Siren Song of the Counter Culture

Background

After the release of Rise Against's 2003 album Revolutions per Minute, the band embarked on numerous tours throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. While on tour, the band was approached by over a dozen record labels, and signed a recording contract with Dreamworks Records in December. At the time, Rise Against was under contract with the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords, and the general consensus among Fat Wreck Chords musicians was that major record labels were a detriment to a band's musical integrity. Rise Against held the same belief, but eventually came to the conclusion that, unlike other record labels, DreamWorks supported the band's social and political charged lyrics. According to lead vocalist Tim McIlrath: "Their faith in what we do and the fact that they cared about stuff we cared about was an eye-opener." Although some fans accused the band of selling out, McIlrath stated that signing with a major record label was to expose a greater audience to their message.

Writing and production

Siren Song of the Counter Culture was recorded in 2004 at Plumper Mountain Sound in Gibsons, British Columbia and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver with producer Garth Richardson.

Critical reception and chart performance

Siren Song of the Counter Culture received mostly positive reviews from critics. Ultimate Guitar Archive lauded almost every aspect of the album, with particular praise for the use of multiple guitar layers, its "poetically angry lyrics", and McIlrath's vocals. However, the review also mentioned that Rise Against fans may be disappointed with the band's move towards a more accessible sound. Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic described Siren Song of the Counter Culture as an "impressively energetic and surprisingly accessible package of punk, hardcore and rock all rolled into one", but stated that its greatest weakness was the lack of individually memorable songs. Alex Parker of Contactmusic.com complimented the lyrics for their relevancy. Johnny Loftus of AllMusic noted that the album occasionally suffers from overproduction and "obvious mixing tweaks", while Justin Donnelly of Blistering opined that the commercialized aspects of the songs lessened their potency and aggression. In a heavily critical review, Marc Hogan of Pitchfork Media jokingly described Siren Song of the Counter Culture to political activist Ralph Nader, as Hogan felt the album's "empty political sloganeering and crybaby bullshit" helped him understand why Nader was running for the 2004 United States presidential election.

McIlrath remarked that for the first six months of its release, Siren Song of the Counter Culture received almost no fanfare, and radio stations did not play their songs. Despite this, it became the first Rise Against album to reach the Billboard 200, where it peaked at 136. It also peaked at number one on the Top Heatseekers chart.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tim McIlrath; all music composed by Tim McIlrath, Joe Principe, Brandon Barnes and Chris Chasse, unless otherwised noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Siren Song of the Counter Culture, unless otherwise noted.