Category: Albums


Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising

Filed Under: Albums, Lee, Reviews by Lee — Leave a comment
October 3, 2010

September 11th, 2001 was a pretty low point in our nation’s history. It took us a long time to come back from over 3000 dead in a single day, but believe it or not some good came out of the catastrophe in the coming weeks. Americans found themselves more united than they had been in previous years, and that perseverance provided inspiration for some stirring post-tragedy music. (Though if you count “Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning” by Alan Jackson among them, you’re a disappointment to your species.)

The Rising by Bruce SpringsteenThe Rising was among the music released, and it served as a new turning point in Bruce Springsteen’s career. The man was deeply affected by the tragedy of 9/11, and recorded this 2002 album with the intent of capturing the emotions that he and others like him had felt after the grisly event. The album goes through numerous emotions, from fury (The quiet, but intense “Nothing Man”) to hope for the future, (The uplifting “Waitin’ On A Sunny Day”) to an overwhelming sense of loss. (The somber “Into The Fire”, which has gone on to be one of the most enduring songs of the aftermath.)

What set The Rising apart from many other albums influenced by the events of 9/11, is despite the tone, it remains unconfrontational. Springsteen thinks nothing of revenge, (I’m looking at you, Toby Keith.) instead encouraging to rise above the animosity felt after the events, and come together. No song best encapsulates this message better than 7th track, “Worlds Apart”, which features Islamic Qawwali music as backing. A symbolic gesture, backed up by Springsteen’s powerful rock sound.

More than being a powerful post-9/11 album, is marked several milestones in Springsteen’s career. Before releasing The Rising, he hadn’t released an album of new material since 1995s The Ghost of Tom Joad, and it had been even longer since his last collaboration with his famous backing group, the E Street Band. (The last album of original material they’d made together was 1992s Human Touch.) The Rising not only brought Springsteen and the E Street Band back together writing material, but it became a widespread success for them, becoming their bestselling album since 1987s Tunnel of Love.

It revitalized Springsteen’s career, and to this day the tracks of The Rising stand as some of Springsteen’s most powerful, and most poignant of all his works.

The Highlights:

Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Playing LiveThe opening track “Lonesome Day”, which serves as a powerful, hard-rocking, yet elegant introduction of things to come. Guitars, violins, and saxophones blare in unison as the Boss declares: “It’ll be okay…if I can just get through this Lonesome Day.”

The album’s mighty closer “My City Of Ruins”, a song originally written about Asbury Park, but now resonates more deeply with New York, largely because of Springsteen’s powerful performance of it which opened the America: A Tribute To Heroes telethon. An extremely sad song, made glorious by Springsteen’s call to rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

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Almost Calm: Visitor by onelinedrawing

Filed Under: Albums, Reviews, Steve by Steve — 1 Comment
May 27, 2010

I don’t know why Jonah can’t seem to settle down with a band, but despite the number of people he has worked with and the amount of adaptation that requires, he has managed to impress in a number of different genres. This album is more solo-acoustic than New End Original or Far, but it is a prime example of the quality that goes into Jonah Matranga’s music endeavors.

Visitor by onelinedrawingThe beginning of the entire Visitor album starts out with an almost cliché feedback intro, but it doesn’t feel tacky in the context of the song. The feedback sound reappears throughout the rest it in appropriate parts as it builds up emotionally. I wouldn’t have picked a different song to start out with, though; it’s a great example of what you’ll be hearing in the rest of the album. “Bitte Ein Kuss” picks things up a bit, and introduces the drum machine, known as Are Too for aesthetic reasons. “But It Was Close” has similar instrumentation to the opening track, but with a piano coming in near the end to help build up the ending.

“Smile” almost stands out too much on this album. It’s a great song, but it’s the only blatantly “happy” song on the album. It’s the only thing that notably breaks up the flow of the entire album, but if you have to do that on an album, this is how it’s done. Are Too comes back for drum machine duty on “Perfect Pair” as well, and is accompanied by an interesting lo-fi acoustic guitar track. “Candle Song” is another acoustic track like “But It Was Close” or “Why Are We Fighting”; one of the less notable songs on the album, but not a track to skip.

“Yr Letter” appears to be a fan favorite, and possibly the emotionally strongest song on the album. It’s also one of the few songs on this album that sounds better live (There’s quite a powerful rendition on Jonah’s CD/DVD There’s A Lot In Here), but the studio version isn’t lacking much. “Visitor” is the only track I don’t like much on the album; it’s short, and there are noises in the background that aren’t particularly musical, though they aren’t too distracting. The lyrics are interesting, but short enough to make you wonder if it was added for the sake of a longer track list.

Next comes my personal favorite song from the album, “Softbelly”, which has the most appealing chilled-out guitar playing on the album. The final track, “Sixes”, isn’t too far behind in that category, either. The outtro to this song would have made a great ending to just about any album, but it finishes this album particularly well, like you have reached the end of a journey, and if you listened to Visitor from start to finish, you have.

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Buckethead’s Shadows Between The Sky

Filed Under: Albums by Mac — Leave a comment
February 11, 2010

shadows-between-the-sky-coverBuckethead: the questionably-sane acoustic savant. Legend has it, he hasn’t spoken a word for 20 years, but apparently he has a lot to say, as he easily puts out 4 to 5 albums per year, and is now approaching a 125-album legacy. He was guitarist for Guns N’ Roses once. At concerts he dances the robot, shows off his nunchaku skill, and trades garbage bag amounts of toys with his fans.

Shadows Between the Sky is so good. My heart skipped listening to “Sled Ride”, and a little piece melted clean off during “Sunken Statue”. Shadows Between the Sky is a work of ambience and slow emotion. The quality of recording and mastering is superb, with all the detail of a cymbal tap or plectrum pluck preserved in impressive clarity.

The title track is probably the most recognizable of any track on the album. I don’t know exactly what technique he uses on the guitar when the song picks up, but it’s distinctive Buckethead and sounds really cool.

“Sled Ride” and “Wax Paper” are the quickest tempo tracks on the album, while “Walk on the Moon” sounds much like a track off Acoustic Shards, or Electric Tears.

Buckethead LiveThis album is notably clean. If he has a distortion or gain knob on his amp, he definitely didn’t touch it. There are never more than three instruments playing at once, but adding any more layers would seem to only muddy up the track.

One more thing about this album is that it flows really well. Even though all the tracks end in silence, and they don’t intentionally merge into one another, if you’re not paying attention, it really feels like the music is just going on and on.

Ultimately, this album deserves its spot among the list of Essential Buckethead, along with Electric Tears, Enter the Chicken, Decoding the Tomb of Bansheebot, and Colma. I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us next in 2010.

To purchase Buckethead’s music straight from friend Travis Dickerson’s label, go to TDRSMusic.com.

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Panic When You Find It By Young And Sexy

Filed Under: Albums, Reviews, Steve by Steve — Leave a comment
December 17, 2009

young-and-sexy-panic-when-you-find-it-album-coverPanic When You Find It is one of those albums that can be just harmonic noise in the background or something you can really get into, depending on how much attention you give it. The guitar tones are usually clear, and the times distortion is used, it is done so sparingly and creatively. The entire album is the sort of music you listen to by yourself when you want to chill out, but don’t want to slowly drift into sleep.

young-and-sexy-groupMost of the songs will sound the same when you first hear them. Unless this is the sort of music you listen to all the time, you probably won’t be able to name each song when you hear it, but a few songs do stand out enough to keep most people interested. The songs vary in length more than they do instrumentally; “Turn On Your Weakness” comes in at just under two minutes, while “Without Your Love” passes the five minute mark.

young-and-sexy-acousticTwo songs from this album, “Your Enemy’s Asleep” and “5/4“, have some brass sections in them which are the most soothing use of that type of instrument I have heard produced in modern music. While Young And Sexy is a much more popular group, they are musically very much like Cold Sides, the main difference being the mood and vocals.

young-and-sexy-liveSome people will absolutely love this music; It didn’t happen for me, but the talent is surely there. Give Young And Sexy‘s third album a full listen and you might find yourself putting the whole thing on repeat next time you feel like doing nothing at all.

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Grinspoon’s Six To Midnight

Filed Under: Albums, Reviews, Shane by Shane — 1 Comment
December 11, 2009

grinspoon-six-to-midnightAfter Alibis And Other Lies failed to truly impress me with its silly and outdated pastiche of arena rock and Australian folk blues, I began to lose hope in probably one of my favorite international bands of all time. After making their masterpieces Easy and New Detention, the latter significant enough to eventually earn a spot on a list of my favorite “great” albums, they had reverted to making music for the lowest common denominator, starting with 2004′s mediocre Thrills, Kills, & Sunday Pills. I thought that Grinspoon was going to be a pop band from now on and when I heard about Six to Midnight over the weekend, I had extremely low hopes for it. I thought it was going to be the same uncomfortable folk blues and pop-rock of Alibis… but with production by Rick Will (Incubus, some production work on Morning View). My fears were stilled with the release of the first single “Comeback”, but my fears soon came back – the song was just more Triple J fodder by a once-decorated alternative rock band. However, I have to think my persistence to download the album (it is nowhere to be found in America, save for international retailers). Without it, I would not have known that this album is a well-written comeback for Grinspoon, a successful return to the sound found on New Detention.

grinspoonThe album is basically 45 minutes of the classic Grinspoon sound (even Phil Jamieson, known in the USA for writing two Unwritten Law songs that received radio play, implements his raspy scream a bit on this album) along with stuff that was discovered in the later period post-New Detention. For example, in “Dogs”, Phil combines both the old sound with the new vocals while retaining the still-nonsensical-yet-worthy-of-Faulkner lyrics. That song, due to an early leak, made me think that it was going to be another “Black Tattoo” (lead single from Alibis and Other Lies); another good song found within the rubbish of forgettable pastiche. However, tracks following it, including the single “Comeback” and the deep cut “Tonight”, retain that sound; the mix between the old and the new. The album, with that mixture in place, makes it seem as if a war is happening in my headphones: a war between pop vocals and metal hooks without the shady transitions of Maximum The Hormone. It is definitely a far cry from “Minute by Minute”.

grinspoon-phil-jamiesonAs many fans have stated, this album is basically that same sound for twelve tracks, which makes it a bit bland. However, that sound reminds me a bit of Easy, where every song had distortion and drop-D tuning. The fans were probably comparing the album to the “variety” found on Alibis And Other Lies, which was mediocre at best, and seeing that there wasn’t much of it to be found here. Well, fans who want to hear another “Minute by Minute”: you’re not going to discover it. You will discover another “Find Your Own Way” (“Give You More”, a very impressive alt-blues song reminiscent of Thrills’ “Enemy”) and another “Chemical Heart” (“Summer”, but without the depressing drug abuse undertones), but no catchy pop songs with memorable hooks. Instead, Pat Davern has concocted alt-metal songs with catchy hooks (“Premonitions”, “Dogs”, “Run”, “Tonight”) – he’s probably tired of all the pop music as I am. As for the lyrics, some songs are a little more blunt in nature (“Comeback” is basically about the pressures of fame and “Premonitions” is about what fame can do to one’s stress) while some are still on that line between silly and genius due to Phil’s writing style (“Dogs”, “Tonight”, “Summer”). They have not really changed a bit since 1997′s Guide to Better Living (and, to me, Phil’s best song lyrically was “Railrider” from that same album, itself a scathing view of religious hypocrisy in the modern era).

If I were to choose songs that I would want you to check out before downloading or purchasing the album, I would say that you would check out “Dogs”, “Comeback”, and “Summer”. Those songs, with Pat’s quality control and Phil’s pop-worthy vocals, are probably the catchiest Grinspoon songs I have heard since the New Detention era. There’s no doubt that I approve of this album. Even when I compare this to a benchmark album (i.e. Trout Mask Replica or The Chicago Transit Authority), it still makes high scores. Grinspoon not only have outdone themselves on their comeback; they did twice that and even kept traces of their experimental albums for those pop fans.

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No More Stories From Mew

Filed Under: Albums, Reviews, Sean by Sean — Leave a comment
November 22, 2009

mew-no-more-storiesThose sad little Danish boys are at it again, and after an album as epic as And The Glass Handed Kites it was easy to get excited about what Mew would do next. This record isn’t quite as epic as their last, and not nearly as poppy as the ones that came before, but still an interesting listen in it’s own right. I got this album on Saturday and intended on writing the review the same night, but I played the record a good four times that night and found myself ignoring most of it. Two days and a dozen or so listens later, it has since grown on me, but it took some time. The majority of this review was written on Sunday, before I had developed a greater appreciation for the album, though most of my feelings expressed in this review still stand.

No More Stories starts off with a very strange, interesting, and confusing piece of production fun. A song which sounds as if it were composed backwards. Turns out this song has another hidden song called “Nervous”, layered over it in reverse. This effect gives this track an interesting (albeit difficult to listen to) effect, but the fact that there is a hidden track layered over it fascinates me. Some amazing band work and production went into making this/these track(s), so it’s a shame that this track is such a difficult listen in it’s entirety. A bad idea for an opener if you ask me, but clever enough to make it on the album. I believe it should have been one of those hidden tracks that you have to rewind from track one to hear, but it is still an amazing piece of engineering that deserves to make the record, there was apparently just no real comfortable place to put it.

mew-2009-no-more-stories-reviewThe second track “Introducing Place Players” is the first “real” song on the album, and it is indeed amazing, with off beat guitar and drums channeling the memories Fugazi, or Shudder To Think. When the vocals kick in the song pushes you into the deepest depths of beauty, begging you to drown (and you’ll want to, it’s lovely). This song left me with much excitement, “Mew DID do something different for this record…” I thought, “…and it’s great!”. However, as the album played on, I felt most of the songs were just filler. Though they are all lovely in their own right, most of the tracks are easily ignorable until you come to the final actual song on the album, “Sometimes Life Isn’t Easy” which is a great closer, and wonderful song in it’s own right, calling back the feel of their third album Frengers. It really stands out on it’s own, with an interesting clap track in the background that is so unpredictable, I couldn’t possibly see a crowd clapping along to it properly during a concert. Since most of the songs on the record don’t have poppy hooks, and lots of the tracks tend to sound the same, this is one of the few songs on the album that I could see becoming a single.

mew-bandAnyone who has been following these guys for sometime know that their first three records were very poppy and brilliant, and their fourth And The Glass Handed Kites was an epic masterpiece. This album takes the epic style they found with And The Glass Handed Kites but dismantles it and rebuilds it into something a little uglier. The songs don’t bleed together like the last album and while this one seems to try and have a concept to it, (there are two interludes on the record, a closing instrumental reprise, and the song “Hawaii” has an intro track called “Hawaii Dream”, the lyrics of which gave birth to the album’s title) the concept seems to fall short by lack of any real story telling, or musical theme. There is still plenty of experimentation with interesting time signatures, something Mew has always done, but they all seem to muddle themselves together on this record, with most tracks lacking in power and effectiveness, and focusing more on ambiance and beauty.

It is really hard to say everything about this record that needs to be said. I am probably making this album out to sound worse than it really is. IT IS NOT A BAD RECORD, IT IS A GOOD RECORD! I guess I had convinced myself it would be something even more powerful and amazing than their last album, and in all honesty that is an impossible attempt. A good example of this would be when Smashing Pumpkins followed Mellon Collie with Adore. Many fans were confused and disappointed, but that didn’t mean Adore was a bad record, it’s just not possible to top a masterpiece.

All in all it is still a wonderful record, with really good songs vaguely hidden between beautiful filler, and even though it is an enjoyable listen, as a Mew fan I found it to be a bit disappointing. Other fans of the band are sure to enjoy it, but not to many will consider it there favorite, and it will probably take quite a few listens to appreciate if you are new to their style. If you are a fan of dreamy bands like Jeniferever, Ride, or Mazzy Star, then give it a spin. I don’t see why anyone couldn’t enjoy this record, but it is still not Mew’s best. If you have never heard this guys before, I’d recommend listening to the Frengers album or And The Glass Handed Kites before this one.

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The Capes Say Hello

Filed Under: Albums, Reviews, Steve by Steve — Leave a comment
November 18, 2009

hello-the-capesThe synthesizer-rock combo is nothing new to the music scene, so you’d expect the bands that try their hand at it in this point of time wouldn’t come off as awkward. The Capes constantly blend catchy with annoying in Hello. All was well in the mix until the synthesizers and effects were added; not all of it was bad, but a considerable amount was.

the-capes-say-helloSome of their songs were more effect laden, like “Francophile“, which suffered from quality-hindering voice effects and the occasional digital “Wah, wah” voice. I can see this song either being a favorite or least favorite, depending on if this type of music is what you can enjoy frequently. Other songs weren’t composed with a bad synth track, but in songs like “Stately Homes”, the synthesizer in the mix was overpowering.

It wasn’t that they didn’t know how to use electronic sounds in music, though. They mixed “Carly (Goddess of Death)” and “First Base” very well, keeping the synthesizer notable when needed and not dropping the guitar off the mix radar.

the-capes-helloAnother notable characteristic most of the songs has was a very tinny guitar sound, similar to that of many Franz Ferdinand songs. They did use a variety of guitar tones, but the sound only made the song more catchy and hard to listen to; catchy in the way they played it, annoying in the note progression.

The most notable and pleasing song on the album was the final track, “Sun Roof“, where they didn’t try too hard to be catchy, overwork the synth, or use any fast-paced lyrics which barely caught my attention. It was soothing, slow, and a great way to finish an album. I only wish they had tried that with more of their songs.

The guitar playing was decent, and the vocals didn’t stand out in any way. The Capes aren’t bad musicians, it just didn’t work out on this record.

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