Rise Against Releases First Single: "Help is on the Way" From Endgame

In 2008, Rise Against, one of Chicago's premiere hardcore punk bands released their fifth album, Appeal to Reason. Politically charged and deliberate, Appeal to Reason took the band in a whole new direction. It built bridges--and burned some as well. Hardcore fans turned their backs on the band, and even critics who hate hardcore complained about what they saw as the "mainstream direction" the band was taking.

However, Appeal to Reason was an album with a message, a strong message. In 2008 the world was in upheaval: riots broke out in third world countries as people fought one another in the streets during a food crisis. For the first time petroleum reached $100 a barrel, hurricanes ravaged the coasts again and again, the U.S. was locked in a brutal War with no end in sight and, as a last ditch effort to stave off a global financial crisis, the soon to be former US President signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act; $700 billion to buy up the assets of failing banks. Even as families lost homes and joined the food lines there was a pervasive Orwellian fear, the word "patriotism" had replaced the words "free speech" and surveillance, seizure and imprisonment were given "carte blanche" rule.

The message of anger delivered on Appeal to Reason--by men who weren't afraid of a good fight, was well-understood and embraced by the frustrated and the confused. Before the grumblings of critics and cynics had even died down a strange thing had begun to happen, Appeal to Reason had begun to climb the charts, songs had begun to cross-over and Rise Against found themselves with hits on both the alternative and the rock radio charts. The last release from Appeal to Reason, and my personal favorite, "Savior," climbed the charts and planted itself there--becoming the bands highest charting single to date.

On January 25, 2011, Rise Against released the first single, "Help Is On The Way," from their much anticipated sixth album, Endgame, set for release by DGC/Interscope on March 15, 2011. The song is available for download purchase on www.MySpace.com/RiseAgainst

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Article Author: Tricia Weight

I'm a Blogcritics reviewer and lead music writer and assistant editor for Technorati. I write Interviews From The Edge because I'm passionate about the creative process of all artists. I get crushes on dead people. My first interview with Dave Lombardo from Slayer. …

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eds-pick, endgame, music, music news, new release, punk, rise against, rock,

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