Saliva

Wow, we're already on a fifth Saliva album with Cinco Diablo! Time flies, doesn't it? The Tennessee band, who shot to fame and earned a Gold-selling album during the early '00 rise of rap-tinged, testosterone-fueled mook metal scene, is like a rock roach that can't and won't be killed. "Your Disease" and "Click Click Boom" were anthems from the band's debut, Every Six Seconds, and they sparked a generation of tough guys to throw their hands in the air and get their mosh on in a relatively safe environment. The songs, which were catchier than germs on a packed subway car in New York City, were also popular for pole dancers who preferred to gyrate to rock tunes. And there you have it: the birth of Saliva's career. The band smartly devised a formula for success where their music was able to appeal to both men and women with a hankering for the rawk.

That said, the band found its groove and continued to churn out beefy, radio-friendly rock over the course of four successive albums. Saliva hasn't changed much, nor has the band shed any of the urban elements of their sound on Cinco Diablo, especially with jumpy album opener "Family Reunion." Perhaps that's why the band has outlasted so many of its peers that were making an earnest go of it during rap-metal's genesis and heyday. Frontman Josey Scott still pounds his chest with cocksure braggadocio on "Best of Me" and "Hunt You Down," and he's backed by competent rock riffing that will speak to those who find heavy metal too abrasive yet still yearn for music with a real punch. "Southern Girls" celebrates the ladies that hail from the band's native region. It's also another way that the band will keep and attract a broad cross-section of fans, especially the females who will appreciate this ode to their existence.

Ultimately, Cinco Diablo is a fun record that is raw but never offensive. While past Saliva fans may have graduated to harder or heavier music, Cinco Diablo combines memorable melodic firepower with an attitude and lyrical approach that speaks to rock fans in the flyover states.

— Amy Sciarretto
12.30.08

On "My Own Worst Enemy" -- the second track of Cinco Diablo, their fifth album for Island, sixth if you count their 1997 independent release -- Saliva sing the immortal words "you did this to me," a phrase that succinctly sums up their world-view ever since their debut in 1997, but unlike its predecessor, Blood Stained Love Story, Cinco Diablo at least has the impression of forward motion. To be sure, Saliva haven't ditched the churning heavy murky post-grunge that has been their calling card since the beginning, but they dabble in a little bit of awkward rap-rock on the opening "Family Reunion," adopt a little bit of Coldplay's cinematic sweep on the closing "So Long," and -- most surprisingly of all -- come up with a really effective Skynyrd-meets-ZZ Top boogie on "Southern Girls," alas, not a Cheap Trick cover but an inversion of Crüe's "Girls Girls Girls" that's the loosest Saliva has ever been on record, and arguably the best. Certainly, having that little dose of redneck rock is a better way for the bandmembers to age than the time they spend with vindictive post-grunge, the kind that clots the flow of the first half of the album, suggesting that the band is older but none the wiser. But the rest of Cinco Diablo indicates that despite that silly title, the group is starting to figure out how to enter middle age with a modicum of grace. Now if only they could shed their old teenage Hot Topic clothes and chains, they'd be onto something. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide