The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

With strong
vocals and a genre that mixes the basics of rock with catchy pop tunes, the
members of Daughtry have arrived at their third album while riding ever
increasing popularity. Though they’ve become known for having a certain formula
that they stick to, when it comes to producing new material, there’s no
complaining as long as they come off well in the end. Break The Spell,
puts this into question.

Most of the
album consists of their familiar melodic rock, which works best with former American Idol finalist Chris
Daughtry’s voice. One thing that favours Break
the Spell is its slightly more upbeat tone compared to that of the band’s previous
albums. However, they may have overdone it in ‘The Start of Something Good’ through
generic themes and lyrics, to the point where it sounds more like a
ballad appropriate for the ending of a romantic comedy.

The album snaps
back to their familiar theme of failing relationships with ‘Crawling Back to
You’in which they compensate for unoriginal lyrics with strong instrumentals
that match the song’s feeling of despair and fading resistance. ‘Break The
Spell’ falls in the same line; hopelessness and enjoyable misery.

The album
then goes darker using metaphors of drowning for loneliness in ‘Rescue Me’ against
a background of guitar riffs and heavy drums, while ‘Gone Too Soon’ tells of
the loss of a child; lyrics that could well be the most emotional lyrics of the
album.

It’s worth
noting that Break the Spell marks exactly five years since the band’s
debut Daughtry. While their style hasn’t differed much when compared
throughout those years, their latest album shows that they can stretch their
musical horizons and venture into new themes without abandoning the unique
style that their fans have come to love.

Lyrically, Break
the Spell might not be Daughtry’s strongest albums. However, it still has the
emotional melodies and their signature pop-rock instrumentals; a combination that
makes the album viable for fans of both genres. The band is known for their
simplicity and they have kept that through all their records, but simplicity can
work both ways; a more coherent theme and a less dependence on obvious, clichéd
notions are what Break The Spell is in need of.