
Aaron Lewis is a 54 year old singer/songwriter from Longmeadow, Massachusetts notable for being the frontman of Staind. Although his 2011 solo debut extended play Town Line was divisively received, the eponymous EP as well as the full-length debut The Road & the sophomore effort Sinner were all moderately received in comparison. State I’m In & Frayed at Both Ends marked a decline in quality, coming off the worst entry of his solo catalog The Hill to say “hold my beer” & record his 6th LP.
“The Door” begins with a tiring country intro singing about being judged by the world when he inflicted that upon himself by becoming a bootlicker whereas “Bad Thing to Be Good At” promises to let freedom ring whenever he makes music when the authoritarianism he supports suggests otherwise. “Too High for This” sings about heading down the lowest road he can find & I guess you can use that in a literal sense while the crooning “List of Things to Quit” lets the whiskey consume him after imagining someone who isn’t real.
We have Aaron spending a great deal of the sickening title track telling anyone who doesn’t like the rise of fascism to pack their shit & leave to reach the midway point of Give My Country Back. Right after “People I’ve Known” kicks off the 2nd half singing about the world changing in front of his very eyes for half his life however, “Let Go Like the Rain” continues from there crooning dabbling with a country rock sound to address familiar themes of moving on.
The song “A Showman’s Life” winds down the last leg stylistically stripping things back so he can observe the parts of being famous that no one has ever told him about while “Keeping Up with the Jonesin’” leaning towards a country rock vibe again singing it wouldn’t be so hard if he didn’t knew what he was missing. “Duct Tape & Baling Wire” sends off what could likely be the worst country album I’ve heard all year singing about using those 2 things for a patch up.
“It’s Been a While” ranks amongst the most overrated post-grunge single of all-time & it’s unfortunate watching him go from that being such a hit to embracing a fascist heel turn to keep his name relevant. And unfortunately, it’s bleeding a lot heavier into Give My Country Back basically making the album equivalent of the “Where My Country Gone?” episode of the Paramount Skydance Corporation subsidiary Comedy Central’s flagship animated series South Park.
Score: 0/5
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