It's been six years since Course of Nature's last CD, their debut Superkala. You may remember the single "Caught in the Sun" (not to be confused with Revis' "Caught in the Rain" a yearish later). I remember Superkala being one of my favorite CDs of the time, listening to it pretty much every night for a month or so over that summer.Six years is a long time for a band like Course of Nature, on a label like Silent Majority--"focusing on radio-driven mainstream rock acts." Fortunately, the neverending stream of singles from Nickelback, coupled with releases from acts like Seether and Daughtry--who sang a song penned by Course of Nature's singer--has helped make sure Course of Nature's post-grunge sound still falls under "radio-driven mainstream rock." Incidentally, when I first heard Course of Nature was releasing a new CD in 2008 and had posted new tracks to MySpace, I checked one of them out and thought "meh, sounds too much like Nickelback now."
And while I might withdraw that complaint, that they sound too much like Nickelback, Course of Nature has somewhat lost their identity compared to when they first hit the national scene. That's not to say they've changed that much stylistically, just that the songs sound a little more watered-down now. Damaged even follows pretty much the same pattern as Superkala did, in terms of more or less alternating heavier songs with ballads. The first single, "Anger Cage" wastes no time kicking off the CD with energy and a relatively hooky chorus, although I could do without the backing "ooh ooh woo ooh." "Right Before My Eyes" is another mid-tempo song, alternating a mellow verse with a near-requisite buildup and distorted guitars for the chorus. "Time Is Slipping Away" probably would've been my choice for the lead single; despite the fact it has no less generic of a construction, the chorus hook had me singing along by the second chorus, the first time I heard it. Then there's the full-on relationship ballad "Memory of You," before they kick things back up a bit with "The Window." "Live Again" is another slightly more uptempo rocker, followed by "Gone," the second of the full-on ballads. "How Great You Are" actually changes the sound up a bit, and is probably the track most reminiscent of their debut. "World At War" takes a more political stance, and then the album ends with the Faktion-esque, oddly major-sounding "Forget Her."
So yeah, six years is a long time for a band between CDs, especially one that aims to be mainstream (as opposed to, say, a band like Tool or Nine Inch Nails, who have rabid fans to fuel them regardless of the radio climate). And I guess it's also a long time for me, in terms of how my music interests have changed--it's entirely possible that, had this CD come out in 2002, I would've loved it. For now, for me, though, it's really just generic radio rock. The songs are decent enough, catchy, and certainly preferable to the emo stylings that glut the airwaves, but in 5 years (or 2 years, or maybe 1), nobody's going to remember these songs.
