Album Reviews

[Seshmeister]

Slash – Apocalyptic Love

...There might not be anything here quite as dazzling as the Kennedy/Slash tunes on the debut disc – ‘Back To Cali’ and the frankly astonishing ‘Starlight’ –

Back from Cali...

Yeah I'm afraid your review is right, first couple of listens and nothing stands out to the same extent as those two at all, it feels workmanlike.

[binnie]

That's the sad truth: good, but not great.

It's all very well done - you might even say 'professional' - but it doesn't want to crack you in the head with a baseball bat. I think what it needs more than anything is rhythm guitar to play off Slash, that would add grove.

It's a good record with some fine moments (Anastasia, You're A Lie...) but I'm not sure that Myles is the guy for Slash.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Everclear – Welcome To the Drama Club (2006)

Art Alexakis may very well be the US’s most unheralded songwriter. In the post-grunge era of the mid 90s he led Everclear through a cluster of near perfect slices of luscious and sonorous hard rock based on huge hooks, cutely observed critique and stories of tough times and broken hearts. By 2006, all of the original line-up had left and Art had hired new guys, expanding the band’s power pop sound by adding a rhythm guitar player and a keyboard player. The result was a rather different sounding band powered less by heavy guitars and more by a warm cluster of melodies and harmonies. At its heaviest ‘Welcome To the Drama Club’ sounds like a fucked up Cheap Trick; at its lightest it sounds owes heavy debts to American Indie groups like REM and The Breeders. Some fans revolted in horror – but whether you like this record or not will have more to do with your aesthetic preferences in rock rather than your objectivity in reviewing the songs.

And – whilst this was a long way from Everclear’s strongest disc – those songs are, for the most part, strong. Some are even superb. ‘Portland Rain’ is an ode to intimacy and is truly epic in its simplicity, and ‘A Shameless Use of Charm’ builds and builds into a destructive wall of broken love. As Art deals with his divorce and betrayal, we are on more familiar Everclear ground. Opener ‘Under The Western Stars’ begins in a chirpy form of Americana. But it is a lie. ‘You Were Cold in Your Anger/ I was warm in the shame’ Art wails, slowly pealing back the layers of repression, menace and regret which this band has always done so well. On ‘The Drama King’ and ‘Clean’, the band delivers up the orchestral brand of punk which is well and truly their own.

There are some clunkers, however. The funk of ‘Shine’ – for all its range – is not convincing, and ‘Now’ feels lethargic despite the lyric’s urgency. But you have to love a band that progresses, especially at the point where they are long past their commercial peak (and without major label support). Art’s life was changing as this record was been made. Perhaps it is inevitable that his sound would, too. But what remained is a songwriter capable of hooking you into a tour of the most personal and intimate moments of his life and making you feel them too. In that sense, Everclear have always had an almost cinematic immediacy which most bands never achieve.

[fourthcoming]

Wow....an Everclear review......that caught me off guard. Binnie.....seriously....you are an ecclectic dude....and I say that as a compliment. World of Noise and Sparkle and fade are excellent albums.

[binnie]

There's another Everclear review on page 13, post 497.

I guess my taste is eclectic. Looking over at my CD collection, I'd say most of it is metal/hard rock - but that's an expansive category (especially in the past 10 years). Black Sabbath, Tool and Cannibal Corpse are all metal bands, but they don't really sound much alike.

Everclear are a wonderful band. It's unquestionable that the early records are the strongest, but few bands have so many winning songs.

[binnie]

Every Time I Die – Ex Lives

How do they do it? ETID have delivered yet another shot of unique hardcore fuelled, whiskey sodden rock ‘n’ roll for the new millennium. Over the course of six albums they’ve re-written the rule book with the old vocabulary. And from the opening seconds of ‘Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space’ it is clear that they a back and swinging. Heavier and as menacing as they’ve ever been, theirs is a riot you can party too, welding the angularity and motion sickness time-changes of post hardcore to the hulking grooves and rhythms of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s quite and achievement, and one for which the largely unheralded rhythm section of Josh Newton and Ryan Leger deserve greatest acclaim. A track by track breakdown would only demonstrate this reviewer’s ability to run out of superlatives, but there are some incredible highs here: ‘I Suck (Blood)’ is groovy brutality at its best, whilst the metallic riffage of ‘A Wild, Shamless Plain’ and ‘Holy Book of Dilemma’ sees the band sounding as angry – and as vital – as they ever have. Keith Buckley has delivered yet another batch of idiosyncratic and witty lyrics (check out ‘Typical Miracle’), offering a unique take on traditional rock ‘n’ roll fodder on ‘Partying Is Such Sweet Sorrow’ (which sounds like Clutch on speed). On ‘Revival Mode’ – which features a riff that bleeds – they even show their ability to do restraint, demonstrating a talent for melancholy alongside a penchant for rage. And all in 35 minutes.

ETID’s early records were so revelatory that expectation weighs heavily with anything they release. Their sound is so unique – and so ingrained in the modern heavy scene – that it ceases to surprise us. In this situation all a band can do is deliver. And deliver they do. The question for them is the question of evolution or the law of diminishing returns.

[binnie]

Forbidden – Omega Wave (2010)

Forbidden’s first album in 13 years may only feature 3 of their ‘classic’ line up – Russ Anderson (vocals), Craig Locicero (guitar) and Matt Camacho (bass) – but it very much encapsulates the classic feel of the band. I stress ‘feel’ rather than ‘sound’ because this is no throw back record or an attempt to pretend that it’s still 1987 (a problem which dogs many thrash reunion records). There are certainly some moments of bedevilled neck-snapping fury: ‘Forsaken At The Gates’ is technical thrash of the most ferocious kind blended with contemporary elements of groove and aggression, featuring vocals from Anderson which are less Dio-worship (as they were in the ‘80s) and more of an aggressive Chuck Billy. But overall, you’d struggle to call this ‘thrash’. But then Forbidden always mixed a blend of classic metal and progression into their twisted sonic brew.

And so it is here. And by God it’s refreshing to hear a heavy band with a guy who can SING. Anderson’s voice and melodies adds more depth, range and (yes, sorry screamers) POWER to these songs. ‘Dragging My Casket’ is a heavier version of Dio, Maiden and Priest, the sort of swaying epic which encapsulates the relentless potency of metal’s power. On ‘Hopenosis’ and ‘Behind The Mask’ we are served up some juicy, well written heavy fucking metal, metal which serves to prove that – like Gary Holt – Craig Locicero is one of metal’s most unheralded axemen. He serves up riff and after riff after riff here and – when coupled to Camacho and Mark Hermandez’s epic rhythm section, it drives the sound into the stratosphere. It is, however, a shame that the band decided to restrain the shredding here – because when they let him loose, the results are spectacular.

It seems that Forbidden reformed not to emulate their own past or to replicate it, but to go forward and make the record that they wanted to. Will it change the face of metal in the 21st century? Of course not. But it will kick your ass and stick in your cerebral cortex.

Sixty minutes of perfectly executed metal.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Children of Bodom – Hate Crew Deathroll (2003)

COB essentially sound like Death Metal fed through Euro pop. This makes them a LOT of fun, and fun is a shade notable by its absence in modern metal. Coupling this to the frequent tasty guitar workouts from Alexi Laiho and what we have at heart if a great rock ‘n’ roll band. ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ saw the band step up in every sense – song dynamics, melodies, production and playing – to deliver 9 tunes of molten, face melting metal. With keyboards. Big, cheesy keyboards. The sort of keyboards that add energy, or grate on your nerves depending on where you stand on such matters.

From the raging aggression of ‘You’re Better Off Dead’, the headbanging fury of ‘Sixpounder’ or the vintage metal thrust of ‘Chokehold (Locked ‘n’ Loaded)’ there’s really very little not to love here. Lyrically, it’s all puerile anger – witness ‘Bodom Beach Terror’ – but it works. And it’ll make you smile like fat kid in a cake shop.

Scandinavia is full of the world’s best metal bands. Although COB do not really push the envelope of metal they do possess one advantage over their peers – the size of their hooks and the infectiousness of their delivery makes them a far, far more instantaneous listen than most of the bands in modern metal.

[binnie]

From the vaults: At The Gates – Terminal Spirit Disease (1994)

This is one of the records which defined the second stage of Death Metal. Although far from ATG’s best record – not as ambitious as ‘With Feat I Kiss The Burning Darkness’ or as intense as ‘Slaughter of The Soul’ – it, along with Carcass’s ‘Heartwork’ set the bar high for the melodic strain of extremity. And it is a magical record, raw and bleeding with emotion. Opener ‘The Swarm’ welds a swirl of Death Metal aesthetic to classic metal gallop, introducing those time changes which would soon define the Gothenburg sound. Where modern Death Metal is blast of beats and technicality, this is really a sped up Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost with all that weight, evil and macabre kept in tack. The title track – a meditation on depression – features a jet black melody which cuts through the heaviness, poetic lyrics taking us far beyond the capacity of what most heavy bands can reach, whilst ‘The Beautiful Wound’ is exactly what Death Metal should be: tar thick, dirty and dark, giving off a stench so thick you can taste it.

There are heavier bands than At The Gates, more grandiose and those with a greater number of classic songs. But few have been as influential. And this record lets you know why.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Witchcraft – The Alchemist (2007)

They’re from Sweden and they’re called Witchcraft. You know what this sounds like, right? It’s Death Metal? No. Black Metal? No. Folk metal? Not even close. In truth, it’s not even metal at all. Rather, it’s classic rock. Not in the ‘oh fuck here’s another Led Zep wannabe’ band. This ain’t no tribute, its painting in the colours of the past to create something fresh. And it is truly magical.

‘Walk In Between The Lines’ is the way rock ‘n’ roll used to be before it became hedonistic. Idealistic, oddly sombre, it sounds like a focussed MC5. The guitars are taut and crackling rather than a sun-kissed Les Paul thrust, an understated power which propels a crisp hard rock which goes forward with ‘1970’ tattooed on its inner eye. ‘If Crimson Was Your Colour’ sounds like The Doors meeting the toxic twins, whilst ‘Hey Doctor’ is Sabbath whispering sweet nothings. It takes confidence to be so completely at odds with any musical scene, and talent to pack this much music into such compact compositions – ‘Samaritan Burden’ culminates in a passage of folky prog which is truly, truly beautiful. You need this album – it’ll be your best friend on a warm summers night or a cold winters morn, a blissful way to punctuate even the shittiest of days.

Sometimes witchcraft can be a force for good, it seems…..

[Dave's Bitch]

From the vaults: Children of Bodom – Hate Crew Deathroll (2003)

COB essentially sound like Death Metal fed through Euro pop. This makes them a LOT of fun, and fun is a shade notable by its absence in modern metal. Coupling this to the frequent tasty guitar workouts from Alexi Laiho and what we have at heart if a great rock ‘n’ roll band. ‘Hate Crew Deathroll’ saw the band step up in every sense – song dynamics, melodies, production and playing – to deliver 9 tunes of molten, face melting metal. With keyboards. Big, cheesy keyboards. The sort of keyboards that add energy, or grate on your nerves depending on where you stand on such matters.

From the raging aggression of ‘You’re Better Off Dead’, the headbanging fury of ‘Sixpounder’ or the vintage metal thrust of ‘Chokehold (Locked ‘n’ Loaded)’ there’s really very little not to love here. Lyrically, it’s all puerile anger – witness ‘Bodom Beach Terror’ – but it works. And it’ll make you smile like fat kid in a cake shop.

Scandinavia is full of the world’s best metal bands. Although COB do not really push the envelope of metal they do possess one advantage over their peers – the size of their hooks and the infectiousness of their delivery makes them a far, far more instantaneous listen than most of the bands in modern metal.

I have not listened to COB for a long time.They are a fun band though.As you say Big, cheesy keyboards.I like this album,My favorite Bodom album is Follow The Reaper,Bodom after midnight and mask of sanity are funky songs

Good review binnie

[Dave's Bitch]

Ok so my second ever album review,Be kind

Kiss - Revenge

After a turbulent 80's Kiss seemed to have lost rights to the name "The hottest band in the world" and become another of many Hair bands,with the colourful outfits and what many consider pop music.Sadly before the making of this album Eric Carr left us.Eric Singer joined the line up and Kiss put out in my opinion one of the best studio albums in the extensive collection.Revenge has an attitude to it that kiss did not have before and there are some absolute KILLER tracks on here.I will start with Unholy.From the heavy opening riff that drives the song to Gene's top notch vocals this song is possibly the heaviest Kiss have done.Bruce Kulick is on fire in this one with a great solo.Song's like Spit and Domino.While the message of the song's is nothing new are both solid,sleazy,fun old style rock songs.Paul and Gene swapping vocals on spit works really well.It would not be a Kiss album without a ballad,and the one from Revenge is the beautiful Every Time I Look At You.Paul's voice starts out very smooth and soft,Then kicks up a gear in the middle before mellowing down at the end.A very good song with some beautiful lyrics.My personal favorite song on the album is the strip club anthem Take it Off.Great guitar by Bruce,great vocals and filthy lyrics from Paul,Love it.i could not very well do a review of revenge without mentioning God gave Rock And Roll to You II.This song may have been played to death but it is just fantastic,I challenge anyone here to tell me you don't know the words and at least sing along in your head

A few criticisms.A few songs seem to blend together and follow a very similar structure.That is not a bad thing but it is kind of cheating to pad the album out.two good examples would be Tough Love and Heart of Chrome.I would say the song Thou Shall not is the low point of the album.Pretty bland song all round

To sum up
Revenge is without question a gem from the make up free days.It has balls,Smut and fantastic guitar.there are one or two tracks i skip by but as a whole a fantastic album that shows everyone exactly why Kiss are The Hottest Band In the World

[ashstralia]

i'm gonna have to dig out some cassettes (!) and have a relisten.

binnie, i hope someone pays you for these great reviews. at worst, they owe you a high distinction.

[binnie]

Nah, it's all for the love of the music. I only review what I own. I think there are around 300 in here so far, which is about 1/5 of my CD collection....

[ashstralia]

maximum kudos to you, sir.


i can't wait for the new parkway drive album!