The Sufferer and the Witness is not only the best Rise Against album AND my favorite album in general, it's also just the best album of all time. Which sounds like hyperbolic exaggeration, but if you've ever listened to this album you know it's true.
It is the purest, most Rise Against record they've ever put out. I've listened to it probably a million times, and I'm still not over it. Some people may call that autism (and they're probably right) but I call it masterful craftsmanship and audiophilia. Catchy hooks and dramatic choruses? Fry screams? Octaves? Detailed imagery and political thematics with a touch of everyday despair (and impressively abstract yet poignant lyricism)? You name it. If you're a fan of melody, hardcore, the city of Chicago, suffering, witnessing, or white men with heterochromia, then this album is for you. And if not... what're you still doing here?
Chamber the Cartridge
⟶ in the introduction he says "This is Noyes" which is not only a train station in chicago (where they're from), but a double entendre because Rise Against has an EP called This is Noise circa 2007
⟶ the verse feels less like individual stanas and more of a spoken word where it's like reading a paragraph of a book that just happens to rhyme which i'm a sucker for
⟶
Injection
Ready to Fall
Bricks
Under the Knife
Prayer of the Refugee
Drones
⟶ arguably one of the best transitions between two tracks on an album is that of the transition from Prayer of the Refugee to Drones; the ending guitar riff that slowly fades and compounds with the bass and drums overtop some guitar noise & signal feedback is not only catchy as all hell, but a really smart way to get people at shows to begin moshing without even having to speak
⟶ in the second half of the verse (and the bridge) the guitar strumming gets noticeably chunkier. it makes for a great segway to the chorus, where there's a lot of muting done
⟶ one of my favorite lyrics ever is in this song, and it's from the second half of the first verse that goes And if strength is born from heartbreak / Then mountains I could move / And if walls could speak I'd pray / That they would tell me what to do! it describes such a specific yet vague situation, that i still don't really know what it could mean... like the first two lines are just a very roundabout way to say that the narrator has been through a lot of suffering but the last two feels like the narrator is simply looking for guidance, and their only solace in the loneliness of their life is the walls of the places that imprison them (physically or not)
⟶ the second verse continues this theme of ambiguity, and (as an aside) has one of my favorite words in it, "save." not used as a verb, but as a preposition
The Approaching Curve
Worth Dying For
Behind Closed Doors
Roadside
The Good Left Undone
