Why?: FNM
Tell me more!:
I can't. Not about the album. There is nothing more to say...
A friend of mine doesn't like listening to Angel Dust, despite enjoying the songs. He thinks the production is "weird". The production is weird. Matt Wallace decided not to put much compression on anything when he recorded it, aiming to put most of the compression in while mastering. That's unusual, but it meant the recordings have a lot more dynamics that might otherwise have occurred. It also means the remaster that was recently released also sounded weird, because they didn't apply that post-mix compression, so the heavier songs didn't sound chunky enough, but the quieter parts sounded amazing.
For me, it's odd to think of this album without Easy tacked on the end, but it was released without Easy for a long time. Nor can I think of this album without thinking about the amazing b-side, a Patton vocals version of "As The Worm Turns" from the band's first album, a b-side that has so far remained hard to get, available only on some Midlife Crisis singles, and the Japanese release (available for $35 via ebay if you're interested). It seems they recorded the cover too "hot", and it crackles. I don't know if that's why it hasn't been re-released since, who knows. Some members of the band forget it even exists.
Then there are the non-album tracks, that have leaked out over the years. The elusive "The World Is Yours", nicknamed "Sample Song", at first only available as a crappy live recording from a couple of gigs in 1991, but then finally released in full when the band broke up. And "Seagull song", which has recently been leaked in part to YouTube, but first discovered in the MTV Angel Dust in studio footage.
But none of that is the album. The album is Land Of Sunshine, and Midnight Crisis, and Kindergarten, and RV, and Caffeine, and the lovely subtle Midnight Cowboy cover. Caffeine, a favourite of mine live, where the band extend the middle bass riff as long as they can, where Bill says he sometimes zones out and freaks out he'll miss the kick back. It's the "gay disco" or Small Victory, and one of my favourite FNM songs, Everything's Ruined. It's the probably never to be played live ever Smaller and Smaller, although there is a new tour coming up... maybe next year is its year. It's Jizzlobber, it's Be Aggressive, it's... Crack Hitler.
Jim wasn't that interested in the album, with rumours that Bill wrote a lot of the guitar parts. It was the first time Patton extended himself, writing the messed up Malpractice, screaming, singing low.
The new album due next year will be the first time FNM have worked on an album with everyone 100% engaged. Chuck was always a bit out of it, coming up with lyrics in the studio. Patton wrote everything for The Real Thing in weeks. Jim hated Angel Dust. Roddy was out for the count during King For A Day, and Patton wasn't all that interested in the beginnings of Album Of The Year. I'm fascinated to hear what a fully engaged band of professional composers will come up with. Maybe a mess? Maybe Album Of The Year 2. Maybe genius.
8/10
Saturday 20 September 2014
[1992] Ugly Kid Joe, "America's Least Wanted"
Why?: I loved Ugly Kid Joe as a kid. Pop rock with a harder guitar edge closer to that Metallica sound I liked. This album was one of the first tapes I ever had. I've listened to it so much I could probably figure out how to play most of the songs by my memory's ear. I recently replaced the CD as I discovered while listening for this blog that my old copy has "worn out", as CDs sometimes do. New copy was $5 on ebay.
Tell me more!:
I'm glad I'm reviewing this at the same time as Appetite For Destruction, because for me they're similar albums, and I'd dare say Ugly Kid Joe's album, while not having a Sweet Child or Welcome To The Jungle, is easily the superior album.
Ignoring the songs, ignoring the lyrics, and just listening to the music, UKJ are heavier than GnR, their riffs and solos chunkier and far more "fun". UKJ are more Black Sabbath influenced, against GnR's heavy blues influence. I prefer Sabbath...
Given a not insignificant part of my brain consists of this album, I'm clearly biased. I can still recognise how cheesy these songs are. How they're really not that far from someone like Kid Rock, who everyone hates. It's pop-rock for bad cover bands... in fact, I accidentally saw an Ugly Kid Joe cover band once, back in around 2000, and I was one of a very small group of people enjoying myself.
UKJ lost themselves with their next album, heading in some very Christian themed directions that scared pretty much all of their fans away. They're back now, but I haven't really enjoyed their recent output. This album though, this album is the shit. The beer swilling shit that eats all the peanuts out of the mixed nuts and asks for more, but he's cute so you can't just kick him out. That'd be mean.
6/10
Tell me more!:
I'm glad I'm reviewing this at the same time as Appetite For Destruction, because for me they're similar albums, and I'd dare say Ugly Kid Joe's album, while not having a Sweet Child or Welcome To The Jungle, is easily the superior album.
Ignoring the songs, ignoring the lyrics, and just listening to the music, UKJ are heavier than GnR, their riffs and solos chunkier and far more "fun". UKJ are more Black Sabbath influenced, against GnR's heavy blues influence. I prefer Sabbath...
Given a not insignificant part of my brain consists of this album, I'm clearly biased. I can still recognise how cheesy these songs are. How they're really not that far from someone like Kid Rock, who everyone hates. It's pop-rock for bad cover bands... in fact, I accidentally saw an Ugly Kid Joe cover band once, back in around 2000, and I was one of a very small group of people enjoying myself.
UKJ lost themselves with their next album, heading in some very Christian themed directions that scared pretty much all of their fans away. They're back now, but I haven't really enjoyed their recent output. This album though, this album is the shit. The beer swilling shit that eats all the peanuts out of the mixed nuts and asks for more, but he's cute so you can't just kick him out. That'd be mean.
6/10
[1981] Ruts DC, "Animal Now"
Why?: I saw a review in Classic Rock that sounded interesting. I listened to a few tracks on YouTube and fell in love so I bought it via Amazon UK. This is a special re-release/re-master of this album, available for the first time on CD in 2012.
Tell me more!:
My limited knowledge of non-pop music from the late 70s/early 80s makes it difficult for me to describe the sound of Animal Now. The comparison I think most fits is very early Midnight Oil and Hunters & Collectors, with a little more keyboard production. Maybe there is an element of glam in there, like Aladdin Sane era David Bowie?
The songs are all downtrodden 80s singing, palm muted clean tone guitars, 80s over produced drums and bass that sound like computers before they had computers, reverb and heavy use of echo drenched keyboard-horn solos and multi-layered backing vocals, all covered in beautiful rock guitar solos.
Even when it finds itself in dub territory with Fools, it still works. The only song I hate is Walk or Run, which again is because of that boogie blues style I'm learning I hate so much. I commend them at least for spreading their style around so much in one album, but I skip Walk or Run every time.
Otherwise, I adore this album. More than I enjoy early Midnight Oil and Hunters and Collectors. It's one of those very rare-these-days moments where I've purchased an album on a small whim and genuinely fallen in love with it.
8/10
Tell me more!:
My limited knowledge of non-pop music from the late 70s/early 80s makes it difficult for me to describe the sound of Animal Now. The comparison I think most fits is very early Midnight Oil and Hunters & Collectors, with a little more keyboard production. Maybe there is an element of glam in there, like Aladdin Sane era David Bowie?
The songs are all downtrodden 80s singing, palm muted clean tone guitars, 80s over produced drums and bass that sound like computers before they had computers, reverb and heavy use of echo drenched keyboard-horn solos and multi-layered backing vocals, all covered in beautiful rock guitar solos.
Even when it finds itself in dub territory with Fools, it still works. The only song I hate is Walk or Run, which again is because of that boogie blues style I'm learning I hate so much. I commend them at least for spreading their style around so much in one album, but I skip Walk or Run every time.
Otherwise, I adore this album. More than I enjoy early Midnight Oil and Hunters and Collectors. It's one of those very rare-these-days moments where I've purchased an album on a small whim and genuinely fallen in love with it.
8/10
[1991] Sepultura, "Arise"
Why?: Like so many devouring music in the 90s, I fell in love with Seputura's Roots. Arise isn't much like Roots, but there are hints. I read somewhere that Arise is one of the "must have" metal albums so I bought it when cheap. This is the 1997 remaster.
Tell me more!:
In the last few years my metal ear has moved closer to doom, post-metal and thrash. So despite remembering not thinking much of Arise when I first bought it, I really 6/enjoy it now.
And in doing so, I start to show some big cracks in my analysis of why I don't like some other metal albums by bands like Anthrax. The vocals styles on this album as more toward shouty punk, a style I've claimed to hate. Maybe I don't mind Max's singing so much as it is a bit lower? Maybe it's the added joy of the fantastic riffs and progressive edge this album has?
Whatever it is, this album sounds as relevant today as it must have sounded revolutionary when it arrived, at the same time as Metallica's Black, and grunge. I can't disagree with its place so high on the metal pedestal.
A side note, I was perhaps a bit unfair to Against The Grain in my recent review, suggesting their only influence was Metallica. It's clear they were influenced by the thrash elements of bands like Sepultura, and presumably Slayer too. They didn't do it anywhere near as well...
My only complaint about Arise would be that it does drag a little at the end, but I mostly blame the bonus material for that.
7/10
Tell me more!:
In the last few years my metal ear has moved closer to doom, post-metal and thrash. So despite remembering not thinking much of Arise when I first bought it, I really 6/enjoy it now.
And in doing so, I start to show some big cracks in my analysis of why I don't like some other metal albums by bands like Anthrax. The vocals styles on this album as more toward shouty punk, a style I've claimed to hate. Maybe I don't mind Max's singing so much as it is a bit lower? Maybe it's the added joy of the fantastic riffs and progressive edge this album has?
Whatever it is, this album sounds as relevant today as it must have sounded revolutionary when it arrived, at the same time as Metallica's Black, and grunge. I can't disagree with its place so high on the metal pedestal.
A side note, I was perhaps a bit unfair to Against The Grain in my recent review, suggesting their only influence was Metallica. It's clear they were influenced by the thrash elements of bands like Sepultura, and presumably Slayer too. They didn't do it anywhere near as well...
My only complaint about Arise would be that it does drag a little at the end, but I mostly blame the bonus material for that.
7/10
[1987] Guns'n'Roses, "Appetite For Destruction"
Why?: My introduction to GnR was mostly via Sweet Child O' Mine, followed by Terminator 2's "You Could Be Mine", followed by taping the songs I liked from Use Your Illusion I and II onto a single tape from a neighbour. Much later in life I bought all three of those albums on CD.
Tell me more!:
Appetite is one of those albums everyone says they love, but I'm not that keen. Welcome To The Jungle is fantastic, as is Sweet Child O' Mine. Mr. Brownstone and Paradise City both have super catchy chorus' but what else is there? A bunch of songs I mostly don't even recognise the names of, and that barely scratch my interest on every listen. And I've listened a lot. I really have tried.
The style of the majority of these album tracks is this goodtimey rock/country boogie garbage that I despise. It took over "popular metal" in the 80s and damn near ruined it until Nirvana saved the day.
Blasphemy. Yeah. Whatever.
4/10 (2 points each for Welcome and Sweet).
Tell me more!:
Appetite is one of those albums everyone says they love, but I'm not that keen. Welcome To The Jungle is fantastic, as is Sweet Child O' Mine. Mr. Brownstone and Paradise City both have super catchy chorus' but what else is there? A bunch of songs I mostly don't even recognise the names of, and that barely scratch my interest on every listen. And I've listened a lot. I really have tried.
The style of the majority of these album tracks is this goodtimey rock/country boogie garbage that I despise. It took over "popular metal" in the 80s and damn near ruined it until Nirvana saved the day.
Blasphemy. Yeah. Whatever.
4/10 (2 points each for Welcome and Sweet).
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