Yet one failure out of three attempts isn't bad, right? That shouldn't signal the end of good music from a beloved band, right? Many major league baseball players will perform well, have a ridiculously bad season, and bounce right back. Well, that's nice to think about, but that doesn't guarantee a home run.

I had heard enough rumors to be prepared either way, good or bad. "It's like a mix of 'A Thought Crushed My Mind' and 'Silence,'" said those internet message board groupies. Of course, my private desire was to see a return to "Blindside," which I still find to be a fresh hardcore album and miles above "A Thought Crushed My Mind," which is what most consider to be their favorite.

The first thing I noticed about "About A Burning Fire" was the cover artwork. The artwork, taken by itself, isn't bad. What is bad is that from looking at it I could tell right away that it was an Asterik Studio album cover. All of their covers have that same trademark look to them (it's hard to explain, but if you look at five or so of their covers you'll pick up on what I mean). It's like seeing a Thomas Kinkade painting. Once you see one Kinkade painting you have no need to see any others. Yet he keeps painting more and more. Of course, many decent cds have Asterik Studio covers, so that isn't an automatic guarantee that the album will suck. I mean, it's better than plastering Blindside's picture on the front.

So did Blindside succeed in making an album that will make us old fans happy? The answer is about 50-50. The cd is a lot more varied than the monotony that "Silence" was, however, they don't rock out as hard as they could or should.

The album starts off some screaming and emo singing on "Eye Of The Storm," but the guitars and drums blast harder than anything off "Silence." The singing feels more Blindside-ish, and my quick guess would that the voice is less produced. It feels like they're completely in control and the producer lets them be in control. And that's the story with all of the average tracks. It feels more like Blindside and more passionate than "Silence."

The good moments make this album stand out from anything else in the competitive world of mainstream hard rock. The end of "Where The Sun Never Dies" contains an interesting instrumental bit with hints of dance and electronica (which the Rolling Stone reviewer had the audacity to call "disco"). Violin and cello appear on two tracks.