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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (2 ratings)

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Public Image Ltd* - Metal Box - 23-Aug-08 10:11 AM
Imagine a cake, with heroin used as baking powder.

By far the most interesting PIL album out there, with Wobble's rhythms... well, wobbling in a weird kind of reverberating, pensive ultra-funk, and colliding with Levene's guitars in perfect visual harmony, like waves crashing on a cliff to form something that is so much more penetrating than either water or rock...
And Lydon, in top form, is the light-house in this film, floating over the music in a warbling, dream-state pitch, whining words of death, despair, and disconnect - like the nanny of your nightmares singing you a lullaby in a darkened dungeon as she puts you to sleep on a bed of sickly-sweet, sticky, foamy marshmallows...

What this amounts to is a unique fusion of dub, experimental noise, and post-punk; with gentle musical touches of atmosphere and texture decorating the landscape like splatters of paint on calm canvas.

And then, on the last part of the album, it starts jumping up and down in a hallucinogenic, half-hearted anger-fit, spouting dismembered punk bits all around the room like some bi-polar sprinkler watering the ruins of a concrete garden... before settling down for a dreamy, synth-poppy, neo-classical instrumental bit, and it's done.

Wow, it's so much pleasure to hear this album again, especially as this particular edition not only looks phenomenal with its logo-embedded canister, but also sounds terrific, unlike previous CD releases (but very much, needs to be said, like the vinyl one I've spent many a Codeine-infused night listening to).

Whether a punk, electronic, Dub, Funk, or Experimental Art-Rock fan - you really have to have this album on your shelf, preferably as either this edition or the vinyl release.

Beautiful.

Alternative Tentacles (2) - 13-Jul-08 08:57 AM
This label does NOT exist, and has had only one release (Jello Biafra With Plainfield). The EP was released as a revenge prank on Biafra / AT by Smelly Mustafa, who went through the effort of creating an entirely believable - but fake - cover, including an AT catalog number and all the rest. However, since the album was not actually an AT release, it should not be listed as such - hence AT (2).

His Name Is Alive - Mouth By Mouth - 29-Mar-08 11:59 AM
Wow, I hated this album. The first time I heard it. I thought it was a cluttered, pretentious mess, and that the parts that do work are dragged down by the tedium of the rest – most – of it. The vocal delivery aloof and uninterested, the lyrics moronic, the style indecisive and the attempts at grandeur over-calculated.

Proving that this is not the album to listen to when you’re tired, hungry (I get easily irritated then) and looking for some easy, accessible background noise to pass some time while playing ‘Bubbles Deluxe’. This is music to decipher and study. This is audio art.

Which I got on the second and third listens, that I felt I had to give this thing in the first place because despite my initial irritation, I did find the album haunting me afterwards; the echoes indicated that it wasn’t put together by someone who didn’t know what they were doing, and maybe – just maybe – it’s would be a worthwhile thing to get back to once I’ve slept, eaten, and was cerebrally available enough to give it the mind-set it demanded.

And those demands are more than you can say about much, much music, which is more preoccupied with selling you on the short-term than even attempting a challenge to your delicate predispositions. So while yes, this is experimental music and almost by definition not all of the experiments contained herein work; and yes, like anything with artistic aspirations it truly depends on how much the viewer or listener is open to the end product and the ideas behind it, on either an emotional or intellectual level; and oh yes, like too much contemporary art there is a better chance to enjoy or understand this work the more informed you are about the background matter; while this is all true, if not always successful on its own terms, this is a pretty damn good and definitely interesting album.

In the strongest moments, you get a kaleidoscope of styles and influences filtered, skewed, and molded into surprisingly coherent dreamy alternative rock; there are flavors of Japanese music, Psychedelia, guitar monster-mash, dream-pop, 60’s pop, Goth, Folk – you name it, it’s there somewhere. At times this multitude of genres seems more shoehorned than organic (Sick), as if the main imperative was to avoid being ‘traditional’ at all costs; the attempts at atonal noise end up more irritating than stimulating (Drink, Dress, And Ink; Can't Go Wrong Without You); and on the other hand, when they go for a more traditional approach the results can be slightly, well, traditional (Blue Moon); the lyrics veer from overly obtuse (Ear) to utterly poetic (the exceedingly beautiful Lemon Ocean), but for the most part stay somewhere in between, peeking out at you from behind an intentionally simplistic veil; the vocals, for the most part, are a less angelic Julee Cruise – make of it what you will, but I’d call it 4AD house-style.

When it does work, it produces strong and fascinating music well worth returning to; The Dirt Eaters provide well-received, material-elevating guitars on multiple tracks – shining examples are the opening Alt-romp (Baby Fish Mouth); the semi-closer (The Torso) in which the guitars evoke images of a Scottish army bagpipe division on the march; and the well-deservedly titled final track (The Dirt Eaters), a dreamy slice of rock which erupts into a symphonic psychedelic wail.

So on the whole, despite not always living up to its own expectations, at least the album really does place expectations – and high ones, at that – on itself; and while I still prefer the less deliberate, more deep-rooted lunacy of, say, The Residents (or the stylistically-kaleidoscopic emotional dementia of later 80’s Foetus), I ended up really liking this album despite its shortcomings. Give it a go.

In a sentence: More intellectual than emotional, with substantial artistic merit, and considerable integrity.

Fun Lovin' Criminals - Welcome To Poppy's - 26-Mar-08 11:37 AM
Considering they emerged within a horde of other faceless and long-since evaporated bands blending hip-hop, soul, alternative and other rock, blues and country-beats - - that FLC are even around for a fifth album demonstrates they are either moronically tenacious, unbelievably lucky, or simply good at what they do.

There is something to be valued about their uncomplicated, sincere way of doing things; musically, while not unsophisticated to begin with and developing steadily throughout the albums, honing their craft and expanding their influences, they have never let this progress interfere with their captivating formula, but rather have painlessly assimilated it and simply improved while retaining what worked in the first place. Lyrically, while any pretensions to gangsterism are absurd and thus well served by Huey’s conspicuous sense of comedy (I doubt he could actually muster enough energy to hackle a scumbag politician on TV, let alone commit any crime other than smoke dope - if you still consider this harmless relaxation method to be a jail-worthy felony), and while any analysis of "This Sick World" should be left to someone better equipped to deal with such (or any) grave matters – they do have to sing about something, and in these cases one gets the feeling that Huey is mostly channeling people he met, knew, or observed rather than telling it like he experienced it on any mean streets he may have accidentally encountered, while being perfectly frank about his pleasantly self-gratifying lifestyle otherwise.

While the album kind of loses momentum on its last third or so, it never descends to tedium, due to the straight-forward, crisp production and accomplished musicianship; and scattered amid the established FLC blends, you will find well executed ventures into approximately cohesive Ska-Punk (Lost It All), House Of Pain territory (You Got A Problem), and heavy metal (Baby) – all stirred to perfectly chilled temperature by Huey’s laid-back vocals, no matter how aggressively the band rocks around him.

You really get the feeling that these guys would be just as content – and just as appropriately featured – in a small pub, medium club, or giant stadium; and in these days of preposterous pretentiousness, overwhelming deliberate ignorance, and overlabored production – FLC’s approach is a breeze of smooth sanity and a welcome measure of smiling, Fonziesque cool.

If you’ve never liked them before, there will be nothing here to change your mind; if you do enjoy them regularly or casually, there will be nothing here to put you off; and if you are not acquainted with them, this is as good a place to start as any, and you can easily find this album for a very decent price, too.

In a sentence: all around good, entertaining, groovy fun.

Helloween - Metal Jukebox - 24-Mar-08 07:18 AM
Best to start off by saying I'm neither a Helloween connoisseur, nor much of a power/speed metal fan; infact, the only attraction here for me was the tracklist - an ambitious affair for most parts, consisting mainly of songs noted for powerful, heart-felt, character-driven and distinctive delivery; so sue me for thinking that this could, potentially, be an interesting listen.
Woefully, it turns out that at best those intriguing choices get the band some merit in the big balls department – but, more realistically, they (and especially their singer) should really check out 'overreaching' in a dictionary.

Let's begin with the worst of it: a disposable cover of He's A Woman, She's A Man (Scorpions) and an anemic From Out Of Nowhere (Faith no more), one of FNM's most boring songs to begin with, and tragically lacking their inherent comprehension of groove.

Almost not as bad are Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull) - an ill advised choice, performed with a clichéd, 'Very Metal', attempt at intimidating vocals, thus lacking Ian Anderson's anguished delivery; also, the flute-cum-guitar-solo is a jumbled afterthought mess instead of the compelling highlight it could - and should - have been.
Proving that not all surprises are good ones, Space Oddity (David Bowie) is astoundingly straight-forward all around; alas, this choice is purpose-defeating at best (and artistically poor in fact) as the one reason to make this album would have been to imbue the songs with a personal signature; due to the singer’s limitations, the vocal delivery - again - lacks Bowie's charm and persuasion, and given their technical competence, the group’s undeviating recital is utterly pointless.
All My Loving (Beatles) is amusing in a much-too-predictable 'speed metal does Beatles' kind of way, but ultimately nothing more than that (nice backing vocals, though).
Hocus Pocus (Focus) dramatically lacks the insane joyfulness, abandon and precision of Thijs Van Leer's original vocals, but it does have a redeeming, great guitar solo; however, it remains entirely too close to the original, and would have been much better served if sped up and considerably metalized.

Almost good are Juggernaut (Frank Marino) - I'm unfamiliar with the original, but taken at face value this is a perfectly fine metal song, so let it lie; White Room (Cream) is a pretty enjoyable, almost personal rendition all round - except for the 'chorus' parts which are way too indecisive, bordering on wimpy.
The Mexican (Babe Ruth) is adapted quite a bit, and on its own terms - again - is a perfectly good metal track (with exceptional guitar parts, by the way, which surpass the original by far). But... if you want to see where this version - and indeed this entire album - is lacking, check out Youtube for a 1974 live version by the original band, and compare vocals. Like an alley cat versus a lab-mouse, I think you’ll find

The best of it is a truly excellent Faith Healer (Alex Harvey), and a surprisingly brilliant Lay All Your Love On Me (Abba) – a glamorous Pop-Metal tune that improves on the original by light-years; though, to be frank, considering the lame source a great artistic achievement this is not. Still - great job on this one, so credit where it is due – Helloween rock better than Abba.

So: as an album - this doesn't really say anything other than "hey kids, we're a metal band and we're doing these songs, ain’t it zany?" which bizarrely turns it into a concept album of sorts, however misguided; and while the singer is agreeably versatile in technical styling, there is a constant lack of emotional character on his part, which begs the question of why in god's name they chose these particular tracks, given that their frontman has got such a pale vocal personality compared to the original performers? Was it a prank on the band's part? Was Mr. singer's ego getting too big?
And the pranksters themselves, while very technically capable throughout, are mostly neither creative nor very interesting - so why the hell did anyone bother with the effort? Make it a 4-track E.P and go on holiday.

In a sentence - looks like they had fun making this, but whether or not anyone else should be subjected to it is entirely depending on how much of a Helloween fan they already are.

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