Grey Daze - Amends (Track by Track Review)

Amends is an album that serves in memory of one of the best vocalist to have ever lived, both in my opinion and in general consensus, Chester Bennington. Showcasing the music that made him develop his lyrical and vocal style, around the age of only 15/16, way before Linkin Park or any of his other Musical endeavours.

Chester and other Grey Daze Members in their Early days.

Now onto the sound of the album itself:

Favourite Songs: In Time, Just Like Heroin, Morei Sky, Shouting Out.

Sickness

The opener ‘Sickness’ sets up the tone for the album fairly well, switching between the pained verses and powerful anger in the chorus, backed up by the crunchy guitars and a drum track that fits so perfectly that it manages to capture the beauty, pain and anger of the song alone.

It starts off fairly harsh, with the gritty guitars, progressively aggressive and angsty teenage lyrics, sharp vocals in the verses followed by the beautifully gritty and familiar screams that Bennington is best known for.

Sometimes

The second track ‘Sometimes’ serves as an example of some of Bennington’s best work in my opinion (alongside a few others in this album that I shall get to later). This song is so beautifully executed that I’m not ashamed to say it has brought tears to my otherwise dry and unemotional eyes. From the opening riff, that is a perfect echo of the songs original recording that its as if they ripped it and enhanced it as they did the vocals, to the crunching harsh vocals in the chorus, this song is teeming with teenage emotion.

Lyrically this song is a great example of a Linkin Park predecessor. Sad overtones with perfect performance by Chester to portray the confusing mess of anger and sadness, a theme that runs throughout this Album. The Instrumental itself is almost Dead By Sunrise-esque, and brings out the song brilliantly.

What’s In The Eye

The next track is ‘What’s In The Eye’, which was also the first single so can hold a special place as our first glimpse into Chester’s first works and this masterpiece of an album. This song tells serves as advice to an old friend of Chester but is done so through the powerful medium that is music. Lyrically reflecting “Halfway Right” of Linkin Park’s One More Light, and in my mind “Halfway Right” is almost a sequel to this.

“Don’t Go too fast my friend, or you’ll lose control” from What’s In The Eye

“All you said to do was slow down” from Halfway Right.

Its as thought Bennington was speaking to himself and although that may not be the case I cannot fathom how beautiful it is to see it in that way.

However this song may fall short when listening to the album in whole, through no fault of its own, as incredible and heavy it is, it’s just a little too similar to Sickness. However both are brilliant songs.

The Syndrome

Are you happy? A question posed magnificently by Bennington in this song.

Starting off with a beautiful synth sound and minimalistic percussion, this song is truly a journey into a troubled mind, switching between this slow and melodic sound, and gritty guitars, harsh screaming vocals, and aggressive lyrics, end with “Are you Happy?” There’s not much to say about this song except its stunning. Next.

In Time

Its as if every track on this album is there to outdo the last one. In Time is similar to “The Syndrome” in a few ways, except Chester’s vocal prowess even then is shown so incredibly by the dynamic shifts in this song, the opening draws you in with his melodic and beautiful voice, plus the once again minimalistic but immaculate instrumental. Once again, lyrically seeming very much like a Linkin Park Predecessor. This song is impossible to dislike and I can not express just how incredible the opening vocals are, we’ve never really heard Chester sing like that, and now I wish we had, its amazing.

Just Like Heroin

Just like Heroin. Exactly. This song is addictive, its grungy sound reminds you of why Rock music as a whole dominated so much, the instrumental uses everything to its advantage, underlying guitar tracks alongside screaming vocals just to drive home that grungy, almost Nirvana-esque sound. The song itself is pretty repetitive, yes, but by no means is it boring. This is one hard rock song. My favourite thing about this however may just be the the screams toward the end. Chester Bennington’s scream is probably the most iconic of all, and here you can really feel its origins, its power and its depth, the screaming is higher than any I’ve heard before and its so coo to hear it. And the way it ends with a fading instrumental and then “Just excuses” is a brilliant touch.

B12

Why is it called B12? Not a clue. Am I going to look it up? Not right now. Why? I’m too busy enjoying how hard this song is. It is so energetic, so fuelled, so heavy and so passionate. Lyrically its deep and serious, its knowledgeable and confused. Vocally its aggressive, its angry. It wants answers, and while all of this is going on, I can’t help but head bang because this song is incredible. That’s all I need to say.

Soul Song

When this was released, I could not stop listening to it. Its beautifully written, beautifully composed, and as ever Chester Performance blows my mind, However, as great as it is, ‘Soul Song’ also falls victim to occasionally seeming a little repetitive. It is the longest song on the album to be fair, and it is by no means a bad song, its beautiful, if a little repetitive at times. This song is also melodic and contains some of the best lyrical lines of all (“His Melody opens up the sun”, the imagery here is incredible). It is also a Brilliant introduction to Grey Daze and Chester Bennington if its your first time listening.

Morei Sky

If you thought “Soul Song” was beautiful wait until you hear this tearjerker, This song is simply phenomenal. Some of the most moving and relatable lyrics for anyone who has ever lived (which is everyone, in case you’re wondering). This song is immaculate, I mean that. When I first heard this it brought tears to my eyes and it still does and always will.

“If I had a second chance I’d make Amends, only to find myself losing, losing”

This line alone is one of the most beautiful things about this song, combined with the composition of the instrumental the haunting repetition of “losing” throughout, especially in the beginning. But the best thing by FAR about this song, the single most beautiful thing is that this where they got the Album name – Amends, Its such a beautiful homage to the song and Chester lyrically, that by taking “I’d make Amends” and naming the album that is such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do and I love it.

She Shines

This song is hard and heavy. And I love it. Its quite different and refreshing which is good, there’s an amazing mix of low gritty heavy guitars, higher clean guitars, electronic elements, a simple drum beat and Bennington’s soaring and immaculate as ever vocals. The dynamic shift about halfway through slows the pace and allows the lyrics to really hit, alongside a beautiful keyboard part, before bringing back all the elements to top the song off brilliantly. Once again lyrically repetitive but it hits with this song, and they were young, so who can blame them? For people who had little experience at the time they did brilliantly.

Shouting Out

This song is my favourite on the album. This song is the most beautiful on the album. This song brings it all together and finished an amazing album with such grace. This song will get stuck in your head and that is not a bad thing. The soft melodic vocals the open it, “la de dum” instantly tells you that this… this is beauty in a song. I can not express my love for this song in words. This is some of Bennington’s work, up there with Linkin Park songs like ‘One More Light’, ‘Pushing Me Away’, ‘Final Masquerade” and other tear inducing masterpieces. The Slow and melodic instrumental, alongside some of Chester’s best vocals, top notch Lyrical writing, well placed drums, an amazing backup vocalist, and someone who is very good at whistling… yes whistling. I love this song, and it is a legendary send off to one of the most Legendary vocalists to have ever walked this Earth. Thank you Chester, Thank you Grey Daze.

Amends is out now, and I highly recommend it for fans of Linkin Park, Dead By Sunrise, fans of Rock music, fans of amazing vocal and instrumental performances.

As a side note – The Hardback, book style CD case is beautifully designed in a simplistic and elegant way.

Overview

9.5/10. Why? Because I want more, but it ends at 11 songs. I know its not my place to say, but I wish there was just 1 or 2 more songs in the middle of this album from the Grey Daze Catalogue. Either way, this is a beautiful album. Thank you Grey Daze, this is an honour to fans of Chester.

R.I.P CB ❤

Check it out here:

 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhSUcWvmy4XYNeb-zGqHtVliJ-GWEaf6M

 https://open.spotify.com/album/67HpukNc3CzJhqYneGVim6?autoplay=true