Negative Review
Album Review: Bob Dylan – Christmas In The Heart
Concept: Dylan redoes the Holiday standbys for charity.
Sound: Please, God, no. People say they appreciate Dylan’s voice; what they mean is they appreciate its attachment to his material. This is not Blonde On Blonde; this is a panicked sprint through the ‘classics’, and Dylan’s voice paints a blood-soaked nightmare with the up-tempo polka rendition of continue reading…
Album Review: Throat Sprockets – Throat Sprockets
Concept: Rock band plays rock music.
Sound: The guitarist and bassist are pretty frantic, with nice effects to match their playing style. As with most bands starting out, the problem is the vocalist. The frontlady is looking to mimic Gwen Stefani, but she does not have the pipes at all, and is always falling flat and continue reading…
KJNB Vault Album Review: Trotsky Icepick – Carpetbomb The Riff (1993)
Concept: The second to last album for the 90’s indie rockers.
Sound: The guitarists are pretty worthless, as are the vocalists, but the bassist and drummer have taken off the white gloves and are beating the ever-loving hooey out of this recording. As a band they sound like they’ve lost the ambition to be anything besides continue reading…
Album Review: Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers
Concept: Welsh political rockers release their first album to feature lyrics exclusively by rhythm guitarist Richey Edwards, who has since vanished.
Sound: There’s an 80’s arena rock feel to the melodies, although the backing instruments would beg to disagree. Manic Street Preachers have a tight grip on their hooks and know how to use them, as continue reading…
Album Review: Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Concept: Brendan O’Brien gives grunge godfather Vedder a pop makeover.
Sound: If nobody else is going to say it, I will — Pearl Jam is getting old in every conceivable way. The only thing fresh about this album is the energy in Vedder’s voice, and that is forced to carry every. Single. Song. The “rock” songwriting continue reading…
Album Review: Mount Eerie – Wind's Poem
Concept: Phil Elverum goes metal and talks to the wind. The wind doesn’t hear.
Sound: In lieu of motion or depth, Elverum tries to characterize wind with soft dirges and scathing metal guitar effects. While some of the heavier tracks have nice harmony and off kilter drumming that brings to mind the electronic kit work of continue reading…
Album Review: Pete Yorn And Scarlett Johansson – Break Up
Concept: Seriously? Okay.
Sound: Scarlett’s voice isn’t bad, and it’s definitely not the kind of lip-sync wail you get out of most Hollywood crossover scams. She actually seems to be shooting for Billie Holiday a lot of the time, which is a good choice. That’s not to say it’s even close. The obvious selling point of continue reading…
Album Review: Owen – New Leaves
Concept: Mike Kinsella would like to share his feelings with us; getting out of undergrad, losing friends, relationships, etc.
Sound: The acoustic work is diverse, and traced well by thoughtful electric melodies. It can get Hallmark-y, and sometimes brings modern pop country to mind, but it’s cozy and more engaging than these things most of the time.
Lyrics: continue reading…
Album Review: Muse – The Resistance
Concept: Classically trained frontman? Check. Dystopian concept album? Check. The band wants to be your savior? Check.
Sound: Guess what made Absolution Muse’s most popular album? I’m betting bottom dollar it was the rocking bassist and dance grooves, not the challenging piano cadenzas and apocalypse hype. Muse got big in general for having a vocalist that sounds continue reading…
Album Review: Destroyer – Bay Of Pigs
Concept: Dan Bejar rides the fame he gained beside The New Pornographers into the longest track of his career, punctuated with cosmopolitan anecdotes and poeticisms which are apparently supposed to describe the invasion, although most of the narrative occurs long after.
Sound: The self-diagnosis of ‘ambient disco’ is more or less appropriate. I’d call it one continue reading…
