Billy Talent

Before signing any contract, Billy Talent had amassed a strong following around the Toronto, ON area with their At The Drive-In-tinged rock and lively performances. Warner obviously saw their potential and released the quartet's self-titled album. "Try Honesty" began to climb the charts and new fans quickly came. The album was enjoyable but deep down pre-fame fans were hoping for a breakthrough on the follow-up. Well, II faltered and now the third part of this trilogy continues that trend. Any remnant of their ATDI influence has died, replaced with weak melodies that will make you think, "I've heard that before" ("Rusted From The Rain," "Pocketful of Dreams"). "The Dead Can't Testify" begins with a chunky guitar riff reminiscent of, well, every other Cancon rock band that tear up the charts, before Ben Kowalewicz's chanting enters. And halfway through the song a shrill, minstrel-like guitar twinkle hangs for a few seconds and repeats around the same phrase in the chorus. This typifies the amount of head-scratching moments throughout the album that make you wonder what they were (or weren't) thinking when they pieced III together. On the positive side, this is probably what most people expected, so the disappointed level should be low.