| King Crimson Red | 5.0 |
| Death By Stereo Death for Life | 3.0 |
| Rich Kids on LSD Greatest Hits Double Live In Berlin | 4.0 |
| Rich Kids on LSD Live In A Dive | 4.0 |
| Matchbook Romance Stories and Alibis | 3.0 |
| The Rolling Stones Hackney Diamonds | 4.0 |
| I don't think anyone expected the Stones, a band considered past their prime 30 years ago , to put out a great record in 2023, let alone a late career highlight, but that's exactly what they did here. After the passing of founding member and drummer Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones could've easily ended things with their careers and legacy cemented - instead, they got inspired, hired session drumming master Steve Jordan to fill in, and turned out their best record since the 80's. Mick Jagger puts in a staggeringly-great performance at 80 years old that puts kids a quarter of his age to shame, Keef and Ronnie Wood's guitar interplay is as exciting and ferocious as ever, and the songwriting hits virtually every era of the Stones with a fresh coat of paint. If this is the last Stones record (according to Keith Richards, it's not), it's an incredible statement to go out on for a band that most considered done. |
| blink-182 One More Time... | 3.5 |
| Eagles The Long Run | 3.5 |
| Eagles Hotel California | 5.0 |
| Eagles One Of These Nights | 4.5 |
| Mutoid Man Mutants | 4.0 |
| Shreds as per usual, even harder than War Moans tbh |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of... | 4.0 |
| Kinda funny that a non-thrash / metal band has put out two of the best metal records of the last ten years, isn't it? KG aren't rewriting any books with what they're doing here - it's basically thrash metal with a big nod to Tool, Metallica and Voivod - but the execution and songwriting is just so immaculate, it's almost funny how effortlessly they do it. Everything they did on Infest The Rat's Nest is turned up to 11 here, with dizzying meter and time changes and confident, badass riffs that never let up. "Supercell" and "Dragon" absolutely destroy, as does drummer Michael Cavanaugh throughout the record - seriously, the guy's a machine and world-class drummer. May well be KG's best record overall, imo. |
| Queens of the Stone Age In Times New Roman... | 3.0 |
| More like Queens Of The Middle Age these days. If "Unreborn Again" was stretched out into an album it'd sound like this. It's got moments but honestly, the edge and danger in their sound just ain't there anymore. |
| Foo Fighters But Here We Are | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Life Is But a Dream... | 4.5 |
While it certainly has its share of flaws here and there,
LIBAD is a sonic experience from front to back that everyone
remotely into extreme music should listen to at least once.
Yes, there are problems with the mix being a little too dry
and sterile at times, Shadows is really pushing his vocal
range in some songs and the more quirky experimentation
choices don't always execute well (G, while fun, is just
awkward as hell), but it's executed so well for the most
part, you can easily overlook the flaws. The biggest hurdle
for some will be the completely balls-to-the-wall genre-
hopping and experimentation in every song, already alienating
plenty of older fans while making a bunch of new ones. But
truthfully, nothing here is THAT surprising when considering
the band's many diverse musical influences - what's amazing
is how well they execute such a disparate number of
influences seamlessly, and the fact that they swung for the
fences so late in their careers and released easily the
strangest and most inaccessible album of any mainstream metal
act in years, is extremely impressive. The sheer musicianship
and ambition here is astonishing and demands to be heard in
full as an album experience, period. |
| John Mayer Where the Light Is | 4.5 |
| Metallica 72 Seasons | 3.5 |
| Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures | 4.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins ATUM: Act II | 2.0 |
Rivers Cuomo: I bet I can torpedo my band's legacy the
fastest
Billy Corgan: hold my tea cozy fam |
| Thrice The Artist in the Ambulance (Revisited) | 4.5 |
| Takes an already-great album and makes it all better. What an awesome surprise. |
| Enemy Alliance Damnation Dawning | 3.5 |
| Hmmm I wonder if these guys slavishly worship Propagandhi? |
| MF DOOM Operation: Doomsday | 4.5 |
| MF DOOM MM.. Food | 4.5 |
| NOFX Double Album | 3.5 |
| Gatherers " ( mutilator. ) " | 3.5 |
| Genesis The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway | 4.5 |
| Genesis A Trick of the Tail | 4.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins ATUM: Act I | 2.0 |
It's almost like Billy listened to all the justified
criticisms about why CYR and Shiny were lifeless, soulless
records with no passion or identifiable Pumpkins
characteristics and said "yeah let's keep doing that".
Unequivocally, ATUM Act 1 is a straight dogshit record. There
are no hooks anywhere to be found, the production is bland
and lifeless, Billy's vocals are more jarring than ever and
mixed way too high, Jimmy Chamberlain sounds like a drum
machine (when he's actually playing), mix is terrible, the
songs are devoid of anything interesting, and it sounds 100%
like a solo record. The fact that he's considering this Part
1 of a sequel to MCIS and Machina is practically insulting
considering the lack of quality here - "Hooligan" in
particular may just be the absolute WORST SP song ever
recorded.
Seriously BC, what in the actual fuck? |
| L.S. Dunes Past Lives | 3.5 |
| Twelve Foot Ninja Vengeance | 3.5 |
| Twelve Foot Ninja Outlier | 4.0 |
| Twelve Foot Ninja Silent Machine | 4.5 |
| Polyphia Remember That You Will Die | 3.5 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity | 4.0 |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Polygondwanaland | 4.0 |
| The Contortionist Language | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Amputechture | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta The Mars Volta | 4.0 |
If Peter Gabriel got in a fight with Santana, Blackstar
Bowie, Steely Dan and Radiohead, it might sound like this.
Wholly different than anything they've ever done before, and
great for it. TMV is a bit of a spiritual continuation
of what they were doing on Octahedron and Noctourniquet in
that they've drastically "simplified" their sound for more of
a straightforward musical format, but this time around the
band leans on their Latin roots and goes for an experimental
jazz / R&B pop direction that, even if entirely different,
still exemplifies how singular and original this band
continues to be 20+ years later. While the insane prog
wankery is noticeably absent, it's Cedric who takes the MVP
with his most emotional performance ever closely followed by
Marcel shredding it on the keys. The dissonant Omar melodies
are all still in there, touched up with his most tasteful
guitar work ever, and Willy's tightly syncopated jazz
drumming with incredibly melodic basslines from founding
member Eva Gardner really show off the band's secret ability
to create absolutely BEAUTIFUL music when they want to. It's
incredibly polarizing already to the fanbase for good reason,
but the s/t is probs their best music since the Frances / Amp
days. Grower for sure |
| Megadeth The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! | 3.5 |
| United Nations The Next Four Years | 4.0 |
| Hey Geoff, I know you got a new band and all and imma let you finish, but this stuff will be better than anything you put out with them |
| Viagra Boys Cave World | 3.5 |
| A fantastic dance/post-punk record that musically might be the punkest fucking band in years, but lyrically it's full of Twitter/Reddit-level leftist cringe that fails to be as clever as it thinks it is. Fortunately the music is so good you can ignore most of it. |
| The Alex Jones Prison Planet Crush the Parasites | 3.5 |
| When a joke band unironically slaps. It's actually just pretty good |
| Viagra Boys Call of the Wild | 3.5 |
| Baby Teeth goes fuckin HARD in that paint. The others are good but that one fucks. |
| Gospel MVDM: Magick Volumes Of Dark Madder | 4.5 |
| It fucking totally and utterly slaps, as expected. It's their "The Decline" in that it pretty much perfectly encapsulates everything great about this band in one track. Hoping the cheeky title is actually a sign will be getting more new music.r |
| Viagra Boys The Consistency Of Energy | 3.5 |
| Viagra Boys Street Worms | 4.0 |
| Trocadero You Were There | 4.5 |
| Jesus H. Chris A Catastrophic Break with Consensus Reality | 3.5 |
| The covers are pretty fucking great but I have to say that the reworked Prop tracks are interesting at best and LOLbad at points, there's cool ideas in there but the execution just misses |
| Megadeth Countdown to Extinction | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Killing Is My Business... The Final Kill | 4.0 |
| Polyphia The Most Hated | 4.0 |
| Polyphia New Levels New Devils | 4.0 |
| Cave In Heavy Pendulum | 4.5 |
This shit fucking stomps. Cave In return and drop what may be
the most consistent record of their career in Heavy Pendulum,
which is no mean feat considering the loss of Caleb Scofield
in 2018, arguably the band's principle songwriter. Recruiting
Nate Newton from fellow buddies and metalcore legends
Converge to take over bass and vocal duties proves to be the
band's new x-factor - Cave In have never been this heavy,
vital and focused in their careers, and Nate is a big part of
that. His throaty growl puts the vocal OOMPH in Blood
Spiller, Nightmare Eyes, Amaranthine and much of the record,
perfectly complimenting Steve Brodsky's inimitable croon.
Brodsky and Adam McGrath punish throughout the entire record
with disgusting riff after riff, intertwined with the
galactic delay leads they are infamous for, bolstered by
powerhouse drumming from JR Connors, really only stopping to
take a breath a handful of times throughout with a couple of
interludes and more reflective, meditative tracks such as the
t/t and Reckoning. If anything can be criticized with the
record, It's that there's almost too much of a good thing -
the interludes are cool but not really necessary, and Waiting
For Love, while having a great riff, is just kinda there.
Otherwise, there's a strong argument for HP being Cave In's
strongest record yet. It does a fantastic job of combining
aspects of all those eras into one, with a little bit of
Mastodon, AIC, Failure and Soundgarden sprinkled on top.
Incredible album. And did I mention the production is fucking
ridiculous? |
| Gospel The Loser | 4.5 |
| It's fuckin incredible as everyone more or less expected |
| Dag Nasty Minority Of One | 3.5 |
| Glassjaw Live At The Forum [Vinyl] | 4.5 |
| Paul McCartney Ram | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Abbey Road | 5.0 |
| The Beatles The Beatles | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Rubber Soul | 4.5 |
| The Beatles Help! | 4.0 |
| The Beatles Beatles for Sale | 3.0 |
| The Beatles With the Beatles | 3.0 |
| Propagandhi Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes (reissue) | 5.0 |
| Helen Earth Band Our Own Ghost City | 4.0 |
| The Cambiata Into the Night | 4.5 |
| Thrice Horizons/East | 3.5 |
| Simply the best record they've done since Beggars. Thrice is back to being one of the most consistently-creative bands out there, with the whole band firing on all cylinders HARD. |
| Turnstile Glow On | 4.0 |
| Eminem Recovery | 2.5 |
| The big dog is finally off his chain again. Bullshit rappers, start running. |
| Tyler, the Creator Bastard | 4.0 |
| Considering that this is the first record from the 18-year-old Tyler The Creator (founder of LA rap crew Odd Future), and that he composed the beats, lyrics and music virtually by himself, you have to hand it to the kid. Bastard could easily pass as a veteran's record with the hard-as-fuck lyrical content and ridiculous flows coming out of Tyler's mouth. From the opening title track all the way to "Inglorious", Bastard is a high-energy, passionate record replete with fantastic wordplay, production and beats that seems to mesh the free-association of Ghostface's Supreme Clientele, Lil' B and e-40 with the horror/shock rap of the 90's like Necro, Cage, and Kool Keith, with some evil Neptunes synths/keys on top of that. With all of that, there's a surprising vulnerability underneath it all, with constant mentions to Tyler's deadbeat father, family problems, etc. - there's some REALLY heavy shit on this record (think DMX's "X Is Coming" only turned up to 15 on the "That's Fucked Up!" Scale). If there was a paternal-minded counterpart to Marshall Mathers LP, Bastard is probably the closest to it. VCR/Wheels, AssMilk, Jack And The Beanstalk, Blow, Seven, Bastard, French!, and Slow It Down are all some of the best hip-hop tracks of 2010 without doubt (yeah it came out X-Mas 2009, whatever). Go to oddfuture.com and download this for free right now, and watch for amazing things to come in the near, odd future. A few hairs short of a modern classic. |
| Tyler, the Creator Cherry Bomb | 2.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Goblin | 3.0 |
| Not as good as Bastard but still pretty great. |
| Tyler, the Creator IGOR | 3.5 |
| Tyler, the Creator Call Me If You Get Lost | 4.0 |
| Brand New Science Fiction | 4.5 |
| Rich Kids on LSD Rock 'n Roll Nightmare | 4.5 |
| Your favorite band's favorite band. With this album, RKL went from being a great hardcore band to being arguably the most balls-to-the-wall "progressive punk" band to come along since the Bad Brains. The fact that this came out in 1987 and basically kick-started the entire SoCal punk explosion is criminally under-reported and unsung. To say that RKL were probably the most talented punk band from a technical standpoint is just a fact - nobody around at the time was doing anything like this. Without this album, NOFX, Lagwagon, A Wilhelm Scream and 90% of pop punk bands wouldn't exist, period. Anyone who likes good rock music should give it a listen. |
| NOFX Single Album | 4.0 |
| Easily the best album they've done since PUTV, by my estimation. Getting sober did Fatty some good - the songs and songwriting are the best that Mike has done in his career, and musically the band is firing on all cylinders, really showing off their talent with lots of genre-hopping and slick meter/key changes throughout the record, only melded together seamlessly instead of sticking out in individual songs like they did in the past. Musically, it's a big statement for them - NOFX have always been secretly far better musicians than they've let on throughout their careers, and here is where they show it off. Great stuff, with The Big Drag, Birmingham, Your Last Resort and Linewleum in particular being classic / career highlights. |
| Mind over Matter Automanipulation | 4.5 |
| An underappreciated 90's post-hardcore classic. Glassjaw and hundreds of other bands would not exist without this record, straight up. |
| King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors [2020 Remix / Remaster] | 4.5 |
| HORSE the band A Natural Death | 4.0 |
| Bush The Kingdom | 3.5 |
Bush's heaviest and most aggressive record yet, by my estimation. As someone who's
always thought of Bush as a UK Nirvana clone, I'm pretty shocked they'd have an album
of this quality in them, let alone 25+ years after their heyday. The riffs and guitar
work are truly superb and the album standout, with almost every song featuring a
great riff, lead or idea and complementing Rossdale's vocals exceptionally well. Bush
have managed a return to form that many of their superior 90s contemporaries
seemingly can't execute themselves (SP, anyone?) while updating their sound to a more
modern take, pretty nice. |
| HORSE the band Your Fault | 4.0 |
| Eleven years for only two new HORSE songs and a NIN cover almost feels unfair, but we'll take what we get. As expected, the new songs fuck hard and feel like a mix of Desperate Living and The Mechanical Hand, and I really hope we get a full length out of them in this style. The Nine Inch Nails cover is solid and especially funny during the piano refrain with the goofy synth tones. H THE FUCKING B. |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Cyr | 3.0 |
"A double-LP of basic Goth/electro-pop with barely any
guitars or good drumming is exactly what we, The Smashing
Pumpkins, should be doing in the twilight years of our
relevance. Everyone wanted this."
- Billy Corgan, probably
Not entirely sure what Billy and Company were trying to
accomplish with this one. It sounds like a BC solo record
featuring The Smashing Pumpkins - and according to the
band's interviews that's pretty much what it was with minor
contributions from James and others - so what do we have with
CYR? Simply put, this is Billy putting out a contemporary pop
record with the SP name. Gone ALMOST completely is the
powerful dynamic drumming of Jimmy Chamberlin, the
trademarked fuzzed-out guitars of the band's signature style,
and the tense, smoldering anger in Corgan's delivery in the
band's heyday - in comes cold synths, electronic/sampled
beats, bleep bloops, female backup vocals and a whole bunch
of songs that sound a whole lot like Depeche Mode, New Order,
The Cure and other 80s post-punk and New Romantic bands Billy
worships. He always incorporated these influences into the
band's work but this is more or less a pastiche of those
styles emulated to a T, warts and all. Not entirely out of
character but still a rather unwelcome surprise all the same
for most of the band's fans - most of us wanted an actual
return to form that the band failed to deliver on 2018's
Shiny Pt. 1, instead of odd stylistic detours that don't
quite execute properly. Is Billy Corgan taking his cues from
Rivers Cuomo these days on how to deal with his musical
legacy?
There's some good tracks here, like Colour Of Your Love, Anno
Satana, Purple Blood, Save Your Tears, etc - the latter half
is unquestionably stronger, and the singles don't fully
represent the darker aspects of the record, etc... but none
of them rank even in the band's top 50 songs, imo. Not one.
Every track hits around the 3:30-4 minute mark, they're
competently recorded and written - they're just boring and
lazy, Billy finding a formula and beating it into the ground.
He's done stuff like this before and much better in the past
- then, he had a much stronger band, better attention to
detail, better composition and writing. CYR just kinda
exists. There's no deeper layers to find - it's easily
Smashing Pumpkins poppiest and most immediate record to date,
modern production values and all, and what you get is what
you get.
Point is, who WANTED this from SP? Trying new musical avenues
is commendable and nothing new for SP, but this direction
just isn't up to par with their prior work in quality, and
definitely didn't justify a 2xLP. It should be a criminal act
to go 3 albums under-utilizing a drummer like Jimmy
Chamberlin the way they have since the reunion, ffs. Billy
claims that this is the Smashing Pumpkins "firing on all
cylinders again" after the reunion, and while this certainly
IS a Smashing Pumpkins record through and through, it's a
really weak one. Better than Shiny, but only just. No, it's
nothing like Adore and nowhere near the level of quality,
that album had real soul and character, expanding the band's
musical horizons while still retaining what made SP great.
CYR is a product that does what it says on the packaging -
deliver a double album of competent, inoffensive and pleasant
songs that don't challenge you much. |
| Mr. Bungle The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny | 3.5 |
| Greg Puciato Child Soldier: Creator of God | 3.5 |
| Deftones Ohms | 4.5 |
| Slick Shoes Rotation and Frequency | 3.5 |
| Wow, what an unexpected surprise. This band (and their last album) are super-underrated. Slick Shoes deserve a spot right next to Strung Out, Rufio and A Wilhelm Scream when talking about technical pop-punk bands, and Rotation and Frequency is a prime example of their incredible musicianship. There's nothing groundbreaking here, just incredibly well-executed pop-punk meant to be turned up loud that hits you in the nostalgia. |
| Pearl Jam Vs. | 4.0 |
| Misery Signals Of Malice and the Magnum Heart | 4.5 |
| The Night Marchers Allez! Allez! | 4.0 |
| Hot Snakes Thunder Down Under | 4.0 |
| Hot Snakes Peel Sessions | 4.0 |
| Hot Snakes Automatic Midnight | 4.0 |
| The Blood Brothers ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn | 4.0 |
| The Strokes The New Abnormal | 3.0 |
| TNA really does remind me of some of the more experimental touches of First Impressions Of Earth, just stretched out to an album format. Produces similar results, both good and bad - I think Angles was a better representation of them doing new things while also retaining the characteristics that made them awesome, like the wicked guitar interplay that is really lacking on this one. It's certainly not a bad record, but it just kind of exists though... it's really missing that Strokes energy and feels more suited to a Julian project. I like the risks they are taking with their sound and it is better executed than in the past, but still doesn't strike the proper balance imo. |
| Sparta Trust the River | 2.5 |
| Pretty blah, not altogether unsurprising considering it's just Jim Ward and none of the rest of ATDI, who were fundamental in creating the Sparta sound. Probably should've just stayed doing ATDI as Ward's contributions would've probably helped the quality and precluded any need for this uninspired crap. |
| Envy The Fallen Crimson | 4.0 |
| Sunday Service Choir Jesus Is Born | 3.5 |
| Kanye West Jesus Is King | 3.5 |
A more-than-decent record with a few bangers, a big
improvement from Ye. If Kanye wasn't a Trump-supporting
Christian the average would be higher too, js |
| Refused War Music | 3.5 |
Way better than Freedom, still doesn't touch Shape but
it's a massive step in the right direction with a few
legitimately killer tracks. If Freedom was Refused
experimenting with a few bits of their old sound, this is
a full-fledged return to the aggression of old, tempered
with bits of experimentation and age. Great stuff. |
| Cynic Traced In Air Remixed | 4.0 |
| NOFX Ribbed - Live In A Dive | 3.5 |
| Lagwagon Railer | 4.0 |
| Fucking excellent return to hyper-speed skatepunk form after the darker, heavier, midtempo stylings of Hang. This album is lean, mean, full of riffage and really brings out the Duh/Trashed feels, with even a dash of RKL thrown in. Great stuff. |
| blink-182 California | 2.5 |
| Well I guess this is average stuff. The band is not the same without Tom, the song writing is lifeless and bland, and Skiba doesn't get enough of a spotlight to make this any more than a +44 record with Matt Skiba. |
| blink-182 Nine | 2.5 |
| Tool Fear Inoculum | 4.0 |
| After an interminable 13-year wait between records, Tool finally drops Fear Inoculum, a stronger and more direct album than 10,000 Days that marries the more direct songwriting of Lateralus with the progressive song structures and experimentation of the former. While there's some moments of unnecessary bloat (as with every Tool album), the band have never sounded better musically, with every member stepping into the spotlight on tracks like Invincible, Descending, and the monstrous 7empest, destined to be a live classic and career highlight. Maynard has turned in what is probably his laziest vocal performance yet, but even on autopilot he's more than good enough to make it work, and the band picks up his slack now more than ever, in a good way. Tool still sounds like themselves, for better or for worse, but sprinkle in just enough new tricks (Adam's leads and guitar work are truly improved across the board) and jaw-dropping moments of musical virtuosity to make up for the weakest moments. Excellent comeback. |
| Tool Lateralus | 5.0 |
| Strung Out Songs Of Armor And Devotion | 3.5 |
| Good Riddance A Comprehensive Guide to Moderne Rebellion | 4.0 |
| Good Riddance Ballads From the Revolution | 4.0 |
| Good Riddance Operation Phoenix | 4.0 |
| Good Riddance Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit | 3.5 |
| Van Halen A Different Kind of Truth | 3.5 |
Holy shit this album destroys. Makes every modern rock band look like toothless fairies in any serious comparison, and these guys (well, 75% of them) are twice their age. It hardly matters that most of these songs were conceptualized throughout the band's career - what band doesn't do this? - this is vital, hard-hitting, dirty rock and roll performed by veterans in dying need of a rebirth, and on that level it not only succeeds, it writes the fucking blueprint for how a veteran rock band considered all but dead for the last, oh, 30 years should conduct their affairs. If this doesn't give modern rock the giant left hook to the face it needs, we're all doomed.
As Is = Rock/Metal SOTY contender easy |
| At the Drive-In in•ter a•li•a | 3.5 |
Put simply, in.ter.ali.a is fucking excellent. Remember when
Refused tried to come back, failed hard and sort of sullied
their reputation? This is, thankfully, not that.
in.ter.ali.a implements elements of their entire career and
heavily calls back to ROC in overall sound (with a teensy
smidge of Omar's guitar freakouts and more melodic Cedric from
TMV, but this is definitely ATDI Cedric) and yet 17 years
later, it's amazing how IMMEDIATELY vital they are to rock
music still to this day. Omar and Cedric are truly on fire
the entire record, Keeley does such a great job here you
barely notice Jim's absence, and Paul & Tony are playing the
best they've ever played - if you ever wanted a truly worthy
follow up (dare I say, sequel) to ROC, here you go. Welcome
back boys. |
| Jeromes Dream LP | 4.0 |
| Killer stuff. Vocals are obviously bland and tuneless, but who cares when the music is this good. |
| Good Riddance Thoughts And Prayers | 3.5 |
| Probably GR's best record since Operation: Phoenix. Hard-hitting, catchy, aggressive, literate and, most importantly, way less preachy and obnoxious than their peers have been lately (looking at you BR). |
| Sum 41 Order In Decline | 3.5 |
| Probably their best album since Chuck. Nothing spectacular or mind-blowing, just good straightforward pop-punk with a metal / thrash edge. |
| Rival Sons Hollow Bones | 3.5 |
| Rival Sons Great Western Valkyrie | 4.0 |
| Baroness Gold and Grey | 4.0 |
| Finch World of Violence | 4.0 |
| Refused Freedom | 3.0 |
After almost twenty years of inactivity, what should
we have expected from Refused in 2015? If anything
Freedom is completely left-field and
shamelessly weird, catchy, dissonant and
experimental, throwing genres together with little
regard to the rulebook, and somehow it works just
fine while standing on it's own feet as a singular
listening experience. It's no Shape, in fact
it goes out of its way to not be, as much as
possible - and really stands out as it's own beast.
Many old fans are going to absolutely hate this,
guaranteed - those who can look past the jarring
musical shift in gears will have a deliciously weird
and solid Refused album in 2015. Welcome
back boys. |
| Cave In Final Transmission | 4.5 |
A tribute to deceased bassist/songwriter/vocalist
Caleb Scofield, Cave In turn in yet another sublime blast
of space rock / post-hardcore glory on
Final Transmission that melds the psychedelic
atmosphere and twin-guitar assault of Jupiter and
Antenna with dashes of the more aggressive post-
hardcore stylings of Perfect Pitch Black. It's
markedly less sludgy, experimental and violent affair than
2009's White Silence and arguably better for it,
although the lack of Caleb's trademark harsh vocals is a
sore omission. The album is as a whole is much more
orchestrated, direct and cleaner than the previous, with
songs like "Night Crawler" and "Led To The Wolves" being
the heaviest cuts that go for raw, heavy and oppressive
riffs and drumming whereas tracks like "An Illusion",
"Shake My Blood" and "Winter Widow" feature the driving,
monolithic space rock-meets-Sabbath riffs and delay-washed
intertwining leads that made Jupiter a masterpiece.
The late Caleb Scofield's presence is felt all over the
record, turning in his final and arguably greatest
performance on bass, especially making his mark on songs
like "Strange Reflection" and "An Illusion". While it's not
sonically the most original record they've made, it's a
perfect send-off that encapsulates the band at their
musical best and playing to their strengths, while bringing
in enough new tricks to sound completely fresh and vital in
2019. RIP Caleb, you will be missed. |
| Bad Religion Age of Unreason | 3.0 |
About as good as you would expect from post-2000 Bad
Religion. The Approach, Chaos From Within and What Tomorrow
Brings are fantastic, top-tier BR songs that showcase
Greg's ageless vocals and the band's famous guitar
interplay, but sit next to songs like Big Black Dog, Lose
Your Head and Candidate, some of BR's worst material in
years. Musically it's a bit more varied than True North,
but the drumming takes a big step backwards in complexity
without Brooks although Jamie does a perfectly fine job on
his debut.
Lyrically, how much you enjoy this album really depends on
where you sit in the political spectrum - if you're a
raging liberal that despises all things Trump, here's the
Orange Man Bad: The Album that you wanted. If you're more
moderate or conservative, prepare to chuckle at an album
full of leftist Boomerisms and reductionist stereotyping by
out-of-touch limousine punks. It's smarter partisan tripe
than most, but BR are still flogging a lyrical dead horse
and not adding any new insight, they're just using bigger
words. |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness | 5.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 | 2.5 |
It's not TERRIBLE for what it is - Shiny And Oh So Bright,
Vol. 1 is perfectly competent with songwriting and
composition - but really, the fuck is this happy shit? I
get that Corgan's old now and got over shit, but aside from
"Solara" and "Marchin' On" (neither of which rank anywhere
near their best work), most of the record is generic pop-
rock with overblown production (thanks Rick Rubin, you
still suck) and music so saccharine and corny it makes me
retch. Talk about disappointing for James and Jimmy's
return to the fold, neither one gets any real standout
moments, and even Corgan's incendiary leads and riffage are
basically nowhere to be found. Too many major-key pop
ballads in general that don't play to their strengths - I
wanted an angsty, loud, theatric, grimy fuzzy return-to-
form SP record with dope guitars and drums, and I'm pretty
sure everyone else did too... instead we get Zwan 2.0, I
guess, but less good. |
| Thrice Palms | 3.0 |
| Definitely a much more organic-sounding album than 2015's rTBEITBN, which felt like a Thrice-ified Dustin solo record, but it's still their weakest album yet. They never reach the heights they did on Vheissu and Alchemy (and probably never will again), but it's still a decent, versatile and cohesive listen with a few surprises thrown in, and Dustin reminds why he's one of the best post-hardcore vocalists of all time. Too bad the songs rjust aren't up to par with their past work. |
| Hopesfall Arbiter | 4.5 |
| Yeah, it delivers on the hype, no question about it. The rest of the edgy too-cool-for-school crowd can get fucked in their faceholes |
| Spanish Love Songs Schmaltz | 4.0 |
| Converge Beautiful Ruin | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Christmas Songs | 3.5 |
| Teyana Taylor K.T.S.E. | 3.5 |
| Nas NASIR | 3.5 |
| Comfortably the best record Nas has put out in a while and arguably the strongest of the five Summer 2018 Ye records (does anyone care about Teyana Taylor?) |
| Pusha T DAYTONA | 4.0 |
| Kids See Ghosts Kids See Ghosts | 4.0 |
| Kanye West ye | 4.0 |
| Kinda wonder how many people rated it lower just because of Kanye's recent comments and Trump support. This is easily just about as good as everything else he's done, minus some weak lyricism. |
| Kendrick Lamar good kid, m.A.A.d city | 4.5 |
| Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly | 4.5 |
| Color Film Living Arrangements | 4.0 |
Really excellent 80s New Romantic / New Wave throwback
with some of Daryl's most impassioned vocals yet. Daryl
and Richard Penzone (the musical nucleus of Color Film)
channel Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Police, The Cure
and even some 80s King Crimson and Spandau Ballet and do
it pretty flawlessly. The production is especially killer
and brings back heavy nostalgia of this particular musical
era. My gripe? Some songs are just a little too quirky
for their own good (I Need A Parasite is just bad and
Ambush Bug is just dumb in spots) and not everyone will
appreciate the dated 80s throwback sound. Otherwise,
great album with some legit classics (Bad Saint, Bass In
7, Small Town, Springtime Of Our Love) |
| The Doors L.A. Woman | 4.0 |
| The Doors The Doors | 4.5 |
| Every Time I Die Hot Damn! | 4.0 |
| Greyhaven Empty Black | 4.5 |
| Palm Reader Braille | 4.0 |
| Hopesfall Magnetic North | 4.0 |
| Greta Van Fleet From the Fires | 3.0 |
| While I can't deny the singer is basically the lovechild of Robert Plant and Ann Wilson and has some incredible pipes, the Zeppelin worship is pretty overpowering and almost distracting, and they cross the line from adulation to musical theft a LOT (just like their influences, really). Great potential here, but they lack the originality needed to stand out when bands like Rival Sons do what they do with much more variation and attitude. Considering these kids are just shy of drinking age, I expect some pretty big things from them in the future. |
| Rival Sons Head Down | 4.0 |
| Rival Sons Before the Fire | 3.5 |
| Rival Sons Pressure And Time | 4.0 |
| Hot Snakes Jericho Sirens | 4.0 |
| Rolo Tomassi Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It | 4.5 |
| Atreyu The Curse | 3.0 |
| It's really not as bad as we all said it was back then. Atreyu DOES have some moments of cheesy popcore brilliance in there, they're not awful at their instruments, and they can write monster hooks. Alex's various tone-deaf, pitchy, obnoxious and warbly screams are some of the most unintentionally-hilarious musical treasures of the 2000s, but the dual-vocal chemistry with drummer / clean vox Brandon is pretty nifty at times and helps offset the more annoying qualities (and godawful lyricism). The Curse is a hugely flawed but good record. There, I said it. |
| Stillsuit At the Speed of Light | 4.0 |
| Glassjaw Material Control | 5.0 |
Hey guys, Gyro here. Just want to remind you I don't like
glassjaw in case you forgot in the last day or two lol
Oh yeah, album fucking slaps. Material Control is
basically Glassjaw doing their best Mind Over Matter /
Stillsuit / VOD / Silent Majority impression via Revelation
Records / 90's L.I. post-hardcore, and it rules. |
| Converge The Dusk in Us | 4.0 |
| Propagandhi Victory Lap | 3.5 |
Fucking rules as always. Still the best
punk/thrash/whatever band ever, even if they're not
ripping quite as hard as before. |
| Sufferer Sufferer | 4.5 |
| Holy shit... this is almost too good. Great lyrical concept, amazing post-hardcore instrumentation, just shreds like a motherfucker. |
| Garbage Not Your Kind of People | 3.5 |
| Quicksand Interiors | 4.0 |
| Foo Fighters Concrete and Gold | 4.0 |
| This album is way better than it has any right to be. Probably Foos most diverse and musically adventurous album yet, they actually push some boundaries on here. Taylor in particular is killing it on the drums, and there's some awesome guitar work on here. Early verdict has this in the upper echelon of Foo albums, give it a shot. |
| Hot Water Music Light it Up | 4.0 |
| Angelo Badalamenti Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series | 4.5 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Villains | 3.5 |
| Classic QOTSA in the way you least expect it. The Evil Has Landed gives you a massive Zeppelin-influenced boner unless you're dead inside |
| Queens of the Stone Age Rated R | 4.5 |
| Highly Suspect Mister Asylum | 4.0 |
| Roger Waters Is This The Life We Really Want? | 4.0 |
| Cave In Antenna | 3.5 |
| Minus the Bear Omni | 3.5 |
OMNI is really strange record. You really WANT to love it, but know that something's just not there. Whereas Planet Of Ice excelled at melding high-octane guitar work with strong melodies and a central theme, OMNI kinda just plods at times, trying to find its footing. It's clearly trying to please all sides of the MTB camp, going from poppy/dancy tracks to prog-rock workouts, but giving neither side the TLC it needs to really blossom. The added emphasis on Alex Rose's keys comes at expense of Snider and Knudson's guitar tandem taking a backseat, to mixed results.
While it's still a great record and many of the tracks are vintage MTB (Secret Country, Summer Angel, Hold Me Down, Into The Mirror/Animal Backwards), it's missing the catchiness of their past catalogue and the huge riffs and forward-thinking songwriting that made Planet Of Ice such a truly great record, and it simply drags at times where a cool guitar riff or prog section probably could've saved it. Despite all of this, OMNI is still a good record, it's just not Planet Of Ice good. |
| Depeche Mode Sounds Of The Universe | 3.0 |
| Minus the Bear VOIDS | 2.5 |
| Hot Snakes Suicide Invoice | 4.5 |
| Bad Rabbits American Nightmare | 4.0 |
| Metallica Hardwired...To Self-Destruct | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold The Stage | 3.5 |
| Finch Phantasma | 4.0 |
| Sad because this band and this record could have been much better than they were, but laughably Finch pretty much shoot themselves in both feet anytime they get something going, so this will do. |
| Candiria Process of Self-Development | 4.0 |
| Candiria While They Were Sleeping | 3.5 |
| A more than respectable comeback album from one of the greatest live bands I've ever seen. The combination of old-school manic Candiria and the more post-hardcore/alt-metal direction they started exploring in WDKY and Kiss The Lie comes to its ultimate synthesis here. |
| NOFX First Ditch Effort | 3.5 |
| Converge You Fail Me Redux | 4.5 |
| The mix and mastering is noticeably much better on this version. Sonically, this might be the best sounding Converge album yet. |
| letlive. If I'm the Devil... | 2.0 |
| The sounds of a band unabashedly selling the fuck out. |
| Thrice To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere | 3.5 |
| Better than M/M but definitely feels like more of a heavier rDustin solo record in some spots. Wake Up is kinda ehhh but rnot terrible. Stay With Me is way too much like basic stadium rrock with a really saccharine and predictable melody. The rHurricane, The Window, Whistleblower, Salt & Shadow, Black rHoney, DFA and The Long Defeat all kick ass but idk if I'd put rany of it in their top 20 except The Hurricane, THAT is a rmonstrous, classic jam. There's a slightly disjointed feel to rit due to the band writing most of the album individually rinstead of together as with previous records. I think it sits rright in the middle of their discography - it's no Vheissu, rAlchemy Index, or TIOS but I'd tie it with Beggars, and it's rcomfortably better than TAITA, IC and M/M, which still speaks rheavily to their level of excellence. Great comeback. |
| Saosin Along the Shadow | 3.0 |
| Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool | 4.5 |
| The Fall of Troy OK | 4.0 |
Really great comeback from a band all but written off
after In The Unshitely Event. Brings back heavy old-
school feels from the self-titled/Ghostship/Doppelg�nger
era with a vocal performance that doesn't make me want to
kill puppies, with huge improvements in Andrew's drumming
and Erak's domination of post-hardcore guitar mastery
remaining unchallenged - at this point, no one comes
close. The strategy to release two mixes - the original
being rather overproduced and compressed, the second being
raw and more in the vein of the first records - was a
pretty brilliant move, and A Single Word, Your Loss,
Savior, Suck-O-Matic and Inside Out are all top-tier TFOT
and welcome additions to the band's mainly-stellar
catalogue. |
| The Fall of Troy Phantom on the Horizon | 4.0 |
| Deftones Gore | 3.5 |
| Burn ...From The Ashes | 3.5 |
| Weezer The White Album | 3.5 |
| Skycamefalling 10.21 | 4.5 |
| HORSE the band Desperate Living | 5.0 |
| 1-2-3 H the B, 1-2-3 H the B. HORSE the motherfucking band, motherfucker. Yeah this rules |
| David Bowie Blackstar | 4.5 |
| An absolutely fantastic record from front to back. The man's still got it |
| Color Film Text On Image | 4.0 |
| So yeah, this leaked but got taken down. Fantastic EP showing a huge Cure/Smiths/Duran Duran/Police influence with some quirky post-punk thrown in. Daryl shows off his impressive vocal range on songs like "Day After Day", sounding almost nothing like his previous work in Glassjaw and Head Automatica. Highly recommended. |
| Thrice Major/Minor | 3.5 |
| It's good. Definitely better than Beggars, but still way below their best. |
| The Beach Boys Today! | 4.0 |
| The Beach Boys Love You | 3.0 |
| The Beach Boys Holland | 3.0 |
| The Beach Boys Surf's Up | 4.0 |
| The Beach Boys 20/20 | 3.5 |
| The Beach Boys Wild Honey | 3.5 |
| The Beach Boys Smiley Smile | 3.5 |
| The Beach Boys Friends | 4.0 |
| The Zombies Odessey and Oracle | 4.5 |
| Mutoid Man Bleeder | 4.0 |
| This shit goes hard. |
| Muse Drones | 3.0 |
Solidly better than Resistance, 2nd Law and Showbiz
and far below everything else. But it's still a fuck
load better than the last two
"Drones is our best album" - Matt Bellamy
No Matt. No it's not. |
| Mariachi El Bronx El Bronx | 3.5 |
| Candiria Kiss The Lie | 4.0 |
| Good Riddance Peace In Our Time | 3.5 |
| Faith No More Sol Invictus | 4.0 |
| The naysayers are fucking trippin', this album is amazing. It's no Angel Dust or King For A Day (and really 20+ years later who was expecting that), but it's solidly better than AOTY or any of the pre-Patton material easy, and sonically stands on its own in Faith No More's discography while retaining all the things you like about them. Separation Anxiety, Superhero, title track, Sunny Side Up, Matador and Cone Of Shame all ripppppp hard and should silence anyone who thinks this band isn't still a creative force. |
| Finch Back to Oblivion | 3.0 |
After a nine year break between albums, Finch returns with Back To Oblivion. The album
generally blends the darker melodies and maturity of SHTS with the simpler, more melodic
stylings of WIITB, but overall it sounds more like a natural evolution of what they were
going for on the s/t EP. If any criticism can be leveled towards it, I'd say it's a
little too safe in certain parts (Alex Pappas is a huge backward step from either Drew or
Marc on drums) and lacks the intensity and creativity of SHTS, but it's still a very solid,
well-crafted album. |
| Strung Out Transmission.Alpha.Delta | 3.5 |
Strung Out put out another great (if slightly
predictable) release. It's not really any different
from what they were doing on Blackhawks or Agents -
Transmission.Delta.Alpha is full of great songs, jam
packed full of fiery interesting guitar work,
fantastic vocals and excellent drumming that sits
comfortably near the top of the genre. Strung Out
have a tried-and-true sound that works well for them
but their strict adherence to it is the band's
undoing at times in that the album has a very
general sound that doesn't stray far from the
template of past records. They're all very well
written and enjoyable but never really step over the
brink into classic status, although they are buoyed
by the production which is by far the best of Strung
Out's career to date, and it certainly stands alone
as their most melodic and catchiest release yet...
but do we really want a tamer, poppier Strung Out?
After 4 years between records, it feels like the
band is playing a little too safe in comparison to
the work being released by contemporaries like A
Wilhelm Scream, Forus, Propagandhi and even Lagwagon
in the last couple years. So what we're left with
is a very good album of really great attempts and
almosts that overall is quite pleasing and enjoyable
to listen to but simply doesn't touch the band's
earlier stronger work. |
| Voivod Target Earth | 4.0 |
| Voivod Killing Technology | 4.5 |
| Voivod Dimension Hatröss | 4.5 |
| Voivod Nothingface | 4.5 |
| Fiction Plane Mondo Lumina | 1.5 |
| Protest the Hero Fortress | 4.0 |
| Metallica St. Anger | 2.5 |
| The Police Zenyatta Mondatta | 4.5 |
| D'Angelo Black Messiah | 4.5 |
Once again even fourteen years after Voodoo,
D'Angelo puts out a better Prince record than the
man himself. Album of the year and there's probably
no competition, it's that good. |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Monuments to an Elegy | 3.5 |
| Lagwagon Double Plaidinum | 4.5 |
| Lagwagon Resolve | 3.5 |
| Lagwagon Hang | 4.0 |
A slightly heavier, riffier & more metal Lagwagon
than you might be used to, but Hang proves that Joey
Cape still has it. Close to half the album can
comfortably sit in their "classics" column
and the other half are only fucking
excellent, pretty much. |
| New Found Glory Resurrection | 3.5 |
| Weezer Everything Will Be Alright in the End | 4.0 |
| Rivers finally gets his head out of his ass, drops the gimmicky songwriting and puts out the best Weezer album since Pinkerton. Welcome back guys. |
| Weezer Hurley | 3.0 |
| Hurley does nothing other than confirm what many people have said for years - Rivers Cuomo is the biggest and best musician troll to ever exist IRL. |
| Weezer The Red Album | 2.5 |
| Weezer The Green Album | 3.0 |
| Weezer Raditude | 2.0 |
| Holy crap, Weezer put out a record that's mostly listenable?! I've accepted that they'll never return to the brilliance of Blue and Pinkerton, but for a modern Weezer with four relatively crap records under their belt, this isn't bad at all, but it's also not great either. There's very few standout tracks - the most obvious being "If You're Wondering" and "I'm Your Daddy", along with "Trippin' Down The Freeway - but everything is pretty much just middle-of-the-road 'good' to f*cking terrible ("In The Mall" srsly what the fuck?). The lyrics are laughably bad (which I believe is quite intentional; the guy's an English major from Harvard for Christ's sake), and it's unabashedly pop, but Rivers writes a catchy fucking tune. And "Get Me Some" fucking shreds with the sw33t lixx. |
| Finch Say Hello to Sunshine | 4.5 |
| Easily the best and most underrated Finch album. Say Hello To Sunshine is a much darker, heavier affair, forgoing the pop-punk stylings of their debut album (the incredibly overrated What It Is To Burn). Everyone in the band stepped up their game here, especially Nate with his vocals. He has a Mike Patton Jr. thing going here and he pulls it off pretty flawlessly. The band's rhythm section has improved tremendously, favoring odd-time signatures and sudden meter shifts while the two guitarists trade off with some killer, off-kilter guitar riffs reminicient of Thrice making love to The Mars Volta. Aside from a few semi-clunkers (Hopeless Host, Bitemarks And Bloodstains), this is about as flawless mix of post-hardcore, prog, and alt-rock as you'll get. |
| Finch What It Is to Burn X | 3.5 |
| United Nations Never Mind the Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures | 4.5 |
| UN is back firing on all cylinders with their cleverly-titled/lawsuit-baiting Nevermind The Bombings, Here's Your Six Figures EP. Musically it's not much different from the material on the self-titled, aside from some slowed-down numbers like "O You Bright & Risen Angels", displaying an almost Modern Life Is War vibe. And that's not a bad thing, considering how great that album was. While the vocals could have been mixed a little higher, the furious energy of the title track and "Communication Letdown" should dispel any notions that this shit doesn't still rule. |
| Rise Against The Sufferer and the Witness | 3.5 |
| Rise Against Appeal to Reason | 3.0 |
| Crime In Stereo The Troubled Stateside | 4.0 |
| Crime In Stereo I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone | 3.5 |
| Crime In Stereo Crime In Stereo Is Dead | 4.0 |
| Trophy Scars Holy Vacants | 4.5 |
| Generic John Hanson 5'd This Sputnik Sound OffrHaven't heard it yet but it's a 4.5 |
| Chevelle La Gárgola | 3.5 |
| Metallica Beyond Magnetic | 3.5 |
| Beyond Magnetic is Lulu damage control, an EP of b-sides from the Death Magnetic sessions. All of these songs are better than literally any random second of Lulu, which says exactly nothing, but when these songs are arguably just as good if not better than the majority of the album it was culled from, it's not a terrible start to redeeming their horribly self-maligned reputation amongst their fans (and, likely, the entire music-loving world at this point). The b-sides seem to meld their Load and Death Magnetic sides much more comfortably and naturally than Metallica forcing themselves to re-package MOP riffs yet again, and should be the musical direction this band follows in the future. Too bad these are four years old and less than a month ago the same band released Lulu. |
| Metallica Ride the Lightning | 5.0 |
| Metallica Metallica | 3.5 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Partycrasher | 4.0 |
| AFI Burials | 3.5 |
| AFI Crash Love | 3.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Hesitation Marks | 4.0 |
| Does not disappoint. Stronger than any of his post-Fragile work |
| King Krule 6 Feet Beneath the Moon | 4.5 |
| This is so good haha this ginger is really talented |
| Deafheaven Sunbather | 3.0 |
| letlive. The Blackest Beautiful | 3.5 |
| Solid album marred by horrible production, a drop in songwriting quality, and a lack of real innovation, but even if letlive DO rip off every post-hardcore cliche possible, they're still intense and fun on their A-game, and they're arguably doing that sound better than anyone else right now. Empty Elvis, American Black Market, That Fear Fever, The Dope Beat and 27 Club kick loads of ass and prove they've still got it, but it's not even near the level of Fake History really. |
| Pianos Become the Teeth Saltwater | 3.5 |
| Pianos Become the Teeth Old Pride | 4.0 |
| Pianos Become the Teeth The Lack Long After | 4.5 |
| Kanye West Yeezus | 4.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age ...Like Clockwork | 4.5 |
| Definitely one of the better albums of the year, and not quite up to the level of Rated R or Songs but it's really right underneath them, and I mean that in the best way. I Appear Missing is probably the best thing the band has done in 12+ years |
| Jimmy Eat World Damage | 3.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Queens of the Stone Age | 3.5 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris | 3.5 |
| earthtone9 IV | 4.0 |
| Sooo good. Not arc/tan/gent but pretty damn great in its own right. |
| Tyler, the Creator Wolf | 3.5 |
| Solid improvement in almost every area over Goblin, hands down. |
| The Strokes Comedown Machine | 3.0 |
| Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience | 4.0 |
This is undoubtedly great because of its consistency more than anything... but come on, you act like epic/genre-bending R&B has
NEVERRRRR been done before... it's like no one on this site ever listened to Michael Jackson, Prince, D'Angelo, Outkast, lol
even Janelle Monae. Get some perspective kids, the only reason you're cumming over this is because mainstream music has
fucking sucked for like ten years and JT reminded people that good songs >>>> gimmicks |
| Shai Hulud Reach Beyond the Sun | 4.0 |
| David Bowie The Next Day | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Suffer | 4.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Afterman: Descension | 3.5 |
| State Faults Desolate Peaks | 3.5 |
| Bad Religion True North | 4.0 |
| Hands down, Bad Religion's best since The Process Of Belief. |
| Fugazi Furniture | 4.0 |
| blink-182 Take Off Your Pants And Jacket | 3.0 |
| Easily the worst post-Dude Ranch blink album. I used to like it a lot when I was 17 but I quickly realized how contrived, tasteless, and flat-out uninspiring this album is, even compared to Enema Of The State. The songwriting is rushed and simply horrid at times ("First Date") and they blatantly recycle old riffs instead of learning how to play guitar a little bit (compare the riff of "Online Songs" to "Boring" from Dude Ranch... almost completely identical). Travis is still good as always but most of this album bites it hard. Not surprising considering Tom/Mark said it only took them two weeks to write the whole thing. |
| blink-182 Dogs Eating Dogs | 3.5 |
| Fugazi End Hits | 4.0 |
| Fugazi Red Medicine | 4.0 |
| Led Zeppelin Celebration Day | 4.5 |
| Still got it. Plant needs to get over himself and do a proper tour. |
| Bad Brains Into The Future | 3.5 |
| Bad Brains' best album since Quickness, hands down. |
| Deftones Koi No Yokan | 4.5 |
| In all seriousness, this blows away anything the Deftones have done on a musical level pretty handily, and that's no small feat in itself. White Pony seems almost simplistic compared to what Chino and the boys have produced here, and even the venerable Diamond Eyes and SNW all seem like mere precursors to what Koi No Yokan has to offer. |
| Soundgarden King Animal | 4.0 |
| Green Day iDOS! | 3.0 |
| Further Seems Forever Penny Black | 3.5 |
| Great album. Reminiscent of a more mature The Moon Is Down. Carraba sounds fantastic. |
| Further Seems Forever The Moon Is Down | 4.0 |
| Death Grips No Love Deep Web | 3.5 |
| Green Day ¡UNO! | 3.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria No World for Tomorrow | 3.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Afterman: Ascension | 3.5 |
| Deftones Diamond Eyes | 4.0 |
| Deftones have yet to release a truly bad record, and Diamond Eyes is further proof of that. It's one of the heaviest Deftones releases yet while simultaneously being the most lush, atmospheric record the band has put to tape. While it doesn't break down as many sonic barriers for the band as White Pony and Saturday Night Wrist did, it instead finds immeasurable power in how well it melds the fury and aggression of the old 'Tones with the hypnotic soundscaping and melodic beauty of their later work - all while being their most progressive musical outing yet. The entire band simply kills it, with Chino in particular giving a standout performance with the always-stellar Abe on drums, Stephen dropping his best Meshuggah-meets-Cure riffage in recent memory, and Quicksand vet Sergio filling in admirably for the ailing Chi on bass. It's their most immediate record since Around The Fur and rivals SNW and Pony as one of their best records yet. It's simply a beautiful journey front-to-back. Anyone else wondering just how good Eros will be considering this one took only 25% of the time to make? |
| Peter Gabriel Growing Up: Live (DVD) | 4.5 |
| Genesis Selling England by the Pound | 4.5 |
| Converge All We Love We Leave Behind | 4.5 |
| Probably in their top 3, right behind Jane Doe and Forever Comes Crashing. Simply flawless, peerless in their genre and an easy AOTY contender. And this is their 8th album lmao |
| Muse Black Holes & Revelations | 3.5 |
| Muse Absolution | 4.0 |
| Muse The 2nd Law | 2.5 |
| Somehow manages to be better and worse then The Resistance. Matt learned how to play guitar again but forgot how to write good songs, it seems. And did they replace their drummer with a robot? Supremacy, Animals, Survival and Isolated System are pretty good, the rest is pretty forgettable (in the case of Unsustainable, just unforgivably bad) or just better-done on their other albums. Bellamy's riffs are pretty much the only thing keeping this from being a giant pile of shit. Muse, might be time to hang it up. |
| Frank Ocean channel ORANGE | 4.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Handwritten | 3.0 |
| The Gaslight Anthem Sink or Swim | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Infinity Overhead | 3.0 |
It's slightly better than OMNI, but comes
across to me as an amalgam of POI + bits of Menos +
the better parts of OMNI. Aside from some
really contrived lyrics in some spots
(Listing and Heaven Is A Ghost Town being
particularly cheesy), this is pretty much the same
MTB with a few new tricks up their sleeve, while
silencing some of the bitchy old-schoolers; Toska in
particular should satisfy anyone who thought Dave
Knudson forgot how to play guitar, Diamond Lightning
competes with their very best material, and Cold
Company ranks with Lotus and 5 Guitar Band as one of
their all-time best epic closers. The hooks are
more refined and catchier than ever, and MTB seems
to have nailed that sweet spot between pop and
proggy indie rock experimentation that eluded them
on OMNI. The main criticism however is that the
band's simply not writing songs of Pachuca
Sunrise/Monkey!Knife!Fight/Drilling caliber like
they used to and the songs kind of just exist and
don't really go hard enough in either direction,
much like its predecessor. Not to mention that
Jake's lyrics and vocals are stuck on autopilot and
Erin Tate basically died/fell asleep during the
recording. Minus The Energy/Songs/Fun lawl |
| NOFX Self Entitled | 3.5 |
| Definitely better than Wolves or Coaster, not sure about the rest but it's solid. |
| ZZ Top La Futura | 3.5 |
| Album has no right being as good as it is, but there you go. Sounds pretty much just like their 70's output, dirty greasy and fun. These dudes are so old they make Bad Religion look like Cobra Starship and yet still put out some kickass music. "I Gotsta Get Paid" might be one of the band's most brilliant songs ever, and Gibbons still dials in the tasty blues riffs throughout. Complete return to form and a fine listen. |
| Propagandhi Failed States | 4.5 |
| Even Supporting Caste didn't prepare for the aural onslaught that is Propagandhi's Failed States. The band dives full on into prog-thrash with no apology and pretty much just beats the shit out of you the entire 37 minutes without mercy. It's most like TETA but heavier and more complex, and the Rush influence is HUGE in some songs. It's not an easy listen but oh so rewarding, and definitely their most unforgiving offering yet. It just fucking kills. Easy best of 2012. Favorite songs: the whole thing |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Oceania | 4.0 |
as long as those three dudes responsible for maybe 3 songs in their entire band's discography aren't here, I will not call this smashing pumpkins because it's not
oh well I guess we'll listen to this awesome new SP record while you stew
postedit: andcas I'm fully aware D'Arcy Wretsky was in the band, dudes was just a blanket term. I agree the classic band played and sounded better live and in studio but for all intents and purposes the band's classic material was written, composed, and played in-studio by Billy Corgan, as have 90% of their songs. Functioning unit of equals? Ever read about the making of Siamese Dream? Or heard that their keyboard player DIED in a drug o.d. with Jimmy Chamberlain? And that D'Arcy was fired because she was a crackhead? But a reallllll fan would know that lol... I wore out two Siamese Dream cassettes and Mellon Collie was the first CD I ever owned btw |
| Rush Clockwork Angels | 4.0 |
| Putting an album out this fucking good almost 50 years into a rock band's career pretty much never happens, but Rush pull it out somehow. They should probably retire after this because it'd be close to impossible to top, and I mean that in the best way. |
| The Beach Boys That's Why God Made The Radio | 3.0 |
| Better than I thought it would be. While 2/3 of the album is pretty crappy (the lyrics in general are terrible throughout), the opening and final three tracks = best songs Brian Wilson has written in some 30+ years, hands-down. Now if only he did an album like that, we would've had something special. |
| Hot Water Music Exister | 3.5 |
| Great comeback record, but a little too much of a "Chuck Ragan solo album" vibe on some tracks. Either way, a solid album lacking in standout tracks. |
| Fugazi Steady Diet of Nothing | 4.0 |
| Fugazi In on the Kill Taker | 4.0 |
| Fugazi Repeater | 4.5 |
| Fugazi 13 Songs | 4.5 |
| Fugazi The Argument | 4.5 |
| The Beach Boys The Smile Sessions | 5.0 |
| Unadulterated runaway pop brilliance. Brian Wilson went fucking bonkers writing this, and it's kind of a small tragedy that this album wasn't released when it was. The Beatles wrote Sgt. Peppers using Pet Sounds as their blueprint, but if Smile hadn't been shelved (thereby allowing Sgt. Pepper's a clear shot to change music and history forever), you can bet your ass music would be completely different today. |
| Death By Stereo Black Sheep Of The American Dream | 3.5 |
| Much better than the last album. About as close to a return to form as we'll get. |
| Pennywise All or Nothing | 3.0 |
| Death Grips The Money Store | 4.5 |
| I hated Exmilitary so fucking much but wow this is like 100% better |
| Death Grips Exmilitary | 3.0 |
So this is like way angrier than ANY RAP EVER, something I'd know from listening to exactly 0 hip hop artists in the last twenty years, but a dude from a neckbeard band is the beats guy on this, so it's automatically GREAT. And did I mention it's angry? That's so /33t cuz hip-hop is NEVER ANGRY! The lyrics are just so deep, insightful and weave a tale of angry anger, with poignant lines like IT GOES IT GOES IT GOES x 9! And they shout a lot! Let me tell you, if you love obnoxious bottom-feeding Scarface wannabes bellowing into a mic like a ghetto Hitler with hardly any thought, prowess or subtlety YOU WILL NUT FOR THIS.
But on account that it's way more underground and way less good, YEP BETTER THAN GOBLIN bahahahahaha |
| The Mars Volta Frances the Mute | 4.5 |
| The Mars Volta Octahedron | 3.5 |
| Five Finger Death Punch American Capitalist | 1.0 |
| LOL |
| Hopsin Raw | 3.5 |
| OFWGKTA The OF Tape Vol. 2 | 3.5 |
| It's good, but shouldn't they rename it The Hodgy Beats Tape with Guests OFWGKTA? He's on like every goddamn track. And yes, Earl's verse on Oldie = godlike |
| Strung Out Prototypes and Painkillers | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Noctourniquet | 4.0 |
| Really takes a few listens to get it all, but honestly this is what Octahedron should have been; a rather concise set of songs that balance tunefulness and TMV's penchant for insanity without going too far in either direction. Aside from new drummer Deantoni Parks' human drum machine spasms of craziness, this is TMV at their most stripped-down and restrained (essentially a power trio with a keyboard + vocals now), and Noctourniquet benefits greatly from it. Sonically it veers from straight ballads to atonal post-punk spats to heavy electronic ambient, all within individual songs at times, but sounding strangely straightforward and polished for TMV. For this first time in, well, ever, it almost sounds like a real band playing instead of 29 session musicians having an orgy listening to Zappa and King Crimson. |
| Every Time I Die Ex Lives | 3.5 |
| If you compared this to The Beatles please piece yourself |
| No Trigger Canyoneer | 3.5 |
| No Trigger Tycoon | 3.0 |
| I dunno. It's a standard modern hardcore record much like the Strike Anywheres and Rise Againsts, only with more balls. Problem is, there's thousands of bands who already do that. It's good and all but there's nothing that hasn't been done 4 million times before, and when bands like Crime In Stereo, Propagandhi, A Wilhelm Scream, etc. have put out defining hardcore/punk albums several times since No Trigger's last album that even 3-5 years later blow Tycoon out of the water, it kinda makes you wonder why they wrote a record that could fit right into 2004. It just sounds outdated, and after a six-year wait and dozens of albums of the genre that do what they do only better, why drink America's Choice when you can get Pepsi? |
| NK Basement Tapes Vol. 1 | 3.5 |
| The Beach Boys Pet Sounds | 5.0 |
| The Beach Boys Sunflower | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Trashed (Remastered) | 4.5 |
| Lagwagon Duh (Remastered) | 4.5 |
| Lagwagon Hoss (Remastered) | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Let's Talk About Feelings (Remastered) | 4.5 |
| Fiction Plane Sparks | 4.0 |
| Fiction Plane, and Joe Sumner (Sting's son) in particular, escape the shadow of The Police... by becoming the heirs apparent to The Police of our generation. Fiction Plane come from a more indie/alt-rock angle but blend all the manic energy and experimentation of the legendary band with a modern twist. Previous album Left Side Of The Brain - a great album in its own right - only hinted at what the band could do here. To say that Joe sounds almost identical to his father in his prime is an understatement, and with the anthemic guitar work of Seton Daunt and subtle powerhouse drumming of Pete Wilhoit, some of the detours on Sparks are truly awesome and unexpected. Songs like "Tommy" blend a heavy grunge verse riff with a rousing chorus, only to truly go into outer space with a mind-bending storm of proggy madness and back again to sludge, along with songs like "Out Of My Face" and "Push Me Around" sounding like an honest-to-God 2011 version of what The Police could have been if Sting wasn't a douche and if Maroon 5 weren't so lame, these guys cover huge musical ground. It's defiantly indulgent and erratic and a lot to absorb, but there's some truly incredible moments on here. Why isn't this band huge? Everyone get this now, it's brilliant. |
| Fiction Plane Everything Will Never Be OK | 3.0 |
| Fiction Plane Left Side of the Brain | 4.0 |
| Brian Wilson Smile | 4.0 |
| Joey Cape Bridge | 3.5 |
| Lagwagon Putting Music In Its Place (Box Set) | 4.5 |
| Lagwagon's first five albums are almost perfect examples of innovation in the mid-90's Epitaph/Fat Wreck Chords skate punk sound. Hearing them remastered (especially early albums like Duh and Trashed and the rough-mixed Double Plaidinum), packaged in with what is likely every b-side, outtake, and scrap of music recorded during all five album sessions, their very first demo as Section 8, photos, artwork, and liner notes along with assorted live performances on DVD AND posters for like $40 is a stupid good deal. Lagwagon never put out a bad album, but their first five are by far their gold standard and the blueprint for probably hundreds if not thousands of bands. So uh get it. |
| Waking The Cadaver Beyond Cops, Beyond God | 1.0 |
| Waking The Cadaver Demo | 1.0 |
| Waking The Cadaver Perverse Recollections Of A Necromangler | 1.0 |
| NoMeansNo Wrong | 4.5 |
| Bush The Sea of Memories | 3.0 |
| Cynic Carbon-Based Anatomy | 3.5 |
| Tom Waits Swordfishtrombones | 4.5 |
| Tom Waits Bone Machine | 4.5 |
| Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards | 4.5 |
| Tom Waits Bad As Me | 4.0 |
| More like Bad Ass Me |
| Lou Reed and Metallica Lulu | 2.0 |
Make no mistakes, this is an abortion of almost St. Anger levels, but the sad thing is that Metallica's contributions aren't bad at all. If this was an instrumental album, or even a proper Metallica record with actual singing and lyrics, it'd probably be a 3-3.5.
But then Lou Reed comes in with his atonal warbling artsy bullshit that makes you want to kick puppies, and you kinda wonder how in the fuck two cultural/musical icons responsible for some of the best albums ever recorded could have ever though this was a good idea. |
| Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds | 3.5 |
| The Lawrence Arms Cocktails and Dreams | 4.0 |
| The Lawrence Arms A Guided Tour of Chicago | 4.0 |
| The Lawrence Arms Ghost Stories | 3.5 |
| The Lawrence Arms Apathy and Exhaustion | 4.0 |
| The Lawrence Arms Oh! Calcutta! | 4.0 |
| The Lawrence Arms The Greatest Story Ever Told | 4.5 |
| Jane's Addiction The Great Escape Artist | 3.5 |
| Will Haven Voir Dire | 4.0 |
| Will Haven Carpe Diem | 4.0 |
| Peter Gabriel New Blood | 3.0 |
| Much like his cover album Scratch My Back, the originals are simply a lot better. |
| Shai Hulud That Within Blood Ill-Tempered | 4.5 |
| New Found Glory New Found Glory | 3.5 |
| New Found Glory Sticks and Stones | 3.0 |
| New Found Glory Radiosurgery | 2.5 |
| blink-182 Neighborhoods | 3.5 |
| blink-182 surprise everyone and put out a record that not only sounds modern and fresh, but covers every musical territory the band has staked out since their debut. It would be hard to find a fan who won't love this as it's got just about everything you'd want in a blink-182 album. And that's why it kicks loads of ass. |
| Hunt / Gather Former Rust EP | 4.0 |
| Chickenfoot III | 2.5 |
| Mastodon The Hunter | 3.5 |
| It's been out literally an hour calm down with your stupid fucking 5s scrubs |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers I'm With You | 3.0 |
| Brand New Your Favorite Weapon | 3.0 |
| Hot Water Music Live At The Hardback | 4.0 |
| Hot Water Music Till the Wheels Fall Off | 3.5 |
| Hot Water Music Never Ender | 4.0 |
| Hot Water Music Forever and Counting | 4.0 |
| Hot Water Music Finding The Rhythms | 3.5 |
| Hot Water Music Fuel for the Hate Game | 4.5 |
| Hot Water Music No Division | 4.0 |
| Hot Water Music The New What Next | 3.5 |
| Hot Water Music A Flight and a Crash | 4.0 |
| Hot Water Music Caution | 4.5 |
| Circle Takes the Square As the Roots Undo | 4.5 |
| Circle Takes the Square Circle Takes the Square | 4.0 |
| Circle Takes the Square Rites of Initiation | 4.0 |
| It's pretty damn good. Spirit Narrative is fucking bonkers |
| The Mars Volta De-Loused in the Comatorium | 4.5 |
| Radiohead The King of Limbs | 4.5 |
Although the album is sorta back-loaded it's fucking great. From opener "Bloom" we know right away that this isn't going to be In Rainbows with its glitched-out reggae downbeat, horn sections, repeated electronic pulses, and incredibly busy rhythm. Thom Yorke and (to a lesser extent) Jonny Greenwood own this album more than any other in Radiohead's yet, with the rest of the band contributing more in the first half (Phil Selway giving probably his best performance yet on drums) and the back being mainly ballads and stripped-down ambient/acoustic tracks (with the exception of the full-band "Separator"). The plus is that at a lean 37 minutes, not a minute is wasted and it's easy to listen to over and over. The only real downside being that ultimately this is the first Radiohead album where they slip into a comfort zone instead of innovating like normal. Which is fine.
The rhythms are Radiohead's most deliciously-twisted yet (Selway and Colin are the clear standouts on the first half) and the heavy reliance on electronics (moreso than any of the older stuff) brings this more towards the Kid A/Amnesiac side of the spectrum. But then that fucking epic second half comes in on Radiohead's catchiest (and now most infamous on teh webz) single yet in "Lotus Flower", before lulling us into dreamy sleep with the piano-led ballad of "Codex", almost certain to be a future Radiohead classic. Then the haunting, acoustic overtones of "Give Up The Ghost" drift in, with the constant repeat of "don't hurt me". Then Thom goes "I think I should GIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE UP THE GHOOOOOOOOOST" with that amazing falsetto and you wonder how you didn't know already that this is just as good as any of their other albums are. |
| Jay-Z and Kanye West Watch the Throne | 3.5 |
| Crosses EP | 4.0 |
| Portishead Dummy | 4.5 |
| Bjork Homogenic | 4.5 |
| This is pretty incredible and definitely one of those "have to experience it before you die" albums, for anyone who loves great music. That's after one listen for me. |
| Strung Out Top Contenders: The Best Of Strung Out | 4.5 |
| blink-182 Blink-182 | 4.0 |
| The Police Reggatta de Blanc | 4.0 |
| Alkaline Trio Crimson | 3.5 |
| MellowHype BLACKENEDWHITE (Re-Release) | 2.5 |
BLACKENEDWHITE is great because it flows, has a great atmosphere with consistently awesome beats throughout and some exceptional rapping. And it was a free-for-download album which is always great. Now take that record, re-release it on a semi-big indie label to, add two wildly out-of-place new tracks, take away a huge chunk of the original album's best songs and you've got BLACKENEDWHITE 2.0. And you have to buy this version. I know... what?
It makes it all the more annoying and bewildering that this neutered, compromised crap is what MellowHype wants the majority of new listeners to hear (and buy) when the original, untouched product is clearly better (and free). A slightly touched-up mix and two new songs don't mean anything compared to the absence of "Gram", "Loco", "Chordaroy" (meaning no Earl verses at all), "Hell" (arguably the best hook MellowHype ever had), "Based" and "Stripclub", wounding the "official" release of BLACKENEDWHITE horribly and making the album significantly worse on a lot of levels. How the fuck did shit like "Rico" survive when four better songs died so it could live?! Wasn't Circus a fucking bonus track? Now it's the album closer! "Gram" was considered by Tyler to be the best music OF had ever put to tape at one point, wasn't it? Remember: they want you to buy this version.
It's inexplicable and baffling to me that a remaster/reissue made for RETAIL has LESS music than the FREE original version and so many more flaws... but that's exactly what we have here. Bur we do get two new tracks thrown into the middle that at best segue into a better track ("IGotAGun" which admittedly transitions well into "Fuck The Po- oh WAIT, it's now re-titled "F666 The Police"... wtf?) and at worst, kill the flow hard by sticking out like a sore thumb ("64" being tossed assfirst between "Brain" and "Loaded", two of the album's more chilled-out songs). It's all the little compromises to the original release's tracklisting, content and flow (and yes, the retarded little song title changes) that makes it seem a lot more like a weak sellout than one of the rap albums to beat of 2010. |
| The Weeknd House of Balloons | 4.0 |
| Tom Waits Rain Dogs | 4.5 |
| Cave In Perfect Pitch Black | 3.5 |
| Cave In White Silence | 4.5 |
| God this is so good. A sludgy, lo-fi doom-ridden blast of noisy hardcore with some post-metal thrown in. Much heavier than anything they've done since Until Your Heart Stops but retaining the spacey awesome guitars that are their latter-day trademarks, White Silence may well become the ultimate Cave In statement and unquestionably the heavy record to beat of 2011. Simply stunning. |
| Lady Gaga Born This Way | 2.5 |
| If Fame Monster was Gaga blowing her creative load, this is her finding out there's no more juice left. More like Bored This Way, really. |
| The Cars Move Like This | 3.5 |
| An utterly fantastic return-to-form after a 24 year absence, Move Like This has The Cars sounding both fresh and charmingly retro, harkening back to the day when bands this good used to be on the radio all the time. With 10 songs at just under 40 minutes, it's a lean, taut record that sounds like it stepped right out of 1985, with no discernible difference to their already-proven songwriting style. Despite the absence of late singer/songwriting partner Benjamin Orr, Ric Ocasek has no problem carrying the album with his own instantly-recognizable pipes, and songs like "Blue Tip", "Too Late" and "Sad Song" rank with some of the band's best material since their first three records. It's catchy, fun, with great musicianship and a timeless quality to it. While it's not going to reinvent the wheel in any way, Move Like This is arguably one of the strongest comeback records in recent memory. |
| Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part Two | 4.0 |
| Best album since Check Your Head and it completely kills The Mix-Up and To The 5 Boroughs. They still got it. "Lee Majors Come Again" and "Say It" = automatic fire |
| Thursday No Devolucion | 4.5 |
| Can we please kill that myth of Full Collapse being their best record now? |
| Bad Religion The Dissent of Man | 3.5 |
| Foo Fighters Wasting Light | 4.0 |
| Sum 41 Screaming Bloody Murder | 2.0 |
| Green Day Awesome As Fuck | 3.5 |
| The Strokes Room on Fire | 4.0 |
| The Strokes Angles | 4.0 |
| Funeral for a Friend Welcome Home Armageddon | 3.5 |
| earthtone9 Omega | 4.0 |
| Maroon 5 Hands All Over | 2.0 |
| Is anything more annoying than this guy's voice? He sounds like Charlie Brown's parents trying to be seductive |
| Glassjaw Coloring Book | 4.5 |
| Simply astonishing how this band continues to evolve. If this is only a taste of the LP we're in for something insane. So goddamn good! |
| Drake Thank Me Later | 1.0 |
| Here you go: thank you, Drake, for ensuring that I needn't waste any time listening to you in the future. Thanks also for proving that mainstream rap is still in just as shitty a condition as it was last year. Or maybe I should thank you for wielding your insane powers of suck to save me from going past track 4 and actually listening to this entire steaming pile of baby shit you, 40, Weezy and your other 392 guest stars cooked up? SRSLY THANKS BRO UR TEH FUCKIN BEST |
| Green Day 39/Smooth | 3.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria Year of the Black Rainbow | 3.5 |
Yeah, it's been said and will continue to be said - Chris Pennie's influence permeates Year Of The Black Rainbow in almost every way, from the electronic swells of "Guns Of Summer" (featuring what is probably the sickest instrumental work the band has done yet) to the dark brooding synths of "Far", along with drumming that puts the phoned-in Good Apollo: Foo Edition (and their entire past discography) to shame while being surprisingly restrained and tasteful throughout.
Throughout the album every band member has standouts and plays a bit more outside the typical Coheed box. It's way less poppy and a lot more moody and dark, from the weirdly atonal/minor riffs of "This Shattered Symphony", the insane DEP-meets-Rush rhythms of "Guns Of Summer" and the almost Mars Volta groove of "In The Flame Of Error", Coheed bring a strange mix of electro-prog-pop that shows a much more experimental side of the band and a much needed (did I say evolution? Let's say "sidestep") in sound after the pedestrian NWFT.
Oh btw Pennie composed the electronic stuff so he gets just as much credit as the rest. If anything, Claudio and Travis stepped back hard and let the rest of the band carry it a bit, to great result.
2011 Edit: Ya this actually isn't that great but w/e |
| The Jet Age Of Tomorrow Journey to the 5th Echelon | 3.5 |
| Finch Epilogue | 3.5 |
| Glassjaw Our Color Green (The Singles) | 4.5 |
| Not one song on here dips below 'fucking amazing' quality. John Lennon might be the heaviest song ever and Jesus Glue drops your jaw with the crazy Cuban/African rhythms and awesome Middle Eastern leads and I HOPE THE HEADS OF YOUR CHILDREN ARE USED FOR THE PLEASURE OF PAGAN GODS |
| Finch A Far Cry From Home | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine: 2010 Remaster | 4.5 |
| Killing Joke Killing Joke (2003) | 4.0 |
| Nicki Minaj Pink Friday | 2.5 |
| Daft Punk Tron: Legacy | 4.0 |
| earthtone9 Arc'tan'gent | 4.5 |
| earthtone9 seem to be one of those bands whose sound was a bit too ahead of their particular time. Coming across as a mix of Deftones, Tool, and even Alice In Chains' oppressive atmosphere rolled into one, the U.K.-based earthtone9 are a band who should have gotten ten times the critical and commercial success that they did, so potent and original was their sound that seemed to combine influences from just about everything that was great in 90's alt-rock. Nowhere is that more apparent than when listening to 2000's arc'tan'gent, an album that almost manages to outdo even White Pony in its mix of technicality, ferocity and rage while bringing in some of the more spiritual overtones of latter-day Tool with amazing tribal rhythms and brutal yet tasteful guitar work. Simply one of the best heavy albums ever recorded. |
| Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy | 4.5 |
| Kanye goes back to hip-hop, adds in everything else he's ever done, reconstructs it all and puts out his very best and most consistent work yet. Although he really does shoehorn in everything (including the kitchen sink) which causes some too-long runtimes and bloating around the edges as well as having way to many guest stars of iffy caliber (Jay-Z being one of them - dude, hang it up), this is a fantastic effort, through-and-through. "So Appalled" might have the best beat he's ever made, no small statement. I highly doubt this is going to be the hip-hop AOTY though as several releases are of a better caliber (BLACKENEDWHITE being the first pick for me). |
| Infant Sorrow Get Him To The Greek | 3.5 |
| Cee Lo Green The Lady Killer | 4.0 |
| Kanye West 808s and Heartbreak | 4.0 |
| MellowHype BLACKENEDWHITE | 4.5 |
Reasons that MellowHype's BLACKENEDWHITE is the rap album to beat of the year:
1.) Hodgy Beats is a monster on the mic with a ton of style and charisma
2.) Left Brain is one of the best / most innovative producers currently in hip-hop
3.) Odd Future collectively shit on 95% of the rap game lyrically, including the washed-up "greats" who refuse to retire and retain some of their dignity as they hit their 40's
4.) ????
5.) PROFIT!
OFWGKTADGAF
Guy below is a tard |
| Metal Gear Solid Metal Gear Solid Soundtrack | 4.5 |
| Weezer Death to False Metal | 3.5 |
| Trophy Scars Darkness, Oh Hell | 4.0 |
| Mike G ALI | 3.5 |
| Short but sweet. Mike G is the sleeper talent in OF and has a definite character and style all his own. He may not seem like he's amazing due to his slow, laid-back thug stylings that don't tie up tongues like Earl and Hodgy, but after seeing him live he won me over with his energy and delivery. GOLD will probably be better than this, but ALI is still a great record through-and-through. |
| OFWGKTA Radical | 4.0 |
| Whole Wheat Bread Hearts Of Hoodlums | 4.0 |
| Wow. Imagine my surprise seeing three black kids, aged 18-20 from Florida (with the singer/guitarist sporting giant liberty spikes) playing flawless Southern Cali-approved skate punk at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY back in 2005. It was naturally a bit disconcerting but awesome to see (and hugely energetic live) I copped their debut, Minority Rules which was essentially an album with 60% pop-punk, 40% rap with absolutely no coherence at all and nothing truly original. But on THIS album? To say that it's a completely different band that's made a GIANT leap forward in talent is an understatement. This is a real band emerging, mixing thrashy pop-punk riffs with reggae, Dirty South, acoustic ballads, hardcore-barked rap flows sometimes all in one track and somehow it's fucking working? Did my head just explode? This doesn't make sense. But it's so good. I can't believe NO ONE'S discovered this by now, almost two years later. We here at Sputnik Music suck hard for overlooking this gem. Seriously, listen to this. That this was COMPLETELY overlooked and forgotten, especially in every way on any Best Of 2009 lists I've read, is pretty sad. Don't suck at life and get this shit now. |
| Envy Recitation | 2.5 |
| Post-Hardcore/Screamo Envy >>>>>>> Post-Rock Envy. Yeah. Album is painfully boring, slow and would've been awesome about five years ago, but... meh. Dead Sinking Story kicks this album's ass and takes its lunch money. |
| Trophy Scars Hospital Music for the Aesthetics of Language | 4.5 |
| The Birthday Massacre Pins and Needles | 3.0 |
| Anberlin Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place | 2.5 |
| Earl Sweatshirt EARL | 3.5 |
| Domo Genesis Rolling Papers | 4.0 |
Jesus the beats on this album are so good. Rolling Papers is about exactly what you know it's about, and in that sense and how it works in conjunction with said theme, it's fucking great. Domo may not be pound-for-pound as exciting lyrically as Tyler, Earl, and Hodgy Beats in the Odd Future crew, but his flow is nevertheless confident, clever and has more swagger than most "veteran" rappers in the game right now. The title track is pure earsex, showcasing a lot of the album's reliance on Tyler The Creator and Left Brain's amazing production job, while lyrically it's much more accessible and far less offensive than much of OF's work. "Rolling Papers", "Clear Eyes", "SteamRoller", "Domier", and "Supermarket" (check out the hilarious lyrical battle, grade-A stuff) all make this worth a listen. And it's free (I know a good use for that $20...).
Swag. |
| Filter The Trouble With Angels | 3.5 |
| Parades Foreign Tapes | 4.0 |
| MellowHype Yellowhite | 3.5 |
| Janelle Monae Metropolis: The Chase Suite | 4.5 |
| Big Boi Sir Lucious Left Foot | 4.0 |
| Radiohead The Bends | 4.0 |
| Prince LOtUSFLOW3R | 3.5 |
| Prince 20Ten | 4.0 |
| 20Ten may have been the record that almost killed off teh internet, but at least it's pretty damn good. This is Prince's most solid offering in years, arguably trumping even the last five or so records he's put out that were considered to be returns-to-form, or at least a semblance of it. On 20Ten Prince melds his jazzier, funkier stylings with the Minneapolis sound that he pioneered over twenty years ago, clearly paying tribute to the pop stylings that made him such a massive crossover success and in turn making the freshest Prince album in almost twenty years. The internet may be over, but Prince proves with 20Ten he was only warming up. |
| Thursday Five Stories Falling | 3.5 |
| Thursday Waiting | 3.5 |
| Thursday War All the Time | 4.5 |
| Thursday Full Collapse | 4.5 |
| Thursday A City By the Light Divided | 3.5 |
| A great album marred with absolutely godawful overproduction. |
| Prince Purple Rain | 5.0 |
| The Ocean Fracture The Sunmachine And The Ocean | 4.0 |
| I'm friends with the drummer =D But in all seriousness, The Ocean Fracture's debut shows a startling level of promise, mixing post-rock/metal with breaks of vicious screamo/post-hardcore. Their newer stuff points to a more mature, concise direction (check out the Youtube video for "Sutured To The Infrastructure", it's the ultra win), but The Ocean Fracture have plenty to be proud of with The Sunmachine And The Ocean. |
| D'Angelo Voodoo | 4.5 |
| Just Surrender Phoenix | 2.5 |
| Radiohead Pablo Honey | 3.0 |
| Radiohead Amnesiac | 4.0 |
| Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid | 4.5 |
Ever wonder what it would be like if Prince, Michael Jackson, Andre 3000, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce and Gnarls Barkley all somehow procreated and distilled their strengths into one being? Janelle Monae and The ArchAndroid say what up. "Cold War" might be the best song Gnarls Barkley wish they wrote. I love the Off The Wall throwbacks in "Locked Inside", the Beatlesque guitar on "Oh, Maker", her more-than-capable flow on songs like "Dance Or Die" and "Tightrope", the punk energy of "Come Alive"... the whole thing is just great. And the production! Some of the finest of any record I've heard in a long time, like worth a FLAC copy good. It just oozes freshness and innovation with distinct nods to the past.
She's 24 and it's only her first record. If Puffy keeps his head out of his ass and pushes her hard as the next big thing/"savior" of pop music, just watch this chick take over pop. I'm a fan of the GaGa but even her "ambition" pales in comparison to the raw talent on display here. With time and diligence, Janelle Monae could be the new Lauren Hill, Prince and MJ all in one, and The ArchAndroid is strong evidence in support of that. |
| letlive. Fake History | 4.5 |
Daryl Palumbo + Claudio Sanchez + Poison The Well + Hopesfall + jazz rhythms = mega fucking win. There are so many awesome moments all over this record it's pointless to list them. letlive definitely have a pastiche of influences, some more obvious than others, but put them together masterfully into their own sound better than a lot of their peers. There are a few metalcore-by-numbers tracks, but nothing really dips into bad quality. Anyone who likes any of the aforementioned singers/bands/genres should make listening to this a big, big priority as it's definitely one of the strongest records out this year so far.
Wow Nick total 180 |
| Bad Religion Recipe for Hate | 4.0 |
| Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (2010) | 3.0 |
| letlive. Speak Like You Talk | 2.5 |
| letlive. Exhaustion, Salt Water, And Everything In Between | 2.5 |
| Far At Night We Live | 2.5 |
Far's first album in 12 years, At Night We Live is, sadly, a definitely subpar outing compared to their old stuff. All happy and no heavy, and that's NOT what a Far album should sound like. There's very little intensity and they went for a really straightforward sound with little variation apart from a few tracks. The weird "Far" melodies are still in there in spots but it just seems like they halfassed a lot of material on this. It sucks to say it, but the album is just boring. There's several moments where it can sound indistinguishable from a lot of modern rock. Really simplistic riffs with no real color to them, bass is pretty decent but nothing special, and WTF Chris? I SWEAR TO GOD one of your drumbeats sounded exactly like the one from Green Day's "Know Your Enemy". That's fucking BAD. It's hard to really remember a single song that made me say "this is amazing". Maybe "really good".
I don't wanna completely slag it. It's still not a bad record in comparison to a lot of stuff out there. It's just a below-average Far record. I will give it up to Josh and his great singing throughout the record. There are some times when Shaun does a pretty decent job on the riffs... while simultaneously failing to truly interest. The rhythm section, well, they can keep time good.
I guess to sum it up, upon first listen me and my g/f were going "this is not Far" with just about every song. I'm all for bands changing styles for a true evolution in sound a'la Thrice/BN/GJ, but this was a leap into a really stale direction IMO. Fucking Meh. |
| Bad Religion 30 Years Live | 4.5 |
| No way this could be bad. Bad Religion are a force to be reckoned with live, and with Brett on third guitar the sound is fuller especially on guitar-heavy tracks like "Man On A Mission" (probably my favorite track on here). Another plus is the rare, almost-never-played-live tracks that make this more than a Tested / Live At The Palladium redux. The mix is immaculate and much more muscular than their other live records, and despite a few obvious vocal overdubs, 30 Years Live stands as the definitive Bad Religion live document. |
| Stevie Wonder Innervisions | 5.0 |
| Rancid ...And Out Come the Wolves | 4.0 |
| Rancid Life Won't Wait | 4.0 |
| NOFX Coaster | 3.5 |
| After spending some quality time with the album today, I've changed my mind a bit. Through-and-through it doesn't touch the mid-90's stuff, but Coaster is definitely the best record NOFX has done since Pump Up The Valuum. While it's their most mid-tempo, poppy outing yet, the songs are all overwhelmingly good, minus a few clunkers ("Creeping Out Sara", "The Quitter"). "Eddie, Bruce & Paul" might just be the best song the band has done since the SLATFATS days (musically, not counting The Decline), the variety of music is excellent, and the songwriting is what Wolves In Wolves' Clothing and War On Errorism should have been. The true star of the record is El Hefe, who proves his name by laying down some REALLY excellent solos and leads all over the place and it's about time Fat Mike let his skills really shine. It's no Punk In Drublic or SLATFATS, but Coaster is a more than worthy addition to NOFX's catalogue. |
| Circa Survive Blue Sky Noise | 3.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem American Slang | 3.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Teargarden by Kaleidyscope, Vol. 1 | 2.0 |
| Ugh. Fuckin UGH. Dude, just stop. Go listen to Black Gives Way To Blue to look at a proper 90's band comeback template. And while you're at it Billy Corgan, please hire some old Pumpkins/puppets back to at least look like you give a fuck about your legacy, aight? |
| Helmet Betty | 4.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac The Dance | 4.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Tusk | 4.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac | 4.0 |
| Fleetwood Mac Rumours | 4.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis | 4.5 |
| Option Paralysis just might be the one to tell CI to go sit in a corner. |
| Metallica Death Magnetic | 3.5 |
| Box Car Racer Box Car Racer | 4.0 |
| Rich Kids on LSD Riches to Rags | 4.5 |
| An unsung classic of mid-90's punk rock. Fast, furious, truly jaw-dropping musicianship - think a more hardcore, less melodic A Wilhelm Scream with nods to 80's thrash. It's not hard to see that many of Lagwagon's former and current members are typically RKL alumni as this record sounds like Lagwagon's Trashed turned up to about 15 in every category. Get this right now. |
| Blacklisted Eccentrichine | 3.5 |
| Blacklisted No One Deserves To Be Here More Than Me | 3.5 |
| NOFX The Decline | 5.0 |
| Simply put, The Decline is the creative zenith of mid-90's pop-punk and NOFX's career. In its eighteen-minute runtime it shows just how much talent and creativity the genre is capable of, it has not and will not be topped, and stands as one of the finest songs created in the last two decades, haters be damned. |
| Converge Jane Doe | 5.0 |
| Lagwagon I Think My Older Brother Used To Listen | 3.0 |
| Thirty Seconds to Mars A Beautiful Lie | 2.5 |
| Sum 41 Half Hour Of Power | 2.5 |
| Peter Gabriel Melt | 5.0 |
| I heart this album so much dear God. PG's indisputable masterpiece, dark, twisted and warped but so compelling and forward-thinking for its time. Phil Collins plays like a beast on this record, fusing tribal African rhythms (no cymbals of any kind were used on this album) with jazz, world music and Gabriel's dark, brooding prog-pop. The uniform bleakness and production on this record was truly groundbreaking for its time, heralding the creation of the boomy 80's "gated reverb" drum sound that dominated pop and rock music for a decade as well as being one of the first bands to combine harsh electronic sounds with progressive world/pop music, almost like a more linear Kid A. It even had political significance, helping to turn Western attention onto the plight of South Africa's apartheid laws with single "Biko", written about the slain civil rights leader. The album melts genres together into a tapestry of dark weird electronic Afro-funk pop songs that defy genre or label. More importantly, it has a cohesive sound that makes it a record to listen to front to back to really get the full experience. This is the album that finally and rightfully cemented Peter Gabriel as a viable, powerful solo artist and also proves in and of itself why this album is still vital 30 years later. |
| Peter Gabriel Scratch My Back | 3.0 |
| Alkaline Trio This Addiction | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Plagiarism | 3.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins American Gothic | 3.0 |
| Kidcrash Snacks | 3.0 |
| Envy All the Footprints You've Ever Left and the Fear Expecting Ahead | 4.0 |
| Envy A Dead Sinking Story | 4.5 |
| Bad Rabbits Stick Up Kids | 4.0 |
| Orphans of Cush White Noize | 4.0 |
| BATS Red In Tooth and Claw | 4.5 |
| Head Automatica Popaganda | 2.5 |
| Head Automatica Decadence | 3.0 |
| Say Anything Say Anything | 3.5 |
| Nelly Furtado Loose | 3.5 |
| Emery ...In Shallow Seas We Sail | 3.5 |
| Owl City Ocean Eyes | 1.0 |
| Owl City just might be the most manufactured batch of fake sentimental pop drivel I've ever listened to and also doubles as sonic proof that the music industry is, indeed, doing it for the lulz. It's either that or clear signs of the coming Apocalypse. Owl City's architect/creator/fucktard Adam Young whines and cries his way through an album full of Postal Service covers OWAIT he "wrote" this shit? If you love tepid, sappy keyboards, lyrics so bad it literally gives you pain inside, autotuned crackers, and music so inoffensive it makes Colbie Caillat look like Converge, then Ocean Eyes is THE album for you. |
| Black Flag My War | 4.0 |
| Minor Threat Complete Discography | 4.0 |
| Black Flag Damaged | 4.0 |
| Gospel The Moon Is a Dead World | 5.0 |
| This album bends you over a table and gives you the business. And you fucking LOVE it. |
| Bad Brains Rise | 2.5 |
| Bad Brains God of Love | 2.5 |
| Bad Brains The Omega Sessions EP | 4.0 |
| Bad Brains I and I Survived | 3.0 |
| Bad Brains Banned in DC: Bad Brains' Greatest Riffs | 4.5 |
| Bad Brains Live at CBGB 1982 [DVD] | 4.0 |
| Bad Brains Build A Nation | 3.0 |
| Bad Brains Black Dots | 4.0 |
| Bad Brains Quickness | 4.0 |
| This album, and specifically the grooves on songs like Soulcraft and Voyage To Infinity, kick-started about a million Long Island post-hardcore bands. One of BB's finest albums, even though Don't Blow Bubbles brings a ton of cringe. |
| Stone Temple Pilots Purple | 4.0 |
| HRVRD The Inevitable And I | 3.5 |
| Manic Street Preachers The Holy Bible | 3.5 |
| Trocadero Ghosts That Linger | 3.5 |
| Death (USA-MI) ...For the Whole World to See | 4.0 |
| HRVRD Animals EP | 4.0 |
| Thirty Seconds to Mars This Is War | 3.0 |
Kanye: Yo Jared Leto, I'm real happy for you guys about that drama wit'cha label and all and I'ma let you finish, but my cameo on "Hurricane" is the best cameo on a rock record of all time. OF ALL TIME!
In all seriousness, this album can be summed up like this: do you like U2? Well, 30 Seconds To Mars does. A LOT. |
| Mew Frengers | 4.5 |
| A Wilhelm Scream A Wilhelm Scream | 4.0 |
| John Mayer Battle Studies | 3.5 |
| Album's really really good but it's no Continuum. I see this being a grower though. |
| Julian Casablancas Phrazes for the Young | 3.5 |
| Minus the Bear Into the Mirror | 4.0 |
| Minus The Bear return from 2007's brilliant Planet Of Ice with this teaser EP, consisting of "Into The Mirror" and "Broken China". The former song sounds kind of like a sleazy porn film, bolstered by sparse, staccato keyboard chords and complete with plenty of references to coke ("There's a mirror for the 'cane in the bathroom"). The song itself may be one of the catchiest MTB has written yet. "Broken China" is probably the heaviest and weirdest MTB song released so far, with heavy downbeats and some awesome guitar freakouts in the bridge. Appetite whetted yet? Get it now since it's only $2. |
| The Police Live! | 3.5 |
| Slayer World Painted Blood | 3.5 |
| LOL at the people bitching as to why Slayer didn't change their sound. Uh fucking A Thor you gave Christ Illusion a 4 and this is virtually the same record, maybe give or take some br00tality + a ridiculously shit mix courtesy of the guy that killed Death Magnetic (yeah you fucking asshole Greh Fidelmann, you fucking suck and never get near a mixing board ever again). Dudes this age are usually planning their check-out ticket, not delivering thrash that (no matter how crap compared to RIB/SOH) still kicks the crap out degenerates like Metallica and breaks necks everywhere. |
| Between the Buried and Me The Great Misdirect | 4.0 |
| While IMO this doesn't top the ambition and overall feel of Colors, The Great Misdirect is easily BTBAM's most fluid, cohesive listen yet. The tech is off the charts and I'm happy they're putting the metalcore on the backburner for a more progressive sound. Really really awesome stuff. |
| Sting Ten Summoner's Tales | 4.0 |
| Candiria Toying With The Insanities Vol. 2 | 4.0 |
| Candiria Toying With The Insanities Vol. 1 | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Stranger Than Fiction | 3.5 |
| Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me | 4.5 |
| Cave In Jupiter | 5.0 |
| Radiohead Kid A | 5.0 |
| Thrice Vheissu | 4.5 |
| Candiria What Doesn't Kill You... | 3.5 |
| It's pretty disgusting when a band as revolutionary in sound as Candiria is gets absolutely no respect or recognition outside of the NYC hardcore fans. Candiria showed everyone on this record that they had quite the melodic side as well, mixing their mathy hardcore-meets-jazz-meets-metal sound with some honest-to-God pop sensibilities ("Remove Yourself" is INSANELY catchy). Carley Coma's vocals improved tenfold, capable of going from guttural roars into smooth melodic crooning. The band themselves have become even better, with Kenneth Schalk laying down some truly awe-inspiring grooves amidst the crazy technical drumming. Newcomer Micheal MacIvor's bass lines provided a newfound melodic counterpoint to John LaMacchia and Eric Matthew's palm-muted angular riffs. While labeled by many as a "sell-out" (and there are definitely cheesier moments that are clearly trying to be overtly radio-friendly), What Doesn't Kill You... brought a whole new dish to Candiria's table, which contributed to the alt-metal assault of their final record (and IMO, magnum opus), Kiss The Lie. So yeah get this. |
| The xx xx | 4.0 |
| Megadeth Endgame | 4.0 |
| Candiria Beyond Reasonable Doubt | 4.0 |
| Candiria Surrealistic Madness | 4.0 |
| Converge You Fail Me | 4.0 |
| Converge No Heroes | 3.5 |
| The Fall of Troy In the Unlikely Event | 2.5 |
Music = really tech and still not as catchy/fun as their old stuff
Vocals = stop fucking singing Thomas Erak you SUCK! I don't care what your French vocal-coach girlfriend tells you, she's lying and you suck! |
| Converge Axe to Fall | 4.0 |
| Godfuckingdammit Converge, I was all set with my 2009 AOTY until you came and done fucked my shit up sideways! In all seriousness, Axe To Fall after even one listen pretty much destroys any and all competition for the top honors, and aside from Jane Doe (and that might be tentative) this is the best shit this band has EVER written. I don't know how Converge got even more brutal AND catchy at the same time and I don't care - this record eats the competition, shits them out and beats the pile with a sledgehammer. Fuck I might even give this a 5, which happens to be the same amount of fingers that fit into radianteclipse's vagina! |
| Japandroids Post-Nothing | 4.0 |
| Death By Stereo Death Is My Only Friend | 2.5 |
| Strung Out Agents of the Underground | 3.5 |
| Very very good record. Melds the pop with the punk/metal superbly and does it a lot better than Blackhawks Over Los Angeles did, but in general has a bit more of an aggressive edge than the aforementioned album while retaining a distinct melodic nod to their Twisted By Design/STWB days, so musically it seems to be the culimination of Strung Out's long and celebrated line of stellar releases. One very cool thing is the production, which while distinct is quite raw and the virtual opposite of the gloss and overproduction (especially on vocals) of Exile and Blackhawks. Jury's still out on whether it will stack up to Exile In Oblivion, AAP or Element, but this is hovering right around them. Here's to 20 more years dudes. |
| Nirvana Nevermind | 4.5 |
| Nirvana In Utero | 4.5 |
| Brand New Deja Entendu | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains Black Gives Way to Blue | 4.0 |
| Haters are gonna hate, but this record is undeniably good. The combination of Cantrell and DuVall on vocals, while not quite reaching the heights of the Layne years, do AIC's legacy more than just a little justice, and personally I think DuVall's vocals add a new dimension and twist to the AIC sound while Cantrell's singing keeps that classic sound. Musically this is vintage AIC, complete with crushing riffage and oppressive atmosphere. And it's REALLY heavy, probably their hardest record yet. Just repeat after yourself: this kicks the crap out of anything in modern rock today, Layne's dead, and despite that fact, Black Gives Way To Blue is still really good. |
| Brand New Fight Off Your Demons (The Demos) | 4.0 |
| Muse The Resistance | 3.0 |
Album isn't horrible but by far Muse's weakest effort. While it's definitely very well-made (i.e., spent a lot of money on super-sparkly production), there's a lack of rock on this one and too much keys/piano. Musically it's still Muse, only watered-down, and not even in the same league as Absolution or OOS. "Unnatural Selection" is easily the best song on the record (probably because it sounds like an Origin cut), but "MK Ultra" (did anyone else see that title and think "cheesy fighting game title"?) is pretty awesome too. "Exogenesis" is pretty overrated, certainly not the album-saver people are hailing it as, but definitely one of the highlights even if it kinda falls on its face.
The first half unfortunately does a great job of killing the momentum for this record, as "Uprising" is by far the worst opener Muse has written as of yet and "Resistance", while catchy, is musically ho-hum. "Undisclosed Desires" just sucks, flat-out, and sounds like a bad Depeche Mode b-side with even worse lyrics. And let's not forget "I Belong To You" which seems to be the most tepid song this band ever wrote. What happened to the dope guitar riffs? Dominic's drumming on BHAR? The dynamic songwriting? Interesting, varied production? Truly versatile music? And did I mention the lyrics are REALLY bad on this record? Mr. Bellamy, your band is already huge and you didn't need to dumb your music down so the stupid American teenyboppers that will forget your song in one week would "get" it. Stop jacking off, realize that you'll never be Chopin or Freddie Mercury, let your bandmates shine for once and come back in a few years when you freshen up, please. |
| The Beatles Please Please Me | 3.5 |
| The Beatles A Hard Day's Night | 3.5 |
| The Beatles Revolver | 5.0 |
| The Beatles Let It Be | 4.0 |
| Chevelle Sci-Fi Crimes | 3.0 |
| Brand New Daisy | 4.5 |
| Brand New follow up everyone's favorite record, TDAG, with a very dense, strange record that's sure to alienate their pop fanbase that nutted over Deja Entendu and may even confuse those that loved the previous record. BN do away with most of the pop hooks and have instead focused their energies on a record that is lean, mean, and at times jarring to listen to, but not without it's own level of brilliance. Songs like "Vices" and "Gasoline" merge raw noise breaks with Lacey's piercing screams (sounding very reminiscent of In Utero) whereas songs like "At The Bottom" and "Bought a Bride" often come across as a mix of the newer sound with flashes of TDAG. I guarantee a lot of their fans will hate this, but those who like growers are going to love this, and Daisy is a strong record as any to go out on. |
| Mutemath Armistice | 3.0 |
| fun. Aim and Ignite | 4.0 |
| Rx Bandits Mandala | 4.0 |
| Cave In Until Your Heart Stops | 4.0 |
| Cave In Planets of Old | 4.0 |
| Thrice Beggars | 4.0 |
| Thrice continues to surprise with Beggars. The album is definitely a bit more uptempo (in spots) than either Vheissu or The Alchemy Index, but unlike past works, Thrice has learned how to really groove within a song as opposed to letting the structure control the music ("All The World Is Mad", "The Weight"). The band has also continued their unabashed love of Radiohead ("Circles", In Exile") and has almost completely jettisoned their post-hardcore past, with the exception of "Talking Through Glass" (which just may be one of the best songs they've ever done). Let's face it, Thrice will never put out Illusion Of Safety 2. The record does slip a little with some of the slower, quieter numbers as they all sound very similar to one another, and the album lacks the epic production/composition of Vheissu and Alchemy, but this record is far and away the most cohesive work they've done since Vheissu. |
| Spinal Tap Back from the Dead | 3.5 |
| Chickenfoot Chickenfoot | 3.0 |
| Spinal Tap Break Like the Wind | 3.5 |
| Poison the Well You Come Before You | 3.5 |
| Poison the Well Versions | 3.5 |
| Poison the Well The Tropic Rot | 4.5 |
| Wow. Fucking wow. This album RIPS. Definitely what Versions should have been. Amazing guitar work, insane drumming, some highly-improved clean vocals and a crushing, oppressive atmosphere, along with some varied songwriting and highly seductive melodies. The coolest thing is that just about everyone wrote these guys off years ago, but The Tropic Rot should change that pronto. Could be the best post-hardcore of the release of the year. We're waiting, Glassjaw. |
| Jane's Addiction Ritual De Lo Habitual | 4.5 |
| Rancid Let the Dominoes Fall | 3.0 |
| The Network Money Money 2020 | 3.5 |
| Foxboro Hot Tubs Stop Drop and Roll!!! | 3.5 |
| mewithoutYou Brother, Sister | 4.5 |
| Heaven and Hell The Devil You Know | 3.5 |
| Silversun Pickups Swoon | 4.0 |
| maudlin of the Well Part the Second | 4.0 |
| Album is really really good. But a little less first half "Heaven And Weak", a little more second half "Heaven And Weak" next time dudes. Not to say it isn't great - it most certainly is - but one of the best attributes of motW was how they juxtaposed crushingly heavy sections with absolutely beautiful passages in the blink of an eye. The record is quite pretty but I want some fug in there too. |
| Manchester Orchestra Mean Everything to Nothing | 4.0 |
| Green Day 21st Century Breakdown | 3.0 |
| They're not getting a free pass on this one. Whereas American Idiot was a fresh new take on the Green Day sound (for the most part), this record takes BJ Armstrong's obsession with The Who just a little too far. The consistency is simply not there and while the melodies and songwriting are all pretty standard-issue Green Day (i.e., catchy and fun), there's no musical substance underneath the proceedings. And come on, 18 songs of three-chord jams? They could have taken six off and it would have been much better in the end. And wtf is with these lyrics? Armstrong was never a literary wordsmith but these are TOYPAJ blink-era bad, if not worse. Overall, not shit but certainly GD's weakest album in a long time. |
| Candiria 300 Percent Density | 4.5 |
| Prince MPLSoUND | 3.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria Live At La Zona Rosa | 3.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria Neverender | 4.5 |
| ISIS Wavering Radiant | 3.0 |
| Cynic Traced in Air | 4.5 |
| Glassjaw Impossible Shot | 1.5 |
| Mastodon Crack the Skye | 4.0 |
| ZOMG this album doesn't own, it rapes your soul! And stuff. To be honest, this is probably Mastodon's most cohesive album yet. The hooks are better than ever, Brann lays back just enough to let everyone else shine a bit more, and both guitarists have stepped the game up considerably with some quite awesome guitar solos. Buuuuuuuuut the vocals still suck 50% of the time, the concept is incredibly mind-numbingly retarded (I mean seriously read the excerpt from Brann Dailor on Wikipedia), and some of the songs go a little too far up their own asses. Otherwise, solid, kick-ass metal record but there's no way in hell this is 2009's Traced In Air as there's no comparison to that record. |
| Trophy Scars Bad Luck | 4.0 |
| Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here | 4.5 |
| David Gilmour On An Island | 3.5 |
| David Gilmour Live in Gdansk | 4.0 |
| Anamanaguchi Dawn Metropolis | 3.5 |
| U2 No Line on the Horizon | 3.0 |
| The Black Keys Thickfreakness | 3.5 |
| Propagandhi Supporting Caste | 4.5 |
| Umm did anyone really doubt this would be spectacular? Supporting Caste is pretty much the ultimate Propagandhi record. It combines the aggression and brilliant guitar of TETA with the longer, epic prog moments hinted at on PCL (check out the insane rhythms of "Night Letters") combined with the catchy songwriting of Less Talk, More Rock. Only turned up to 11. The musicianship is just unf*ckwithable and the lyrics as always are intelligent and in-your-face. The first half of this record is pretty much classic while the second half even in its weaker moments slay most other bands' full-lengths. The strongest aspect of the record is undeniably the guitar interplay between Chris and The Beaver, which should by all means blow your mind if you have a pulse. The album, unlike Potemkin, never gets too long in the tooth and wastes not one second or falls flat musically. Might just top TETA with time and it flat-out blows Potemkin out of the water. Album of the year contender without a doubt. |
| Thursday Common Existence | 3.5 |
| By far the most consistent record Thursday has done since War All The Time. Common Existence is a focused, aggressive record that more or less erases the doubts anyone had following their last lukewarm effort. The screamo-meets-Envy sound attempted on the Thursday/Envy Split is now perfected and pays off in spades. Although there are still a few minor production flaws, songs like "As He Climbed The Dark Mountain", "You Were The Cancer", "Friends In The Armed Forces", and "Unintended Long Term Effects" show why Thursday is and always will be a head above their post-hardcore brethren. Now go tell Daryl to finsh the f*cking Glassjaw record, Geoff. |
| Max Tannone Jaydiohead | 3.5 |
| The Police Outlandos d'Amour | 4.0 |
| The Police Ghost in the Machine | 3.5 |
| The Police Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings | 4.5 |
| Starting out as a bunch of jazz/progressive musicians masquerading as punks during the punk explosion of the late 70's, it was pretty clear with one spin of "Roxanne" that The Police were on to bigger and better things. Combining the energy of punk with reggae stylings, jazz-inflected melodies and God-given pop hooks, The Police sounded like no other band at the time and were truly a pop band for real musicians. With Sting's distinct vocals, godly songwriting abilities, jazz-funk basslines combined with Andy Summers' pioneering use of chorus and delay with jazz-inflected chord voicings (which essentially created an entirely new guitar style that has been shamelessly copied by virtually every pop/rock band since) and Stewart Copeland's unparalleled groove and virtuosity on the drums, The Police pretty much took over the world and were one of the biggest bands to ever walk the Earth. While considered inconsistent on record by some, The Police wrote arguably some of the most timeless singles ever: "Roxanne", "So Lonely", "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "Message In A Bottle", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Every Breath You Take", "Synchronicity II", and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" are only a few in a long line of pop brilliance, and considering that this box has their entire recorded output (including b-sides), you'd be a fool not to get this. Simply put, one of the best bands to ever exist. |
| The Police Certifiable: Live In Buenos Aires (CD/DVD) | 4.5 |
| After a 23-year absence, The Police return in (almost) all of their former glory. One of the best things about this live album is the extended jams, solos, and re-arrangements that breath fresh air into the old songs ("Wrapped Around Your Finger", "Driven To Tears", "King Of Pain", and the "VIMH/WTWIRDYMTBOWSA" medley simply destroy the old album cuts), which of course still sound fresh even today. Sting's bass work is stronger than ever and pushed up in the mix. Stewart Copeland is still a drumming prodigy and the star of the show, playing tastefully and unloading the heavy artillery when needed. Andy Summers fiery playing belies his 64 years of age, tossing off solos left and right along with his trademark chorus/effect-laden chordal patterns. The band truly sounds amazing, hands-down. Despite a few stumbles ("Don't Stand So Close To Me" is a bit too pedestrian, "Truth Hits Everybody" is about half-speed, and Sting can't quite hit those notes like he used to) the band is tighter and better than ever before, and like Sting said, they were really good to begin with. Simply put, there aren't any bands like this around anymore and that's a shame. |
| Fall Out Boy Folie a Deux | 3.5 |
| The Gaslight Anthem The '59 Sound | 4.0 |
| Peter Gabriel Car | 3.5 |
| Peter Gabriel Scratch | 4.0 |
| Peter Gabriel Security | 3.5 |
| Peter Gabriel Us | 4.0 |
| Dillinger Four C I V I L W A R | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Acoustics | 4.0 |
| Minus The Bear do it again, offering up a collection of their staple tracks (along with a brand new one) and giving them the acoustic once-over. Many of the tracks stay very true to the original arrangements, but considering that many of MTB's riffs are sampled/looped, the fact that it's all transcribed onto acoustic is pretty cool. Unlike many bands who just throw a few generic open chords together to make the "Acoustic Version", MTB go the Thrice route and re-arrange the songs, some with just enough subtleties ("Knights"), others a complete reworking ("Burying Luck", "Throwin' Shapes") to effectively make them sound fresh and new. |
| Coldplay Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends | 3.5 |
| United Nations United Nations | 4.5 |
| F*cking insane grindcore meets Thursday meets Daryl Palumbo ripping his vocal chords to shreds over some insanely technical guitar riffs and insane drumming, with some killer melodies thrown in to make it sexy. Finally, a Daryl P. side project that doesn't suck ass. But yeah, T.S.R. |
| Zozobra Bird of Prey | 3.5 |
| No Use for a Name The Feel Good Record of the Year | 3.5 |
| Trocadero Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue | 3.5 |
| Kid Kilowatt Guitar Method 1996-1999 | 4.0 |
| Cave In Tides of Tomorrow | 3.5 |
| Finch Finch | 4.0 |
| Muse HAARP | 4.0 |
| Ghostlimb Bearing & Distance | 3.5 |
| The Offspring Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace | 3.0 |
| Misery Signals Controller | 4.0 |
| While it doesn't smack you in the earhole like Mirrors did front-to-back, Controller is Misery Signal's most polished, complete outing, and Karl's vox absolutely slay. The band have stepped it up in the melody department while simultaneously coming up with some of their most punishing riffs and songs ever. Possible heavy/metal record of the year, at least until Deftones/Glassjaw/Metallica (yeah j/k) drops, anyways. |
| Shai Hulud Misanthropy Pure | 3.5 |
| Opeth Watershed | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D | 3.0 |
| The Black Keys Attack & Release | 4.0 |
| House Of Blow Myspace Songs | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails The Slip | 4.0 |
| The increasingly prolific Trent Reznor does it again. A scant two months after the release of his massive Ghosts I-IV album, Reznor drops The Slip (for free no less). This is some of the man's strongest work in years, combining the slick atmosphere and sonic landscapes of Ghosts and The Fragile with some of With Teeth's pop/rock aesthetic. While it's no The Downward Spiral or The Fragile (and really, stop expecting the sequels fanboys), the songwriting is more accessible and focused than Year Zero and stronger overall than any of With Teeth. The end result is a great record that is arguably Reznor's finest work in the last eight years. |
| Weezer The Blue Album (Deluxe Edition) | 4.5 |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV | 4.0 |
| Blacklisted Heavier Than Heaven, Lonelier Than God | 4.0 |
| Bad Brains Rock For Light | 4.5 |
| Bad Brains I Against I | 4.5 |
| Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails The Fragile | 4.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails And All That Could Have Been | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails With Teeth | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails Year Zero | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Ghosts I-IV | 4.0 |
| Nine Inch Nails Broken | 4.0 |
| Thrice Come All You Weary | 3.5 |
| Slayer Decade of Aggression | 4.0 |
| Slayer Still Reigning (Video) | 4.0 |
| This Is Hell Misfortunes | 3.5 |
| Beastie Boys Check Your Head | 4.0 |
| Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill | 3.5 |
| Beastie Boys Ill Communication | 4.0 |
| Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique | 4.5 |
| Beastie Boys Aglio E Olio | 4.0 |
| Beastie Boys The Mix Up | 3.0 |
| Refused The EP Compilation | 3.5 |
| The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath | 4.0 |
| Fair to Midland Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True | 4.0 |
| The Number Twelve Looks Like You Mongrel | 3.5 |
| Drowning Pool Sinner | 2.0 |
| Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden | 3.0 |
| NOFX Maximum Rocknroll | 2.0 |
| NOFX Pods and Gods | 3.0 |
| NOFX Surfer | 3.5 |
| NOFX They've Actually Gotten Worse Live | 4.0 |
| U2 The Joshua Tree | 4.0 |
| U2 War | 4.0 |
| U2 Achtung Baby | 4.0 |
| Puscifer "V" Is For Vagina | 3.0 |
| Sonic Youth Goo | 4.0 |
| AFI Very Proud of Ya | 3.0 |
| AFI Answer That and Stay Fashionable | 3.0 |
| AFI Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes | 3.0 |
| AFI The Art of Drowning | 4.0 |
| AFI Black Sails in the Sunset | 4.0 |
| AFI All Hallow's E.P. | 4.0 |
| AFI Sing the Sorrow | 4.0 |
| AFI Decemberunderground | 2.5 |
| AFI I Heard a Voice DVD | 3.0 |
| Foxy Shazam The Flamingo Trigger | 3.5 |
| The Ocean Precambrian | 4.0 |
| The Sound of Animals Fighting Tiger and the Duke | 4.0 |
| Hum Downward Is Heavenward | 4.0 |
| DMX ...And Then There Was X | 3.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Ire Works | 3.0 |
| Thrice The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II | 4.5 |
| Radiohead In Rainbows | 4.5 |
| The modern Radiohead's most accessible album. Minimalist, beautiful and infectious in its simplicity, In Rainbows proved that Radiohead didn't need to write every song in 9/8 with jarring electronics to still be an incredibly complex, forward-thinking band. Tied with The Bends as Radiohead's third best album behind OK and Kid A. |
| A Wilhelm Scream Career Suicide | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me Colors | 4.5 |
| Kanye West Graduation | 3.0 |
| Lagwagon Live In A Dive | 4.0 |
| No Use for a Name All The Best Songs | 3.5 |
| No Use for a Name More Betterness! | 4.0 |
| No Use for a Name Hard Rock Bottom | 4.0 |
| No Use for a Name Making Friends | 4.0 |
| No Use for a Name The Daily Grind | 3.0 |
| No Use for a Name ¡Leche con Carne! | 3.5 |
| No Use for a Name Keep Them Confused | 3.0 |
| Tomahawk Anonymous | 3.0 |
| Every Time I Die The Big Dirty | 3.0 |
| The Nation of Ulysses Plays Pretty for Baby | 4.0 |
| Million Dead A Song to Ruin | 4.0 |
| Modest Mouse We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank | 3.5 |
| Battles Mirrored | 3.5 |
| Blaqk Audio CexCells | 3.0 |
| Kanye West Late Registration | 3.5 |
| Kanye West The College Dropout | 3.5 |
| Minus the Bear Planet of Ice | 4.5 |
| Will Haven The Hierophant | 3.0 |
| Kidcrash Jokes | 4.0 |
| Macho Man Randy Savage Be A Man | 1.0 |
| The Alpha and Omega of suck. It's so hilariously and completely ass on every level you can't help but love it. RIP to the best troll of the rap game. |
| Bad Brains Bad Brains | 5.0 |
| Quite easily the best hardcore album ever. Super fast, concise, adrenaline-fueled rage with a message. And a couple of great reggae tunes thrown in too. Don't listen to anything that fool below me says as he's full of failure. BB used to be a jazz-fusion group a'la Mahavishnu Orchestra and it shows with all the crazy start-stops and time-changes - these guys were by far the most musically talented hardcore band out there. Dr. Know is probably the best punk guitarist in history bar-none, H.R. was the most possessed, James Brown-on-crack manic frontman ever at the time, and the rhythm section smokes it and lights up another one. While some may put Cro-Mags or Minor Threat above this, just remember that the Brains were what those kids were trying to emulate, not the other way around. Nothing has touched it in the whole 26 years since its recording and that should say it all. |
| Shaquille O'Neal Shaq Diesel | 2.0 |
| Death By Stereo Death Alive | 4.0 |
| The Pax Cecilia Blessed Are The Bonds | 3.5 |
| Tub Ring The Great Filter | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Menos El Oso | 4.0 |
| Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? | 4.0 |
| James Brown Live At The Apollo | 3.5 |
| Sons Of Abraham Termites In His Smile | 4.0 |
| Good Riddance My Republic | 2.5 |
| Peter Gabriel Up | 4.0 |
| NOFX/Rancid BYO Split Series Vol. 3 | 4.0 |
| Gatsby's American Dream Gatsby's American Dream | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Miss Machine | 4.0 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Irony Is a Dead Scene | 4.5 |
| The Dillinger Escape Plan Calculating Infinity | 4.5 |
| Finch What It Is to Burn | 2.0 |
| Lagwagon Blaze | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Let's Talk About Feelings | 4.5 |
| Lagwagon Hoss | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Trashed | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Duh | 4.0 |
| Bad Astronaut Houston: We Have a Drinking Problem | 5.0 |
Bad Astronaut is and always was arguably pop-punk's secret
best band, flying under the radar their entire short-lived
career with three highly-regarded releases that got almost
zero cultural traction or notice at large, and deserve a spot
for sure on the list of Most Criminally Underrated and
Neglected Bands - Houston: We Have A Drinking Problem
is, by far, the strongest statement in affirmation of that
opinion. I could go on for pages and pages as to how the
songwriting is perfect and never falters once, or how the
production is immaculate, or how the instrumentation isn't
even THAT complex but hits the perfect mix of catchy and
technical moments, but it won't do it justice. The band was
already REALLY good with Acrophobe, but this was just several
levels beyond those humble beginnings. Fun fact - blink-182's
self-titled album was HEAVILY influenced by this. This is and
will likely always be the finest songwriting of Joey Cape's
career, a tall order considering his monster catalogue.
Listen to it, like right fucking now. It's the greatest mix
of rock, pop-punk, alternative, progressive, space rock, and
folk that I've ever heard, at least. |
| Bad Astronaut Acrophobe | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Live at the Palladium (DVD) | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion The Empire Strikes First | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Against the Grain | 4.5 |
| Bad Religion The Process of Belief | 4.5 |
| Bad Religion The New America | 2.5 |
| Bad Religion No Substance | 2.5 |
| The absolute worst Bad Religion album since Into The Unknown. There's about four good songs on this, and none of them are even as good as the b-sides from Stranger Than Fiction. So yeah. |
| Bad Religion Tested | 2.5 |
| Bad Religion The Gray Race | 3.5 |
| Bad Religion All Ages | 3.5 |
| Bad Religion Generator | 4.5 |
| Bad Religion No Control | 5.0 |
| Propagandhi Potemkin City Limits | 4.0 |
| Propagandhi Today's Empires, Tomorrow's Ashes | 5.0 |
| Greatest punk/thrash album of the last decade or so? Fuck yes it is. |
| Propagandhi Less Talk, More Rock | 3.5 |
| Propagandhi How to Clean Everything | 3.5 |
| Muse Origin of Symmetry | 4.5 |
| NOFX Wolves in Wolves' Clothing | 3.0 |
| NOFX Never Trust a Hippy | 4.0 |
| NOFX The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us) | 4.0 |
| NOFX Ten Years of Fuckin' Up (VHS/DVD) | 4.0 |
| NOFX The War on Errorism | 3.5 |
| NOFX Pump Up the Valuum | 4.0 |
| NOFX So Long and Thanks for All the Shoes | 4.5 |
| NOFX Heavy Petting Zoo | 3.5 |
| NOFX I Heard They Suck Live!! | 4.0 |
| NOFX Punk in Drublic | 4.5 |
| NOFX White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean | 4.0 |
| NOFX Ribbed | 4.0 |
| NOFX S&M Airlines | 3.0 |
| blink-182 The Mark, Tom and Travis Show | 3.0 |
| blink-182 Enema Of The State | 3.5 |
| blink-182 Dude Ranch | 4.0 |
| Far and away blink-182's crowning achievement and a monstrously-influential pop-punk record in general. Later records added depth, pop hooks and versatility, but they never approached the consistency, feel, or raw power displayed here again, and quickly abandoned the NOFX-style skatepunk sound once Enema came out. The self-titled may be their magnum opus, but Dude Ranch is the distilled core of what made this band great to begin with. |
| blink-182 Cheshire Cat | 3.5 |
| blink-182 Buddha | 3.0 |
| Slayer Christ Illusion | 4.0 |
| Slayer God Hates Us All | 3.0 |
| Slayer Reign in Blood | 4.5 |
| Slayer South of Heaven | 4.5 |
| Shadows Fall The War Within | 3.5 |
| Shadows Fall The Art of Balance | 4.0 |
| Refused Refused Are Fucking Dead | 4.0 |
| Probably one of the most pretentious acts of bloated ego-masturbation ever perpetrated by any band ever, but the truth is, they really WERE a big deal and they backed up their shit musically like no one else, no matter the time, place, or crowd size. |
| Refused The Shape Of Punk To Come | 5.0 |
| Even without Shape, Refused were already a top notch hardcore act that belonged up there with the Sick Of It Alls, Madballs and Earth Crises of the punk/hardcore scene with 1996's fantastic Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent. Let's be real though - anyone and everyone who ever listened to hardcore knows that The Shape Of Punk To Come is arguably the most important and influential record in the genre of the last 15 years, and widely agreed to be one of the best albums ever put to tape by a wide variety of people and media. It broke down the boundaries of what hardcore could do by adding electronica, rock, bass-and-drum, and jazz elements to the hardcore template and was the first shot signaling the approaching dominance of post-hardcore, carried on by bands like At The Drive-In, Thrice, Glassjaw and Thursday at least in spirit. Refused created an album that defied genres and conventions and did it with a style that no other band could touch, and even 11 years later its dominance is unquestioned. |
| Refused Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent | 4.0 |
| At the Drive-In This Station Is Non-Operational | 4.0 |
| At the Drive-In Relationship of Command | 4.5 |
| At the Drive-In Vaya | 4.0 |
| At the Drive-In In/Casino/Out | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy Ghostship Demos | 4.5 |
| The Fall of Troy The Fall of Troy | 4.0 |
| The Fall of Troy Doppelganger | 3.5 |
| HORSE the band The Mechanical Hand | 4.5 |
| HORSE the band R. Borlax | 3.5 |
| Glassjaw El Mark | 4.0 |
| Glassjaw Worship and Tribute | 5.0 |
| There isn't much more to say that hasn't been said - Worship & Tribute is, by far, one of the landmark, must-have post-hardcore albums of all time and for good reason. While perhaps not as good as EYEWTKAS song-to-song, as an album this flows like no other. Absolutely amazing lyrics, incredible rhythms, some of the best vocal work this side of Mike Patton, and the best genre-jumping you'll hear on one CD. From the aggressive, unrelenting "Stuck Pig" to the soft inflections of "Must've Run All Day" to the crushing melodies of "Trailer Park Jesus", to the climatic tension of "Two Tabs Of Mescaline"... I could go on forever about the near-perfection of W&T, but instead I'll say this album slays without quarter and you owe it to yourself to get it NOW. |
| Glassjaw Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence | 4.5 |
| Does Daryl Palumbo have to choke a bitch? Answer is YEP. If you, too, would like to choke a bitch, this album is for you. |
| Strung Out Exile In Oblivion | 4.5 |
| Strung Out Live in a Dive | 4.5 |
| Strung Out An American Paradox | 4.5 |
| Strung Out The Element of Sonic Defiance | 5.0 |
| Strung Out Twisted By Design | 4.5 |
| Strung Out Suburban Teenage Wasteland Blues | 4.0 |
| Strung Out Another Day In Paradise | 3.0 |
| Tool 10,000 Days | 3.5 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Ruiner | 4.0 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Mute Print | 4.0 |
| A Wilhelm Scream Benefits of Thinking Out Loud | 3.0 |
| Dead Kennedys Mutiny On The Bay: [Live] | 3.5 |
| Dead Kennedys Frankenchrist | 4.5 |
| Dead Kennedys Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death | 4.5 |
| Death By Stereo If Looks Could Kill, I'd Watch You Die | 4.0 |
| A criminally-underrated, near-flawless mix of punk, hardcore and metal, with amazing drumming and one of the most unique hardcore vocalists ever. This album STILL slams 21 years later. |
| Death By Stereo Into the Valley of Death | 4.0 |
| Songwriting-wise, this is probably their best record. |
| Death By Stereo Day of the Death | 4.0 |
| Drive Like Jehu Yank Crime | 4.5 |
| Good Riddance Bound by Ties of Blood and Affection | 3.5 |
| Muse Absolution Tour | 4.0 |
| Gatsby's American Dream Volcano | 4.0 |
| Gatsby's American Dream Ribbons and Sugar | 4.5 |
| Weezer Make Believe | 2.0 |
| Weezer Maladroit | 3.5 |
| Weezer Pinkerton | 5.0 |
| Weezer Weezer | 4.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Presence | 4.0 |
| Achilles' Last Stand alone is worth the purchase. Oh and it's a great album too. |
| Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti | 5.0 |
| Words don't do it justice, really. Simply the greatest double album ever made by a rock band and possibly the best album of the era. |
| Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy | 4.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV | 4.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin | 4.0 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II | 4.5 |
| Green Day American Idiot | 3.5 |
| Green Day International Superhits | 3.5 |
| Green Day Warning | 3.0 |
| Green Day Nimrod | 4.0 |
| Green Day Dookie | 4.5 |
| Green Day Insomniac | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear Highly Refined Pirates | 4.0 |
| Minus the Bear They Make Beer Commercials Like This | 4.0 |
| Lagwagon Let's Talk About Leftovers | 3.0 |
| Misery Signals Mirrors | 4.0 |
| The Mars Volta Tremulant | 3.5 |
| Unearth III: In the Eyes of Fire | 4.0 |
| Unearth The Oncoming Storm | 4.0 |
| Unearth The Stings of Conscience | 3.5 |
| Killswitch Engage Alive or Just Breathing | 4.0 |
| Killswitch Engage The End of Heartache | 3.5 |
| Shadows Fall Of One Blood | 3.5 |
| Pelican The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon... | 4.0 |
| Rush Permanent Waves | 4.0 |
| The Offspring Splinter | 2.5 |
| The Offspring Conspiracy of One | 2.5 |
| The Offspring Americana | 3.5 |
| The Offspring Ixnay on the Hombre | 4.0 |
| The Offspring Smash | 4.0 |
| Bad Religion Back to the Known | 3.5 |
| NOFX 45 or 46 Songs That Weren't Good Enough | 4.0 |
| NOFX Liberal Animation | 2.5 |
| Rancid Indestructible | 3.0 |
| Rancid Rancid (2000) | 4.0 |
| Whole Wheat Bread Minority Rules | 3.5 |
| Underoath Define the Great Line | 4.0 |
| Underoath They're Only Chasing Safety | 2.0 |
| Avenged Sevenfold City of Evil | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Waking the Fallen | 3.5 |
| Avenged Sevenfold Sounding the Seventh Trumpet | 3.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness | 4.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | 4.0 |
| Coheed and Cambria The Second Stage Turbine Blade | 4.5 |
| Coheed and Cambria Live at the Starland Ballroom | 3.0 |
| Hot Snakes Audit in Progress | 4.5 |
| New Found Glory Catalyst | 2.0 |
| New Found Glory From the Screen to Your Stereo | 3.0 |
| Angels and Airwaves We Don't Need to Whisper | 2.0 |
| Sparta Porcelain | 4.0 |
| DMX Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood | 3.5 |
| DMX It's Dark and Hell Is Hot | 4.0 |
| Thrice If We Could Only See Us Now | 4.0 |
| Thrice The Artist in the Ambulance | 4.0 |
| Thrice The Illusion of Safety | 4.5 |
| Thrice First Impressions | 3.0 |
| Thrice Identity Crisis | 3.5 |
| The Ataris So Long, Astoria | 2.0 |
| The Ataris End is Forever | 2.5 |
| The Ataris Blue Skies, Broken Hearts, Next Twelve Exits | 2.5 |
| Taking Back Sunday Where You Want To Be | 2.5 |
| Taking Back Sunday Louder Now | 2.5 |
| Taking Back Sunday Tell All Your Friends | 3.0 |
| HORSE the band Pizza | 3.0 |
HORSE is back a scant year after the release of The Mechanical Hand with the Pizza EP. The good news? It's
HORSE. The keyboards are in full swing here, serving up deliciously twisted melodies (check out the bridge and outro
of Crippled By Pizza) and walls-of-sound that serve as sonic backdrops to Dave Isen's fleet guitarwork. Band-wise,
everything's tight. The not-so-good? The songs here just aren't anywhere as good as their previous work. I mean
Pizza NIF is great, Werepizza and Antipizza rock, and the TMNT theme is absolutely classic, but the super-clean
production takes a lot of the aggression out of HORSE's sound, the drumming is off in parts (they've since kicked Eli
out), and David Isen's manic guitar work from The Mechanical Hand is nowhere to be found here, not to mention
the guitars are buried in the mix to the point that you can barely hear them. Oh yeah and Werepizza is too damn long
and doesn't really go anywhere. Maybe the lessened quality is because EVERY song is literally about pizza, but it
seems HORSE is taking an even more commercial tack this time around and I'm not sure that's a great idea. Hopefully
their new album (out in 2007) will be a bit better. |
| Converge When Forever Comes Crashing | 4.0 |
| Botch American Nervoso | 4.0 |
| Thirty Seconds to Mars 30 Seconds To Mars | 4.0 |
| Modern Life Is War Witness | 4.5 |
| Alice in Chains Dirt | 4.5 |
| Nirvana From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah | 4.0 |
| Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York | 4.5 |
| Nirvana Incesticide | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Blood Mountain | 3.5 |
| Hella There's No 666 In Outer Space | 4.0 |
| Marathon Marathon | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Leviathan | 4.0 |
| Alexisonfire Crisis | 3.0 |
| John Mayer Continuum | 4.5 |
| Eric Clapton Unplugged | 4.5 |
| Eric Clapton Journeyman | 3.5 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood | 4.5 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan Soul to Soul | 4.0 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan Couldn't Stand the Weather | 4.5 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Axis: Bold as Love | 4.5 |
| John Mayer Trio Try! | 4.0 |
| Superjoint Use Once and Destroy | 3.0 |
| Superjoint A Lethal Dose of American Hatred | 4.0 |
| Slayer Seasons in the Abyss | 4.0 |
| Faith No More Angel Dust | 5.0 |
| Mad Caddies Rock the Plank | 3.5 |
| The Strokes First Impressions of Earth | 3.5 |
| Glassjaw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | 3.0 |
| This is the album where Glassjaw began to really start to develop it's current sound. Not to mention the Hannukah Grinch, Justin Beck himself, plays the drums on this album/lineup. "Star Above My Bed" and "Black Coffee" are some of their fan-favorite songs and display a staggering mix of power where good ol' Long Island HC came together with Glassjaw's growing fascination with Stillsuit-style post-hardcore, which continues even into their current-day sound, tremendously on Worship And Tribute. This EP is notoriously hard to find, but can be found on Glassjaw.net if I'm not mistaken. A more-than-worthy listen to anyone who even remotely likes post-hardcore. |
| Metallica ...And Justice for All | 4.0 |
| Boston Boston | 4.5 |
| Def Leppard Pyromania | 3.5 |
| Casket Salesmen Sleeping Giants | 3.5 |
| Bad Astronaut Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment | 4.5 |
| Absolultely stunning album. It's not Houston, We Have A Drinking Problem (a personal classic and near-perfect album), but considering that half of the album was recorded post-humously without Derrick Plourde, AND that the album was considered unlistenable for a while, Joey Cape gains new respect here. From the guarded optimism of "Good Morning Night" to the jarring trainwreck rock of "Best Western", the haunting, folksy acoustic melodies and brooding strings of "Minus", and all the way to the eight-minute masterpiece of "The F Word", Cape and Co. pulled out all the stops here to give Derrick and Bad Astronaut their final send offs. Not surprisingly, Plourde's signature drumming leaves an unmistakable mark on the music, reminding everyone that he was truly a giant among men. The album has a truly schizophrenic quality here, with the post-Derrick tracks sticking out, but the incredible catharsis present here will truly touch anyone with a heart who's ever lost someone. Despite its unfinished/broken sound, this is arguably Cape & Bad Astronaut's finest performance. Buy this NOW. |
| Metallica Master of Puppets | 4.5 |
| Tomahawk Tomahawk | 4.0 |
| Faith No More Album of the Year | 3.5 |
| Faith No More King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime | 4.0 |
| Faith No More The Real Thing | 4.0 |
| Faith No More This Is It: The Best of Faith No More | 3.5 |
| Sparta Threes | 3.5 |
| Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction | 4.5 |
| Prince Sign o' the Times | 5.0 |
| Pantera Vulgar Display of Power | 4.0 |
| Pantera Cowboys from Hell | 4.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf | 4.5 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Over the Years and Through the Woods | 4.0 |
| Anthrax Among the Living | 4.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Anatomy Of | 3.5 |
| Jerry Cantrell Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 | 4.5 |
| Completely and criminally neglected, this album may just be the best AIC album never released since 1992's Dirt. Simply put, more people should listen to this. Amazing songwriting, nostalgia (the vocal harmonies are simply awesome and pure AIC), haunting atmosphere and mood (the album was dedicated/written right after the tragic death of Layne Staley), and a stellar rhythm section (provided by none other than Rob Trujillo of Metallica/Suicidal Tendencies/Infectious Grooves on bass and Mike "Puffy" Bordin of Faith No More/Ozzy fame) make this album the one that Alice In Chains should've gone out on. Cantrell proves that he was the real man behind the curtain in a LOT of AIC's best material, and the result of Degradation Trip 1&2 is simply that both discs are better than just about all modern rock/alternative rock out today. Covers so many moods and styles with great guitar riffs/solos and highly emotive singing courtesy of Cantrell. Get this right effing now. |
| Megadeth Rust in Peace | 4.5 |
| Muse Hullabaloo | 4.0 |
| Muse Showbiz | 3.5 |
| Papa Roach Infest | 3.0 |
| Dr. Dre The Chronic | 4.5 |
| Snoop Dogg Doggystyle | 4.0 |
| Eric B and Rakim Paid in Full | 4.0 |
| Testament The Gathering | 3.5 |
| Van Halen Van Halen | 3.5 |
| Stone Temple Pilots Core | 4.0 |
| Prince Musicology | 4.0 |
| Prince 3121 | 3.5 |
| Corrosion of Conformity Animosity | 3.5 |
| Bullet for My Valentine The Poison | 3.0 |
| Parkway Drive Killing with a Smile | 4.0 |
| Botch An Anthology of Dead Ends | 4.5 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) S.C.I.E.N.C.E. | 4.5 |
| Nirvana With the Lights Out | 3.5 |
| Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere | 4.0 |
| DangerDoom The Mouse And The Mask | 4.0 |
| Frodus And We Washed Our Weapons In The Sea | 4.0 |
| Helmet Meantime | 4.5 |
| Beatallica Beatallica | 4.0 |
| Mutemath Mutemath | 3.5 |
| Trivium Ascendancy | 2.5 |
| 311 From Chaos | 3.5 |
| Thrice Red Sky | 4.0 |
| Jeff Beck Blow by Blow | 4.0 |
| ISIS Panopticon | 4.0 |
| Pennywise From The Ashes | 2.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Infinity on High | 3.0 |
| Metallica Live Shit: Binge & Purge | 4.0 |
| Metallica S&M | 4.0 |
| Kiss Kiss Kiss Kiss | 4.0 |
| Hot Cross Cryonics | 4.5 |
| Hot Cross Fair Trades and Farewells | 4.5 |
| Botch We Are the Romans | 4.5 |
| Shadows Fall Threads of Life | 3.0 |
| Pennywise Straight Ahead | 4.0 |
| Pennywise Full Circle | 4.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Machina/The Machines of God | 2.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Rotten Apples | 4.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Judas O | 3.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream | 5.0 |
| No Knife Riot For Romance! | 4.0 |
| No Knife Fire In The City Of Automatons | 4.0 |
| Deftones Saturday Night Wrist | 4.5 |
| Pretty damn near incredible album. There's really so many great moments on this record it's hard to list. It's not quite at the level of White Pony (and really, what is?) but it's most likely second-illest. Chino's singing is better than ever with some truly awe-inspiring moments ("Combat", "Cherry Waves", "Rats!Rats!Rats!"), Chino and Stephen's guitar interplay is the best yet (and possibly last since Eros is all Stephen), Chi actually writes some sick basslines ("Cherry Waves"), Frank Delgado puts out his finest keyboard/DJ work yet, and Abe is as smooth and sick as ever. The strongest part of the album is the experimentation, though. The sonic backdrops provided by Delgado work perfectly with the ambient, major-key melodies that litter this record. Not to mention that there's hardly a single weak track on the whole album (with the obvious exception of "Pink Cellphone" and the monotonous, pointless inclusion of Serj on "Mein"). The second-best Deftones record and a personal fave. |
| Deftones Deftones | 3.5 |
| Deftones White Pony | 5.0 |
| Deftones Adrenaline | 3.0 |
| Deftones Around the Fur | 4.0 |
| Fall Out Boy From Under the Cork Tree | 3.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Take This to Your Grave | 3.0 |
| Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girlfriend | 1.0 |
| 311 Soundsystem | 3.5 |
| 311 Transistor | 4.0 |
| 311 311 | 4.0 |
| Sublime Acoustic: Bradley Nowell & Friends | 3.5 |
| Sublime Sublime | 4.0 |
| Sublime 40 Oz. to Freedom | 4.0 |
| Transplants Transplants | 3.0 |
| Transplants Haunted Cities | 2.0 |
| Operation Ivy Energy | 4.0 |
| A Perfect Circle eMOTIVe | 2.0 |
| A Perfect Circle Mer de Noms | 4.0 |
| A Perfect Circle Thirteenth Step | 3.5 |
| A Static Lullaby A Static Lullaby | 3.5 |
| A Static Lullaby Faso Latido | 2.0 |
| A Static Lullaby ...And Don't Forget to Breathe | 3.0 |
| Alexisonfire Alexisonfire | 3.5 |
| The Blood Brothers Crimes | 4.0 |
| Anberlin Blueprints for the Black Market | 3.5 |
| Anberlin Never Take Friendship Personal | 3.5 |
| Armor For Sleep What To Do When You Are Dead | 2.5 |
| Atreyu Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses | 2.5 |
| Atreyu A Death-Grip on Yesterday | 1.5 |
| Atreyu Fractures in the Facade of your Porcelain Beauty | 2.0 |
| Bayside Sirens & Condolences | 2.5 |
| Bayside Bayside | 2.0 |
| Beastie Boys To the 5 Boroughs | 3.5 |
| Beastie Boys The Sounds of Science | 4.0 |
| Beastie Boys Hello Nasty | 3.0 |
| Beloved Failure On | 3.5 |
| Black Star Black Star | 4.0 |
| Killswitch Engage As Daylight Dies | 2.5 |
| Panic! at the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out | 3.0 |
| Chevelle Live From The Road | 2.5 |
| Chevelle Wonder What's Next | 3.5 |
| Chevelle Point #1 | 3.5 |
| Chevelle This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In) | 3.0 |
| Tool Ænima | 4.5 |
| Only Crime Virulence | 3.5 |
A very very good album, although it falls short of expectations. I mean, come on! Let's all consider that this band is
made up of vocalist Russ Rankin (Good Riddance), drummer Bill Stevenson (those little bands Black Flag, Descendents,
ALL...), guitarists Aaron Dalbec (Converge, Bane, Hagfish) and Zach Blair (GWAR, Hagfish), and bassist Doni Blair
(Hagfish, Armstrong). I mean this should be the best f*cking hardcore band EVER. And even at this seemingly 50%
effort, they churned out a record as excellent as Virulence. The album is far more focused and heavy than To
The Nines could've hoped to be (although the first record is in fact very good). Their next album is what I'm really
looking forward to. It's a bit of a letdown that this album shat on Good Riddance's latest record, considering how great
Russ' voice and lyrics are here. A must-buy for melodic hardcore with a dissonant edge, not to mention absolutely
superb musicianship (especially Bill's drumming) and lyrics. |
| Ignite Our Darkest Days | 4.0 |
| Ignite A Place Called Home | 4.0 |
| White Zombie Astro Creep: 2000 | 4.0 |
| Soundgarden Superunknown | 5.0 |
| The greatest rock album of the past 30+ years? Probably yes. Soundgarden took the classic rock, psychedelic, metal, punk and progressive and melded it into a perfect sonic brew that is untouched in the rock genre before or since. People like to wax poetic about how the 90s had the greatest music of all time in one place and era, and Superunknown is arguably the strongest example of why that may be true. Unparalleled performances by every member, especially by the late, great Chris Cornell, who dominates the proceedings as usual but still shares the spotlight with equal aplomb with Kim Thayil's dazzling Sabbath-meets-Beatles solos and riffage, Ben Shepard's monstrously groovy baselines, and Matt Cameron's godlike "This Is How You Play Rock Drums Properly" performance. It's just perfect. |
| Righteous Jams Rage of Discipline | 4.0 |
| Opeth Blackwater Park | 4.5 |
| Green Day Kerplunk | 4.0 |
| Green Day 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours | 3.5 |
| Fear Before The Always Open Mouth | 4.0 |
| Fear Before Art Damage | 4.0 |
| Depeche Mode Songs of Faith and Devotion | 4.5 |
| Depeche Mode Playing The Angel | 4.0 |
| Depeche Mode Ultra | 3.5 |
| Depeche Mode Exciter | 3.0 |
| Depeche Mode Violator | 4.5 |
| Depeche Mode Music for the Masses | 4.0 |
| Dead Kennedys Bedtime for Democracy | 4.0 |
| Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters | 4.5 |
| Dead Kennedys Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables | 4.5 |
| Sonic Youth Rather Ripped | 3.5 |
| Sonic Youth Murray Street | 4.0 |
| Sonic Youth NYC Ghosts & Flowers | 2.0 |
| Sonic Youth A Thousand Leaves | 3.0 |
| Sonic Youth Daydream Nation | 4.5 |
| Alice in Chains The Essential Alice in Chains | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged | 4.5 |
| Alice in Chains Alice in Chains | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains Jar of Flies | 4.0 |
| Alice in Chains Facelift | 3.5 |
| Glassjaw The Don Fury Sessions | 3.5 |
| While it's awesome to hear demo versions of EYEWTKAS tracks, not to mention two or three forotten gems (Matchbook Blackbook, Harlem, Flagburning Dakota) and a bonafide classic (Star Under My Bed), the production is just bad and the band hadn't settled into the power and intensity of their later work. Still great stuff. |
| Atreyu The Best of Atreyu | 1.5 |
| The Fucking Champs III | 3.0 |
| The Fucking Champs V | 3.0 |
| The Fucking Champs IV | 3.5 |
| Classic Case Dressed To Depress | 2.5 |
| Did I really write all of that? I used to smoke a lot of pot. Albums really not that great tbqfh and it's pretty obvious Durijah's better playing in Glassjaw instead of a poor man's Glassjaw cover band. |
| Denali The Instinct | 3.5 |
| Denali Denali | 3.5 |
| Candiria The C.O.M.A. Imprint | 3.5 |
| Bayside The Walking Wounded | 3.0 |
| Quicksand Slip | 4.5 |
| This Is Hell Sundowning | 3.5 |
| This Is Hell This Is Hell | 3.5 |
| Jawbreaker 24 Hour Revenge Therapy | 4.0 |
| Jawbreaker Dear You | 4.0 |
| King Crimson In the Court of the Crimson King | 4.5 |
| Rage Against the Machine Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (DVD) | 4.0 |
| Heiruspecs A Tiger Dancing | 4.0 |
| Lifetime Lifetime | 4.0 |
| Lifetime, after a ten-year break, are back and in charge again. Forget FOB, Bayside, etc... this is the real pop-punk deal. Sweet-like-candy hardcore with heartfelt lyrics, breakneck tempos, and all-around incredible energy. This album pretty much picks up right where Jersey's Best Dancers left off... this album could've easily been made in 1999 and if it had, I'm pretty sure Lifetime would be far bigger than the underground (yet highly influential) cult following they have. It's not quite as good as Jersey's Best Dancers (which I consider a melodic-hardcore masterpiece), but more than effective on its own rights. If you even remotely like pop-punk or hardcore you owe it to yourself to get this now. Welcome back guys. |
| Lifetime Jersey's Best Dancers | 4.5 |
| Lifetime Hello Bastards | 4.5 |
| Queen A Night at the Opera | 4.0 |
| Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Plastic Fang | 3.5 |
| dredg Leitmotif | 4.0 |
| dredg El Cielo | 4.5 |
| Between the Buried and Me The Silent Circus | 4.0 |
| Gang of Four Return the Gift | 3.5 |
| Television Live at The Old Waldorf | 4.0 |
| Television Marquee Moon | 4.5 |
| Tomahawk Mit Gas | 4.0 |
| Slayer Hell Awaits | 3.5 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland | 4.0 |
| Jimi Hendrix Blues | 3.5 |
| Jimi Hendrix First Rays of the New Rising Sun | 4.0 |
| Eric Clapton From The Cradle | 4.0 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan Live at Montreux: 1982 & 1985 | 4.0 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan In Step | 4.0 |
| Stevie Ray Vaughan The Sky Is Crying | 4.0 |
| Wes Montgomery The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery | 4.0 |
| My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 1.0 |
| My Chemical Romance The Black Parade | 3.0 |
| The Used In Love and Death | 2.5 |
| The Used Maybe Memories | 2.5 |
| The Used The Used | 2.5 |
| Saosin Saosin | 2.5 |
| Saosin Saosin EP | 3.0 |
| Saosin Translating the Name | 4.0 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) Light Grenades | 3.5 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) A Crow Left of the Murder... | 3.5 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) Morning View | 3.0 |
| Incubus (USA-CA) Make Yourself | 4.0 |
| Hawthorne Heights If Only You Were Lonely | 1.0 |
| Hawthorne Heights The Silence in Black and White | 1.0 |
| The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Don't You Fake It | 1.0 |
| Plain White T's Every Second Counts | 1.0 |
| Vanilla Ice To the Extreme | 1.0 |
| System of a Down Hypnotize | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Mezmerize | 3.5 |
| System of a Down Steal This Album! | 4.0 |
| System of a Down Toxicity | 4.0 |
| System of a Down System of a Down | 4.0 |
| Rage Against the Machine The Battle of Los Angeles | 3.5 |
| Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire | 4.0 |
| Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine | 4.5 |
| Tool Undertow | 3.5 |
| Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral | 5.0 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Stadium Arcadium | 3.0 |
| Red Hot Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik | 3.5 |
| Peter Gabriel So | 4.0 |
| The Ataris Welcome the Night | 2.0 |
| Welcome the Plague Year Welcome the Plague Year | 3.0 |
| Dag Nasty Can I Say (Reissue) | 4.5 |
| City of Caterpillar City of Caterpillar | 4.0 |
| Van Halen 1984 | 4.0 |
| Van Halen Fair Warning | 4.0 |
| Van Halen Van Halen II | 3.5 |
| A Day To Remember For Those Who Have Heart | 2.5 |
| A Day To Remember And Their Name Was Treason | 2.5 |
| Choke Slow Fade Or: How I Learned To Question Infinity | 4.0 |
| Sprawling, catchy, magnificently written, and progressive in the truest sense of the word, this band (and album) caught me completely by surprise. Choke just may be Canada's best-kept secret. Take a little Rush, a little Thrice, and some Drive Like Jehu time signature change-ups and sprinkle a heap of melody, and you've got these guys in a nutshell. Beautiful ambient parts mesh with furiously tense, interweaving guitar parts that never seem to repeat, hard-hitting drumming with subtle meter/time shifts all over the place, and a vocalist who oftentimes doesn't seem to be singing the same song the band is playing, and yet it all makes perfect sense. And when the swirling maelstrom of noise comes together, it will send chills up your spine. BUY THIS ALBUM. |
| Hot Cross Risk Revival | 3.5 |
| Choke There's A Story To This Moral | 4.0 |
| Sparta Wiretap Scars | 4.0 |
| In Pieces Lions Write History | 4.0 |
| Michael Jackson Thriller | 4.5 |
| Michael Jackson Off the Wall | 4.0 |
| Queens of the Stone Age Lullabies to Paralyze | 4.0 |
| Shadows Fall Fallout From The War | 3.5 |
| maudlin of the Well Bath | 4.5 |
| maudlin of the Well Leaving Your Body Map | 4.5 |
| maudlin of the Well My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible | 4.0 |
| Kayo Dot Choirs of the Eye | 4.0 |
| ZZ Top Eliminator | 4.0 |
| Radiohead OK Computer | 5.0 |
| Classic Case Losing At Life | 3.0 |
| Yellowcard Lights and Sounds | 2.5 |
| Yellowcard Ocean Avenue | 3.0 |
| Yellowcard One for the Kids | 2.0 |
| Yellowcard Underdog | 2.0 |
| Yellowcard Midget Tossing | 2.0 |
| Aiden Our Gangs Dark Oath | 1.5 |
| Aiden Nightmare Anatomy | 1.5 |
| Aiden Rain in Hell | 2.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Shadows Are Security | 2.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Frail Words Collapse | 2.0 |
| As I Lay Dying Beneath the Encasing of Ashes | 1.5 |
| Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet | 4.0 |
| N.W.A. Straight Outta Compton | 4.5 |
| Bigwig Stay Asleep | 3.0 |
| Billy Idol Idol Songs: 11 of the Best | 3.5 |
| Bloodhound Gang Hooray For Boobies | 3.0 |
| Blues Traveler Four | 2.5 |
| Bright Eyes Digital Ash in a Digital Urn | 3.0 |
| Children of Bodom Are You Dead Yet? | 3.0 |
| Children of Bodom Hate Crew Deathroll | 3.5 |
| Chiodos All's Well That Ends Well | 1.5 |
| CKY Volume 1 | 3.0 |
| The Clash London Calling: Legacy Edition | 4.0 |
| Clipse Hell Hath No Fury | 3.5 |
| Cream Disraeli Gears | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour Undoing Ruin | 4.0 |
| Darkest Hour Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour So Sedated, so Secure | 3.0 |
| Death Cab for Cutie Transatlanticism | 3.0 |
| Death Cab for Cutie We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes | 2.5 |
| Descendents Cool to Be You | 3.5 |
| Descendents Milo Goes to College | 4.0 |
| The Doors The Best of The Doors | 4.0 |
| Dream Theater A Change of Seasons | 2.5 |
| Drist Orchids And Ammunition | 3.0 |
| Eighteen Visions Obsession | 2.5 |
| Elton John Goodbye Yellow Brick Road | 3.5 |
| Forgive Durden Wonderland | 3.5 |
| Funeral Diner The Underdark | 3.5 |
| Garbage Garbage | 4.0 |
| General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners | 3.5 |
| American Nightmare Year One | 4.0 |
| Green Day Shenanigans | 3.0 |
| Greg Graffin Cold as the Clay | 3.5 |
| Hatebreed Supremacy | 3.0 |
| Hatebreed Rise of Brutality | 2.5 |
| Hatebreed Perseverance | 3.0 |
| He Is Legend I Am Hollywood | 3.0 |
| He Is Legend 91025 | 3.5 |
| Hopesfall A Types | 3.5 |
| Husker Du Zen Arcade | 4.0 |
| In Flames Come Clarity | 3.5 |
| In Flames Reroute to Remain | 3.5 |
| In Flames The Jester Race | 4.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Bleed American | 3.0 |
| Jimmy Eat World Clarity | 3.0 |
| Judas Priest Painkiller | 4.0 |
| Jurassic 5 Quality Control | 3.5 |
| Kid Dynamite Kid Dynamite | 4.0 |
| Kyuss Blues for the Red Sun | 4.0 |
| Lamb of God Sacrament | 3.5 |
| Chimaira The Impossibility of Reason | 3.0 |
| Led Zeppelin In Through the Out Door | 3.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Coda | 3.5 |
| Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin III | 4.0 |
| Linkin Park Meteora | 3.0 |
| Linkin Park Hybrid Theory | 3.0 |
| Lucky Boys Confusion Commitment | 2.5 |
| Matchbook Romance Voices | 3.5 |
| Matchbook Romance West For Wishing EP | 3.0 |
| Matisyahu Live At Stubb's | 3.5 |
| Method Man Tical | 4.0 |
| Midtown Forget What You Know | 2.5 |
| Midtown Living Well is the Best Revenge | 3.0 |
| Millencolin Pennybridge Pioneers | 4.0 |
| Pennywise Unknown Road | 3.0 |
| Pennywise The Fuse | 2.0 |
| Pennywise Land Of The Free? | 3.0 |
| Minus the Bear Interpretaciones Del Oso | 2.5 |
| Here's a perfect example of why the majority of remix albums suck. Menos El Oso was a quality album that was better left alone. The album was spectacular in almost every way. The myriad of DJs/artists present here on Interpretaciones Del Oso simply miss the mark 80% of the time on this record. When they're not completely stripping any vestige of resemblance from great songs ("Hooray", "The Fix"), they're butchering it with ill-advised sampling and/or unnecessary "ambience", oftentimes mixing the vocals right out of the track in question. The only remix I truly didn't despise was "Drilling", which kept the original vibe/melody while changing everything else. The rest? Go listen to Menos El Oso instead and avoid this like the plague. |
| Modest Mouse Sad Sappy Sucker | 3.0 |
| Modest Mouse The Lonesome Crowded West | 3.0 |
| Moneen The Theory of Harmonial Value | 3.0 |
| Mos Def The New Danger | 3.5 |
| Mr. Bungle California | 4.0 |
| Mr. Bungle Disco Volante | 4.0 |
| MxPx Let It Happen | 4.0 |
| MxPx The Ever Passing Moment | 2.5 |
| MxPx Teenage Politics | 3.0 |
| MxPx Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo | 3.0 |
| MxPx Life in General | 3.5 |
| The Nation of Ulysses 13-Point Program To Destroy America | 4.0 |
| No Doubt Tragic Kingdom | 3.5 |
| Ozzy Osbourne Live & Loud | 3.5 |
| Pearl Jam Ten | 4.0 |
| Pink Floyd The Wall | 4.5 |
| Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon | 4.5 |
| The Police Synchronicity | 4.5 |
| One of the best albums ever recorded. Synchronicity was somewhat of a return to form following the horn/synth-heavy Ghost In The Machine while also being the most experimental of The Police's discography. This record expanded the pop music vocabulary in many different ways, not least of which being stellar, timeless singles such as "Every Breath You Take", "Wrapped Around Your Finger", "King Of Pain" and "Synchronicity II" which showcased Sting's god-given pop smarts, Andy Summers' complex walls of guitar, and Stewart Copeland's manic drumming while also being complex and artistic. While it may not be as consistent-sounding as albums like Regatta de Blanc and Outlandos d'Amour, the true strength of Synchronicity lies in the peerless songwriting and variety of styles employed. It takes a little while to sink in, but once it does it's not hard to see why The Police remain one of the most popular bands of all time, critically and commercially. |
| Probot Probot | 3.5 |
| The Prodigy The Fat of the Land | 3.5 |
| Protest the Hero Kezia | 3.0 |
Album is MAD overrated but not total garbage. The singing can be pretty unbearable at times in how he overuses
that pop-punk warble mixed with hair-metal backup harmonies and flagrant, ridiculous dramaticism that would
make Matt Bellamy and Freddie Mercury wince simultaneously. The guitarists have some serious jack-off
competitions seemingly every other bar, seemingly trying to fit as many crazy sweeps into one second as possible
(regardless of sense/purpose/taste), the drummer plays the same ol' hardcore/thrash cut-time beats with little
variation, and the music/lyrics reek of religious lofty pretentiousness. In other words, a great Victory Records band.
And the production, especially on the drums, sounds completely fake and ProTooled up. Oh yeah is there bass on
this record? Despite all of that, it's hard to ignore the band's talent and knack for catchy melodies and progressive
experimentation. They will certainly be huge in the future with their mix of pop-punk, metal, thrash, and
progressive styles so long as they reign in their giant egos. But come on people... we have all heard this music
before, somewhere, sometime, probably better done and Kezia isn't half as innovative or classic as anyone says it is. |
| Rise Against The Unraveling | 3.5 |
| Rise Against Siren Song of the Counter Culture | 3.5 |
| Rise Against Revolutions per Minute | 4.0 |
| Rob Zombie Educated Horses | 3.0 |
| Rush Moving Pictures | 4.5 |
| Saetia A Retrospective | 3.5 |
| Santana Abraxas | 4.0 |
| Say Anything ...Is A Real Boy (re-release) | 3.0 |
| Sepultura Beneath the Remains | 4.0 |
| SikTh Death of a Dead Day | 3.5 |
| Spinal Tap This Is Spinal Tap | 4.0 |
| Stone Temple Pilots No. 4 | 3.5 |
| Stone Temple Pilots Thank You | 4.0 |
| Stone Temple Pilots Tiny Music... Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop | 3.5 |
| Story of the Year Page Avenue | 3.0 |
| Story of the Year In The Wake Of Determination | 2.5 |
| The Strokes Is This It | 4.5 |
| Sum 41 Chuck | 3.0 |
| Sum 41 Does This Look Infected? | 3.5 |
| Sum 41 All Killer No Filler | 3.0 |
| Thin Lizzy Jailbreak | 4.0 |
| Thin Lizzy Bad Reputation | 3.5 |
| Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits | 4.0 |
| Underoath The Changing of Times | 3.0 |
| Velvet Revolver Contraband | 3.5 |
| The White Stripes Elephant | 3.5 |
| The Who Who's Next | 4.0 |
| The Who Tommy | 4.0 |
| Spin Doctors Pocket Full of Kryptonite | 1.0 |
| Doo-do-do!!! Da dip da doo da dubba wubba wubba wubba oh my GOD what in the hell am I listening to?!? Why does this music exist??? Terrible music from a band that spent too much time hitting the bong and not enough time on a.) good music b.) not scatting c.) writing songs without horrible pop-culture references to Superman. Great beer coaster. |
| Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu | 4.5 |
| LOURDS LOURDS | 3.0 |
| +44 When Your Heart Stops Beating | 3.5 |
| Strung Out Crossroads and Illusions | 3.5 |
| Bad Religion Into the Unknown | 2.0 |
| Bad Religion How Could Hell Be Any Worse? | 3.5 |
| Suicidal Tendencies Freedumb | 4.0 |
| Kill Hannah For Never & Ever | 1.0 |
I guess the best way to describe this band, and their subsequent albums, is the live show I saw last night. They along
with Strata opened for 30 Seconds To Mars. I'd heard the single "Lips Like Morphine" and thought "hey, that chick-
fronted band isn't too good". And when the guitarist came out onstage, I was like "damn... that's not a girl."
Surprisingly, neither is the singer, although looking at them/listening to them, you'd never be able to guess. They
all wear more makeup than just about any girl I know. As for the music, take the absolute worst levels of mascara-
induced, No-way-they-can't-possibly-be-men crying-fit hilarity of the uber-l33t Hot Topic screamo crowd, mix it
with post-80's new wave garbage and you basically have this in a nutshell. Painfully derivative, shamelessly scene, and
encompassing far too many gag-inducing cliches that make 90% of modern music suck horribly, this album is better
left in a dark corner of a crack den, which is just how the band would probably like it. In a dark corner, I mean. |
| Depeche Mode Construction Time Again | 2.5 |
| Depeche Mode Some Great Reward | 3.0 |
| Depeche Mode A Broken Frame | 2.0 |
| Depeche Mode Speak & Spell | 2.5 |
| Depeche Mode Black Celebration | 4.0 |
| Nirvana Bleach | 3.0 |
| Converge Petitioning the Empty Sky | 4.0 |
| Metallica Load | 2.5 |
| Metallica Reload | 2.5 |
| Metallica Kill 'Em All | 3.5 |
| Chevelle Vena Sera | 3.0 |
| Jerry Cantrell Boggy Depot | 3.5 |
| OutKast Speakerboxxx/The Love Below | 4.0 |
| OutKast Aquemini | 4.5 |
| OutKast ATLiens | 3.5 |
| De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising | 3.5 |
| The Fall of Troy Manipulator | 3.0 |
| Team Sleep Team Sleep | 3.5 |
| Maps and Atlases Tree, Swallows, Houses | 3.5 |
| Strung Out Blackhawks Over Los Angeles | 3.5 |
| Soundgarden Badmotorfinger | 4.0 |
| Soundgarden Down on the Upside | 3.5 |
| Tool Opiate | 3.5 |
| Circa Survive On Letting Go | 2.5 |
| Nervous Light of Sunday 弱心光景 | 3.0 |
| Darkest Hour Deliver Us | 3.5 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music | 3.0 |
| Prince Batman | 3.5 |
| Prince 1999 | 4.0 |
| The Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist | 3.5 |
| Bad Religion New Maps of Hell | 3.5 |
| Gogol Bordello Super Taranta | 3.5 |
| Muse Hullabaloo Soundtrack | 3.5 |
| Linkin Park Minutes to Midnight | 2.0 |
| Between the Buried and Me Alaska | 4.0 |
| Jeff Buckley Grace | 4.5 |
| Radiohead Hail to the Thief | 4.0 |
