Music Releases For September 4th, 2012

Well, it was sure swell to get back in the seat and check out this week's releases folks!  This week we see a great diversity in genres releasing great material.  So whether you are hard up for some 80's metal, some 90's  nu-metal/industrial, some amazing European vocals or just some good ol Canadian rock n roll, this week's selection has got you covered.  Check out some of the reviews for the album and make your way down to your local record shop or online retailer to grab one, two, ten of these great albums!

(CD/DVD) 

"But here's what about this set will have Priest fans soiling their leather pants: The second disc is a DVD holding a never-before-released concert from 1983. And not just any old concert, but an US Festival show performed before 300,000 fans. The band clearly feeds off the energy of the masses as they begin the show with 'Electric Eye' and the howling 'Riding on the Wind' from Screaming… before launching into what at the time was basically a set of greatest hits like 'Heading Out To the Highway' and 'Breaking the Law' along with favorite album cuts like 'Metal Gods' from British Steel and 'Victim of Changes' from Sad Wings of Destiny. The band's two famous cover songs are here too; Fleetwood Mac's 'The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)' and the most unlikely of metal covers ever, Joan Baez's 'Diamonds and Rust.' After whipping the crowd into a frenzy with final number 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' the band leaves the stage but returns for an encore of 'Hell Bent For Leather' with Halford riding his Harley out onto the stage to begin the song. Maybe not the best Priest show ever but certainly a very good one, filmed during daylight hours so there's no reliance on a fancy light show or pyrotechnics --- just non-stop crowd-pleasing metal. The show and this entire package make for a great snapshot of the era and of one of the groups that helped make the era so special. To paraphrase 'You've Got Another Thing Coming;' if you let it go you're mad." -Anti Music

"In a landscape dotted with exhibitionist pop star performance artists, flashy and psychedelic rappers, tremulous indie folk hipsters, and more wholesome crossover country than ever, there’s something oddly refreshing about the return of Matchbox Twenty. The band that defined the middle of the road in the late ’90s and early ’00s has been out of the game for more than five years. Its formula remains pretty much the same on 'North,' the band’s fourth full-length studio album and the first with all new material in a decade. Frontman Rob Thomas has not lost his fastball as a craftsman. Listeners will be humming several songs off 'North' before the second chorus even begins, whether they like it or not. First single 'She’s So Mean' is pure ear candy, a power pop strut about a powerfully alluring woman full of buzzy effects that throw back to the ’80s. The all-consuming love ballad 'Overjoyed' is equally irresistible melodically. Elsewhere, earnest, impassioned mid tempo anthems ('Parade,' 'English Town,' and 'Sleeping at the Wheel') pick up where predecessors such as 'If You’re Gone' and 'Push' left off." -Boston Globe

(CD/DVD)

"Tarja manages to work in a surprising number of covers. Staples from her time in Nightwish ‘Over The Hills And Far Away’, ‘Where Were You Last Night’ and ‘Phantom Of The Opera’ all turn out pretty well, although whoever is singing the Phantom’s part really doesn’t have the voice to do it justice. The version of Whitesnake’s ‘Still Of The Night’ isn’t quite as impressive, Tarja’s voice may be fantastic, but it is just about as far from hair metal as you can get.

In short, Act 1 is a fine reproduction of a great concert. It definitely shows that Tarja is a force all of her own in the symphonic metal scene, unwilling to rest on her laurels. It doesn’t have the complex storm of emotion that has made End Of An Era stick in my mind, but it does promise a future for an excellent band. In my opinion, that is just as good." -One Metal

"The band amplified its war cry considerably with the addition of second guitarist David Guillas, who added some girth to 2008’s Supporting Caste. The same density weighs heavy on Failed States, which cranks out 12 tracks of the trademark brutish, left-to-the-point-of-Marxist smart-ass punk rock the band has trafficked in for years. Album opener 'Note to Self' eases into the record, staving off some of the manic energy in favor of alarming mid-tempo restraint. Fortunately, the band wastes little time retreating back to their patented breakneck tempos and Chomsky-touting political diatribes. From the rollicking drums that highlight tracks like 'Devil’s Creek' to the manic hardcore freneticism of 'Hadron Collision,' Propagandhi never fails in making their punishment still feel fresh.

Bitching and moaning might be a punk rock rite of passage, but nobody, not nobody, dishes out snot-nosed anti-authority better than these guys. While scores of pop punk and emo bands continue to mope halfheartedly over lost love and childish transgressions, Propagandhi’s tangible rage has always had eyes for larger, considerably weightier targets, and that combined with their musical prowess works in their favor once again here." -Consequence of Sound

"Reminiscent of plenty of Rolling Stone predecessors, The Sheepdogs reincarnate CCR, The Allman Brothers, and Led Zeppelin, all of which frontman Ewan Currie noted as inspiration. He added, 'I know that’s a lot of big names to be throwing around, but you shoot high and you fall somewhere.' The Sheepdogs have fallen into the land of classic rock harmonies, guitar solos as unabashedly psychedelic as the band members’ flowing locks, and melodic bass lines that totally legitimize the word 'groovy' in critical commentary (hear: 'Javelina!'). The fuzzy stomp-clap jam 'Feeling Good' brings to mind fellow classic rock revivalists The Black Keys’ 'Gold on the Ceiling' (fitting, as Patrick Carney produced this record), 'I Need Help' could be in the credits to Dazed and Confused, and 'In My Mind' plays with Ravi Shankar’s sitar.

The record is warmer and more polished than previous efforts, and it feels like a triumph for a band that’s paid their dues. Perhaps their adopted attitude is found on 'Laid Back': 'There’s trouble on every track/ So just keep it laid back' — a more positive outlook than 2010’s 'Learn & Burn' on which the group harmonized 'I don’t get by/ I just sit around getting high.' Laid back and high or not, the group’s definitely getting by." -Consequence of Sound

"The album features several songs that were release earlier this year on the groups Continued Silence EP. This includes the album’s opener, It’s Time, which has been receiving radio play since it’s release. It serves as a strong introduction to any new comers to the world of Imagine Dragons. Tiptoe follows next with the most obvious hattip to the aforementioned 80′s vibe. Once you bounce your way through the driving bass of Radioactive you’ll find yourself at Demons; A thoroughly modern track in the vein of what you might hear from a group like OneRepublic. As the album continues it explores an unbelievably diverse set of styles ranging from world music to r&b. There is truly not a single track of filler on Night Visions." -402 Productions

Orgy - Grime of The Century (Single)

"Fronted by Jay Gordon, the only remaining orignal member, the latest evolution of Orgy finds the band bringing their industrial sound into 2012 with a bang. 'Grime Of The Century' is the first single to surface off their forthcoming release, and it hit stores in September.

Orgy’s latest release hits stores September 10. No tour plans have been made public, but rumors persist that the group will tour in November." -Under The Gun

(CD/DVD/Blu-Ray)

"Just a year after giving their sound an electronic overhaul on Path of Totality, Korn chronicle the album's supporting tour on Live at the Hollywood Palladium. As with the studio album, the combination of Korn's guttural sound and dubstep's visceral drops works surprisingly well, driving the crowd into a frenzy with every low-end assault the band delivers, and showcasing the songs in a live setting only reinforces that the band's decision to dive headfirst into the electronic realm was a good one. When Jonathan Davis tells the crowd to dance at the beginning of 'Chaos Lives in Everything,' the crowd's raucous response lets you know that the call to arms has been heard and answered, amplifying the song's energy to new levels. In an effort to further help the vibe of the album come alive in a live setting, Totality producers Skrillex, 12th Planet, and Flinch (among others) drop in to man the controls for the songs' electronic elements, allowing each of them to add their own live flair to the songs. After the dance-heavy opening section of the set, Korn eventually settle in and play some older numbers like 'Freak On a Leash,' 'Shoots and Ladders,' and 'Blind,' as well as an epic 11-minute cover of Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall.' W

hat's most striking about Live at the Hollywood Palladium isn't so much having the evolution of Korn's sound laid out in one place, but how the band's earlier work feels almost subdued compared to the fractured, high-octane intensity of the Totality songs, which seem to explode outwards where the older tracks tended to simmer. Whether you're a fan of the band's pioneering nu-metal sound, or the newer, more evolved Korn, Live is an album that brings a little something to the table for everyone." -All Music