Pulse Ultra - Headspace

I'm looking for some innovation, and I cannot seem to find it. Can Pulse Ultra help me? Nope. One of the biggest factors when reviewing/listening to bands that have a "Now On Tour with Ozzfest!" sticker on their CD is weighing this new, up-and-coming, probably Jack-picked band against the heavyweights of the metal world, like Ozzy himself, Corrosion of Conformity, Tool, AC/DC, et. al. This aforementioned band, in this case Pulse Ultra, has three options: They can (a) reivent the genre and set new precedents (think Kyuss), (b) follow the genre with their own little special twist (a la Incubus), or (c) get the metal paint-by-powerchords kit for Christmas and follow it by the letter, thereby making a decent album with decent licks and whatnot, yet doing nothing truly relative. Sadly, Pulse Ultra chose option "c", playing it safe and therefore extinguishing yet another spark of hope I once held for the state of rock n' roll's grittyist cousin. The lyrics are trite, hanging on the more sesquipedillian nature of verbosity (See, now I sound like Pulse Ultra- Was it fun for you?) with the usual themes of paranoia (to the world, to the establishment, yawn) with profuse usage of words like "empty" and "conform". There's some breaking of the chains that bind (ho-hum), and, of course, there's always the requisite call out to that one female whom was once the hub of narrator's world, yet now narrator believes said female is a selfish, manipulative bitch. (Thank Fred Durst for this lovely rawk breakthrough.) Sure, songs like "Big Brother" and "Build Your Cages" highlight the Staind-ish harmonies of Pulse Ultra, as well as the band's cool knack for nice musical landscapes and fairly earnest delivery. But still, I cannot quit hearing the lyrics of Lauryn Hill ringing: "Everything you drop is so tired/ Music is supposed to inspire/ How come we ain't gettin' no higher?" This, like she says, applies to music, and this album, though by definition music, does no homage to inspiration or higher thought, and perhaps can hope to aspire to a great live show or background music for Hot Topic, but otherwise, it's just another album, and this frankly makes me sad. [www.pulseultra.com]