Atreyu - Lead Sails Paper Anchor review

Release Date: 08/28/2007

Label: Hollywood Records

Sell-out is a term that gets thrown around so much these days. For those who don't know, selling out refers to the compromising of one's integrity, morality and principles in exchange for money, success or other personal gain. I hate the word sell-out as hard rock fans tend to use it without fully understanding its meaning. These days I hear a lot of people complaining that "metal and hard rock music deserves to be heard!", "Why won't radio stations play "Submerged in Boiling Flesh" by Cannibal Corpse? It rocks!". Yet as soon as a hard rock/metal band receives the slightest bit of success and radio airplay they are immediately labelled as sell-outs and are forever hated by the hard rock community. Hard rock is the only genre that loves to shoot itself in the foot. "It's no longer cool to buy an Avenged Sevenfold CD as they had a song on MTV, so therefore owning that particular CD would mean you also like that shitty song by Paris Hilton because i saw that on the same channel a couple of weeks earlier!" Bullshit! It is quite common for people to confuse 'selling-out' with natural artistic development.

With that all said, Atreyu are the biggest sell-outs I have ever encountered. Don't get me wrong, Lead Sails Paper Anchor still smells like the same shit Atreyu have been throwing at me for years now....it's just a bit more watered down. And we all know that watery shit equals a fucking mess! Atreyu built a huge fan base with their metalcore sound and their ability to merge harsh screaming verses with melodically sung choruses. Where did that go? Now we are forced to listen to diluted metalcore which at times often sounds like soft rock There is not one song on this album that wouldn't snugly fit beside the latest Christina Aguilera hit on 'American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest'. So you've got to ask yourself....why would a band do this to their fan base?

Let me tell you a story about a tiny company you've probably never heard of...Disney. Now this tiny company owns a record label known as Hollywood Records. In November of 2006, Hollywood Records decided to sign Atreyu along side their other hard rock artists such as Hilary Duff, Jesse McCartney and The Indigo Girls. Along came a talking mouse named Mickey, who said to Atreyu "please write only wussy, gay music when you are on my label!" And from this came Lead Sails Paper Anchor.

To conclude, if you we're previously a fan of Atreyu this album will most likely disappoint you enough to kill every talking mouse you encounter for the rest of your life. And if your new to Atreyu...start with this album and you won't waste your time working your way through their back catalog.

Rating: 1/5
Choice Lyric: "I'm bidding farewell to all that is safe"
Download: Becoming The Bull