TIM (2)

I have to say I'm really enjoying this. After the initial disappointment of this being much less commercial than the Hagar stuff, and my hatred of "Tattoo" (aarrggghh), there is some damn killer stuff on here. Awesome production and guitar work, some great songs that sink-in nicely after a few spins. The vocals are decidedly rough, no question, but this one is well worth investing time into spinning...

See I just don't get the Taking Dawn comparison much. I actually like this much more than TD, who IMHO are just a poor-man's Skid Row or something (I realise I'm the only person on planet HH with this view!). This is much more modern sounding and mixes styles up a bit, which makes it more than just an 80's rehash. That's why I like the last Hinder disc more than the 2 before it - it's more of a modern sounding album with a mix of styles. "Rockin' All Night" is odd, so is "Scream It..." which sounds like synth-driven dance/pop. I do prefer these tunes to those that are more straight-ahead hard rock though (like the opening two) as they have better choruses.

Ha, I originally thought 'I've got you' was too gay for words - 100% thought it was a joke too - but like I said earlier, I'll be damned if I don't find myself sexually attracted to it's blatantly lungeful stab at radio superstardom. And good luck to 'em... Party animals. I seriously think that's all it is - a desperate attempt to hit the airwaves. I really like 'Ive Got You'. Great song IMO. Tim, some of your comments are just weird.....just like when you slagged Destrophy off last year (!) - I seriously believe that you have gone off hooky modern rock??! Admittedly there are some negative points on this album - still cant stand growly vocals (its all just so unecessary), some bits sound a bit 'processed' and some is yeah well cheesy - but to claim that there are 1. No hooks 2. The dude cant sing 3. the guys cant play in tune is well off the mark. You're both very defensive about "I've Got You", but you have to admit - it is totally OTT and cringeworthy, and is cheesier than most boy-band ballads. The whole chanty-vocals thing half-way through is just plain ridiculous. By comparison, TREAT'S "A Life To Die For" is like Death Metal. I didn't say this has no hooks, just that it doesn't have enough. 6/10 is an okay rating, for an okay album. Too patchy though. I don't mind the overall style, and yes I do LOVE hooky Modern Rock - I just think this is a pretty average example of it. I genuinely prefer their last disc, which had fewer fillers IMO. Oh, and say what you like, the guitar playing (there is only lead guitar on here, no rhythm) is just like an after-thought. Plus there are zillion's of kids these days that can play the guitar, but there aren't many that add melody/feeling and augment a song rather than piss all over it. For me, this album has some good, some bad, and some downright fucking ugly.

There's your reasonable score there, mate. Sorry, I know it gets dis-interesting quick, the drama around CDs like this. Having a go at no one in particular, and certainly not Andrew who provides a great site for the MR community, but I just wish that people who rate albums like this so highly would consistently rate an album like this so highly. People seem to be snapping backs in order to compensate for this and I just know in my heart that if this wasn't carrying the Van Halen logo it'd be such a different story. Good luck to everyone, but the thing I like most in a reviewer is consistency, brutal honesty, bluntness and not being afraid to say it like it is, regardless of how much you may not want to say it. Don't forget that music is an art and art can't be measured mathematically in any way like exact science. I mean, if in math, 1 + 1 = 2, then any other answer is surely wrong, but if you think this disc is below 40%, that doesn't mean 40% is the right answer, a lot of people might also gave the same rating as yours, but it can be 85% to other people and it's still a right answer. That's how it works, mate, and that is still an honest answer. But my point is, from Andrew's site, looks like there are too many extravagant scores, meaning he opens up the port to hardcore fans as well as extreme haters, which is not really healthy in my opinion, because like in Blabbermouth, there are way too many haters and trolls around. Now in this case, I know Van Halen is never your favourite band at all, just like Mr.Big or classic rock or power metal, you always think they have too many fillers or trash, but what's trash to one's ear can be a treasure to others, again it's a very subjective matter. I love Mr.Big, for example, i rate the first three albums really high, I know many will agree with me, but I concur with the fact that many people won't, but the fact that they sold very well and accepted in many parts of Asia especially Japan, that's also an undeniable fact that maybe lots of people really like them, and so did Van Halen. There are people who really dug heavy music, flashy solos, naughty beat, classic rock influenced type of album, that probably will be found in here, but some also hates commercial/light/ultra-melodic/poppish/glammy type of album, like AOR, that most of us here love, so perhaps I can also find many people rating Steel Panther a lousy 30% or Work of Art with 20%, and I don't think that really matters, because of a different taste. Finally someone talking some sense! So what if this gets overrated because it carries the Van Halen logo on it? People are ALWAYS biased towards their favourite bands. I love HAREM SCAREM, but I didn't like a couple of discs in their catalogue - "Voice of Reason" and "Overload" especially. Now I'd probably rate both albums about a 7/10 (a pretty high score). If they didn't have the HS logo on them then I probably wouldn't have tried so hard to get into them and ditched them after a couple of spins and rated them lower. This is probably why Melodicrock has a bias towards Andrew's fave bands - is just human nature that people are more forgiving of bands they like. It's a basic of having a forum you can debate on that everyone has a different opinion, and if you don't have that then you have a site like Blabbermouth full of opinionated & brain-dead morons...

Funnily enough, I actually thought 'Innocent Blood' and 'Rockin' all night' were the weakest 2 songs on the disc. And 'Forever' is my favourite song. I do agree, though, that 'Deathwish' is the 2nd best song of the year so far. And 'Love nightmare' is awesome too. It's cos they're the heavier songs. "Innocent Blood" is nice n' meaty and mixes things up a bit, as opposed to the synth-driven cheese of stuff like "Forever" (which I really don't like).

I think I summed-up my opinion on the first spin thread. Patchy (there is obvious filler like "Skate or Die"), overly-cheesy in places ("Forever" rhymes together/forever in a chorus that sounds like a nursery rhyme - either way it's shit), and with singly THE worst ballad I have heard in this genre in years. Surely that song is a joke? The vocals are pretty weak/average, on the verses of "I've Got You" he's blatantly off-key, and the growling vocals sound a little like a small dog after you've stepped on it's tail. The guitar work is odd IMO. Some flashy fast intros - but as I said earlier, fast playing does not equate to talent, otherwise Dragonforce would be legends - and virtually no rhythm guitar at all. Some half-decent solo's but they're all buried in the mix anyway, but the heavier sections liven this up considerably. For me this is weaker than their last album, doesn't have enough good songs (though there are 2 or 3 I really like), and is no better/worse/different than recent albums by Escape the Fate/Falling In Reverse etc, and in places it's reminiscent of Reckless Love (but definitely not as good). About 6/10 I'd say.

BBABH - Feel the Power SHANNON NOLL - Million Suns

You seriously like that song?! You criticise stuff like "Memories" (on the Magnificent) and "Life To Die For" (by Treat) for being too cheesy, then rate this? I can only assume it's some sort of piss-take, piss-weak vocals and a cringeworthy chorus that ends in some big gay singalong. Westlife have written better ballads.

BLESSED BY A BROKEN HEART - Feel the Power My first proper spin through of this without just flicking through tracks. Yes this is much more melodic than their last disc, but it's still modern rock with production effects and some growling vocals and the odd breakdown. But much less than before. To be honest it's a mixed bag. The vocals sound pretty weak, whether in 'clean' form or growling (they're especially bad on "I've Got You") and the lead-guitar work is irritating - it's all played at Dragonforce-like pace with little ear for melody, and is too low in the mix. A lot of the songs are also quite samey, to put in mildly. Plus there's plenty of filler/cheese. "I've Got You" is the sort of ballad the Backstreet Boys would reject for being too gay. "Skate Or Die" is just plain horse-shit. "Forever" is just stupidly naff and cringeworthy, and some other tracks (like "Scream It Like You Mean It") are just synth-driven and have virtually no rhythm guitar, so just sound like dance/pop with female backing vocals (they might be male b/vocals, but is hard to tell). All that said there is some good stuff. Opener "Deathwish" is good, and "Love Nightmare" is pretty killer with nice heavy verses and a sweet chorus. "Innocent Blood" is the same, powerful stuff with a hooky chorus. In the end though it's all too patchy to be rated highly, but there are enough good songs to just about warrant owning this.

At last you see the light ;-) But to be honest some of these albums were so good it's barely worth the argument. Even the stuff that did have the odd filler (like SHY), if there are songs you don't like then just skip them. I barely ever sit and listen to an album all the way through anyway so much prefer something with big standout tracks... On that subject and in particular the TH disc, I do find myself just playing tracks 6-10 (which are all virtually flawless) and ignoring the rest. That is very peculiar. Especially since you start just after 3 of the album's best songs in 'How to stop,' 'Let go,' and 'One day I'll stop loving you.' I just find TH vocals on 'How To Stop' very irritating....after repeated spins this has become my LEAST favourite song :-( That's my fave track. It is very similar in style to "If I Fall" off the WET disc. I've always found it odd how people can like the same albums but completely different songs...

People will hate and stone me, but I finally dropped a rating on this mofo a few days ago after constant spins and I went there... dropped a 97% on it. I ended up trying to look for reasons to rate it a little lower, or more "sensibly." But trying to find a fault with this album was the biggest problem. There is nothing I don't absolutely adore about it... including the cheesy but still appealing lyrics. It's going to take something truly sensational to top this in 2012, for me personally. It wont be that high for me...I still find some of the 'rough' vocals unecessary and annoying. The songs with 'clean' vocals I enjoy much more. Good album tho. I'll give you some reasons to rate it more "sensibly". The vocals suck, too many songs either lack hooks or are embarrasingly cheesy, and the guitar is tuneless. In all fairness there are some good songs, and overall it's about a 6/10, but nothing special IMO. Think I gave their last album 7/10 given it was original and interesting than this one. np: YOUNG GUNS - Bones

YOUNG GUNS - Bones Good modern rock stuff.

At last you see the light ;-) But to be honest some of these albums were so good it's barely worth the argument. Even the stuff that did have the odd filler (like SHY), if there are songs you don't like then just skip them. I barely ever sit and listen to an album all the way through anyway so much prefer something with big standout tracks...

I still have no idea why you let people add their own reviews - having read the reviews on this disc on the site most people seem to be melodramatic clowns more interested in having a pop at the review than arguing an opinion. Stuff like: "Andrew I don't think I'll ever trust your reviews again", or comments about bias towards bands like VH and Harem Scarem. People disagree, deal with it. Reviews are supposed to inform/educate/shape peoples buying habits. Who gives a toss whether people trust the reviews, when you run a site you can post what the fuck you like. And if you have a bias towards bands like Harem Scarem, so what? Everyone has favourite bands that they probably have some bias towards, even if they do release a weak album. Back on topic... Aside from "Tattoo", which I still think is very weak, and the quality of the vocals (they sound very rough in parts), I'm liking the sound of this. I definitely would've preferred a more commercial disc but after a couple of spins it really starts to sink-in...

THE MAGNIFICENT - Memories Still awesome.

Well as long as the reviews keep giving enough insight to help people choose what they buy, then who cares about the idiots who disagree about the scoring? Everyone will have a different score for everything, the important thing is to still be objective. The review of Journey told me enough to know I wouldn't like it, and I didn't! I disagreed with the score but at least the review was insightful and detailed enough to stop me buying something I wouldn't have liked. Keep it up!

Tim, Tim, Tim...you gotta warn me when you're gonna post something like that. I damn near had a heart attack when I read those words!! Don't worry mate, am sure there'll be a new Destrophy album (or some other such garbage) that we'll disagree on pretty soon...

Good to see you still give the old stuff a play yep, off to see UFO in April too I`m considering that too, I really like the Vinnie moore era stuff Was that before or after the invention of the wheel?

If I were to do this again I wonder whether THE MAGNIFICENT would be at no.1. Has a little more longevity than the Toby Hitchcock disc (although I could've overplayed that one!). My fave tunes come off that disc ("Memories") and SHY ("Over You"), but the more I play it the more I think it's pretty much flawless...

Good to see you still give the old stuff a play yep, off to see UFO in April too I doubt they make much money from gigging these days, expect 95% of the audience can claim for discounted OAP tickets.

Based upon soundbytes only, I agree with the review. Though I'd probably rate it higher than that as I absolutely loved the last disc (while most others didn't) and still play it tons. There's a pretty obvious drop off in quality in the latter half, as per the last album, but those opening songs sound killer and his voice is still amazing...

CHRIS ANTBLAD - Century ZZZzzzz....

Presumably they lose the 14% because of "Tattoo"? Still remains the oddest choice of single...

I've got this one. It's pretty decent polished stuff with some major stand-out tracks, plus some shit. Way too many tracks and a lack of focus to make this one essential but there are 4 or 5 tunes worth downloading if you like light/catchy modern rock (though the best songs are more like melodic rock). Not worth paying big money for...

Unfortunately that works the other way around too. I liked the symphonic stuff and wished they'd pushed the boundaries of that sound more. Am sure this sound appeases older fans but I got into the band with "Seven Seals" and this just sounds like a re-hash to me.