1. Over and Over:
A nice opener. A U2-style guitar drives the track, blasting drums come and go to add some variety to the track and the blaring chorus (complete with guitars and synths) creates a head-bobbing modern Power Pop/Rock track. Standard lyrical content by Rzeznik; nothing amazing, but some introspective lines sprinkled throughout.
7/10
2. Souls In The Machine:
Imagine the Goo Goo Dolls fusing with Phillip Phillips and contemporary Country and you have a good idea what to expect. Slamming drums and the acoustic guitar create a pleasing instrumental that becomes a jamming instrumental with an uptempo kick about halfway through, joined by electric guitars. John's lyrics about feeling lost in the dark and oppressed help elevate this track to one of the best on the album.
7/10
3. Flood
Instrumentally, this track has everything: Drum machines, real drums, piano, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, synths, and harmonizing background vocals. That may sound like a mess, but everything works very well and the song goes from dark to bright, slow to fast, quiet to bombastic a few times throughout its duration. Both John Rzeznik and Sydney Sierota hit all their notes beautifully, sound great together, and sing the most obtuse and interesting lyrics on the album.
8/10
4. The Pin:
A gravely voice and stripped acoustic guitar begin the track humbly enough, but much like "Over and Over," the song builds to a booming chorus of clashing drums, jamming guitars, and subtle synths (subtle when compared to "Over and Over," at least). The bridge and ending chorus introduce some amazing arena/anthem Rock guitars to layer the instrumental further; exploding like the metaphorical grenade mentioned in the song.
8/10
5. Boxes:
An absolute lyrical and guitar-oriented gem. The somber, distorted electric guitar is a very unique sound for the band. Lyrically, John Rzeznik goes as deep, and as personal, as any Goo Goo Dolls song every recorded. Rzeznik longs for a normal life, and shows hope that he's starting to acquire it, despite his insecurities. Instrumentally, while the song is driven by a cool, somber guitar riff, it's built on by abstract and obtuse sound effects; not synths, mind you, but rather haunting swirls. A very basic rock song lifted up by personal lyrics and creative production.
8/10
6. Free of Me:
Those expecting a Robby song in the vein of something from "A Boy Name Goo," will be let down here. This track is definitely a nice mix of electric guitars and bass, but there is a fair share of acoustic guitar and the slower tempo is not traditional Robby. Still, Robby's quality keeps this song on the rocking end of the album. It's also nice to see Robby pull of a very "sing-along" type of song.
6/10
7. Reverse:
This is as Pop as the band could possibly be. The instrumental is driven by piano and modern Pop-like sounds and synths; especially in the hook. Lyrically, Rzeznik goes from an unique line to a cliche one and back pretty much the entire song. There are bright spots like the rocking guitars in the bridge and ending hook, but there was more that could have been done with bringing the guitars to the forefront.
5/10
8. Lucky One:
The song's verses are defined by a whistling sound effect. You will also find plenty of synths and plenty of "Oohs" and "Waoohs." Much like "Reverse," this is as Pop as the band can get. I don't believe it's hyperbole to say Selena Gomez or Taylor Swift could have written this song. A great disappointment.
1/10
9. So Alive:
Coming off of "Lucky One," this first single off of "Boxes" is more along the lines of what we expect from a John Rzeznik in his 50s. Lyrics addressing his sobriety bring this song up a notch, and while the chorus rocks a bit, the piano-laced verses certainly make this one of the softer songs on the album; though the song isn't altogether unappealing.
5/10
10. Prayer In My Pocket:
Even more Pop than Robby's other song "Free of Me." More synths, more piano, and some of the weakest lyrics Robby has ever written. However, the style change for Robby at least makes this an unique track for him and it has some amazing bass and a nice sing-song ending that saves it from being a complete disaster.
3/10
11. Long Way Home:
This song is a strange one. It definitely has some type of "radio-friendly pop" feel, especially with the abundance of drum machine at the beginning and production room "bloops" and "bleeps." However, there is also a haunting quality to the piano, Rzeznik's vocals, and the lyrical content. The song is also helped past the intro by the inclusion of real drums, replacing the drum machine in the intro. The lack of guitars really damages this one, as a nice electric guitar riff in the verses and slamming into the chorus' could have made all of the difference.
6/10
OVERALL: 6.5/10
A disappointing album, but not a complete trainwreck. I'm greatly let down by the latter half of the record. Listening to the album straight through, every song was pretty good-to-great from track one through six, but after "Free of Me" the record just falls off and never recovers. Still, there are some highlights and even the weaker songs on the album have nuggets of brilliance in them.
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