Honesty's a good career move ? if you're, say, a bank manager or Mother Theresa. As a rock star, not so much. After more than a decade in the business, Staind should know that. If your album's dull and bland, rather not call it '14 Shades Of Grey', as they did in 2003. And if your music hasn?t changed much since then, naming your latest 'The Illusion Of Progress' isn't perhaps the best way of hiding that stagnation.

"All these things we keep repeating / Like a wheel / That keeps turning," growls a pained Aaron Lewis on Creed-style power ballad 'Break Away'. He's singing about pain and heartache as usual, but could just as well be discussing the band.

Unsuccessfully trying to recreate the hits 'Outside' and 'It's Been A While' for the past six years, changing record companies hasn't broken the cycle. All that's (slightly) different is the approach. Lewis is still writing the same old song but now, thanks to producer Johnny K smoothing out the edges, it could pass unnoticed on an album by new label mates (and current kings of generic faceless rock) Nickelback.

Comparisons with Daughtry are equally inevitable but the overly earnest Staind lack the light touch and, more importantly, the irresistible choruses that made 'Feels Tonight', 'It's Not Over' and 'Home' go stratospheric. This dreary slog is what Seether would sound like if they had no ambition.

But who needs that if you've got honesty ? true to form, the album closes with 'Nothing Left To Say'.