From the ashes of 88 Fingers Louie and Baxter rose Chicago’s own Rise Against, one of the biggest punk bands in the past two decades. The band quickly gained a following through their first 2 albums on Fat Wreck Chords and then moved on to international fame with the move to a major. Through their melodic hardcore songs and socially-conscious and political lyrics they’ve etched out a devoted following for themselves.
The band formed in 1999 with ex-Baxter member Tim McIlrath on lead vocals (later becoming rhythm guitarist in 2002) and ex-88 Fingers Louie members Joe Principe on bass and Dan “Precision” Wleklinski on guitar. Rounding the band out was Kevin White on rhythm guitar and Tony Tintari on drums.
Before their first album, Kevin White left and Tintari was replaced with Brandon Barnes on drums. Rise Against has stayed with the lineup of Mcllrath, Principe and Barnes since, but has gone through a few guitarists before cementing their core 4 members. Dan Precision played on their debut, but was replaced with Todd Mohney (of The Killing Tree & The Falcon) for the followup album. Mohney was then replaced by Chris Chasse for the next 2 records before finally settling on Zach Blair of Only Crime, Hagfish, and GWAR.
Rise Against has gone through 3–4 phases in their career and while not making enormous changes to their signature sound, the changes they have made may have turned off some fans. While I may not appreciate the approach they’ve gone with on all of their albums, I still do encourage change and progress as long it comes naturally for a band. Overall, I think the changes the band has made through the years were ones they wanted to make.
To rank their records, I listened to all 9 of them on repeat for 3–4 weeks. It should go without saying, but this list is subjective and depending on what you’re into, I could see someone putting these albums in exactly the opposite order.
9. Endgame (2011)
Despite being the highest charting Rise Against album and their 2nd best selling release, I find Endgame to be wholly disappointing. It’s not a record that I feel the need to turn off if it’s on or that is objectively bad, it’s just a comparatively very hollow release. More than any other, this album seems constructed specifically for commercial radio play and because of this, it noticeably lacks any heart. In fact, the only part of this album I find myself actively enjoying is the chorus on “Satellite”. Otherwise, the album is rounded out by a number of forgettable tracks that all seem about a minute too long. As opposed to a lot of their earlier material, the songs here feel very forced and include a lot of unnecessary and abrupt melody transitions within songs.
Recommended Tracks: Satellite, Architects, & A Gentlemen’s Coup
8. Nowhere Generation (2021)
Nowhere Generation is a perplexing album that I really want to like more, but have a hard time finding much to really take away from. The songs are all fast to mid-tempo rockers with one acoustic track thrown in the middle to mix it up a bit (I might be the minority, but I don’t think the band can pull off acoustic songs). The unfortunate reality of the album is that all of the songs (except “Broken Dream, Inc.”) lack any memorable hooks or melodies — they just seem to run through the general flow of verse/chorus/bridge formula, keeping the length between 3:20–4:00 and then calling it quits. The lack of effort really comes through on tracks “Sounds Like” and “Sooner Or later” where the breakdown involves just turning up the gain to replicate energy rather than writing an inspiring riff. Both of these songs are good songs too, they’re just indicative of the lack of character the album has. A bad album by no means, but nothing exciting.
Recommended Tracks: Broken Dreams, Inc., Monarch, & The Numbers
7. Appeal To Reason (2008)
This album suffers from a lot of the same issues as Endgame. The majority of it is overly commercial and radio-friendly, turning many of the songs into bland carbon-copies of each other. Many of the songs struggle to find structural cohesion and feel as if they took a few riffs and just jammed them into songs whether they worked or not, that or they keep going when a song already ran its course (making it abundantly clear that this is the longest Rise Against record). Luckily, there’s still some strong contenders on the record to offshoot the poorer tracks, but the album ultimately doesn’t have a lot of staying power — many of the songs are forgotten by the time the album is over. The band attempts a couple tricks to keep things interesting such as the carnival-esque vibe thrown on to “Entertainment”, but the album needs better songs overall to make up for the over-the-top ballad “Hero of War” that has as much subtlety as a brick wall.
Recommended Tracks: Saviour, Collapse (Post-Amerika), & The Dirt Whispered
6. Wolves (2017)
Wolves is far from a perfect album, but it is a mostly enjoyable one. There’s some really solid tracks (mostly in the first half) that are reminiscent of the band’s earlier material, but with a more matured approach. Wolves is one of only a couple Rise Against records that wasn’t produced by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore, but the production doesn’t stand out as either good or bad other than the snare could’ve used a bit more bass tone put on it. “The Violence” is a song that works towards the band’s best qualities — uncomplicated riffs, aggressive vocals and melody that follows the guitar. “Bullshit” is also a noteworthy track as it sees the band incorporating upstroke guitar into their music and I got to say, it works. It doesn’t hurt that this track also includes the ska-punk legend Jesse Michaels on backup vocals. The worst thing about the record is there’s too many songs that show promise, but fall into mediocrity due to an overdone chorus style or cheesy lyrics like on “Far From Perfect” with its generic pop line “we are far from perfect, but perfect as we are” — that’s just a little to high school motivational poster for me.
Recommended Tracks: The Violence, House On Fire, & Bullshit
5. The Black Market (2014)
After the underwhelming and radio-friendly albums Endgame and Appeal to Reason, it was refreshing to hear the band go back more to their roots. That said, The Black Market doesn’t sound like it’s simply retracing the steps of their earlier records, but rather that it’s trying to embrace the more fun and natural sound of those albums. There’s several songs on the record which show the group’s mature musical progression and they come across very natural — such as the 70s rock style falsetto applied to the chorus of “The Great Die-Off” or the strong groove metal influence on “Zero Visibility”. These are the types of changes I’d like to see the band make more as it attempts to keep things from getting stale without moving outside of the band’s range. Gone are the days of the angsty and angry intensity that fueled the band’s early output, but if they can hold on to this same level of melodic focused rock then I think they have a chance of aging well. The record could have been even better by dropping a song or two — most noticeably the filler track “Methadone”.
Recommended Tracks: The Great Die-Off, I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore, & A Beautiful Indifference
4. Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004)
I have a very mixed love/hate relationship with this record. At its height, it contains some of the best tracks Rise Against has released, but it also manages to make a few serious mistakes along the way. Let’s talk about the production as it really stands out compared to other Rise Against albums. Some may love it and some may hate it, but I’m somewhere in the middle — the big, overdrive stadium sound really pumps a lot of energy into tracks like “State of the Union” (my favourite Rise Against intro song) and “Give It All”. Unfortunately, producer Garth Richardson fails to add enough dynamics into the mix forcing a constant low-end tone throughout the record that makes it somewhat exhausting to listen to. You’ve also got the acoustic song “Swing Life Away” which I enjoyed as a rougher mix on the Punk Goes Acoustic compilation, but on Siren Song of the Counter Culture all of the soul is taken out and it comes across very dry and generic. Chris Chasse, replacing Todd Mahoney on lead guitar, manages to inject some clever riffs into the songs that additionally manage to make this record stand out along with the bigger production.
Recommended Tracks: Give It All, State of the Union, & Tip The Scales
3. The Sufferer & The Witness (2006)
Rise Against really hit the big time with The Sufferer & The Witness, their 2nd best-selling album to date and a record that sported a couple successful singles. At the time of release, I wasn’t so hot on the album, feeling like it strayed too far into mainstream, but as the years have passed I’ve begun to appreciate it more. There’s a lot of energy, the production is good without sounding overdone and the lyrical content is rich and impassioned. The tracks mostly range from good to great (“Bricks” could have fit on their first couple records), but the band does a make a couple quite noticeable missteps with “The Approaching Curve” and “Roadside”. Both songs attempt to change up the band’s formula, which is completely understandable, but unfortunately they both stumble in their attempt. “The Approaching Curve” stands out distinctly as a swing-and-a-miss with its spoken word verses that transition into a yawningly boring chorus. Luckily, there’s a lot of really great tracks to offset these 2 misguided ones. This album also signifies the band’s change to songs with abrupt tempo switches and patchwork riffs.
Recommended Tracks: Bricks, Drones, & Prayer of the Refugee
2. Revolutions per Minute (2003)
Revolutions per Minute was a monumental album for the band and the release that seemed to get the band noticed amongst a larger group of people. It’s the first Rise Against album recorded at Blasting Room Studios with Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore with the duos signature style noticeably coming through in the production. This was the only album with Todd Mahoney on lead guitar and he seemed to fill in Dan’s previous role quite well, creating cohesive riffs that effortlessly fit the structure of songs. They lyrics on RPM have a very personal fragility to them that make them relatable and convincingly passionate. This humanistic approach even comes through when Tim transitions the lyrics towards a more political direction (something the band would later come to be known for). Like the debut, this album doesn’t have a single song that comes anywhere close to filler, instead all of the songs more-or-less compete for best song on the record. This was the band’s last release on an independent label which will always make it intriguing among early fans about what their trajectory may have been if they had never joined a major label.
Recommended Tracks: Like the Angel, Voices off Camera, & Halfway There
1. The Unraveling (2001)
The band’s debut album is not only their best release, but arguably one of the best melodic hardcore punk albums ever released. The record is a powder keg of energy that is always on the verge of exploding. Dan Precision’s guitar-work fits like a glove with Tim’s vocals — it’s a real shame that this is the only Rise Against record that involved Dan because I would have loved to hear where they could have taken this sound with him. The ways the tracks so effortlessly flow between each other make it such a joy to listen to. At times you’ve got Tim screaming his head off while at other times there’s a beautifully melodic harmony on the vocals. Mass Giorgini does a great job as producer here, really mixing the instruments together well (would’ve been nice to hear some more Rise Against records produced by him). The young, less-experienced vocals from Tim ultimately pay huge dividends and help make the impassioned and more personal lyrics sound so much more convincing. The Unraveling was a record of catching lightning in a bottle — I understand why they progressed their sound, but I doubt they’ll ever be able to reach this level of honest passion again. If I was to sum it up, the best thing about their debut is every song leaves you desperately wanting more.
Recommended Tracks: Everchanging, Six Ways ’Til Sunday, & 401kill
Occasionally TGEFM will cross-host an entry from Nobody Asked My Opinion, a regular blog where “human person” David Lorbiecke ranks all of the currently-released albums by a given artist. There is already a huge back catalog of rankings, and more are on the way. Be sure to visit Nobody Asked My Opinion to see more of these great rankings/reviews.
