Review by MartinDavey87 for Lostprophets - The Fake Sound of Progress (2000)

It’s the summer of 2001 and nu metal is at its absolute peak. Thanks to Kerrang TV, which had debuted in the UK a few months prior, there was an absolute abundance of bands soaking up the airwaves with hit after hit. Most of these bands wouldn’t be around for more than another year or two, but every now and then a group would come out with a bit more hype around it than others, which would see them survive a bit longer than most.

Similarly, out of nowhere, came ‘Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja’, by Welsh rockers Lostprophets.

With its punchy yet melodic guitar riffs, powerful vocals and an apparent knack for a catchy hook, this band immediately had their foot in the door and garnered a strong fanbase. Follow-up single ‘The Fake Sound of Progress’ displayed a similar level of songwriting abilities, and it wasn’t long before Lostprophets (and that’s “lostprophets”… one word only), were on the rise above the flailing nu metal genre.

Of course, then their album came out, and it became a bit more obvious that, while the band certainly had a lot of talent and potential, we’d already heard the best two songs that they’d written.

The rest of ‘The Fake Sound of Progress’ is a bit hit-or-miss. There are some good songs on here that make the album worth a listen, in particular ‘’Five is a Four Letter Word’ (lame song title, though), ‘For Sure’, ‘Awkward’, and especially ‘A Thousand Apologies’, but there’s also loads of filler material that date this album squarely in 2001 where it belongs amidst the countless other bands that never made it past 2003.

In short, ‘The Fake Sound…’ is a typical nu metal album of its time. Some would argue its punk, hardcore and emo sensibilities, but ultimately I hear a 2001 nu metal album. There are some good songs that make it worth a listen, but it’s not an album I intend to come back to very often.