Given the seemingly inexorable rise in interest in vinyl records, are we seeing something of a turning away from streaming?
Of course not. But this deluxe edition of “Shock To The System” is interesting precisely because it is not coming out on streaming services. Instead, it collects together the pair of “Shock To The System” EPs from September 2024 and 2025 respectively.
I reviewed the first one here, and after saying that Daughtry were always heavier than I remembered them being, I concluded: “Shock? Not really, but ‘A Shock To The System’ sounds like a million dollars and makes you want Volume 2. It amounts to Chris Daughtry saying, ‘Hi, I’m back, and we’re rocking again.'”
So I won’t go over that again. I did not, however, review the seven songs that make up Part Two, so they are new to me. Except they are not. Not really. Because they are exactly what you expect from Daughtry. Maybe exactly what you want, too.
“The Seeds” adds a layer of grandiosity, “Divided” is the sort of arena rock they excel at, and this far into their career they make polished stuff like “The Day I Die” seem almost effortless.
And yes, as I said last time, they are heavier than I remembered too.
It is tempting, as I have before, to reckon that Daughtry are some kind of 21st-century take on Bon Jovi, but “The Bottom” is a masterclass in modern hard rock, while “Terrified” lurks in the shadows before exploding with emotion in a way that JBJ never quite does or did.
Yet, like Jon and the lads — or FFDP, or Alter Bridge — Daughtry sound enormous. Like arena rock is simply their natural habitat.
Even the ballad “Antidote”, listed here as the Full Mix, sounds big.
Indeed, the bonus tracks, as it were, get underway with a stripped-down version of the same song. If the first is full fat, then this is perhaps semi-skimmed.
The rest of it is made up of live versions of EP tracks. “The Dam” fair old bursts out of the speakers, and there is another version of “Antidote”, a song they clearly like a lot.
“The Day I Die”, another from Part One, is arguably the best of them. The emotion is palpable, and it all ends with a wonderfully epic take on “Artificial”.
That is interesting for two reasons. First, because “artificial” is an epithet you could, if you wanted, chuck at Daughtry. That is, until you actually listen to them.
And secondly, because the last five tracks are what used to be B-side fodder before streaming killed the physical single.
Which almost brings us back to where we started. This deluxe version feels like a throwback: a physical LP full of good songs. Perhaps that is all you really ever need.
RATING 8/10
