Phobia

Artist: Breaking Benjamin
Album: Phobia
Release Year: 2006
Genres: alternative rock, pop-rock

1) Intro; 2) The Diary of Jane; 3) Breath; 4) You; 5) Evil Angel; 6) Until the End; 7) Dance with the Devil; 8) Topless; 9) Here We Are; 10) Unknown Soldier; 11) Had Enough; 12) You Fight Me; 13) Outro; 14) Diary of Jane (acoustic).

Best Song: The Diary of Jane (either version)

You know those songs or albums that aren't all that special in and of themselves, yet you enjoy them because of the memories and such associated with them? Yeah, that's what this one is for me. All you have to do is turn on your local hard rock station for fifteen minutes, and you will already have heard everything on this album. Angsty verses, power choruses, pseudo-screaming, songs about broken relationships...the cliches are all here. And yet, on Phobia they're tolerable. Usually.

There's a fine line between "satisfying" and "whiny," and I must say the guys really flirt with it on here. Slow songs, with lines like "fly over meeee, evil aaangeeellll" that still try to sound half-badass, just come off as pathetic. And who's taking them seriously when they mke "dancing with the devil" sound like something out of a teen drama? But, there are still similar songs that don't give me any unintentional laughs. I like the meandering verses on "Until the End," and both "Breath" and "Had Enough" contain respectable hooks, so there's that. I really don't know what makes them any better than the others, but I'm not going to spend much time trying to figure it out.

So Phobia is whiny and cliche, and yet I find both of those flaws more forgivable than not. Why? Beats me. Maybe because the melodies are still more catchy than not, or because there are enough interesting moments to redeem the boring ones. Or is it because they're all bookended with two versions of the excellent anthem "Diary of Jane," including a piano version which contains elements of true feeling? Yeah, it's probably the last one.

Rating: 6.5

P.S: I know, I rated the album kind of low for flaws I already said were mainly forgivable, and u mad. But bear in mind that this is a pop rock album, and on those can never score too highly on the "absolute" scale. If this rating were adjusted to compare this one only to other pop-rock albums, I would rate it closer to a 7.5 or an 8.