Ah, it's refreshing to see a healthy mix of music this week. From the uber heavy metal men such as Holy Grail or Voivod to the mellow tunes of Billy Joel or New Order. There is a little bit for everyone this week. As you can see from my linked articles, I have been eagerly waiting for a few of these albums to drop (aka Love and Death, Bad Religion, etc.) and personally am looking forward to watching the footage from "12 12 12", which as most of you may know was a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Anyways, enough jabber! Head to you local record shop or online retailer to grab yourself a few of these albums.
Still, this record is hardly slouch material! These guys have great game, amazing players and have produced a tight-as-hell sophomore release in Ride the Void. The record is lyrically less cheesy than the debut, even if it lacks some of the straight up energy that a brand-spankin’-new band always has. And what makes me think that Holy Grail could have staying power is the fact that they can do something that is old school and “nothing new” in a way that doesn't feel anachronistic (check the song “Crosswinds” for a great example of these guys rocking serious tropes with style). Sick players, upwards of good writers and a bright future ahead of them Holy Grail is great, and still has room for improvement. -Angry Metal Guy
If one expects Meshuggah-like ferocity to roar out of these tracks then disappointment is guaranteed. This album is weighted in song-craft, top of the charts calculation, scientifically perfect production values, exquisite musical performance and just enough toughness in most of the breakdowns to qualify as a post-metal alternative hard rock colossus.
A majority of metal bands would amputate a limb, attach a pirate flag to it and wave it around in hopes of making an album of this quality. The rest would pour molten wax in their ears in order to never hear it again. Few metalheads in their Acid Witch gear will admit liking Love and Death, but most will secretly listen the hell out of it on their favorite MP3 implement. -About.com
I guess it depends on who you ask. A rabid member of the tribe will see Hydra as a quiet slice of brilliance. A creeping emotional catharsis layered with dark themes and unsettling ideas. The rest of us, me in particular, will see Hydra as an incredibly boring album that is painful to listen to. Otep is that artist who tries too hard to be “different”. Through juvenile prose and bland Nu-Metal backing music, Otep seems to be screaming “Notice me! Notice me! I’m so very, very different”. Juvenile prose is almost too good for Otep. Lyrically Hydra sounds as if Miss Shamaya stood outside a Hot Topic and recorded any conversation she could between angst ridden teenage girls dressed in all black. -Crave Online
Still, True North manages to navigate the fine line between philosophy and personal politics, a restraint that Bad Religion only rarely nails so evocatively. In spite of its title, “Fuck You” is one of the album’s most eloquent tracks, both musically and lyrically; backed by the band’s signature, nearly symphonic washes of vocal harmony, Graffin packs introspection and a wry irony behind his raised middle finger. Meanwhile the group’s all-star, triple-guitar frontline (founder Brett Gurewitz, Circle Jerks’ Greg Hetson, and Minor Threat’s Brian Baker) weaves a thick tangle of riffs that interlock with a whiplash dynamic. True North’s closest relative in Bad Religion’s catalog is 1992’s Generator—an album that perfectly balances the punk yin and the rock yang that the band has always sought to reconcile. For Bad Religion, that’s always been a perpetual, open-ended process. But on True North, that shotgun marriage not only succeeds, it brings out the most forceful—and the most tuneful—elements of each. -AV Club
Lotus Island is reportedly "40 minutes long and includes 7 instrumental tracks, 3 brand new songs, and a complete remix and remaster of the song 'It Rapes All In It's Path'". Also, Wes hinted that the album can be listened to on it's own or experienced along with the 1973 Alejandro Jodorowsky film The Holy Mountain, as an alternative soundtrack during the first 40 minutes, "before and up to the point where the movie launches into the individual stories of the most powerful people in the world".
The album marks the first time Borland sits behind the mixing desk. -Sputnik Music
The band’s 13th studio album is the first to feature guitarist Daniel (Chewy) Mongrain instead of late founding guitarist Denis (Piggy) D’Amour. Intricate and multi-faceted, Target Earth is complex without being convoluted, layered without losing the artillery-scarred aggression that so defines Voivod. This isn’t the polished, industrial precision of Meshuggah; this is a war machine made by mad scientists, fuelled by gristle and hash oil. On songs like Kluskap O’Kom, Denis (Snake) Bélanger’s vocals are strained, menacing and mysterious, like a warlock lifting weights. And while Mongrain’s guitars aren’t quite as jagged as D’Amour’s, tracks like Mechanical Mind and Kaleidos show them to be every bit as inventive and intriguing. -Montreal Gazette
That should come as no surprise, though: The formula for each album since 1993’s Republic has been to find one massive, fantastic single and surround it with a bunch of New Order-by-numbers tracks. 'Crystal' redeemed 2001’s Get Ready; 'Krafty' did the same for Waiting For The Sirens’ Call. That savior doesn’t really show up on Lost Sirens, though: 'I’ll Stay With You' is a solid strummer in the vein of 'Regret,' but never comes close to eclipsing it; 'Sugarcane' attempts to break the mold of recent years by getting a little more disco-fied, and it’s fine. Then there’s 'Californian Grass,' the next in a series of New Order songs that end up sunk by general listlessness and terrible lyrics. It’s all just fine, mostly in the unflattering sense of the word: It still sounds like New Order, a band that put out some incredible records in the last 30 years, but that stopped growing and changing in half that time. Treading water keeps you afloat, sure, but it rarely gets you anywhere interesting. -AV Club
The Used, a rock band reigning from Orem, Utah, formed in 2001. Since its inception, the band has released five albums; the latest release, Vulnerable, hit stores in March of 2012 and debuted in the Top 10 in the US first week. Therefore, it came as no surprise when the band decided to REISSUE Vulnerable featuring unreleased tracks that include brand new songs, remixes and acoustic versions of original album tracks. A 2-disc collector s item, Vulnerable (II) will be a must buy for any dedicated fan. -Amazon
Even without the Nirvana reunion, the "12-12-12" concert – organized rather quickly over the past six weeks to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy – would have been one of the most memorable all-star shows in history. It was the first time the Stones and the Who had shared a stage since The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968, and throwing in Chris Martin, Alicia Keys, a surprise appearance by Michael Stipe along with Springsteen, McCartney Joel, Bon Jovi and Waters ranks it up there with Live Aid, Live 8, the Concert for Bangladesh and very few other gigs in rock history. "This has got to be the biggest collection of old English musicians ever in Madison Square Garden," Mick Jagger quipped. "If it ever rains in London, you've got to come help us." -Rolling Stone
Where She's Got A Way really excels, however, is drawing renewed attention to some unjustly buried gems. "The Night Is Still Young" originated as a single from the 1985 collection Greatest Hits Vols. I and II. While additional "new tracks" from greatest hits compilations can often be forgettable fluff, this one packs emotional power. He seems to be reflecting on middle age in certain lyrics ("I'm young enough to still see the passionate boy that I used to be/ But I'm old enough to say I got a good look at the other side") and pondering how to balance music with love ("Rock and roll music was the only thing I ever gave a damn about/ There was something that was missing but I never used to wonder why"). Joel utilizes the lower ranges of his voice, lending the song an unsettling quality. Its dark moodiness may not fit the traditional "love song" category, but it represents a mature meditation on work life versus personal life. -Blinded By Sound
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