First Spin Impressions

[Metal T]

U.D.O. - Rev-Raptor

 

 

....sounds exactly like every other album he's done with his band.Same tempo,same sterile drum sound etc.It doesn't even begin to make a pimple on the ass of Blood Of The Nations (not that he's trying to compete) No signature,memorable riffs,the songriting is mechanic save for 'Rock n Roll Soldiers'-which is a d!mn good tune.I cannot believe he gave up the Accept gig to continue playing this uninspired rehashed drivel.That said ill continue to support the guy-he is a legend and is capable of more-even on his own-out of Accept.

[Geoff]

EDDIE VEDDER - Ukelele Songs

 

Can't help myself with this stuff, the guy just has such a killer voice. This is good stuff, immaculately sung and nicely laid-back enough for most around here to enjoy. Loved his "Into the Wild" solo disc and like this one just as much. GREAT.

When you say killer voice, you mean as in it will kill you because of how terrible it is? Sorry mate, can't comment on the disc because I've not heard it, but this is the dude from Pearl Jam, amirite? Isn't that voice similar to conscious penis carving?

 

My first spins:

 

Stryper - 'The covering' ; I was very critical about this release prior to it hitting the shelves, as I am with any release full of cover songs. So, was it justified, after snagging a cheap copy of the disc? Yeah, it was because any day of any week in any year I'd have preferred new and original songs. But for a covers CD, yeah, I've heard worse. The good thing about this is that Stryper always sound so awesome musically. And for that reason, I can appreciate what they bring to these otherwise pretty rubbishy songs. There were a couple of decent songs like 'Carry on wayward son' and 'Immigrant song,' but otherwise, like every other covers CD by a band like this, the rest of this stuff is far inferior to a lot of their original material. Musically, another excellent one from Stryper. Song-wise... yeah, it's a covers CD.

 

ARTI TISI - 'The Collection' ; I've had 10 songs on my Ipod forever, and another few I'd heard in passing. What I have here on this Time Warp pressing, is a full collection of 18 songs, all with consistent and good sound quality. It sounds like a fully recorded CD just before that final production/mixing stage, but it sounds good. Too many great songs to mention, but there's a few towards the end, in the last 4 tracks or so, that I'd never heard before and that I really like. Such a brilliant band, so criminally unreleased officially.

 

American Heartbreak: You Will Not Be Getting Paid $ ; Yuck! I must admit I did not know at the time of purchase that this was 1/3 live, 1/3 acoustic and 1/3 re-recorded tracks from these guys. Otherwise I'd clearly have avoided. I like the full-length CD I've heard from these guys but this is, for the large part, just rubbish. Poor sound recording for the live tracks and re-recorded songs. The acoustic ones sound okay, but overall it's a bit of a mess. Some okay songs here and there, especially in the live bit, but overall it's too many misses for not many hits. Very eager to trade this one out of my collection asap.

 

Animal: 900 Lb. Steam ; WTF happened here? If you ever wanted an advertisement for Chris Laney's worth, compare the debut Animal CD to this. I love the debut, but it must be said this is a pile of f*cking garbage. It is a legitimate contender for one of the worst produced CDs ever. And ever worse, it's inconsistently produced and mixed too. Some songs sound like there were recorded on a tape recorded in a garage, the others sound like they were recorded in an underground tunnel with a tin can and piece of string. Seriously, sound quality is absolutely pathetic and hard to listen to. Otherwise, aside from the first 4 songs being pretty decent, the rest is utter shit too. A terrible CD overall, and one that should never have seen the light of day. Stick with the super debut.

 

Sum 41 - 'Screaming bloody murder' ; As an "accidental fan" of these guys, I didn't expect much from this, and to be honest I didn't get it. But I will say, it is a lot better than their last CD, which was pretty much garbage. If I understand it correctly, this is a concept album of sorts. It's not bad at all, with a few very nice commercial tracks. But even when these guys are at their best they're still pretty middle-range for me. Not bad.

 

Sunrise Avenue - 'Out of style' ; I do get tense when I put on a new Finnish CD and the same guy who sings on every Finnish CD ever made appears, and this is one of those... but once I get past the voice it's not a bad disc. Not amazing, and there's quite a few fillers on here. But there's also some good commercial rock too. I don't understand why these vocalists always have to sound so sad and deep-voiced, especially on CDs like this where it really doesn't suit the music.

 

Underride - 'one of us' ; I'm super glad that Jeff got these guys out to the masses by bringing attention to the great deal available on their website. This is a very cool band. Vocalist is a bit rough, but if you like up-tempo hard rock in your face, consistent from start to end... hard to go past these guys. Very nice disc.

 

Underride - 'Distorted nation' ; and this one is more of the same, in a good way. Consistent, solid hard rock. I prefer this one to the previous... might even rate okay in my end of year lists.

[Glen]

EDDIE VEDDER - Ukelele Songs

 

Can't help myself with this stuff, the guy just has such a killer voice. This is good stuff, immaculately sung and nicely laid-back enough for most around here to enjoy. Loved his "Into the Wild" solo disc and like this one just as much. GREAT.

When you say killer voice, you mean as in it will kill you because of how terrible it is? Sorry mate, can't comment on the disc because I've not heard it, but this is the dude from Pearl Jam, amirite? Isn't that voice similar to conscious penis carving?

 

My first spins:

 

Stryper - 'The covering' ; I was very critical about this release prior to it hitting the shelves, as I am with any release full of cover songs. So, was it justified, after snagging a cheap copy of the disc? Yeah, it was because any day of any week in any year I'd have preferred new and original songs. But for a covers CD, yeah, I've heard worse. The good thing about this is that Stryper always sound so awesome musically. And for that reason, I can appreciate what they bring to these otherwise pretty rubbishy songs. There were a couple of decent songs like 'Carry on wayward son' and 'Immigrant song,' but otherwise, like every other covers CD by a band like this, the rest of this stuff is far inferior to a lot of their original material. Musically, another excellent one from Stryper. Song-wise... yeah, it's a covers CD.

 

 

 

Mm questionable. If my memory serves me correctly the best song by far on their last full release was a cover number!! Lol

[Geoff]

EDDIE VEDDER - Ukelele Songs

 

Can't help myself with this stuff, the guy just has such a killer voice. This is good stuff, immaculately sung and nicely laid-back enough for most around here to enjoy. Loved his "Into the Wild" solo disc and like this one just as much. GREAT.

When you say killer voice, you mean as in it will kill you because of how terrible it is? Sorry mate, can't comment on the disc because I've not heard it, but this is the dude from Pearl Jam, amirite? Isn't that voice similar to conscious penis carving?

 

My first spins:

 

Stryper - 'The covering' ; I was very critical about this release prior to it hitting the shelves, as I am with any release full of cover songs. So, was it justified, after snagging a cheap copy of the disc? Yeah, it was because any day of any week in any year I'd have preferred new and original songs. But for a covers CD, yeah, I've heard worse. The good thing about this is that Stryper always sound so awesome musically. And for that reason, I can appreciate what they bring to these otherwise pretty rubbishy songs. There were a couple of decent songs like 'Carry on wayward son' and 'Immigrant song,' but otherwise, like every other covers CD by a band like this, the rest of this stuff is far inferior to a lot of their original material. Musically, another excellent one from Stryper. Song-wise... yeah, it's a covers CD.

 

 

 

Mm questionable. If my memory serves me correctly the best song by far on their last full release was a cover number!! Lol

Actually mate, you are indeed correct. I actually hesitated when I wrote the line "There were a couple of decent songs like 'Carry on wayward son' and 'Immigrant song,' but otherwise, like every other covers CD by a band like this, the rest of this stuff is far inferior to a lot of their original material" because as much as I like the guys, they do have a lot of terrible ballads and God-soaked garbage. But in my mind I was mostly referring to the 'In God We Trust' and especially 'Against the Law' CDs... you just had to read between the lines.

 

I should make it clear that I do not always hate cover songs. Sometimes, like the last Stryper CD, it's the opposite. If the song is well chosen to suit the band's style it can work well. And importantly, if it's only one song on a CD of originals... then it sounds a lot better! :)But regardless of what style the original song was, if it had basis to be a good tune, and has a good hook... well then it can be magic. It's just when bands like Stryper and Tesla (for example) choose all these rubbishy songs that don't sound anything like what the band ever actually produced themselves... that's when I get unsettled and angry.

 

Bedroom Love - 'Dreams can be real' ; Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and I'm the f*cking idiot. No one to blame but myself on this one, on two counts. One, I stupidly forked out decent coin (I think it was about us$8!!!) for this shitty Time Warp 4-track CDR, but Two, and most stupidly, I read the comments and believed this might actually be a good Scandi melodic rock indie like Treat, Glory and the other brilliant bands it is compared to. Well, surprise surprise... it is shit. It's a timid 4 track indie with a vocalist who is a dead ringer for one of those famous Scandi bands... but the songs are useless. Not awful at all, but totally void of a good hook. Just pussy-whipped, soft AOR with no bite at all. I admit I'm being more critical of this than it desveres because of the circumstances I bought it in, but please, do yourself a favour if you read this. Like 99% of comments on 99% of these mega rare indies out there, do not believe the hype. There is a reason these guys never got good label backing, and it wasn't bad luck. They just aren't that good at all.

[Geoff]

This last batch finally got me wondering if I have finally got to the point where I have heard all the hard rock indies I need to hear, without missing anything great. Here's the latest batch of failed attempts to find some great elusive album out there:

 

CATALYST - 'Paradise' ; technically this is rubbish. I really can't handle albums with sound quality this poor. Very hard to listen to. It's like the drummer was hitting leaves with tissue paper or something... no balls at all here. The first few songs were pretty terrible too and I was going to snap it. But I have t admit, a few of the later songs are pretty decent, I think, once I look past the rubbish sound quality. I'd advise anyone to strongly avoid this, but it's okay, I guess. Sounds like they were a christian band too, with a couple of random god references towards the end of the CD. Avoid.

 

CRASH PONY - 'Rough Ride' ; Avoid. Better production on this one, even if it's still indie quality... but the songs here are generally pretty bad. And worse, each track has an intro too - little quotes from movies etc. That gets really annoying. But there's just nothing happening song-wise to make this one worthwhile.

 

DELAURlAN - 'DeLaurian' ; this one was okay. Not sure how much this one goes for, but I guess it's a decent release. A bit better sound quality and a few decent songs too. Still, there's probably more dud tracks than good ones, but there's a bit of a spark here. They remind me a bit of Mara. To be clear, this'd still rate around the 50-55% mark, and it's only decent by comparison to some poor CDs... but it's okay-ish.

 

EARLY WARNING - 'Early Warning' ; another painfully average one. Nothing memorable about this decent hard rock disc. Just by the numbers, nothing special at all.

 

FRONTIER - 'You Got To Believe' ; and again. Not awful, but average AOR. Probably hovering just on that 50% mark as well. I've heard worse; I've heard many better.

 

Couldn't recommend any of these, especially not for the ridiculous prices I'm sure they all go for.

[Glen]

This last batch finally got me wondering if I have finally got to the point where I have heard all the hard rock indies I need to hear, without missing anything great. Here's the latest batch of failed attempts to find some great elusive album out there:

 

CATALYST - 'Paradise' ; technically this is rubbish. I really can't handle albums with sound quality this poor. Very hard to listen to. It's like the drummer was hitting leaves with tissue paper or something... no balls at all here. The first few songs were pretty terrible too and I was going to snap it. But I have t admit, a few of the later songs are pretty decent, I think, once I look past the rubbish sound quality. I'd advise anyone to strongly avoid this, but it's okay, I guess. Sounds like they were a christian band too, with a couple of random god references towards the end of the CD. Avoid.

 

CRASH PONY - 'Rough Ride' ; Avoid. Better production on this one, even if it's still indie quality... but the songs here are generally pretty bad. And worse, each track has an intro too - little quotes from movies etc. That gets really annoying. But there's just nothing happening song-wise to make this one worthwhile.

 

DELAURlAN - 'DeLaurian' ; this one was okay. Not sure how much this one goes for, but I guess it's a decent release. A bit better sound quality and a few decent songs too. Still, there's probably more dud tracks than good ones, but there's a bit of a spark here. They remind me a bit of Mara. To be clear, this'd still rate around the 50-55% mark, and it's only decent by comparison to some poor CDs... but it's okay-ish.

 

EARLY WARNING - 'Early Warning' ; another painfully average one. Nothing memorable about this decent hard rock disc. Just by the numbers, nothing special at all.

 

FRONTIER - 'You Got To Believe' ; and again. Not awful, but average AOR. Probably hovering just on that 50% mark as well. I've heard worse; I've heard many better.

 

 

Couldn't recommend any of these, especially not for the ridiculous prices I'm sure they all go for.

 

Never heard of any of them..... And probably for good reason ;-)

[Jez]

Lionville - S/T

 

Super slick AOR very much in the same vein as Work Of Art, so you know what to expect musically, lots of Toto'isms, with a touch of Journey/ Survivor et all. Great vocalist too in Stefano Lionetti which adds some extra class to an already very very good disc. One of those albums that shows quality AOR is possible and restores my faith in the genre. Work Of Art and Toby Hitchcock! this years bench is set.

 

Night Ranger - Somewhere In California

 

I didn't mind 'Hole In The Sun' at all when it was released, although it was no where near there best work but, this is a different ball game. I can proudly announce that Night Ranger are back big time with a huge album. great songs, great, big tight production job and a band that sounds on fire. THE best Night Ranger disc since 'Man In Motion'. Just buy it

 

Heaven's Basement - Unbreakable EP.

 

Still no full length album, so this 7 tracker will have to do for now. HB have a new vocalist and a more modern approach compared to their Hurricane Party/ Roadstar days and I must admit I preferred the last EP. over this one, but they still pack a punch and can still bang out a few top tunes along the way. Avaliable over at their website for download or CD.

 

Black Country Communion - 2

 

If you liked the excellent debut, then you are definitely going to be checking this one out. Much of the same type of stuff, although Glenn Hughes has had more of an input in the writing on this one, which I think it is better for. Not an immediate listen, with all the songs hanging in there at a weighty 6 odd minutes each, but well worthy of the time you will need to spend on it. Quality band, quality album.

 

Williams/ Friestedt - S/T

 

This will probably be among the best Westcoast releases there are gonna be this year. 2 or 3 songs appeared on the excellent L.A Project album Friestedt released a while back (although newly recorded for this release), but the other 6 are all new as far as I know. Only 9 tracks and a short 33 minutes, but this is top quality stuff and any Westcoast fan is going to go for this and rightly so.

 

George & G - So Much To Say

 

Released originally in 2006, although in Japan only, this sunk without trace pretty quickly and any copies I have seen since commanded silly prices. Now Avenue Of Allies has re-issued it with 2 bonus tracks, so a very very welcome re-issue for me. Another top quality Westcoat album for all the Airplay/ Chicago and Toto fans out there, beautifully played and produced by some of the cream of the Westcoast scene. VERY highly recommended this one

[Nightrain]

yeah i like Williams/Friestedt a lot, actually i haven't seen any new westcoast albums like AoA did last year with Sedona and State Cows. Do you know anything recently released Jez other than W/F ?

[Jez]

yeah i like Williams/Friestedt a lot, actually i haven't seen any new westcoast albums like AoA did last year with Sedona and State Cows. Do you know anything recently released Jez other than W/F ?

 

They seem to have been concentrating on re-issues. All the David Roberts stuff (excellent) , George & G, aswell as If Only and the new Alyson Avenue.

[Geoff]

This last batch finally got me wondering if I have finally got to the point where I have heard all the hard rock indies I need to hear, without missing anything great. Here's the latest batch of failed attempts to find some great elusive album out there:

 

CATALYST - 'Paradise' ; technically this is rubbish. I really can't handle albums with sound quality this poor. Very hard to listen to. It's like the drummer was hitting leaves with tissue paper or something... no balls at all here. The first few songs were pretty terrible too and I was going to snap it. But I have t admit, a few of the later songs are pretty decent, I think, once I look past the rubbish sound quality. I'd advise anyone to strongly avoid this, but it's okay, I guess. Sounds like they were a christian band too, with a couple of random god references towards the end of the CD. Avoid.

 

CRASH PONY - 'Rough Ride' ; Avoid. Better production on this one, even if it's still indie quality... but the songs here are generally pretty bad. And worse, each track has an intro too - little quotes from movies etc. That gets really annoying. But there's just nothing happening song-wise to make this one worthwhile.

 

DELAURlAN - 'DeLaurian' ; this one was okay. Not sure how much this one goes for, but I guess it's a decent release. A bit better sound quality and a few decent songs too. Still, there's probably more dud tracks than good ones, but there's a bit of a spark here. They remind me a bit of Mara. To be clear, this'd still rate around the 50-55% mark, and it's only decent by comparison to some poor CDs... but it's okay-ish.

 

EARLY WARNING - 'Early Warning' ; another painfully average one. Nothing memorable about this decent hard rock disc. Just by the numbers, nothing special at all.

 

FRONTIER - 'You Got To Believe' ; and again. Not awful, but average AOR. Probably hovering just on that 50% mark as well. I've heard worse; I've heard many better.

 

 

Couldn't recommend any of these, especially not for the ridiculous prices I'm sure they all go for.

 

Never heard of any of them..... And probably for good reason ;-)

Yeah mate, very good reason. They were quite possibly my last attempt at snagging that one miraculous indie out there that I might have over-looked. I dare say I may finally have heard all there is to hear from this period in time.

 

Jez, I have to admit I didn't mind a few songs off the Williams/ Friestedt album. Obviously it wasn't all for me, but I think there were about 4-5 tunes I quite enjoyed.

 

Lionville, to me, sounds like it takes off right where Shining Line left off, which was very nicely, and I dig the new Night Ranger CD too. Arguably their best and most complete CD since 'Man in Motion.'

[Jez]

This last batch finally got me wondering if I have finally got to the point where I have heard all the hard rock indies I need to hear, without missing anything great. Here's the latest batch of failed attempts to find some great elusive album out there:

 

CATALYST - 'Paradise' ; technically this is rubbish. I really can't handle albums with sound quality this poor. Very hard to listen to. It's like the drummer was hitting leaves with tissue paper or something... no balls at all here. The first few songs were pretty terrible too and I was going to snap it. But I have t admit, a few of the later songs are pretty decent, I think, once I look past the rubbish sound quality. I'd advise anyone to strongly avoid this, but it's okay, I guess. Sounds like they were a christian band too, with a couple of random god references towards the end of the CD. Avoid.

 

CRASH PONY - 'Rough Ride' ; Avoid. Better production on this one, even if it's still indie quality... but the songs here are generally pretty bad. And worse, each track has an intro too - little quotes from movies etc. That gets really annoying. But there's just nothing happening song-wise to make this one worthwhile.

 

DELAURlAN - 'DeLaurian' ; this one was okay. Not sure how much this one goes for, but I guess it's a decent release. A bit better sound quality and a few decent songs too. Still, there's probably more dud tracks than good ones, but there's a bit of a spark here. They remind me a bit of Mara. To be clear, this'd still rate around the 50-55% mark, and it's only decent by comparison to some poor CDs... but it's okay-ish.

 

EARLY WARNING - 'Early Warning' ; another painfully average one. Nothing memorable about this decent hard rock disc. Just by the numbers, nothing special at all.

 

FRONTIER - 'You Got To Believe' ; and again. Not awful, but average AOR. Probably hovering just on that 50% mark as well. I've heard worse; I've heard many better.

 

 

Couldn't recommend any of these, especially not for the ridiculous prices I'm sure they all go for.

 

Never heard of any of them..... And probably for good reason ;-)

Yeah mate, very good reason. They were quite possibly my last attempt at snagging that one miraculous indie out there that I might have over-looked. I dare say I may finally have heard all there is to hear from this period in time.

 

Jez, I have to admit I didn't mind a few songs off the Williams/ Friestedt album. Obviously it wasn't all for me, but I think there were about 4-5 tunes I quite enjoyed.

 

Lionville, to me, sounds like it takes off right where Shining Line left off, which was very nicely, and I dig the new Night Ranger CD too. Arguably their best and most complete CD since 'Man in Motion.'

 

 

Good man - The Williams/Friestedt is certainly a good one, although I would have said maybe too soft for you in places. I can see the tracks you won't like. I think the Lionville is much much better than the Shining Lne disc to be honest and I was pleasantly surprised How good it was. Love the vocalist especially. I have a sneaky feeling Work Of Art may well overtake it come August when it is released, but this is certainly a quality album.

 

Agreed totally on Night Ranger too - another great disc.

[Nightrain]

Jez, are the David Roberts stuff are westcoast stuff too ? okay will check out samples later. Lionville being better than Shining Line, that's also agreeable.

 

W/F is definitely great one, but only if you dig westcoast stuff, i think we'll see a scarcity of new westcoast stuff this year, based on the to-be-released list i compiled, so W/F might be sole winner there

 

new NR is very good one, after four spins (which is irrelevant with this thread lol), but might end up around 8/10 from me, because there are only 4 great tracks for me (growin up, time of our lives, no time to lose ya, and end of the day), the rest are good at best (great verse/good chorus or good verse/great chorus type of songs), and only 2 fillers in sight (follow your heart,live for today).

 

The surprising one is they seem to up the ante on the guitar part, quite ironic since Watson has left the building, maybe it's a proof that our guitars are still kickin' some asses, haha some firey and spectacular solos, great stuff!

[Geoff]

Jez, are the David Roberts stuff are westcoast stuff too ? okay will check out samples later. Lionville being better than Shining Line, that's also agreeable.

I was in the office by myself last Friday and forgot my Ipod, so I decided to check out Dan's online radio station. One artist that stood out that I'd never heard, which was on decent rotation, was this David Roberts guy. I made a point to check him out... and must do so.

[Jez]

Jez, are the David Roberts stuff are westcoast stuff too ? okay will check out samples later. Lionville being better than Shining Line, that's also agreeable.

 

W/F is definitely great one, but only if you dig westcoast stuff, i think we'll see a scarcity of new westcoast stuff this year, based on the to-be-released list i compiled, so W/F might be sole winner there

 

new NR is very good one, after four spins (which is irrelevant with this thread lol), but might end up around 8/10 from me, because there are only 4 great tracks for me (growin up, time of our lives, no time to lose ya, and end of the day), the rest are good at best (great verse/good chorus or good verse/great chorus type of songs), and only 2 fillers in sight (follow your heart,live for today).

 

The surprising one is they seem to up the ante on the guitar part, quite ironic since Watson has left the building, maybe it's a proof that our guitars are still kickin' some asses, haha some firey and spectacular solos, great stuff!

 

 

Mate - You must get 'All Dressed Up' by David Roberts - A Classic one from '82. All the Toto guys are on it and it is a hell of a good disc. I have the Jap re-issue from a few years ago, so didn't bother with the new version, but I did get The other 2. One is a re-issue of his 2008 album and the other one is unreleased stuff (demo's etc), which are both good too. Start with 'All Dressed Up' and see how you go

 

I think you may be right on the Westcoast front. I don't see too many others being lined up for release as of yet.

 

Lovin' the new Night Ranger. Agreee about the guitars, really kickin' with some great solos. An album I will be spinning alot.

[Glen]

new NR is very good one, after four spins (which is irrelevant with this thread lol), but might end up around 8/10 from me, because there are only 4 great tracks for me (growin up, time of our lives, no time to lose ya, and end of the day), the rest are good at best (great verse/good chorus or good verse/great chorus type of songs), and only 2 fillers in sight (follow your heart,live for today).

 

The surprising one is they seem to up the ante on the guitar part, quite ironic since Watson has left the building, maybe it's a proof that our guitars are still kickin' some asses, haha some firey and spectacular solos, great stuff!

 

 

Lovin' the new Night Ranger. Agreee about the guitars, really kickin' with some great solos. An album I will be spinning alot.

 

But i definitely dont agree about 'Follow Your Heart' - filler??! I friggin love that song, and possibly the most classic Night Ranger guitar exchange I have ever heard. Just magic in my book.

 

Also I would add 'Bye Bye' and in particular 'Say It With Love' to the great track list.

 

Lastly, whilst 'Lay It On Me' isnt my fav track, man that song kicks my arse. Major riff and attitude.

 

Night Ranger firmly back on the map!

[Geoff]

Down With Webster - 'Time to win' ; wow, I'm kind of ashamed at myself for listening to as much of this as I did. This was a total blind purchase in my recent "Similar to BLG & FTSK" haul... and it's the first real failure of the lot. Just a shame it was an actual CD and not a download. Firstly, the band features 7 members. All look like people you want to hit. So you have your drummer, guitarist/vocalist and bass player... then you have 2 more vocalists, a DJ and a "hype man." What the f*ck? Sadly, I don't think it's a joke. It is pure 100% rap rock, with no proper verses. Just all rap, and a rocky type chorus. Don't ask me why or how, but for whatever sick reason I found myself listening to the first 4 songs. After that I listened up to the chorus before skipping the last 3 shockers. End of the day, avoid this like it was going to take your life, because it might just make you take your own life. Terrible.

 

Bayside - 'Killing time' ; another release I'll keep out of other recommendation threads. For some crazy reason I also bought this one blindly, and a brand new copy too. I never hated the band, but they just never clicked for me. I read somewhere that this was their most commercial and melodic effort yet, so because I've never really disliked them in the past, I thought I'd give it a good go. I would have to say it's their best CD so far, and there's really quite a few decent songs on this one. Musically they're solid too. The catch? I really don't like the vocalist's style at all. He just has a way of singing that I find incredibly irritating. It's not the actual quality of his voice, it's the way he sings... the way he puts his words on the CD. If you hear this, you'll probably understand. I just don't like it at all, and it ruins any enjoyment I might have got from an otherwise pretty damn solid disc.

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - 2

An amazing follow up to the great debut. Glenn Hughes is probably the best rock singer alive and he outdoes himself again both vocally and with the lyrics. The guys is amazing. Joe is no slouch either and should be better known on both guitar and for his underrated Paul Rodgers style vocals. Sherinian and Bonham both get more of a spotlight on this and overall it's a probably better disc than the debut. Fav tracks so far are "Man in the Middle", "Save Me", "Smokestack Woman", "Faithless", "Little Secret", "Cold", "An Ordinary Son" and "The Battle for Hadrian's Wall". This will probably be in my top 10 by the end of the year if not higher.

[TIM (2)]

IN FLAMES - "Sounds of a Playground Fading"

 

This band just get more and more mainstream with each release, culminating in this newie which is frankly just commercial mainstream metal. "Deliver Us" is probably their most commercial tune ever, and is also worth the entry price of this disc alone - with a stunning chorus. The production here is also killer, and very polished. Their last few albums have been patchy IMO, as they've been finding their feet with this new sound, but they properly nailed it here. Awesome.

 

 

SEPULTURA - "Kairos"

 

After a few albums of moving in a more mainstream-type direction they do an about-turn and try to replicate the early Sepultura style. Heavy/thrashy stuff that sounds very reminiscent of the "Arise" and "Chaos A.D" sound, but it's all been done before and a lot better. If you want an album that sounds like "Arise" then buy SOULFLY's last two albums, but avoid this as it's just a total re-hash. Plodding/lifeless/boring stuff, with only a few decent riffs throughout.

[Dead Planet]

IN FLAMES - "Sounds of a Playground Fading"

 

This band just get more and more mainstream with each release, culminating in this newie which is frankly just commercial mainstream metal. "Deliver Us" is probably their most commercial tune ever, and is also worth the entry price of this disc alone - with a stunning chorus. The production here is also killer, and very polished. Their last few albums have been patchy IMO, as they've been finding their feet with this new sound, but they properly nailed it here. Awesome.

 

 

 

The last release that I liked by these guys was Clayman but my tastes have changed considerably in the intervening years so your take on this new release has me intrigued...I may have to check it out...

[TIM (2)]

IN FLAMES - "Sounds of a Playground Fading"

 

This band just get more and more mainstream with each release, culminating in this newie which is frankly just commercial mainstream metal. "Deliver Us" is probably their most commercial tune ever, and is also worth the entry price of this disc alone - with a stunning chorus. The production here is also killer, and very polished. Their last few albums have been patchy IMO, as they've been finding their feet with this new sound, but they properly nailed it here. Awesome.

 

 

 

The last release that I liked by these guys was Clayman but my tastes have changed considerably in the intervening years so your take on this new release has me intrigued...I may have to check it out...

 

Yeah they properly started down the modern metal route (and away from their previous melodic death metal sound)with stuff like "Come Clarity" and the vocals were all-over-the-place with screaming one minute and clean-vocs the next. "A Sense of Purpose" was a bit patchy too, but - if you forget this is IN FLAMES with their history - and just focus on the music then you should enjoy. "Deliver Us" is KILLER.

[Dead Planet]

IN FLAMES - "Sounds of a Playground Fading"

 

This band just get more and more mainstream with each release, culminating in this newie which is frankly just commercial mainstream metal. "Deliver Us" is probably their most commercial tune ever, and is also worth the entry price of this disc alone - with a stunning chorus. The production here is also killer, and very polished. Their last few albums have been patchy IMO, as they've been finding their feet with this new sound, but they properly nailed it here. Awesome.

 

 

 

The last release that I liked by these guys was Clayman but my tastes have changed considerably in the intervening years so your take on this new release has me intrigued...I may have to check it out...

 

Yeah they properly started down the modern metal route (and away from their previous melodic death metal sound)with stuff like "Come Clarity" and the vocals were all-over-the-place with screaming one minute and clean-vocs the next. "A Sense of Purpose" was a bit patchy too, but - if you forget this is IN FLAMES with their history - and just focus on the music then you should enjoy. "Deliver Us" is KILLER.

 

I remember being disappointed when they first started moving in a more modern/commercial direction. However I don't listen to death metal anymore and I think I would have to be wasted to listen to Clayman today. But I do still enjoy heavy metal so I'll have to check some samples at least of this new one...

[heaven&hell]

Black Country Communion - 2

An amazing follow up to the great debut. Glenn Hughes is probably the best rock singer alive and he outdoes himself again both vocally and with the lyrics. The guys is amazing. Joe is no slouch either and should be better known on both guitar and for his underrated Paul Rodgers style vocals. Sherinian and Bonham both get more of a spotlight on this and overall it's a probably better disc than the debut. Fav tracks so far are "Man in the Middle", "Save Me", "Smokestack Woman", "Faithless", "Little Secret", "Cold", "An Ordinary Son" and "The Battle for Hadrian's Wall". This will probably be in my top 10 by the end of the year if not higher.

 

This is an even more amazing album than I thought. Every spin it just gets better and better.

[Jez]

Black Country Communion - 2

An amazing follow up to the great debut. Glenn Hughes is probably the best rock singer alive and he outdoes himself again both vocally and with the lyrics. The guys is amazing. Joe is no slouch either and should be better known on both guitar and for his underrated Paul Rodgers style vocals. Sherinian and Bonham both get more of a spotlight on this and overall it's a probably better disc than the debut. Fav tracks so far are "Man in the Middle", "Save Me", "Smokestack Woman", "Faithless", "Little Secret", "Cold", "An Ordinary Son" and "The Battle for Hadrian's Wall". This will probably be in my top 10 by the end of the year if not higher.

 

This is an even more amazing album than I thought. Every spin it just gets better and better.

 

Really good. Takes a while for it all to stick, but it gets there. Hughes is huge on here.

[Geoff]

Jet Lag Gemini - 'Fire the cannons' ; not a bad modern rock disc, but I won't put it in my recommendations because something about it didn't quite click with me. I think it was the vocalist, or an odd Jet-style vibe I got. Still, the choruses were pretty good and overall it's not too bad a disc. Worth checking out for a good price.

 

Madam's Lullaby - 'Unchain my soul' ; pretty dreary and pointless CD from CD Baby. Got it for $5 so it's okay, but this is a trade list newie for sure. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent hard rock disc... just so painfully average in every imaginable department. I was skipping after the first choruses of each song towards the end of the disc...

 

Robin - 'Over the seven seas' ; what have we here? A bit of a mess, is what we have. The opener is a nice melodic rocker / AOR tune. The vocals are very poor and the production is average at best, plus the band don't overly seem to gel that well together... but the first song is still nice. To it's credit, there are about 3 worthwhile songs on here, which I'd rip onto my Ipod before discarding (a Time Warp CDR it is, before y'all rarity hunters get too excited) but for the most part this was actually pretty terrible.

[Nightrain]

mate, looks like based on your first impression, you got at least 10-15 bad discs on the last purchases, well i think it's about time to fully concentrate on download-first-buy-later thing, even if it's only $5, if you got 20 trashes like that, you can buy 10 solid discs right ?