Filter The Sun Comes Out Tonight Wind-Up Records For a long-running band like Filter, the biggest challenge is usually avoiding a sound that grows formulaic or stale. If you’re not careful, it can get to a point where every loud song sounds like “Hey Man, Nice Shot,” and every soft song sounds like “Take A Picture.” This leads to a sort of slow death, like a fire burning out; die-hard […]
Goo Goo Dolls Magnetic Warner bros. Even though The Goo Goo Dolls first appeared on the scene in 1987, I hadn’t heard of them until their 1995 album A Boy Named Goo when the song Name became widely popular on the radio. When I saw they released their 10th studio album, Magnetic, I was all aboard to take a listen. The album opens up with the upbeat tune, Rebel Beat. […]
Jimi Hendrix People, Hell, and Angels Legacy Although his recording career spanned less than five years, Jimi Hendrix was a visionary beyond his time. His vision of music and experimentation with an electric guitar to create sounds never before thought possible is still a major influence to guitarists of all genres today. I find it hard to believe that these recordings were just found locked away in some old basement […]
H.I.M. Tears on Tape Razor & Tie One thing you could never say about H.I.M. was that they were boring. Yes, their whole style of “Love Metal” could border on the redundant both musically and lyrically, but it was Ville Valo’s songwriting abilities that kept you interested and excited. As frontman and musical architect of the band, he not only a way for words but also an ear for melody. […]
Jeremy Camp Wreckless BEC Recordings On Jeremy Camp’s eighth full-length studio release, Wreckless, the man delivers an album full of heartfelt passion and love of a higher power. Camp has thrown himself into his music, giving his all and the product is one that contains meaningful lyrics, faith and devotion. What’s even more meaningful is that Camp is known to make much of his music personal, as is very evident […]
Johnny Marr The Messenger New Voodoo It’s hard to believe but Johnny Marr has never released a proper solo album. After leaving the Smiths in 1987, he chose the route of collaborator; working as a member with such bands as The The and Modest Mouse since. He also spent the 90s partnering in such supergroups as Electronic with Bernard Summer from New Order. But after 25 years of collaborations and […]
KMFDM Kunst Metropolis KMFDM doesn’t offer anything new on their latest album Kunst, but it doesn’t need to. The band continues it’s persistent onslaught of hard-hitting industrial rock with mostly solid results. The pulsating beats and jagged guitar riffs of the title track and the industrial keyboard fervor of “Ave Maria” are highlights, while they pay a tribute to the jailed Russian feminist punk trio, Pussy Riot, on the song […]
Mac Miller Watching Movies With The Sound Off Rostrum Records, Universal Mac’s a guy who seems like he’s done a lot of LSD, and if there’s one thing that tells me besides everything, it’s that he knows musical atmosphere and he’s definitely got it. Check out the video for “Gees” if you want to see what I mean. Watching Movies… has a seamless sonically interesting flow beginning to end. He […]
Stone Sour The House Of Gold And Bones Part 2 Roadrunner Records Reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s classic The Wall, House of Gold and Bones Part 2 is much different than its predecessor released last year which seemed more like another hard rock album whereas this has more of a theatrical soundtrack feel to it. “Red City” starts the album off with front man and Stone Sour mastermind Corey Taylor narrating […]