"ABIII" is the appropriately titled 3rd album by American hard rockers Alter Bridge. The album was released in 2010 following their highly successful debut album "One Day remains" which was followed by "Blackbird". The latter features one of my favourite songs of all time which was called "Blackbird" too. But how would "ABIII" stack up against its predecessors which they set the bar so high on. Would they try and create something as epic as "Blackbird"?
Well they gave it a damn good shot that is for certain. In terms of song distribution in this album I like to see it as a club sandwich. Where you have got bread on top being the first 4 songs. Then you have the next 2 songs after which are some filling. Then another song which is another piece of bread. Then you have another 5 songs which comprises of some more filling. Then the last 2 songs are another piece of bread. All combine to give you 14 tracks or as I like to view it a club sandwich. But why have I used this analogy........ Well the bread is absolutely awesome. Just think of the best bread you have ever tasted then listen to these tracks and you can see where I'm coming from. Then you have the filling. These tracks aren't quite so good. But still fit well on the album and lets face it you still need filling regardless how good the bread is and I think that the same could be said for this album. Its all the pieces combined which make this special.
So lets look into the first 4 songs on the album. They open up with "Slip to the void". In my opinion the best track one on any Alter Bridge album to date. Myles haunting vocals creep in followed by thundering guitars. This song would only fit in on the track one slot in an album. They would need to change the song entirely for it to fit anywhere else. Then you follow that with "Isolation" which was the first single they took from that album at the time. A real rocker and in covid times now a more relatable song than ever given all the lockdowns all over the world. Then you have "Ghost of days gone by" and "All hope is gone" sitting at tracks 3 and 4. Such strong songs that they still get airings on their tours.
This is followed by the bit of filling in "Still Remains" and "Make it right". Then you have probably the best power ballad they have done in "Wonderful Life". I still think of this as a cover even though its an Alter Bridge song. It's not their typical song but its so powerful and I wonder why more bands don't cover it as its that good. Again this song still gets its place onto set lists often done by Myles acoustically.
Bit of a bigger filling after "Wonderful Life" with 5 tracks which are still pretty good and hold the album together well but not quite as big as the tracks stated before. But what about the ending to the album? Well I do wonder if there was arguments or should I say disagreements on what song to end the album on. Because tracks 13 and 14 feel like they are in competition with each other on which is the better closer. In the end they have gone for "Words Darker than their wings" over "Life must go on". I think on any other Alter Bridge album "Life must go on" would be the closer without question, maybe with the exception of "The end is here" on "One day remains". The lyrics and the pace of the song are such a poignant way to end an album. But then they go and pull "Words darker than their wings" out of the bag and really they have made one of my top 5 Alter Bridge songs ever. This is the first time Myles and Mark share vocals on a track. Myles has a moment where he hits a high note in the climax to song, and the album. In the Royal Albert Hall DVD he admitted not to playing this song live because of that high note. But anyone who has watched that DVD will know he absolutely nailed it.
Overall "ABIII" is a wonderful album with such a great structure. Full of full on rock, some powerful ballads and a fitting end. I think this album really cemented their status as rock greats and showed they were here to stay. At this point in their career they already had enough for a greatest hits album and not many bands can truly say that after 3 albums.
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