Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Seether returns with another workaday outing that rocks like late 2001. Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces is virtually interchangeable with any previous Seether disc, as well as pretty much anything by the likes of Nickelback, Shinedown, and other "post-grunge" rock bands. True, "Fake It" has zeal, and "Rise Above This" may very well provide the soundtrack to late-night, soul-searching sessions for teenagers from Cape Cod to Cape Town. Shaun Morgan's often unnecessarily profane lyrics are another problem. Witness the gauche "FMLYHM," which borrows from lyrical ideas that sounded novel when Trent Reznor sang them in "Closer" more than a decade ago but now just sound juvenile and unnecessarily angry. Same goes for the numbing epic "No Jesus Christ" and the closer, "Waste." Throughout, the band shows a lack of imagination that may ultimately prove fatal. In all, this is cookie-cutter rock that really doesn't. --Jedd Beaudoin

Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

3 Star Quota October 25, 2007
40 out of 58 found this review helpful

Why is this album not as satisfying as Seether's past albums? Why does it sound recycled, like just about anything else you'll hear on radio these days? Is it due to drug problems that eventually led to a stint in rehab last summer for frontman Shaun Morgan? Is it the firing of second guitarist Pat Callahan, who gaves 2005's "Karma & Effect" some much needed dimension? Is it the fact that producer Howard Benson, who produced crossover hits for the likes of Hoobastank and Papa Roach, had a hand in the production?

Whatever it is, one thing is for sure: "Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces" just isn't up to par. Even the strongest songs sound like b-sides to previous albums, and aside from an exception or two, the new territory they tread here doesn't pan out well at all. The thing that set Seether aside from most of their contemporaries was always frontman Shaun Morgan's honest delivery. Even if they weren't always creating the freshest music or if Morgan wasn't spewing the most original lyrics, you could almost always feel the passion in his voice. Listen to songs from past albums like "The Gift," "Driven Under" and the original version of "Broken" to hear what I mean. Unfortunately, the passionate, honest side of him is hardly shown on this album, except when he states that he can "fake it with the best of them" on the first single, "Fake It." Afterall, this album is, if nothing else, Seether going through the motions.

One song that does stand out, however, is "No Jesus Christ." A seven-plus minute long slowburner that seeths like older Seether and yet, sounds nothing like anything they have done in the past. Unfortunately this song is slapped right in the middle of the album, sandwiched in between embarassing arena-rock like "Rise Above This" and the generic, repetitive fodder of "Fake It." A few gems sprinkled in between -- "Like Suicide" and "Eyes Of The Devil" -- have a familiar feel to them and hold up just fine next to older material. The main problem, though, still remains that there aren't enough moments like this to qualify this as a great album, like the others. It's good enough, I suppose. Afterall, every band is entitled to one mediocre affair, and Seether have survived enough hardships to justify this one. If you don't mind hearing a great band water down their sound, you might just like this better than their other albums, but for everyone else, you'll have trouble finding beauty in this space.

5 out of 5 stars

Solid October 23, 2007
14 out of 21 found this review helpful

Insanely Catchy songs-Check. Hard pounding emotional songs-Check. introspective ballads-Check. This cd has it all. This is the perfect mix and has a something for all of us. I have seen Seether live 3 times and I can't wait to hear Like Suicide, Fake It, Breakdown, Fallen and Eyes of a Devil live. A must have for any rock fans.

5 out of 5 stars

PRIMAL BI-POLAR LASAGNA December 4, 2007
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

What a STUNNING album. Right from the very first song they GRAB you by the ears and rip your head around a full 360.

Starshine Moments

LIKE SUICIDE John deserves some serious accolades for his new role as The Baron of the Bionic Beatdown. His electrifying performance on this first song sets the tone for a truly electrifying record. He is so good on this track in fact that he seems to transcends drumming all together. There is so much palpable rage on this song that it sounds like he is not drumming so much as he is nailing someone's sorry butt to the wall. BRILLIANT. The first time I heard this song the hair on the back of my neck stood up and stayed up for the rest of the record.

BREAKDOWN. The lyrics are so intensely personal that by the end of the song I felt like an inadvertent peeping tom. There is a voyeuristic undercurrent on this and so many of the other songs that the sense of guilt for somehow snooping in someone's personal life was thankfully counter balanced by the staggering melodies and sumptuous harmonies in the music that supports so many secrets

FALLEN. This song is 100% AURAL pleasure. Dale Stewart should be nominated for an AVN Award for his outrageously devilish bassline on this song. Talk about a dirty lick. WOW!!! I am blown away and addicted. The bassline and the drums on this song are so HOT that it borders on porn...FUN porn...like Lollipop Girls in Hard Candy the infamous 3D porn with John Holmes from the 70's. Phunky, Chunky, stick-to-your-ribs delishus. If you need music to lurk to put the bass line from this song on a continuous loop and have at it. Fallen is especially effective in headphones when Johns drum beats move from here to there. If you listen to this song on an ipod you will not be able to walk straight.

NO JESUS CHRIST is another stand out moment for Dale. There is an epic 70's era Black Sabbath flavor to this song. The bassline is like liquid grit...so liquid that the strings seem to literally drip. Howard Benson's intergalactic presence is most apparent on this song because prior to becoming one of music's greatest producers he was an aerospace engineer. This song soars. The lyrics and Shaun's fierce vocals in conjunction with Johns persistent beat give this song it's flame so all together what you have here is earth, wind and fire. I can't wait to hear this song performed live because this song was made to be played in an arena.

I LOVE but was confused by SIX GUN QUOTA because it was originally supposed to be called Six Shot Quota. Not sure why they replaced the shot with a gun...not meaning to pun. Fasten your seat belt....This is another song with a flight pattern that drives the music forward

Shaun's voice on WALK AWAY FROM THE SUN is heaven on earth. There is an ethereal quality to the high notes that would make even the Seraphim envious. This is my favorite song on the whole record. The music is really exquisite. There is an subtle Latin texture to it so when listen with my eyes closed I can envision caballeros on horseback galloping through the surf. That is the magic of this song there is a breathtaking sense of freedom in it.

Da Vinci was once asked how he sculpted so beautifully. His response was that "I see angels in the marble and I carve until I set them free". Da Vinci's spirit is alive and thriving on Seether's record. Shaun passionately carved to set his personal demons free and this is most apparent on the albums final track.

WASTE. In the credits it indicates that additional guitars were provided by Space...and I wondered if this was THEE Space who had a hit a few years ago with Female Of The Species. Alternate Universe Howard Benson is also "visible" here. Listening to Waste there is a sense of floating through the etherIt was this song that made me wonder if the catharsis was complete. I titled my review PRIMAL BIPOLAR LASAGNA because of the multiple layers of gut wrenching emotion on the record. My sense of this album and especially the lyrics is that Shaun really opened himself up on this record more than he ever has on previous efforts. If you REALLY listen to the lyrics you will hear a man openly grappling with all five stages of grief.

Rage, denial, bargaining, despair, acceptance...it is all here.

David Ho's art work featuring the ghost of Candace and her love/hate relationship with the human race is a perfect visual companion to the music. If you are unfamiliar with David's work I hope you will check him out at Davidho.com. He has another picture of Candace where she is standing laterally to the wind which is blowing crows out of her hair. It is called Candace Unleashes Her Personal Demons. And so to has Seether.

Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces is an astonishingly intelligent album, an extraordinary journey and surely one of the best records of the year.

3 out of 5 stars

Seether has lost their touch October 23, 2007
9 out of 16 found this review helpful

Seether was always set apart from other similar bands before by their catchy riffs and creativity. I loved them for the heaviness they mixed in with all of that. This album, however, seems to have lost both the heaviness and the creativity, leading them to sound much like Breaking Benjamin and even, dare I say it? Nickelback. Not that there is anything wrong with those bands but I'm definitely disappointed that Seether has become another clone.

They also seem to think that being even more foul-mouthed than previously makes up for their lack of actual heaviness in the music. I don't mind the cursing but I want it to fit with the music and be at least partially tactful. The song "F**k it" from "Disclaimer" was a good song because it had angry music to go with the lyrics. "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces" has angry lyrics but not angry enough melodies to go along with them.

Breakdown of the songs:

1. Like Suicide - 7.5/10 A decent song, with hints of the old Seether in it. It's not nearly as heavy of any of the previous album openers, though.
2. Fake it - 8/10 Ok, I admit it. This song is catchy. It gets really stuck in your head. It's not at all Seether, though. Sounds kind of like Nickelback. Nothing unique, at all.
3. Breakdown - 6/10 This song is so unmemorable and such a Breaking Benjamin clone (I think they even have a song with the same title).
4. FMLYHM (F**K Me Like you Hate Me) - 7/10 The verse of this song is actually pretty good. But I have serious objections to the chorus. It's just lame. The music doesn't fit the anger of the lyrics.
5. Fallen - 8.5/10 The verse is again, actually quite good. The chorus gives a slightly heavier taste of Seether than the rest of the album. But overall, the song isn't real memorable.
6. Rise Above This - 4/10 No, No, No. It's painful to think that this is Seether. I'm not even touching this any more than that.
7. No Jesus Christ - 6.5/10 This song is kind of weird. It's, thankfully, much heavier than the previous song but the song just doesn't have much substance to it.
8. 6 Gun Quota - 8/10 Another fairly catchy song that still lacks much creativity. It's fun to listen to but doesn't win too many marks in my mind.
9. Walk Away From the Sun - 6/10 Eh. Nothing special. Unmemorable and tedious.
10. Eyes of a Devil - 6.5/10 Sounds like "Three Days Grace" but worse.
11. Don't Believe - 5/10 These songs just keep getting less and less memorable.
12. Waste - 6/10 This is not getting any better.

So, there's a few catchy songs on the album but overall, Seether has really lost their touch.

5 out of 5 stars

Seethers IN UTERO November 10, 2007
8 out of 11 found this review helpful

I hated this album at first it sounded nothing like there previous works but I gave it another chance because of Like Suicide and Fake It both really catchy songs. I'm glad I did because this cd is really good from start to finish. This reminds me of In Utero because everyone hated that record when it came out and as time went on it became a classic and the same goes for FBINS. Its a solid album its not my favorite it may be the bands favorite Seether record but my favorite will always be Disclaimer (1). This is just Seether experimenting just like Linkin Park with minutes to midnight its only one cd they can always come back on the next one if your just getting into Seether start with this one and work your way down. The best tracks Like Suicide, 6 Gun Quota, Breakdown, & FMLYHM.

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