Papa Roach
F.E.A.R. (Face Everything and Rise)
(Eleven Seven Music)
4/5
It’s tough to believe that Sacramento, CA-based hard rock band Papa Roach (yeah, the “cut my life into pieces…” nü-metal-lite guys, led by singer Jacoby Shaddix) are already on the eighth album in their seemingly one-hit-wonder careers. Truth is, the band has consistently put out darn solid hard rock albums since 2000’s Infest became the rallying cry of high-school quarterbacks near and far.
The truth is, everyone has a little high-school quarterback coursing through their veins, and Papa Roach’s music has always been therapeutic for those angsty moments. F.E.A.R. (Face Everything and Rise) shows how much this band has grown into their skin over the past 15 years. It’s still groove-laden hard rock, but there’s also some grown-up maturity here that isn’t forced (including successfully tackling cliché subjects such as relationship strife) and definitely doesn’t contradict the band’s power-charged roots.
Also: way, way better than anything Linkin Park has done in the past decade.