Category Archives: CD reviews

“¡Uno!” mas pop punk album from Green Day

You’d think it would be hard for Green Day to top it’s last two rock operas, 2004’s American Idiot and 2009’s 21st Century Breakdown. But, nope, the one-time underground punk band looks to top those grandiose efforts with yet another ambitious project, a trilogy of albums and eventual box set) beginning with ¡Uno! (¡Dos! is scheduled to be released in November and ¡Tré! comes out in January).

¡Uno! sees the band returning to the its punk rock roots while also expanding into other sonic realms. But not in the same way it has on the last two albums, which maintained the band’s punchy stylings while venturing into more elaborate structuring reminiscent of The Who and Queen. This time around, Green Day takes a simpler approach that ends up sounding more like Cheap Trick-style pop than the edgier Buzzcocks/Sex Pistols stylings of earlier releases. But Green Day’s music has always been catchy, so it was probably pretty easy to step away from the concept albums and get back to recording fast-paced pop songs (which is probably why the band was able to produce three albums in such a short period of time).

“Nuclear Family” has the sarcasm and staccato of something off the band’s 2000 Warning release while “Let Yourself Go” has an anthemic AC/DC quality. “Kill the DJ” has a touch of Jet/Franz Ferdniand-like garage rock as well as a catchy ’80s dance vibe. “Sweet 16,” like a few other songs here, is basically a pop rock ballad, which actually suits Green Day’s subversive sneer (especially since there still seems to be an underlying middle finger that binds the entire album).

If ¡Uno! is any indication of what ¡Dos! and ¡Tré! will have to offer (they are meant to be one cohesive work, after all), then Green Day has plenty more pop punk where all this came from. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. The last two albums may have been presented as three structured acts, but composing three entire albums can’t be any easier (thought it sounds like it’s just as fun).

www.greenday.com

Rob Zombie’s “Mondo Sex Head” reanimates songs from his entire catalog

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Whether he’s making movies or music, Rob Zombie has never shied away from the fact that he borrows heavily from the art that inspired his own creativity. From his own visceral take on the Halloween film franchise to remix albums and EPs such as 1992’s Nightcrawlers: The KMFDM Remixes, 1996’s Supersexy Swingin’ Sounds and 1999’s American Made Music to Strip By that let DJs, industrial bands and electronica acts give their own take on his solo work and White Zombie catalogue, reinvention is something Zombie has celebrated for most of his career. And with Mondo Sex Head, Zombie revisits that idea as a variety of today’s DJs and electro acts give new life to songs dating as far back as the ’90s.

The first single, “Thunderkiss ’65 (J Devil Number of the Beast Remix),” is also the debut release by J Devil, the dark dubstep project of Korn‘s Jonathan Davis. Unlike many of the songs on Mondo Sex Head, which stray so far from the original songs that they can hardly be considered remixes so much as entirely new songs, J Devil’s “Thunderkiss ’65” reawakens the original track with heavy electro charges. If J Devil’s sound is too dubstep for your tastes, then you’ll hate Document One’s take on “Let It All Bleed Out,” which features snippets of Zombie’s vocals and John 5’s guitar alongside lots of warble and deep bass. And Davis isn’t the only rocker-turned-DJ to reinterpret a Zombie song as Chino Moreno’s home away from the Deftones ††† (pronounced “Crosses”) gives “Dragula” a darkly chilled-out vibe.

Aside from the J Devil and Document One tracks, Mondo Sex Head eschews dupstep’s current popularity for a variety of other electronica genres. Zombie seems to have a particular penchant for Ki:Theory, who seems to have his own penchant for Zombie’s more dementedly sexy songs given his remix choices: “Foxy Foxy” and “Pussy Liquor.” Photek takes “Living Dead Girl” to a cerebrally chilled-out place that she’s probably never visited before. And Big Black Delta‘s “More Human Than Human” is more Big Black Delta than White Zombie.

All that is to be expected when it comes to remix projects, so I’m not complaining about Zombie’s willingness to showcase other artists while also reminding listeners of his previous output. But it’s not until Das Kapital’s take on “Lords of Salem” that it actually starts to sound like a Rob Zombie remix project rather than a collection of songs that sample Zombie’s work. Kapital’s cut-and-paste onslaught gives way to Drumcorps‘ aggressively glitchy groove on “Never Gonna Stop.” Kraddy‘s dark-and-dirty sound further complements “Superbeast” while the Bloody Beetroots make “Burn” a raging party anthem. The deconstruction of “Devil’s Hole Girls” by Swedish composer Tobias Enhus is appropriately cinematic, especially with the addition of the Jane Antonia Cornish String Quarter. And the more industrial take on “Mars Needs Women” by producer Griffin Boice brings Mondo Sex Head back down to Earth for an appropriately settling conclusion.

For more information, go to www.robzombie.com.

The Other returns with “The Devils You Know”

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I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of punk rock songs based on monster movies like Fright Night and The Phantom of the Opera. And let’s face it, the Misfits have just gone through too many mutations to come anywhere close to the collectively creative creature they once were. But there is a German horror punk band that has arisen to usher in an entirely new wave of ghoulish rock, and it goes by the name of The Other.

Already established as one of Europe’s biggest monsters of macabre rock, The Other‘s latest creation is The Devils You Know, a rollicking collection of 15 pieces of fleshy punk inspired by vampires, nightmares and Halloween-like nostalgia. Released on July 31, The Devils You Know does have a devilishly familiar sound rooted in death rock and rockabilly, as well as the obvious horror punk influence of the Misfits, Alice Cooper and others. Yet The Other’s sound is as fresh as a new grave, with its roots in punk, yet more reliant on thrash metal and ’50s sing-alongs.

While songs like “My Home Is My Casket,” “In My Veins” and “Nice Day for a Funeral” are perfect examples of The Other’s macabre metal tendencies, tracks such as “Puppet on a String,” “Nightmare on Halloween” and “Fire From Outer Space” are brewed with pinches of goth rock atmospherics and swaggering swoons to give the album even more depth. And just to remind you that these guys are German, the album concludes with the majestic “Ewigkeit,” with a symphonic influence that makes the German lyrics sound that much more grandiose.

Though it’s still a few months too early to be ready for trick-or-treating, Jack o’ lanterns and changing leaves, I get the feeling The Other is always ready for Halloween. And weather you share in such a year-round sentiment or would rather reserve your monsters for October, The Devils You Know is ready and waiting for you to give it a demonic spin. And when you do, it will be like dumping out the bag of Halloween treats to find that it was filled with all your favorite candy.

For more information, go to www.the-other.de.

And One keeps its synth beats going with “S.T.O.P.”

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And One formed as a German synth duo in 1989. And although the band has added one member here and lost one member there along the way, not a whole lot has changed in regards to its new wave, synthpop and industrial dance sound. But more than 20 years after its inception, And One is finally ready to S.T.O.P. No, the band hasn’t called it quits. S.T.O.P. is the name of its latest album, out today.

From celebratory singles such as “Shouts of Joy,” “Memory” and “S.T.O.P. the Sun” to the more darkwave dance sounds of “Killing the Mercy,” “You Without a Me,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and “The 4,” And One is still channelling the synth sounds of Depeche Mode, the Pet Shop Boys and Front 242. Sometimes upbeat and joyous, but often melancholy and somber in sound and subject matter, S.T.O.P.‘s electronic groove is exactly what has kept And One fans dancing and brooding over the course of its ten previous albums.

But don’t let the darker sounds and song titles fool you. “Everybody Dies Tonight” and “No Words” are atmospheric instrumental pieces with an ominously enjoyable feel. And while one might expect “The End of Your Life” to be a depressing song about death and loss, it’s more of a cautionary tale and motivational piece about accomplishing your goals before time runs out.

Though I still haven’t figured out what the acronymic album title S.T.O.P. stands for, I don’t get the impression that it means And One will be ceasing to create the synthpop sounds it has become known for. If anything, it sounds like the band could keep on dancing for another couple of decades before calling it quits.

For more information, go to www.andone.de.

“Life Among the Ruins” reissue could be many metal fans’ first time with Virgin Steele

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Despite its very ’80s metal sound, Virgin Steele never quite fit in with the Mötley Crües, Poisons and Warrants of the ’80s and early ’90s. And that’s due in large part to the band’s bombastically progressive rock and symphonic metal tendencies, which stood in stark contrast to the pop metal of most of that era’s bands. But in 1993, Virgin Steele took a bit of a departure into a more mainstream metal sound with Life Among the Ruins, a bluesy hard rock album more akin to Whitesnake than Dream Theater. In fact, this album was such a departure from the band’s typical grandiosity that it turned off some fans, almost sounding like a parody of a style that was already on its way out of favor thanks to the grunge movement.

Though I’m not certain why the band (or its record label) decided this was the most opportune time to revisit this album (especially considering that next year will be the 20th anniversary of its original release), Life Among the Ruins receives the renovated reissue treatment on July 17. The two-disc set features the original album with bonus acoustic versions of five songs and an entire disc of alternate mixes and previously unreleased and entirely new tracks. And revisiting this album after 19 years makes its stylistic change all the more perplexing, especially considering that the band returned to the Dio-like mythological themes and epic soundscapes it had previously been known for with subsequent releases. But with hair metal making a resurgence as of late, Life Among the Ruins could gain a new following for the band.

Hard rocking songs like “Sex Religion Machine” and “Too Hot to Handle” (with its opening line of “Come on, get naked!”) are perfect examples of the cock rock parody I was referring to earlier. And that’s definitely not a bad thing, especially if you like the kind of rock that just might get girls to do just that. And in true Cinderella fashion, “Invitation,” “Cage of Angels” and “Haunting the Last Hours” are piano-driven power ballads to show these hard rockers also have a sensitive side. But for every moment of sensitivity, there are several moments of seductively sexed-up swagger on songs such as “Never Believed in Goodbye,” “Snakeskin Voodoo Man” and “Wildfire Woman.” And album closer “Last Rose of Summer” is just kind of weird, sounding like Guns N’ Roses‘ “November Rain” as interpreted by Michael Bolton.

This new version of Life Among the Ruins also includes new liner notes by front man David DeFeis, rare photos from that time period and other bonuses. Whether you missed this on the first time around or you’re just discovering Def Leppard, Ratt or even Steel Panther for the first time, Life Among the Ruins is definitely better than some of the stuff that made it to MTV and radio in the early ’90s, and it could be your gateway into Virgin Steel’s otherwise progressive sound.

For more information, go to www.virgin-steele.com.

Serj Tankian commits “Harakiri” with new solo album

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Only a few weeks before a reunited System of a Down heads out for an East Coast tour (the band’s first United States tour in at least six years), eccentric front man Serj Tankian releases his latest solo album Harakiri following 2010’s Elect the Dead Symphony and Imperfect Harmonies. Based on his introspection and observations throughout 2011, Harakiri is one of his most diverse, yet consistent, releases to date. And for the most part it tones down the metal tendencies he’s best known for, focusing more on pop, electronic and punk-like elements and song structures.

Named after the Japanese term for ritualistic suicide, the album and its title track were inspired by reports of birds and fish committing mass suicide. Oddly one of the album’s most triumphant-sounding songs, Tankian lyrically explores the idea that maybe Mother Nature knows something we don’t and that these animals have an inherent knowledge of when their time has come on “Harakiri.” Musically and lyrically, “Harakiri” stands in stark contrast to the more upbeat and angsty opening track “Butterfly,” a less optimistic song about man’s mechanical routines and their effects on nature.

“Figure It Out,” with it’s Slayer-like guitar riff and Mike Patton-like vocal delivery, is the most System-sounding song on Harakiri. As a result, it’s also one of the most fun tracks on the album, despite its socio-political underpinnings. Tankian’s oft-employed use of gypsy melodies and ethnic sounds arise on “Ching Chime,” another inquisitive look at the importance of money and material objects over the betterment of humanity.

Speaking of the betterment of humanity, “Reality TV” is thematically like Tankian’s updated version of Public Enemy‘s “She Watch Channel Zero?!” with it’s comedic chorus, “I abhor the whore who calls herself reality.” That leads right into the very Dead Kennedys-like “Uneducated Democracy,” with its punk rock pacing and political themes. And “Deafening Silence” is a more subdued trance-like track that dabbles in electronica.

Overall, Harakiri is probably Tankian’s most pop-oriented endeavor yet. But I guess pop standards are a little bit different when referring to someone who has been known to play speed metal with odd time signatures, only to later have the Aukland Philharmonia Orchestra serve briefly as his backing band. But unlike the birds and fish that inspired Harakiri (and considering that Tankian has already recorded three Harakiri companion albums for future release), this album clearly isn’t the death of Tankian’s career. But the ritualistic manner in which it was recorded and has been presented might just be in keeping with the message those mass suicides were trying to convey. And Tankian is likely the only person who could adequately explain what that message might have been.

For more information, go to www.serjtankian.com.

The Smashing Pumpkins drift into familiarly fresh sonic realms with “Oceania”

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When he’s not busy running his Resistance Pro wrestling promotion, Billy Corgan has a little musical side project called The Smashing Pumpkins. Considering how influential the band has been on the rock scene since the early ’90s, I’m guessing you may have heard of them. And after reissuing their first two albums – 1991’s Gish and 1993’s Siamese Dream – as remastered expanded box sets last November, Corgan’s latest Pumpkins incarnation releases its first traditional album in five years with Oceania.

Recorded amidst the band’s Teargarden by Kaleidyscope experiment (an ongoing, open-ended series of singles released digitally as they were recorded), Oceania is a return to the overall album experience as an art form. Rather than pump out singles in advance of the album’s physical release, the band instead streamed the album in its entirety (devoid of individual track separations) over the course of the past week. That means many fans are already familiar with the entire album before it hits store shelves today.

But Oceania is a return to the Pumpkin vine in other ways, as well. With the psychedelic guitar buildup that begins opening track “Quasar,” longtime Pumpkins fans might think they are listening to a Gish outtake or “I Am One” B-side. And that trend continues as songs like “Panoptica,” “The Celestials” and “My Love is Winter” feature Corgan’s blissful lyrics alongside his Brian May-like guitar wailing and overall blend of ’70s progressive rock, shoe gaze-y haze and occasional goth rock leanings. But Corgan also revisits the electronica elements he started toying with on 1998’s Adore and 2000’s Machina/The Machines of God, most notably on “One Diamond, One Heart,” the Kraftwerkian “Pinwheels” and “Wildflower.”

Corgan indulges his New Age-y rock side a few times, too, especially on the somewhat meditative title track. Then “The Chimera” and “Inkless” return to the harder rocking “Cherub Rock”/”Mayonaise” alt-rock sound that established Corgan and the Pumpkins as rock royalty. And even though many Smashing Pumpkins fans will claim Oceania is not a true Pumpkins album (especially since longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is no longer in the band, leaving Corgan as the sole original Pumpkin), Corgan has always been the creative force behind the band’s uniquely heavy sound. And with a newer lineup that seems to be just as accomplished in the studio as any previous members, Oceania proves that Corgan is not only still good at creating the yet-to-be-duplicated Pumpkins sound, but he also has a talent for finding equally accomplished musicians to help him realize his musical vision.

For more information, go to www.smashingpumpkins.com.