‘The Black Market’ does not rise to the occasion

On July 15, 2014, punk rock band Rise Against released their seventh studio album “The Black Market,” their first album of new content since 2011’s “Endgame.” “The Black Market” debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and received mostly positive reviews from critics.

However, Rise Against does not stray from its typical sound and album structures from the past. It has repetitive chord structures in most of its guitar tracks, one acoustic track near the end of the album, and, albeit more general and unfocused than previous albums, politically charged messages throughout the lyrics.

The album exhibits a tone of weariness and struggle that occurs when trudging through life, a phenomenon that almost all college students have experience within their lives. The message is the strongest piece of the album; musically, this album feels generic and uninspired compared to Rise Against’s early albums, especially toward the end.

The first song of the album, “The Great Die-Off,” starts out fast and portrays a tone of inspiration and passion to perservere through difficult times. The song also uses imagery of war and battlefields, a theme popular in previous Rise Against songs, to provide a sense of strength and power to listeners. This provides contrast to the end of the album that features slower songs.

“I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore” is the second song of the album and also its first single. This song explicitly states the theme of the album and is the first point where the narrator begins to feel struggle and strife with his every day life. He wishes to escape from the monotony and mindless obedience in his life, which could be a metaphor to a stressed college student that cannot handle his or her circumstances. Although this song was released as a single, it is one of the weaker songs on the album for simply following too much of Rise Against’s typical style; it, therefore, suffers because it is not interesting, either musically or lyrically.

The third song of the album and second single, “Tragedy + Time,” is my favorite song on the album by far. It explores the relation it states in the title, how time affects those who experience tragedy. The lyrics “But we’re holding on to laugh again some day / to laugh again some day” strike close to home for many listeners, especially those who have experienced stress, anxiety, and depression due to difficult situations. The song is upbeat despite its subject matter, and the lyrics feel inspired compared to the rest of the album. If you listen to any song from this album, “Tragedy + Time” is the best choice.

The fourth song of the album and also the title track, “The Black Market,” explores how people, including the narrator, tend to make others feel misery and angst instead of spreading happiness. It encourages listeners to be aware of that fact and try their best to change it rather than continue the cycle of meanness.

“The Eco-Terrorist in Me” is the fifth song of the album. The song is about how those who may call themselves environmental activists may not be doing all they can to stop environmental destruction. It encourages self-awareness, a trait useful for college students and others. Rise Against is known for its activism; therefore, this song offers an interesting introspection on the band’s own values and beliefs.

After this point, the songs begin blending together and becoming more forgettable. I listened to the album several times and cannot distinctly remember most of the songs after this point. The songs “Sudden Life,” “A Beautiful Indifference,” “Methadone,” and “Zero Visibility” are uninspired and boring, and feel like filler content on the album, and can be skipped without hurting the listening experience of the album.

“Awake Too Long,” the 10th song on the album, reaffirms the overall theme of the album about the struggles of a repetitive and stressful life. This song is slower than the beginning of the album to ease listeners into the acoustic  11th song. “Awake Too Long” has nice meaning, relatability, and melody that help redeem the album from the previous four songs.

In typical Rise Against fashion, the 11th song, near the end of the album, is an acoustic ballad called “People Live Here,” which is an attempt to relive the same success as the band’s ballads such as “Swing Life Away” from the album “Siren Songs of the Counter Culture,” and “Hero of War” from the album “Endgame.” “People Live Here” is not as strong musically as previous ballads and feels like an attempt to cash in on the aforementioned success of other ballads. However, this song is worth a listen for its strong lyrics focused on how the madness of fighting and strife can make humans forget that others are the same, that they experience the same struggles and the same happiness.

The final song on the album, “Bridges,” provides a strong, yet negative conclusion to the album with a message of how the rich often benefit from the hard labor of the working class, a sad yet true reality of life that may hit close to home to those about to graduate. This song contrasts the fire and passion of “The Great Die-Off” well, and also helps redeem the album from its boring middle.

Rise Against’s “The Black Market” provides listeners with a message about how life can be difficult and full of stressful endeavors; the bleakness of the theme displays a harsh reality that we, as college students, can help change. Although this is not the strongest album both lyrically and musically, and weaker than previous Rise Against albums, its beginning and ending are worth the listen for rock music fans.