A veritable tsunami of nostalgia has been plaguing us via nu-metal’s struggling resurgence. Sooner or later, a random cave dweller must have wondered whether or not Staind had already missed the train, after vocalist Aaron Lewis’ unfairly lauded hillbilly solo romp (was that even remotely necessary, man? Who wrote your songs? Rehab?). Thankfully, if Limp Bizkit’s Gold Cobra is the middle-age wannabe skater punk, then Staind just took a steel-plated hickory switch to his ass and struck oil.

2011 sees the Massachusetts foursome backing an eponymous gut-punching record that tries resurrecting ’99 with mixed results, pulling a Metallica by releasing what could easily have formed the transitional bridge between Dysfunction and Break the Cycle, sonically. Staind manages to make small errors in judgment along the way: for instance, “Wannabe” should have definitely been a B-side. However, kicking off similarly to 2003′s 14 Shades of Gray‘s “Price to Play” with “Eyes Wide Open”, and actually following through (“Not Again” and “Failing”), the most somber moment winds up appropriately closing the album (“Something to Remind You”), all neat and tidy.

Staind picks up where the muddled melancholy of their previous (ahem) album merely glanced toward (“Paper Wings”), letting guitarist Mike Mushok and bassist Johnny April instrumentally drive every angst-laden vocal bullet into your head (“The Bottom”) without catering to some wretched need for “So Far Away” copycats. I could bitch at them for throwing Transformers: Dark of the Moon a bone with a soundtrack inclusion, but exposure is exposure, and “The Bottom” is an audible-heavy precursor to everything heard on Staind (see: Linkin Park’s “The Great Divide”).

Lyrically, the married-with-children Lewis shows signs that his verbal arsenal has reached a selfishly KoRn-like devolution as he’s gotten older. Where Break the Cycle tended to branch out to subjects including child abuse and worldwide apathy, Staind stagnates on personal vendettas against (and pure frustration with) unnamed forces. Nevertheless, Staind has not sounded this cacophonous and lively since the early phase of the Family Values Tour (“Outside” notwithstanding). Our current decade shows relative promise for the red-capped skeletons in our dusty CD cabinet, with Staind left proving pleasant results can occasionally lie past an act’s alleged retirement age.

You go on ahead and download this one with sinister cover art intact, then put “Wannabe” in the recycling bin with Jimmy Fallon’s “Idiot Boyfriend”. Maybe that’s why their drummer quit.

Essential Tracks: “The Bottom”, “Eyes Wide Open”, and “Failing”

Other confirmed acts include Danzig, Hollywood Undead, Bullet For My Valentine, Black Label Society, Alter Bridge, A Day To Remember, Hinder, Escape The Fate, All That Remains, P.O.D., The Damned Things, Fu Manchu, Black Veil Brides, Saving Abel, Sick Puppies, Finger Eleven, My Darkest Days, Cavo, Trapt, Rev Theory, and Pop Evil. All in all, some 40 acts will perform across three stages over the weekend.

A special pre-sale will take place from Wednesday, February 9th through Friday, February 11th, with a general on sale to follow on February 12th. Two-day passes will be prices at $99.50 and layaway purchasing options will be available. For additional, visit the festival’s website.

To be released on August 31st, Sci-Fi Crimes will be the band’s rock with a side of smarts follow up to the somehwat-smash hit Vena Sera. To get their claws into the ear drums and playlists of the angsty youth of America, the Chicago-based band has plans for those about to rock.

On top of the tour and album (which was produced by Deftones and Jane’s Addiction genius Brian Virtue), the band will be releasing two videos with two endings of their first single “Jars”; version one hits MTV2 and MTVU on August 25th, with version two available on Yahoo the next day. And if that weren’t enough, the band will play a 30-minute set on September 3rd at the LaSalle Power Company to fans who purchase their album. Head here for more details.

Check out their tour dates –  Staind joins the fury for a couple shows — and tracklist below.

Sci-Fi Crimes Tracklist:
01. Sleep Apnea
02. Mexican Sun
03. Shameful Metaphors
04. Jars
05. Fell into Your Shoes
06. Letter To A Thief
07. Highland’s Apparition
08. Roswell’s Spell
09. Interlewd
10. A New Momentum
11. This Circus

Chevelle 2009 Tour Dates:
08/23 – Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
08/25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Amphitheatre At Station Square *
08/27 – Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater *
08/28 – Toledo, OH @ Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre *
08/30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn’s Landing *
08/31 – Essex Junction, VT @ Champlain Valley Exposition *
09/03 – Chicago, IL @ LaSalle Power Company
09/04 – DuQuoin, IL @ DuQuoin Fair
09/11 – Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park
09/12 – Huntington, WV @ Harris Riverfront Park
09/13 – Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
09/14 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Orbit Room
09/16 – Windsor, ON @ University of Windsor
09/18 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
09/19 – Baltimore, MD @ Bourbon Street Ballroom
09/21 – Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
09/22 – Knoxville, TN @ Valarium
09/24 – Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
09/25 – Charlotte, NC @ Amos’ Southend
09/27 – North Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
09/30 – Richmond, VA @ The National
10/03 – Mobile, AL @ Bayfest Downtown
10/06 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
10/07 – West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom

* = w/ Staind

“Wall Street got its bailout; now it’s time for rock fans to get theirs. This summer, we want to give our fans one night where they can forget about everything else and experience a great rock show.”

This is according to Staind‘s fan appreciative frontman Aaron Lewis (via Billboard), who has a history of trying to keep fans happy including his band’s presence on Reverb and various live cover song recordings. During 2009 Staind will embark on a 40-date concert tour alongside Chevelle, Shinedown, and Halestorm with ticket prices ranging from under $40 for the usual stadium and ground seating to $10 for lawn seats. While this might not be but only a half-stellar lineup, Chevelle has a strong catalog and Staind is known for their psychedelic live shows.

Adding to the remarkable pricing, Staind and company have offered various incentives to get fans even more hyped up, which is a blessing after the headliner’s less-than-satisfactory 2008 effort. Besides giving out five free tickets per venue a la Willy Wonka, the bands is offering other prizes such as backstage listen in jam sessions featuring all four bands playing together or covering each others’ songs. Think of this prize as something like MTV Unplugged: The New Batch.

The Stimulate This tour starts on July 1st at the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois before wrapping on August 30th in Philly, and considering the focus here is for bands in the generally Top 40 Modern Rock department to offer up budget efficient ticket prices one does not foresee any harm. Granted, it would be nice to see this kind of cutting and slashing on NIN/JA or Bonnaroo, but with all the free stuff Reznor churns out we are certainly not bitching too heavily.

Head over to staind.com for a full list of tour dates and info on how to take part in all the fun.

Spectacular?  Not particularly in terms of locale – a non-smoking, indoor facility surrounded by all manner of prosti-tots and drunken country folk.  A crowded pit of “general audience” members standing on what amounts to a basketball court, while rows of bleachers on all sides are only half-full.

When I arrived at the Greensboro Coliseum, I met up with a press liaison at will call, signed the release form, and entered big double-doors greeted by numerous queues of people.  Security was extremely tight on all ends, and after a metal detector check I entered the main floor of it’s auditorium and sank in for a show.

What could be said about our three popular music acts?

ACT I – Papa Roach

The first spot on this bill was given to our California rapcore-turned-modern-rock outfit known as Papa Roach. Now, in all civility I am willing to give everyone a non-biased standpoint of the performance itself.  I say this because, as it turns out they ended up being the best in terms of set-list choices and crowd management.

In the past, I have heard people comment about their lack of skill on stage (primarily vocals).  Jacoby Shaddix was the last to enter, and he really did prove his worth in matters of hyping the crowd, while also sarcastically attempting to charm the “little dirty girls” in the room. Opening with a track off of Infest titled “Between Angels and Insects”, whilst segueing into a slightly remixed version of “Getting Away With Murder”.

Once everyone was up out of their seats, Papa Roach debuted two new songs during the course of the evening – “Hollywood Whore”, which was introduced by a rant about people like Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, and “Lifeline”, a generic post-grunge tune for the teenage crowd.

Guitarist Jerry Horton shreds with accuracy on every track, and after drilling through the typical inclusions such as “Scars” and their favorite closer “Last Resort”, and allowing Jacoby to wander throughout the bleachers a bit, the band exits and like a class of loyal high schoolers, we all go for a smoke break before Seether enters the room.

ACT II – Seether

Initially, it was like a scene from Nirvana: Unplugged.

White Christmas lights decorated the stage, while a custom-designed backdrop was lowered to coincide with their latest album release.

In terms of song choices, Seether had a typical selection; pulling from all of their latest singles, while throwing in two lesser-played tunes (“Needles” and a cover of STP’s “Creep”), we witnessed “Rise Above This”, “Remedy”, “Fake It”, and of course their first big single “Fine Again”.

Visually it was stronger than what my eyes could believe, but between a weak microphone on Shaun Morgan, highly-pitched guitar distortion overlapping that, and a very constricted set…

…the band I was most looking forward to seeing ended up being the least worthy performance all evening.

Advantages?  When “Broken” was played, everything did seem to click briefly – sound was on point, and lighters were aglow in the audience.  It was actually very intimate, even for a live show’s regular set piece.  My subtle gripes did continue, however when a female fan named Amanda informed me that their live performance the day before in Charlotte included “No Jesus Christ”, my 2nd favorite tune by the group.

As they ended with Shaun’s distorted sonic collage before the loudspeaker, Staind was primed to blow them away.

ACT III – Staind

A giant purple curtain dropped and revealed our headliner of the night.

All to be said about Staind’s performance is relatively good news – highlights were not entirely hit songs, for they dug around and pulled one track after another in the lesser radio play department, opening with “Suffocate” from Dysfunction.  Intertwined in ever-popular agendas like “Outside”, “Epiphany”, and all manner of Break the Cycle selections Staind did manage to dip into their early roots and even closed their set with my all-time favorite track, “Mudshovel”.

Aaron Lewis was primed for the stage that evening, with a very street-clothes appearance and personable image near his microphone. Mushok never looked better, his hair down and his hands shredding perfectly.

A lot of thanks had to go to the coliseum’s tech crew, who had put together quite the psychedelia for lights and projectors alike.  Scenes from everything and beyond played behind the band – a room of never-ending doors, a shaky camera trudging through woods Blair Witch style.

For all intents and purposes, each song delivered a new mood to the room. “For You” brought out the angry teens, “Believe” had couples swooning, and “Suffocate” simply had the room shaking almost as much as Seether’s “Remedy” had done prior.  Unlike their most recent (and in my opinion weak) release, Staind impressed with a live show Greensboro may indeed remember for a while.

As the crowds exit, we are handed flyers for Nine Inch Nails’ Lights In The Sky: Over North America 2008 tour, where they will be making a Greensboro stop November 3rd.  While you hop over and download the new Papa Roach tracks that are now available at their official website, I am heading over to Ticketmaster to get my Reznor fix.

Expect a piece on that from me in the coming month, and peace out.

The biggest letdown?  The title stands to prove what Staind has really shown – an illusion of progress.

The first half of the Massachuett natives’ sixth studio album comes off like a band trying any desperate attempt they can to remain current and fresh radio-play regulars.  Aaron Lewis’ lyrics seem generic, lacking the passion previously found on their first few albums up until Chapter V. Everyone who has listened to the song “Believe” might agree that it sounds maddeningly similar to their single “Right Here”, but with a lighter tone.  Granted, I know that bands who have been around a while run that risk, however if it all starts to come off as formulaic, then one must draw a line.

When we last heard Staind, they had touched back on their roots again and managed to at least churn out some powerful message-laden music (listen to “Paper Jesus” and “Reply”). This album shows a band that has officially run its course, and not a minute too soon – or in fact, probably 3 or 4 years too late. While opener, “This Is It” proves Staind can crank up epic velocity in radio rock, the song “The Way I Am” is sophomoric poetry at best, with a simple “the way I am is the way I am” finishing off the chorus via adolescent extremes.

The third track, and the first single, “Believe” – well, we already know how that turned out.  After surging through the unimportant muck of “All I Want” and “Save Me”, we get towards the last half where a couple of stand-outs are in fact present. Take “Lost Along The Way”. It is inherently Staind, and even has elements of early 90s alternative (save for Aaron Lewis’ distinctly glum vocals).

Another upside?  “Break Away” is actually the one really good song on here, and if you get the bonus edition, you’re graced with yet another acoustic version of “It’s Been Awhile” (as if that song could be any more depressing). By closing, the quality is again nonexistent, giving way to another identical chorus, another useless attempt by Staind to impress. This broken record style eliminates any trace of decency, ultimately causing the The Illusion of Progress to fail, becoming its own self-parody.

Honestly, if an album stands to be worthwhile on some level, it has to be remotely memorable – and there is no essence of such a notion present on The Illusion of Progress. The whole thing blurs together nonchalantly, as if to say “Here’s another record for our checklist.”

Words of wisdom – it’s better to burn out than to fade away.