br3ad_man
User

Reviews 164
Approval 94%

Soundoffs 16
News Articles 6
Band Edits + Tags 39
Album Edits 34

Album Ratings 194
Objectivity 67%

Last Active 07-26-18 6:43 pm
Joined 08-09-03

Review Comments 2,126

Average Rating: 3.72
Rating Variance: 0.50
Objectivity Score: 67%
(Fairly Balanced)

Chart.

Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name

5.0 classic
Converge Jane Doe
Guided by Voices Bee Thousand
Joy Division Substance
maudlin of the Well Bath
Pixies Surfer Rosa
Stars of the Lid And Their Refinement Of The Decline
Sun Kil Moon Ghosts of the Great Highway

4.5 superb
blink-182 Blink-182
Botch We Are the Romans
Bruce Springsteen Nebraska
City of Caterpillar City of Caterpillar
Converge You Fail Me
Daitro Laisser Vivre Les Squelettes
David Bazan Curse Your Branches
Dirty Three Cinder
Do Make Say Think You, You're a History in Rust
Flying Lotus Cosmogramma
Fugazi In on the Kill Taker
Infidel?/Castro! Bioentropic Damage Fractal
Joanna Newsom Ys
Joanna Newsom is truly an artist like no other. Existing in the realm of "freak folk" alongside artists like Devendra Banhart, Newsom's choice to use the harp as her main instrument (not to mention her unique vocal style) sets her apart completely. Ys is the follow-up to 2004's The Milk Eyed Mender and shows an enormous leap in terms of songwriting and arrangement. While her first record consisted of short folk songs, Ys' songs all approach (and sometimes exceed) the 10 minute mark. Featuring orchestration by Van Dyke Parks on 4 of its 5 songs, Ys shows enormous progression that even Newsom's most loyal fans could never have anticipated.
Johnny Cash American V: A Hundred Highways
Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye
Kayo Dot Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue
Low Long Division
Luxury Health and Sport
New Order Substance
Ohana Dead Beat
pg.99 Document #8
Purplene Purplene
Quiet Steps Think Aloud
Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come
Rosetta A Determinism of Morality
Saetia A Retrospective
Since their implosion in 1999, Saetia have become somewhat of a legend for many hardcore and emo fans worldwide. Their members have gone on to participate in such projects as Off Minor, Hot Cross and even Interpol. A Retrospective documents all of the material Saetia recorded in their time together as a band. The songs are short and fast and generally trade between heavy, aggressive parts and soft, clean passages. Vocalist Billy Werner screams, howls, sings and speaks over the top of this and ultimately delivers some incredibly powerful music. At 74 minutes, A Retrospective is raw emo at its most pure. A great starting point for those new to the genre and an essential release for fans.
Sarah Blasko What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have
Sed Non Satiata Le Ciel De Notre Enfance
Stars of the Lid Avec Laudenum
Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life
Sun Kil Moon April
The National Alligator
Like all of the greatest albums, Alligator is one of those records that works beautifully as a unit, yet still has 4 or 5 near-perfect standout tracks. The third full-length from New York band The National, Alligator is 13 tracks of varied, clever and emotional indie-rock. Highlights include the melodic opener "Secret Meeting", the anthemic "Lit Up", the soft and subtle "Daughters of the Soho Riots", the furious uptempo track "Abel" and the gorgeous "The Geese of Beverly Road", which features orchestral arrangements. Quite possibly the best album of 2005, Alligator comes painfully close to perfection.
The National Boxer
The Tallest Man on Earth The Wild Hunt
Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards
Split into three discs; Brawlers (gritty blues), Bawlers (ballads) and Bastards (experimental tracks), Orphans represents some of the very best work of Tom Waits' career. Orphans combines Waits' cigarette-stained voice, his brilliant and astoundingly delightful songwriting and the diversity that has defined his career over the years. Somehow managing to be an entirely consistent release over the course of 56 tracks, Orphans cements Tom Waits' status as one of the greatest songwriters and creative artists of all time.
Weezer Pinkerton
William Shatner Has Been

4.0 excellent
Agalloch Ashes Against the Grain
Arcade Fire Neon Bible
Architecture In Helsinki In Case We Die
Boris Pink
Perhaps Boris' most accessible album to date, Pink takes the band in a much more melodic direction than their previous records. Despite opening with a dense but beautiful track ("Farewell") akin to Mogwai or Jesu, the majority of the songs on offer are fast, fuzzed out stoner rock tracks. Featuring bluesy solos, intense vocals and ridiculously heavy production, fans of Queens of the Stone Age, The Bronx or the Melvins would do well to give Pink a try. Fans of the post-metal sound would also find a number of songs to enjoy with the aforementioned "Farewell", as well as "Blackout", the gorgeous ambient track "My Machine" and the album's enormously epic closer "Just Abandoned Myself". Whatever your preference, Pink's crushing heaviness will make a worthwhile addition to your collection.
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run
Cat Power Moon Pix
Converge No Heroes
Deerhoof The Runners Four
Deftones White Pony
Envy Insomniac Doze
Where the majority of post-rock bands can make dramatic dynamic changes and standard major keys sound old and stale, post-hardcore band Envy fuse post-rock with hardcore/screamo to create a sound that lies somewhere in between Mogwai and Saetia. While the result isn't anything wildly original, it's fresh and the listener can't help but feel that no one has ever implemented the cliches of the genre quite as well as Envy manage to on Insomniac Doze.
Erik Truffaz and Murcof Mexico
Extra Life Secular Works
Fantomas Suspended Animation
Fuck Buttons Street Horrrsing
Grey Daturas Return to Disruption
Grinderman Grinderman 2
I Heart Hiroshima Cut in Colour
Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights
Iron And Wine The Shepherd's Dog
ISIS Wavering Radiant
Jaga Jazzist What We Must
Jakob Dominion
Jesu Conqueror
Joan of Arc How Memory Works
Kayo Dot Blue Lambency Downward
Laura Radio Swan is Down
Liars Drum's Not Dead
Liars Liars
Low Drums and Guns
M. Ward Post-War
mewithoutYou Brother, Sister
Stripped down acoustic passages, poetic lyrics, atmospherics and intense post-hardcore all play a part in mewithoutYou's third full-length, Brother, Sister. Though the band manage to play some very interesting music with this release, it is all for the purpose of backing Aaron Weiss' passionate half-sung, half-spoken vocal attack. Titled in reference to the work of St. Francis of Assisi, Brother, Sister is a religious album, but if that isn't a turn-off for you, you owe it to yourself to check out one of the best and more original post-hardcore albums of 2006.
Mogwai Happy Songs for Happy People
Mogwai Young Team
Mogwai Mr. Beast
My Disco Cancer
My Disco Paradise
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds Murder Ballads
Okkervil River The Stage Names
Parts and Labor Mapmaker
Pelican The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon...
People For Audio The New Ancients
Pink and Brown Shame Fantasy II
Ryan Adams Easy Tiger
Shellac 1000 Hurts
Shellac At Action Park
Shotmaker The Complete Discography 1993-1996
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped
Stars of the Lid The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid Per Aspera Ad Astra
Sun Kil Moon Tiny Cities
Sunny Day Real Estate Diary
Supersilent 6
The Blood Brothers ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn
The Jolly Rogers The Jolly Rogers
The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers
The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins Rotten Apples
The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream
The Streets Original Pirate Material
Tim Hecker An Imaginary Country
Tomahawk Anonymous
Underoath Define the Great Line
Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters

What is there to say about Wolves in the Throne Room's second album, except that it's the most elegant black metal release since Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse? Each song achieves an atmosphere that is nothing short of perfect and an improvement in almost every way on the band's debut. Furious black metal sections give way to calmly dense post-metal sections with gorgeous female vocals, never once sacrificing beauty or emotion. With fantastic production, Two Hunters represents a very natural step forward for the best American band currently making black metal.

3.5 great
Anaal Nathrakh When Fire Rains Down From the Sky...
Arcturus La Masquerade Infernale
Aspects of Physics Marginalized Information Forms One: Ping
Battles Mirrored
Heavily processed vocals, super-tight drumming, crazy outbursts of technicality and furturistic effects all play a role in this highly unique New York supergroup. Featuring ex-members of Don Caballero, Helmet and Lynx, Mirrored takes the math rock template of Battles' EPs and fuses them with intensely catchy pop hooks and influence from countless other genres. If you're reading this, you've probably already heard it, but if not, do yourself a favour and check out what is surely one of the decade's most original releases.
Beastie Boys Hello Nasty
Beck Sea Change
Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit
Bloc Party Silent Alarm
Blonde Redhead 23
Cloud Cult Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
While some of its instrumentals and interludes between the 'actual songs' can prove to be difficult (in the same way as Sufjan Stevens' Illinois), Advice From the Happy Hippopotamus contains some of the most catchy, upbeat, thoughtful and downright happy indie-pop tunes released this decade. Case in point, the album's ninth track "Transistor Radio", which is centred around a simple but gorgeous acoustic guitar melody and vocal line and is augmented by some of the most lush string arrangements this side of the Flaming Lips. The song often sounds like it is going to explode into an epic climax, but (to its eternal credit) has enough restraint to stay subtile. While the album may too twee or sugary for some and too overwhelming for others, those who are willing to sift through the album's 25 tracks will be seriously rewarded.
Damien Jurado And Now That I'm In Your Shadow
Death Cab for Cutie Plans
Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow
Having released six albums in the space of four years, Devendra Banhart has established himself as one of the most prolific songwriters in the indie folk genre in a very short amount of time. Cripple Crow is his most recent full-length LP and it comes after 2004's release of companion albums Rejoicing in the Hands and Ni?ojo. Though not an overwhelmingly consistant record, Cripple Crow's 22 tracks are an eclectic, warm and soothing listen.
Fire in the Attic Crush/Rebuild
Gang of Four Entertainment!
Joy Division Closer
Joy Electric The White Songbook - Legacy, Vol. 1
Lightning Bolt Wonderful Rainbow
Low The Great Destroyer
Muse Black Holes & Revelations
Black Holes and Revelations is the fourth and latest offering from U.K. trio Muse. Following the success of 2004’s Absolution, Black Holes… sees Muse incorporating a wider range of influences to create a more accessible and eclectic record. Most of the record retains the epic feel and heavy sound that made previous efforts successful but includes elements of dance/electronica and straight-up pop. Opener “Take A Bow” uses the classical infused rock template of previous releases and adds electronic textures and falsetto harmonies to create an upbeat feel. Album highlight “Starlight” takes a piano riff that could come from a Coldplay or Keane song and adds heavily distorted bass riffs and dramatic vocals to become an intense, epic rock song. Other highlights include the super-heavy “Assassin”, the brilliant guitar solo of “Invincible” and epic closer “Knights of Cydonia”. Though not Muse’s strongest effort, Black Holes… is a solid and logical step forward.
Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral
Norma Jean Redeemer
Quiet Steps Quiet Steps [EP]
Sage Francis Human The Death Dance
Sandro Perri Tiny Mirrors
Silver Apples Silver Apples
Sufjan Stevens Illinois
The Appleseed Cast Low Level Owl, Volume I
The Grates Gravity Won't Get You High
The Kills Midnight Boom
The Mint Chicks Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!
While they probably haven't made the album of their career just yet, there's very little complain about with The Mint Chicks' performance on Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!. Unlike the Minties' previous full-length, CYDN is a much more well-rounded effort that harnesses their punk attitude into tastefully aggressive tunes like "Ockham's Razor" rather than outright spasms like "Nothing is a Switch". There are plenty of lighter moments also to be had, such as the relentlessly catchy "Sleeping During the Day" and the love song title track. In short, Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No! is a pop album with plenty of great songs, fantastic hooks and badass attitude.
The Postal Service Give Up
The Unicorns Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
These Arms Are Snakes Easter
On their second full-length, These Arms Are Snakes combine the abrasive post-hardcore of bands such as Drive Like Jehu with stop/start post-punk grooves and cold, moody synth sounds. Featuring ex-members of Botch and Kill Sadie, These Arms Are Snakes are a talented bunch, capable of more than your average post-hardcore group. Vicious, noisy and occasionally epic, Easter is full of angry shouting, complex riffing, electronic textures and varied dynamics. Highly recommended for fans of Fugazi, Scratch Acid and The Blood Brothers.
United Nations United Nations
Valet Naked Acid
Vic Chesnutt North Star Deserter
Wembly Shadwell Shapeshifter EP
White Suns Waking in the Reservoir
X Japan Art of Life

3.0 good
Alice in Chains Alice in Chains
Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
Carpathian Isolation
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Coldplay X&Y
Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Evangelista Hello, Voyager
Every Time I Die The Big Dirty
Fatboy Slim You've Come a Long Way, Baby
Hrsta Ghosts Will Come and Kiss Our Eyes
Ghosts Will Come and Kiss Our Eyes is the second full-length from Godspeed You! Black Emperor side project Hrsta. Combining some of GY!BE's depressing tones and dirge-like tempos with a more subtle, almost ambient approach to songwriting. Not unlike fellow GY!BE sideproject Set Fire to Flames, Hrsta employ a very organic approach to the creation of their music and the result is a very subtle, eerie journey through soundscapes generally featuring guitar, vocals and organs as the main instruments. The album's closer, a cover of the Bee Gees' "Holiday" is an uplifting conclusion, in the creepiest possible way.
Interpol Antics
Justice †
Limp Bizkit Significant Other
Maroon 5 Songs About Jane
Mastodon Leviathan
Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Napalm Death Scum
Norma Jean Meridional
Pantera Cowboys from Hell
Red Sparowes The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein...
Rosie Thomas These Friends of Mine
Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown
The Dresden Dolls The Dresden Dolls
The Music The Music
The Strokes Room on Fire
This Will Destroy You Young Mountain
Ulver Blood Inside
World's End Girlfriend Hurtbreak Wonderland
Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs

2.5 average
Black Dice Repo
Kings of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak
Razorlight Up All Night
Relient K The Anatomy of Tongue In Cheek
Steve Vai Passion and Warfare
Tilly and the Wall Bottoms of Barrels
Tool Lateralus
Unearth The Oncoming Storm

2.0 poor
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Some Loud Thunder
Jane's Addiction Strays
Korn Untitled
Oasis Be Here Now
Son Lux At War With Walls And Mazes

1.5 very poor
Bright Eyes Digital Ash in a Digital Urn

1.0 awful
A Perfect Circle eMOTIVe
STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Site Copyright 2005-2023 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy