For those of you who were able to see Alkaline Trio live you know this band is one of the better live bands out there and they are a great act with a lot of energy. They sound much more raw and passionate on stage. Knowing they are able to do this one would hope they can reflect that on their albums, but as of late Alkaline Trio hasn’t been able to reproduce that feeling or sound.
“This Addiction” may do well on the radio, but the true fans of the band, who’ve been following the band around since the early 2000s will most likely be disappointed. Where “Agony & Irony” still had some songs with clever lyrics, “This Addiction” just feels bland. By no means is it a bad album, it’s just average and that disappoints me as I’ve always seen Alkaline Trio as one of the more talented and promising acts in the punk/rock-punk/pop genre. We can only hope the band goes back to a more raw and basic sound and puts more focus on the songwriting again. It gives them the edge and more of a rock & roll character in which this band can be much more creative musically, lyrically and in their performance.