Mudvayne - Lost and Found

This was Mudvayne’s follow-up to their multi-platinum “The End of All Things to Come.” I really enjoyed the previous album, yet I find that I just can’t get into this one.
To me, this album feels like a re-hash of the more angry, visceral bits of their previous album. Certainly, there are slower, more intricate passages, but these islands of lucidity arll too quickly degenerate into rage-fueled nu-metal.
I did, however, quite enjoy the last song, All That You Are. This particular song starts as a slow, melodic piece that then builds to a more frantic pace. Though it flirts with the visceral feel that dominated the remainder of the album, it never gets stuck there. This song, more than any other on this album, shows the musical versatility that I love from Mudvayne.

Richard Cheese - Lounge Against the Machine

Rough day? Looking for something to put a smile on your face? Well, look no further than this collection of sixteen hits of the late 90s - swankified.
How about a smooth jazz version of Rage Against the Machine’s Guerilla Radio?
Maybe you’d enjoy Nine Inch Nails’ Closer performed as a children’s show theme, complete with classic Sesame Street riff?
This is probably Richard Cheese’s finest album to date - the music flows well, and it doesn’t really feel like he’s hamming it up. He toes the line very well on this album.

Twisted Sister - Love is For Suckers

Originally intended to be a Dee Snider solo album, “Love is For Suckers” would be Twisted Sister’s final album until 2006’s “Twisted Christmas.”
Musically, this album is a little bit “lighter” than previous Twisted Sister albums. It’s still Twisted Sister, but the attitude is a bit muted. Despite damping the attitude for a few rockin’ love songs, Twisted Sister still pull of a good album.
One thing that really stood out for me was the tile track. There are a couple sections where lyrics are spoken, rather than sung. At first, I though that they had hired Alice Cooper to do additional vocals. Then I realized that I was indeed listening to Dee Snider. The light dawned - Dee Snider sounds an awful lot like Alice Cooper!
I have no idea why I never noticed that before.

HIM - Love Metal

Speaking of love songs…
I honestly know very little about HIM. I know that I like their music. I know that they’re quite popular with “kids these days.” I know that I often see a proliferation if HIM merchandise when I visit Hot Topic.
I’ll bet that the “true metal” fans don’t take too kindly to HIM referring to themselves as a metal band. True, they don’t have the in-your-face attitude that characterizes a lot of metal…then again, they do have the darkness and the scattered satanic overtones. My opinion? HIM is…let’s see…a hard rock band with heavy goth influences and a strong sentimental streak.
Then again, I’m not one to quibble about genre - I figure genre is only necessary to help describe music without actually playing it.

Swaying Smoke - Lullabies

The beginning of this album is surprisingly energetic…for Swaying Smoke. An almost danceable beat greets the listener, but soon gives way to airy, very subtle drones. These softly flowing sounds are as soothing as the title implies, even when they are accented by, let’s say, the sound of an army marching in the distance (Lullaby). Well, that’s what I heard…
The song that really stood out for me on this album was Sultry. Before long, I decided that there must be some kind of joke behind the song title. To me, Sultry’s bright, cheeery chines evoke neither a sweltering summer day nor an “adventurous” night. Rather, this song takes my mind to a cool, breezy spring day. My wife and I are in the backyard, good books, and fresh iced tea close at hand…
I found out later that the title was indeed a joke, but not of the kind that I thought. It’s a pun - the song was played on a psaltry.

Poisonblack - Lust Stained Despair

So, how about a little goth metal to wake you up after a few nice lullabies?
I’ve stated before that I never would have recognized that Poisonblack is a gothic metal band if Wikipedial hadn’t pointed it out to me. I’ve finally figured out the reason for this - it’s all to do with Poisonblack’s particular approach.
Most gothic metal bands tend to incorporate elements of power, black or death metal - the epic nature of these styles lends itself particularly well to gothic music. Poisonblack, however, have taken a slightly different path, in that they’ve incorporated the sounds of late 1980s metal. Take a close listen and tell me that you don’t hear echoes of Skid Row.

Bad Acid Trip - Lynch the Wierdo

Thoughtful, sardonic, and poignant…is it any wonder that Bad Acid Trip caught the attention of System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian (this album was released by Serjical Strike records)?
In the world of experimental metal, Bad Acid Trip are definitely mad scientists. Their brief, furious bursts of manic energy hit your brain broadside, while the lyrics (“pop rock’s just a fashiuon rebellion”) burrow in and give you a little something to ponder.
It’s difficult to accurately describe this band, so…

Queen - Made in Heaven

This was Queen’s final album. Although released in 1995, this album makes use of vocal tracks recorded by Freddie Mercury prior to his death in 1991. Most of the vocals here were recorded by Freddie in the final months prior to his passing, although there are older bits (some unreleased, some familiar) as well.
Sad? Yes. Maudlin? Certainly. A fitting farewell to one of the greatest rock singers ever? There can be no doubt.

Today’s post will be particularly short. Not only was my day quite heavily punctuated by interruptions, I encountered a rather colossal set of music.
Despite the brevity of today’s post, the music was, in a word, fantastic.

Saigon Kick - The Lizard

If you were alive in the early 90s, you probably remember Saigon Kick as the one-hit-wonders who did Love is On the Way. While technically correct, this doesn’t properly represent the band that was Saigon Kick.
Saigon Kick was, despite the power ballad that everybody knew, a hard rock/heavy metal band with a bizarre sense of humor. Songs like My Dog and Peppermint Tribe will attest to that (as will the silly Peppermint Tribe dance that my friends and I came up with). In all seriousness, though - you truly do owe it to yourself to check this out - there’s probably a lot here that you’ve been missing out on.

Metallica - Load

I remember when this album came out - ie was surrounded by controversy. While some of it legitimately surrounded the band’s expanded musical direction and different sound, I was very surprised at the vitriol surrounding their new haircuts.
Seriously. People were pissed because they got haircuts.
Moving on to the actual music, “Load” did indeed represent a shift in Metallica’s sound. They experimented more with different styles of music and different sounds. For many people, this was high sacrilege. For me, it was just another good album from Metallica. It would be a few more albums before they’d make me say “WTF?”

Howard Shore- Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

This beastie was extremely long. 53 tracks long. Not that I’m complaining, but this soundtrack bloody well dominated my day.
Howard Shore did an excellent job throughout the trilogy. This particular episode, being the denouement, features some of the most hugely dramatic music of them all, with particularly heavy use of horns and operatic vocals.
Well worth the time. Well worth it, indeed.

Yes, this is actually yesterday’s post, It’s a day late because, well, yesterday sucked, and I was in no mood to try and craft a cheerful music blog.
Of course, the upside to this is that you get a double dose today! First, we will finish the “Live” section of our trip, and then we’ll make a brief foray back into the more “standard” albums. Why brief? Read Day Seventy Two and find out!

Cradle of Filth - Live Bait for the Dead

This 2-disc set is actually more than just a live album. Disc 1 is the concert, while disc 2 is stuffed with extras: remixes, soundcheck recordings, and two entirely new songs, Deleted Scenes of a Snuff Princess and a cover of Twisted Sister’s The Fire Still Burns.
The concert itself is a blast to listen to. Cradle of Filth appears to have taken a “warts and all” approach here, as this is nowhere near the best performance that they’re capable of (I’ve seen them twice; they really are great live). Of sourse, with the myriad mistakes, failed jokes, etc, Dani Filt was inspired to utter some truly insane things between dongs. For example:
“Let me just re-ingest my vocal tract.” (after a song with a particularly harsh ending)
“Remember, drink bleach.” (after screwing up)
There were others, but they simply don’t work out of context.

Sumphony X - Live On The Edge Of Forever

I seem to have mis-labeled this album. My iPod thinks that its title is “Live in Europe.” I’ll have to fix that.
Symphony X is an excellent progressive rock band, and they really do live up to their name. Their songs have a very symphonic feel to them. Unfortunately, that just doesn’t come across on this live album.
The instruments all sound muted - only the vocals are really clear. The only time that the instruments have the opportunity to shine is during passages with no singing. Not to knock Russell Allen’s vocals, but I don’t think that the mix was handled very well.
If you really want to get a good Symphony X experience, your best bet is to pick up one of their many studio albums.

The Tiger Lillies - Live in Russia 2001-2002

I only have one track from this album, (it’s currently my only Tiger Lillies track, an oversight that I intend to correct post-haste). That song is Gin, and it’s the song that made me pay attention to the Tiger Lillies in the first place.
Rather than so on and on about how great the song is, I’ll just let it speak for itself.

Queen - Live Killers

Queen - Live Magic

I’m grouping these two albums together for two reasons. First, they happened to play back-to-back, and second, I’m rather disappointed with both.
Both of these albums are cobbled together from multiple concerts on the same tour, which leads to fade out/fade in pauses that take one out of the concert mindset. Combine this with the fact that some of the songs on “Live Magic” are actually truncated (Worst. Bohemian Rhapsody. Ever.), you can see why I’m disappointed with the overall quality of these albums. The performances themselves were good, don’t get me wrong. However, if you really want a good Queen live album, you need “Live at Wembely ‘86.” There is none better.

My goodness, I do seem to have quite a number of live albums. I checked ahead, and it looks like the next eleven albums are going to be live recordings.
In no way is this my entire live album collection, however. There are also the live albums that I’ve not yet ripped (Metallica comes to mind), and the ones whose titles do not begin with the word “live”.
Regardless, I do love a good live album. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Lycia - Live

The concert series starts with a rather unusual entry among live albums. The audience is nearly mute throughout this entire album - I only recall hearing them at the very beginning. Thus, the only thing to indicate that this is a live recording is the presence of “concert reverb” throughout.
Still, this is a good album - it shows Lycia at their best, and makes me wish that I’d been able to go to one of their chows back in the day. Alas, the opportunity is lost.

Faith No More - Live at Brixton Academy

This is a particularly fun live album. If you know Faith No More, than you know that they like to play around with music. Nowhere is this more clear than when they’re performing live. Their performance constantly feels like it’s on the verge of erupting into a spontaneous jam session. The band will occasionally go off on a brief musical tangent, and acouple times, Mike Patton would toss pop lyrics right into the middle of a song (during We Care a Lot, he briefly broke into The Right Stuff by New Kids on the Block).
Black Sabbath fans may be interested to know that the War Pigs recording included on the first “Nativity in Black” tribute compilation came from this album.

Twisted Sister - Live at Wacken: The Reunion

As the title, implies, this concert recording marked the end of the Twisted Sister breakup. They’d broken up after they rel;eased “Love is for Suckers,” but their record label had been releasing a pile of live alums in the meantime.
The concert is excellent - it really shows why Twisted Sister gained the level of popularity that they had in their prime. They give off a high level of energy at all times, and Dee Snider is constantly talking to the audience, trying to keep them noisy and involved.
As a bit of a side note, this is my favorite kind of live album. Rather than simply being a compilation of live recordings from several different shows, this is one single live performance, presented from beginning to end. That’s not to say that the other kind is bad, but I really prefer hearing the flow of a full concert.

Queen - Live at Wembley ‘86

Epic. Simply Epic.
At this point, it should come as no surprose that I’m very fond of this album. It’s Queen, for chrissakes, and it would appear that the true epic power of Queen can only be fully appreciated in a concert setting.
Apparently this concert was a beast. Queen played all of their own best songs, as well as a handful of “golden oldies.” It was a relentless onslaught of great music, and I’m sure that those who were fortunate enough to have attended the show still look back on it fondly. I certainly would.
One particularly amusing (if slightly morbid) moment came when Freddie Mercury, addressing rumors that Queen was planning to break up, “Forget those rumors; we’re gonna stay together till we f***ing well die, I’m sure of it.”
Clearly, he was right.

Corvus Corax - Live auf dem Waescherschloss

This was a particularly interesting live album. First, there’s the fact that I have no idea what’s being said between songs - to say that my German vocabulary is rather small is like saying that water is rather moist.
Second, there’s the audience. It was odd (and awesome) to hear an audience reacting to medieval peasant music in the same way that one expecte to hear an audience reacting to rock n’ roll. Then again, this was the “rock n’ roll” of the middle ages: fast-paced, popular, and demonized by the church.

God Lives Underwater - Life in the So-Called Space Age

It’s been quite a while since I’ve listened to this album…I’d forgotten how good some of these songs are.
This album gave God Lives Underwater their only “serious” hit: From Your Mouth. This song got fairly serious airplay for about a year before God Lives Underwater vanished from the public consciousness.
Part of the reson for thir disappearance may be the overall flow of this album. It starts oyt pretty energetic, but quickly starts to bog down. By the end of the album, you’re listening to a bizarre, extremely repetetive ambient techno piece.
This album’s worth picking up cheap, if only for the first handful of songs. Just be careful - it gets pretty dull before long.

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Ahhhh…Good ol’ Type O. Among metal bands, only they would cover a song from Hedwig and the Angry Inch…and it’s done in Type O s Classic Gothadelic style.
I was fortunate enough to see Type O Negative in concert twice afer this album. The first time, when they had Lacuna Coil opening, the concert was awesome. I went home exhausted, deaf, and a little battered. (I keot falling into the mosh pit).
The seonc time, though - co-headlining with Cradle of Filth, with Moonspell opening, was EPIC! Not only was the entire bill awesome, Type O successfully “bazinga’d” the audience: Normally, when the house lights come down before Type O tale the stage, the audience starts chanting, “You Suck!” (it’s a tradition - I’ll tell you more about it when we get to “O”). About 2 or 3 “you sucks” into the chant, a rotating red light comes on, and the theme from “COPS” starts playing. While the audience laughed, the band took the stage, bedecked in orange jumpsuits.
Welcome to the strange world of Type O Negative.

Korn - Life is Peachy

This is definitely the weakest album that Korn has ever produced. I know that I liked it at the time (I did buy it, after all), but now…not so much.
Admittedly, I did like A.D.I.D.A.s. when I was a teenager, but it;s that kind of song. It’s the kind of thing that appeals to an adolescent. The rest of the album feels like Korn focused too much on the visceral sound, at the cost of style.

KMFDM - Light (single)

Best. Single. Ever.
This single contains 9 different versions of the song Light. None of these nine tracks is the album track. Ironically, it’s the fact that it’s the same song nine times that makes this single so great. These nine versions of Light are just different enough that you don’t ever get bored with it.
Now that’s skill.

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment - Liquid Tension Experiment II

Liquid Tension Experiment started as a side project by Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. Three quarters of this band would end up being members of Dream Theater - Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci also played in LTE. Because of this, bits of LTE songs are often incorporated into Dream Theater concerts.
Interesting fact: Dimebag Darrell was invited to take part, but he was not able to due to schedule conflicts. Too bad…
This music is nearly all instrumental, which is extremely awesome. When you let a bunch of top-quality musicians rock together like this, the sky is indeed the limit.

Get it? This one’s self-titled!
OK, I admit - that was bad. On with the music…

The Misfits - Legacy of Brutality

This cornucopia of horror punk is brought to you by Glen Danzig. Other people were involved in the original recordings, but the songs on this release were overdubbed by Danzig alone, in order to avoid sharing any royalties if the collection were to be successful.
Clearly, this compilation was produced after Danzig left the band, when there was still plenty of bad blood to go around. Then again, judging from interviews with Danzig, he’s not the kind of man to let bygones be bygones…there may still be loads of bad blood there.
Regardless of feelings or intentions, this is a very good punk rock compilation. It’s all very early work, and the production is pretty rough (70s punk rock, anybody?), but the songs are pure Misfits. The combination of high-energy punk rock and dark, freakish lyrics could not have come from anywhere else.

Hammerfall - Legacy of Kings

Despite the band’s relative youth (the band was formed in 1993), HammerFall sounds surprisingly like a first generation (1980s) power metal band. More than with most modern power metal bands, you can hear a lot of NWOBHM influence in their sound.
That’s not to say that Hammerfall don’t have their own sound - they most certainly do. That sound just happens to more closely mirror the origins of power metal than that of other bands of the same era.

Johnny Cash - The Legend of Johnny Cash

This here’s what you kids would call “old school” country music. Songs about travellin’ (mostly by train), goin’ to prison, and generally bein’ sad. Now that’s some real country music, not this here “Tequila gets her nekkid” crap.
OK, time to step out of the “Crotchety old dude” character. Yes, I know that the actual song title is Tequila Makes Her clothes Fall Off, but that was funnier.
Joking aside, this is a good album. There are a lot of classics here - even songs that you might not even realize you know. It’s interesting to listen to this album now, in light of Johnny Cash’s widespread influence. For example, on an episode of The Simpsons, Krusty the Clown sang a parody of Folsom Prison Blues at Springfield Prison.
You know, I never knew that Johnny Cash had covered Soundgarden’s Rusty Cage. It’s a very interesting take on this song.

Roswell Conspiracy - Les Fragments Anodins

Once more, I’m diving headfirst into something new. I’m hoping for a bit of a sci-fi feel from an artist called The Roswell Conspiracy.
The Roswell Conspiracy does not disappoint. This electronic, atmospheric music does indeed have a certain science fiction feel to it. The sample used in Le Arts Et Les Noms certainly helps to underscore this feeling.
the music itself is difficult to describe. It’s a sort of atmospheric cousin to techno, but without the manic energy. There’s no strobe lights and glow sticks here.

Samael - Lesson In Magic #1

This is the bonus disc that was included with Samael’s “Era One” album. All of the tracks on this disc are instrumental, and were performed entirely by Xy (Samael’s keyboardist). This is not the first time that Samael have packaged an instrumental disc from Xy with a “regular” album. They previously did something similar with “Passage,” which we’ll get to later.
Unlike “Passage,” Lesson in Magic #1 is musically independent of the album with which it is packaged. The music here has a sort of dark electro-industrial kind of sound, with some other things tossed in here and there to keep it interesting.

The Beatles - Let It Be

I only have the title track from this album…and what a song it is. This is the original, heavily orchestrated version. I heard the “naked” version on the radio when that edition was released, and I have to say - I like that version better. The orchestration really is too much. Let It Be sounds better when…well, when they just let it be.

16 Volt - LetDownCrush

16 Volt has been described as “…the best industrial band you’ve never heard of.” I’m inclined to agree with this statement.
I first encountered 16 Volt on an episode of Coverville. I heard their version of The Vapors’ Turning Japanese, and I was very impressed. Not long after that, the entire 16 Volt back catalog was made available gratis, and here we are.
Listening to 16 Volt, I hear elements from all over the industrial genre. Shades of Nine Inch Nails, Gravity Kills, even Skinny Puppy can be heard throughout, but never to the point of overshadowing the music itself.
The last track, Carla’s Tarantulas is a fantastic example of “What the hell was that?” - if nothing else, you really need to hear this one.

Rollins Band - Liar (single)

If you’re at all familiar with the Rollins Band, it’s probably this sing that you know. Liar, the band’s alt-metal rant about liars and the damage that they do, received significant airplay and fairly heavy rotation in the months after its release.
It’s a good song, but it was the video that caught my attention. With any luck, I’ll be able to embed it here - it’s better to see it than to read me attempting to describe it.

Rammstein - Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da

It’s about to get interesting. “Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da” (English: “Love is There for Everyone”) is a shining example of Rammstein’s love of clever wordplay. The word Liebe (love) in the title doesn’t mean what you probably think it means. Let’s put it this way, the first video from this album premiered on an adult website (no, I will not be posting the video here), and the album itself has been censored in Germany.
It’s funny, then, that this is Rammstein’s most successful album in France.
This album was also released in a special limited edition collector’s box. This particular edition included the “special edition” of the album (with additional tracks) and several…appliances. Just do a Google image search for “Rammstein Box Set,” and you’ll see what I mean. Best turn off Safe Search, though.

David Bowie and Trevor Jones - Labyrinth (soundtrack)

Ahh, sweet nostalgia…
I love Labyrinth, I have since the first time I saw it. Its mix of whimsy, grandeur, and a touch of Brothers Grimm style darkness is just…lovely. The music is one thing that really stood out for me - I’d find myself singing Magic Dance and Underground for days after every viewing. It still happens - my brain’s going to be singing “You remind me of the babe” for at least the rest of the day.
This movie was also my introduction to David Bowie. As I’ve mentioned before, I didn’t start to take a serious interest in music until the early 90s, so my knowledge of music prior to that was largely a retroactive acquisition.
Interesting fact: the choreography for the song Chilly Down was done by none other than Gated McFadden (Beverly Crusher, from ST: TNG).

Lacuna Coil - Lacuna Coil

This album stands out among “first albums,” in that the songs are very well mixed and mastered. This album has none of the rough sound that one normally expects from a first album. Also, the songs themselves are very well-crafted. One gets the impression that Lacuna Coil spent a lot of time perfecting their craft prior to putting this album together.
As has always been the case, I love Lacuna Coil’s use of male/female counterpoint vocals. Christina Scabbia tends to be the centerpiece of Lacuna Coil (which makes sense, in the predominantly masculine world of heavy metal), but let’s not overlook the contributions of Andrea Ferro. Dude’s good.

Skinny Puppy - Last Rights

There’s nothing quite like Skinny Puppy. They’re not quite as insanely bizarre as Fantomas, but they’re definitely not your everyday band. Imagine the audio equivalent of a dark, slightly unsettling piece of performance art. That’s just about right. In fact, I’m led to understand that Skinny Puppy concerts are very akin to performance art. Something that I certainly need to experience if ever the opportunity presents itself.

Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation

I remember when this concept album first came out. I read in a magazine (Metal Edge, I think) that there was a special collector’s edition that included a comic book. Being into comics at the time, I of course had to have the special edition.
“The Last Temptation” tells the story of a boy named Steven, and a mysterious showman. The showman attempts, through a series of morality plays, to convince Steven to joins his show, where he will never grow up. The comic book that came with the album was part one of a three-part series that told the whole story of the album and was written by Neil Gaiman(!!!).
You know, I never did get parts two and three. I really should look into that.
. Musically, this album is 100% Alice Cooper. The rock music is rather upbeat throughout, belying the dark lyrics. I’ve loved this album from the day I first put it in my CD player.

Tool - Lateralus

This album will always stand out for me. I’ve seen Tool perform twice, once at Ozzfest ‘98, and once on their own tour…behind this album. The Ozzfest concert was great, but seeing Tool doing their own thing, with full control…holy cow. I commented earlier that I’d heard that a Skinny Puppy concert was like performance art. This is certainly true of a Tool concert. If you ever have the opportunity, go. You will not be disappointed.
. I recently read the Wikipedia article about this album, and I was floored by the subtlety of Tool. I knew that I loved the album, but I had no idea how much was really going on in these songs. Lateralus, for example, makes heavy use of the Fibonacci sequence: during the time signature rotates between 9/8 8/8 7/8 time (987 is the 17th Fibonacci number), and the lyric “spiral out,” repeated frequently throughout the song, is a reference to the Fibonacci spiral.
Then there’s Mantra. For this one, Maynard James Keenan slowed down the sound of him gently squeezing one of his cats. A cat as a musical instrument.
‘Scuse me a minute…my head is spinning.

A Sankip Hummad - Le Sac De Sonido

I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t have an answer. I’ve never heard of this artist (group?) until just now. I verified that this is part of the “Netlabel invasion,” but I know nothing more. I’m going in blind.
Wow. This is…interesting. I’m hearing elements of glitch, chiptunes, ambient techno… It’s sonic chaos, barely restrained. Loops, samples, and effects are strung together into long segments that often repeat, but with subtle differences the second and third time.

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

I know, I know - this album doesn’t technically have a title at all. There’s no title (not words at all, in fact) on the album cover, and the record just had four designs (fans call them runes) where the title would be. Well, I had to give it some kind of title, so I went with something simple and minimalist, in keeping with the album’s visual style.
This minimalist style stands in stark contrast to the music - I don’t think Led Zeppelin were even capable of minimalist music. Everything they do is layered and bombastic - just look at The Battle of Evermore (one of Led Zeppelin’s many Tolkien-inspired songs). Layered vocals over a mandolin and acoustic guitar…need I say more?
Yes, I neglected to mention the most infamous song on this album. This was intentional - what more could I possibly have to say about that particular song? It’s been hailed, decried, loved, loathed, and otherwise discussed ad nausaeum in the 30+ years since it was released. I think that the discussion is long done - it’s time to just sit back and enjoy it (or not, if you’re on the other side of the line).

Manowar - Kings of Metal

Now THIS is a good way to start a Friday morning - the loudest band in metal.
I honestly don’t think there’s a more over-the-top band than Manowar. They are the living embodiment of Nigel Tufnel’s “these go to eleven” theory of performance. Not only do Manowar play as loudly as they are legally able (could they possibly be the progenitors of Disaster Area?), but everything that they do is done on an epic scale…even the bass solos are insane. This album’s Sting of the Bumblebee is the classic piano piece Flight of the Bumblebee, played on an electric bass. Think about that for a moment. A song that’s generally used to show a high level of skill on the piano, performed on bass.
Like I said, Epic.

Troll Gnet El - Konung Hop

There’s something extremely right about going from the epic fantasy world of Manowar to the folk metal of Troll Gnet El. It’s also right to spend part of a Friday listening to a song called Folklore-Drinking Song.
Of course, it’d be even more right if I had a nice horn of mead…
I’ve heard a number of folk metal bands, but none that sounded quite like this. Most folk metal bands incorporate elements of folk music into their heavy metal. Troll Gnet El sounds more like they’re adding some metal to their folk music - It sounds like the folk comes first. Regardless of which comes first, it’s excellent music. Of course, I have absolutely no idea what they’re saying…

Megaherz - Kopfschuss

Continuing in the “What the heck is he saying” vein, we have Megaherz. Megaherz is a German industrial metal band, strongly reminiscent of Rammstein.
I know next to nothing about Megaherz. I bought this album from a (now defunct) Russian music site a few years ago. I bought it specifically for their cover of Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus - I listened to the brief sample, and absolutely loved what I’d heard. The album was quite cheap, so I sprang for the whole thing.

Korn - Korn

The irony continues (korn is a type of schnapps popular in Germany).
Korn’s first album is, overall, pretty good. Songs like Blind, Clown and Shoots and Ladders are excellent listens, and the album as a whole lays down the foundation for Korn’s unique sound. There are a couple rough spots, but that’s to be expected on a debut album.

Mudvayne - LD 50

How very fitting - Korn to Mudvayne. We seem to be in the middle of a Nu-Metal block.
Mudvayne is another of the bands that I discovered during the brief era of MTVX. The video for Digg was in regular rotation at the end of MTVX, and it really caught my eye - both the visuals and the song itself. At the time, I was unaware of the complexity of Mudvayne’s music - I just knew that there was something awesome about this song.
In addition to the album, I bought the DVD single for Digg. It includes a very interesting behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of the video. It’s been a while since I last watched it, but there are a few things about it that still stand out.
I remember the genesis of the guitarist’s particularly interesting face paint. If you pay attention to the video, he appears to have little black spikes sticking out of his face. These spikes are actually Bugles corn snacks, painted black.
I remember seeing the drummer playing alone. For the scenes with the all-white background, each band member was filmed individually. One brief scene showed the drummer playing the verse… Wow. Just…wow.
I remember documentary footage of somebody slipping on a banana peel. One scene features the band outside of the building where the video was recorded. They had placed a banana peel, yellow side up, on the ground in the fence door. After a few people noticed it and tossed it in a nearby trashcan rather than step on it (the band put it back every time), one member of the band decided to “take one for the team.” apparently, those things are indeed quite slippery.

White Zombie - La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1

This is not where the funky groove metal beast that is White Zombie started. There were several EP’s released prior to this album, one of which (“Let them Die Slowly”) I owned a copy of way back. This was, however, their major label debut, and it was the album that launched White Zombie into popular culture.
Assisted by its appearance on “Beavis and Butthead,” the video for Thunder Kiss ‘65 established White Zombie as a band to pay attention to, with its bizarre mix of heavy metal, groove, and horror movie samples. This bizarre mix would define White Zombie’s sound for the entirety of their career.
I’ve noticed something interesting about White Zombie. Sometimes, I’ll forget about them for months at a time, then I’ll hear one of their songs and suddenly I’m seized by the desire to listen to ALL of my White Zombie.
Interesting fact: The demo that landed White Zombie their recording contract that led to this album was produced with the assistance of J. G. Thirlwell (Foetus).

Amorphis - The Karelian Isthmus

If, perchance, your entire Amorphis experience to date has been through this blog, you’re in for a bit of a surprise. All of the Amorphis that I’ve listened to so far has been music of a distinctly goth/progressive variety. That’s about to change.
“The Karelian Isthmus” was the first album released by Amorphis…back when they were a death metal band. This ain’t your daddy’s death metal, though - Never satisfied with simply filling a genre, Amorphis took death metal in a different direction. Although not as obvious as they would be on later albums, you can still hear progressive elements in the music on this album.

Metallica - Kill ‘Em All

Looking at the liner notes on this album, it’s hard to believe that those four kids in the picture are the same four people who would go on to become one of the most important metal bands in history, defining thrash in the process. It’s funny how life works.
The music on “Kill ‘Em All” is interesting - doubly so when looked at through the lens of the two and a half decades that have passed since its release. As with many first albums, especially those released on “minor” labels (Kill “Em All was released on Megaforce records), the sound is a bit rough. Metallica managed to make that work for them. Probably because of their roots as a garage band, they took that raw sound and used it.
The staccato riffs, blistering solos (take a close listen to Seek and Destroy), and vocals that ride the fine line between “wail” and “scream”…Metallica’s early New Wave Of British Heavy Metal influences are quite apparent. Some of the songs may have been fairly silly in the lyric department (Phantom Lord? Really?), but they more than made up for that with their delivery. There’s a reason Seek and Destroy is a concert staple to this day, and it’s not the deep, insightful lyrics.
I could go on at some length about this album (there was a time when I studied Metallica history in detail), but that would soon become needlessly pedantic.

Megadeth - Killing is My Business…and Business is Good

This is an interesting yin/yang we have here - right after Metallica’s debut we get Megadeth’s debut. The fact that these albums sound similar should come as no surprise; both pull from the same pool of inspiration, and Dave Mustaine was involved in the songwriting process for most of the songs on “Kill ‘Em All.”
Megadeth’s debut, however, has a much harder, angrier edge to its sound. This is largely due to Dave Mustaine’s anger over being fired from Metallica. He was out for blood, and it shows.
Particularly notable on this album is The Mechanix. Written when Mustaine was still a member of Metallica, this is the original version of the song that would be released on “Kill ‘Em All” As The Four Horsemen. The Mechanix is faster and shorter, and its lyrics considerably less occult (and more adolescent). The first time I bought this album, it was specifically for The Mechanix, as the only other way to hear it was to track down a copy of Metallica’s demo (which I have since done - more on that later).
This particular edition of “Killing is My Business” also includes Megadeth’s three-track demo, featuring raw, (and blindingly fast) versions of Last Rites/Loved To Deth, Mechanix and Skull Beneath the Skin.

Queen - A Kind of Magic

This isn’t your ordinary Queen album. No sir, this is more than that - it’s also the soundtrack from the movie Highlander. In other words, this album has more refined awesome than a single album should be able to hold. I imagine that Queen had to invent some kind of groundbreaking awesomeness compression technology to fit it all in. Take a good look at the tracklist for this album - half of it is in the Greatest Hits collection, and for good reason. Wait…did I start this review by using “ordinary” and “queen” in the same sentence? Oh dear, oh dear… I’m going to have to do penance for that…

Faith No More - King For a Day, Fool For a Lifetime

It’s funny, I was just going to say that this album sounded “more rock and less funk,” when Evidence came on, with the funky wah pedal thing happening…
Still, this album (Faith No More’s last, as I recall) is more rock/metal that their previous releases. It does, however, dip its feet into the strange, avant-garde world of Fantomas - just listen to Cuckoo for Caca. Wow, that’s a gross song title.

Cordell Klier - Kingdom

Technically, this is part of the “Netlabel Invasion.” However, I’m not considering it to be an actual part of said invasion, as I was already aware of Cordell Klier as an artist prior to receiving the Netlabel DVD.
Kingdom is a one-track album - 18:22 of ambient sound. It starts out with a few quiet sounds, then POW! About half a minute in, a loud drone kicks in, filling your head with a slightly electronic sound. Personally, I think it has a bit of a science fiction feel to it - as I listen to it, my mind’s eye sees a black hole, with a research station just beyond the event horizon…or maybe there’s some kind of anomaly, like V’ger…
Ok, I really like this one.

Emperor - IX Equilibrium

Wow…what a way to start the morning. Furiously fast yet melodic, Emperor really stands apart.
To the uninitiated, Emperor will sound like nothing more than fast black metal. Once you’ve listened a couple times, however, you start to see what makes the music so great. You’re not meant to listen to the individual notes, but to the musical progression that they follow. Heavy as it is, Emperor’s music is actually very classical in nature. Eschewing the simple verse, chorus, verse, chorus patterns found in most rock and metal music, Emperor opted for the use of the more complex thematic structure of classical music.

Queen - Jazz

I’ve been singing the praises of Queen’s greatness every time they’ve come up. Hell, I even praised their “funk” album, once I figured out what was going on. Given the size of Queen’s catalog, I’m starting to wonder just how many different ways I can say, “Queen is frakking awesome” before I run dry. Not that I have all of their albums, but I do have quite a collection.
I’ve seen that Queen is now Queen+, a name that’s appended with the name of whoever they happen to have singing at a given time. This is an interesting development. I think this is their way of acknowledging that Freddie Mercury was a very…very important part of what made Queen as awesome as it was. The addition of “+” says that, while nobody could ever replace Freddie, “The Show Must Go On.” I haven’t heard any of the Queen+ CD’s myself, but I must say, I like the way they’ve handled the post-Freddie life of the band.
What does all this have to do with “Jazz”? Nothing, I just wanted to mention it. “Jazz” is a good album, though - very good. Do you still need a reason to look into it? I’ll give you two: Fat Bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race.
Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Frank Zappa - Joe’s Garage

So far, this is the only Frank Zappa album that I own. I really need to correct that oversight; Frank was awesome!
This is a very interesting double concept album. It was originally released as two separate albums, both of which were eventually repackaged together. Joe’s Garage is a story about a fellow named Joe, who forms a garage band that eventually rises to fame. Joe’s rock n’ roll is portrayed as an evil, corrupting force by the story’s narrator.
The story of Joe’s Garage is narrated by a character called the “Central Scrutinizer,” who spouts McCarthy-esque conformist jargon while decrying music as anything more than a sign of corruption. The Central Scrutinizer is narrating this tale from a dystopian future in which music has been outlawed.
There’s an interesting twist to this story: in the final song, the Central Scrutinizer shuts off his voice distortion effect and sings the song “in his real voice,” which is Frank Zappa’s voice. This cleverly implies that Frank’s role as the Central Scrutinizer is his punishment for making rock music.
“Joe’s Garage” is more than just a dystopian rock opera - it’s chock full of satire. Even the most casual of observers will catch Frank’s satirization of groupie culture, wet t-shirt contests, and the Church of Scientology…among other things. Told in a way that only Frank Zappa could even have imagined, this is one hell of an album - you really need to hear it.

They Might Be Giants - John Henry

This album, TMBG’s fifth (by my count), is particularly noteworthy because it’s the first TMBG album recorded as a full band. Previous TMBG releases were recorded by John Flansburgh and John Linnell, with various guest musicians throughout. John Henry, however, features the same core band on all of the songs. This change shows in the music, which sounds a little more…cohesive isn’t the right word, but it’s close. The music is somewhat less diverse than on previous albums, but it’s still great stuff.

Tiamat - Judas Christ

I love this album. This is one of the albums where Tiamat really starts to shine. Released as they were emerging from their “goth period,” this album sees Tiamat begin to re-incorporate hard rock and heavy metal elements into their music while retaining the darkness they had been experimenting with.

Mortiis - Keiser av en Dimensjon Ukjent

I think this is Mortiis’s third album. It’s definitely one of the early albums under Era One. Synthesizer driven dark neo-classical music on an epic scale, this album contains a mere two songs. On the LP and Cassette releases, each song was on a different side - they’re that long.
The first time I tried to acquire this album, something rather amusing occurred. I ordered the vinyl picture disc from Projekt records (it was only $10!), because picture discs are awesome. Apparently, they were out of stock by the time my order arrived. They could have refunded my money. They could have given me a coupon for $10 credit toward a future purchase. Instead, they did something awesome. They send me a CD of Mortiis’s just-released “Crypt of the Wizard.” A brand new import CD for $10. Freakin’ awesome!