Artist: King Crimson
Album: Islands
Release Year: 1971
Genres: progressive rock, symphonic rock, jazz fusion
1) Formentera Lady; 2) A Sailor's Tale; 3) The Letters; 4) Ladies of the Road; 5) Prelude: Song of the Gulls; 6) Islands.
Best Song: Islands
King Crimson is such a hard band to describe, partially because they more or less invented what we now call progressive rock, and partly because their music has always been so detached from the individual musician. Lead guitarist and founder Robert Fripp refers to an abstract entity when mentioning King Crimson, calling it "a way of doing things." That's more than a little pretentious, but: 1) Robert Fripp has always had quite the arrogant streak, and 2) the music is so friggin' brilliant that I don't care one bit. The songs are epic in proportion, the musicians are mind-blowingly talented, and they fuse so many genres in such a unique and theatrical way that one can't help but be blown away.
Islands,unfortunately, is not one of those albums. It's still very clever, of course, but "clever" and "exciting" don't always shake hands. The whole thing feels like the musicians were about to doze off during the sessions, even through the rollicking segments of "Ladies of the Road." It's all gray and matte, as if there were a sonic fog covering the band as they wrote and played. Sure, that helps keep it subtle, like in the pretty but overlong "Formentera Lady," but it has an equal chance of putting you to sleep.
The disappointment here stems from the contradiction of styles, I think. This is easily the most classical-influenced album in the band's history. You'll hear woodwinds and classical piano all over the place. With classical, you expect it to be moving and uplifting, but much of the album is bleak and almost lifeless. The whole thing speaks to you as if from a dark void, cold and lonely. The one time this approach proves rewarding is the title track (and possibly its prelude), which paints such a haunting potrait of isolation that I am almost willing to forgive the lackluster songs before it. We start on the island, but the music lifts us up and up, into the cosmos. Let's see Uriah Heep take a whack at that. Wait...let's not.
Other songs have their moments, but I wouldn't put them anywhere near a "Best Of" list for the band. "The Letters" is lopsided and would work better as poetry. "A Sailor's Tale" is alright, but it just meanders on without really getting anywhere. Yes,I know the album was made at a time when the band was on the verge of breaking up. But when has King Crimson ever not been on the verge of breaking up? Look at all the lineup changes! I guess the mighty Crim is too much for mortal men after all.
Rating: 6
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Doors
Artist: The Doors
Album: The Doors
Release Year: 1967
Genres: psychedelic rock, Gothic rock, blues-rock
1) Break on Through (to the Other Side); 2) Soul Kitchen; 3) The Crystal Ship; 4) Twentieth Century Fox; 5) Alabama Song; 6) Light My Fire; 7) Back Door Man; 8) I Looked at You; 9) End of the Night; 10) Take It as It Comes; 11) The End.
Best Song: Light My Fire...I think...
If you ever entertained even the slightest desire to acquaint yourself with The Doors, I'd say it would be well worth your time. That is, of course, if you also have no objections to plunging headfirst into the nightmarish mind of Jim Morrison. Love him or hate him, you can't deny he was certainly unique, and I will say without hesitation that the debut album is the best place to start your journey. While the band would eventually mature into a tight blues-rock outfit, the early albums showcase the members at their most raw and daring, and as with many other bands, that's the period I like best.
But even among the other early Doors releases, this one still stands apart from the rest. Why? Because it is so consistent, so congruent throughout, that we feel it dragging us deeper and deeper into the void, and our visions are gruesome and yet quite beautiful. Everything is so...primal! That's the word I was looking for! Whether Morrison is howling his petition to stay in the "Soul Kitchen" or awaiting the approach of the "End of the Night," you see through his eyes. This album brings the listener so intimately close to the body and soul of the music, like a lover, and there's no topping that atmosphere.
Of course, there is still some irritating filler on here ("I Looked at You," for example), but it goes down easy enough, given that it's surrounded by so much great material. "Light My Fire" is probably the best, with meaningless verses but some truly mesmerizing keyboard and guitar solos (don't forget the other guys- Morrison hated that). And no review of this album is complete without special mention of "The End," the excellent eleven-minute Gothic epic. Spiritual and demonic at the same time, it meanders here and there, telling of "weird scenes inside the gold mine," a long snake heading west, and other eerie imagery, building up tension all the way. Then there is the climax, which I don't have the heart to spoil for you. Get the album, or at the very least, Youtube it. But if you're faint of heart, don't try to sleep right after.
Rating: 9
Album: The Doors
Release Year: 1967
Genres: psychedelic rock, Gothic rock, blues-rock
1) Break on Through (to the Other Side); 2) Soul Kitchen; 3) The Crystal Ship; 4) Twentieth Century Fox; 5) Alabama Song; 6) Light My Fire; 7) Back Door Man; 8) I Looked at You; 9) End of the Night; 10) Take It as It Comes; 11) The End.
Best Song: Light My Fire...I think...
If you ever entertained even the slightest desire to acquaint yourself with The Doors, I'd say it would be well worth your time. That is, of course, if you also have no objections to plunging headfirst into the nightmarish mind of Jim Morrison. Love him or hate him, you can't deny he was certainly unique, and I will say without hesitation that the debut album is the best place to start your journey. While the band would eventually mature into a tight blues-rock outfit, the early albums showcase the members at their most raw and daring, and as with many other bands, that's the period I like best.
But even among the other early Doors releases, this one still stands apart from the rest. Why? Because it is so consistent, so congruent throughout, that we feel it dragging us deeper and deeper into the void, and our visions are gruesome and yet quite beautiful. Everything is so...primal! That's the word I was looking for! Whether Morrison is howling his petition to stay in the "Soul Kitchen" or awaiting the approach of the "End of the Night," you see through his eyes. This album brings the listener so intimately close to the body and soul of the music, like a lover, and there's no topping that atmosphere.
Of course, there is still some irritating filler on here ("I Looked at You," for example), but it goes down easy enough, given that it's surrounded by so much great material. "Light My Fire" is probably the best, with meaningless verses but some truly mesmerizing keyboard and guitar solos (don't forget the other guys- Morrison hated that). And no review of this album is complete without special mention of "The End," the excellent eleven-minute Gothic epic. Spiritual and demonic at the same time, it meanders here and there, telling of "weird scenes inside the gold mine," a long snake heading west, and other eerie imagery, building up tension all the way. Then there is the climax, which I don't have the heart to spoil for you. Get the album, or at the very least, Youtube it. But if you're faint of heart, don't try to sleep right after.
Rating: 9
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The Wall
Band: Pink Floyd
Album: The Wall
Release Year: 1979
Genres: art rock, arena rock, rock opera
1) In the Flesh?; 2) The Thin Ice; 3) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1; 4) The Happiest Days of Our Lives; 5) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2; 6) Mother; 7) Goodbye Blue Sky; 8) Empty Spaces; 9) Young Lust; 10) One of My Turns; 11) Don't Leave Me Now; 12) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3; 13) Goodbye Cruel World; 14) Hey You; 15) Is There Anybody Out There?; 16) Nobody Home; 17) Vera; 18) Bring the Boys Back Home; 19) Comfortably Numb; 20) The Show Must Go On; 21) In the Flesh; 22) Run Like Hell; 23) Waiting for the Worms; 24) Stop; 25) The Trial; 26) Outside the Wall.
Best Song: Comfortably Numb
Yes, people, I am reviewing The Wall, the second-most famous Floyd album behind Dark Side of the Moon. While certainly not the first rock opera, or even the best, it definitely stands out as the most famous, so I knew I would have to tackle it sooner or later. It's intriguing, thought-provoking, and monolithic, but it's also overblown and clumsy. It showboats too much for a rock album. So sorry to disappoint the fanatics who swear by it, but this is not their best work. Don't get me wrong, though--this is nonetheless an essential stop on anyone's journey through rock history, and a very enjoyable one at that.
The story goes that during one concert, Roger Waters spat on a disruptive fan and subsequently realized how alienated he had become from his fellow man. He proceeded to write the story of Pink, a wimpy kid growing up in wartime (presumably WWII) England with no father and a horrifyingly overprotective mother. He's emotionally abused by the disciplinarian school system, and his mother represses him to the point that he becomes unable to form adult relationships, thus forming a disturbing Oedipal bond between them. Pink subconsciously builds a "wall" around himself, isolating him from the world in order to prevent more emotional suffering. He grows up to be a rock star, but his wife's infidelity is the last straw. He completes the Wall, and immediately regrets it, but resigns himself to his fate. For some reason, he then becomes a sort of dictator, "cleansing" the world of gays, Jews, blacks, et cetera. This is probably just a hallucination, a metaphor for the damage he has done to others by refusing contact with them. He puts himself on trial within his own mind, and finding himself guilty, tears down the Wall.
The album begins promisingly, with a decent overture and the first two parts of "Another Brick in the Wall." The music complements the words quite well: the endless guitar thrumming of Part 1 really drives home Pink's loneliness in his father's absence, and the guitar solo at the end of Part 2 sounds like an obvious "tsk, tsk" at the sad state of the British educational system (in Waters' opinion; I have no idea). "Mother" is sweet and creepy at the same time: "Mama's gonna check out all you girlfriends for you...keep Baby healthy and clean." Errghh. Then we feel Pink's loneliness increase until he finally decides to cut himself off entirely from humanity, and the first disc ends.
The first few songs on Disc 2 are decent, but it sure goes downhill after that. "Comfortably Numb" is great, of course, with the famous, mind-bendingly awesome solo and chill-inducing vocal deliveries. The rest are overblown, melody-less, and just boring. And what's with the rebirth of Nazism? I guess there is an appropriate way to do that in a story, but Mr. Waters certainly doesn't have a clue. It's cliche and pointless here; a total red herring, distracting us from the original theme of the album. "Run Like Hell" is decent, but it still only stumbles along, rather than flowing like the great stuff I mentioned earlier. And then we get to "The Trial," which is so hammy and cartoony and carnivalesque (yep, that's right) that it destroys nearly all the empathetic grimness we've gathered on Pink's behalf. It's so hilariously bad unless you have the film handy, since this still is the best segment visually.
The main problem with this album is, half the time it forgets it's a rock album and just goes straight into "bad opera" territory. For example, I cannot stand "Don't Leave Me Now." It's nothing but Pink's pathetic, high-pitched, nails-on-a-chalkboard wailing about his wife leaving him. It would have been fine for a song opener, but four minutes? Come on, Roger. Sure, this is a rock opera, so we should expect some of the characters' exaggerated passion to spill over onto our side of the stage. But this is one of several glaring moments when Waters forgets the other half of the term: it is a rock opera, and melody should always be the top priority. It happens in "Bring the Boys Back Home," too, except this time the grand, bombastic, orchestrated anthem has NOTHING to do with the theme of the album. It's just Waters moaning about war and how, yeah, it's still going on. Forget the showboating. I think the subtle moments, like the little girl at the beginning of "Goodbye Blue Sky," are far more moving. Ah, well. Maybe it's just 'cause I've never been dumped.
Still, on the whole, The Wall is a very good album. The story is well suited to the band, and David Gilmour is in top form--so even when the songs suck, you can still enjoy his playing. We can really empathize with Pink, and the album succeeds in a adding a certain "romance" to his awful struggle. And who can honestly say they've never been in Pink's shoes before? No wonder this one's so popular among young adults--you'd almost think Waters invented Emo before 1980. The difference was, Waters' emotional crises were genuine, and he actually knew how to make a good song out of it. Even it would have sounded better on Broadway.
Rating: 8
Album: The Wall
Release Year: 1979
Genres: art rock, arena rock, rock opera
1) In the Flesh?; 2) The Thin Ice; 3) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1; 4) The Happiest Days of Our Lives; 5) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2; 6) Mother; 7) Goodbye Blue Sky; 8) Empty Spaces; 9) Young Lust; 10) One of My Turns; 11) Don't Leave Me Now; 12) Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3; 13) Goodbye Cruel World; 14) Hey You; 15) Is There Anybody Out There?; 16) Nobody Home; 17) Vera; 18) Bring the Boys Back Home; 19) Comfortably Numb; 20) The Show Must Go On; 21) In the Flesh; 22) Run Like Hell; 23) Waiting for the Worms; 24) Stop; 25) The Trial; 26) Outside the Wall.
Best Song: Comfortably Numb
Yes, people, I am reviewing The Wall, the second-most famous Floyd album behind Dark Side of the Moon. While certainly not the first rock opera, or even the best, it definitely stands out as the most famous, so I knew I would have to tackle it sooner or later. It's intriguing, thought-provoking, and monolithic, but it's also overblown and clumsy. It showboats too much for a rock album. So sorry to disappoint the fanatics who swear by it, but this is not their best work. Don't get me wrong, though--this is nonetheless an essential stop on anyone's journey through rock history, and a very enjoyable one at that.
The story goes that during one concert, Roger Waters spat on a disruptive fan and subsequently realized how alienated he had become from his fellow man. He proceeded to write the story of Pink, a wimpy kid growing up in wartime (presumably WWII) England with no father and a horrifyingly overprotective mother. He's emotionally abused by the disciplinarian school system, and his mother represses him to the point that he becomes unable to form adult relationships, thus forming a disturbing Oedipal bond between them. Pink subconsciously builds a "wall" around himself, isolating him from the world in order to prevent more emotional suffering. He grows up to be a rock star, but his wife's infidelity is the last straw. He completes the Wall, and immediately regrets it, but resigns himself to his fate. For some reason, he then becomes a sort of dictator, "cleansing" the world of gays, Jews, blacks, et cetera. This is probably just a hallucination, a metaphor for the damage he has done to others by refusing contact with them. He puts himself on trial within his own mind, and finding himself guilty, tears down the Wall.
The album begins promisingly, with a decent overture and the first two parts of "Another Brick in the Wall." The music complements the words quite well: the endless guitar thrumming of Part 1 really drives home Pink's loneliness in his father's absence, and the guitar solo at the end of Part 2 sounds like an obvious "tsk, tsk" at the sad state of the British educational system (in Waters' opinion; I have no idea). "Mother" is sweet and creepy at the same time: "Mama's gonna check out all you girlfriends for you...keep Baby healthy and clean." Errghh. Then we feel Pink's loneliness increase until he finally decides to cut himself off entirely from humanity, and the first disc ends.
The first few songs on Disc 2 are decent, but it sure goes downhill after that. "Comfortably Numb" is great, of course, with the famous, mind-bendingly awesome solo and chill-inducing vocal deliveries. The rest are overblown, melody-less, and just boring. And what's with the rebirth of Nazism? I guess there is an appropriate way to do that in a story, but Mr. Waters certainly doesn't have a clue. It's cliche and pointless here; a total red herring, distracting us from the original theme of the album. "Run Like Hell" is decent, but it still only stumbles along, rather than flowing like the great stuff I mentioned earlier. And then we get to "The Trial," which is so hammy and cartoony and carnivalesque (yep, that's right) that it destroys nearly all the empathetic grimness we've gathered on Pink's behalf. It's so hilariously bad unless you have the film handy, since this still is the best segment visually.
The main problem with this album is, half the time it forgets it's a rock album and just goes straight into "bad opera" territory. For example, I cannot stand "Don't Leave Me Now." It's nothing but Pink's pathetic, high-pitched, nails-on-a-chalkboard wailing about his wife leaving him. It would have been fine for a song opener, but four minutes? Come on, Roger. Sure, this is a rock opera, so we should expect some of the characters' exaggerated passion to spill over onto our side of the stage. But this is one of several glaring moments when Waters forgets the other half of the term: it is a rock opera, and melody should always be the top priority. It happens in "Bring the Boys Back Home," too, except this time the grand, bombastic, orchestrated anthem has NOTHING to do with the theme of the album. It's just Waters moaning about war and how, yeah, it's still going on. Forget the showboating. I think the subtle moments, like the little girl at the beginning of "Goodbye Blue Sky," are far more moving. Ah, well. Maybe it's just 'cause I've never been dumped.
Still, on the whole, The Wall is a very good album. The story is well suited to the band, and David Gilmour is in top form--so even when the songs suck, you can still enjoy his playing. We can really empathize with Pink, and the album succeeds in a adding a certain "romance" to his awful struggle. And who can honestly say they've never been in Pink's shoes before? No wonder this one's so popular among young adults--you'd almost think Waters invented Emo before 1980. The difference was, Waters' emotional crises were genuine, and he actually knew how to make a good song out of it. Even it would have sounded better on Broadway.
Rating: 8
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Incident
Album: The Incident
Artist: Porcupine Tree
Release Year: 2009
Genres: art rock, progressive rock, alternative rock
THE INCIDENT: 1) Occam's Razor; 2) The Blind House; 3) Great Expectations; 4) Kneel and Disconnect; 5) Drawing the Line; 6) The Incident; 7) Your Unpleasant Family; 8) Yellow Windows of the Evening Train; 9) Time Flies; 10) Zero Degree of Liberty; 11) Octane Twisted; 12) Seance; 13) Circle of Manias; 14) I Drive the Hearse.
REMAINING SONGS: 1) Flicker; 2) Bonnie the Cat; 3) Black Dahlia; 4) Remember Me Lover.
Best Song: I Drive the Hearse
Let me start by saying that yes, I picked this album completely at random, so do not accuse me of taking yet another opportunity to plug one of my favorite bands. Second, this album is hard to get into. At first listen it seems bland and uninspired, but spin it a few more times and you'll see its beauty.
"The Incident" (the song sequence occupying the entire first disc) is pure Steven Wilson. Sure, the preceding albums were also written mainly by him, but to hear this one is to see that all the extra layers fall away. It's Steven, alone in a dark room in the wee hours, reading from the hearts and minds of various "characters." Briefly, the theme of the piece is dehumanization through callousness and apathy, and though I'm not sure how well the songs follow it, I can tell you I really don't care. They all flow neatly and logically.
As per usual, the songs are dreary and despondent. All of them. Sometimes I marvel at the band's ability to hold my interest through a dozen albums of what could almost be suicide notes, but maybe that's just an indication of their prowess. Anyway, at least the brands of depression change several times, from detachment to resentment, to painful reminiscing, to regret. There are some dark, mid-tempo rock songs ("The Blind House," "Circle of Manias"), beautiful ballads ("Kneel and Disconnect," "I Drive the Hearse"), and a progressive epic ("Time Flies").
I don't like to spend a lot of time on individual songs (or segments, as these technically are), but I must point out "Time Flies" and "I Drive the Hearse." The first begins and ends as a flowing, yearning song of regret for past failures, concealing a faint glimmer of hope, with a great guitar solo in the middle. "I Drive the Hearse" is, in my opinion, the most haunting and beautiful song Wilson ever wrote. "Silence is another way of saying what I want to say. Pride is just another way of trying to live with my mistakes. And you were always my mistake."
As I said above, though, the main flaw with this album is that it gets monotonous at times, particularly toward the end. After a while, you realize they're not playing anything you haven't already heard in the past hour, and I can see how that would turn some people off. The atmosphere is even darker than on previous albums, and this one certainly doesn't invite you in. But press on, I say! Give it time, and it'll grow on you.
Oh, I guess I forgot to talk about the four songs on the second disc. Uh, well...they're okay.
Rating: 8.5
Artist: Porcupine Tree
Release Year: 2009
Genres: art rock, progressive rock, alternative rock
THE INCIDENT: 1) Occam's Razor; 2) The Blind House; 3) Great Expectations; 4) Kneel and Disconnect; 5) Drawing the Line; 6) The Incident; 7) Your Unpleasant Family; 8) Yellow Windows of the Evening Train; 9) Time Flies; 10) Zero Degree of Liberty; 11) Octane Twisted; 12) Seance; 13) Circle of Manias; 14) I Drive the Hearse.
REMAINING SONGS: 1) Flicker; 2) Bonnie the Cat; 3) Black Dahlia; 4) Remember Me Lover.
Best Song: I Drive the Hearse
Let me start by saying that yes, I picked this album completely at random, so do not accuse me of taking yet another opportunity to plug one of my favorite bands. Second, this album is hard to get into. At first listen it seems bland and uninspired, but spin it a few more times and you'll see its beauty.
"The Incident" (the song sequence occupying the entire first disc) is pure Steven Wilson. Sure, the preceding albums were also written mainly by him, but to hear this one is to see that all the extra layers fall away. It's Steven, alone in a dark room in the wee hours, reading from the hearts and minds of various "characters." Briefly, the theme of the piece is dehumanization through callousness and apathy, and though I'm not sure how well the songs follow it, I can tell you I really don't care. They all flow neatly and logically.
As per usual, the songs are dreary and despondent. All of them. Sometimes I marvel at the band's ability to hold my interest through a dozen albums of what could almost be suicide notes, but maybe that's just an indication of their prowess. Anyway, at least the brands of depression change several times, from detachment to resentment, to painful reminiscing, to regret. There are some dark, mid-tempo rock songs ("The Blind House," "Circle of Manias"), beautiful ballads ("Kneel and Disconnect," "I Drive the Hearse"), and a progressive epic ("Time Flies").
I don't like to spend a lot of time on individual songs (or segments, as these technically are), but I must point out "Time Flies" and "I Drive the Hearse." The first begins and ends as a flowing, yearning song of regret for past failures, concealing a faint glimmer of hope, with a great guitar solo in the middle. "I Drive the Hearse" is, in my opinion, the most haunting and beautiful song Wilson ever wrote. "Silence is another way of saying what I want to say. Pride is just another way of trying to live with my mistakes. And you were always my mistake."
As I said above, though, the main flaw with this album is that it gets monotonous at times, particularly toward the end. After a while, you realize they're not playing anything you haven't already heard in the past hour, and I can see how that would turn some people off. The atmosphere is even darker than on previous albums, and this one certainly doesn't invite you in. But press on, I say! Give it time, and it'll grow on you.
Oh, I guess I forgot to talk about the four songs on the second disc. Uh, well...they're okay.
Rating: 8.5
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid
Album: Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid
Artist: Collective Soul
Release Year: 1994
Genres: alternative rock, pop-rock
1) Shine; 2) Goodnight, Good Guy; 3) Wasting Time; 4) Sister Don't Cry; 5) Love Lifted Me; 6) In a Moment; 7) Heaven's Already Here; 8) Pretty Donna (Instrumental); 9) Reach; 10) Breathe; 11) Scream; 12) Burning Bridges; 13) All.
Best Song: Shine
Well, if your debut album has "Shine" on it, why bother making any of the other songs memorable? Am I right? Nah, most of the others are decent, but "Shine" is unquestionably the winner here. Who can resist the carefree melody or the "Whooo-ooo-o-oaah...heaven let your light shine down" in the chorus? What a great summertime anthem, huh? Brings back memories.
The band's name has some real significance on this album, since over half the songs have this "gospel" feel to them, trying to be uplifting, I assume. Sometimes it works, like on "Goodnight Good Guy," but just as often, it makes a mess of things. Some of the songs sound like they belong in the soundtrack of a sappy teen drama. Not that all the softer ones are bad, though--I will admit I like "Burning Bridges"--but since these guys are obviously more suited to straddling the fence between pop and hard rock, hearing them try to embrace only the light side is disappointing. "Scream," for example, is awful, trying to rock out but ending up sounding more laughable than anything.
Like I said above, the guys are obviously trying to strike some deep emotional chord within the listener with their tender vocal deliveries and soaring guitar passages. Trouble is, they're still just a pop band, and it's hard to be truly convincing when you've been blatantly commercial from the start. But, I think the major flaw of this album is that it's just so tame that none of the songs (except "Shine") stand out. It's mostly uniform and bland, with a few nice hooks scattered here and there to keep you awake. I don't listen to it often, but at least I don't grate my teeth to it, either.
Rating: 6
Artist: Collective Soul
Release Year: 1994
Genres: alternative rock, pop-rock
1) Shine; 2) Goodnight, Good Guy; 3) Wasting Time; 4) Sister Don't Cry; 5) Love Lifted Me; 6) In a Moment; 7) Heaven's Already Here; 8) Pretty Donna (Instrumental); 9) Reach; 10) Breathe; 11) Scream; 12) Burning Bridges; 13) All.
Best Song: Shine
Well, if your debut album has "Shine" on it, why bother making any of the other songs memorable? Am I right? Nah, most of the others are decent, but "Shine" is unquestionably the winner here. Who can resist the carefree melody or the "Whooo-ooo-o-oaah...heaven let your light shine down" in the chorus? What a great summertime anthem, huh? Brings back memories.
The band's name has some real significance on this album, since over half the songs have this "gospel" feel to them, trying to be uplifting, I assume. Sometimes it works, like on "Goodnight Good Guy," but just as often, it makes a mess of things. Some of the songs sound like they belong in the soundtrack of a sappy teen drama. Not that all the softer ones are bad, though--I will admit I like "Burning Bridges"--but since these guys are obviously more suited to straddling the fence between pop and hard rock, hearing them try to embrace only the light side is disappointing. "Scream," for example, is awful, trying to rock out but ending up sounding more laughable than anything.
Like I said above, the guys are obviously trying to strike some deep emotional chord within the listener with their tender vocal deliveries and soaring guitar passages. Trouble is, they're still just a pop band, and it's hard to be truly convincing when you've been blatantly commercial from the start. But, I think the major flaw of this album is that it's just so tame that none of the songs (except "Shine") stand out. It's mostly uniform and bland, with a few nice hooks scattered here and there to keep you awake. I don't listen to it often, but at least I don't grate my teeth to it, either.
Rating: 6
Monday, March 14, 2011
Ocarina of Time Hyrule Symphony
Artist: Ryuichi Katsumata
Album: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Hyrule Symphony
Release Year: 1999
Genres: classical, Renaissance, game soundtrack
1) Title; 2) Kokiri Forest; 3) Hyrule Field; 4) Hyrule Castle; 5) Lon Lon Ranch; 6) Kakariko Village; 7) Death Mountain; 8) Zora's Domain; 9) Gerudo Valley; 10) Ganondorf; 11) Princess Zelda; 12) Ocarina Medley; 13) The Legend of Zelda Medley.
Best Song: I have no idea.
WARNING: This review may not be entirely subjecive. But then, what review is?
Ocarina of Time is the greatest video game ever made. Period. That is my firm conviction, and it seems only fitting that such a game should receive an equally epic soundtrack. Thanks to the brillaint Koji Kondo, it did. My version of the soundtrack is the fully orchestrated one by Ryuichi Katsumata, and I don't even have to tell you how incredible it is. But I will anyway.
I guess a huge part of my love for this album comes from having beaten the game at least six or seven times, but I think even someone who has never even heard of it could still enjoy this music. Right from the title theme, with its sweeping refrain, you're dropped into Hyrule feeling like you first popped the cartridge in yesterday. There's even a medley of the ocarina songs, in all their mysterious, majestic glory.
Then you go through songs for all the different races of Hyrule: lighthearted and danceable for the Gorons, graceful and regal for the Zora, simple and good-natured for the Kokiri. Each song places you right in the middle of a landmark of Hyrule, all of them teeming with life and full of great secrets. You listen to the theme for the Market, and you can almost hear the bustling crowds and those two laughing guys with the red and blue shirts. You hear the Gerudo Valley theme, and suddenly you and Epona are making that epic leap across the gorge, with a thousand-foot drop to the river below. Hyrule springs to life, as vividly as possible, and you relive the greatest 64-bit adventure known to man.
Rating: 10
Album: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Hyrule Symphony
Release Year: 1999
Genres: classical, Renaissance, game soundtrack
1) Title; 2) Kokiri Forest; 3) Hyrule Field; 4) Hyrule Castle; 5) Lon Lon Ranch; 6) Kakariko Village; 7) Death Mountain; 8) Zora's Domain; 9) Gerudo Valley; 10) Ganondorf; 11) Princess Zelda; 12) Ocarina Medley; 13) The Legend of Zelda Medley.
Best Song: I have no idea.
WARNING: This review may not be entirely subjecive. But then, what review is?
Ocarina of Time is the greatest video game ever made. Period. That is my firm conviction, and it seems only fitting that such a game should receive an equally epic soundtrack. Thanks to the brillaint Koji Kondo, it did. My version of the soundtrack is the fully orchestrated one by Ryuichi Katsumata, and I don't even have to tell you how incredible it is. But I will anyway.
I guess a huge part of my love for this album comes from having beaten the game at least six or seven times, but I think even someone who has never even heard of it could still enjoy this music. Right from the title theme, with its sweeping refrain, you're dropped into Hyrule feeling like you first popped the cartridge in yesterday. There's even a medley of the ocarina songs, in all their mysterious, majestic glory.
Then you go through songs for all the different races of Hyrule: lighthearted and danceable for the Gorons, graceful and regal for the Zora, simple and good-natured for the Kokiri. Each song places you right in the middle of a landmark of Hyrule, all of them teeming with life and full of great secrets. You listen to the theme for the Market, and you can almost hear the bustling crowds and those two laughing guys with the red and blue shirts. You hear the Gerudo Valley theme, and suddenly you and Epona are making that epic leap across the gorge, with a thousand-foot drop to the river below. Hyrule springs to life, as vividly as possible, and you relive the greatest 64-bit adventure known to man.
Rating: 10
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Cornerstone
Album: Cornerstone
Artist: Styx
Release Year: 1979
Genres: pop-rock, arena rock
1) Lights; 2) Why Me; 3) Babe; 4) Never Say Never; 5) Boat on the River; 6) Borrowed Time; 7) First Time; 8) Eddie; 9) Love in the Midnight.
Best Song: Love in the Midnight
Yeah, I'm reviewing a Styx album. I can already hear you guys jeering at me for sinking so low, and so early in the blog at that-- not to mention that this is quite possibly their worst album. Actually, it's third-worst, ahead of those horrendous '90s releases. This one's still tolerable. Mostly.
Anyway, despite their obvious flaws, I still like Styx, and I'm going to review this incredibly mediocre pop album. That's right, people: it is not a rock record. Only the last two songs edge anywhere near "rocking," and "Eddie" is so damn embarassing I don't even count it. Hearing James Young screech pseudo-political lyrics during a very inadequate and forced-sounding song is not my idea of good music. I'm borrowing George Starostin's term "inadequate" here, and in this case I define it thus: Imagine you've been threatened by a massive biker holding a knife. You're scrawny and weak, and you've wet yourself a little. Yet you insist he leave, or you're going to beat him to a bloody pulp. That is inadequacy. See where I'm going with this?
But I digress. The rest of the album is pretty uniform, and unfortunately, Dennis DeYoung dominates. Almost all of the songs consist of pseudo-rock melodies, stripped and watered down to make bland pop anthems. All is not lost, however-- I still have two favorites on this album. "Boat on the River" is a great, European-sounding folk ditty, which apparently was very popluar across the Atlantic. I heard a recording of them playing it in Germany. The audience went crazy. Meanwhile, "Love in the Midnight" starts out with eerie medieval verses before developing into a soaring rock anthem with some actual feeling, so I guess that's a winner too.
Of course there's "Babe," the song with which the band effectively Bieberized themselves. Worse, there's "First Time," which I'm not even going to discuss. It doesn't deserve it.
Rating: 4
Artist: Styx
Release Year: 1979
Genres: pop-rock, arena rock
1) Lights; 2) Why Me; 3) Babe; 4) Never Say Never; 5) Boat on the River; 6) Borrowed Time; 7) First Time; 8) Eddie; 9) Love in the Midnight.
Best Song: Love in the Midnight
Yeah, I'm reviewing a Styx album. I can already hear you guys jeering at me for sinking so low, and so early in the blog at that-- not to mention that this is quite possibly their worst album. Actually, it's third-worst, ahead of those horrendous '90s releases. This one's still tolerable. Mostly.
Anyway, despite their obvious flaws, I still like Styx, and I'm going to review this incredibly mediocre pop album. That's right, people: it is not a rock record. Only the last two songs edge anywhere near "rocking," and "Eddie" is so damn embarassing I don't even count it. Hearing James Young screech pseudo-political lyrics during a very inadequate and forced-sounding song is not my idea of good music. I'm borrowing George Starostin's term "inadequate" here, and in this case I define it thus: Imagine you've been threatened by a massive biker holding a knife. You're scrawny and weak, and you've wet yourself a little. Yet you insist he leave, or you're going to beat him to a bloody pulp. That is inadequacy. See where I'm going with this?
But I digress. The rest of the album is pretty uniform, and unfortunately, Dennis DeYoung dominates. Almost all of the songs consist of pseudo-rock melodies, stripped and watered down to make bland pop anthems. All is not lost, however-- I still have two favorites on this album. "Boat on the River" is a great, European-sounding folk ditty, which apparently was very popluar across the Atlantic. I heard a recording of them playing it in Germany. The audience went crazy. Meanwhile, "Love in the Midnight" starts out with eerie medieval verses before developing into a soaring rock anthem with some actual feeling, so I guess that's a winner too.
Of course there's "Babe," the song with which the band effectively Bieberized themselves. Worse, there's "First Time," which I'm not even going to discuss. It doesn't deserve it.
Rating: 4
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Beautiful Freak
Album: Beautiful Freak
Artist: Eels
Release Year: 1996
Genres: alternative rock, indie rock
1) Novocaine for the Soul; 2) Susan's House; 3) Rags to Rags; 4) Beautiful Freak; 5) Not Ready Yet; 6) My Beloved Monster; 7) Flower; 8) Guest List; 9) Mental; 10) Spunky; 11) Your Lucky Day in Hell; 12) Manchild.
Best Song: Novocaine for the Soul...or anything else
I remember listening to my sister's copy of the Holes movie soundtrack (which is great, by the way), and suddenly deciding "Eyes Down" was one of my favorite songs. "Eels?" I thought. "I need more of this!" So, having decided the first album was the best place to start, I picked it up, and it immediately became one of the cornerstones of my collection.
I suppose I should explain what makes it so great. I mean, there is no musical virtuosity here. You will not find any guitar solos. It's just Mark Everett (or E, as we fans call him) and a couple of other guys singing and playing a dozen sparse but quirky almost-rock songs. But, at the risk of sounding cliche, therein lies its genius. There are no pretentions to bury E's message. In fact, the general simplicity enhances the songs. They all have this "secondhand" feel to them, which I love. There's so much character here. There's such an offbeat yet sincere beauty to this album.
It's full of this delicious irreverence, too. Listen to the little "hooray!" in "Susan's House", right before E talks about a kid selling crack. No, this is not a happy album-- look at the song titles, for crying out loud. It's all about the underdogs, the misfits, the freaks: the ones E undoubtedly identifies with. Yeah, the "outcast angst" thing has been done a million times before, but the great thing about E is that he can take those cliches and make them sound good. Example:
"Turn the ugly light off, God, don't wanna see my face...Every day they rain down on me, a flower in a hailstorm. I'm living for the drought."
That's from "Flower." Take the other lyrics by themselves and they sound childish and trite, but put them in the song and they're perfect.
I really can't think of anything negative to say about the album, except that I don't care for the title track. The whole album's a bit of a downer, sure, but hey: it's Eels. Being happy isn't in their contract.
Rating: 9
Artist: Eels
Release Year: 1996
Genres: alternative rock, indie rock
1) Novocaine for the Soul; 2) Susan's House; 3) Rags to Rags; 4) Beautiful Freak; 5) Not Ready Yet; 6) My Beloved Monster; 7) Flower; 8) Guest List; 9) Mental; 10) Spunky; 11) Your Lucky Day in Hell; 12) Manchild.
Best Song: Novocaine for the Soul...or anything else
I remember listening to my sister's copy of the Holes movie soundtrack (which is great, by the way), and suddenly deciding "Eyes Down" was one of my favorite songs. "Eels?" I thought. "I need more of this!" So, having decided the first album was the best place to start, I picked it up, and it immediately became one of the cornerstones of my collection.
I suppose I should explain what makes it so great. I mean, there is no musical virtuosity here. You will not find any guitar solos. It's just Mark Everett (or E, as we fans call him) and a couple of other guys singing and playing a dozen sparse but quirky almost-rock songs. But, at the risk of sounding cliche, therein lies its genius. There are no pretentions to bury E's message. In fact, the general simplicity enhances the songs. They all have this "secondhand" feel to them, which I love. There's so much character here. There's such an offbeat yet sincere beauty to this album.
It's full of this delicious irreverence, too. Listen to the little "hooray!" in "Susan's House", right before E talks about a kid selling crack. No, this is not a happy album-- look at the song titles, for crying out loud. It's all about the underdogs, the misfits, the freaks: the ones E undoubtedly identifies with. Yeah, the "outcast angst" thing has been done a million times before, but the great thing about E is that he can take those cliches and make them sound good. Example:
"Turn the ugly light off, God, don't wanna see my face...Every day they rain down on me, a flower in a hailstorm. I'm living for the drought."
That's from "Flower." Take the other lyrics by themselves and they sound childish and trite, but put them in the song and they're perfect.
I really can't think of anything negative to say about the album, except that I don't care for the title track. The whole album's a bit of a downer, sure, but hey: it's Eels. Being happy isn't in their contract.
Rating: 9
Rubber Soul
Album: Rubber Soul
Artist: The Beatles
Release Year: 1966
Genres: pop-rock, art-rock
1) Drive My Car; 2) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown); 3) You Won't See Me; 4) Nowhere Man; 5) Think for Yourself; 6) The Word; 7) Michelle; 8) What Goes On; 9) Girl; 10) I'm Looking Through You; 11) In My Life; 12) Wait; 13) If I Needed Someone; 14) Run for Your Life.
Best Song: In My Life
So it only took me two random song picks to come up with a Beatles album, which I guess is for the best. After all, are they not a universal standard by which we (unfairly) judge other musicians? Actually, I hope not, because then everything else would seem...well, sucky. Just be forewarned that I find it hard to write about Beatles albums-- first, because they're so uniformly good; and second, because it's all been said before.
Anyway, I've heard this album being called a defining Beatles album, apparently because it sits right between the "Beatlemania period" of the early '60s and the "artsy period" of '66 onward. I guess that's somewhat accurate, although a few listens will show that the real transition didn't come until Rubber Soul a few months later. The melodies are still fairly simple, although there is certainly an artistic touch to the songs, making them richer and fuller, although at times the album could use a little more punch. Such a transitional phase is still great listening, though. There are a few average (relatively speaking, of course) tracks in the middle, like "The Word" and "Girl," but even those are saved by some interesting instrumentation. The rest are all winners.
Take "Norwegian Wood," for example. It's so simple, yet intriguing, and the sitar compliments the whole thing perfectly. Or "In My Life," a genuinely touching tribute to those past and those we love now, with great harmonies and a piano solo. By now, I'm afraid I've said about all I can without reviewing each individual song, so I'm going to leave off here. Oh, but George's guitar licks on "Run for Your Life" are some of the coolest I've heard in a while.
Rating: 8
Artist: The Beatles
Release Year: 1966
Genres: pop-rock, art-rock
1) Drive My Car; 2) Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown); 3) You Won't See Me; 4) Nowhere Man; 5) Think for Yourself; 6) The Word; 7) Michelle; 8) What Goes On; 9) Girl; 10) I'm Looking Through You; 11) In My Life; 12) Wait; 13) If I Needed Someone; 14) Run for Your Life.
Best Song: In My Life
So it only took me two random song picks to come up with a Beatles album, which I guess is for the best. After all, are they not a universal standard by which we (unfairly) judge other musicians? Actually, I hope not, because then everything else would seem...well, sucky. Just be forewarned that I find it hard to write about Beatles albums-- first, because they're so uniformly good; and second, because it's all been said before.
Anyway, I've heard this album being called a defining Beatles album, apparently because it sits right between the "Beatlemania period" of the early '60s and the "artsy period" of '66 onward. I guess that's somewhat accurate, although a few listens will show that the real transition didn't come until Rubber Soul a few months later. The melodies are still fairly simple, although there is certainly an artistic touch to the songs, making them richer and fuller, although at times the album could use a little more punch. Such a transitional phase is still great listening, though. There are a few average (relatively speaking, of course) tracks in the middle, like "The Word" and "Girl," but even those are saved by some interesting instrumentation. The rest are all winners.
Take "Norwegian Wood," for example. It's so simple, yet intriguing, and the sitar compliments the whole thing perfectly. Or "In My Life," a genuinely touching tribute to those past and those we love now, with great harmonies and a piano solo. By now, I'm afraid I've said about all I can without reviewing each individual song, so I'm going to leave off here. Oh, but George's guitar licks on "Run for Your Life" are some of the coolest I've heard in a while.
Rating: 8
Monday, March 7, 2011
Death Walks Behind You
Album: Death Walks Behind You
Artist: Atomic Rooster
Release Year: 1971
Genres: art-rock, progressive rock
1) Death Walks Behind You; 2) VUG; 3) Tomorrow Night; 4) Streets; 5) Sleeping for Years; 6) I Can't Take No More; 7) Nobody Else; 8) Gershatzer.
Best Song: Death Walks Behind You
I have no idea what a Vug is, or a Gershatzer. I don't know what's wrong with the guy on the cover, either, but he appears to be suffering from the same thing that possesses this album, which is like the soundtrack to a nightmare. It's not pure progressive rock (the songs aren't long or complex enough), it's not straight hard rock (the songs aren't direct or accessible enough), but it does fit somewhere in between, with the band's taste for the macabre giving them some originality. The songs all have this hard, dangerous edge to them, helped in no small part by Vincent Crane's portentous delivery, and the album as a whole feels like an assault...on the hapless unseasoned listener, of course.
Check out John DuCann's ferocious guitar solo in the opening of "Sleeping for Years," for instance. It's angry, and I don't mean "jilted-lover angry" or "the Man's keeping me down angry." This is pure sadistic glee, boiling up from the primitive subconscious, and it's so damn cathartic to listen to- not to mention it predates "Eruption" by about seven years. But aside from that, there are dark, pounding riffs all over this album (especially the one in the title track), and the guys get some really nice grooves going-- some, in fact, could have made the charts. Oh, wait: ELO did that instead, ripping off the chorus of "I Can't Take No More" to make "Don't Bring Me Down." Ahh, well.
Still, I have to point out that the albums really drags in some places. "Streets" is just boring, and the instrumental "Gershatzer" is a lot less creative than its title might suggest. Sometimes they sacrifice melody and rely too much on the "scary and grotesque" schtick, which can make the songs seem plodding and clumsy. Still, the album is definitely enjoyable--assuming you can tolerate the synthesizers, of course.
Rating: 7.5
Artist: Atomic Rooster
Release Year: 1971
Genres: art-rock, progressive rock
1) Death Walks Behind You; 2) VUG; 3) Tomorrow Night; 4) Streets; 5) Sleeping for Years; 6) I Can't Take No More; 7) Nobody Else; 8) Gershatzer.
Best Song: Death Walks Behind You
I have no idea what a Vug is, or a Gershatzer. I don't know what's wrong with the guy on the cover, either, but he appears to be suffering from the same thing that possesses this album, which is like the soundtrack to a nightmare. It's not pure progressive rock (the songs aren't long or complex enough), it's not straight hard rock (the songs aren't direct or accessible enough), but it does fit somewhere in between, with the band's taste for the macabre giving them some originality. The songs all have this hard, dangerous edge to them, helped in no small part by Vincent Crane's portentous delivery, and the album as a whole feels like an assault...on the hapless unseasoned listener, of course.
Check out John DuCann's ferocious guitar solo in the opening of "Sleeping for Years," for instance. It's angry, and I don't mean "jilted-lover angry" or "the Man's keeping me down angry." This is pure sadistic glee, boiling up from the primitive subconscious, and it's so damn cathartic to listen to- not to mention it predates "Eruption" by about seven years. But aside from that, there are dark, pounding riffs all over this album (especially the one in the title track), and the guys get some really nice grooves going-- some, in fact, could have made the charts. Oh, wait: ELO did that instead, ripping off the chorus of "I Can't Take No More" to make "Don't Bring Me Down." Ahh, well.
Still, I have to point out that the albums really drags in some places. "Streets" is just boring, and the instrumental "Gershatzer" is a lot less creative than its title might suggest. Sometimes they sacrifice melody and rely too much on the "scary and grotesque" schtick, which can make the songs seem plodding and clumsy. Still, the album is definitely enjoyable--assuming you can tolerate the synthesizers, of course.
Rating: 7.5
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