o What: Breaking Benjamin, in concert. The band, as well as Shinedown and Sick Puppies, will open for Nickelback.
o When: 6:15 p.m. May 8.
o Where: Rose Garden Arena, 1 Center Court, Portland.
o Cost: $45-$70 through the Rose Quarter, 877-789-7673 or rosequarter.com.
o Information: http://rosequarter.com/.
When Breaking Benjamin finished its last round of touring in 2007, the band went on hiatus and pretty much fell off of the radar until early in 2009, when word came that the band would be releasing a new CD, “Dear Agony.” The lack of news from the band created plenty of speculation about its future.
In the two-year period that preceded “Dear Agony,” the rumor mill began to swirl with talk that the group was breaking up or at least making membership changes.
o What: Breaking Benjamin, in concert. The band, as well as Shinedown and Sick Puppies, will open for Nickelback.
o When: 6:15 p.m. May 8.
o Where: Rose Garden Arena, 1 Center Court, Portland.
o Cost: $45-$70 through the Rose Quarter, 877-789-7673 or rosequarter.com.
o Information: http://rosequarter.com/.
Now that the band is back, it’s only natural to want to know what went on with Breaking Benjamin in the time out of the public eye.
But guitarist Aaron Fink wasn’t about to go into tell-all mode during a recent phone interview.
“You’re not going to get me to say too much,” Fink said. “Obviously, yeah, when you’re part of something, you hear all of the rumors, more so than anyone else does.”
He then paused and provided a brief explanation about the aftermath of the “Phobia” tour.
“The band made three records back to back to back, made a record, toured on it, made a record, toured on it. So we took a break,” Fink said. “(Vocalist) Ben (Burnley) also took a long time with writing these songs (for “Dear Agony”). He really homed in on what he wanted on this record and took his time writing it. I don’t know, you’re not going to get me to say much more than that.”
In other words, all that really matters from Fink’s perspective is Breaking Benjamin is back, and with its lineup of Burnley, Fink, bassist Mark James and drummer Chad Szeliga intact.
It’s only been since Breaking Benjamin started touring this year that Fink has begun to spend much time around Burnley and his other bandmates.
Apparently, the band wasn’t together all that much during the recording of “Dear Agony” — something that is fairly common in a day and age when many producers prefer to record individual instruments and parts separately and then assemble them into finished tracks.
And during the hiatus, Fink said the four members weren’t hanging out, either, which is understandable for a group that had seen plenty of each other over the course of three straight albums and touring cycles.
“You spend so much time on the road that you kind of need that space,” Fink said. “You spend 24 hours a day with folks, and everyone has families and stuff. So when we’re off the road, even though we all kind of live in the same city, we all kind of do our own thing.”
Indeed, prior to finishing touring behind “Phobia,” it had been a busy — but quite successful — half-dozen years for Breaking Benjamin. That span included three CDs, two of which — 2004’s “We Are Not Alone” and “Phobia” — topped 1 million copies sold and four mainstream rock hits, “So Cold,” “Sooner Or Later,” “Breath” and “The Diary of Jane.”
And it seems Breaking Benjamin has struck a successful chord once again with “Dear Agony.” The song’s lead single, “I Will Not Bow,” went No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s rock songs chart and a second single, “Give Me a Sign,” has just cracked the top 10 on that chart.
“I Will Not Bow” is pretty much a prototype Breaking Benjamin rocker, with its edgy guitar riffs leavened by a big and melodic chorus that gives the song an easy-to-remember vocal hook. The rest of “Dear Agony” alternates between moody rockers of a similar ilk (“Crawl” and “Hopeless”) and an occasional hard-hitting ballad (“Give Me a Sign” and the title song).
Fink said if “Dear Agony” sounds similar to other Breaking Benjamin albums, it’s not an accident.
“I’d like to think at least that there’s a Breaking Benjamin sound, and we kind of stick to the blueprint,” he said.
With the success of “I Will Not Bow” and “Give Me a Sign” getting “Dear Agony” off to a strong start, the band plans to showcase a fair share of new songs in its live set.
“It (the set list) does include a bunch of new songs,” Fink said. “It’s good for the guys in the band to play new stuff. You kind of get a little bit bored with playing the same stuff over and over again. So yeah, kids get to see the new songs being done live.”
