Album Reviews

[DLR Bridge]

He produced the third CD of a band I like called Ours. It was their worst produced CD which is unfortunate, considering the great body of songs that had been written. It just sounded over done.

[Zing!]

And Rubin produced the last two of one of my favorite bands: The Avett Brothers - both of which were too slick, too polished, and lacking the honesty and rawness of their small label predecessors. It's like he's convinced them that every tune has to be a radio friendly hit, which goes against everything they've built their career around. Blah...

[ELVIS]

I tried to listen to the entire Sabbath album last night...

It's not possible...

You were too nice, Binnie...

[chefcraig]

I think Rubin is more about vibe/feel that the technicalities of production. He's the anti-Bob Rock.

Sure, he's produced some killer records, but in the last 10 years he's underperformed and I often think that records would sound much better without him. 'Death Magnetic', for instance, was very good - but in the hands of a really good producer (Andy Sneap, Colin Richardson, Nick Rasculeick) it could have been brilliant. Same goes for the record he made with Slipknot.

I'd say that Rubin's last great metal record was the first System Of A Down album (1998)

To my ears, Rick Rubin should only be allowed to record demos, issued on cassette-only mail order releases. This guy's idea of high fidelity rates somewhat behind a 1950s AM radio broadcast of a Yankees game, listened to in a taxi parked under a bridge.

And ELVIS is spot on here. I attempted to listen to this turd-fest the other evening, and made it through about two tracks before playing internet golf and searching the tv listings. Nope, won't be purchasing this one, even if you get a second cd and a tee shirt at Best Buy for the low, low price of thirty bucks American.

Yech...

[Von Halen]

In my opinion, which nobody gives a fuck about, everything is over produced these days.

The spontanious rawness is gone from recorded music these days. The computer has made it too easy to try to perfect what may have already been perfection.

[chefcraig]

In my opinion, which nobody gives a fuck about, everything is over produced these days.

The spontanious rawness is gone from recorded music these days. The computer has made it too easy to try to perfect what may have already been perfection.

Exactly. I miss those albums where Ron Wood would be playing out of tune, where Johnny Winter's bass player wasn't quite sure of the time signature and the singer wouldn't know or even have thought up some lyrics, yet everyone plowed forth anyway and all the producer had to do was flip the record button. Shit, the best rock and roll sides from the 1950s sounded like they were recorded in somebody's living room or garage, with all of the in laws and neighbors chatting away and falling down drunk in the background.

Auto-tune, my ass. If you can't play it or sing it, you got no business being in the room in the first fucking place.

[binnie]

To my ears, Rick Rubin should only be allowed to record demos, issued on cassette-only mail order releases. This guy's idea of high fidelity rates somewhat behind a 1950s AM radio broadcast of a Yankees game, listened to in a taxi parked under a bridge.

And ELVIS is spot on here. I attempted to listen to this turd-fest the other evening, and made it through about two tracks before playing internet golf and searching the tv listings. Nope, won't be purchasing this one, even if you get a second cd and a tee shirt at Best Buy for the low, low price of thirty bucks American.

Yech...

I'd persevere with the Sabbath record. It opens in a low-key manner (to say the least) and the second tune - 'God Is Dead?' - is easily the weakest. The second half of the record has some merit to it, and it grows a little. It's certainly worth 50 minutes of your life.

[binnie]

Suffocation – Pinnacle Of Bedlam (2013)

There is a certain type of joy which only emerges when you hear a classic band on classic form. New York Death Metal legends Suffocation have long been one of extreme metals most influential and, errrrm, extreme bands, but ‘Pinnacle Of Bedlam’ displays them at the very height of their powers. Where most modern Death Metal is a clinical, pro-tooled-to-hell display of technical wizardy lacking any real soul, here the sound is rawer, gnarly and crushingly powerful. That power is heightened by the crystal clear production of Joe Cincotta and superb mix by Zeuss, in which every drum beat and mangled riff hit you with a somatic force. Short, sharp bursts of pummeling music are Suffocation’s calling-card, and the songs here lurch from one hulking riff to another via time-changes of otherworldly precision. ‘Purgatorial Punishment’ demonstrates that trying to out-brutal this band is a pointless endeavour; whilst the warp-factor ‘Eminent Wrath’ is a true neck-snapper which welds muscular riff into muscular riff with savagely punishing stamina. But what staggers you is the fact that amidst music this heavy and this abrasive, Suffocation manage to be catchy and memorable – ‘Cycles Of Suffering’ (a seething pot of blackened groove) and ‘My Demise’ (grotesque and grinding power) really are a testament to their abilities as song-writers.

With songs existing on the razor’s edge balance between musical dexterity and maniacal focus, by rights this should be lauded as one of 2013’s top metal records. Like watching someone being mangled, ‘Pinnacle Of Bedlam’ is at one brutal and captivating.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Masters Of Reality – Masters Of Reality (1989)

It’s odd that despite their name, Master Of Reality sounded fuck all like Black Sabbath. Their’s was a sound of laid-back, slacker fuelled rock ‘n’ roll crafted around cooler-than-cool tones and bourbon stained licks. And at the tail of the ‘80s they were like no-one else. Grunge before anyone had heard of grunge, and Southern Fried hard rock before anyone gave a rat’s ass about The Black Crowes, this was music with songs, depth and feel first. Hard rockin’ certainly, but the range of references here was so much wider: jazz, blues, funk, even ragtime, creep in to what was ultimately a warm, charismatic blast of joyous rock ‘n’ roll shot through with magical moments from the jam room floor and captured perfectly by Rick Rubin’s lo-fi production. If you were to compile a list of the best rock records of the past 25 years, this would be near the top. It is THAT good.

Opener ‘The Candy Song’ has a groove smoother than melted chocolate, whilst ‘The Domino’ has bite, gristle and riff to end all riffs – Kyuss were surely listening? ‘Kill The King’ is swinging blues rock soundtracking the coolest of badass villains in a Tarrantino flick; and ‘John Brown’ is outlaw swamp blues, awash with slide geetar and alligator menace. Masters Of Reality flat-out rawked. But there was so much more to these songs. In an era where heavy music was either ultra-extreme, or glitz and glamour hedonism, this batch of lazy summertime ditties was almost unthinkable – but when a band manage to find a sound which is like no-one before or since, AND pen songs which instantly feel like old friends, you know that they were truly special.

MOR never came close to replicating the magic of their debut. And in some circles, the band remained misunderstood. It’s certainly true that Chris Goss has since become the stoner rock uber-producer (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age, everyone else……) but if MOR had similar component parts to these bands, their vibe was very different: less of the colossal Sabbath heaviness and more of the classic soul-fuelled hooks, this was a band like no other. New Wave, punk, blues and funk all in one sound? No wonder no-one knew what to do with ‘em. But at a distance of almost 25 years, the strength of this record sparkles. Re-issued in a lavish package complete with a live bonus disc, a beautiful poster and mystical artwork, this feels like a celebration. And I can think of few bands who deserve to be celebrated more.

Sometimes even superlatives are not enough. Just listen.

[binnie]

From the vaults: Onslaught – Killing Peace (2007)

Given its central importance to the birth and evolution of metal in all its forms, it is an oddity that Britain has never given the world a truly great thrash band. Onslaught certainly came closest to doing so – their ‘The Force’ (1986) and ‘Search For Sanity’ (1989) albums being very impressive indeed – and ‘Killing Peace’ (their reunion record) certainly deserves to be more widely heralded. Put simply, where so many thrash bands make the mistake of playing at full pelt for 60 minutes (thus lessening the impact of their music by turning it into one hyper-speed stream of gun-metal grey), or engage in tedious tech-metal workouts, ‘Killing Peace’ is packed full with songs of impressive quality. Built around quality riffs, melodies and dynamics, the result is music that is memorable rather than just (very) heavy. ‘Shock ‘n’ Awe’ proves that Onslaught can thrash with the best of ‘em; ‘Burn’ is as furious as it is anthemic; the title-track is awash with punkish fury and propelled by a series of hooks and rhythmic quirks which make a serious impact; and ‘Pain’ injects the thrash template with elements of Prong and Corrosion of Conformity crunchiness – the sort of crunchy metal with deserves to be heard more widely. Lyrically it’s what you’d expect: anti-religion, death and destruction. But Sy Keeler’s vocal lines and raucous delivery adds tones and textures that your average metal growler simply cannot. Nige Rockett and Alan Jordan serve up impressive levels of riffage, the power of which is amplified by Andy Sneap’s uncluttered production. Raw, refreshingly uncomplicated, and full of mighty metallic tunes, Onslaught served up another impressive record of blue-collar metal that comes out swinging.

[Terry]

In my opinion, which nobody gives a fuck about, everything is over produced these days.

The spontanious rawness is gone from recorded music these days. The computer has made it too easy to try to perfect what may have already been perfection.

It's true.

There's just no swing and groove in contemporary recorded popular music anymore, and it's not just in the hard rock arena, either.

Seemingly everything new I hear just feels too overcalculated, overprocessed and overlabored to the point where it sounds uninspired, dead and disposable.

[ELVIS]

Megadeth – Super Collider (2013)

This album is really really good...

Every fucking song is good...

Even the ones I thought I hated at first...

I like that Mustane isn't afraid to do whatever he wants...

Killer album with awesome hooks and killer guitar work...

It even has some "spontaneous rawness" that Von can't find or spell...

[ELVIS]

I totally hated this cheesy 80's sounding song at first, but now I think it's pretty cool...

[ELVIS]

This is a fucking RIFF!!!



Take notes jfail...

[DLR Bridge]

I heard Super Collider on the radio the other night. Sounded super pedestrian to me.