music album review thread!

[Hooahguy]

ok,since there is one for movies, why not for new music albums!


Sound of Madness Shinedown
my grade: A

this is an excellent album, even if you only like shinedown a little bit. almost every song is worth listening to, and.... its just a very good album.
i suggest you look on youtube for the songs "sound of madness" and "what a shame" to get a feel of what this album is about.

Death Magnetic Metallica
my grade B+

decent album. nothing really in there is like Master of Puppets, but songs like "all nightmare long" and "my apocalypse" really proves that while they may be old, its worth getting.

Indestructible Disturbed
my grade: B+/A-

couldnt really decide whether it was an A- or a B+. some very good songs, especially the title track ("Indestructible") and "inside the fire," and its worthy to mention "run." as well. all in all, a good album.

Chinese Democracy Guns N' Roses
my grade: C/C-

in shirt, after i listened to this album once or twice, i cheered myself up with some older GnR. the only decent song was the title track, IMO. if you are a die-hard GnR fan, then get it, but dont be upset at me if you are disgusted by it.

[Thermal]

nice idea, i will contribute



Grade B
A rather predictable mixture of rap and rock, though having said that, they are very good song, angry too, in some parts of there songs it sounds like there voice-box will explode, a lot of vocal effort, but nothing particularly unique in song

samples
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=M2MhH6mBg58
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wjBZh-yRmkc




Grade A
A mix of symphonic bass and many other instruments, all songs are incredably long and enjoyable with long musical parts, with most songs having some vocal too, a good variety of creative and very listenable songs, all have strong beats and energy

samples

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=zENtEumtyBI
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WPbeEtjo70g




Grade B+
I'm sure htis music won't be too most of your tastes, though i think shes the most individual solo artist around at the moment, a mix of manga hip hop and furtuistic pop makes this album versatile and colourful, many songs have amazing uniqueness and addictive to listen to, however parts of her CD see songs that seem very lazy, and perhaps a little boring at times, though the good outweigh the bad substantially

samples
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=uBa1AojTCMo
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3vfLvZCdT9g

[Hooahguy]

Black Ice AC/DC
my grade: B+

not older AC/DC, but still pretty good.

[Lord Winter]

Cynic - Traced in Air

Traced in Air is, the Progressive Metal band, cynic's second release. For those unfamiliar with cynic, the band is well known for fusing together Jazz and metal flawlessly. Traced in air moves away from the technical death metal influences of there first release and into a more melodic advant grade experimental aproach. Unlike other bands that try this rout, traced in air brings the band to new creative hights. The vocals are mainly robotic v-coder and while it takes a while to get used to soon fits into the picture. Overall the album is excellent, however it is slightly front loaded, the second half isn't bad its just more experimental with mixed results. Another weakness is the length, clocking in at 34 minutes the album could use some more songs.

A: 93%


Sample https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fhVLykF3nU

[Hooahguy]

Sickness Disturbed
my grade: A-

in short, very good album- a must get if you like disturbed.

[Hooahguy]

...And Justice for All Metallica

my grade: A-

a very good album, some songs i dont really like, but almost all songs are really good.

Ride the Lightning Metallica

my grade: A

KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Reverend Joe]

Get off my property.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Hooahguy]

ok, its back.

St. Anger (Metallica)
grade: A-

ok, not traditional Metallica, but its a very angry album, and i sort of like it, esp St. Anger, Frantic and Some kind of Monster.

ill be reviewing a slew of Iron Maiden albums later on.

[johnhughthom]

How can you rate St. Anger as equal to ...And Justice for All??? Madness, One alone makes Justice the better album. Metallica ceased to exist after the black album in my view.

[Hooahguy]

i didnt like St Anger at all until i watch the documentary Some Kind of Monster. after that, i actually got an appreciation for it. also, with the turmoil in my personal life right now, all the anger in it fits really well.
also, i didnt like AJFA. the songs were way too repetitive.
but no, St. Anger cant compare with RtL or MoP.

[Vuk]

A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles
A+
Help! - The Beatles
A+
Rubber Soul - The Beatles
C+
Revolver - The Beatles
B
In Blue - The Corrs
B+/A

[Vuk]

Talk on Corners - The Corrs
A
Forgiven, Not Forgotten - The Corrs
A
Borrowed Heaven - The Corrs
B
Home - The Corrs
C+/B
Ten Feet High - Andrea Corr
D/C-

[CountArach]

Supporting Caste by Propagandhi



Propagandhi are a band of self-described Anarchists who play what they call "Progressive Thrash" and this album is closer to that than any of their previous releases. The songs cover a broad range of political themes from the equation of sport and nationalism in Dear Coach's Corner [LANGUAGE WARNING] to People's History in Supporting Caste and veganism in Human(e) Meat [LANGUAGE WARNING]. The songs are loud and unapologetic, with rolling drum beats and quick, catchy guitar riffs backing up the screams of the lead singer. Without a doubt Propagandhi's best work so far and you can see how much they have developed as a band since their very early days when they were almost Ska-ish.

Obviously the politics will not be to everyone's taste, but if you can look past that then it is some good, solid Thrash.

Rating: A-

[Hooahguy]

A Matter of life and Death Iron Maiden

this is one kick- album! it matches up to their older albums, and its one of the only albums that they played every song in concert. some amazing songs in it are "these colours dont run," and "for the greater good of god."

Iron Maiden has aged very well, and you can really tell much difference between "a matter of life and death" and "Peice of Mind"
must get if you like Iron Maiden.

my grade: A+

[Fixiwee]

Come on, don't just review bands everyone knows off. Nobody is going to say: "WOW! Who are metellica if they have such an incredible sound?". That band is over 20 years old. Try something new which people haven't heard yet. Metallica and Iron Maiden are older then the internet. And a oneliner or simply a grade are not a review.

Okay, lemme try.
The Evpatoria Report - Maar

http://www.myspace.com/theevpatoriareport

Maar is the latest band by the swiss rock band The Evpatoria Report. Although it is always difficult to place modern bands with a certain creative sound to a genre this mostly goes with post rock. The album has only four tracks with each having a minimum of 10 mins. So be prepared to take you're time listening to this band. The first track kicks in like a unique rock song, I could not help myself to say within the first 5 minutes that this sound is interessting only to realize even 2 minutes later that I was bowing down to the great sound.
It becomes clear that this band has it's own sound with classical guitarres, drums and a violin. A modern synthesizer often drops in to embrace you with bizzare sounds that make you want to close your eyes and float away in your mind. A good example for this is the 3rd song Mithridate, which turns quite often in terms of the style, but half way through it reaches it's peack with a military report sample.
This is by no means an easy album. Although the influence by "Godspeed you! Black emperor" are sometimes clearly visible, the sound always remains unique and does not try to copy any other band. Hence it might be hard for listeners who have not been listening to prog/post rock to enjoy this band. One has to have an open mind and accept the music in it's own terms of creativity.
But those who are willing to try will expirience an interessting rock surprise. Rock may be dead. Post rock ain't.

[Hooahguy]

Come on, don't just review bands everyone knows off. Nobody is going to say: "WOW! Who are metellica if they have such an incredible sound?". That band is over 20 years old. Try something new which people haven't heard yet. Metallica and Iron Maiden are older then the internet. And a oneliner or simply a grade are not a review.

shuddup. im tired and drunk.

also, its an ALBUM review thread. not a band review thread. and if i wanted to review unknown band... thats Reverend Joe's area.

[Lord Winter]

Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain

Agalloch started out as a fairly standard folk/black metal band. However as their career went on they began to incorporate more musical ideas into longer and more progressive songs. Ashes Against the Grain sees Agalloch breaking further away from there black metal roots, by incorporating elements of post rock into a connected series of melodic soaring folk tinged passages, which are contrasted by slow atmospheric acoustic passages and restful emotive leads. The song stay are long by normal standards clocking in at around eight minutes a piece. However they never forced or boring and show excellent song writing and keep a sense of progression going on throughout there work. Vocals consists of folkish sounding clean vocals and fairly standard metal harsh vocals. However, the cleans are used the majority of the time. If you can get past the metal vocals Ashes against the Grain is an amazing album with many moments of magnificent beauty

A-

Samples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4ih3JVrRPE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlVzgAsVI4I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1aJPEFtoNg

[Reverend Joe]

I'm gonna review an album here because it's worth the double coverage (sort of) in my thread and here.

The Answer - Everyday Demons: A- I can't find anything really wrong with this album aside from the occasional bull****ed lyrics, where you can kinda tell they were trying to keep up the rhythm or rhyme. But lyrics aside, this album is perfect. The frustrating thing is, if it had been released 25-35 years ago it would have been a huge smash hit, but with everyone listening to Alt-rock crap these days it will never be the hit it should be. It's just so damn good, though: it's got the perfect mix of heavy rockers, lighter songs (for the ladies... ) and slower songs; overall, it's a perfect easy-going, party-metal album in the vein of AC/DC and Guns N' Roses. If it seems cliche when you hear it, there's a reason for that: because the formula it employs has worked, and still works. Long story short: if you love tearassing round your town (preferably in a 70's Camaro) blasting awesome music, this is the album for you.

Edit:

if i wanted to review unknown band... thats Reverend Joe's area.

Speak of the devil, and I shall appear.

[johnhughthom]

I saw The Answer support AC/DC in Dublin last month and will see them again next month. Probably the most I've ever been impressed by a support band, they were superb. Made me proud as a Belfast guy! Keep forgetting to buy their album though, have to get it today.

edit: Got both The Answer's albums today, I have to say I much preferred the first one to Everyday Demons.