Is it a hit, *hit or miss?
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Pacifier
– Pacifier
by Scott Slapp
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Pacifier
– Pacifier
Label: Arista
Hit, *hit or
Miss?: hit & miss
Rating:  
Pacifier’s Arista debut is what would happen
if Lit reinvented themselves as a nu-metal band. I know Pacifier fans are
jumping up and down right now saying “Scott you’re full of it! They sound
nothing like Lit!” Wait a second, I respond, go listen to the heavier tunes
of Lit’s major label offerings (not their much heavier self-released debut)
and you’ll find a lot of similarity in the vocal structure and phrasing,
especially in the choruses. Instrumentally, the band stays pretty
true to the nu-metal formula but do mix a little industrial into their
sound from time to time.
Say what you will about Lit, they do have
a keen pop sense and that comes through in the melody driven music. The
same can be said of Pacifier who seemed to have studied what made most
of the top nu-metal bands popular and tailor made their music to fit the
mold. That could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your opinion
of nu-metal. You could also call it contrived but most major label bands
these days fall victim to that.
The real question is do they meet the goal
of making commercially viable music that is enjoyable to listen to?
Again that depends on your personal taste but going by the music market
place of the past few years Pacifier definitely has the chops to compete
and shouldn’t have a problem finding a mainstream rock audience. That is
if that audience is still perceptive to nu-metal and judging by the sales
of some recent albums, there is still a pretty large audience that is.
There is some controversy surrounding this
band. Their hardcore fan base in their native New Zealand were introduced
to them under the moniker of Shihad, which in these post 9/11 days a name
like that would go over in the U.S. like a lead balloon. Some older fans
may be turned off by the fact that the sound the band went for on this
disc seems to be heavily geared towards airplay. So there is bound to be
a mixed reaction to this disc.
Take away the baggage of the name and style
change and also the stigma that goes along with being mainstream and take
a closer listen to the music to determine if it’s enjoyable, then most
will say yes. The songs have plenty of power and are yet extremely slick
sounding with catchy chorus melodies. It’s a fun disc and the songs are
catchy and that’s the bottom line. They may be a little late on the nu-metal
train which seems to be just about ready to leave the station but this
disc should help the genre hang on for a little while longer and they are
better than a lot of the other nu-metal bands that have flooded the record
stores over the past few years.
If you’re into the more commercial nu-metal
bands then this disc is for you. If you’re not into the nu-metal thing
than Pacifier won’t change your mind. There is nothing really new here
but what they do, they do well. And to be quite honest this album has really
grown on me after a few spins. So if you check with me in a couple of weeks
I’ll probably have a much more positive take on this disc. Check
it out, it’s worth the price of admission if this is your style of music.
CD Info and Links
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