Release date: Aug. 8, 2006
14 tracks; 46:42

The track listing for Breaking Benjamin's third album, "Phobia," should be breifly explained.

There are 13 tracks listed on the album. Some copies have a hidden track - an acoustic version of "The Diary of Jane."

While that adds up to 14 tracks, two of them are the "Intro" and "Outro" - basically worthless tracks that consist of noise for less than one minute.

Now, to the music.

The first single from the album, "The Diary of Jane," is probably also the best on the album.

I first heard the band at Ziggy's as an opening act, and immediately was impressed by them.

Their first album, "Saturate," is packed with solid songwriting from start to finish.

Their second album, "We Are Not Alone," is another solid effort, that falls short of the debut's quality.

Now, with the release of "Phobia," the band has basically hit the same mark as their sophomore release, but once again fallen short of the original.

There simply aren't enough stand-out tracks. There are some good songs, but nothing I was truly impressed with.

"Breath," the third track on the album, would be a nice follow-up to the first single.

Singer Ben Burnley has a great tone to his voice, and knows the perfect times to turn on the heat into a growl or scream.

I will say that the more I listen to the album, the more I like it, so it may be a matter of time until I'm truly impressed by the album as a whole.

Posted by jeffhahnedisabled at August 26, 2006 2:32 PM