Search - Saliva :: Blood Stained Love Story

Saliva's aggression drops a serious notch for the sake of ba

QuickSilverSeven | USA | 01/30/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Saliva's got some great songs under it's belt, with Every Six Seconds being their strongest and best written album.



Blood Stained Love Story features 7 out of 10 tracks that are "soft" rock ballads for the most part compared to their previous releases, abandoning the intensity of their metal/hard rock style of the past, where soft songs were still in the minority.



To hear the heavier side of Saliva, play tracks 1, 4 and 8, cause that's the heaviest it gets here. Track 1, Ladies and Gentlemen, is good, along with the "Nickleback-ish" track 8, Black Sheep, which is the heaviest song, but J. Scott's voice is seriously quiet in the mix, making it hard to hear what he's saying for that song alone. The best track in my opinion, is Track 4, King of the Stereo. The lyrics are way over the top, "The whole world is waiting for the...", but the driving guitar riffs and well timed verses are pretty cool.



Now onto the rest of the album, the only two songs that appealed to me in terms of slow rock would be Tracks 2 and 3, Broken Sunday being very radio friendly. So what about the other five slow rock songs? Not very good if you're a Saliva fan for the heavier stuff. The songs are very predictable, with average chorus/verse/chorus in the soft rock style. They get a little energy here and there, but basically, not my style at all.



So 5 out of 10 good songs is decent, and was the reason I gave the album a 3/5 instead of the 1/5 reaction I initially had, till I played it again and the shock/disappointment was wearing off.



I was then inspired to play the other Saliva albums to find the "softer" songs I never listened to, and they're MUCH better than the remaining five 'soft' songs here.



Saliva really needed to keep the edge, but decided to go softer for whatever reason, disappointing this longtime fan. Unless Saliva changes their tune (make it heavier) on the next album, I'm not sure I will be giving Saliva "One More Chance" if it's released. Soft rock is not my style, and seven out of 10 ballads proves this is a rock ballad album.



And that song "Twister!" would fit perfectly on the Shrek 3 soundtrack, next to Smash Mouth, just to give you an idea.



Track Listings -Personal Reaction to each song:

1. Ladies and Gentlemen- 4/5 Cool song, decent but 'unmeaningful' lyrics. This is Saliva's style.

2. Broken Sunday- 4/5 Well written, catchy softer song. Radio friendly style.

3. Never Gonna Change- 3/5 Good, for Saliva's soft side. Great singing at the end. Still, this isn't why I listen to Saliva.

4. King of the Stereo- 5/5 Despite the over-confident lyrics, cool aggressive song. If you can accept the "woot, woot" chorus, you may like it.

5. One More Chance- 2/5 Verses sound like POD, but the chorus isn't the best.

6. Going Under- 1/5 If you're feeling down, maybe this will mean more.

7. Twister- 1/5 Happy go lucky sounding. This is Saliva? Yikes.

8. Black Sheep- 4/5 First reaction was Nickleback, but it's still a cool song.

9. Starting Over- 3/5 Not my style, but not bad.

10. Here with You- I won't judge this, since it seems like Josey Scott's 'love song' to his wife. Written for the ladies no doubt. Very slow.



Recommended? Not really. Still, give tracks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 a chance, they're well done and in the Saliva style. Best Buy has a 12 track exclusive album I haven't heard. If anyone's heard the other two tracks, write a review."

Is this really Saliva????

K. Kaminski | Florida, USA | 01/24/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"As a proud owner of all Saliva's past work, I was very excited to purchase the newest release yesterday. As the album began, I was pleased with the opening track and eagerly anticipated more, gritty Southern rock. However, much to my dismay, instead I received dose after painful dose of soft, poppy, hook ladden top 40/American Idol-esque songs. With the exception of one track near the end, the rest of the CD belongs in the "easy listening" section, not rock/metal. Although I must admit, some of the chorus lines are a bit catchy, I was hoping for another CD to blast at the gym, not fall asleep to. This disc now belongs to my girlfriend, stocked away next to her Chris Daughtry, Kelly Clarkson and Kelly Pickler CD's... Very disappointed."

Saliva - Blood Stained Love Story

RaisedOnSpitalfield | (South) Medford, Oregon 5-4-1 | 01/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Somewhere between Nickelback and Linkin Park, you'll find the band Saliva and their fifth studio effort Blood Stained Love Story. Save for the somewhat overdone Ladies and Gentlemen, BSLS is cut for cut a solid record. Old-school fans of Saliva may be put off by the lack of heaviness, but those who looked away after 2003's Survival Of The Sickest are invited back instantly via accessible, matured song writing. At under 40 minutes in length, BSLS has no room for filler, and thankfully, there isn't any (although as mentioned earlier, Ladies and Gentlemen may take some time to grow on you). Fans of Alternative Metal, Nu-Metal and Medium Heavy Rock will more than likely enjoy Blood Stained Love Story."