Culture Club - From Luxury To Heartache (1986)

*First pressing. 

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

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: New Wave, Pop

Label Number: CDV 2380

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© 1986 Virgin Records
AllMusic Review by William Ruhlmann
For their fourth album, From Luxury To Heartache, Culture Club jettisoned producer Steve Levine in favor of pop/R&B veteran Arif Mardin, seeking to reverse the commercial decline they had suffered with their third album. When the danceable lead-off track, "Move Away," rose into the singles chart, that seemed like a good decision, and the rest of the album followed through with a pronounced drum sound and a relentless beat. The group's flamboyance was played down, from the relatively austere album cover to the music, in an attempt to redefine Culture Club as dance floor favorites. But previously the group had enjoyed a broad-based pop appeal, and by focusing on one part of their constituency, they ultimately sacrificed the rest. What's more, to make this kind of music, you didn't need a group; all you needed was a lead singer and some synthesizers. No wonder Boy George went solo before the year was out.

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Breaking Benjamin - Ember (2018)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge

Label Number: D002503702

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© 2018 Hollywood Records
AllMusic Review by Neil Z. Yeung
On the second outing with a revamped lineup, hard rock outfit Breaking Benjamin stick to their tried and true formula, continuing the legacy of early-2000s post-grunge/nu-metal with album number six, Ember. On this set, frontman Ben Burnley relinquished songwriting control, allowing input from band members Jason Rauch, Keith Wallen, Aaron Bruch, and Shaun Foist. For better or worse, the results of that team-building effort do not stray far from past efforts. Notes of Chevelle, Disturbed, Shinedown, and Evanescence appear throughout, as pounding drums and beefy riffs are balanced with dour atmospherics and Burnley's pained, powerful voice. While his lyrics remain simplistic, they are relatable, which should not surprise faithful listeners familiar with these themes of despair, hopelessness, anger, and frustration. Like 2015's Dark Before Dawn, Ember is bookended by a pair of conceptual instrumentals, the celestial "Lyra" and "Vega." In between, Breaking Benjamin deliver ten no-nonsense rock blasts that roar ("Red Cold River") and pummel ("Feed the Wolf"), providing cathartic release with cinematic build-up ("Down") and desperate urgency ("Blood"). Additional highlights include the brooding "The Dark of You," which features celebrity dancer and longtime fan Derek Hough on guest vocals, and the frenetic "Close Your Eyes," the de facto closer that is so rhythmic it could be a late-era Korn song. As far as variety goes, this is a fairly standard collection of tunes from a band that is mainly concerned with giving fans what they want and expect.

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She Wants Revenge - This Is Forever (2007)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dark Wave, Electronic Rock

Label Number: B0010042-02
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© 2007 Flawless/Geffen/PerfectKiss
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Somehow, She Wants Revenge found a way to follow the post-post-punk rulebook even more closely on This Is Forever than they did on their self-titled debut. Robotically doomy vocals with a faux-British accent? Check. Eerie keyboard textures? Check. Insistent basslines and alternately strummy and angular guitars? Check and check. As on She Wants Revenge, goth, gloom, and glamour are the order of the day, but even if Justin Warfield and Adam "Adam 12" Bravin have made their music into even more of a caricature on This Is Forever, they sound more confident. They're even willing to play with some irony: the album's cover mirrors the artwork of their debut, except now the girl is wearing all-black, all-purpose wedding/funeral undies, and "She Will Always Be a Broken Girl" sounds like a more bittersweet sequel to She Wants Revenge's "These Things." Warfield and Bravin give equal weight to all of their influences; Depeche Mode, Joy Division, and Interpol are equally worthy of emulating, and the glammy, shuffling beat of "True Romance" makes it feel like a love song dedicated to Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," while the lovelorn musings of "It's Just Begun" could've been ripped from Paul Banks' diary. The band's imitation of their idols gets close to crossing the line between flattery and parody, especially when it comes to She Wants Revenge's lyrics. They play like post-punk madlibs, as on "Checking Out"'s "She's like the devil to me/Though she claims she's found Jesus/Her religion is killing me/Lets her do whatever she pleases." And yet, it's She Wants Revenge's ability to boil these sounds and sentiments down to their essence (and sometimes, lowest common denominator) that makes them distinctive. They're at their best when they have their tongues lodged firmly in their sculpted, angst-ridden cheeks, as on the snidely danceable "What I Want" and "Written in Blood," which "neg" their little girls lost with more putdown come-ons than The Pick Up Artist's Mystery. While a few songs put the "meh" back in melodramatic ("Walking Away," "This Is the End"), This Is Forever is full of catchy songs that improve on the band's first album.

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Breaking Benjamin - Dark Before Dawn (2015) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge

Label Number: D002142492

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☠: Selected by Lass

© 2015 Hollywood Records
AllMusic Review by James Christopher Monger
The fifth studio long-player and first outing from Breaking Benjamin to rely on the talents of a more or less completely new lineup (founder, frontman, and namesake Benjamin Burnley remains at the wheel), Dark Before Dawn offers up little in the way of innovation. That said, as thick, smartly produced, largely inoffensive blasts of generic hard rock go, you could do a lot worse, and longtime fans will appreciate the fact that Burnley and his new shipmates (drummer Shaun Foist [Picture Me Broken], bassist Aaron Bruch, former Red guitarist Jasen Rauch, and ex-Adelitas Way guitarist Keith Wallen) stay true to the band's unwavering allegiance to all things late-'90s/early-2000s post-grunge/hard rock. In the six years since 2009's Dear Agony, Burnley has endured issues of both the legal and health varieties, and much of the 12-track set is spent attempting to process that period of personal upheaval, with standout cuts like the slow-burn single "Failure," the anthemic "Defeated," and the soaring "Close to Heaven" and "Angels Fall" leading the charge. Subtlety has never been Breaking Benjamin's strong suit (the album is bookended by a pair of perfunctory mood pieces titled "Dark" and "Dawn"), but what they lack in nuance they more than make up for in sheer melodic power. Somewhere between Burnley's powerhouse voice and the triple guitar-induced wall of sonic discord in which that pained throat wails, must lie some sort of catharsis, both for the listener and the band, but it's hard to conceal the fact that most of these songs are nearly interchangeable with the band's older material.

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She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge (2006)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dark Wave, Electronic Rock

Label Number: B0005587-02
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© 2006 Flawless/Geffen/PerfectKiss
AllMusic Review by James Christopher Monger
Los Angeles Joy Division-obsessed duo She Wants Revenge blend electronic beats with goth pop misery on their self-titled Geffen debut. DJs Justin Warfield and Adam "Adam 12" Bravin may have crafted the post-punk equivalent of XTC alter-egos Dukes of Stratosphear's psychedelic rock tribute Chips from the Chocolate Fireball, but there is suspicion as to whether or not it was intentional. Like fellow reanimators Interpol, the Bravery, or even the mysterious Lansing-Dreiden, She Wants Revenge love early Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, and pre-Land of Rape and Honey Ministry, but what makes their impeccably crafted, highly listenable/danceable collection of angst so dubious is its utter duplicity. There's nothing wrong with honoring your influences by copping a few moves and singing in a fake British accent like Green Day with the intentions of updating a genre that many potential listeners are too young to have experienced first-hand, but it's another thing to do it without even the slightest deviation.

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She Wants Revenge - Valleyheart (2011)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dark Wave, Electronic Rock

Label Number: FSM 850
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© 2011 Five Seven Music
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Arriving four years after This Is Forever showed just how closely She Wants Revenge could follow the post-punk and synth pop rule books, Valleyheart injects the band’s sound with some much-needed ambition and eclecticism. A concept album about the San Fernando Valley and the turbulent relationships of its denizens, this set of songs proves once and for all that while She Wants Revenge's influences may be from New York and England, they’re undeniably a product of Los Angeles. They’re as sleek and slick as ever on love/hate songs like “Little Star” and “Up in Flames,” which makes their city sound downright dangerous, with lyrics like “the canyon screams and the highways bleed at night.” “Not Just a Girl” and “Suck It Up” are typical dark and doomy She Wants Revenge songs, but more often than not, the band tries new things. “Take the World” puts gritty electronics and programmed beats at the fore, while many of the highlights are surprisingly lighthearted. “Must Be the One” echoes some of U2’s soaring sweetness, while “Kiss Me” couches SWR's swooning romanticism in deceptively sunny pop. “Holiday Song” might be Valleyheart's finest moment, a Bowie-esque ballad that captures the splendid isolation/self-pity of being alone on a day where everyone else is together. Ultimately, the album shows that She Wants Revenge is developing their own sound on their own terms.

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Seven Mary Three - Churn (1994)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Grunge, Acoustic Rock

Label Number: 713118253

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© 1994 5 Spot Records
*No professional reviews available for this release.

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Seven Mary Three - Rock Crown (1997)

*European pressing released with an alternate cover. 
Contains 15 tracks total.

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock, Acoustic

Label Number: 7567-83018-2

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© 1997 Atlantic Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With their second album Rock Crown, Seven Mary Three became ambitious, deciding that they wanted to tap into the American angst and disillusionment that fueled the best work of Bruce Springsteen. Musically, the group still comes off as a horrid cross between Pearl Jam and Grand Funk Railroad -- it's alternative boogie rock, as if Foghat were reborn as a post-grunge band, only with heavier guitars. Much heavier guitars, actually. Seven Mary Three are a post-grunge band only in the sense that they want to talk about big, serious issues but can't escape their arena rock roots. Unfortunately, they have no gift of riff; in the words of their breakthrough single, they are cumbersome, lumbering along with weighty, unfunky rhythms and clunky chords. There are a couple of glimpses that the band could develop their own voice on Rock Crown, but the album in general finds Seven Mary Three floundering.

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Seven Mary Three - Orange Ave. (1998)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge, Acoustic Rock

Label Number: 83114-2

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© 1998 Atlantic Records
AllMusic Review by Michael Gallucci
With their major-label debut, Seven Mary Three rode the Pearl Jam bandwagon to commercial success with a combination of crunchy guitars and angst-filled lyrics; the follow-up, 1997's Rock Crown, was more introspective and stripped-down, almost turning 1995's American Standard into "Americana Standard." It stiffed. So, for Orange Ave., they take chunks of both predecessors and come up with a scattered work, one that's not quite sure if it wants to be another post-grunge dip in the radio well or a soul-searching, acoustic-guitar-strumming personal statement. If it was up to Jason Ross, it would probably be the latter. His musically intimate songs (like the radio hit "Over Your Shoulder") are more focused, thoughtful and tuneful; the big rock numbers, however, are as awful as anything that's come from grunge's floodgates opening. This album reflects the sound of a band at the crossroads.

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Republica - Republica (1996)

*U.S. pressing released with an alternate cover. 
Contains 12 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Electronic, Pop Rock

Label Number: 07863 66899-2

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© 1996 Deconstruction/RCA Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Republica essentially sound like they're stuck in 1990, when house and rave were just beginning to make their presence felt in dance-pop -- which, to more critical ears, will mean they sound dated for the mid-'90s, when jungle, drum'n'bass, ambient, and all other forms of techno were finally edging their way into the mainstream. And that argument would be relevant if Republica were attempting to work in that genre, but as their eponymous debut indicated, they had no interest in hardcore techno -- they just wanted to dance. Working with strong, accessible Hi-NRG beats and catchy choruses, the trio has a bright, energetic sound that is quite infectious when tied with the right melodies, such as on the hit singles "Ready to Go" and "Drop Dead Gorgeous." If they had more than one sound, however, Republica would be even more entertaining, but as it stands, the record is a stretch of pleasantly numbing dance-pop punctuated by two terrific singles.

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Republica - Speed Ballads (1998)

*European pressing released with an alternate cover. 
Contains 10 tracks total.

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Electronic, Pop Rock

Label Number: 74321 62021 2

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© 1998 Deconstruction
AllMusic Review by Jason Damas
While it was released only in the U.K., Republica's sophomore release Speed Ballads exhibits some remarkable growth. Detractors always felt that the band was the commercialization of other similar groups such as Garbage, yet Republica's music has a definite pop leaning that sets them apart from some of their contemporaries. Since Republica is more or less a studio creation -- more about "production" than being a band, really -- it's not surprising that the project employed a team of all-star producers including Alan Winstanley and the Lightning Seeds' Ian Broudie. What resulted was a cycle of ten tracks in an album far more diverse than their debut. While the disco-metal that ruled their first record has been pushed to the back of the mix here -- only some of the songs actually have the same pounding rhythms on the debut -- the songwriting has come exceptionally far. It's especially noticeable on the excellent single "Try Anything," a moving power-ballad that's also awash in beats. Other highlights include the hard-driving "From Rush Hour With Love" and the spacey "Fading of the Man."

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Love Spit Love - Trysome Eatone (1997)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
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© 1997 Maverick
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
On Love Spit Love's eponymous debut, Richard Butler tried too hard to break from the legacy of the Psychedelic Furs, and the result was a stiff, awkward record that only ccasionally hit its target. For Love Spit Love's second album, Trysome Eatone, Butler decided to rely on the darkly seductive blend of arty post-punk and glam-rock that was the Furs' trademark. It's partially nostalgia, but he was able to update the Furs sound with a sharp, clever production and the occasional electronic or alternative flourish. It evokes the '80s without slavishly recreating the sound, but Trysome Eatone manages to be more than a guilty pleasure for longtime Furs fans because of Butler's solid craftmanship. Many of the album's songs are well-written and memorable, resulting in a record that represents a return to form for one of the early '80s' most distinctive artists.

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Immature - On Our Worst Behavior (1992)

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

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: R&B

Label Number: 0777-7-86454-2-9

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© 1992 Virgin Records
*No professional reviews available for this release.

tags: immature, on our worst behavior, 1992, flac,

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Love Spit Love - Love Spit Love (1994) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 1994 Imago
AllMusic Review by Ned Raggett
Perhaps it's significant that one lyric goes "I don't want your talk, talk, talk," but reading too much into it might be a danger as well. Setting aside any questions regarding how much of a distance needed to be placed from the Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love's debut effort is at points a bit of a lost classic. If not quite up to the Furs at their absolute best, it's certainly better than that band's worst efforts, and more than once the quartet achieves a particular magic all its own. More than once, it's audible that in ways Richard and Tim Butler were trying with this what contemporaries Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant were aiming for with Electrafixion -- a sometimes raucous attempt to stay in line with the alternative explosion of the early '90s and its accompanying fallout, though still shot through with their own cool elegance instead of rough rampage. Richard Fortus does his best to give Butler the right sort of musical support throughout -- he's a good enough guitarist, with a thick, slow rush tone at his loudest, but he's not truly a great one in comparison to John Ashton, not quite so inventive and special. That said, ultimately the chief problem with the album is that many of the songs are fairly anonymous, enjoyable enough to listen to then and there but not given over to sticking in the memory like they should (or instead suggesting other songs, like "Half a Life," which is halfway to Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae"). At its best, though, Love Spit Love comes up with some crackerjack songs such as the odd boulevardier swing of "Jigsaw" and the fragmented ballad "Wake Up." The real winner, though, was the lead single "Am I Wrong," with a wonderful, just delicate enough arrangement the bed for another Butler-sung classic of emotional questioning and melancholia.

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Taking Back Sunday - Taking Back Sunday (2011)

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock

Label Number: 527870-2

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© 2011 Warner Bros. Records/Sire Records
AllMusic Review by Gregory Heaney
Reuniting the lineup from their debut album, 2002’s Tell All Your Friends, Taking Back Sunday seek to recapture the fire of that early lineup on their eponymous fifth album. Nearly a decade later, we find the post-hardcore outfit a little older and a little wiser, but sounding no worse for the wear, with John Nolan and Shaun Cooper sliding back into the lineup as if they had never left. The pair’s seamless return works in the band’s favor, reinvigorating their sound with the chemistry that brought them to the national stage without being a tired retread of things they’ve already done. In a lot of ways, Taking Back Sunday is the sophomore album the band never had. Songs like “El Paso” and “You Got Me” find the band both refining and expanding their sound, offering up tighter songs without sacrificing intensity in the process. The big surprises on the album come by way of the highly danceable “Money (Let It Go),” where deep fuzz bass and stomping drums blast their way through a garage-influenced dancefloor scorcher, and “This Is All Now,” which drifts back and forth between a verse anchored by an angular, Dismemberment Plan-style beat and a classic, singalong-style chorus. Normally, you’d expect a band to gain new members in order to inject this kind of life into their sound, and with three albums and seven years passing between Nolan and Cooper’s exodus and return, it’d be an easy point to argue that they almost are new members. What their return does bring, though, is that unquantifiable “getting the band back together” feeling and all of the excitement that comes with old friends getting back together to do what they do best.

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Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be (2004) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop Punk, Alternative Rock

Label Number: VR228

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© 2004 Victory Records
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Where You Want to Be builds on the hardcore-power-meets-pop-skills of Taking Back Sunday's debut, Tell All Your Friends, and reveals the group to be, in many ways, a quintessential latter-day emo band. Not because they're redefining the style's sound, but because their music is defined by so many of emo's nearly cliché tendencies. A gerund-led band name? Check. Cryptically bittersweet titles like "Little Devotional"? Present and accounted for. Shouty, anthemic vocals, string-driven ballads like "New American Classic," and wordy, confessional lyrics ("Give me a chance? Whatever...you're so hit or miss, and that's so '93") are all in place as well. However, while Where You Want to Be might be more than a little (stereo)typical, it's not embarrassing; songs like "A Decade Under the Influence," "One Eighty by Summer," and "Number Five With a Bullet" do have some real impact, and show some songwriting growth since Tell All Your Friends. But since the band doesn't take the occasionally cringe-worthy risks of some of their emo brethren, Taking Back Sunday sometimes comes off as less than distinctive, and the album can sound like a generic soundtrack to generic teenage angst; even though it's a nearly universal subject, it should never sound routine. Where You Want to Be is definitely a solid album -- especially considering that it was recorded so soon after half the band was replaced -- but crafting something a little more unique would take Taking Back Sunday's music that much farther. [Where You Want to Be was released with a bonus CD of songs and videos from like-minded Victory Records artists, including Hawthorne Heights, Bayside, Action Action, and Silverstein.]

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Taking Back Sunday - New Again (2009) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop Punk, Alternative Rock

Label Number: 2516894

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© 2009 Warner Bros. Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Like so many of their emo peers, Taking Back Sunday gets increasingly poppy as their career winds on, a reflection of their advancing age as much a shifting musical direction brought on by the departure of guitarist Fred Mascherino. His absence has left vocalist Adam Lazzara firmly in charge, a subtle shift in power referenced in the title of their fourth album, New Again, so dubbed because the group feels like a new, different group now that Matthew Fazzi has filled Mascherino's shoes. And that assessment is correct, at least as far as the band's attitude goes: this is brighter and bigger in every regard, never shying away from arena-filling hooks, an attitude that turns slower numbers like "Where My Mouth Is" into a genuine power ballad without a trace of irony. This large, cavernous sound camouflages the lingering emo elements which largely surface in the angst-mining lyrics, as well as the occasional bellow, and even if this lack of stridency may alienate some longtime followers, this gleaming pop-punk makeover is the band at its most immediate and easy to enjoy.

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Bush - Sixteen Stone (1994) ☠

*U.S. first pressing. 

Contains 12 tracks total. 

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

Country: United Kingdom
Genre: Grunge

Label Number: INTD-92531

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© 1994 Trauma/Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Bush's grunge-by-the-numbers is certainly well produced. Under the guidance of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley -- the kings of early-'80s British pop -- Bush turn in an album that follows all the rules and sounds of American hard rock, specifically Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Their songwriting isn't original, nor is it particularly catchy. What makes "Everything Zen" and "Little Things" memorable is the exact reproduction of all of Nirvana's trademarks, only with a more professional execution. In other words, all the guitars keep rhythm perfectly and Gavin Rossdale doesn't shred his throat when he sings, he projects from his diaphragm. As far as popcraftsmanship goes, it's actually quite impressive. It would be even more so if they had songs to accompany their sounds.

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Backstreet - Backstreet Boys (1997) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop

Label Number: J2B 1589

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☠: Selected by Lass

© 1997 Jive Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
The Backstreet Boys' eponymous debut album was released in America nearly a full year after its original European release, and the wait proved to be a blessing in disguise. In that year, light dance-pop -- such as the Spice Girls and Hanson -- returned to the top of the American charts, paving the way for the frothy pleasures of Backstreet Boys. Like those groups, the Backstreet Boys divide their time between catchy, up-tempo dance numbers and syrupy ballads, and they are as reliant on their personality as they are their talent. As a result, there are a couple of slow spots on the record, but each of the singles, plus a handful of album tracks, are potent combinations of professional hooks and personal charm that make Backstreet Boys a thoroughly enjoyable affair.

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Letters To Cleo - Wholesale Meats & Fish (1995) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge, Alternative Rock
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 1995 Giant Records
AllMusic Review by Troy Carpenter

Wholesale Meats and Fish doesn't break any new musical ground, but it is far from a sophomore slump for Letters to Cleo. The band rocks harder than it had previously, but retains pop pureness and continues to entertain. When the band's first album Aurora Gory Alice was released in 1993, it received little critical or popular response. But including "Here and Now" on the Melrose Place soundtrack helped Aurora's record sales pick up steam. At that point, the band had already recorded Wholesale Meats and Fish, but couldn't release it yet because they had newfound popularity to deal with (a tour and video were put into motion). When it was finally released, Fish was revealed to be a solid effort, but it wasn't perceived to be as timely or important as the band's first record.
Letters to Cleo spent most of the time in between recording both albums playing countless shows. This is apparent on Wholesale Meats and Fish in a decidedly harder-edged sound to the music, reminiscent of Letters' live performances. Guitarists Michael Eisenstein and Greg McKenna have stepped up their roles and turned up the volume on their instruments this time around, while bassist Scott Riebling has been pushed farther down in the mix.

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Letters To Cleo - Aurora Gory Alice (1994) ☠

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Post Grunge, Alternative Rock
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☠: Selected by Lass

© 1994 Giant Records
AllMusic Review by Troy Carpenter
Spirited and warm pop songs populate the full-length debut of Letters to Cleo. Like fellow Bostonian Juliana Hatfield, Letters pull off simple, cute pop hooks with a powerful rock band approach. On Aurora Gory Alice, however, restraint is the name of the game, and it comes off as a somewhat flawed but ultimately endearing record. Crooner Kay Hanley dexterously adapts her versatile vocals to fit the band's varying dynamics. Letters' debut single, "I See," is reprised for the album, but its big sales draw ended up being the speedy chorus of "Here and Now," a hit off the Melrose Place soundtrack a year after Aurora's release. Other notable tunes include the curious "From Under the Dust" and acoustic closer "Step Back."

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