Thing about punk is sometimes it gets a bit boring. Sometimes a band looks around and asks "Is this really all there is?" Sometimes a band looks to innovate within the bounds of punk but accidentally moves outside the bounds of punk. It happened to Television. It happened to The Clash. It happened to Hüsker Dü. It happened to countless others.
this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2025
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Imagine being a 40 year old drummer and having to play hardcore for an hour straight for months on end
TIL Rise Against is the kpop of American bands
they learned to play their instruments?
i kid, I kid!
Cynically: they probably realized that sold better. In particular, Swing Life Away was their most successful song and after that they had to have at least one ballad per album.
I don't know if that's the real reason though, lots of bands change their sound as they get older and I imagine they may have felt like they were boxed in. I say this as someone who loves their earlier albums and hasn't cared about anything they've released in the last 15 years.
They're still very good, dont get me wrong. I'd never be embarrassed to play some Rise against. They're just more of a rock band with an alternative sound now than they are melodic hard-core or skate punk these days.
This newest album is basically just a straight up rock album with maybe one punk sounding song on it.
Eh, I preferred the melodic hardcore sound, there are lots of ”alternative rock” bands and far fewer of them that sound like early RA. I kind of have to disagree that Tim isn't really into punk, he did a guest spot on a Sick of it All track on their most recent album (2018, long after RA became a mainstream success).