47 total search results — Page 1 of 3
Daft Punk – Human After All
Review — May 11, 2005
Considering the phalanx of albums due for release, and with previous offering Discovery bringing all the musical vision and ingenuity of a series of polyphonic ring-tones, Human After All found itself rated rather low on my list of desires and expectations for the first half of 2005. Being honest, I …
VNV Nation – Matter + Form
Review — May 28, 2005
In my experience there are generally three kinds of album. The first, and most commonly encountered, is the one that has little musical merit. The second, and less ubiquitous, is one that has good songs and forms a combined piece. The third and final is the most rare of all. …
The Pogues – Ultimate Collection
Review — June 10, 2005
I've never really been a fan of "best of..." collections. Too much of the time, they are released mid-career without justification or necessity, or to fill an unusually long gap between albums. Even more often, they are used as cynical marketing ploys, or worse, in order to milk the cash …
System of a Down – Mezmerize
Review — June 18, 2005
Let me begin with a disclaimer. I don't mean to rant, but in general, I hate political bands. I can't stand political bands. I can't stand them because, generally, when they aren't misinformed fools popularizing redundant attitudes, they are sententious idiots that are just as misguided as victims of their …
The Nothing / Send More Paramedics – North of England, South of Heaven
Review — June 24, 2005
There's not really that many instances I can think of where I could use the words; "hardcore", "thrash metal" and "zombies" in the same sentence to refer to something good. In fact, I'm not even sure I can think of many instances when I'd ever use those words in the …
Sons and Daughters – The Repulsion Box
Review — July 8, 2005
So... that whole selling out thing. Can someone tell me what it actually means? Growing up listening to punk music, I always found that it was almost synonymous with signing to a major label, or about how many records the band sells. Generally, selling out was a popularity thing, and …
Idlewild – Warnings / Promises
Review — July 21, 2005
In 2002, Bob Fairfoul walked out of Idlewild with a rain of misdirected punches. From that moment, it seemed impossible that the next album would be anything other than either a return to an older, easier sound, or a radical change. When bassist Gavin Fox from Irish band Turn and …
Frostmourn – Fall of Lordaron
Review — August 2, 2005
Contrary to what anyone may think, writing an unbiased review is actually a pretty difficult process. I mean, when it comes to certain bands that you may have liked for years, that whole impartiality thing is a lot harder to come by than for a band you've never heard of …
Psyclon 9 – I.N.R.I.
Review — September 8, 2005
Look in the middle of the booklet of I.N.R.I.. Right there in the center of the middle page, staring up at you is a little caption. This little caption says, 'Why should I believe if God's not here to save me?' This is how the album begins, with multi-repetitions …
Scum – Gospels for the Sick
Review — October 9, 2005
The moment Shannon Larkin walked out of Amen and into Godhead, or Godsmack, or whatever the fuck awful band with 'God' in their name it was that he walked into, Casey Chaos was turned into that much maligned Dani Filth-esque character. You know the type, right? The ones that float …
Dead Blonde Girlfriend – Dead Blonde Girlfriend
Review — November 14, 2005
Joie Blaney is, or at least, was a musical anomaly. Under the guise of Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend, he plays an acoustic guitar faster and louder than any punk band. He sings his songs with the soul of a poet and with the voice of a cement mixer. He writes …
Green Day – Bullet in a Bible
Review — November 25, 2005
You could almost imagine the epitaph on Green Day's headstone from the moment Reprise got into the whole contract-fulfilling kiss-of-death releases that beset Green Day just this side of the turn of the millennium. A "best of" collection and then the certain doom of the "rarities" compilation followed in quick …
System of a Down – Hypnotize
Review — December 2, 2005
It's official. System of a Down can't spell. I'm sorry to any Americans out there who like to get involved with this whole using a "zed" instead of an "ess" thing, but they can't. And yes, I did say "zed," none of that "zee" crap either. Let's face it. America …
The Darkness – One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back
Review — December 13, 2005
There's not much worse than a bad joke, unless it's a bad joke that just won't go away. Let's face it, there are only so many times you can hear that joke about Michael Jackson and the Pope in a plane and with the punch line being about fucking kids, …
Bunyan, Vashti – Lookaftering
Review — December 21, 2005
If you go to the Guinness World Records Website and type in, "Longest time between albums", you get a message that says, "Can't find what you're looking for? This site features only a selection of the 40,000 records in the Guinness World Records database." In other words, they are saying …
Girls Aloud – Chemistry
Review — January 5, 2006
Tits 'n' arse, right? Well, yeah, that's basically what it's all about. Skinny girls showing their skinny flesh to not-so-skinny girls and pubescent boys who are sitting at home, pretending to make out with the one girl that's unfortunate enough to appear on a poster with her mouth open. Tits …
Anti-Flag – For Blood and Empire
Review — April 2, 2006
Nizlopi – Half These Songs are About You
Review — January 18, 2006
There's only one place this review can start, and that's with the song "JCB". A delicate, soft pop song with innocent lyrics, drawing on all the heroes and protective influences of childhood. Placid guitars, a relaxed voice and with an air of sitting under the one grey cloud on a …
Cat Power – The Greatest
Review — February 3, 2006
As Forrest Gump so nearly once said, "Cat Power is a lot like a box of chocolates..." From the disparities in her albums, songs ranging from the brilliant to the banal, her now infamous appearances in the live arena, and her erratic behavior that somehow seems to tag along behind …
