| 4.5 superb |
| Beck Sea Change |
| Blue Man Group Audio |
| Cave In Planets of Old |
| Dave Matthews Band Before These Crowded Streets |
| David Bowie Blackstar |
| Failure Magnified |
| Failure Comfort |
Beautiful in its ugliness. There is a menacing, dissonant, raw sound that fills every song on "Comfort". It is Failure's least accessible album, their loudest, and possibly their best, yet it gets overlooked. I always found it unusual the way critical reviews of Failure pretty much only talk about one album... yes you know the one. Failure's first three albums are a unit, and when I'm in the mood I tend to binge listen all three.
I think "Comfort" is best listened to once you've explored Failure's later work. Once you're used to the band and the kinds of musical signatures they employ, you'll really be able to appreciate what they did here. But it also depends where you're coming from. If you're a big Steve Albini fan, this is the best place to start.
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| Failure In The Future Your Body Will Be The Furthest Thing From Your Mind |
| Grandaddy The Sophtware Slump |
| Hum Downward Is Heavenward |
I love most of the album. It's been in my collection for a decade or so and it's still fresh. Very ponderous, introspective, peaceful yet heavy. Electra 2000 and You'd Prefer an Astronaut were great albums, and Hum became one-hit wonders with "Stars" and put an earnest effort into one-upping their previous work. They really tried to experiment and do something special with the garage sound of the mid 90s, but their unique sound and longer song lengths didn't quite tick all the boxes for mainstream grunge or metal audiences.
"The Inuit Promise" might be my favorite, but it's really tough to pick. First six songs in a row are just hit after hit after hit.
A lost 90's gem, right in there with Failure's "Fantastic Planet" and Shiner's "Lula Divinia"... the space rock trio. I tend to get moods where I binge-listen to all the albums from all three bands. What am I saying? I'm always in that mood. :P |
| Incubus (USA-CA) S.C.I.E.N.C.E. |
| Incubus (USA-CA) Enjoy Incubus |
| Kayo Dot Hubardo |
| King Crimson VROOOM VROOOM |
| Martha and the Muffins Danseparc |
| For fans of Talking Heads, this is more of the good stuff. Actually shocked how few ratings they seem to have, seems my generation haven't discovered them yet. That is unfortunate. Danseparc is my personal favorite of M+M. There's an infectious energy here that I favor, but "This is the Ice Age" and "Mystery Walk" are quite good as well. |
| Minus the Bear Planet of Ice |
| Mutoid Man Helium Head |
| My Bloody Valentine Loveless |
| Old Man Gloom Seminar II: The Holy Rites of Primitivism Regressi |
| Surprised this has no reviews. Seminar II is their longest album and one of their stronger ones. Similar in structure to Christmas it alternates between metal tracks and ambient tracks. I find the ambient songs a bit more interesting than the ones on Christmas, and the loud songs are just as good if not better as well. Lots of good stuff here. |
| Pink Floyd Animals |
| Polvo Exploded Drawing |
| Quicksand Slip |
| Radiohead The Bends |
| Radiohead OK Computer |
| Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come |
| Shiner The Egg |
| This album rocks harder than Nirvana and smarter than Radiohead, and yet nobody knows about these guys. Proof that there is no fairness in life. Pure musical bliss directly into the brain. |
| Table Table |
| Talking Heads Fear of Music |
| Talking Heads The Name of this Band Is Talking Heads |
| The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream |
| Tool Lateralus |
| Windows96 Reflections |
| 3.5 great |
| ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dea |
| Acid King Busse Woods |
| AudioVent Dirty Sexy Knights in Paris |
| Beck Stereopathetic Soulmanure |
| Bonobo Migration |
| Boris Amplifier Worship |
| Caldera (US) Sky Islands |
| Cave In Antenna |
| Cave In Jupiter |
| Cave In Tides of Tomorrow |
| Coldplay Parachutes |
| Coldplay Brothers & Sisters |
| Dave Matthews Band Crash |
| David Bowie Station to Station |
| Death From Above 1979 The Physical World |
| Failure The Heart Is a Monster |
| Foo Fighters There Is Nothing Left to Lose |
| Hooverphonic A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular |
| Hum Electra 2000 |
It is an album for Hum fans and for anyone that considers grunge, post-hardcore, or space rock an important part of their lives, which if you're even here reading this, probably means you. While 'Electra 2000' lacks the polish of their major label albums, the production is pretty typical for an early 90's indie release. It packs more youthful, punkish energy than their later albums as well. There's enough here to make it important. Roughly on par with 'Astronaut' in the strength of songwriting.
Iron Clad Lou - ***
Pinch & Roll - *
Shovel - ***
Pewter - ****
Scraper - **
Firehead - ***
Sundress - **
Double Dip - ****
Winder - ***
Diffuse - ***** |
| ISIS In the Absence of Truth |
| Looking back, many years after the fact, I think I may actually like this the most out of Isis's whole catalog, though I'm one of those weirdos that didn't get into Panopticon much. |
| Joy Division Unknown Pleasures |
| Kayo Dot Coffins on Io |
| Kayo Dot Plastic House on Base of Sky |
| Ken Andrews Secrets of the Lost Satellite |
| King Crimson Three of a Perfect Pair |
| King Crimson The Deception of the Thrush |
| King Crimson The ProjeKcts |
| Martha and the Muffins This is the Ice Age |
| Melvins Lysol |
| Melvins The Maggot |
| Mogwai Young Team |
| Mutoid Man Bleeder |
| Neil Young On the Beach |
| Neil Young Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere |
| Old Man Gloom Christmas |
| Old Man Gloom NO |
| Old Man Gloom The Ape of God I |
| It's only when a band releases a great album that it puts their other works into context. I quite liked some of the jams on "Christmas" and "NO", but felt those were lesser works from OMG that dragged a bit. "Seminar II" was an intrepid piece of experimental metal and I felt it had a good album's worth of successful tries on it. The same energy and professionalism that sprinkled the stronger parts of that album are on display here from cover to cover. r"The Lash" takes the same type of Godspeed-esque buildup from "Roar of the Forest..." "Only Dogs Hear..." and "Jaws of the Lion" on their second album and does it better, essentially, culminating in a finishing jam that's in my top 5 for this band. Then leading into the Cave-In like "Never Enter" very nicely.r"Eden's Gate" is easily the most engaging intro for OMG, rocking as hard and profoundly as "Branch Breaker" but for 7 minutes in a fully fleshed out, well-developed suite of a song. r"Simia Dei" takes the best idea from "NO", the epic ISIS-like buildup at the end of "To Carry the Flame", ditching the rest of the song and going straight for it for 3 minutes. rThe result of all this is the most concise album from OMG. Certainly their most accessible, and one of--if not their best. The only fault I'd tack it with is that it's a bit safe and lacks the vision of "Seminar III". But that's where Disc 2 happily steps in. |
| Old Man Gloom Seminar VIII: Light Of Meaning |
| Old Man Gloom Seminar IX: Darkness of Being |
| Pink Floyd The Wall |
| Polvo Today's Active Lifestyles |
| Radiohead My Iron Lung |
| Radiohead In Rainbows |
| Rapeman Two Nuns and a Pack Mule |
| Russian Circles Enter |
| Shiner Starless |
| Steely Dan Pretzel Logic |
| System of a Down Steal This Album! |
| Talking Heads Talking Heads: 77 |
| The Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin |
| The Flaming Lips Oh My Gawd!!! |
| The Flaming Lips Zaireeka |
| The Life and Times Tragic Boogie |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture |
| The Mars Volta Noctourniquet |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness |
| The Strokes Comedown Machine |
| Tool Fear Inoculum |
| Tortoise TNT |
| Zozobra Bird of Prey |
