Editor Reviews:

Album Description:
UK version of their 2006 release features one bonus track: 'Built To Last'. Chicago’s Rise Against is anything but a single-minded musical outfit. An astounding fusion of unhinged power, ear-grasping melodies, stimulating lyrics and the ability to reach audiences in both underground and mainstream circles, they have redefined the rules. The Sufferer & The Witness, their fourth album, continues to build upon the solid punk foundation - it is a striking collection, with Rise Against using elements from spoken word, expanded balladry, and simply plodding forward with a faster, harder, louder ethic. Polydor.

Amazon.com:
Rise Against returns with a rollicking wallop of an album that further establishes the Chicago-based outfit as one of the great bright hopes for the future of alienation rock. Cut from the same savvy cloth as Bad Religion and Black Flag, Rise Against rocks hard during the martial opus opener, "Chamber The Cartridge," the melodic "Injection," which asks us to imagine that Iron Maiden came from sunny California and not some dreary part of London, and "Ready To Fall," which may be one of the greatest anthems of adolescent estrangement since The Who's "Baba O'Riley." The band also isn't afraid of a good hook and scintillating melody ("Under The Knife"), exploring complex emotions ("Roadside"), or unleashing a bit of old-school breakneck fury sans apology ("Brick"). All of these things demonstrate that Rise Against is drawing from a broader palette than many of its counterparts, one of the reasons it will (indeed, already has) rise above the masses of sound-alike acts vying for the attention of the MySpace generation.-Jedd Beaudoin

Rating : - Punk Revolution!

I had no idea that I liked punk!

Now that I know this, I'm quite pleased, and I've got Rise Against to thank for that. So thanks, Rise Against, finding you guys is almost as good as when I found Stage a year ago; or learning to make French Toast; or hiring a maid service to clean my apartment (they're much cheaper than you think, and they clean WAY better than I could ever hope to).

Like most people, I found them through the radio. Since it's a rare thing for me to actually listen to the radio, it was shear luck that I caught "Prayer of the Refugee" when I did, and all I could remember from the song were the lyrics "We are the angry and desperate...". Thankfully, Texas invented the internet a few years back, so all I had to do was Google it, up came "The Sufferer and the Witness", and I haven't looked back since.

Prior to this, the only punk I've really listened to were the Ramones, so I made the faulty assumption that all punk was disjointed and over simplified. Not so with Rise Against, folks. They're loud, rhythmic, and damn awesome!

The album is best listened to as a whole. Instead of being a collection of songs, it's more like an extended story with varying measures of timbre. It flows similar to how '90s indie hip-hop albums did; every proceeding track complements the preceding track, and one song will occasionally flow right into the next one with out skipping a beat.

There isn't a single miss on here, and the album's organization is top notch. My favorite track is still probably "Prayer of the Refugee", but I'm starting to lean more toward "Survive". I love the way it slowly builds, and then just explodes all over the place!

The Bottom Line: Not everyone's cup of tea, but if you enjoy any of the singles, I guarantee you'll love the album!