OSU Reviews New Rock CD's
- Thread starter Nastycrow
- Start date
pridefighter27 said:
OSU can you review the new
How to Destroy Angels
Album when it comes out?
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That is Trent Reznor's new project, right?
If so, I was definitely looking forward to giving it a listen next week when it releases. Hopefully Spotify has it available.
osubuckeye4 said:
That is Trent Reznor's new project, right?
If so, I was definitely looking forward to giving it a listen next week when it releases. Hopefully Spotify has it available.
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Yep its Trent Reznor, his Wife and Atticus Ross (Industrial Rock) I heard his first EP only 6 songs, but it was interesting.
redd1 said:
I was wondering because the music you have really liked seems to have an 80's rock feel and some of the stuff you didn't care for had more of a late 90's feel. I was just wondering if it had anything to do with what you grew up listening too is all.
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That is very fair (based on what I've put up so far)... though I really have been to hundreds of rock shows across all spectrums of rock and I can pick a few bands I love from any genre.
As far as late 90's... I loved (and still love) Chevelle, Local H, Alter Bridge (well, Creed hit their stride in the late 90's, but AB is basically Creed minus dips--- singing lead vocals), and a whole gang of other bands that hit their stride in the late 90s.
I guess emo-scream rock (Emery, The Used and Taking Back Sunday for example) is the one genre that I have just never been able to get into. Most bands in that genre seem to lack fundamental guitar skills and try to make up for it by screaming into the mic.
I should probably also clarify that I actually really like Buckcherry... their latest album just sucked, especailly compared to their older work. I'd definitely still see them in concert if they were playing in the area for a reasonable price.
And no, I'm not one of those guys who says everyones old stuff is better than their new releases
. I thought Oceania by the Smashing Pumpkins was the best CD the band had put out 15 years.
pridefighter27 said:
Yep its Trent Reznor, his Wife and Atticus Ross (Industrial Rock) I heard his first EP only 6 songs, but it was interesting.
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Sweet, I'll set up an Outlook reminder for the 5th.
(let me just push some of these work meetings out of the way)
Actually, I'm off work on the 5th... let me set it up for the 6th. I like to get paid when I write my reviews.
Alt-J
An Awesome Wave
I'll start by saying that this album isn't exactly new, as it came out about a year ago. However, in the U.S., we weren't really exposed to this band until very recently—I first heard them on internet radio, and just over the past month or so, I've started hearing two of their songs on Alt Nation on Sirius/XM, and add to that, they're embarking on their first major North American tour, so I figure it's new enough, and I think these guys may really break out over the next year or so.
One thing I read while researching this band was that it took them five years to finally release this album. While it shows in the album that their time wasn't wasted, it makes me wonder if the singer and/or the band are "perfectionists," ala Axl Rose, and if so, how long it will be between albums for this band.
This album is very different than anything I've heard really. This is also the best full album I've bought in years. Joe Newman sounds at points like Les Claypool of Primus (among other bands), but the style of the music is nothing like Primus. The general tone of the album overall is very slow, relaxed music; almost every track (maybe every track except the "interludes") contains harmonizing by the band, and these guys do it very well, sounding at times like a tripped-out barbershop quartet or something. The lyrics might be borderline pretentious…a lot of references to literature, math, etc.
Track 1: "Intro" – Perfect name for this song. It really is an introduction to what you're in store for during the entire album. It starts off with a lonely piano track that is soon joined by a light guitar and drum beat. Later in this 2:30 minute song, the bass kicks in as well as Newman singing virtually unintelligible lyrics (with a crazy voice-altered backing vocal that must be heard on good headphones). This intro, oddly enough, is my favorite track on the album.
Track 2: "Interlude 1" – Like the other "Interlude" tracks, it doesn't have much in the way of substance, but this album was clearly written as a piece in and of itself, and these interludes do serve the purpose of giving a "flow" to the album. I've watched a couple of their concerts on YouTube, and without these interludes, it just feels like something is missing. (The same could be said for the track order of the album versus their live performances.)
Track 3: "Tessellate" – First single off the album is a very slow song—great for going to sleep (seriously, this song is usually queued up when I set my sleep timer). Also, since "Alt-J" is the Apple keyboard command for the character entity "Delta" (a triangle), this song's mentioning of triangles and such seems appropriate.
Track 4: "Breezeblocks" – This is my favorite song that isn't the "Intro." The overall sound of this song is a lot "fuller" than the previous three. This is one of the songs where their harmony shines. You have Newman's almost goofy-sounding voice backed up by the very good bass of the keyboardist, and hearing all the separate layers is amazing. The end of the song is very much like a barber shop quartet, and it's very hard not to sing along (yes, he's saying, "I'll eat you whole.")
Track 5: "Intro 2" – Serves the purpose of keeping the flow going among the tracks.
Track 6: "Something Good" – Another stand-out track on this album. The piano work at the beginning reminds me of early Moby thrown into something that could be a watered-down Mumford & Sons song. There's a lot more distinct guitar in this song, and Newman hits some notes during the chorus that would seem to be closer to his "real" range than the Claypool-like singing that he employs through most of the album.
Track 7: "Dissolve Me" – Is this song about drugs? Could be. The vocal delivery on this song is a bit different from their other songs. Newman seems to use a lot more inflections here and sing the lyrics a lot more rapidly at points than he does in the other songs. Instead of harmonizing at the end of this song, there's more of a call-response interaction between Newman and the backup singers, and it adds yet another layer to the depth of this band's music.
Track 8: "Matilda" – This was another one of the singles initially released overseas. This isn't one of my favorite songs on this album, although it is probably one of the most conventional. Newman tries some different voice inflections in this song, and while they're not bad, I find them to be a little distracting taking into consideration that this is probably one of their most mainstream-approachable songs.
Track 9: "Ms" – Probably one of my least favorite tracks on the album. It starts off really slow and doesn't really pick up any. The chorus doesn't really seem to fit (assuming the part of the song I'm thinking of is the "chorus"); in fact, it seems to make the song more disjointed than anything. Toward the end, it kind of reminds me of some of the Pearl Jam instrumental outros to some of their older songs (at least the live versions).
Track 10: "Fitzpleasure" – This was the first song I heard by these guys, and it was one of those "WTF did I just hear?" situations. Then I looked up the lyrics, and that feeling doubled! The song starts off with the harmony of just "Tra la la la" (it actually makes sense, as the song is based on the short story "Tra La La" from
Last Exit to Brooklyn
), and then it just moves on to an all-out journey of trippyness. The video for this song is very fitting…just a surreal, trippy experience that doesn't make much sense and will leave you wondering what you just experienced.
Track 11: "Interlude 3" – The most disposable interlude on here. Serves its purpose, but just barely.
Track 12: "Bloodflood" – Another awesome song. This one starts off with a slow piano intro and the vocal track builds slowly into a really chill song that again reaches its crescendo with another great harmony by this band. In my opinion, in fact, the entire album reaches its crescendo on this song.
Track 13: "Taro" – This slower song is not among my favorites on this album, but that's not a total indictment of this song, as the bulk of these songs are so good that it's hard to match that. I really like the keyboard/xylophone (probably just keyboard effects) toward the middle and end of the song. This is another one I queue up for my sleep timer music. It has a more ethereal sound than some of their other songs, but I think the consistently slow pace keeps this song from reaching the level of the others.
Track 14: "Hand Made" – This one amounts to little more than an "Outro" track, but it can't even touch the intro. There's not much to this one, just Newman singing over a simple guitar and light piano with a slight harmony towards the end of this song, but again, nothing on par with their other songs.
Overall:
9.5
/10. Like I said, this is the best thing that I've bought in the last several years.
____
I didn't hear three songs by these guys on the radio though. I first heard "Fitzpleasure" on internet radio, then I heard "Tessllate" on Sirius XM U and decided to check them out on YouTube. There, I came across a full 40-minute show, and after seeing how tight these guys were live (and thereby meeting my three-song threshold), that was when I decided to buy it.
Here's the show I watched:
How to Destroy Angels -
Welcome Oblivion
Release Date: 3/5/13
Album length: 65:26
As always, I did a little bit of homework prior to hitting play.
---
How to Destroy Angels
(stylized
How to destroy angels_
) is a musical group featuring
Nine Inch Nails
frontman
Trent Reznor
, his wife
Mariqueen Maandig
,
Atticus Ross
,
[4]
and
Rob Sheridan
[5]
(who is also the group's art director).
[6]
The group is named after a 1984
Coil
single
of the same name
.
[7]
Welcome oblivion
is the
debut
studio album
by American
post-industrial
group
How to Destroy Angels
. It was released on March 5, 2013 on
Columbia Records
.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
---
Pretty straightforward.
So, I hit play and the first song is
The wake-up.
Its only 1:43 long, is devoid of lyrics, and kind of sounds like something that would play on the opening credits of a movie. (sort of like the opening of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). It has a very Nine Inch Nails feel to it, minus Reznor's vocals of course.
First (real) song song is
Keep it together
. It features
Mariqueen Maandig
(Reznor's wife) on vocals, with the rest of the group coming in around the 2 minute mark and repeating "I can't keep it together" for about 90 seconds. It's kind of a tepid start for the album, as it has a very eerie feeling to it. I keep waiting for things to pick up, but they don't at any point. It definitely has a nice flow to it, but I'm not a huge fan of this song... way too much repetition and no real payoff.
The next track
And the sky began to scream
again starts VERY slow and eerie with Mariqueen on vocals mumbeling her way through a few minutes of lyrics. About halfway through things start to build with Trent and Atticus (I believe) taking over with the vocals. It builds, but stops just short of any payoff.
Next track is the title track
Welcome Oblivion
. Much more upbeat start and Mariqueen starts to show off a little bit of vocal range (the first two songs were almost mumbeling). The accompanying music is put together very well. It's kind of all over the place, but it never completely spirals out of control. Reznor and Ross have always done a good job of this. This is definitely my favorite of the first four tracks and I could see it being somewhat of a standout song. It probably never plays on commercial radio, but it's something I could see myself listening too again.
Next track is
Ice Age
... VERY different feel from the rest of the album. Everything is very stripped down and it almost sounds like someone plucking away at a banjo acoustically. Interesting to see a I think this song was put in to show that Mariqueen actually has a halfway decent voice when she is put in the spotlight. She has a bit of a Sheryl Crow sound to her. It's not a bad song,... but it's very different and I don't know if it really goes with the rest of the tone of the album. It almost sounds like it should be on a different album, but on another hand, it is a very pretty song and has more of a message lyrically than the rest of the songs on the album. The band does do a good job of picking up the background sounds a bit over the last minute to flow into the next song well... however, adding this after
Welcome Oblivion
was a weird choice.
Next song is
On the wing
. Very interesting to put this after
Ice Age
as you go from minimalist right back into industrial.
Interesting sidenote: On the vinyl
Ice Age
comes before
Welcome Oblivion
... to me, this makes MUCH more sense.
Next track is
Too late, all gone
. Fun track, Reznor/Mariqueen trading off vocals at the start with a very Nine Inch Nails background. Again though... where NIN would set up a lot of tracks like this (in particular, I think of
Every Day is Exactly the Same
when I hear this), they ultimately go ahead and introduce the hard rock and the power vocals... How to Kill Angels don't do this. They scale it back and take it back to the trading off of vocals. It's not a bad thing, but when I hear Reznor I keep expecting something different just because I have heard so many Nine Inch Nails songs.
After comes what I think is one of the standout songs on the album,
How long?
. Kind of like in
Ice Age,
Mariqueen has another chance to show off her vocals... unlike in
Ice Age
though, there are some industrial elements mixed in. The lyrics are very on point in this song as well, probably my favorite track lyrically on the entire album.
Strings and attractors
comes up next... it's one of the few tracks that I wasn't a big fan of. The start is quite annoying with a lot of pings and twings that were quite offputting. The song morphs into something that is something more enjoyable... but it's very reminisent of the start of the album and has a very been there done that feel to it.
We fade away
is the next track. I enjoy this song, but I can't help but think that Nine Inch Nails has done the exact same song, much better, about 900 times prior to this. I will say that the intro is pretty outstanding and is another song that really sounds like it could be playing during a movie as exciting stuff is happening, or as the credits are playing. There is just not really a payoff at any moment.
Recursive self-
improvement comes up next, a little bit more retro/funky beat than most of the other tracks, but again, it's put together really well. The intro kind of sounds like a grown up
Beverly Hills Cop
theme. It's another smooth easy listening song that really lacks a gigantic payoff at any point... but which would be fun if it was playing while fun things are going on during a movie. It's an almost entirely instramental track, which is different than the rest of the album.
Almost done, two more songs to go.
The loops closes
and
Hallowed ground
are the last two tracks.
The loop closes
is kind of goofy, almost sounds video gamish.
Hallowed ground
is kind of what I would expect to be playing if this CD were a movie and the credits were rolling.
Overall: 7/10
I was going to go with a 7.25, but the last 3 songs were a bit of a letdown so I bumped it down a quarter point.
Reznor and Ross are phenomenal at putting together industrial tracks with just enough bells and whistles to set them apart from other music in the genre. While some of the beats sound very easy to reproduce, there are always twists and little nuiances put in that make me feel that I couldn't develop these if I spent 100 years working on them.
I feel like at least half of these songs could be playing at the start, middle, or end of a lot of movies. Therein lies the problem though... I feel like a lot of these tracks are basically background music for other things that are happening. That's not to say that is a bad thing... as these tracks are very well put together. However, I just feel like a lot of these songs are lacking big payoff moments. They are basically the equilivent of going 30 in a 25. You're getting there, you're driving safetly... but there's not the thrill of speeding like a manic (then again though, there is not the horrible feeling of seeing flashing lights behind you when speeding, or wrapping your car around a telephone pole becuase you took the turn too fast). It's a smooth ride, but it's devoid of any really high highs or real lows.
Enjoyable CD, glad I listened to it, I could see myself listening to it again... but it's not going to be on my regular playlist rotation.
For the genre (post-industrial/electronica), it's definitely a must listen.
Good forum osu. I wanted to get yours and others opinion on who you felt put out the most Important Metal/Thrash album ever and what was it. IMO it's gotta be either "Reign in Blood" by Slayer. "Master of Puppets" by Metalica. "Back in Black" by AC/DC or Maybe even "Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera . think the most Important is one of those or would you another?
Great thread, OSU. I want to write up a few reviews of my own, since my taste is different from the stuff you've been reviewing. I just don't know if I can dissect each track like you do, though. And going by your Silverstein review, I don't really think you'd like any of the stuff I want to post, so IDK if you would even want to review anything I like anyways.
But, I'll just throw this one out there for S's and G's.
Let's see what you think about
Get What You Give
by
The Ghost Inside.
I'd personally give it like an 8.5/10, but I've been listening to Hardcore/Metalcore, etc. since I was about 13.
gongabong said:
Good forum osu. I wanted to get yours and others opinion on who you felt put out the most Important Metal/Thrash album ever and what was it. IMO it's gotta be either "Reign in Blood" by Slayer. "Master of Puppets" by Metalica. "Back in Black" by AC/DC or Maybe even "Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera . think the most Important is one of those or would you another?
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I'll start out by saying that I'm not the most knowledgeable metal fan. I definitely know the history of the genre and there are a lot of metal bands that I enjoy... but I've never really delved TOO deeply into it. A "true" metal fan would easily be able to figure this out, so I won't even try to pretend.
That being said... from a pure metal standpoint, I think that Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" should probably go on the list before AC/DC (who, to me, were always more hard rock than metal/thrash). "Back in Black" is one of my favorite albums ever though and it's in the discussion for most influential hard rock album... I dont even know that you have to slap the metal label on it.
Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" also usually enters into discussions on this topic... though I was personally never a gigantic Iron Maiden fan and they wouldn't be on my list.
I don't think too many people would argue against Metallica grabbing a spot, but they might argue against Master of Puppets as the album choice. It would probably be the arguement that Ride the Lightning or ...and Justice for All deserves the spot in it's place. (that would be my arguement at least, with Ride the Lightning)
I loved Vulgar Display of Power, but there are some "miss" tracks on that album (same problem
Cowboys from Hell
had, though I thought VDoP was a better album start to finish). That being said, it would be on my metal Mount Rushmore for the fact that it was the first metal CD that I bought, it really introduced me to the genre.
Reign in Blood has to be in the discussion as well. I can't think of what album would replace them... maybe "Holy Diver" by Dio?
If you want to go a little further back... you could probably put Deep Purple's "Machine Head" on there as well. Though it falls into the same trap as AC/DC, as they weren't true metal.
Guns n' Roses has the same problem... great rock band, super influential... not really metal/thrash so I can't include them.
If I had to pick one and only one?
Ride the Lightning
by Metallica... almost perfect from start to finish. Even if
Master of Puppets
is better, Ride the Lightning is where Metallica really cut their teeth and put together the workings of what they would continue to be throughout the 80s. For me, that gives it a bump ahead of their other great CD's.
Although, who knows if Metallica is Metallica if Black Sabbath never existed... they kind of created the genre. For that reason I'd give Paranoid the "1A" distinction.
Very Accurate Review of
How To Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion
, I just listened to a bunch of the tracks on youtube today.
Notes:
3. And the sky began to scream
- Sounds pretty creepy, i like it!
4. Welcome oblivion
- Great track, best produced song so far, has good replayability.
7. Too late, all gone
- The most NIN feeling song yet, kinda reminds me of "Everyday is the exactly the same".
8. How long?
- Decent song, i think i like the beat better than the constant repetition of "how long" in the lyrics
9. Strings and attractors
- Very different from the other songs, Great Chorus.
12. The loop closes
- at 2min it starts to have a "Closer" feel to it, lyrics kick in at 3min, song drops off at 4min and your left wanting more. They could of done so much better with this track.
I was suprised to find out alot of these tracks were from their 2nd EP, that wasn't released that long ago?
Keep it together
,
Ice age
,
On the wing
, and
The loop closes
have all been pre-released, not exactly new.
pridefighter27 said:
Very Accurate Review of
How To Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion
, I just listened to a bunch of the tracks on youtube today.
Notes:
3. And the sky began to scream
-Sounds pretty creepy, i like it!
4. Welcome oblivion
- Great track, best produced song so far, has good replayability.
7. Too late, all gone
- The most NIN feeling song yet, kinda reminds me of "Everyday is the exactly the same".
8. How long?
- Decent song, i think i like the beat better than the constant repetition of "how long" in the lyrics
9. Strings and attractors
- Very different from the other songs, Great Chorus.
12. The loop closes
- at 2min it starts to have a "Closer" feel to it, lyrics kick in at 3min, song drops off at 4min and your left wanting more. They could of done so much better with this track.
I was suprised to find out alot of these tracks were from their 2nd EP, that wasn't released that long ago?
Keep it together
,
Ice age
,
On the wing
, and
The loop closes
have all been pre-released, not exactly new.
Click to expand...
Ah,
Ice Age
being on an EP that had already been released makes sense.
It's not a bad song... and in some ways I'm glad it was on there because it shows the vocal ability of Mariqueen, but it just doesn't fit at all.
Krokus -
Dirty Dynamite
Release Date: 2/22/13
I had never herad of Krokus prior to stumbling across their name on a new rock releases website. Here is the info:
---
Krokus
is a hard rock/heavy metal band from
Switzerland
. They enjoyed moderate success in
North America
during the 1980s.
Krokus was founded in
Solothurn
in 1974 by bassist (and original lead vocalist) Chris von Rohr and guitarist Tommy Kiefer. Former Eazy Money vocalist
Marc Storace
joined the band as frontman in time for their
Metal Rendez-vous
album
in 1980.
---
Essentially, they are Switzerlands version of AC/DC... they have been going for about 40 years and apparently have not really mixed it up at all.
I hit play and I have to say, they sound like a well polished AC/DC cover band.
The lyrics are pretty much all about rockin' and are incredibly straight forward. (the song Hard Rockin' Man sums this up the best).
There is nothing that is too much of a standout and most songs sound the exact same. It's kind of like AC/DC, but with a middle schooler who has done nothing but listen to AC/DC albums his entire life writing the songs.
They perform a cover of the Beatles song "Help" that is by far and away the worst track on the entire album. It brings down the score a full point because it's so bad. I've heard better renditions at 2 AM on karaoke night in the suburbs.
About the only person I'd recommend this album too, is someone who is absolute worshippers of AC/DC and who want some new music from that genre.
Took a swing here with a new "old" band, and it was an unfortunate miss.
Overall: 5/10
Bland and rather generic. Would be a 6/10 (bad, but not offensively bad), but there is an absolutely HORRIBLE rendition of "Help" from the Beatles that drags it down a full point. It was painful to listen too.
Just in case anyone else wants a listen to weigh in...
Their "good" tracks:
Worst track (by far) on the album:
metalmike00 said:
Coheed sucks badly live. They don't play to the crowd and Claudio plays with his back to the fans for half the set. Well at least when I saw them.
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Hmm, I was not aware of that.
Worst concert experience I ever had was seeing The Mars Volta live... they were AWFUL. I don't know if they were too high or what the deal was, but everyone was off and the lead singer kept trying to balance the mic stand on his nose (and it falling on the floor).