Everyone knows Demanufacture. That's honestly all I can think about when I think of Fear Factory. And it's a great demonstration of their music, as most of their songs sound like that. I don't think that's unfair.
My favourite track on this album is the title track. I love how it builds to the surprise "open your eyes" part toward the end.
The rest of the album is the same though, but of lower quality. Clicky-drums, fast monotonous guitars, shouted and clean vocals. The first track is down-right embarrassing in places. St. Anger embarrassing. The "pour this gas on me" rap/line makes me cringe every single time.
The album ends with a cover of Nirvana's School. It's a nice reminder of how metal early Nirvana were. Hugely influential. The cover is ok, but with none of the dirt of the original. I much prefer Machine Head's Negative Creep cover. Paw also do a far better cover of School (although slightly too straight). I first heard them do it on a Triple J Live At The Wireless back in 1995.
Archetype (the song) makes up the majority of this score.
4/10
Saturday 14 February 2015
[2005] Apocalyptica, "Apocalyptica"
I love Apocalyptica, even though they've moved in a pop direction I generally hate. I love their music, it's just a pity the vocalists they tend to choose are so cheesy.
This self-titled album is mostly instrumental, but the drums do tend to distract from the greatness. Looking into it, the drummer is also listed as "programmer" so I suspect the fast songs are using electronic drums, which probably explains why I think they sound so bad.
The third track Distraction is a good example of the awful drums, as is Fatal Error. The slower songs with either a lot more tom drums, or no drums at all, are much much better (Quutamo, Misconstruction, Farewell, Ruska).
Dave Lombardo plays drums on "Betrayal/Forgiveness" and he shows how drums should be done. I've previously complained about the looseness of Dave's drumming, but next to the fake and boring sounding perfectness of the other tracks on this album, they're a huge improvement.
The vocal tracks (Life Burns! and Bittersweet) are OK. Bittersweet is definitely my favourite, with Ville Valo (of HIM) and Lauri Ylönen (of The Rasmus) doing a great VAST impression. Life Burns! is a little too pop for my liking.
I avoided this album after it came out as I was really disappointed at the drumming. I think I've found more to like this time around, but they have far far better albums.
5/10
This self-titled album is mostly instrumental, but the drums do tend to distract from the greatness. Looking into it, the drummer is also listed as "programmer" so I suspect the fast songs are using electronic drums, which probably explains why I think they sound so bad.
The third track Distraction is a good example of the awful drums, as is Fatal Error. The slower songs with either a lot more tom drums, or no drums at all, are much much better (Quutamo, Misconstruction, Farewell, Ruska).
Dave Lombardo plays drums on "Betrayal/Forgiveness" and he shows how drums should be done. I've previously complained about the looseness of Dave's drumming, but next to the fake and boring sounding perfectness of the other tracks on this album, they're a huge improvement.
The vocal tracks (Life Burns! and Bittersweet) are OK. Bittersweet is definitely my favourite, with Ville Valo (of HIM) and Lauri Ylönen (of The Rasmus) doing a great VAST impression. Life Burns! is a little too pop for my liking.
I avoided this album after it came out as I was really disappointed at the drumming. I think I've found more to like this time around, but they have far far better albums.
5/10
[1996] Marilyn Manson, "Antichrist Superstar"
My wife's album, although MM has intrigued me since this album was popular. I ignored him at the Big Day Out in 1999, so my chance to see him was lost. I've got a chance to see him at Soundwave this year (if I can friggin' get there, no train? WTF?), maybe I will, although I'm likely to be watching Godsmack.
I was genuinely surprised by this album. It's very long, at 17 tracks (a lot more actually, but most are empty "hidden track filler" tracks before the final "hidden" untitled song), but stays interesting. MM's singing is dreadful, but he hides it well in these tracks. The style suits the music. I'm a big fan of The Beautiful People of course, but I also really like The Reflecting God. The rest of the album is nicely shouty with a good mix of electronic/heavy music styles and production.
It's hardly genius, but I enjoy it. I think I'll give it a few more goes in the future.
On a side note, the way he pronounces Tourniquet bugged me so I looked it up, and it's apparently normal. I'm the weird one.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dBnEJqj62r8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
6/10
I was genuinely surprised by this album. It's very long, at 17 tracks (a lot more actually, but most are empty "hidden track filler" tracks before the final "hidden" untitled song), but stays interesting. MM's singing is dreadful, but he hides it well in these tracks. The style suits the music. I'm a big fan of The Beautiful People of course, but I also really like The Reflecting God. The rest of the album is nicely shouty with a good mix of electronic/heavy music styles and production.
It's hardly genius, but I enjoy it. I think I'll give it a few more goes in the future.
On a side note, the way he pronounces Tourniquet bugged me so I looked it up, and it's apparently normal. I'm the weird one.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dBnEJqj62r8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
6/10
[2006] Between The Buried And Me, "The Anatomy Of"
I can't remember how I came to first hear this album. It was likely while searching for cover-versions of either Metallica or Faith No More. I know I downloaded it first, then later bought it on CD in 2008.
What impressed me the most about this covers album is not only the artists they've chosen to cover, which reads almost like a list of everything I liked in the 90s, but the songs by those bands they've attempted.
Geek USA by the Smashing Pumpkins, Territory by Sepultura, Malpractice by Faith No More, Us And Them by Pink Floyd, The Day I Tried To Live by Soundgarden, Blackened by Metallica, Cemetery Gates by Pantera, Three Of A Perfect Pair by King Crimson, Bicycle Race by Queen. As obvious as many of these bands may be, the choice of songs is not. It's very brave to tackle Cemetary Gates or Bicycle Race by Queen, when there are so many far easier songs to play or sing.
The vocalist from Between The Buried And Me as a very strong voice, capable of the high and low notes required on many of these tracks. The players are all technically brilliant. They "metal up" a lot of the songs a tad unnecessarily, although what is the point of a perfectly straight cover?
I don't think though, that any of the covers add anything to the originals. They're fun to listen to, but I'd rather hear the originals. That's true of most cover albums, and the curse of the cover band. You have to either change the song completely, making it your own, or play it so well, that the cover seems pointless.
I discovered a few bands in the listening of this (King Crimson being the main one), so it was a worthy trip, but I'd probably never listen to this again.
4/10
What impressed me the most about this covers album is not only the artists they've chosen to cover, which reads almost like a list of everything I liked in the 90s, but the songs by those bands they've attempted.
Geek USA by the Smashing Pumpkins, Territory by Sepultura, Malpractice by Faith No More, Us And Them by Pink Floyd, The Day I Tried To Live by Soundgarden, Blackened by Metallica, Cemetery Gates by Pantera, Three Of A Perfect Pair by King Crimson, Bicycle Race by Queen. As obvious as many of these bands may be, the choice of songs is not. It's very brave to tackle Cemetary Gates or Bicycle Race by Queen, when there are so many far easier songs to play or sing.
The vocalist from Between The Buried And Me as a very strong voice, capable of the high and low notes required on many of these tracks. The players are all technically brilliant. They "metal up" a lot of the songs a tad unnecessarily, although what is the point of a perfectly straight cover?
I don't think though, that any of the covers add anything to the originals. They're fun to listen to, but I'd rather hear the originals. That's true of most cover albums, and the curse of the cover band. You have to either change the song completely, making it your own, or play it so well, that the cover seems pointless.
I discovered a few bands in the listening of this (King Crimson being the main one), so it was a worthy trip, but I'd probably never listen to this again.
4/10
Monday 9 February 2015
[2011] Steak Number Eight, "All Is Chaos"
I received this for free on the front of Metal Hammer magazine.
This album is incredible sludgy post-metal ruined only by terrible lyrics. They have an excellent understanding of a great build up, killer riffs, rising choruses. I'm always smiling listening to it. I really do adore the music. It must be so fun to play.
It really is a pity about the lyrics.
7/10
This album is incredible sludgy post-metal ruined only by terrible lyrics. They have an excellent understanding of a great build up, killer riffs, rising choruses. I'm always smiling listening to it. I really do adore the music. It must be so fun to play.
It really is a pity about the lyrics.
7/10
[1996] Mazzy Star, "Among My Swan"
My wife's CD. She also has 1993's "So Tonight That I Might See" which includes my favourite Fade Into You.
I listened to this album twice through, and both times I missed most of it. It's awfully... low key. It's as if the band set up in one corner of an enormous echoy studio, looked down at their instruments, instructed each other to slow everything down by half, then set up the microphone in the other corner and hit record.
I don't know if I'd enjoy it better if someone covered the songs with some less-jammy guitar and actually enunciated. Probably not.
3/10
I listened to this album twice through, and both times I missed most of it. It's awfully... low key. It's as if the band set up in one corner of an enormous echoy studio, looked down at their instruments, instructed each other to slow everything down by half, then set up the microphone in the other corner and hit record.
I don't know if I'd enjoy it better if someone covered the songs with some less-jammy guitar and actually enunciated. Probably not.
3/10
[1994] Pearl Jam, "Animal"
Bought at the time for numerous reasons. I was a big fan of singles, live recordings, and Pearl Jam (in that order).
Animal isn't exactly the best song on "Vs" (I much prefer Go and Rearviewmirror) and I'm a bit surprised it was a single, but I suppose it's short, with a fun chorus.
The live tracks (Jeremy, Daughter, Animal) are all sourced from 3 April 1994 at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, a much bootlegged show, owing to it having been broadcast on the radio. The next single, Dissident, would come in multiple parts and include across all of the singles nearly the whole show. So in a way, I screwed up... I should have got Dissident. But I wasn't a big enough fan really to care.
Listening now I'm reminded at how good (solid) Pearl Jam are/were live. Flawless performances, but with life that makes them fun to listen to. Their habit of plugging a cover into the end of Daughter included Another Brick In The Wall this time around. It's hard to believe that a recent "cover" of Let It Go from Frozen at the end of Daughter was deemed newsworthy enough to be covered by the TV media in Australia. I hope everyone is embarrassed by that.
Fun little listen, but the single itself it's worth getting.
4/10
Animal isn't exactly the best song on "Vs" (I much prefer Go and Rearviewmirror) and I'm a bit surprised it was a single, but I suppose it's short, with a fun chorus.
The live tracks (Jeremy, Daughter, Animal) are all sourced from 3 April 1994 at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia, a much bootlegged show, owing to it having been broadcast on the radio. The next single, Dissident, would come in multiple parts and include across all of the singles nearly the whole show. So in a way, I screwed up... I should have got Dissident. But I wasn't a big enough fan really to care.
Listening now I'm reminded at how good (solid) Pearl Jam are/were live. Flawless performances, but with life that makes them fun to listen to. Their habit of plugging a cover into the end of Daughter included Another Brick In The Wall this time around. It's hard to believe that a recent "cover" of Let It Go from Frozen at the end of Daughter was deemed newsworthy enough to be covered by the TV media in Australia. I hope everyone is embarrassed by that.
Fun little listen, but the single itself it's worth getting.
4/10
Monday 2 February 2015
[1977] Pink Floyd, "Animals"
Again, during a big music sale, I decided to bite the bullet and purchase some Pink Floyd. I bought Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and Animals, as I figured I should list to what all the fuss is about these pre-The-Wall albums.
I'd heard Animals exactly once (or a few times actually, in a row) at a party (or laze-about) at a friend's place. Said friends were talking about Pink Floyd like maybe they'd made the world, and were jamming along to the album on the stereo on an acoustic. I remember listening to it, but I don't remember how it sounded, or if I liked it. I didn't even really connect it with its famous cover until just now.
In the few listens I've given it since, I find it interesting... I like the stark acoustic/keyboard music more than the almost ambient twiddle on Wish You Were Here. I'm not bored by it, despite the songs being far too long. I like hearing instrumentation and sound effects that I know from later music, like the War Of The Worlds, or Transformers, or The Tea Party.
I don't enjoy the singing, although I suppose it's supposed to sound pained and angry. It's nicely hidden in Sheep where a dodgy held note turns into keyboards, but mostly it's monotone whine irritates me, and it's nothing on performances on The Wall, or even Dark Side Of The Moon.
I love the keyboard work, the vocoder, the angrily played jagged riffs on the electric guitar, the way the tracks build and fall, so much like War Of The Worlds. In a way, I think seeing Animals played in full live would be more fun than The Wall... at least maybe in a dingy pub in a basement somewhere.
My mind rallies against this album, but I'm not irritated enough to stop listening every time I play it, so it can't be that bad.
[By the way, I listened to the 2011 remaster. I am completely unqualified to compare it with the original, but it sounded pretty nice to me.]
5/10
I'd heard Animals exactly once (or a few times actually, in a row) at a party (or laze-about) at a friend's place. Said friends were talking about Pink Floyd like maybe they'd made the world, and were jamming along to the album on the stereo on an acoustic. I remember listening to it, but I don't remember how it sounded, or if I liked it. I didn't even really connect it with its famous cover until just now.
In the few listens I've given it since, I find it interesting... I like the stark acoustic/keyboard music more than the almost ambient twiddle on Wish You Were Here. I'm not bored by it, despite the songs being far too long. I like hearing instrumentation and sound effects that I know from later music, like the War Of The Worlds, or Transformers, or The Tea Party.
I don't enjoy the singing, although I suppose it's supposed to sound pained and angry. It's nicely hidden in Sheep where a dodgy held note turns into keyboards, but mostly it's monotone whine irritates me, and it's nothing on performances on The Wall, or even Dark Side Of The Moon.
I love the keyboard work, the vocoder, the angrily played jagged riffs on the electric guitar, the way the tracks build and fall, so much like War Of The Worlds. In a way, I think seeing Animals played in full live would be more fun than The Wall... at least maybe in a dingy pub in a basement somewhere.
My mind rallies against this album, but I'm not irritated enough to stop listening every time I play it, so it can't be that bad.
[By the way, I listened to the 2011 remaster. I am completely unqualified to compare it with the original, but it sounded pretty nice to me.]
5/10
[1973] Art Garfunkel, "Angel Clare"
About half-way through last year, I got weirdly obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel during one of the seemingly permanent 20% off sales at JB HiFi. I noticed one of those 5-album packs of Art Garfunkel's output so grabbed it. This is his debut solo album.
Paul Simon was the main songwriter in S&G. For his solo debut, Art has tackled various cover songs with all of the production and money having been in a hugely popular band can allow. He's working with long time S&G producer Roy Halee and uses a long list of session musos.
The songs are... mostly flat. Art's voice is as angelic as ever, but none of the spunk of S&G is present. None of the randomly funky bass or excellent guitar riffage. Nothing is horrible, but rarely do I find any of it interesting. It's all the kind of music I'd expect over the credits of a 70s TV show or movie.
The first track Travelling Boy descends into a pretty cool guitar solo, but the unfortunate love of the 70s, the casio keyboard, ruins the outro, as it does on the final song, Another Lullaby. I Shall Sing, with its latin beat, could almost be an outtake from Paul Simon's Graceland, while I'm surprised to hear Simon singing backing on Down In The Willow Garden, one of the least interesting tracks in a pile of uninteresting.
I like the excessive over-dub sounding backing instrumentation on Mary Was An Only Child, it's almost avant-garde at times, but not quite Cecilia.
And obviously most missing are the effortless harmonies that made S&G so great. It's unfair to compare I suppose, but it's all I can do. The album, and indeed Garfunkel's entire solo career, serves fans who adore his voice, the Bridge Over Troubled Water fans, who want to hear his take on all-the-things, but for me, it's an emotionless experience.
3/10
Paul Simon was the main songwriter in S&G. For his solo debut, Art has tackled various cover songs with all of the production and money having been in a hugely popular band can allow. He's working with long time S&G producer Roy Halee and uses a long list of session musos.
The songs are... mostly flat. Art's voice is as angelic as ever, but none of the spunk of S&G is present. None of the randomly funky bass or excellent guitar riffage. Nothing is horrible, but rarely do I find any of it interesting. It's all the kind of music I'd expect over the credits of a 70s TV show or movie.
The first track Travelling Boy descends into a pretty cool guitar solo, but the unfortunate love of the 70s, the casio keyboard, ruins the outro, as it does on the final song, Another Lullaby. I Shall Sing, with its latin beat, could almost be an outtake from Paul Simon's Graceland, while I'm surprised to hear Simon singing backing on Down In The Willow Garden, one of the least interesting tracks in a pile of uninteresting.
I like the excessive over-dub sounding backing instrumentation on Mary Was An Only Child, it's almost avant-garde at times, but not quite Cecilia.
And obviously most missing are the effortless harmonies that made S&G so great. It's unfair to compare I suppose, but it's all I can do. The album, and indeed Garfunkel's entire solo career, serves fans who adore his voice, the Bridge Over Troubled Water fans, who want to hear his take on all-the-things, but for me, it's an emotionless experience.
3/10
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