Breaking Benjamin – Phobia

I guess Breaking Benjamin are supposed to be moderately influential; in fact, they’re supposed to be one of the more influential rock bands of recent years. Still, I must have missed that because I never heard them until their new single, The Diary Of Jane hit the airwaves. It was good, but nothing great, so I patiently waited to get a copy of Phobia, the band’s third and new release. When I finally did, I threw it in and could only search in vain for this so-called influential aspect of the band and the only though that came to mind was “wow, if this is influential, I feel sorry for the upcoming rock fans.”

Now, that may be a little harsh on the band and on the album, but the statement is still true. Phobia is good, entertaining, but far from being influential in any shape or form. The album is consitent (ignoring the pointless intro and outro that surround the album) and very dark and gloomy. There’s no denying that these guys are very capable song writers, songs like Breath proves just that; but at times, that’s all they are. They are simply capable when they should be so much more. Simply capable when they should reach out and make a footprint. Simply capably rather than the much preferred memorable – and that, is the downfall of the album.

The vocals are extremely strong as they mix with the dark, gloomy (and very slick) guitar riffs perfectly, but at times they fall into the mix instead of taking a furtive step forward and really being heard. The lyrics are like that too, toeing the lie between memorable and passable, but falling just to the latter side of the line. The moody post-grunge tracks fall into one another, rarely sticking out other than the odd few times. Oddly enough, the most surprising and memorable track is the unlisted bonus track on the first run of the album. The acoustic version of The Diary Of Jane puts the original version to shame with its inventive use of the piano. That’s what the album is missing, those slight change ups (like throwing a piano in there for a song) to keep their listener on their toes. Because as it is, the songs sound too much alike. The slick vocals,smooth bass lines and steady riffs are all good, but all become too much after a certain point.

While I still can’t see how these guys are influential, the album isn’t horrible. It’s capable to entertain the listener and is very consistent, but they need to take some more chances to make the album just a bit more memorable for the new fans.