On their last album, 2007’s Blood Stained Love Story, Memphis, Tennessee quintet Saliva were rocked by internal conflicts and personal challenges that shook them to the core. Even though the record was successful, spawning the hit “Ladies and Gentlemen,” Blood Stained was their most confessional and heavy-hearted outing to date. Since then, Saliva have learned to enjoy life again, trading in much of the introspection and confessional songcraft for southern-style, kick-ass rock n’ roll. Their fifth major label album, Cinco Diablo, is brash, brazen and euphoric. Instead of dwelling on misfortune, Saliva have dug in their steel-toed boots, ramped up their energy level and blasted away their problems.

“We wanted this album to be tailor made for what Saliva’s music is used for, like live events such as wrestling and pro football,” says frontman Josey Scott. “But we also wanted it to be diverse. [Motley Crue bassist] Nikki Sixx is one of my idols, and he once told me that a good album has peaks and valleys and its ups and downs. And I really feel that this record’s got a beginning, a middle and an end, and flows sort of like a good movie.”

Diversity is a signature of Cinco Diablo. “My Own Worst Enemy,” which features guest vocals from Shinedown’s Brent Smith, is a feast of dark, heavy guitars and southern rock groove, a fist-in-the air beat, echo chamber samples and powerful and gripping lyrics. “Best of Me” is driven by industrial-tinged instrumentation and whisper-to-a-scream vocals, and peaks with an infectious refrain, and “I’m Coming Back” starts with a marching, militant beat and the whispered question “are you ready?” before segueing into a blend of chunky guitars, loping bass and impacting hip-hop and rock vocals that reinforce the notion that no matter how screwed up things are in life, solace can always be found in well-crafted tunes.

In addition to containing an eclectic array of beats and rhythms, the new album also features some of Scott’s most diverse subject matter. “My Own Worst Enemy” is about trying to steer away from the road to self-destruction, “How Could You?” addresses an unfaithful girlfriend and “Southern Girls” is a wet-whistled thumbs up to women from the south that’s as catchy and universal as The Beach Boys’ “California Girls.” Then there’s the single “Family Reunion,” a heartfelt salute to the band’s fans that was the most added song on Billboard’s Active Rock radio chart. “It’s about how putting out a record is like a family reunion to us because our fans have always been so close to us and so supportive. These are diehard people who look to us and our music to help bring them through the storms of life, and we relish being in that position. We like being part of the solution instead of the problem. I would trade all the money and fame in the world just to hear somebody say that our music has helped make their life better.”

Even more emotional for Scott is “Judgment Day,” a song about the war in Iraq that features the chorus, “Bang bang bang/ Another body goes down in flames/ Another mother will cry his name/ Another coffin will hold his remains.”

“It’s dedicated to the troops and the job that they do that sort of got dumped in their laps,” Scott says. “It’s a tip of the hat to those women and men who have sacrificed so much in Afghanistan and Iraq and all over the world and it’s a prayer that they all get home safe.”

From the explosive guitar bursts and euphoric harmonies of “Family Reunion,” to the atmospheric electronic flourishes, sunlit piano lines and yearning vocals of the closing number “So Long,” Cinco Diablo covers the bases with the confidence and skill of a pennant winning ball club. Every track is delivered with power and passion and while each stands alone musically, they fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

“We look at every song on the record as a potential single and we give it that extra day in court and extra attention it deserves,” Scott says. “The byproduct of that is you don’t have any filler. All the songs are things that you really believe in and that were actually moments in your life that you want to remember and hopefully other people will be touched and moved by them as well.”

Saliva decided to name the album Cinco Diablo because “cinco” is Spanish for “five” and it’s their fifth major label album. The band started writing songs for the record in the back of the bus during the Blood Stained Love Story tour, and finished when they got home. By the time they entered the old A&M studio in Los Angeles in May with longtime producer Bob Marlette, Saliva had 25 songs ready to go.

“That’s a new thing for us because our lives are usually so busy we wind up doing everything at once,” Scott says. “This time we were busy, but we just made the time to get in the same room together and start hammering the songs out and I think they sound more well thought out as a result.”

Saliva completed tracking vocals and guitars for Cinco Diablo at Marlette’s Black Lava studio in Los Angeles, and, for the most part, the process was smooth and productive. Of course, there were rough patches. “Bob’s one of those characters that pushes you and pushes you until he makes you break something or cry,” Scott reveals. “You just have to calm down and find your center and stay on the bull. I think I almost broke one of his guitar amps at one point. I flung it across the room and let my Irish temper get the best of me.”

Saliva formed in 1996 and immediately started writing originals and playing out live. In 1997 they were finalists in the Grammy Showcase sponsored by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which created a buzz down south that became a roar when they self-released their 1998 self-titled debut. After fielding various offers, Saliva signed with Island in 2000 and released their major label debut, Every Six Seconds, the following year. The aggressive hybrid of rock and rap connected with rock listeners, who propelled the single “Click Click Boom” to and “Your Disease” all the way to at Active Rock. A full year of touring followed, and the album went gold and eventually platinum, paving the way for 2002’s Back Into Your System, a more tuneful offering with less hip-hop and more rock. Another crowd pleaser, the disc also went gold and spawned the hit “Always” and the singles “Raise Up” and “Rest in Pieces.”

Next came 2004’s Survival of the Sickest, an unapologetic tribute to the band’s influences and Saliva’s only major label disc that wasn’t produced by Marlette. “Paul Ebersold (3 Doors Down, Sister Hazel) did that one, and it was a straight up rock n’ roll,” says Scott, “a big fist in the sky to AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Motley Crue and all those bands that paved the way for us.”

The band returned to what they do best with Blood Stained Love Story, bringing back Marlette and crafting an album full of unforgettable hooks and emotional lyrics. The emphatic “Ladies and Gentlemen” was the song at Active Rock radio and reached

on the Mainstream Rock char, as well as the them song for a host of TV platforms such as the popular Sony Playstation commercial, The WWE Wrestlemania, and UFC’s Wired. One more single, “Broken Sunday” followed, as did extensive touring, and now the stage was set for Cinco Diablo.

More than a decade since their birth, Saliva are finding new ways to satisfy their creative impulses and please their loyal fans. And having survived the challenges and frustrations of popular rock bands, they’re charging forward with renewed vigor and accumulated wisdom.

“We’ve had a bunch of lessons that we’ve paid minimally for and lessons we’ve paid dearly for,” Says Scott. “But at the end of the day we’re smarter and better, and we’ve discovered that playing music is all about life and surviving and living to fight another day.”

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