It seems as if everything the American nu-metal band Staind touches turns into gold (or better: platinum). The debut album and its successor alonemillions of copies were sold in America and the band has long since established itself in Europe. Apparently the depressive, depressed tone of vocalist Aaron Lewis touches a sensitive chord with the nu-metal generation, because musically it hasn't been
… that special since the successful debut. Usually the band sticks to mid-tempo guitar rock with a metal edge that does not excel in power or dynamics and that in terms of song material - with the exception of the indeed reasonably strong singles - is not a bit more original than other nu-metal bands. On 14 Shades Of Gray, Staind has maintained its success formula and recorded fourteen fairly solid songs, of which the single Price To Play is probably the best on the record. Considering the sales figures of their previous two records, you don't have to be a fortuneteller to predict that this Shades Of Gray will storm the album charts again. (RWK)more
