Grunge was nearly twenty years ago wasn't it? Not that we're getting a revival here... thank god, but 'Swoon' has probably brought it's older listeners a lot of nostalgia back from that glorious time of alternative rock. Dangerous as it is for Silversun Pickups, for a band that sounds so heavily like the Smashing Pumpkins they can easily be accused as a Smashing Pumpkins rip of act. So basically their follow up to 'Carnavas', which was received warmly, sets up 'Swoon' for some interesting listening.
'There's No Secrets This Year' opens 'Swoon' up to us and in emphatic fashion to, we already get the 90's buzz instantly and when Brian Aubert comes in we instantly remember Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins again and to be precise 'There's No Secrets This Year' sounds something of 'Gish' or even 'Siamese Dream'. Although, the song holds it's own, with the heavy distorted guitars bouncing of each other and Christopher Guanlao's drumming being the secondary drive of the song. Continuing with 'There's No Secrets This Year', it demonstrates that Silversun Pickups aren't a band of their time, a band that could have so easily fitted in, in the 1990's, more so than now, where 'alternative rock' now, comes in the form of My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, and all having the ability to appeal to a screaming bunch of ignorant young teenagers and not much else.
'The Royal We' is a song which builds in tempo and speed until the very last chord has rung out, Aubert's vocals is the joy in to behold in this track as they keep you in suspense until he gives his all out in the verse leading up to the chorus. Once again, the guitar playing is the highlight, very-Pumpkins-esque once more, which it cannot escape, further more, the song will leave it's listeners exhausted with joy, as 'The Royal We' is epic in it's own hazy self, with it's blending dreamy rock influences mixed in with the odd splash of classical takes.
As the albums goes, midway we are ushered into 'It's Nice To Know You Work Alone', which is one of the few songs of the album that doesn't sound like the Smashing Pumpkins, as Nikki Monninger displays good stuttering bass lines broken up through-out the entire song and Aubert's grinding guitar adds the heavy rock theme to the track.
The final song in 'Swoon' is quite a surprise, 'Surrounded (Or Spiraling), which bows it's head to My Bloody Valentine vocally and with the fuzzy dreaming sparkling guitar lines during the slow parts of the song. As the song builds up, we get back to the Pickups, where they create their main riff through the chorus which intensifies the song as a whole and closes the album in fine fashion.
Silversun Pickups, again, not a band of their time, and 'Swoon' is definitely not an album of it's time either. Although, it's nice to hear the 90's alternative rock scene now and then revisited, it's not something Silversun Pickups should make a habbit of. The album on the whole is solid, created around heavily distorted riffs, powerful drumming and exquisite bass lines. Songs like 'Growing Old Is Getting Old', despite it's true irony, is way to dragged out and should be cut down in length, but the main problem for it's more aged listeners, is that it has Smashing Pumpkins all over the album, but if you can get your head round that, then there's no reason why people shouldn't enjoy this 90's nostalgic force.
3½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Sunday, 1 November 2009
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
With our music industry in total disarray in modern times, good music is hard to come by and thank god Bat For Lashes (Solo artist Natasha Khan) has come back. 'Two Suns' is the follow up to her debut 'Fur And Gold' in 2007 and for the second time, Natasha Khan doesn't disappoint.
Natasha Khan has clearly delved into her inspirations well in this album, and demonstrates this in the opener 'Glass', where Khan has looked to native influences mainly from America. The drumming, is the main notation in this song, it's simple, but clearly effective as Khan, going back to those native American influences, brings out some lovely bellowing drum thumps that give it's listeners a feeling of being in native tribes in the empty deserts of America. Khan's vocals also doesn't falter either, still hitting the high notes, she also maturely knows how to keep the rhythm of her vocals in tune with the music, something she is a master at.
Natasha Khan also sent demonstrates why she's so good and this is pretty much all evaluated on 'Daniel'. Which includes everything, catchy chorus, amazing and haunting vocals and another thing that Bat For Lashes is a master at, fantastic lyrics. 'Daniel' paces itself out slowly to start with, a simple clashing drumbeat and then what sounds like a keyboard flash, in comes the bass line which pretty much sets the entire song apart from everything else on the album. After the chorus the song breaks up into a synthesizer jaunt, then Natasha re-introduces herself into the song again with lyrics like 'But in a goodbye bed, with my arms around your neck, into our love the tears crept, just catch in the eye of the storm' which are beautifully crafted lyrics and just another signal of Khan's genius.
We should know by now, that Natasha Khan doesn't hold back, if she wants to let herself loose she will and even if she lets herself sound like her influencers. 'Peace of Mind' highlights a particular similarity in vocal style to Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick. Remember 'Somebody To Love'?, well Khan's vocals are pretty much on the same tone as Slick's. Although, what sets the two songs apart is that Khan has created more of a native American Indian (again) feel to 'Peace of Mind' compared to the psychedelic hippie anthem 'Somebody to Love'. We're soon put into the piano ballad 'Siren Song', this is a typical Bat For Lashes song, it almost sounds like it could have been on 'Fur And Gold'. Still, Khan provides a change in the form of a ringing piano build up and a build up of intense singing, as Khan provides yet another epic masterpiece.
The second half of 'Two Suns' you could accuse of falling away, but this is definitely an album worth sticking around for, even for 'Pearl's Dream', which is beautiful track possibly influenced by MGMT with a slight electronic drumbeat in the vein of the New York duo. If there is one song Khan has put a lot of effort into, it would be 'Two Planets'. Dominated by hand-clapping throughout, it also again has that native American Indian drumming to it, but the song isn't structured entirely through those components, 'Two Planets' is focused on Khan's eerie vocals and charming lyrics. If there is any criticism to be made, it would be in the closer, 'The Big Sleep', it would be a delightful song without Scott Walker's vocals, they just contrast badly and makes it almost cringe-worthy to listen to and almost wastes Khan's efforts on the musical side of the song.
What can you say about 'Two Suns'? It's a masterpiece in it's own right, built around a lot of historical influences, it definitely shows that Khan's trip to New York has had a significant impact on her music and all for the best, it almost seems any direction Khan would take, it wouldn't be a wrong one, but I guess you can accuse Bat For Lashes for being quite melodramatic or even a bit of the same ol', same ol' sort of thing. One thing however, you cannot label Bat For Lashes as, and that's talent-less. Natasha Khan is probably Britain's most talented female vocalist around at the moment, and after 'Two Suns' she ain't going to give that up with out a fight.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Natasha Khan has clearly delved into her inspirations well in this album, and demonstrates this in the opener 'Glass', where Khan has looked to native influences mainly from America. The drumming, is the main notation in this song, it's simple, but clearly effective as Khan, going back to those native American influences, brings out some lovely bellowing drum thumps that give it's listeners a feeling of being in native tribes in the empty deserts of America. Khan's vocals also doesn't falter either, still hitting the high notes, she also maturely knows how to keep the rhythm of her vocals in tune with the music, something she is a master at.
Natasha Khan also sent demonstrates why she's so good and this is pretty much all evaluated on 'Daniel'. Which includes everything, catchy chorus, amazing and haunting vocals and another thing that Bat For Lashes is a master at, fantastic lyrics. 'Daniel' paces itself out slowly to start with, a simple clashing drumbeat and then what sounds like a keyboard flash, in comes the bass line which pretty much sets the entire song apart from everything else on the album. After the chorus the song breaks up into a synthesizer jaunt, then Natasha re-introduces herself into the song again with lyrics like 'But in a goodbye bed, with my arms around your neck, into our love the tears crept, just catch in the eye of the storm' which are beautifully crafted lyrics and just another signal of Khan's genius.
We should know by now, that Natasha Khan doesn't hold back, if she wants to let herself loose she will and even if she lets herself sound like her influencers. 'Peace of Mind' highlights a particular similarity in vocal style to Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick. Remember 'Somebody To Love'?, well Khan's vocals are pretty much on the same tone as Slick's. Although, what sets the two songs apart is that Khan has created more of a native American Indian (again) feel to 'Peace of Mind' compared to the psychedelic hippie anthem 'Somebody to Love'. We're soon put into the piano ballad 'Siren Song', this is a typical Bat For Lashes song, it almost sounds like it could have been on 'Fur And Gold'. Still, Khan provides a change in the form of a ringing piano build up and a build up of intense singing, as Khan provides yet another epic masterpiece.
The second half of 'Two Suns' you could accuse of falling away, but this is definitely an album worth sticking around for, even for 'Pearl's Dream', which is beautiful track possibly influenced by MGMT with a slight electronic drumbeat in the vein of the New York duo. If there is one song Khan has put a lot of effort into, it would be 'Two Planets'. Dominated by hand-clapping throughout, it also again has that native American Indian drumming to it, but the song isn't structured entirely through those components, 'Two Planets' is focused on Khan's eerie vocals and charming lyrics. If there is any criticism to be made, it would be in the closer, 'The Big Sleep', it would be a delightful song without Scott Walker's vocals, they just contrast badly and makes it almost cringe-worthy to listen to and almost wastes Khan's efforts on the musical side of the song.
What can you say about 'Two Suns'? It's a masterpiece in it's own right, built around a lot of historical influences, it definitely shows that Khan's trip to New York has had a significant impact on her music and all for the best, it almost seems any direction Khan would take, it wouldn't be a wrong one, but I guess you can accuse Bat For Lashes for being quite melodramatic or even a bit of the same ol', same ol' sort of thing. One thing however, you cannot label Bat For Lashes as, and that's talent-less. Natasha Khan is probably Britain's most talented female vocalist around at the moment, and after 'Two Suns' she ain't going to give that up with out a fight.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Monday, 12 October 2009
St. Vincent - Actor
St. Vincent's (Annie Clark) second album comes in at quite a change in style and, if you dare, enjoyment in comparison to 2007's 'Marry Me'. 'Actor' is a unique blend between electronic pop and indie folk even as distant as styles from 1940's war time music in the form of love and romance. But St. Vincent however vamps he later up into dreamy and formulated synth pop, which will make it's listeners wonder where she draws her inspiration from.
'The Strangers', the first song of 'Actor' and starts out with that 1940's war time music feel mentioned above. The recurrent lyric throughout the whole song being 'Paint the black hole blacker' gives of the impression to listeners that she is either a mad artist or everything that's going on in her life is just a little bit miserable and might as well 'Paint that black hole blacker'. However, the song does kick itself out of that 1940's war time feel and enters into a little bit of Bloc Party, do see 'Song For Clay (Disappear Here) for full effect, but what St. Vincent does with it, is basically not included guitars and just included synthesizers and giving off some fuzzy sounds to warm us with delight. Second up is 'Save Me From What I Want', which in it's title, is a bit ironic don't you think? But none-the-less, Miss. Clark adds her own little bit of grace. The song is focused on a twirling guitar trail that leads into a mellow chorus where she melodically sings the title of the song.
The key song of the album is demonstrated in the first half of the album, which includes the title of the album, 'Actor Out Of Work'. This song has it all really, the catchy drumming loops, the catchy synthesizers and of course the quirky lyrics, but again, Annie Clark adds to it by adding some experimentation to it, and she highlights this at the drop of a hat and when you least expect it, she fills in a synthesizer car crash by running around her synth machine and hitting it as loud as she can to create her full desire. Going back to those quirky pop lyrics, St. Vincent proves her quirkiness by singing her 'Woo, Woo's' and of course lines like this 'I think I love you, I think am maddd' just makes you wanna love her, despite how mad she might be.
Another surprise with this album is that, not only St. Vincent creates perfect pop hooks, but she can even pull it of, by adding violins to it, even verging on swing. This is all demonstrated in 'Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood', the main structure of the song is completely fitted around in a steady simple drum beat and plus, the odd fill ins of the acoustic guitar which pluck curiously. Plus, let's not forget, Annie's brilliant quirky lyrics are a complete treasure as she sings to herself in a dream, with a line like 'And I can't see the future, but I know it has big plans for me'. The weirdness continues, straight into 'Marrow' we enter, starts out in a slow tempo, with another steady drum beat giving the song it's rhythm, but again, Annie Clarke shows up and brings her dirty synth notes to the table and blasts us into the future. The synth solo is probably the most notable point of the entire song, it's an all out full scale attack, with noisy electronica influences coming from everywhere, almost makes you feel if your listening to Nine Inch Nails' 'The Great Destroyer'.
No one really expects St. Vincent to be the next Bjork or if you want to be extreme, Madonna. But she is herself and she brings her talents forward in superb fashion, again in comparison to her debut, 'Actor' really brings out the potential Annie Clark has been hiding all along while touring with Sufjan Stevens band.
3½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
'The Strangers', the first song of 'Actor' and starts out with that 1940's war time music feel mentioned above. The recurrent lyric throughout the whole song being 'Paint the black hole blacker' gives of the impression to listeners that she is either a mad artist or everything that's going on in her life is just a little bit miserable and might as well 'Paint that black hole blacker'. However, the song does kick itself out of that 1940's war time feel and enters into a little bit of Bloc Party, do see 'Song For Clay (Disappear Here) for full effect, but what St. Vincent does with it, is basically not included guitars and just included synthesizers and giving off some fuzzy sounds to warm us with delight. Second up is 'Save Me From What I Want', which in it's title, is a bit ironic don't you think? But none-the-less, Miss. Clark adds her own little bit of grace. The song is focused on a twirling guitar trail that leads into a mellow chorus where she melodically sings the title of the song.
The key song of the album is demonstrated in the first half of the album, which includes the title of the album, 'Actor Out Of Work'. This song has it all really, the catchy drumming loops, the catchy synthesizers and of course the quirky lyrics, but again, Annie Clark adds to it by adding some experimentation to it, and she highlights this at the drop of a hat and when you least expect it, she fills in a synthesizer car crash by running around her synth machine and hitting it as loud as she can to create her full desire. Going back to those quirky pop lyrics, St. Vincent proves her quirkiness by singing her 'Woo, Woo's' and of course lines like this 'I think I love you, I think am maddd' just makes you wanna love her, despite how mad she might be.
Another surprise with this album is that, not only St. Vincent creates perfect pop hooks, but she can even pull it of, by adding violins to it, even verging on swing. This is all demonstrated in 'Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood', the main structure of the song is completely fitted around in a steady simple drum beat and plus, the odd fill ins of the acoustic guitar which pluck curiously. Plus, let's not forget, Annie's brilliant quirky lyrics are a complete treasure as she sings to herself in a dream, with a line like 'And I can't see the future, but I know it has big plans for me'. The weirdness continues, straight into 'Marrow' we enter, starts out in a slow tempo, with another steady drum beat giving the song it's rhythm, but again, Annie Clarke shows up and brings her dirty synth notes to the table and blasts us into the future. The synth solo is probably the most notable point of the entire song, it's an all out full scale attack, with noisy electronica influences coming from everywhere, almost makes you feel if your listening to Nine Inch Nails' 'The Great Destroyer'.
No one really expects St. Vincent to be the next Bjork or if you want to be extreme, Madonna. But she is herself and she brings her talents forward in superb fashion, again in comparison to her debut, 'Actor' really brings out the potential Annie Clark has been hiding all along while touring with Sufjan Stevens band.
3½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Monday, 5 October 2009
Paramore - brand new eyes
This album comes a bit of a surprise like many other albums this year, but for Paramore, this is a bit of a hard rock orgy at points and considerably grown up in parts. I guess we all expected them not to follow up 'Riot!' so well but they have and if not, emulated it.
Going back to the hard rock orgy that was mentioned above, Paramore demonstrate this in 'Careful' the opening track to 'brand new eyes'. Most notably, is Zac Farro's drumming which is particularly gentle but harsh with thunderous power. When Hayley Williams singing starts, you begin to hear echo's from 'Misery Business' from their previous album 'Riot!', but how it parts itself away from 'Misery Business' is that it's a lot harder and more grown up vocally, considering Hayley is only, like 20? The up tempo start to 'brand new eyes' doesn't stop there, straight after 'Careful' we're slashed right into 'Ignorance' which starts in a stuttering guitar intro which stops to a thick bass line and a muted guitar sound which Hayley, almost talking, sings 'If I'm a bad person you don't like me well I'll make my own way, it's a circle I mean cycle' which oozes her confused sensibility. Again, the tempo doesn't die on track three, well it does, but not for long, when you hear the slow guitar lines from Josh Farro, you think Paramore are going to go all emo on us, but thankfully they snap out of it and Hayley booms out swagger-like lyrics like 'Next time you point a finger, I might have to bend it back or break it, break it off' which gives us the impression, if you fuck with her, you'll burn for it.
Paramore's third release is full of wonderful little surprises and 'The Only Exception' is definitely one of them. It's a beautiful love song about never falling in love, but one day finding that one 'Exception'. The song is built around a slow acoustic guitar melody, accompanied by the odd bass fill ins, but the highlight of the song is Hayley Williams vocals, as you can imagine falling in love with the girl or guy of your dreams listening to her sweet but far out voice. Paramore go back to the hard rock orgy straight after the romance of 'The Only Exception' in 'Feeling Sorry' which is a song about not having sympathy for anyone or wasting time about 'Feeling Sorry' for people. It starts out in forced and hard guitar mode, along with clashing drums and a flowing bass line and again, Hayley's blasted vocals which sound like they've been turned up to max... or wait, isn't that already Hayley's singing everyday?
Going back to those little surprises in 'brand new eyes', well again they have landed another one, with 'Misguided Ghosts' and this song is just about two people who have no direction in life, doesn't conform to normal ideas of life, just go their own way, whether they've walked the same road once before, it doesn't matter, because whoever they are, they're just misguided. 'All I Wanted' is probably one of the songs Paramore went all out for, it's a guitar drenched anthem and Hayley is battling with it, with her high screaming vocals shouting out 'All I Wanted Was You!' I thank that speaks for itself what the song is about.
'brand new eyes' is probably one of the most surprising albums of the year, especially after all the problems Paramore were having within the band. They seem to be sorted now and grown up a bit and showed they're not just one of those 'emo' bands. Because with this album, they are leaving that scene behind and will outlast a lot of other bands coming from there to. If you don't like the hard rock feel from 'brand new eyes' then surely the camp fire setting of the acoustic ballads like 'The Only Exception' and 'Misguided Ghosts' will charm you enough to warm to them.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Going back to the hard rock orgy that was mentioned above, Paramore demonstrate this in 'Careful' the opening track to 'brand new eyes'. Most notably, is Zac Farro's drumming which is particularly gentle but harsh with thunderous power. When Hayley Williams singing starts, you begin to hear echo's from 'Misery Business' from their previous album 'Riot!', but how it parts itself away from 'Misery Business' is that it's a lot harder and more grown up vocally, considering Hayley is only, like 20? The up tempo start to 'brand new eyes' doesn't stop there, straight after 'Careful' we're slashed right into 'Ignorance' which starts in a stuttering guitar intro which stops to a thick bass line and a muted guitar sound which Hayley, almost talking, sings 'If I'm a bad person you don't like me well I'll make my own way, it's a circle I mean cycle' which oozes her confused sensibility. Again, the tempo doesn't die on track three, well it does, but not for long, when you hear the slow guitar lines from Josh Farro, you think Paramore are going to go all emo on us, but thankfully they snap out of it and Hayley booms out swagger-like lyrics like 'Next time you point a finger, I might have to bend it back or break it, break it off' which gives us the impression, if you fuck with her, you'll burn for it.
Paramore's third release is full of wonderful little surprises and 'The Only Exception' is definitely one of them. It's a beautiful love song about never falling in love, but one day finding that one 'Exception'. The song is built around a slow acoustic guitar melody, accompanied by the odd bass fill ins, but the highlight of the song is Hayley Williams vocals, as you can imagine falling in love with the girl or guy of your dreams listening to her sweet but far out voice. Paramore go back to the hard rock orgy straight after the romance of 'The Only Exception' in 'Feeling Sorry' which is a song about not having sympathy for anyone or wasting time about 'Feeling Sorry' for people. It starts out in forced and hard guitar mode, along with clashing drums and a flowing bass line and again, Hayley's blasted vocals which sound like they've been turned up to max... or wait, isn't that already Hayley's singing everyday?
Going back to those little surprises in 'brand new eyes', well again they have landed another one, with 'Misguided Ghosts' and this song is just about two people who have no direction in life, doesn't conform to normal ideas of life, just go their own way, whether they've walked the same road once before, it doesn't matter, because whoever they are, they're just misguided. 'All I Wanted' is probably one of the songs Paramore went all out for, it's a guitar drenched anthem and Hayley is battling with it, with her high screaming vocals shouting out 'All I Wanted Was You!' I thank that speaks for itself what the song is about.
'brand new eyes' is probably one of the most surprising albums of the year, especially after all the problems Paramore were having within the band. They seem to be sorted now and grown up a bit and showed they're not just one of those 'emo' bands. Because with this album, they are leaving that scene behind and will outlast a lot of other bands coming from there to. If you don't like the hard rock feel from 'brand new eyes' then surely the camp fire setting of the acoustic ballads like 'The Only Exception' and 'Misguided Ghosts' will charm you enough to warm to them.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
Monday, 28 September 2009
Muse - The Resistance
An album with such a heavy influence in classical music is always going to be taken seriously, which Muse have demonstrated very well in 'Origin of Symmetry' and 'Absolution', but unlike those albums 'The Resistance' falls short, and I repeat, VERY short.
'Uprising' is the lead single from 'The Resistance' and unlike most lead singles from Muse, this one here sounds a very half hearted attempt at what Matt Bellamy described as 'A hard rock take on Goldfrapp'... Hmm I don't think so Matt, this sounds more like a repetitive chorus repeated once to much which gives us the thought of 'Shut the fuck up' after the first two minutes, never mind a dragged out five minutes of it. After 'Uprising' we are taken into a slightly beautiful song called 'Resistance' which does have it's moments of brilliance, especially with the jittery piano intro and the hard hitting chorus which is Muse at their best, but, they could have done without the almost cheesy moments of 'We Could Be Wrong, Could Be Wrong' and that part alone is bound to give you a love/hate relationship with this song.
Moving on to 'United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)' and this is a sorry and foolish attempt at Queen, which you get a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' feel from it, before entering a groovy and hard hitting piano bridge which takes references from Middle Eastern culture. After all that has passed, we enter a very nice calming and soothing piano solo with the added orchestra of violins and strings in places, which doesn't save the scare of the first four minutes of terrible attempts at Queen, but it does gave you a relief of some sort. 'Guiding Light' is definitely one of the albums high points, Matt Bellamy's vocals are beautiful and reassuring as he sings 'You're My Guiding Light, When There's No Guiding Light Left', even though the solo again rings out more Queen-esque styles but Matt's vocals alone in this song is a complete saviour.
We find ourselves indulged in 'Unnatural Selection' which is another hard hitting heavy Muse at their best, but here comes the snag, the main riff sounds HEAVILY like the dominating and boulder crushing riff that's in 'New Born', now there's nothing wrong with that if your just wanting heavy and catchy riffs to dance to or whatever, but for music enthusiasts and hardcore Muse fans, this is sure to annoy them and along with that seven minutes of mediocrity we don't want more Queen, and we got more of them at the vocal crescendo at the end which takes it's sorrows from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' yet again.
To the high points of the album, which lack few and far between, one of them however would be 'MK Ultra' which has a driving bass line leading the horde just like the songs of 'Origin of Symmetry' did. 'MK Ultra' proves itself in many forms, it's again, Muse at their best, has the calming start and somehow, out of no where comes to the blasting fire power the band has severely lacked on 'The Resistance' with a gracious nod again to 'New Born' but not as heavily replicated as 'Unnatural Selection'.
The final point in the album to be made is in 'Exogenesis', which is something Matt said he has been working on, on a long time. 'Exogenesis' runs for a total of thirteen minutes plus. The 'Symphony' is divided into three parts with part one being 'Overture' and this is swallowed in the darkness of an orchestrated chill of violins and more strings and Matt's restrained guitar pulling out a gentle but grinding solo and sings melodically but quietly to the gruesomely exceptional music behind him. Part two 'Cross-Pollination' starts of with a fast paced piano intro, but slows down to Matt's low and fierce vocal lines, but we somehow find ourselves racing in tempo with a guitar riff building intensity, and flickering the sharp solo before the whirlwind come down of the piano riff that the song started out with. Finally, part three enters into something that's a little more upbeat in comparison to 'Cross-Pollination'. 'Redemption' is probably the most beautiful piano ballad Matt Bellamy has came up with, it's slow but uniquely uplifting. Again, the violin's come in again and add it's bit of genius to Matt's unique ballad and just to complete this Symphony, Matt's hurried and low vocals just bring up the mood a little more before the outro consisting of the piano riff that was used as the intro and the slow in and out use of the violins.
Muse's fifth album has not raised any eyebrows, mainly around music critics and am sure hardcore Muse fans would be slightly disappointed with this effort. 'The Resistance' does have it's high points in 'MK Ultra' and the entire Symphony of 'Exogenesis' which would definitely be considered a masterpiece amongst the more classical sides of Muse fans. Although at to many parts in the album, they have uplifted roots from Queen and failed to pull it of and used riffs from their previous songs that have just been meddled around with to achieve some effect that's just not happened. 'The Resistance' is not a serious disaster overall, but very mediocre for a band with the heavy, heavy amount of talent that Muse has and let's hope that the next time, is a little less Queen and a lot more Muse hopefully.
2½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
'Uprising' is the lead single from 'The Resistance' and unlike most lead singles from Muse, this one here sounds a very half hearted attempt at what Matt Bellamy described as 'A hard rock take on Goldfrapp'... Hmm I don't think so Matt, this sounds more like a repetitive chorus repeated once to much which gives us the thought of 'Shut the fuck up' after the first two minutes, never mind a dragged out five minutes of it. After 'Uprising' we are taken into a slightly beautiful song called 'Resistance' which does have it's moments of brilliance, especially with the jittery piano intro and the hard hitting chorus which is Muse at their best, but, they could have done without the almost cheesy moments of 'We Could Be Wrong, Could Be Wrong' and that part alone is bound to give you a love/hate relationship with this song.
Moving on to 'United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)' and this is a sorry and foolish attempt at Queen, which you get a 'Bohemian Rhapsody' feel from it, before entering a groovy and hard hitting piano bridge which takes references from Middle Eastern culture. After all that has passed, we enter a very nice calming and soothing piano solo with the added orchestra of violins and strings in places, which doesn't save the scare of the first four minutes of terrible attempts at Queen, but it does gave you a relief of some sort. 'Guiding Light' is definitely one of the albums high points, Matt Bellamy's vocals are beautiful and reassuring as he sings 'You're My Guiding Light, When There's No Guiding Light Left', even though the solo again rings out more Queen-esque styles but Matt's vocals alone in this song is a complete saviour.
We find ourselves indulged in 'Unnatural Selection' which is another hard hitting heavy Muse at their best, but here comes the snag, the main riff sounds HEAVILY like the dominating and boulder crushing riff that's in 'New Born', now there's nothing wrong with that if your just wanting heavy and catchy riffs to dance to or whatever, but for music enthusiasts and hardcore Muse fans, this is sure to annoy them and along with that seven minutes of mediocrity we don't want more Queen, and we got more of them at the vocal crescendo at the end which takes it's sorrows from 'Bohemian Rhapsody' yet again.
To the high points of the album, which lack few and far between, one of them however would be 'MK Ultra' which has a driving bass line leading the horde just like the songs of 'Origin of Symmetry' did. 'MK Ultra' proves itself in many forms, it's again, Muse at their best, has the calming start and somehow, out of no where comes to the blasting fire power the band has severely lacked on 'The Resistance' with a gracious nod again to 'New Born' but not as heavily replicated as 'Unnatural Selection'.
The final point in the album to be made is in 'Exogenesis', which is something Matt said he has been working on, on a long time. 'Exogenesis' runs for a total of thirteen minutes plus. The 'Symphony' is divided into three parts with part one being 'Overture' and this is swallowed in the darkness of an orchestrated chill of violins and more strings and Matt's restrained guitar pulling out a gentle but grinding solo and sings melodically but quietly to the gruesomely exceptional music behind him. Part two 'Cross-Pollination' starts of with a fast paced piano intro, but slows down to Matt's low and fierce vocal lines, but we somehow find ourselves racing in tempo with a guitar riff building intensity, and flickering the sharp solo before the whirlwind come down of the piano riff that the song started out with. Finally, part three enters into something that's a little more upbeat in comparison to 'Cross-Pollination'. 'Redemption' is probably the most beautiful piano ballad Matt Bellamy has came up with, it's slow but uniquely uplifting. Again, the violin's come in again and add it's bit of genius to Matt's unique ballad and just to complete this Symphony, Matt's hurried and low vocals just bring up the mood a little more before the outro consisting of the piano riff that was used as the intro and the slow in and out use of the violins.
Muse's fifth album has not raised any eyebrows, mainly around music critics and am sure hardcore Muse fans would be slightly disappointed with this effort. 'The Resistance' does have it's high points in 'MK Ultra' and the entire Symphony of 'Exogenesis' which would definitely be considered a masterpiece amongst the more classical sides of Muse fans. Although at to many parts in the album, they have uplifted roots from Queen and failed to pull it of and used riffs from their previous songs that have just been meddled around with to achieve some effect that's just not happened. 'The Resistance' is not a serious disaster overall, but very mediocre for a band with the heavy, heavy amount of talent that Muse has and let's hope that the next time, is a little less Queen and a lot more Muse hopefully.
2½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Sunday, 27 September 2009
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
So, Yeah Yeah Yeahs have dropped their guitars and went for the synthesizers approach, any fan of the band would have been pretty scared by the prospect of such a thing and after the success of their previous albums, it would have probably been a smart idea to carry on in that format.
It's Blitz! opens up with a magnificent feel good song by the name of 'Zero'. Which has a heavy synthesizer beat floating around Karen O's sweet and romantic vocals which echo her punk influences like Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders. Yeah Yeah Yeahs also prove their development in sound with 'Heads Will Roll' and this song again, has another heavy synthesizer beat dominating the track, further more it's another feel good song which the band captured on 'Zero' and just like 'Zero' it has that party feel and all the glitter to make you feel that you were back in the 70's listening to 'Heart Of Glass'.
Probably the most challenging effort the band has ever made would be in 'Skeletons', which is an epic, sad and notorious love song and no matter what mood you might be in, it will demonstrate some effect of romance and sadness on you. 'Skeletons' draws influences from Electronica and Celtic forms and when you feel the song couldn't hit a higher note of depression, a beautifully placed bagpipe solo rings out and draws the song to a winding close. After 'Skeletons' we are thrashed into 'Dull Life', now this song is what Yeah Yeah Yeahs do best, fast paced punk rock in a slick and furious tone with Nick Zinner's stylish swagger with the six stringed instrument that he earns his corn through.
Towards the rear end of the album, we are plunged into 'Dragon Queen' and in this song, Karen O' produces some flat vocal lines and somehow still sounds simply amazing, and the Synthesizer's still flicker around us and almost reminisces The Who's 'Baby O'Riley'. We move on to 'Hysteric' which further shows the development of Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound, it's basically another cheeky little love song, not to be taken to seriously however, but wonderful in many ways with Karen O's light vocal lines gliding along to Nick Zinner's soft guitar lines and Brian Chase's jazzy drumming. The final song on 'It's Blitz!', 'Little Shadow' is another beautiful ballad, apart from Karen O's fantastic vocals, but the drumming is a particular highlight here, it surges through you like a bullet in your gut and has the dramatic power drumming from 'Gold Lion' which he blasted apart in a million pieces in superb fashion.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have demonstrated that after three albums, they are certainly a band that's here to stay, considering a lot of these so-called 'Alternative' and 'Indie' bands are fading away, Yeah Yeah Yeahs however, show they are rocking and they are dancing and on their third album 'It's Blitz!' they have evolved their sound from fast paced punk rock to new wave/synthesizer rock and how we cannot wait until their next album.
4½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
It's Blitz! opens up with a magnificent feel good song by the name of 'Zero'. Which has a heavy synthesizer beat floating around Karen O's sweet and romantic vocals which echo her punk influences like Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders. Yeah Yeah Yeahs also prove their development in sound with 'Heads Will Roll' and this song again, has another heavy synthesizer beat dominating the track, further more it's another feel good song which the band captured on 'Zero' and just like 'Zero' it has that party feel and all the glitter to make you feel that you were back in the 70's listening to 'Heart Of Glass'.
Probably the most challenging effort the band has ever made would be in 'Skeletons', which is an epic, sad and notorious love song and no matter what mood you might be in, it will demonstrate some effect of romance and sadness on you. 'Skeletons' draws influences from Electronica and Celtic forms and when you feel the song couldn't hit a higher note of depression, a beautifully placed bagpipe solo rings out and draws the song to a winding close. After 'Skeletons' we are thrashed into 'Dull Life', now this song is what Yeah Yeah Yeahs do best, fast paced punk rock in a slick and furious tone with Nick Zinner's stylish swagger with the six stringed instrument that he earns his corn through.
Towards the rear end of the album, we are plunged into 'Dragon Queen' and in this song, Karen O' produces some flat vocal lines and somehow still sounds simply amazing, and the Synthesizer's still flicker around us and almost reminisces The Who's 'Baby O'Riley'. We move on to 'Hysteric' which further shows the development of Yeah Yeah Yeahs sound, it's basically another cheeky little love song, not to be taken to seriously however, but wonderful in many ways with Karen O's light vocal lines gliding along to Nick Zinner's soft guitar lines and Brian Chase's jazzy drumming. The final song on 'It's Blitz!', 'Little Shadow' is another beautiful ballad, apart from Karen O's fantastic vocals, but the drumming is a particular highlight here, it surges through you like a bullet in your gut and has the dramatic power drumming from 'Gold Lion' which he blasted apart in a million pieces in superb fashion.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs have demonstrated that after three albums, they are certainly a band that's here to stay, considering a lot of these so-called 'Alternative' and 'Indie' bands are fading away, Yeah Yeah Yeahs however, show they are rocking and they are dancing and on their third album 'It's Blitz!' they have evolved their sound from fast paced punk rock to new wave/synthesizer rock and how we cannot wait until their next album.
4½ / 5
Linus Broadbent.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
It looks like these Sheffield boys have came back from the sweltering desert in Josh Homme land with some balls, as their third effort is a real shift in style and complexion from their past two albums which were definitely a little more acceptable in terms of the mass public's opinion on what proper music is, where this album, is a bit of a harder listen.
So the Monkeys open with 'My Propeller', a nice jaunting track, where the guitar lines actually reminiscent the sound of what we think a propeller would sound like when it's old and battered. Alex Turner doesn't disappoint with his lyrics either, as usual he comes up with quirky lines like 'Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller' which could sound sexually deviant when you think of it.
Track two, would come in the form of 'Crying Lightning', which is also the lead single from 'Humbug'. It's a grower, especially for a single, it doesn't have the impact most lead singles would have, but again, lyrically it delivers, may I suggest how lyrics these days are never as good as this 'And your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called 'Crying Lightning''. After 'Crying Lightning' we enter 'Pound' mode 'Dangerous Animals' which has a Black Sabbath aura to it, with the main riff is a hard pounder which is destined to enter your head along with the chorus which equally pounds itself to the back of your mind 'D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L'.
As 'Humbug' progresses on it's dark and wonderful path, we soon encounter 'Potion Approaching' which is another thumper, it's another song you feel that Mr. Homme might have had a bit of an influence over, which is obvious, as he's produced most of the tracks, but you could argue that certain parts do sound very Homme-ish in terms of his guitar playing style and unique sound which the Monkeys seemed to have stole and made it their own. Despite all that, it's Arctic Monkeys at their best, music is solid and lyrics present as ever. When 'Potion Approaching' finishes, we are blessed with a song called 'Fire And The Thud' which has a very special guest on it, Miss. Alison Mosshart of The Kills/Dead Weather. Although her role in the song is just backing vocals and she only appears in the last minute and a bit. However, the song wouldn't work any other way, as Alex Turner and co, already add their dreary and murky label on it, Alison just applies the finishing touches with her echoing and haunting voice which simply pierces your heart like a nail through the eye.
Towards the end of the album, 'Cornerstone' gives us a nice little ballad about keeping your short-cuts to yourself and picking up the scent of your girlfriend on the seatbelt, despite that, 'Mardy Bum' fans would be happy with this effort for another genuine sing-a-long. 'Pretty Visitors' gives us a slight bit of comedy in the line 'What came first the chicken or the dickhead?' and another bit of Josh Homme pops up again with the dark echoing vocals in the background to a ferocious guitar riff and drum beat dominating proceedings. Now, something the Arctic Monkeys are very good at now comes into play and that's writing excellent closing songs for an album, and just to refresh your memory may I mention how good 'A Certain Romance' and '505' are? Well, here comes another one, 'The Jeweller's Hands'. They display many styles in this song, like Psychedelia, Rock and maybe some elements of Jazz (Probably in the drumming). The song is also basically, Arctic Monkeys on The Doors and my reference to this would be in the later half of the song where Alex Turner scarily brings Jim Morrison back from the dead as he isolates us and brings our defences down further as he sings 'If you've a lesson to teach me I'm listening, ready to learn. There's no here to police me I'm sinking in until the return. If you've a lesson to teach me don't deviate, don't be afraid. Without the last corner piece I can't calibrate, let's get it engraved'. Even the lyrics would resemble something Jim Morrison would write and if anything, that speaks volume for Alex Turner's song writing capabilities and the rest of the band also do their bit, by keeping a very tight rhythm that haunts us with it's mellow and black perceptions until the final note.
'Humbug' has been a very pleasant surprise, hopefully a departure from their previous work and they can enter a new world of mystery and deviant behaviour. It's hardly going to be winning any awards or going to be album of the year, but who gives a fuck? Arctic Monkeys are a band that's not going to fade away within a few years, they're here to stay and this album demonstrates that.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
So the Monkeys open with 'My Propeller', a nice jaunting track, where the guitar lines actually reminiscent the sound of what we think a propeller would sound like when it's old and battered. Alex Turner doesn't disappoint with his lyrics either, as usual he comes up with quirky lines like 'Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller' which could sound sexually deviant when you think of it.
Track two, would come in the form of 'Crying Lightning', which is also the lead single from 'Humbug'. It's a grower, especially for a single, it doesn't have the impact most lead singles would have, but again, lyrically it delivers, may I suggest how lyrics these days are never as good as this 'And your pastimes consisted of the strange, the twisted and deranged and I hate that little game you had called 'Crying Lightning''. After 'Crying Lightning' we enter 'Pound' mode 'Dangerous Animals' which has a Black Sabbath aura to it, with the main riff is a hard pounder which is destined to enter your head along with the chorus which equally pounds itself to the back of your mind 'D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L'.
As 'Humbug' progresses on it's dark and wonderful path, we soon encounter 'Potion Approaching' which is another thumper, it's another song you feel that Mr. Homme might have had a bit of an influence over, which is obvious, as he's produced most of the tracks, but you could argue that certain parts do sound very Homme-ish in terms of his guitar playing style and unique sound which the Monkeys seemed to have stole and made it their own. Despite all that, it's Arctic Monkeys at their best, music is solid and lyrics present as ever. When 'Potion Approaching' finishes, we are blessed with a song called 'Fire And The Thud' which has a very special guest on it, Miss. Alison Mosshart of The Kills/Dead Weather. Although her role in the song is just backing vocals and she only appears in the last minute and a bit. However, the song wouldn't work any other way, as Alex Turner and co, already add their dreary and murky label on it, Alison just applies the finishing touches with her echoing and haunting voice which simply pierces your heart like a nail through the eye.
Towards the end of the album, 'Cornerstone' gives us a nice little ballad about keeping your short-cuts to yourself and picking up the scent of your girlfriend on the seatbelt, despite that, 'Mardy Bum' fans would be happy with this effort for another genuine sing-a-long. 'Pretty Visitors' gives us a slight bit of comedy in the line 'What came first the chicken or the dickhead?' and another bit of Josh Homme pops up again with the dark echoing vocals in the background to a ferocious guitar riff and drum beat dominating proceedings. Now, something the Arctic Monkeys are very good at now comes into play and that's writing excellent closing songs for an album, and just to refresh your memory may I mention how good 'A Certain Romance' and '505' are? Well, here comes another one, 'The Jeweller's Hands'. They display many styles in this song, like Psychedelia, Rock and maybe some elements of Jazz (Probably in the drumming). The song is also basically, Arctic Monkeys on The Doors and my reference to this would be in the later half of the song where Alex Turner scarily brings Jim Morrison back from the dead as he isolates us and brings our defences down further as he sings 'If you've a lesson to teach me I'm listening, ready to learn. There's no here to police me I'm sinking in until the return. If you've a lesson to teach me don't deviate, don't be afraid. Without the last corner piece I can't calibrate, let's get it engraved'. Even the lyrics would resemble something Jim Morrison would write and if anything, that speaks volume for Alex Turner's song writing capabilities and the rest of the band also do their bit, by keeping a very tight rhythm that haunts us with it's mellow and black perceptions until the final note.
'Humbug' has been a very pleasant surprise, hopefully a departure from their previous work and they can enter a new world of mystery and deviant behaviour. It's hardly going to be winning any awards or going to be album of the year, but who gives a fuck? Arctic Monkeys are a band that's not going to fade away within a few years, they're here to stay and this album demonstrates that.
4/5
Linus Broadbent.
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