*First pressing.
Contains 9 tracks total.
Country: GermanyLanguage: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: NCD 002
© 1985 Noise
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
tags: grave digger, witch hunter, 1985, flac,
April 29, 2023
Grave Digger - War Games (1986)
*First pressing.
Contains 10 tracks total.
Country: GermanyLanguage: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: N 0034-2
© 1986-1993 Noise
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
tags: grave digger, war games, 1986, flac,
Oingo Boingo - Boingo (1994)
Genre: Alternative Rock, Art Rock
Label Number: 9 24555-2
© 1994 Giant Records
The introduction to Boingo's first track, "Insanity," sounds like an unused cut from the Batman motion picture theme , shuffling into an angry and eerie rebellion against Christianity, right wing mentality ("years of evolution and we get Danny Quayle"), and media. The lyrics and instrumentation alone demand attention, but the album is pushed over the top by the inclusion of children's vocals that contain a certain element of hypnotism, reminiscent of the rebellion against school teachers in Pink Floyd's The Wall. This is what happens when someone captures "Children of the Damned" and gives them Danny Elfman as choir director. If one can survive the entrance to the rest of the album, there are depressing ballads and guitar-driven rockers to gain, but nary a hint of the plucky instrumentals on past efforts. Boingo amply covers John Lennon's "The Walrus" and milks up their creative spots on the tracks "Lost Like This" and "Spider." Most enjoyable, and unfortunately only on the cassette version, is the end track "Helpless." "Helpless" is voiced by a Jack Skellington-mode Danny Elfman and nearly parodies the grieving found on the rest of the album. It is an operatically rendered portrayal of a "monster" who has been handed a bad life and has no escape. The group Oingo Boingo was once a party favorite, a cult dish for outcasts and pop-punksters, a Halloween night treasure. With their previous album Dark at the End of the Tunnel they showed signs of slowing down, becoming a bit more thoughtful and age weary. With Boingo they have completely dissipated every ounce of youthful banter and concocted an album that would fit neatly between the shelves of Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Every grain of 1990s droopiness and melancholic frustration has been forced into the album, which makes it a risky one. Here is a fun '80s band in every sense of the term and they have made an unquestionable, 100 percent crossover into grim alternative.
tags: oingo boingo, noingo, 1994, flac,
Soul Assassins - Intermission (Promo Sampler) (2009)
*This is the promo version.
Contains 14 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A. Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: GDM020CD
© 2009 Gold Dust Media
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: soul assassins, intermission, 2009, flac,
DJ Muggs Vs. Ill Bill - Kill Devil Hills (2010)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: FB5133
© 2010 Fat Beats
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: dj muggs and ill bill, kill devil hills, 2010, flac,
April 28, 2023
Styx - Return To Paradise (1997)
Genre: Hard Rock
Label Number: 06076-86212-2
© 1997 CMC International Records
Styx was one of the all-time favorite targets of many rock critics, but the mixture of bleeding-heart ballads, catchy arena rock, and ambitious art rock appealed to millions in the late '70s and early '80s. After 13 years apart, the Chicago-based band's classic lineup of vocalist/keyboardist Dennis DeYoung, vocalist/guitarist Tommy Shaw, vocalist/guitarist James Young, and bassist Chuck Panozzo reunited for a successful greatest-hits tour in 1996. Drummer Todd Sucherman replaced John Panozzo, who died of chronic alcohol abuse that year. The highly enjoyable, 17-song concert Return to Paradise was recorded (and filmed) on the final date of the 1996 tour -- on the autumnal equinox -- in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd at the Rosemont Horizon. The quintet seems to be having a blast. The tour's theme and stage setup was based on 1981's Paradise Theater (number one). As such, the boisterous "Rockin' the Paradise" is an appropriate opener. "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" maintains the full-tilt pace. A frantic jam ends "Too Much Time on My Hands." Before Young starts the dramatic "Snowblind," he reminds the fans that it was accused of containing satanic backward messages, lists the devil's many aliases, and says, "None of those bad guys had a damn thing to do with this next song." DeYoung dedicates "Show Me the Way" to John Panozzo; a photo of the late drummer is projected on the stage backdrop and the fans ignite a sea of lighters and candles. A blistering version of "Come Sail Away" ends the regular set; the encores are "Renegade" and "The Best of Times." (Although "Mr. Roboto" was regarded as a cheesy sci-fi embarrassment by many, its omission is disappointing.) [A 1999 DVD includes many extras such as behind-the-scenes footage shot by Sucherman, an interview with Shaw, a photo gallery, and more.]
tags: styx, return to paradise, 1997, flac,
Big Pun - The Legacy: The Best of Big Pun (2009)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: 88697 55772-2
© 2009 Loud/Legacy Records
A documentary soundtrack, The Legacy: The Best of Big Pun is also a suitable sampler of the rapper many considered would be the rightful heir to Biggie's throne if a heart attack hadn't ended his life in 2000 at the age of 28. Pun's attraction is akin to Biggie's -- a vicious mouth with economical rhymes and knockout punch lines -- but he adds Fat Joe's swift delivery to the mix. His signature inhale prepares the listener for the machine-gun fire to follow, and despite tipping the scales at over 600 pounds, he's more than willing to explain his prowess with the ladies, and in graphic detail. Singles like the thugging "I'm Not a Player" and the Latin-flavored "100%" display his fine taste in hooks, and late-night horror shows like "Leather Face" can make you shake in your boots. This soundtrack does a good job choosing from his discography and sorting it all out, and with bits of dialogue and praise from the likes of Raekwon and Snoop Dogg, it makes for a suitable souvenir of the film or a good imitation mixtape. The bad news is that the ugly, edited version of "Still Not a Player" that first appeared (accidentally?) on the explicit release of Capital Punishment rears its head once again, and if you want a better intro to the work of Pun, the 2001 set Endangered Species does a slightly better job with the track list.
tags: big pun, the legacy the best of big pun, 2009, flac,
Reef The Lost Cauze Vs. Guns-N-Butter - Fight Music (2010)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: ES-1002
© 2010 Enemy Soil
An underground Philly mainstay Reef the Lost Cauze has earned his stripes with his work as part of the Army of the Pharaohs collective, countless guest spots, and two independent solo releases -- Feast or Famine (2005) and A Vicious Cycle (2008). Now on his third full-length, the aptly titled Fight Music, the hungry battle rapper comes into his own alongside production team Guns-N-Butter who provide 13 fitting beatscapes to back up the lyrical animosity. Reef lays out his M.O. well on the album's murky intro, composing a pithy two-minute blend of bleak hood imagery and wild verbal threats, claiming "I had priors before Richard, bills before Cosby/It's not comedy, I'm starving." From there, Reef is joined by Philly homies Burke the Jurke and Vinnie Paz, who characterizes himself as a "street pharmacist with more pills than Mike Jack" on the the furious head-nodder "OPG Theme," runs through an angry daily affirmation on "I'm a G," and teams up with another lesser street lyricist, Bloodsport, for the cinematic "Trigger Talk." Later on, Reef gets downright disrespectful to rap industry vets on "Bosses," commanding them to "sit your old ass down and drink some Geritol." Nonetheless, such whipper-snapper arrogance doesn't stop him from passing the mike to one of the oldest gangsta rappers of all -- the godfather of East Coast mafioso rap, Kool G Rap -- on the extraordinary three-the-hard-way anthem "Three Greats" with R.A. the Rugged Man. Fight Music's energy level only seems to increase as the track list carries on, wrapping up with two of its best songs -- the aggressive "What We Rep," which sees Reef and QB's own Big Noyd going back and forth over a finely crafted interplay of horn sections and string arrangements, and the mournful "Sun," which has Reef turning sensitive as he speaks to loved ones who have experienced loss. From start to finish, there's scarcely a snoozer on Fight Music; it's a sonically cohesive street-hop effort which should surely raise Reef's stock among hardcore rap fans.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: reef the lost cauze, guns and butter, fight music, 2010, flac,
April 27, 2023
Reef The Lost Cauze - Invisible Empire (2003)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None
© 2003 Gladiator Films
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: reef the lost cauze, cause, invisible empire, 2003, flac,
April 26, 2023
Dream City Film Club - Dream City Film Club (1997)
Genre: Art Rock
Label Number: BBQ CD 191
© 1997 Beggars Banquet
The band's first album, the one major release featuring the original four-piece lineup, works in the same effective, compelling vein as the later In the Cold Light of Morning. If anything, the presence of Alex Vald here doesn't seem to show any difference in performance or general atmosphere -- things for the band, and especially Michael John Sheehy, again inhabit the later, familiar vein of haunted country and blues-tinged music mixing with glam/goth styles. Certainly anyone who prefers life as black as possible will find something to love in the piercing guitar abuse and chilling slow crunch of "Fifth Dealer," which makes as good a claim to be the band's highlight track as anything else. "Perfect Piece of Trash" is another on-the-edge winner, much quicker but no less screwed up, lyrics detailing an already questionable relationship going even worse wedded to a rave-up explosion. A number of efforts suggest a more strung-out but still nervous Gallon Drunk, like the creepy lounge touches on "Shit Tinged Shades," Sheehy's distorted voice sounding as out there as the deep-in-the-background feedback whine. Sheehy himself sticks to a fairly well-worn lyrical vein that won't totally surprise listeners who knows their Birthday Party and related bands, but he doesn't try to specifically sound like any of that crew so much as a side-of-the-mouth talking poet of filth with occasional tendencies to stay perfectly calm. "Porno Paradiso," in particular, lets him demonstrate both his not-bad falsetto and a generally softer approach. The musical balance between noise and dark, twangy restraint holds true pretty much for the whole release, and in the latter mode the foursome is often at its best. Consider the soft chimes and buried semi-Morricone feedback on "Because You Wanted It" or the accordion and minimal keyboard melody on "Mama," a little slice of cabaret in hell.
tags: dream city film club, dream city film club album, 1997, flac,
One Minute Silence - Available In All Colours (1997)
Genre: Nü-Metal
Label Number: ABB 147 CD
© 1997 Big Cat
Available in All Colors, the debut album by One Minute Silence, takes its cue from the blistering, macho rap-metal sound of groups like Limp Bizkit, Rage Against the Machine, and to a certain extent, Korn. Their hard-nosed social commentary is also reminiscent of Biohazard, an important formative influence on the genre, but One Minute Silence is not without a sense of humor either, albeit one that's often fairly dark. Although there are a few slow moments, overall the album serves as proof that it is possible for a British alt-metal band to grasp the essence of the sound and pull it off well.
tags: one minute silence, available in all colours, colors, 1997, flac,
A‐Plus - My Last Good Deed (2007)
*This is the CD-R promo version.
Contains 17 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A. Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None
© 2007 Hiero Imperium
After spending years as part of Souls of Mischief and the Hieroglyphics consortium, as well as his work as a producer, A Plus has finally gotten around to making his own solo album. And My Last Good Deed is a consistent release that proves A Plus is just as capable rhyming alone as he is with a group. Though Jake One and J Zone each contribute a track, most of the production is handled by Compound7 (comprised of A Plus and AAGEE), who make strong, modern beats that take on a kind of post-millennium feel, urban and vaguely industrial -- synthesized, electronica-influenced keys and percussion -- but still West-Coast warm. There are, of course, an assortment of guest MCs, few of which are particularly notable (the exceptions being fellow Hieros Del, Pep Love, Casual, and Souls of Mischief), but A Plus is more than able to hold down rhymes on his own. His delivery isn't especially unique -- neither slow nor fast, drawn-out or syncopated -- but it's steady and uniform as he spits out bars about weed, his own subliminal skills, and everyday life. He's not a conscious rapper, though he does have a few songs about appreciating life ("Good Time Charlie," "A Beautiful Thing") but he's not mainstream or gangsta, either. He's a dude who likes to smoke and can come up with some pretty clever metaphors (wittily married in "Dub Song," about marijuana, in which he replaces common phrases with the "love" with "dub": "Lace it up and show you that dub hurts," "Want to grow it myself, my dub unconditional," and "I need dub, I feel like LL," are just a few of the examples). If anything, My Last Good Deed is too average-guy-ish, too consistent, with not quite enough personality. None of the 15 (plus two bonus tracks) on the album are bad, at all, but none of them really grab you, either, stand out from the crowd and make you want to play them again and again. This isn't to say that My Last Good Deed is a bad record, though, because it's absolutely not. It's done well, by a talented, and more importantly, practiced and professional MC, but it lacks some of the sheer excitable talent that propelled other Bay Area MCs to the top.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: a plus, my last good deed, 2007, flac,
Buff1 - Pure (2007)
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: ASW2002
© 2007 A•Side Worldwide
Hip-hop has long seemed conflicted -- while often held to a certain standard of artistic integrity, the music is constantly affronted by an unrelenting temptation to sacrifice the latter for a wider fanbase. Thus amid these opposing forces poses a formidable challenge for rappers to thrive without completely losing themselves in an industry-manufactured façade. But as a spiritual and self-aware MC, the self-proclaimed "Athletic Mic League King" Buff1 understands you can never go wrong by staying true to yourself, and his solo debut album, Pure, serves as his brilliant mission statement while seeking to answer the nagging question: "What is ‘real' hip-hop?" The answer is subjective, really, and Pure distills the beauty of hip-hop's ambiguity through its sincerity. Buff unabashedly asserts his human complexities in the opening title track, setting the tone for the rest of the album: "I write novels /I write dramas/I write comedies/I write violence/I write down what I feel/From right now until I lie down in the ground/With my crown and shield." As indicated, Pure is poised between being serious and fun; not too conscious but not too frivolous or aloof. The inherent braggadocio in hip-hop shines through on the standout "Slick," wherein Buff conceits over a groovy bass line, shimmering piano riffs, and DJ cuts and scratches courtesy of DJ Haircut (now widely known as Mayer Hawthorne). On the definitive standout "Big Thangs," Buff brazenly reps his hometown of Ann Arbor, MI, rendering a sense of pride in small city dwellers over chopped vocal samples and a sparse instrumental backing. Delving into the more socially conscious realm, "Pretty Baby" is a self-empowering number with delicate violins, jazzy horns, and a soulful sample loop, while the politically charged "House of Horrors" finds Buff getting rebellious to menacing drums and eerie harp riffs. There's hardly ever a dull moment on Pure, but even the ones that feel slightly curbed are still cohesive and far from deficient attempts at filling the gaps. As Buff sums everything up, "Is this real hip hop? Is this pure hip hop? Who knows? Who cares? If you feel it, then it's real. If you feel it, then it's pure. If it's pure, then it's for you." Simply put, Pure is for the people -- the vehement hip-hop enthusiast and casual rap fan alike.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: buff1, buff 1, pure, 2007, flac,
Reef The Lost Cauze - A Vicious Cycle (2008)
*First pressing.
Contains 18 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A. Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: WDE 001
© 2008 Well Done/Fuck You Pay Me Records
On his fourth full-length album, A VICIOUS CYCLE, Reef the Lost Cauze lets his brutal rhymeflow loose over 18 hardcore tracks. The underground Philly MC spits fire over beats by Marco Polo, Brods, the Beatills, the Unknown Soldier, MTK, and Stress the White Boy, among others.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: reef the lost cauze, a vicious cycle, 2008, flac,
April 23, 2023
Diamond Shell - The Grand Imperial Diamond Shell (1991)
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*This is a digital store download purchased from Bandcamp.
Contains 13 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A. Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None
© 1991 Diamond Shell
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: diamond shell, the grand imperial diamond shell, 1991, flac,
Krash Man - Black Circle (1993)
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*This is a digital store download purchased from Bandcamp.
Contains 13 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A. Genre: Hip-Hop
Label Number: None
© 1993 Krash Man
Jason "Krash Man" Burton's hip-hop visions aren't very different from many others expressed over the last few years. They're mostly pessimistic, angry, vivid denunciations of hypocrisy, detailed examinations of injustice, or pointed descriptions of abuses and senseless violence. Burton's raps are pointed, occasionally poignant, and expressed with equal mixes of insight, venom, and resignation, with occasional humorous injections. The musical backdrops, samples, and productions are less creative and interesting, but Burton's commentary keeps things from sagging over the 12 1/2 selections (by his count).
* Due to past abuse, comments for the Hip-Hop section have been disabled.
tags: krash man, black circle, 1993, flac,
The Cinematics - A Strange Education (2007) ☠
*U.S. pressing.
Contains 13 tracks total.
A photo of the disc is included in the RAR file.
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Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Indie Rock
Label Number: TV-6090-2
☠: Selected by Lass
© 2007 TVT Records
In the explosion of Smiths- and Joy Division-influenced bands to emerge at the beginning of the 21st century was, besides the Editors and the Interpols of the world, a four-piece group from Glasgow, the Cinematics. Following the same repeating-riff heavy path as their peers, the band, with their Morrissey-voiced lead singer Scott Rinning, write clean, well-structured songs that build up and then break down around the eighth-note basslines and driving electric guitars. The formula is fairly consistent throughout the entirety of their debut full-length, A Strange Education, but when it comes together well, like in the dancey "Break" or "Maybe Someday," it's as good as anything else out there. Unfortunately, this can't be said about the entire album. While it starts out well enough, the first four tracks dark and catchy and fun, the band soon slips into more standard rock arrangements, with churning, reverby chords instead of syncopated, edgy riffs and rhythms. Their cover of Beck's "Sunday Sun," while not bad, does nothing to really make it their own, and "Alright" can never quite figure itself out, how it wants to fit the instrumentation in with the vocals, and ends up being more disconcerting than anything else. That, the issue of resolution, is actually one that seems to constantly plague the Cinematics, even in their more successful pieces. They're clearly, as a band, concerned with phrasing and musicality, but sometimes their songs seem to consist of separate-but-linked parts instead of being fully developed, whole pieces. "Human," for example, has a fantastic, pulsating hook that keeps wanting to grow into something else but always backs down before it's ever completed, posing questions but never quite answering them, urging the audience forward without giving them enough to actually move anywhere. It's frustrating, more than anything else, because the Cinematics' potential is palpable; there are still some great cuts here, and a lot of energy, but the missteps and the hesitancy and the faltering are enough to make A Strange Education an unfulfilling affair.
tags: the cinematics, a strange education, 2007, flac,
Chapterhouse - Whirlpool (1991) ☠
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Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Shoegaze
Label Number: ZD 74977
☠: Selected by Lass
© 1991 Dedicated/BMG Records
Victim of a double whammy -- caught in the already building backlash to the shoegazer scene at home and completely ignored in the States, as was just about anything else British -- once Nevermind and Ten hit the charts Chapterhouse's album debut could have, and should have, won a bigger name for itself. At once more dance-flirting and garage-punky than most recordings by other My Bloody Valentine obsessives that emerged in the early '90s, though suffering the same underplaying in the vocal department, Whirlpool builds nicely on the three earlier EP releases with a similar sense of "what the hey -- if it works, try it." As an album, it doesn't per se connect as a unified piece -- the final track listing comes from a variety of recording sessions with a large number of producers and remixers, including Robin Guthrie, Stephen Hague, John Fryer, and Ralph Jezzard. As a collection of mostly killer tracks, though, this is mighty fine. "Breather" kicks it off with a rushing shudder that mixes its acoustic and electric guitars well, while "Pearl" throws in trancey beats, John Bonham samples, and some fine art-glazed feedback riffs to create as perfect a nugget of the era as any. "Falling Down" has similar heavy-groove action to it, Madchester as played by Loop. Other highlights are more strictly rocky, like the slow-build/rave-up/freak-out/repeat "Autosleeper" and "April," with a big guitar wash up and out through the length of the song. A gentler version of early track "Something More" closes the album well; the overall effect is strong promise for whatever would come next.
tags: chapterhouse, chapter house, whirlpool, 1991, flac,
Various Artists - Kerrang! Revved Up! (2003)
*U.K. compilation consisting of British, European & American artists.
Contains 16 tracks total.
Genre: Alternative Metal, Gothic Rock, Nü-Metal, Punk Rock
Label Number: # 946
© 2003 Kerrang! Magazine
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
tags: various artists, kerrang revved up, 2003, flac,
Crisis Dance - Alone (2002)
Language: English
Genre: Post Grunge
Label Number: AMICD0902
© 2002 Artmix International
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
tags: crisis dance, alone, 2002, flac,
Crisis Dance - Out of This World (2003)
Language: English
Genre: Post Grunge
Label Number: AMICD1003
© 2003 Artmix International
*No professional reviews are available for this release.
tags: crisis dance, out of this world, 2003, flac,
April 21, 2023
Epidemic - Epidemic (2002)
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge
Label Number: 7559-62769-2
© 2002 Elektra
With a name like Epidemic and boasting a sound that has been described as modern rock, some may be frightened that the only epidemic to find here is yet another recycled alternative rock band emulating Nickelback's success. Thankfully, this is not quite the case, as Epidemic's self-titled debut skews toward the more aggressive side more often than not, and a comparison can hardly be made to many of the mainstream rock stars -- such as Creed and Default -- that continue to play a slightly smoother brand of what is best described as millennium grunge. Vocalist and primary lyricist Boris focuses more on current problems in the world -- such as illiteracy, poverty, and obesity -- and how they are often overlooked and considered routine. In this sense, Epidemic is a refreshing rock blast that completely avoids the typical lyrical doldrums, making an effort to awaken the public to very real, ever-growing problems of society. Otherwise, this is a standard release, offering the average stylistic formats one would expect from a group of this nature. But due to the band's dedicated pursuit of bettering the world by focusing on these often downplayed "epidemics," this is a debut worthy of a listen.
tags: epidemic, epidemic album, 2002, flac,
The Warlocks - Phoenix Album (2002)
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia
Label Number: BMR 041
© 2002 Birdman Records
The psychedelic-drenched Los Angeles group's underlying modus operandi is to "conjure up music as an experience." Both live and recorded, lead vocalist/guitarist Bobby Hecksher -- along with a six- to eight-member entourage -- transform jams into something tangible, much like avant-garde Suicide and space rockers Spiritualized have been known to do. The five-song mini-album almost merits full-length status, as it clocks over an hour in length. The seven-minute "Stone Hearts" is the most memorable, with its fuzzed-out drones and tranquil, Jason Pierce-esque vocals. The other tracks offer up more long, instrumental neo-psychedelia bliss that start on one plane and end up on a different euphonious level, thus obliging their MO. The Warlocks' un-gimcrack multi-instrumentation, featuring two drummers and a former Brian Jonestown Massacre member, may help explain the jam band and drug-induced connotations. Exploring these influences is the Syd Barrett tone on the final track, "Minneapolis Mad Man." The end result is a blurring of lines between reality and fiction, making Phoenix EP ethereal both in spirit and effect.
tags: the warlocks, phoenix album, 2002,
