Remember how Versions was a really cool record, that just ended up not being that good? Well, Tropic Rot is a really cool record that rivals The Opposite of December as being their most focused and aggressive, and You Come Before You as their most interesting and accessible. Besides the mediocre "Celebrate the Pyre", every song here is a hit, in particular...well everything. The light country aesthetic is more fully integrated in the clean sections, which meld seamlessly with the heavy metal sections. It's tough to call this a real metalcore album, but whatever the hell it is, it is ****ing great. Could bump up to a 4.5 if it stays on this level of excellence with time.
The most focused Trophy Scars outing yet (EP or otherwise), epic in scope yet smooth and incredibly listenable, "Bad Luck" shows the band treading into a slower groove, and creating more noteworthy "crescendos". While "Anna Lucia" is the most obvious standout, the trio of songs "Toronto", "Nola", and "Years so Much" (All six minutes plus) are excellent forays in odd song structures and musical and lyrcial tones. Straight off from "Bad Dreams" through "Good Luck", "Bad Luck" is the culmination of what one small punk band from Jersey can do with enough time and vision.
I had extreme anxiety coming into "Mama, I'm Swollen". On one hand, the two studio songs I had heard were amazingly catchy and well written, and the live version of "What Have I Done?" was astounding. On the other hand, this is now their 6th full studio record, and I was scared that perhaps Tim Kasher would run out of things to write about. He did. This album is still amazing.
I have no idea how Tom Jones has managed to keep his voice as strong today as it was over 40 years ago when he started, but however he has God bless him. "24 Hours" features Tom Jones having arguably the most fun he has ever had in his epic career, every song feeling like a blast of energy and nostalgia for a new generation of listeners. While it is heavily rooted in 60's and 70's pop and soul, there is a definite new age twist on it that makes it not feel dated. Cuts like "I'm Alive" and "Feels Like Music" are funky pop anthems, while "If He Should Ever Leave You" and "Never" are classic love tunes that we've just come to expect from Mr. Jones. A triumphant collection of new songs, "24 Hours" is just another affirmation that Tom Jones is still the sexiest voice in show business.
Brandon Flower's drops the ridiculous posturing he has had in the past of being a "cool guy", and in the process finds the chemistry with his music he has always been looking for. Incredibly upbeat, catchy, uplifting and well thought out, it's a perfect blend of 80's pop music and a bit of 90's alt brit rock. Each song is filled to the brim with memorable hooks and interesting nuances. Truly a surprising and fantastic effort by a band I had written off as good, but standard pop fare.
It's interesting, no doubt, and filled with the most mature music underoath have made to date. The songs are all tight, compound pieces with very little fluff, and the new ideas all compliment the heavily "Define the Great Line" derived sound well. However, listenability has been lost in the evolution, and there is a distinct lack of the heavyness that made their last record so catchy and enjoyable.
Edit: Insert insulting remark to another user here!
The album is "scarier" and arguably more experimental than anything the Blood Brothers ever made. Less genre defying than just plain genreless, "Strange Symmetry" is something of a weird evolution from "Crimes" by the Blood Brothers, an EP with 5 short, direct songs filled with well executed ideas and unique songwriting. You won't hear anything quite like this for a while, so best to get your fill while you can.
With Some Blood, Off Minor have perfected their trade so much that its astounding how much they were able to fit into this twenty two minute LP. Drawing mostly from their previous record Innominate, but with enough fresh ideas and slightly reminiscent parts from the days of Heat Death of the Universe to make a fanboy cream his pants, Some Blood ups the ante on the technicality Off Minor have previously shown, with Behar's jazz influenced guitar playing and Roche's surprisingly improved bass work and tone pushing Off Minor to the limit of what they can do. While the rest of the album may be overshadowed by "Practice Absence" a bit, every song here is an astounding portrayal of the chaotic blend of screamo, hardcore and math rock that one would expect and anticipate from one of the true innovators in the genre.
Maybe Trent has realized his masterpiece days are over, so he is just going to release a steady stream of solid albums from now on? One would certainly hope so, as this is his strongest traditional album since The Fragile, and perhaps even The Downward Spiral. It's almost what "Year Zero" should have been, a conglomeration of all of his past sounds that doesn't sound redundant and uninspired. Its a different, less angry Trent whose days of youth angst and bitterness are gone, replaced by a sense of uneasy acceptance. Not to say that the album doesn't have Trent's edge, or that it isn't as "aggressive" as his previous albums.
An eclectic mix of various different types of emo, Cease Upon the Capitol have somewhat adopted the recent post-rock trend that bands have been jumping on for years it seems, Cease Upon the Capitol combine the tension of a band like In First Person with the theatrics and churning/building nature of City of Caterpillar, all the while not overblowing it with songs twice as long as they need to be. Definitely one of the strongest emo releases of 2007, and possibly the only real challenger to the Kidcrash's "Jokes".
V- Halmstad is only a black metal record by the loosest stretch. Progressive black metal may be the best tag for this, and purists are going to absolutely hate it. Shining actively combat stereotypes and standards within the genre, and whether or not they should be applauded for it depends on your idea about the black metal scene. What they deliver with V- Halmstad is a black metal album for people who don’t really like black metal, but have always sort of wished they would. It’s heavy, it’s vaguely intelligent (musically- lyrically the translations I’ve been able to find are hilariously bad), and its got the ability to make you rethink your hate for an entire genre. Then again, Shining probably would want you to say “**** black metal” anyways.
Chamillionaire produces the hip hop album of the year, in one of the biggest efforts I've heard this side of a Martin Scorsese film. Ultimate Victory is a collection of intelligent raps on current affairs, traditional southern crunk songs about cash and groupies, and discussion on the current state of Hip Hop itself. Featuring one of the smoothest flows in mainstream rap, Chamillionaire is truly the shining gem among all those other "gangsta" rappers out there, up there with the duo from Clipse as the leading figures in popular rap.
Clipse make a large return to form with Hell Hath No Fury, and so so with more vigor, skill, and production values than ever before. While you can vaguely tie them in with todays "gangsta-bitch" styling of rap, they do it much better than anyone else; envenomed flows, psuedo-experimental beats, and a sense of majesty T.I. wished he had.
So yeah I'm generally a Mars Volta fanboy. Particularly for this album. I get rather agitated and I hit things when someone gives this below a 4.5, and I eat babies whenever I see a 3.5 I black out otherwise. Anyways, this album is pretty goddamn amazing. Despite there being only 5 (6 if you include the single) songs, there's more variety here than on many a more bloated disc (traks wise), with salsa-y L'via juxtaposing with a power ballad in The Widow and a very industrialized song in Miranda. All in all though, it's a rather fantastic album that should be picked up by everyone. Everyone.
Ladytron are what one can consider a good Electroclash band; they barely even fit in the genre. However, their mixture of rock, pop, and massive amounts of various electronica influences are almost unrivaled, and their ability to craft songs that stick inside your head can only be described as N*Sync-esque. Easily the best pop release of 2005, and one of the most captivating albums of the century.
