Staind's 'Illusion' CD dispels false notion that studio work must follow straight line

Staind's soon-to-be-released "The Illusion of Progress" album already has the music press buzzing over reports that it will feature some fresh wrinkles in the group's edgy hard-rock sound.

Singer Aaron Lewis was quoted in a recent MTV.com article as saying "The Illusion of Progress" will surprise the band's fans. There have been mentions that the album includes several songs with pedal steel guitar and another track with a gospel-styled chorus.

But in an early July phone interview, Lewis said the album and any musical shifts it might include really just represent standard operating procedure for Staind.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do every time you go into the studio?" he asked.

"I thought that is what you're supposed to do. My theory has been proven wrong by a lot of bands that seem to go into the studio and write the same record over and over and over again. But that's something that we've always tried to steer away from, is writing the same record over and over again. I always felt like you were supposed to grow from record to record and try to take a step on every record. So that's all we've ever really tried to do."

If the idea of exploring fresh musical territory was planned all along, what surprised the group, according to Lewis, was the type of music that emerged during the writing process.

"We went into it thinking we were going to write the heaviest record ever, for us anyway. And we started writing songs, and that's not the (type of) songs that were coming out. The songs that were coming out were good songs, so we didn't want to throw them away just because they weren't the heaviest songs we'd ever written."

Advance copies of "The Illusion of Progress," which will arrive in stores Aug. 19, were not available when this phone interview took place.

But Lewis offered a few further hints about what to expect.

"There's more texture. There are guitar solos; there's tasty little stuff; there's a lot of old instruments and instruments that never got used on another Staind record ... There was a lot of focus and time spent on getting tones and making the songs better."

Those sort of hints — with the use of words like texture and vintage sounds — would certainly seem to suggest a CD that could redefine Staind.

And the band's musical image is something that has in certain ways proved problematic for Lewis and his bandmates, guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki

Formed in the mid-1990s in Springfield, Mass., Staind's agitated and aggressive sound initially prompted some to lump the band into the "nu metal" category. That label, Lewis said, never fit the group's sound or its musical intent.

"We've always tried to make sure we weren't pigeonholed into being one thing or another thing. That's one of the reasons that the whole nu-metal label that was always put on us always irritated me. Jesus, what have we got, three songs that would fall under the classification of nu metal, and then all the rest of them are straight-up rock."

The group's real rise to prominence came with songs far removed from metal. After Staind's million-selling major label debut album, "Dysfunction," had run its course, an acoustic version of the group's ballad, "Outside" was included on the "Family Values Tour '99" live CD. With Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst joining Lewis on vocals, this version of "Outside" became a runaway hit.

Then to preview its next CD, 2001's "Break The Cycle," Staind released the ballad "It's Been Awhile," and it, too, became a smash hit and helped propel "Break The Cycle" to a chart-topping debut on the "Billboard" magazine album chart and sales of more than five million copies before all was said and done.

The next two CDs, 2003's "14 Shades Of Grey" and "Chapter V" each debuted atop the album chart, and Lewis is clearly hoping "The Illusion of Progress" will repeat that feat.

"That would be huge, right?" he said. "There are only like four or five bands that have had three number ones in a row. If we can successfully pull this fourth one off, I think it's like us and U2 that are the only bands that have ever done that."

Staind is priming the pump for the release of "The Illusion of Progress" with the release of a lead single, "Believe," and an opening slot for 3 Doors Down on that group's summer tour.

"Believe," though, may be the only song off of "The Illusion of Progress" that fans hear on this tour, at least until after the CD arrives in stores.

"It's a support slot," Lewis noted.

"So with that being said, we tried to put a set together that's all of our hits. We play for an hour."

thanks cool stuff
pedal steel guitar!
can't wait for the headlining shows