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Full Review | User Ratings (525) |
“Hey, name one grunge band!"
“Uh…Nirvana!"
“*Slap* Everyone knows Nirvana smelled of cheese. Ever heard any Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots or better yet, Pearl Jam?"
“But… Kurt was on drugs! He’s mad cool!"
“You have a lot to learn…"
Before anyone else says that’s the lamest, most unoriginal intro ever. I agree with you there but it simply gets my point across that Pearl Jam and bands like them were always in the shadow of Nirvana as sad as that sounds. To be honest, Nirvana is my least favourite grunge band with Alice In Chains first and Pearl Jam coming second. This album reminds of the sunny out-burst of Florida and there is a simple reason why. I bought it in the airport going to the States and for the whole of that 8 hour trip, it included getting up and down to the bathroom several times, watching the movie (it was Cat in the Hat, it sucked) and getting used to Ten. At first, the fast grunge songs were the only thing I enjoyed but through my two-week stay at the sun state, I learned to gradually like most of the songs. A quick glance at the singles and it doesn’t seem that the album is that good in terms of overall quality but it pieces together perfectly when you get a listen for it all the way through. The album was quite surprising as the majority of the songs are quite quiet and while the fast rock songs are a treat, they don’t hold a candle to the ballad like songs. Black, Oceans and Garden are absolutely god-like and they are really touching. Black is a slow arty song, which shows some of Eddie’s best vocals. The amount of emotion in the song just touches me every time and the slow clean guitar just top the effect of nicely.
Mike McCready and Stone Gossard are a great guitar duo. They bisect each other a lot. They constantly amaze me in every song with their slow arpeggio melodies or their fast grunge riffs. Mike is an tolerable soloist but some parts of the songs get to the point of him just showing off and taking too much of the song duration to finish his piece. Jeff is a very clear and talented bassist with some high-quality bass lines. Dave is not a mind blowing drummer and sticks to his keeping beat roll which is perfectly fine with me to be honest. Eddie has a very deep voice and he can hit notes with aplomb. I think his voice is best used on this album as he varies it a lot (compare Black to Deep and you’ll see) The band work great at as a team and I don’t think this album would be the same if the line-up was any different. Band members each have their own good points and bad points. This album is a great one from the opening percussion of Once to the slow ending of Release. It’s chocked full of riffs, melodies, ballads and rock songs. This was the high point of the whole grunge movement, Nevermind is a blip in my CD collection.
My favourites include Black, Jeremy, Garden and Deep. Deep is the only grunge song out those as I’m a big sucker for melodies and emotion rather than the stuff shown on Deep. The other three are chocked full of Eddie’s emotion and some guitar arpeggios and melodies. Black is an obvious highlight, it wasn’t when I first got this but it just grew on me with each listen. It starts off with some nice treble clean guitar until it goes into the verse, which is pretty relaxed. After the verse, it goes into a sense of orgasm where Eddie’s vocals play a big part. It includes a piano and everything. This is a must download for those that love Pearl Jam’s slow songs. Jeremy is about a boy of the song title name about a misunderstood boy driven to the edge by his peers and his family. It tells a great story especially when Eddie sings, “Jeremy spoke in class today." It has a great climax and it is timed so perfectly. The video is a bit in my opinion but that doesn’t distract that it’s a great song. Garden is the arpeggios I’ve been talking about. It never goes off its purpose and never gets angry or fast. It is quite a sad emotional song and it whets my appetite for tracks like these. Deep is unlike anything I’ve talked about in the last paragraph. It starts with a wah indulged riff and it sounds very sludgy and even the main hook isn’t that cheerful. Eddie’s vocals sound evil and he shouts them out. There is a lot of good guitar parts and while it isn’t particularly fast, it does keep a faster than normal pace.
The singles off this album were Even Flow, Alive, Black and Jeremy. While I don’t mind Even Flow and Alive, I feel it doesn’t keep up with the rest of the record. They are good songs but it seems to the mainstream rock listener, these are the only songs worth listening to. If singles were based on quality, I’d keep Black and Jeremy but I’d kick Even Flow and Alive. Why Go and Garden would have been a lot better but sadly, singles aren’t based on quality but to market the album. The album is an essential purchase for any rock fan and even some metal fans may find this appealing. I recommend downloading the tracks I suggested first and then deciding for yourself as when I bought this, I thought every track was going to be heavy. It is a big misunderstanding the singles. But what do I know? Some people may prefer the rock songs put on the album but the melodic ones are better written and composed.
My final verdict is that the album can be owned by anyone and it should even if it has a few downers. The songs can move you and drop you down softly again and the riffs are just so rocking that you’ll head bang like it’s 1991! This grew on me at first so if at first you don’t succeed, try again. That may not make much sense in music but it does apply here. At first if you don’t like it, don’t give up on it, as you aren’t going to like a lot of the songs first time round. This album is interesting and it is a grunge masterpiece. I wouldn’t go as far as a five but a four fits just nicely.
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This took AGES to do.
Digging: John Wiese - Soft Punk
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great review, loads of detail
Digging: Protest the Hero - Fortress
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Nice job, but though Nirvana was overrated, they were by no means bad.
Digging: Paavoharju - Laulu Laakson Kukista
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Nice job, but though Nirvana was overrated, they were by no means bad.
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I know that but Nirvana were the leaders of the grunge scene so every other grunge band was in their shadow. It happened with a lot of movements.
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Of course, but you make it sound like Nirvana didn't deserve the title.
Also, it'd be awesome if u bolded or italicized song names.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
nirvana was good and who thinks kurt was cool because he was on drugs no one i know (except for faggots). Nirvana deserved their title and maybe they're a little overatted (mostly nevermind) they deserved that title and hated that.
| | | Album Rating: 3
Yeah, well, they weren't the most musically talented band of the bunch. They didn't write the best songs. They had ferocity, a Digitech pedal and a beaten up drumset. The mainstream ate it up.
In regards to the review, it's bloody brilliant. Especially the intro. If some guy slapped me, I'd go all kung-fu on his ***.
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In regards to the review, it's bloody brilliant. Especially the intro. If some guy slapped me, I'd go all kung-fu on his ***.
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I bolded the song titles just for you MusicOfficial  and can people stop going on about Nirvana, it isn't that important and it'll just turn into a stupid argument.
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Review was great. This album is ****ing awesome. But what a load of **** The Cat and the Hat was. Good Christ.
Digging: The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
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Review was great. This album is ****ing awesome. But what a load of **** The Cat and the Hat was. Good Christ.
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Yeah, I watched that even though I could have read a magazine or something and get more enjoyment out of it.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Good review, if not too formulaic. Release is my favourite song.
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Awesome, much easier read now.
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Yeah, I don't really like bolding in reviews but I guess it does make it easier to read.
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Excellent review. I especially enjoyed the intro
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Yeah, kurt had a certain cheddar aroma.
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I italicize :-)
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yeah, he kinda looked like a guy who would smell like cheese
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nice review but alice in chains?
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Great review, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam are totally better than Nirvana. Nirvana is really good, but they had no right to lead the grunge scene. I actually just a few minutes ago finished a review for the new Pearl Jam album. If you can find it, try to get the documentary "Hype", it really gives you a new prespective on Seattle grunge.
| | | Album Rating: 4
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nice review but alice in chains?
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What about them?
And nice review, I agree with you saying that Nirvana is my least favorite "grunge" band too. I loved them when I was like 12, but not so much anymore.
This an excellent, although I tend to listen more to PJ's other albums like Vitalogy and Riot Act as of late. But i'd have to say Alive is the best here of the singles. If not Black. Jeremy is still great though. Of the others its either Porch or the one you didn't even mention Once!
This Message Edited On 08.19.06
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