As you can see below, we had a lot to cover this week for music releases (hence the day late release). by the time I got around to looking through the reviews it was already time to pack up and head home for he evening. Either way, were back in full swing this morning and just finished reading some great reviews about the aforementioned albums.
Some interesting releases from artists such as Yoko Ono, Alan Jackson, Elton John, INVSN, Sammy Hagar, and more. All with something a little different that the other, I hardly found a review that wasn't in favour of most of these albums. Call it a good week if you want. I am looking forward to heading down to my local record store, online retailer, or other legal sources to pick up and spin a few of these.
Some of my personal favourites this week would have to be Gov't Mule, Matthew Good, Tarja, Metallica and Dream Theater (amazing album). Hope you all enjoy!
(Yoko Ono & Plastic Ono Band - Take Me To The Land of Hell)
It takes an effort to reach the spot where it sinks in as an overarching piece, but that ties back to more challenging Ono musical projects, where time and patience are key elements in the listening process. For "Moonbeams" she even gets her wail on, making it ache as hard as the spread of a dull blue bruise. It's there that Ono still performs most effectively, using tone and gesture to say far more than most of her straight "message" songs. In among the ebullient atmosphere of this record, there's a voice in there that says: "I hurt, too." -Pitchfork
(Alan Jackson - The Bluegrass Album)
Jackson and album producers Keith Stegall and Adam Wright infuse a back-porch feel in original numbers here and savvy selections from other writers, including Jackson's new spin on John Anderson's 1982 hit "Wild and Blue" and Adam Wright's sharply witty "Ain't Got Trouble Now."
Among his own contributions, Jackson's "Blue Ridge Mountain Song" and "Blue Side of Heaven" demonstrate his understanding of themes that are central to bluegrass: the knowledge that life is hard, but the human spirit can rise above. -LA Times
(Elton John - The Diving Board)
There’s no pretension about the songs on ‘The Diving Board’; at this late stage, John and Taupin are who they are, and they’re not trying to fit into any easy box that the music industry or fan expectations may have prepared for their burial. It’s a record that may put off some fans, but it’s not made for young ears in search of the Next Big Thing, or casual fans hoping for another ‘Philadelphia Freedom.’ Longtime John observers will be familiar with the drill — ‘The Diving Board’ is simply a fine set of new music from a pair of brilliant songwriters. Settle in and let the music happen. -Ultimate Classic Rock
(Sammy Hagar - Sammy Hagar & Friends)
After listening to Mr. Hagar’s new album “Sammy Hagar and Friends” I can’t help but wonder how his voice still sounds this good forty years later. Sammy Hagar is a legendary rock front man. With Sammy Hagar and Friends Sammy gets to explore other genres he hasn't played in before, which as a fan is very entertaining to listen to.
Sammy Hagar and friends is a must for Sammy Hagar fans. The album includes Kid Rock, Neal Schon, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith, Bill Church, Nancy Wilson, Ronnie Dunn, Toby Keith, Vic Johnson and several more. -Zoiks Online
(Sting - The Last Ship)
Ironically, this assemblage of character portraits winds up making more of a personal statement than Sting has issued in a decade. It doesn’t hurt that it’s his first CD of original material since 2003’s muted attempt at a soul CD, “Sacred Love.” Here, he’s writing about his youth in the ’50s, growing up in the dying days of the shipbuilding industry that once defined his hometown of Wallsend in North England. -NY Times
(Gov't Mule - Shout!)
Anyone who has seen the Mule live understands their songs are often skeletons to support extended jams. That improvisational spirit is alive and well here where most of the pieces exceed five minutes with three over eight. It pushes the disc to nearly 75 minutes, good value for the money but at the expense of not reigning in some of the band’s less interesting side roads that can wander off course. Haynes’ whisky-scarred bark of a voice acquits itself well for this music but is also limited in its range. As if to acknowledge that, a second CD has the same songs played by Gov’t Mule utilizing eleven different singers. -American Songwriter
(Matthew Good - Arrows of Desire)
So what makes Arrows of Desire so alluring is the complete reversal it boasts of all these pessimistic expectations. Upon closer inspection, we find Good, as a suffer of bipolar disorder, never really liked the limelight much anyway, and is more in his element than ever when the (Canadian, anyway) crowds aren't staring his way all the time. And what separates Good from his peers is that when he says he's rediscovered some of the colors in his teenage musical palette, he means it; Arrows of Desire is closer to tasteful retrospective than shabby, copycat cash-grab. The album certainly doesn't sound much like the success-riddled tunes of Good's old band, but it puts a spring in the metaphorical step of his music that hasn't been seen for a long, long time. -Sputnik Music
(INVSN - Invsn)
By all means, this is a solid debut album from INVSN. The deep shadows and foreboding synths play perfectly off the infectious pop sensibilities, as the emotive and haunting melodies seem to draw on each band members taste and influence. Undoubtedly, it’s important for fans of Lyxzen’s previous work to not look at this as a step away from the hardcore scene, but a reworking of the angst and rage into something that is just as significant and haunting. -Push To Fire
(Tarja - Colours In The Dark)
Colours In The Dark keeps the spotlights on the vocals, even if Tarja’s vibrato show hints of touring abuse. On the maddeningly flawed “Lucid Dreamer,” Tarja glides through an enchanting power metal melody that tingles the spine when she shoots for the high E. The song misguidedly interrupts itself in the middle for an ELO acid trip, featuring the world of sounds that must go through a zombie’s head.
Colours In The Dark is riskier than Tarja’s previous three solo albums. The album is a huge panorama of operatic metal, where some artistic experimentation is attempted, but repeatedly crushed under the album’s bombast. The dramatic scope of the strings and choirs, guitars and woodwinds, arrangement and high-gloss presentation is truly wondrous. -About.com
(Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction LIVE)
Reissued for its 20th anniversary, this new double-disc box-set CD edition omits the bonus tracks from Countdown to Extinction‘s 2004 re-release, but is remastered by Tom Baker – who adds plenty of brawn. Baker’s clear-cut, punchy mix is a breath of fresh air after the confusing array of dubious remixes on Megadeth’s previous reissues.
Ultimately, although all that polishing and buffing ensures a nice finish, it doesn’t alter the reality that Countdown to Extinction marks the point at which the band’s career was cleaved in two for many fans. -Pop Matters
(Metallica - Through The Never Soundtrack)
The music-driven feature film combines a bold narrative and spectacular live-performance footage of one of the most popular and influential rock bands in history to produce a bracing, raw and visceral cinematic experience. Emerging young star Dane DeHaan (The Place Beyond the Pines, Kill Your Darlings, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) portrays Trip, a young roadie sent on an urgent mission during Metallica s roaring live set in front of a sold-out arena audience. -Amazon
What makes Unblackened a nice surprise for the faithful is the way the tunes are rearranged. “”Stillborn”, which is a smash mouth rocker, is nearly unrecognizable here. Wylde and crew turn it into a ballad. Not a cheesy ballad, but one along the lines of, say, Bob Seeger’s “Turn The Page” or something of that ilk.
The draw of Unblackened is powerful. I enjoyed both discs and I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Black Label Society fan. Bluesy bar rock, no matter how well played, holds no interest for me, and I find most of BLS’s work to be boring, while their live presence, at times, comes dangerously close to self-parody. Going into Unblackened feeling that way, but still enjoying the record, convinces me the die-hard fan will be salivating over the whole project. -Crave Online
(Dream Theater - Dream Theater)
The majority of the songs are shorter – around the six minute mark – than they've been for some time. Combine that with the most striking commercial hooks of their career on lighter-waving ballads Along For The Ride, The Bigger Picture and Rush-influenced anthem Through The Looking Glass – with its major key bounce, tranquil floating vocal and sky straddling chorus – and it amounts to the most accessible Dream Theater album to date.
Although he played on 'A Dramatic Turn...', this is the first album where Mangini was involved from the beginning – and he nails it. The Enemy Inside is likely to be his calling card as his unbelievably fast and ferocious attack propels the track in spectacular style, typifying the technical prowess and musical intelligence he brings to the whole record. -Stereoboard
Box Sets:
(Nirvana - In Utero 20th Anniversary)
The Super Deluxe box set is rounded off with the CD/DVD combo of Live & Loud from December 1993. Recorded just four months before his suicide, it revisits the entire Nirvana back catalogue, and serves as a fitting reminder of Cobain's talents as a songwriter and front man. Overall, the music presented on this anniversary edition of 'In Utero' is a comprehensive deconstruction of the album, with the liner notes putting it all into context. However, it also succeeds in shedding new light on the material by allowing Steve Albini the opportunity to finish a job he started twenty years ago. If there's any criticism to be made, it's that his 2013 mix isn't available as a stand-alone release. But in the digital age, there seems little motivation for the record company to do so. It may not have quite defined a generation in the same way as 'Nevermind'. But 'In Utero' sounds better with age and is well worth revisiting as this impressive release demonstrates. -Contact Music
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