Album Review: Nonpoint - 'Miracle'

10 April 2011 | 2:43 pm | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Nonpoint's seventh offering is stale rock that falls out of the sky dead after a promising opening track.

More Nonpoint More Nonpoint

They’ve been around for donkey’s years, but you’d be forgiven for not recognizing the name Nonpoint. Their seventh studio record, ‘Miracle’, has been one of their most successful records to date – I can’t argue with the numbers – but there isn’t anything remarkable about it. It’s exactly what you expect from a hard rock act that just hasn’t quite been able to strike gold. I’m probably speaking to no-one here, but if you’re a fan of older, before radio killed them, Nickelback, this record does remind me a touch of that; it’s hard, it has some balls. But it really just gets the job done.

If Nickelback were teacher’s pet at Generic Rock Grammar, then Nonpoint must be at least pushing for the honour roll. It can be refreshing to just switch off, and listen to something like this. No thought process required, and for that kind of experience, ‘Miracle’ is actually fairly effective with laughable, stock standard lyricism and musicianship. Any elitist folk who take music seriously won’t want anything to do with Nonpoint though, it’s safe to say.

As much as it pains me to concede, there are a couple of songs I don’t mind off of ‘Miracle’.

The opening track “Shadow is actually disgustingly catchy, and has me singing along to it at even the worst of times; even if the lyrics are just facepalm worthy.

Elias Soriano has a slurred, guttural quality that suits this brand of rock beautifully, but I’m afraid the bloke just doesn’t pen a single thought-provoking lyric on the entire record. It’s probably fortunate he’s indecipherable half the time, as what melody he does manage to produce actually will stick in your head. Like I said, this is rock for the non-thinker.

The titular track features a cameo from the unmistakable Chad Gray, who helped produce this record, along with his Mudvayne colleague Greg Tribbett. While his inclusion in the track is minimal, he does give it some life toward the end with his signature rasping screams that give the bridge some power. After a pretty lacklustre couple of minutes, it wasn’t a terrible change of pace. That said; the track remains consistent to the fairly stock offering that is ‘Miracle’.

What follows is about twenty minutes of very standard rock helpings that did nothing but bore me, senseless. They offer a little by way of toe-tapping riff work from Zach Broderick in his first recorded effort as a Nonpoint member, but on the whole the six songs are unremarkable and ultimately so forgettable. I’d call it filler, but it’s hard to imagine Nonpoint filling two thirds of their record with nonsense. Oh, wait...

They also try their hand at covering metal icons Pantera. You’re always bound to upset Pantera fans when you try emulating the late, great Dimebag Darrell. Though, I think Nonpoint has a loose groove that lends itself well to their cover of 5 Minutes Alone”. So while it probably doesn’t quite match the sheer, face-melting quality Pantera once had, I doubt the aforementioned guitar hero would be rolling in his grave. I’m tipping if anything was going to stir the resurrection, it would have been Avenged Sevenfold’s cover some years ago.

Nonpoint served up what is likely the best they’ve got left with ‘Miracle’. It’s their seventh record, and unfortunately falls flat on its face for too much of it, following a promising enough start with “Shadow”. Their attempt at a Pantera classic is respectable enough, though it isn’t enough to save the record which had lost me after twenty solid minutes of filler.

1. Shadow
2. Miracle
3. Crazy
4. Frontlines
5. Looking Away
6. Electricity
7. What You've Got For Me
8. Throwing Stones
9. 5 Minutes Alone
10. What I've Become
11. Dangerous Waters
12. Lucky #13