Waiting five years to put out a record since 1998's "Let's Talk About Feelings," Lagwagon left the expectations of fans to grow for years. Per usual, rumors spread between punk-rock internet junkies that "Blaze" would be their last album, but the same rumor circulated before "Let's Talk about Feelings" and every NOFX record since 1997, so we will not put all of our eggs in that basket. But if "Blaze" were to be Lagwagon's final offering, it would be a fitting end to the band's extensive career.
Between Lagwagon's first album, 1992's "DUH," and 1998's "Let's Talk About Feelings," the band has covered a lot of ground, but still managed to maintain a unique style. Lagwagon's first few albums seamlessly combined NOFX-esque 2-4 hardcore punk anthems with crunchy metal riffs topped off with lyrics that often delved into self-deprecating humor. As time passed and the band grew, it started to move its song-writing in a more melodic direction while taking the lyrics to a more personal and meaningful level. 1998's "Let's Talk About Feelings" left listeners expecting Lagwagon to continue sacrificing metal riffs to explore instead its melodic capabilities. With "Blaze," Lagwagon covers new ground melodically but also presents some songs in their old style.
The opening track, "Burn," fools the listener, much like the opening of "Alien 8" off their 1997 album, "Double Plaidinum," by starting off with a slow depressing bit, then abruptly bursting into full-throttle punk rock. Soon after the song goes punk, the guitars explode into anthemic harmonizing octaves that are oh-so-fulfilling. The song's next moment of pure satisfaction occurs after a short soft break when the guitar feedback warns of an imminent wailing guitar solo. The solo wails hard as expected and the song jumps back into the verse. Unfortunately, the second track, "E Dagger," is a let down. The repetitive vocal melody drowns out any merit in the somewhat interesting chord changes. Luckily, the song is short enough that it is not worth walking to the CD player to skip it. The third song, "Dancing the Collapse," set up much like "Burn," signifies a kind of new beginning to the album. From this point on, Lagwagon presents a segment of five songs that are energetic, compelling and leave nothing to be desired.
The fourth track, "I must be hateful" is the highlight of the album, perfectly taking up where 1998's "Let's Talk About Feelings" left off. The guitar riff that opens the song is simplistic yet effective and the lyrics tastefully hint at a broken relationship while also paying homage to Blake Schwarenbach and his band Jawbreaker. The Jawbreaker reference is an effective tribute since the band pioneered the punk rock break-up anthem long before the modern "emo" bands came along and gave relationship songs a bad name.
Following "I Must Be Hateful" is a humorous tune about how the band too often is branded as punk-rockers, entitled "Falling Apart." "I'm old school / I'm played out / Osteoporosis, glaucoma and neurosis / The vultures circling around our balding heads / Second verse / Same as the first / I forgot the words again / Railer, lost my inhaler / Who's got a smoke for the Caper? / Hold on let me catch my breath," singer Joey Cape laments in an apathetic voice that creates an interesting juxtaposition to the aggressive guitar and drum interplay.
The next two songs, "Max Says" and "Billy Club" both are examples of Lagwagon putting the vocal melody and overall song design ahead of the individual wailing guitar parts, which is where Lagwagon excels and is why "Let's Talk About Feelings" is their strongest release.
After "Billy Club" comes a few songs that are more in the style of old Lagwagon, with metal leads and extremely technical rhythmic changes. Although more technically proficient, these songs do not hit as hard as the more melodic endeavors. Lucky the album ends with a few redeeming songs that keep the tone of the record from slipping.
Overall, the album is solid, but unfortunately not all of it is as good as the section in the middle where the band shows how they are keeping their sound dynamic. One could say that the album lags in places, especially in "E Dagger." If "Blaze" is to be the last album from such an influential punk rock band, then it is a great mixture of their old and new sound, but it would have been better for the band to deliver an album that represents the band's further exploration into their melodic capabilities.
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