The Connection

Before making Papa Roach’s seventh album, frontman Jacoby Shaddix’s mental health was crumbling. He came to write new songs feeling hollowed out, devoid of inspiration, too preoccupied by his own pain to muster creative gold. Then, it became obvious that from within the hell inside his head, he had a place to draw from.At points, 'The Connection' is an act of ruthless yet therapeutic self-examination. There are moments where he opens the floodgates on his darkest thoughts – see the agonizingly candid “Before I Die”. There are moments he pleads for his life to turn around, such as the chugging “Where Did The Angels Go?”, and, every so often, light pools through the cracks. Take the triumphant nu metal rager “Still Swingin’”, a victorious battle cry representing not just the reclamation of Shaddix’s fighting spirit, but Papa Roach’s burning resolve to withstand the changing tides of the music industry as they entered their second decade as a band.As the band explained at the time of the album’s release in 2012, 'The Connection' was more than just a title, but a mission statement. It reaffirmed the band’s commitment to their fans, who may have found as much solace in hearing Shaddix’s words as he did in writing them. In addition, it held a more personal significance. Sonically, it reflected the Vacaville rockers building bridges between their past and their present, resurrecting their fierce nu metal elements that they made their name with while amalgamating them with their more recent experimentations with electronics and hard rock. In this sense, the processes of evolution and a reacquisition with themselves were tightly intertwined.Thirteen years on, the time for reconnection has arrived. Earache Records' 'The Connection’ reissue is a means for seasoned Papa Roach fans to explore the highs of their later back catalogue all over again, and for a new generation of fans to experience it for the first time. In addition, it also contains two bonus tracks, “What’s Left Of Me” and “9th Life”, that have never been pressed to vinyl before. It may have chronicled one of the darkest times of Shaddix’s life, but it also stands as a testament to how much they have survived.The reissue arrives amid what’s shaping up to be a sterling year for Papa Roach. It follows the Earache reissues of 2010’s 'Time For Annihilation', 2015's 'F.E.A.R.' and 2017’s Crooked Teeth, as well as the rapturously received Rise Of The Roach arena tour earlier this year.