January 18, 2025

Starflyer 59 - Leave Here a Stranger (2001) ☠


Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Indie Rock, Dream Pop
Label Number: TND1199

☠: Selected by Lass
© 2001 Tooth & Nail Records
Starflyer 59's dreamy, introverted pop seems to channel the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Nick Drake as much as the English shoegazer groups of the early '90s to which they're usually compared. Curiously recorded and mixed in mono, Leave Here a Stranger is an atmospheric collection of beautifully languid melodies and lyrics that repeatedly use music as a metaphor for life. Mood, not variety, is the name of the game here, and the album plays like one long song, but for the right moment, Leave Here a Stranger is perfect.

 tags: starflyer 59, sf59, leave here a stranger, 2001, flac,

Razorlight - Up All Night (2004)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: B0003362-02

© 2004 Universal Records
There must be a healthy middle when it comes to capturing the essence of Brit-pop. Something in between the impenetrable swagger of Liam and Noel Gallagher and the vacuous and hollow bravado of Jet that can both pay homage to big riffs and bad attitude, yet still maintain a unique personality, which is what made the rock gods of yesteryear so endearing. Razorlight mastermind, lead singer/guitarist Johnny Borrell wants so desperately to be the next Joe Strummer or Lou Reed, and for what Razorlight's first album lacks in identity, it gathers momentum on effort and sheer will. It's the same, albeit slightly worse, garage rock revival record that's been all too common in the early 2000s, but quick, aggressive tracks such as "Vice," "Rip It Up," "Golden Touch" and "Stumble and Fall" are undeniably catchy and Borrell himself is largely responsible for playing them as if he really were the next Freddie Mercury. He wails and passionately groans over some horribly vapid vocals, "hey girl/get on the dancefloor/rip it up, yeah/that's what it's there for" (on "Rip It Up") but even a bad cover version of your favorite Strokes-type song can still appeal to the less cynical part of your brain. Even John Cornfield and Borrell's production seems like a shoddy attempt to re-create the frontman's favorite records note for note. His desire to add a layer of grime by muddying up the louder moments (such as on "Don't Go Back to Dalston," which starts off quietly before careening into a bloated call and response conclusion) doesn't remove the feeling that the entire recording process was extremely sterile. At this stage, Borrell lacks the confidence to move beyond his idols, and his energetic music remains a game of spot the influence.

 tags: razorlight, up all night, 2004, flac,

Razorlight - Razorlight (2006)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: B0007215-02

© 2006 Vertigo/Universal Motown
Picking up where they left off with 2004's platinum-selling Up All Night, London's Razorlight pack a solid alt rock punch on their self-titled sophomore effort. Johnny Borrell (vocals/guitar) Björn Åquen (guitar), Carl Dalemo (bass), and Andy Burrows (drums) join producer Chris E. Thomas (the Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music) for these tracks, and together they've turned Razorlight's party rock sound into something more playful and sharp. Razorlight will no longer tolerate being lumped in with the likes of the Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol, and Keane, for the ambitious quartet combines elements of '60s pop, Motown, and Brit-pop for an overall clean performance. Vibrant harmonies, bright, lively musicianship and Borrell's Neil Finn-like vocals carry the weight of Razorlight, and songs such as "Hold On," "In the Morning," and "Pop Song 2006" highlight Razorlight's youthful, carefree presence. What makes Razorlight a personable band is that they find the balance between sincerity and seriousness. They make honest indie rock for those looking for a solid, good song. There's no frills, no fancy production, just the purity of these songs. That combination, however, might be a bit monotonous for those looking for their next fix of Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand.

 tags: razorlight, razorlight album, 2006, flac,

Razorlight - Slipway Fires (2008)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: B0012705-02

© 2008 Mercury/Vertigo
Slipway Fires is Razorlight's most mainstream release to date, an album that downplays the band's garage-rock past for something akin to Snow Patrol's adult-approved pop. Theatrical harmonies and hooks demonstrate the band's growth -- they're no longer ripping off the Strokes, having left the swaggering sounds of Up All Night far behind -- but growth is the very problem with Slipway Fires, whose mature, polished tones might as well have been recorded by middle-aged AOR vets rather than Clash-loving twentysomethings. This is an album of earnest piano ballads and well-scrubbed rock, an album that sports song titles like "North London Trash" but sounds as dirty as early-'80s Fleetwood Mac. At times, the earnest posturing gives way to something like "Tabloid Lover," a fun, shamelessly trashy romp that takes its cues from the Bangles. Another highlight, "Burberry Blue Eyes," calls to mind the Feeling's bouncy power pop, but while such a song would sound appropriate on the Feeling's next release, it's hard to reconcile the fact that Razorlight -- a band that previously sang about bar-filled evenings and hung-over mornings -- have now traded in their street-smart denim for songs about luxury clothing chains. Enjoying Slipway Fires requires a suspension of disbelief, a conscious separation between the band's past and the (somewhat ludicrous) present. Of course, not looking at the outlandishly serious cover art -- in which frontman Johnny Borrell attacks the camera with a smoldering glare, an unbuttoned dress shirt, and a seemingly un-ironic pearl necklace -- may also help.

 tags: razorlight, slipway fires, 2008, flac,

January 14, 2025

The Charlatans - Who We Touch (Deluxe Edition) (2010)

*Contains a second disc with 13 bonus tracks. 
Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: COOKCD527X

© 2010 Frinck Recordings
No other pre-Oasis band embraced trad-rock like the Charlatans -- and to be fair, they did it exceedingly well, translating their baggy beats to a cool, swaggering rock & roll shuffle that paid off great dividends over the course of the next 15 years. By the end of the 2000s, they had become the rarest of things, a reliable rock band that seldom disappointed but the flip side of that is that they rarely surprised, either. Who We Touch is where that all changes. On this 2010 album, the Charlatans recapture their sense of adventure, something that is immediately apparent once the album kicks off with the neo-shoegaze swirl of “Love Is Ending,” simultaneously the loudest and lightest they’ve been in years. “Love Is Ending” ushers in a rush of sound, the textures taking precedent over groove but not at the expense of the songs, which remain smoothly assured. The Charlatans channel much of their energy into the sound of the album, shifting palates for each song, letting the softer moments revel in delicate textures, having the trippier moments stretch out on elastic loops of samples and keyboards, all the louder moments resulting in a cool wall of sound, not a repurposed swagger. It’s recognizably the Charlatans -- it’s hard to disguise Tim Burgess’s laconic drawl or the light psychedelic pull of his melodies -- but they’re unexpectedly abandoning their dad-rock handbook and taking risks, winding with their freshest, best album since they traded the Happy Mondays for the Rolling Stones.

 tags: the charlatans, who we touch, deluxe edition, 2010, flac,

The Charlatans - Modern Nature (2015)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 538014142

© 2015 BMG
The Charlatans are no strangers to loss. Keyboardist Rob Collins died during the recording of their 1997 masterwork Tellin' Stories, and 17 years later they lost founding member Jon Brookes to brain cancer. His absence hangs over 2015's Modern Nature, the first record the band has made since Brookes' diagnosis in 2010, but the Charlatans aren't the sort to dwell in darkness. Tim Burgess alludes to the drummer's presence on the album's opening "Talking in Tones" but Modern Nature soon settles into a nicely worn soulful groove, a sound that suggests the group gains strength through the therapy of playing music. Happily, this emphasis on soul gives Modern Nature a different character than Who We Touch, the nifty 2010 LP where they dabbled in different sounds while retaining a solid song foundation. Due to its soulful undercurrents, this feels more unified than Who We Touch and also contemplative, a record designed not for the black depth of night but the sepia tones of twilight. Much of this haziness derives from the shimmering production, a sound that's mellow without succumbing to laziness. It's a nice fit for cleverly retrofitted '70s soul grooves like "Tall Grass," but it also suits the handful of songs like "Come Home Baby" and "So Oh" that echo the Charlatans' early Madchester swirl. By incorporating these offhand allusions to the past while being firmly planted in a mature present, Modern Nature showcases a band whose members are aware of where they've been and grateful for what they have.

 tags: the charlatans, modern nature, 2015, flac,

The Charlatans - Different Days (2017)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 538279092

© 2017 BMG
As a title, Different Days certainly suggests the Charlatans have pushed themselves into a new era. In a sense, they were forced to change. After mourning founding drummer Jon Brookes on 2015's Modern Nature, the group has moved into a different phase with Brookes replacement Pete Salisbury, formerly of the Verve. Anchored by Salisbury, the Charlatans aren't quite as traditionally minded as they used to be and they embrace a new fluidity not only in their rhythms -- which are sometimes enhanced by drum programming -- but their attitude toward collaborations. Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr plays on three songs, Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe plays on a couple of tracks, and Paul Weller co-wrote the closing "Spinning Out." What's interesting is that none of these spotlights are flashy -- the guitars don't call attention to themselves, Weller's piano adds color but it doesn't provide the foundation for "Spinning Out" -- yet the presence of the additional musicians is instrumental in the variety of Different Days. True, this variety is rather subtle, partially due to the doggedly low-key production, but underneath its simmering shimmer Different Days offers spins on classic pop, electronic soul, and late-night chill. Perhaps it's quiet exploration, but the Charlatans embrace the elastic possibilities of new avenues here, and the results are rewarding.

 tags: the charlatans, different days, 2017, flac,

The Kartel - Players Only Live Once (2025 Reissue)

*This is a digital store download purchased from Bandcamp
Originally released in 1997 by Brandon Records.
It was reissued in 2025 by 90's Tapes as a Digital Download.
Contains 13 tracks total.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None

© 1997-2025 90's Tapes
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.


 tags: the kartel, players only live once, 1999, 2025

January 05, 2025

Seam - Kernel: E.P. (1993)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: TG112CD

© 1993 Touch & Go
Seam can always be thanked for patterning some of the indie rock sounds that dominated independent music in the '90s, and the Kernel EP delivers on this as much as one would expect; in addition to the title track and "Sweetpea," the record also features an alternate version of "Shame," and a cover of Breaking Circus' "Driving the Dynamite Truck." This probably makes it most interesting to Seam completists; the EP is obviously not an essential addition, given Seam's album work.

 tags: seam, kernel, ep, 1993, flac,

Cathy Dennis - Into The Skyline (1992)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop, R&B
Label Number: 314 513 935-2

© 1992 Polydor
Cathy Dennis' charming, girlish voice was first introduced on D-Mob's bouncy 1989 smash "C'mon and Get My Love." Her debut album, Move to This, released in 1990, was a collection of lightweight but catchy dance-pop containing no less than four Top Ten hits, including the D-Mob tune and the number two smash "All Night Long (Touch Me)." It seemed Cathy Dennis' star would continue to rise with her 1992 follow-up, Into the Skyline. Unfortunately, Into the Skyline attempted to re-create the sound of its predecessor with a weaker set of material. Despite the presence of D-Mob's Dancin' Danny D and superproducer Shep Pettibone (Pet Shop Boys, Madonna), the album flopped and yielded no major hits.

 tags: cathy davis, into the skyline, 1992, flac,

Cathy Dennis - Am I The Kinda Girl? (1996) ☠

*Japanese pressing. 
Contains 13 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop Rock
Label Number: POCP-7180

☠: Selected by Lass
© 1996 Polydor Records
After scoring no less than four American Top 10 hits from her debut album, Move to This, British singer Cathy Dennis followed up with a fine second album, Into the Skyline, which unfortunately fell into the dreaded "sophomore slump" category, perhaps because it treaded similar musical waters as her debut. As a result, her third and best album never saw a release in the United States. Am I the Kinda Girl was released during the peak of the 1990s grunge era, resulting in an album much more earthy and melancholy than her two previous dance-oriented records. This album, in fact, could very well be classified as a rock/pop album with no real dance cuts. "Am I the kinda girl that could be your boyfriend?" is the question she asks on the album's title track, and that sets the lyrical tone for the album. The lyrics are ripe with drug references and sexual innuendoes (without resorting to foul language), yet the songs possess a definite feeling of sadness. The ballads resonate with a 1960s sound, and the results are beautiful. "When Dreams Turn to Dust," "Stupid Fool." and "The Date" are among the album's best songs, and they are sung so earnestly they almost sound tearful. She also provides a great cover of the Kinks' "Waterloo Sunset." The upbeat songs, namely "Homing the Rocket" and "That Is Why You Love Me" are no less engaging. This is a solid, sincerely delivered album that unfortunately never received the exposure it was due.

 tags: cathy davis, am I the kinda girl, kind of, 1996, flac,

Judas Priest - Invincible Shield (2024)

*A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: 19658851642

© 2024 Epic
More than 50 years into their heavy metal legacy, Judas Priest are still screaming at full power on their 19th studio full-length Invincible Shield. The album, their first studio effort of its kind since 2018's Firepower, is again produced by the band's touring guitarist Andy Sneap, and its 14 songs stretch out at over just an hour-long runtime. The album charges out of the gate with the dumbfounding riffery of "Panic Attack." The song touches on all the now-signature elements of Priest's sound, with dizzying harmonic guitar solos, a relentlessly pushy beat, and layers of Rob Halford's vocals, part winking metal theater, part authentic menace. The majority of the album sticks to thrash levels of speed and force, though the band switches gears to fantastical midtempo lurking on the epic "Crown of Horns" and the chugging "Trial by Fire." There's an unexpected acoustic breakdown in "Giants in the Sky" and some bluesy swaggering on the chunky "Fight of Your Life," but by and large Invincible Shield finds Judas Priest delivering a tightly wound and immaculately polished rendering of everything fans have come to expect from them over the last half a century. While at this point there's some unavoidable self-awareness to their craft, it does nothing to take away from the exhilarating fun and lawless excitement of the album. Invincible Shield simply reminds us that this particular kind of excitement is synonymous with Judas Priest.

 tags: judas priest, invincible shield, 2024, flac,

December 20, 2024

Ricky Ross - What You Are (1996)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Pop Rock
Label Number: 483998 2

© 1996 Epic
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

 tags: ricky ross, what you are, 1996, flac,

Rick Astley - Greatest Hits (2002)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop Rock, Pop
Label Number: 74321 955122

© 2002 BMG/RCA Records
The folks at BMG Heritage did a wonderful job assembling Rick Astley's long-overdue Greatest Hits, for it succeeds in presenting a definitive and complete collection of the 1980s pop sensation's U.S. and U.K. hits. Not only does this set include all of his singles, it also boasts excellent liner notes, photographs, and chart positions. Included are his American chart-toppers "Together Forever" and "Never Gonna Give You Up," the latter arguably one of the 1980s' most recognizable songs, as well as all of his other Top Ten hits, including the Motown-ish "It Would Take a Strong, Strong Man," "She Wants to Dance With Me," and the 1991 ballad hit "Cry for Help." All of Astley's U.K. hits are accounted for, including "When I Fall in Love" and its non-album B-side, "My Arms Keep Missing You," "Take Me to Your Heart," "Whenever You Need Somebody," and "Hold Me in Your Arms," as well as lesser-known singles such as "Hopelessly," "Move Right Out," "Giving up on Love," and "The Ones You Love." Despite the years and changes in musical trends, the songs on this collection still sound fresh and Astley's voice always packs a wallop and leaves one with the undeniable impression that he was much more than a passing fad; he was, in fact, an extremely underrated and timeless talent who should be remembered as much more than simply a late-'80s pop phenomenon.

 tags: rick astley, greatest hits, 2002, flac,

Killah Priest - Elizabeth (Introduction To The Psychic) (2009)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: PRO 264

© 2009 Proverbs Records
It's hard to believe that the release date for Wu-Tang Clan cohort Killah Priest's Elizabeth: Introduction to the Psychic wasn't chosen strategically, as it's difficult to imagine a more appropriate time for its unveiling than right before Halloween. There are enough creepy vibes, mysterious murders, spooky spirits, and supernatural monsters teeming from these tracks to fill a dozen horror-film festivals. But as anyone even casually familiar with Priest's output knows, he's not about graphic, Geto Boys horrorcore -- there's a more spiritual/philosophical context to the fright-night feel of Elizabeth. For the work of most rappers, the response "What the hell is he talking about?" would represent a failure to communicate, but for Priest, it's probably right in line with his intentions. Despite the album's titular portent, he doesn't try to tell any linear stories here, striving instead to stir up a mix of wonder, fear, and thrilling confusion in listeners? It's not even clear exactly who Elizabeth is -- from the cover photo and the few hints dropped, an educated guess might be the 19th century Empress Elisabeth of Bavaria, but closer examination makes even that possibility seem unlikely. Like everything else here, she's most likely a product of Priest's fertile, fiendish imagination. Throughout the album, he freely mixes dashes of religious, historical, and mystical imagery with the occasional touch of gangsta sensibility, though this is the furthest from street-real you can possibly get. It's a dazzling trip that finds "the queen of the water spirits" rubbing shoulders with alien abductions, descriptions of elaborate (Medieval?) torture devices, cosmic philosophy, and references to Priest's connection with the Black Hebrew Israelites. The musical framework is similarly far removed from the landscape of mainstream rap. You'll find no jeep beats or shout-out pop hooks here, and the settings incorporate everything from classical guitar patterns to excerpts from the soundtracks of obscure cartoons. The fact that Priest is able to make all these disparate elements work together, not to mention the fact that they work consistently across a double-length album, surely puts him in the running for some kind of Mad Genius of Hip-Hop award.

 * Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled. 


 tags: killah priest, elizabeth, introduction to the psychic, 2009, flac,

December 12, 2024

Mystidious Misfitss - A Who Dat? (2024 Reissue)

*This is a digital store download purchased from Bandcamp.
Originally released in 1995 on CD and LP. 
It was reissued in 2024 by 90's tapes.
This pressing contains 23 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None

© 1995-2024 90's Tapes
*No professional reviews are available for this release.

* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled. 


 tags: mystidious misfitss, a who dat, 1995, 2024, reissue, flac,

Kindred The Family Soul - Surrender To Love (2003)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Neo Soul
Label Number: HB 00008

© 2003 Epic/Hidden Beach Recordings
Philadelphia's Kindred the Family Soul -- aka Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon -- are a married duo that fronts a ten-piece band and plays some of the most inspiring melds of soul, R&B, hip-hop, funk, pop, smooth jazz, and soft rock. Surrender to Love is the act's debut full length -- an EP appeared during the previous summer to critical and club acclaim. The quality in all of these self-penned titles is astonishing given what passes for soul these days. One can hear the fine, sweet, emotionally and musically true inspiration of Womack & Womack, Ashford & Simpson, Roberta Flack, and Donny Hathaway here, but also the nu-soul grooves of Fertile Ground, Julie Dexter, and YahZarah as well. The shifting jazzy guitars in "Rhythm of Life," as they wind their way around the syncopated vocals, both as exchanged lines between the pair and as a chorus with a hi-hat and rim-shotting snare, make for a gorgeous midtempo groover that crosses the slick jazzy sophistication of Steely Dan with the soul grit of Lauryn Hill and Freda Payne. The album's first single, with its sweet yet spare washes of strings, subtly shaded guitars, and Dantzler's sweet and in-the-pocket tenor phrasing, is a plea for respite from the grimness of urban life. When Graydon hits the chorus and slides in a filler tag, the cut opens up, and when her verse begins, the listener understands that this is a love song above all, and as lovers plead for transcendence with one another, the listener is moved deeply into their wish for deliverance. There are 18 tracks here, and not a one of them is filler. Each moment of Surrender to Love is saturated in both accessibility and integrity. Soul music is far from dead if one listens to Kindred and their peers; they make the argument that no matter how gritty, how grim the circumstance, the struggle is not without merit. Give a listen to "We," with its manifesto of home in a slow-tempo poetic groove. Other standouts -- even though it's tough to choose -- are "What Happens Now," "Contentment" with its Tuck & Patti airiness, the anthemic "Spread the Word" with its Latin percussion-drenched funk that is equal parts Sly Stone, Ray Barretto, and War, the swinging, jazzed out "If I," which could have been sung by Monday Michiru, and the overdriven hip-hopping funk of "Party's Over." (There's a hidden bonus track after cut 18 so don't take it off prematurely.) This is as impressive a debut as one is likely to encounter in 2003. A mindblower.

 tags: kindred the family soul, surrender to love, 2003, flac,

Kindred The Family Soul - In This Life Together (2005)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Neo Soul
Label Number: EK 96512

© 2005 Hidden Beach/Epic Records
The Ashford & Simpson of neo-soul, Fatin Dantzler and Aja Graydon, aka Kindred the Family Soul, continue their ongoing autobiography in song with their second album, In This Life Together, its title borrowed from a dual memoir by the husband-and-wife acting and activist team of Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, who is quoted and name-checked in "The Quote (Interlude)." Typical of neo-soul recordings, the music, provided by a succession of multi-instrumentalist composer/producers (Yameen, Dinky Bingham, Boy Genius, Kristin Price, Chuck Treece, Easy Mo Be, Elise Perry, Anthony Bell, etc.), is mid-tempo, synthesizer-and-drum-programming-driven approximations of 1970s soul in the manner of Marvin Gaye and Sly & the Family Stone, tricked out with contemporary hip-hop elements, including a couple of unnecessary guest raps. Over the tracks, Dantzler and Graydon improvise singsong melodies and intone repetitive hooks, but what really matters is not the music, it's the message. The couple are unabashedly autobiographical; you can't get through the first real song, "Thru Love," without knowing how many children they have and what their sexes are (a son and two daughters), and by the final track, "Bed Time Story," you're being informed, "Aquil has started a new school, and oooh he's doing well." Such details, however, only serve to make their material universal. In contrast to most urban music (and most pop music in general), the subjects here do not concern new love or love gone wrong, they are about the love continuing in a real, committed relationship, that of a contemporary, working-class African-American couple. That love faces many challenges -- the word "stress" turns up in no less than four songs (post-traumatic on one occasion), and "pressure" and "struggle" are repeated, too. Even in a mutual love song like "Thru Love," the singers pause to ask, "Still, who says it's gonna last forever?" But this is more than just couples therapy set to music. "Sneak a Freak" addresses the possibilities of intimacy sandwiched in between all of life's responsibilities; "Woman First" is Graydon's reflection on how her husband's love helps her get through daily strife ("Ever since I had the babies, I just don't feel the same"); and "Message to Marvin" is an update on Gaye's "What's Going On," with the chorus, "What the hell is going on?" There are also songs of faith ("As of Yet") and reflections on parents ("Struggle No More," which oddly contains a verse contributed and sung by India.Arie that is a complete non sequitur). In other words, the collection presents a full-scale portrait of life for a loving, struggling, contemporary couple with three kids trying to keep things together, a life not that different from most people's. That is actually a refreshing perspective to find expressed in popular music, and one a wide audience should be able to identify with.

 tags: kindred the family soul, in this life together, 2005, flac,

Manic Street Preachers - Postcards From a Young Man (2010)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 88697741882

© 2010 Columbia/Sony Music
It’s tempting to view Postcards from a Young Man as the Everything Must Go to Journal for Plague Lovers’ The Holy Bible, but the analogy isn’t quite that simple. Everything Must Go was cathartic, the bandmembers exorcizing their grief after the disappearance of Richey Edwards, but Postcards from a Young Man is as celebratory as the Manics get, a record that recklessly flirts with joyousness. Once again, the band abandons coiled, tense art-punk for anthemic stadium-fillers, creating arrangements so overloaded they threaten to collapse in a tower of sitars, strings, mandolins, fuzz guitars, and cameos from Ian McCulloch and Duff McKagan. The presence of an Echo & the Bunnyman and a Guns N' Roses is typical of the Manics’ almost ludicrous overreach: they blend moody Englishness with American hooks, which has been their plan since the outset, but they’ve rarely been as successful as they are on Postcards from a Young Man simply because they let their penchant for exaggeration run wild. With the notable exception of Nicky Wire’s lyrics -- whose small scale almost seems like a relief after the airing of Edwards’ unused words on Journal -- everything here is bigger than usual, the rhythms packing an unusual swing, the productions scraping the sky, and the hooks spilling out of James Dean Bradfield’s mouth and guitar alike. All this bustle winds up being the rarest of things for the Manics: it is fun. Granted, it is serious-minded fun with ambition, but with Manic Street Preachers you take fun whenever you can get it, and they’ve never sounded as ebullient as they do here.

 tags: manic street preachers, postcards from a young man, 2010, flac,

December 09, 2024

Adorned Brood - Wigand (1998)

*First pressing. 
Contains 8 tracks total.
Country: Germany
Language: English, German (Deutsch)
Genre: Black Metal
Style: Folk Black Metal
Label Number: RS 10901

© 1998 Atmosfear
*No professional reviews are available for this release. 

tags: adorned brood, wigand, 1998, flac,

Bryan Adams - On a Day Like Today (1998)

*This is the Australian pressing. 
This pressing contains 15 tracks total.
Country: Canada
Language: English
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 541 015-2

© 1998 A&M Records
*No professional reviews are available for this release. 

tags: bryan adams, on a day like today, 1998, flac,

Kubb - Mother (2005)

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Alternative Rock
Style: Britpop
Label Number: 9870767

© 2005 Mercury Records
Kubb were the band formed by Harry Collier -- a singer/songwriter originally from Liverpool but raised in the Caribbean -- along with two friends, Dominic Greensmith on drums and John Tilley on keyboards. Collier was spotted by Rollo from Faithless while waiting tables at a London restaurant, and allegedly sang a version of "Happy Birthday" to a customer that got the attention of Rollo. With the singles "Remain," "Wicked Soul," and "Grow" all getting progressively higher in the charts, Kubb's debut album, Mother, was released at the end of 2005, at a time when it had to compete with MOR favorites advertised with million-pound budgets on TV and greatest-hits compilations from just about everybody who had ever recorded even one single. Because of the timing, Mother got a bit lost in the Christmas rush, but perhaps it also got lost because too many tracks sound like the music of others. "Chemical," the longest track on the album at just over six minutes, was a dead ringer for a Radiohead song, as was the track that closed the album, "Burn Again." "Alcatraz" was Keane in disguise, with the same falsetto vocals, and as for "Without You," not only did it nearly share the title with U2's "With or Without You," it featured guitar backing strikingly similar to the Edge throughout the song. It also really wasn't Harry Collier's fault that on the cover photo he looked like Gareth Gates.

 tags: kubb, mother, 2005, flac,