Peak of Creativity
5
By WMcClusky'42
My recommendation: if you are a fan of the pump-up, rage against, rap tinged Thousand Foot Krutch and don't want any change from that, then I predict you will not enjoy this album. However, if you want something a little different, more compositional than radio-rock, more introspective and less brash, loud but tasteful, more artistic and less generic, then this is the TFK album for you. Please read on...
The Art of Breaking was the pinnacle of musical and lyrical creativity from Thousand Foot Krutch. Compared with their other albums, Art of Breaking is very much an aberration. It is not all drop-D crunching riffs and pump up-rock that has come to define the band since 2007. Art of Breaking is a little more thoughtful and much more resonant both lyrically and musically. Trevor sings more than he shouts, you can actually hear the movement in Joel's bass and Steve's drumming flows with each song. The centerpiece of the album is the excellent guitar work: it is a little cleaner, less one-dimensionally loud and infinitely more versatile than previous and subsequent TFK. Maybe that is due to the fact that the band enlisted Phil X to work his magic. In every song you can hear the strong organic rhythm and soaring lead weaving in and out of the spotlight. It is both eloquent and powerful. We actaully hear guitar solo(S)! Hard rock TFK fans need not fear a lack of loud or anthemic tracks; there are plenty. "Move" is a very worthy successor to "Rawkfist" and "Absolute" is the most anthemic song ever written by the band. There is only one song out of 11 that could be labeled "slow", and that is the last one. In this way, Art of Breaking is much more traditionally heavy metal rock than anything TFK has otherwise produced.
With Art of Breaking, TFK reached a turning point. Their sound had evolved from the very diverse, but decidedly rap-rock/funk, of Set It Off to the powerful mainstream success of the nu-metal/alternative Phenomenon. Art of Breaking was a significant departure from either of those. Whether because of poor sales, fan reaction or personal taste, TFK stepped back from the precipice that was Art of Breaking and took a different path. Maybe it is up to personal opinion if what TFK has become is good or bad, but it can be stated without doubt that the band's musical and lyrical creativity has since dropped and flatlined there. One only has to look at the repetative album covers since Flame in All of Us to realize this. Art of Breaking is a gem of an album: cohesive, fresh, interesting, meaningful and exciting. I cannot recommend it highly enough, but you should first assess if you prefer traditional Thousand Foot Krutch or are open to something different.
If you find that you enjoy Art of Breaking I cannot stress how much you should look into Your Sparkling Death Cometh by Falling Up. That is quite a trip and a remarkable album.
