Whew! Finally had a chance to sit down and look at all the albums that came out today. Some of the most highly anticipated albums of 2013 are still surfacing 6 months down the road. Of course my covered articles Black Sabbath, Evile, Children of Bodom, and Scale The Summit all decided to hot stores today. A few other albums that are quite notable have made their way onto the shelves such as Harry Connick Jr., Jimmy Eat World, and Boysetfire. Not complaining in the least bit, it's more for the ear buds this week. Most of the albums got fair reviews across the board. Only a couple albums trailed along so not a bad batch.
Make sure to keep record stores alive and well by stopping by them and grabbing an album or two. If you don't live near one (or you're just lazy haha), then hit up an online retailer or another legal source. Cheers and enjoy the good tunes!
(Black Sabbath - 13)
"Thankfully, the record is not over-produced — it sounds like three guys playing together in the same room, especially when Geezer Butler’s bass gloriously rumbles just a bit outside of the expected lines.
’13′ ends with the same church bells heard at the start of Sabbath’s self-titled 1970 debut, and this would indeed be a fine ending to their recording career if that’s what the group intends. But Iommi proves — as he did on 2009′s Ronnie James Dio-fronted ‘The Devil You Know‘ — that he’s still got plenty of riffs left, so if everybody’s still getting along here’s hoping we get ’14′ or whatever it’s called sooner rather than later." -Ultimate Classic Rock
"This is the most teeth-clenchingly savage Evile’s riffs have sounded since their début, although the aggression is now coupled with the maturity and complexity of song writing that developed over ‘Infected Nation’ and ‘Five Serpents Teeth’. There are only 9 songs on ‘Skull’, something which lends each track its own distinct identity, be it the majestic soundscapes of ‘The Naked Sun’ that spiral down at a moment’s notice into spine-disconnecting riffage, ‘What You Become’s’ off-kilter rhythms or the full on thrash assault of ‘Outsider’." -Rock Sins
AFGM: Children of Bodom - Halo of Blood
"‘Halo of Blood’ is much more than just a collection of great riffs. Alexi Laiho‘s gritty and sharp vocals act as a high point for the album, while the verses and choruses found in each of the record’s 10 tracks keep ‘Halo of Blood’ moving at a steady pace. Structurally strong and bewitching music flows throughout ‘Halo of Blood,’ but Children of Bodom have never failed to deliver those sensibilities. ‘Halo of Blood’ represents a rejuvenated Children of Bodom, who have once again wrapped their foundation with brilliantly crafted lead instrumental parts. ‘Halo of Blood’ is truly an album where old school and new school Bodom fans can meet, shake hands and proceed to destroy everything within arm or leg’s reach." -Loudwire
(Scale The Summit - The Migration)
AFGM: Scale The Summit - The Migration
"As much as I had no intentions to going into this review, it’s challenging to not touch base on almost every track on the album as they all have something worthy of note. “The Dark Horse” is the heaviest piece of The Migration and would have previously seemed almost just outside of Scale The Summit’s wheelhouse, but I have to say, I would love to see more of this side of the band. This is another moment on the album where all four musicians share the limelight and give it all they’ve got. All elements are on-point and give their progressive metal peers a run for their money if they hadn’t already done so otherwise." -Under The Gun
(Jimmy Eat World - Damage)
"Jimmy Eat World has successfully written an album that speaks to enduring a break up, without the teenage freedom to sit around and just wallow in self-pity. Jobs, homes, kids, adult responsibilities, they all factor into dealing with the loss of a lover. Even the reasons differ. Sometimes, in life, you just head in different directions, you grow apart; you mature into wanting different things out of life. It isn’t always melodramatic, it often just is. Damage captures that quality; it also narrates an adult relationship without losing the catchy pop vigor that has kept Jimmy Eat World around." -Crave Online
(Harry Connick Jr. - Every Man Should Know)
"Harry Connick, Jr.'s 2013 studio album Every Man Should Know finds the New Orleans native delving into a handful of original songs that touch upon country, pop, and R&B, with only a few jazz-oriented cuts in the mix. Connick has gone in the original pop direction before with 1994's R&B-infused She and 1995's soulful Star Turtle, as well as on the second line funk-centric Smokey Mary, which came out earlier in 2013. Those albums showcased Connick's long-avowed love of artists like Stevie Wonder and Dr. John. With Every Man Should Know, Connick attempts yet another foray into the world of the contemporary singer/songwriter, focusing less on funk and more on a gospel and country-inflected sound. Tracks like the title song and the bluesy, minor-key "One Fine Thing" are compelling and very Carole King meets Van Morrison-esque, framing Connick's big croon, sincere lyrics, and deft piano with some urbane orchestral flourishes. Equally effective is the yearning Latin jazz number "I Love Her," in which Connick lovingly evinces the lush and romantic '60s bossa nova recordings of Stan Getz and João Gilberto, replete with string and flute backgrounds. He also revisits his '90s jazz approach on the laid-back "Being Alone" and the New Orleans second line-inspired "S'pposed to Be," which feature trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Leroy Jones, respectively. Ultimately, Every Man Should Know is a record with something for every Connick fan." -All Music
"Some will undoubtedly critique the updated sound of Magnetic as catering too much to what is “current” and “relevant” to garner the popular vote; others will fall in line with the undercurrent of expectation that the band should have tried harder to reinvent. In my view, however, the Goo Goo Dolls have struck a happy middle ground with Magnetic, crafting a record that sounds not only current, but fresh. It’s the first record they’ve released in years that could seriously match the success of their late-1990s heyday." -Music Is My Oxygen
(Boysetfire - While A Nation Sleeps...)
"Of course, the band’s politics are firmly intact on While A Nation Sleeps...—only Propagandhi and Shai Hulud can claim to be as on point as Boysetsfire when it comes to taking the powers-that-be to task, criticizing organized religion and the industrialized military, among others. Sure, their overall sound is a little dated (scream, sing, rinse, repeat), but there’s always room in the heavy music scene for Boysetsfire. In fact, if they keep making albums as good as While A Nation Sleeps... we’ll go ahead and hold a place for them in hardcore’s hallowed halls." -Alt Press
"In short: kind of. The eight Wack Album singles out so far—“3-Way (The Golden Rule),” “YOLO,” “Spring Break Anthem,” “I Fucked My Aunt,” “Diaper Money,” “Semicolon,” “Go Kindergarten,” and “Spell It Out”—are, without doubt, the eight best songs on the record. Others, like the Bloomberg-aping “I Run NY” and Pharrell vehicle “Hugs” are mildly amusing, but not all that tuneful. Short skit-songs like the aforementioned Sesame Street/early-’90s hip-hop homage “Spell It Out,” the joke-heavy “Meet The Crew,” or the amusingly accurate “We Are A Crowd” are funny, but not really long enough to make much of an impression." -AV Club
"The sad fact of the matter is that, for this release at least, most parts could have been benefited by having vocals removed or at least altered to better fit the mood of the song. Blast beats and typical vocal styles do tend to wear thin after a period of time, which is considerably sad, as many of the instrumental parts are worn thin with some wasted vocal potential. However, while the vocals and lyrics are most definitely the low point of this album, they do contribute enough to make this album an extremely solid release.
For a band that released its first album 10 years ago, this is a good way to set the pace for the next ten years, with strong instrumentals and movements between songs, unfortunately brought down with some less-interesting vocals. If the following releases are in this vein, then the band will have made a good decision." -Sputnik Music
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