When bands that have sold over 10 million records worldwide need inspiration they find it in different places. For Papa Roach the inspiration came from a famed mansion with a story that rivals that of a Hollywood movie. The Paramour mansion was once owned by oil heiress Daisy Canfield until her untimely death in 1933 when her car veered off a Mulholland Drive Cliff. Since her demise the mansion has served as a school for girls and a convent until it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1987. Since the earthquake the mansion has been renovated and has served as a musical hotbed. Artists like H.I.M. and Gwen Stefani have recorded at the mansion and the popular reality show Rock Star has filmed there. In between all this activity the mansion served as the setting for Papa Roach’s new album, ‘The Paramour Sessions’.

With the mindset of recording the most bad-ass record that they could write, Papa Roach entered the mansion for a recording session that would be memorable. The result of this session is an unintentional concept album that reflects the bands state of mind during recording as well as the energy of the mansion. Musically the band has not been this tight since their major label debut ‘Infest’. Songs like “Alive (N' Out Of Control)” and “Crash” display pure energy combine with passion. The guitars are as heavy as they have ever been. The drumming is powerful and is matched well by tight basslines.

A few more heavy songs appear on the record but for the most part the biggest selling point for ‘The Paramour Sessions’ is the more emotional songs. Call them melancholy or call them ballads, the emotional songs have started to become a staple for Papa Roach. The band builds on the success of “Scars” from their previous album ‘Getting Away With Murder” with songs like “Forever”, “Time Is Running Out” and “What Do You Do?”. The songs sound a bit more mature and a little less cheesy than “Scars”. I don’t know if you can attribute this to the mansion or to musical growth but it is nice to see the band think of the future and start to head in a direction that is a bit more focused.

Speaking of focus, the biggest downfall of the record is the lyrics. This isn’t anything new for Papa Roach, they have always been a great band but their lyrics have always been as deep as a foot of water. Primary song writer Jacoby Shaddix can write good lyrics but they always seem to be too literal and never leave much to the imagination. His greatest lyrics have always come on songs with pure energy or pure passion but everything in between seems a bit unfocused. Hopefully with the band progressing musically on this record the lyrics are soon to follow, maybe they will be there by the next record. Until then we can only wait, but for now this is a record that should hit your CD player for a listen or ten.