like “Better Days” and “Hate Me,” but these are still pretty mellow at their core. “The Key” and “Turn the Lights On” are essentially power ballads, but for those who do enjoy a pour-your-heart-and-soul-out approach and aren’t afraid of a few emotions, these tracks could very well be their favorites. // 6
Lyrics and Singing: Feelings are certainly explored more so on Under Your Skin than on previous Saliva albums, with songs like “The Key” exploring the possible end of a relationship and “Never Let You Go” ruing the day that love went wrong. Saliva does inject plenty of machismo into the album with “Badass” and “Burn It Up,” but those tracks honestly do get overshadowed by the emotionally outpouring in the mellower offerings. // 7
Impression: There aren’t too many surprises musically on Under Your Skin, but given their solid record sales in the past, Saliva probably has no intention of possibly alienating fans. It should be mentioned that guitarist Wayne Swinny does deliver some memorable solo work, with “Burn It Up” even featuring some Van Halen-esque tapping techniques. Unfortunately those moments can’t carry the album and Under Your Skin still leaves you with the feeling that you’ve heard it all before. That being said, Saliva fans who own every previous album in the band’s catalog will probably have no problem embracing the 11 new tracks. // 7
Under Your Skin
Reviewed by:
jtalep, on march 22, 2011 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Sound: First and foremost, I want to address the critics out there who will say this band peaked in 2002 and have been going downhill ever since. I agree with you. So I was not expecting much from this album at all.
Hearing the first two singles, Nothing and Badass, it again sounded like another lazy attempt from a band that is stuck in its ways. But, listening to the full album it's now clear this is definitely something different from them, unfortunately they just put out the two weakest tracks from the album as singles...real clever guys.
Bring Grammy Award Winning producer Howard Benson on board has certainly given Saliva a new boost of creative energy, and shifted them more towards the likes of 3 Doors Down in terms of genre. By no means have they lost any bite, as can be heard on Get Out Alive and Burn It Up, which see Saliva powering through with a new force. Get Out Alive especially, as I see this being one of the stand out tracks on the album. It's heavy, but the chorus is something new for them and not what I was expecting, which believe me is a good thing. It's definitely one of the most up-tempo choruses they have written and it works.
My only criticism is that there are several mellow ballads on the album, 4 actually, which I think stops the album from properly gathering memento. Out of the 4, Never Let You Go and Turn The Lights Up are probably the ones worth mentioning. They hark back to the 'Rest In Pieces' days, and unlike the other ballads there is a raw genuine element on the songs and although they're bound to be used on every teen chick flick for the next 5 years, they're definitely solid songs as far as ballads go.
Is this album radical? No. Is this album likely to get amazing reviews? No. But, for the first time since Back Into Your System the band has shown it still has the ability to write songs that are designed for music fans and not sports fans. // 7
Lyrics and Singing: Josey Scott, much like the band in general, peaked on Back Into Your System with songs like Separated Self, but since his admitted withdrawal from drink and drugs his lyrics have become predictable and very clichéd, no much more so than Cinco Diable, an album we all wish would go away.
But there is a marked improvement on this album, there are still moments where you know what he's going to say before he says it, but it is much better than than their previous 2 albums.
What stands out on this album is his voice, which without a doubt sounds better than it ever has. His range, power, and timbre really shines through. There has also been a marked improvement in his melody's, which are in places some of the best we've heard in 9 years, such as Prove Me Wrong, which when combined with the synth and uplifting guitar really give a totally new dynamic.
Although lyrically this is about a 6-7, the massive step up in vocal performance pushes this up to an 8. And for those wanting to know, no, there are no 'booms' in this album. // 8
Impression: This is without a doubt the most convincing release Saliva has put out since 2002. It's not perfect, and it's not likely to be enough for those critics who gave up on Saliva years ago, but for existing Saliva fans who have had to deal with a massive downturn in quality and originality, this goes some way to making up for it.
There are those that will say this album is too different from the likes of 'Click Click Boom' and 'Ladies And Gentlemen', and not heavy enough. But the simple fact is this band have grown up and moved on, so maybe you should to? // 7
Cross between Nickelback and Seether. Well, what does that mean to yooooou...
Saliva was around before both of those bands. What does that mean to me? It sounds like your trying to pull anything to show your dislike towards this band. A lame attempt might I add.
Anyways, I've read some good reviews on this album. Somebody even told me it's better than their last two combined but after listening to "Badass" I was kinda skeptical. The other tracks sound nice though, never cared for Saliva's singles anyway. Their sound is just evolving farther and farther away from what originally got me into Saliva. I'll still check this out though.
Watching you lot squabble is great, Anyway, album sounds 'out of fashion' in the sense of, it sounds like its all run into that annoying 'post-grunge' idea. What the hell is post grunge even meant to mean, it doesn't even sound like grunge..
Watching you lot squabble is great, Anyway, album sounds 'out of fashion' in the sense of, it sounds like its all run into that annoying 'post-grunge' idea. What the hell is post grunge even meant to mean, it doesn't even sound like grunge..
Post-grunge is pretty much the evolution of grunge from the 90's bands like Taproot, Seether, Godsmack, Alter Bridge, etc. You can obviously hear the grunge influences mixed with modern rock and metal and you get post-grunge. A lot of people say it's the evolution of nu-metal, which is not entirely true, it just so happens a lot of nu-metal bands switched over to post-grunge after nu-metal "died" like Papa Roach and Godsmack.
Saliva as post-grunge is a little bit of a stretch. They're more rock n roll associated than grunge but I guess some of their songs can be considered grunge, especially more recent material. But, I'd definitely consider them primarily hard rock.
I don't understand why as a musician you wouldn't want to continue to learn and explore your sound...? Put some ****ing soul into it and quite sitting on the money. Bunch of bitches..
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