5.0 classic |
Alkaline Trio Good Mourning |
Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First |
Bad Religion No Control |
Bad Religion Against the Grain |
Catch 22 Keasbey Nights |
Catch 22 Alone in a Crowd |
Eve 6 It's All In Your Head |
Eve 6 had an amazing run as a band. While many claim they faltered in their last album before breaking up in 2005, I personally think it’s just in their heads. Their third album is more than amazing. True, it is not as hard an album as Horrorscope and Eve 6. However, the diversity in the topics and styles presented more than makes up for that.
Hey Montana is a rather slow sad song, with no drums. Still Here Waiting is a fast-paced, almost punkish song about, well, waiting. Hokis, the hardest song on the album, is almost a headbanging song. Bring the Night On lyrically sounds quite a bit like rap; it is quite clever and unique.
Overall, It’s All In Your Head will get in your head in a big way. With one of the greatest rock songwriters of recent times behind it, there can be no doubt that an appreciator of good music can find something to enjoy here.
Recommended Tracks: Hokis, Bring the Night On, Good Lives. |
Green Day Warning |
Heavens Patent Pending |
Streetlight Manifesto Everything Goes Numb |
Streetlight Manifesto Somewhere in the Between |
System of a Down Hypnotize |
The Clash London Calling |
Tiger Army Music From Regions Beyond |
4.0 excellent |
A Wilhelm Scream Career Suicide |
Alkaline Trio Maybe I'll Catch Fire |
Alkaline Trio’s sophomore full-length album, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, marks a strong departure from their previous works in Goddamnit! Much of the latter contained lyrics mostly dealing with the dark side of life, with a dark edge to it but had lighter melodies and long riffs with no vocals. In MICF, the dark side has almost completely taken over in some ways. One song after another expresses self-loathing and hatred for unnamed persons and situations. It expresses a rather murderous thirst for vengeance and violence, such as seen in the fifth track, Sleepyhead (Hey there sleepy smile/I see you brought your bedroom eyes/ I’m assuming you want to keep ‘em/ I’m assuming you reckon you won’t). While still highly witty and at times amusing, it is a much more angry album then their first effort. MICF is also more compact, with less of the long riffs very common in Goddamnit!
Overall, Alkaline Trio morphed their sound quite a bit between their first and second albums, but in the end there is still enough in common that fans of Goddamnit! will almost surely find something to enjoy.
Recommended Tracks: Sleepyhead, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, Radio |
Arkona (RUS) Lepta |
Avenged Sevenfold Sounding the Seventh Trumpet |
Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold |
Bad Religion Suffer |
Bad Religion The Process of Belief |
Big D and the Kids Table Strictly Rude |
Dashboard Confessional A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar |
DragonForce Valley of the Damned |
Green Day Insomniac |
Green Day 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours |
Hard-Fi Stars Of CCTV |
Less Than Jake Losing Streak |
Less Than Jake Anthem |
Mad Caddies Quality Soft Core |
Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon Before Long |
Minor Threat Out of Step |
Minor Threat In My Eyes |
Nightwish Century Child |
Nirvana In Utero |
Nirvana Nevermind |
Reel Big Fish Why Do They Rock So Hard? |
Reel Big Fish We're Not Happy 'Till You're Not Happy |
Rise Against The Unraveling |
The Unraveling is the first work by the now widely-known rock band Rise Against. Luckily for music fans, this album’s title is not at all an indicator of its quality. Here the listener can hear the beginnings of the Rise Against sound that has become rather popular in the punk world today. Alternating between melancholic and empowering, the message of “soldiering on” that Rise Against has popularized in its later works began with this album. This is also their hardest album; it has a sound much more akin to hardcore punk albums then it does to the pop/acoustic sounds of Swing Life Away.
The album covers a variety of topics, from love to the state of the world to religion. The stand-out song from the album, Gethsemane, is a perfect close to the album, with a catchy tune and very interpretable lyrics. (With arms raised to the stars begging them to listen…with scars cut from these olive branches…tonight we give in to temptation). Either a love song or a song about Jesus’ final betrayal, it’s up to the listener to decide.
Ultimately, the complex lyrics and catchy, pounding tunes of Rise Against have earned a wide following. Seeing where it all began and uncovering the inception just takes a little unraveling.
Recommended Tracks: Gethsemane, Everchanging, Stained Glass and Marble. |
Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe |
Rob Zombie Educated Horses |
System of a Down System of a Down |
System of a Down Toxicity |
The Offspring Americana |
Thrice Vheissu |
Turisas Battle Metal |
Yellowcard Ocean Avenue |