This is, hands down, the best album of 2007....

 

When the band was recording and finishing up Conviction, singer wiL Francis warned fans that the album was different, but it was "still Aiden." And that's exactly what it is -- it's an evolved and refined Aiden, and the album is truly an amazing effort.

 

The piano-based song that opens the album, "The Opening Departure," with wiL repeating, "someday will be our day," shoots a ray of hope that runs through the album's honest, sad, and extremely real lyrics. You can feel the emotion poured into these songs, much like earlier Aiden albums. Gone is the bratty punk rock delivery and a lot of the screaming, but it's not missed because wiL can sing really well -- and these songs highlight his voice in a way a lot of their earlier songs didn't. The promise of his singing delivered by Rain in Hell's "Silent Eyes" comes to full fruition on this album.

 

Conviction is a textured, layered album that can't help but resonate on an emotional level. And there is not a bad song on the album -- something rare in the days of "two to three single" albums. Then again, the same could be said of the band's first two albums and their EP, as well -- they've never actually written a bad song.

 

"Teenage Queen" stands out as a particularly catchy gem, though "Bliss" and "The Sky Is Falling," both sadder songs, really are the album's strongest songs. At the beginning of the year, when this album was just mumblings about the band heading into the studio, I said, "that's going to be the best album of the year." I was correct. I also said, "Aiden is going to be huge by the end of the year." And while that remains to be seen, I strongly suggest anyone who wants to see them in a smaller venue get tickets to the upcoming tour immediately, because they're not going to be doing much in the way of small shows after this album breaks and the "One Love" video makes it to Fuse.

 

To sum: if you don't like this album, you don't like music.

 

On a scale of 1-5 virtual metal fingers, this album gets the full honors:

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