Alter Bridge: Ranking All 5 Studio Albums
3. Fortress
Fortress, the fourth Alter Bridge album (FOURtress, get it?) was a monumentally strong display of pure talent. The opening passage of Cry of Achilles reminded everyone why they love the band; an intricate finger-picked piece which is actually played by Myles rather than Mark, showing not only the skill of Myles Kennedy, but leading into one of the best songs on the album.
Another highlight is Waters Rising. Tremonti had already proved himself one of the world's best guitarists, and a fantastic backing singer, but no one expected him to own this song like he did. These are the sorts of unexpectedly different endeavours that make Fortress and Alter Bridge stand out.
Every album before Fortress had that one song that was more emotional than the rest, but this was just a step above the others. So far we'd had In Loving Memory, Watch Over You and Wonderful Life, but Fortress adds All Ends Well to that list; a song about not giving up and believing in yourself, no matter what. Another beautiful composition to add to the collection.
It is a struggle to fault this album, and the margin between putting it second or third was miniscule. On another day, this could be swapped to number two.