Billy Talent I broke them onto the scene, but Billy Talent II cemented them as Canadian rock legends in their own right. However, Billy Talent III was, while far from a bad album, generally considered to be the weakest collective work from the group to date. Dead Silence gave the band a chance to take their music in a newer, more mature direction than ever before. But does it work? Well,Billy Talent I broke them onto the scene, but Billy Talent II cemented them as Canadian rock legends in their own right. However, Billy Talent III was, while far from a bad album, generally considered to be the weakest collective work from the group to date. Dead Silence gave the band a chance to take their music in a newer, more mature direction than ever before. But does it work? Well, let's look at what we've got.
1. Lonely Road To Absolution - A hauntingly brilliant way to open the album, and a mood-setter for what's about to come. Lead vocalist Ben and lead guitarist / backup vocalist Ian give some of their best harmonies to date, and the bells, slow acoustic melody, as well as the ticking in the background lend the song a sense of brilliant foreboding.
2. Viking Death March - For many, Dead Silence will forever be synonymous with this song. Truth be told, they're not wrong, because this is one of the best songs they have ever made. If Lonely Road to Absolution is the prologue, THIS is the album's real opening act, and it tells you exactly what you're in for: powerful guitar, powerful vocals, and a call to action against hypocrisy and injustice.
3. Surprise Surprise: Continuing with the themes of injustice and hypocrisy, Surprise Surprise puts everybody on blast. This song is one of the big ear worms of the album. It may not be the strongest, but it has a way of getting into your head.
4. Running Across The Tracks - This is where the album takes a bit of a break from the politics and introduces something else: a simple, kick-ass rock song. Ben has a powerful voice, but it's clear that he's not as into the shouting as he used to be, and it shows in the verses. The group makes up for it with incredible guitar work and a fantastic chorus and bridge, so it all evens out.
5. When Love Was Still Around - Easily one of the most underappreciated songs from the album, this is a song you can just bang your head to and sing along with, and have a great time, every time. If they're singing about destroying your life and the lives of the people around you, they make sure you'll enjoy it.
6. Stand Up And Run - If we're comparing to BT II, this is Dead Silence's "Surrender," a song that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the band's output. Now make no mistake... this is NO Surrender. That being said, much like that song, it works far better than it has any right to.
7. Crooked Minds - Another hidden gem, this features one of the best bridges the group has ever put together. While it's nice to hear a good ol' Ben scream (the only one on the album), if losing the screaming means his voice improves THIS much, I think it's a fair trade.
8. Man Alive - I'd consider this the second-weakest of the album. Still a great headbanging song with a more classic Billy Talent style to it, but it doesn't have as much of an identity as the rest of the album.
9. Hanging By A Thread - And we've arrived at the break-up song. Billy Talent is better at these kinds of songs than most other artists, because they tend to look into the moment you realise that the relationship is coming apart. Not an A+ song, but one you will still find plenty to enjoy about.
10. Cure For The Enemy - The angriest sounding guitar rift of the album pairs strangely well with the most heart-felt lyrics in all of the tracks. This song captures both the sadness of trying to repair the relationship between you and your father before his death, and the anger of the situation and how it got to that point.
11. Don't Count On The Wicked - Already one of my favourites on the album, it gained more meaning with the temporary departure of drummer Aaron due to MS (the tagline of his favourite charity being "turn anger into hope," the main recurring lyric.) Excellent guitar, excellent vocals, excellent drums, an excellent song.
12. Show Me The Way - This is my pick for the album's only real "dud.". Not a bad song, but one of the least memorable of the group's history, and by far the least memorable on the album.
13. Swallowed Up By The Ocean - The group's first song with a piano, it's the first on the track to bring back the haunting feeling of LRTA, being a break-up song about the planet breaking up with humanity itself. A stand-out track for sure, with excellent vocals from Ben.
14. Dead Silence - A beautiful, haunting way to close the album, the title track brilliantly treads the line between despair and hope, while featuring one of the best verses in the group's history. Appropriately, this also features the group's first use of fading into silence.
Billy Talent II will forever be their best album in the hearts of most fans, but I believe time will be the most kind to Dead Silence. In hindsight, this is probably their best album; it may not have as many hits as BT II, but it has some of their most consistently great output. If you love great rock music, give this a listen. You won't regret it.… Expand
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