October 15, 2017

King Diamond - Abigail (1987) ☠

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Country: Denmark
Language: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: RR 34 9622
☠: Selected by Buccaneer
© 1987 Roadrunner Records
AllMusic Review by Eduardo Rivadavia
Widely recognized as King Diamond's solo masterpiece, Abigail is also unquestionably one of heavy metal's greatest concept albums. A passion for dark-themed theatrics had always qualified the work of the man formerly known as Kim Bendix Petersen before this release, and yet his band's debut from two years prior had merely hinted at the conceptual ambitions yet to come. So turn out the houselights, draw the curtains, and listen closely as King Diamond's synthetically altered voice introduces us to the witch Abigail La'Fey (in an obvious tribute to Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan) through -- fittingly enough -- her "Funeral." Moments later, proper musical opener "Arrival" introduces the familiar post-metal, semi-thrashing style over which Diamond will narrate his spine-tingling tale of horror, a tale which, in the process, conjures such career-topping compositions as the stunning "A Mansion in Darkness," the surprisingly clever "The Family Ghost," and the quite beautiful acoustics, orchestrations, and sound effects introducing "The 7th Day of July 1777." Ensuing highlights such as "The Possession," the title track, and the epic finale of "Black Horsemen" maintain the pattern of carefully structured lyrics, as they spell out in frightening detail Abigail's terrifying act of possession and demonic rebirth through the hapless leading couple's newborn child. By the time it's all screamed and done, it's safe to say Rosemary's Baby was no more gruesome! Also of note, musically speaking, ace future Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee matches incredible versatility and envious power for a command performance here, and one can noticeably hear guitarist Andy LaRocque nudging Diamond's erstwhile Mercyful Fate cohort Michael Denner out of the dual lead guitar equation with his inspired leads (he would soon assume an unchallenged position at the feet of the King's throne). As for the master of dark ceremonies himself, King Diamond, too, takes a quantum leap by subjecting his trademark falsettos to layer upon layer of multi-tracked harmonies, transforming what was previously an acquired taste for some into an overpowering and irresistible self-contained chorus sent straight from the pits of hell. Thanks to all of this, the combined quality of the words and music to be found on Abigail make it an exercise in goth metal storytelling that remains quite simply nonpareil -- among the living, at least. [Later reissued on compact disc with the bonus track "Shrine," Abigail was also paired with its predecessor, Fatal Portrait, for Roadrunner's Two from the Vault series.]

tags: king diamond, abigail, 1987, flac,
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King Diamond - "Them" (1988)

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*First pressing. 
Contains 1 bonus track. 
12 tracks total.
Country: Denmark
Language: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: RR 9550

© 1988 Roadracer Records
AllMusic Review by Eduardo Rivadavia
Following the incredible success of his second solo album, and first conceptual undertaking, Abigail, King Diamond set to work almost immediately on his next extravagant adventure in gothic storytelling with 1988's "Them." This time, he inserts himself among the story's characters, which also includes his mother, little sister, a haunted house (naturally), and, more unexpectedly, a batty old grandmother whose return from a long stay at the insane asylum (famously announced by "Welcome Home"'s borderline hilarious opening shrieks of "Grandmaaaa!!!") precipitates the supernatural acts of possession, murder, and madness that move this tale forward. Also worth noting are the new musical players who had joined the King Diamond band on this outing. After all, the replacement of guitarist Michael Denner and bassist Timi Hansen by Pete Blakk and Hal Patino, respectively, signaled the King's final break with his former band, Mercyful Fate. Tellingly, other than upping the overall camp factor just so, this development had no discernible effect on "Them"'s musical vision as compared to Abigail, thereby confirming said vision as stemming from King Diamond himself. Now back to the music: co-songwriter Andy LaRocque once again delivers distinctive, semi-thrash riffs, majestic harmonies, and searing, inventive solo passages to standout moments like "The Invisible Guests," "Tea," and "Twilight Symphony," but it's small nuances such as the acoustic break in "A Broken Spell" and the oppressive synthesized clavichords heard on "The Accusation Chair" that lend "Them"'s story its satisfyingly complex personality. What's more, overly theatrical numbers like "Mother's Getting Weaker" and "Bye, Bye Missy" take a little more license with their arrangements when incorporating the key words, plot themes, and even distinct character voices necessary to advancing the story line, but usually do so with very little detriment to the musical flow, which is occasionally embellished further by short interludes such as the title cut's symphonic instrumental interlude, and the opening and closing vignettes, "Out from the Asylum" and "Coming Home." As for King Diamond, he takes full advantage of the story's various points of view to try on any number of vocal guises, but overall, he's employing spiraling vocal chorales built upon layers of his instantly recognizable shrill falsettos far more frequently than his lower-register growling style. Ultimately, pundits generally found "Them" just slightly lacking in the face of Abigail's rarely challenged excellence, but consumers ultimately disagreed, buying more copies of "Them" that any other King Diamond album before or after.

tags: king diamond, them, "them" 1988, flac,
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King Diamond - The Eye (1990)

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Country: Denmark
Language: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label Number: RRD 9346

© 1990 Roadracer Records
AllMusic Review by Alex Henderson
A disciple of Judas Priest's Rob Halford but definitely his own man, King Diamond favored goth metal that could be quite imaginative. Although blistering at times, the Scandinavian headbanger wasn't one to shy away from melody -- something he definitely uses to his advantage on this riveting CD. A goth metal treasure focusing on witchcraft and the occult, The Eye wasn't nearly as successful as it deserved to be. Definitely heavier than pop-metal but certainly more melodic than thrash bands like Vio-Lence and Dark Angel, The Eye fell through the cracks. Nonetheless, it is highly recommended for headbangers who enjoy such fantasy metal as Judas Priest, Grim Reaper, and Iron Maiden.

tags: king diamond, the eye, 1990, flac,
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October 14, 2017

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV (2008)

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*Double C.D. This is the standard release. 
Contains 36 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Dark Ambient, Industrial Rock
Label Number: HALO TWENTY SIX CD

© 2008 The Null Corporation
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Roughly a year after Year Zero -- a year marked by lots of sniping with his record company first about their clueless promotion then devolving into a tirade about their general uselessness -- Trent Reznor broke free of Interscope/Universal and became a free agent, releasing music where and when he wanted. To celebrate his freedom he released the four-part Ghosts, a clearinghouse of 36 instrumentals all created during the years he crafted Year Zero. It should come as no great surprise that Ghosts then plays like a sketchbook, a place where Reznor jotted down sounds and textures that flitted across his mind and then either took them no further, or decided to spin them into something entirely new for the full album. These aren't songs, they're seeds, and they (appropriately) aren't even graced with titles; they're all dubbed "Ghosts," parts one through 36, and if Reznor didn't spend enough time crafting them into proper songs, don't feel too bad if you don't spend enough time with Ghosts to sort through them, picking out which fragments are powered by a clenched electro beat and which are glassy ambient shards. Even fanatics might be hard-pressed to give Ghosts such a careful listen as it's simply not meant to be so closely observed. It's meant to be taken as surface, perhaps skimmed for samples, but generally to be used as mildly unsettling mood music -- a specialty of Reznor's, to be sure, but he's better and scarier when his ideas are more finely honed than they are here.

tags: nine inch nails, ghost i-iv, I-IV, 2008, flac,
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Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Industrial Rock, Alternative Rock
Label Number: 

© 2008 The Null Corporation
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Hard to believe that at one point Trent Reznor was seen as the quintessential perfectionist, squirreled away in a decaying Victorian house, sweating over each individual track he created, spending upwards of six years between albums. He's shattered that image in the new millennium, especially after his 2007 divorce from Interscope, a parting of the ways that left him free to release albums when and how he chose. Reznor immediately embraced that opportunity, releasing the instrumental double-album Ghosts I-IV without announcement in March 2008, then quickly following it two months later with The Slip, a full-fledged vocal album. Such rapid succession served notice that Reznor intended to take full advantage of his freedom, and its availability as a free lossless download prior to its physical release couldn't help but be seen as a veiled stab at Radiohead's variable pricing for In Rainbows, a move Trent called a "marketing gimmick," a charge that can't quite be leveled against Nine Inch Nails as Reznor encouraged fans to post The Slip elsewhere, to give it away to friends, to remix their tracks if they wished. Unlike Ghosts, which seemed designed with remixing and sampling in mind, The Slip doesn't cry out for recontextualization in order to make sense: it's riveting on its own terms.
Mercilessly tight and efficient where Year Zero was majestic and sprawling, The Slip is the most user-friendly Nine Inch Nails album ever. At only ten tracks, there is no fat on its bones. It does not offer a slow build, it leaps into action with the lacerating "1,000,000," maintaining a blistering intensity for half the record before eventually winding its way to softer moments for the album's conclusion. There is no learning curve to The Slip, it does not require effort to decode a narrative, it does not slowly unfold its own internal logic, it comes on with a tightly controlled force that's present even in the quietest moments, as they pulsate with coiled tension. The Slip is so easy to digest because Trent Reznor is in consolidation mode, relying on his strengths instead of punishingly pushing himself forward. Such obsession with progress weighed down The Fragile and With Teeth, turning them into intricate puzzle boxes for devotees, but Reznor began to break free with the quite magnificent Year Zero, whose dense narrative likely alienated many fans. Here on The Slip, he retains the sense of urgency that flowed through Year Zero, but as it's a lean album, it's easier to appreciate his mastery of darkness and light or his ability to construct throbbing melodic hooks out of noise. Here, he's no longer a stylized, self-conscious innovator, he's a working musician enraptured by making music, and he's so invigorated by creation it's hard not to get sucked in as well.

tags: nine inch nails, the slip, 2008, flac,
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October 13, 2017

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks (Deluxe Edition) (2013)

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*This is a CD rip. 
Deluxe edition contains a second disc with 3 bonus remixed tracks.
The "Audophile Mastered Version" was released as a digital download. 

Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Industrial Rock, Alternative Rock, Electronic
Label Number: 88883 74496 2

© 2013 Columbia Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Retirement never suited Trent Reznor. A workaholic who tempers his obsessive nature with a healthy streak of perfectionism, Reznor has put Nine Inch Nails in hibernation before, but the difference between the five years separating 2013's Hesitation Marks and 2008's The Slip and his previous extended gaps -- the half-decade between 1994's The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, the six years between The Fragile and 2005's With Teeth -- is that Reznor didn't go into seclusion, he merely stepped away from NIN. David Fincher drafted him to score The Social Network in 2010 -- Trent received an Academy Award for his trouble -- and that same year he formed How to Destroy Angels with longtime collaborator Atticus Ross and Mariqueen Maandig. Echoes of these two projects can be heard within the disciplined, detailed Hesitation Marks but much of the album's measured mood derives from the great settling within Reznor's personal life. He married Maandig in 2009 and subsequently had two children, so he's a decidedly different musician in 2013 than he was in 1993: he's not the tortured, angry young rebel struggling with addictions and angst, he's a sober family man. Sobriety centered Reznor and working in other capacities reinvigorated him, leading to the masterful Hesitation Marks, where he cannily evokes the past within the cloak of the future while focusing on the present. Certainly, Hesitation Marks brings to mind some of the earliest Nine Inch Nails records, particularly in how it's built upon actual danceable rhythms, but the sonic palette is brighter and broader than either Pretty Hate Machine or The Downward Spiral, feeling expansive even when it's punctuated with jarring, jagged bursts of electric noise and bursts of clustered beats. Reznor enlisted a bunch of art rock vets to help achieve this coiled, cloistered sound -- King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Pino Palladino play often, Lindsey Buckingham throws in some guitar; on the deluxe edition, Todd Rundgren Utopia-fies "All Time Low" with layers of harmonies -- and the additional musicians help keep the album open. Even if "Everything" -- a surprising power pop rush that's easily the most exuberant Nine Inch Nails has ever sounded -- was excised, Hesitation Marks would qualify as the most hopeful NIN album ever. Pain still punctuates the lyrics, Reznor still slides into moody black pools of sound, but there is no wallowing here, no fetishization of darkness. There is shade and light within Reznor's immaculate constructions, there is the ebb and flow of life, there is joy within the sheer sheets of sound. Hesitation Marks makes it quite clear that Trent Reznor is no longer an angry young man but rather a restless, inventive artist who is at peace with himself, and the result is a record that provides real, lasting nourishment.

tags: nine inch nails, hesitation marks, deluxe edition, 2013, flac,
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Nine Inch Nails - (With Teeth) (2005) ☠

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*European release. Contains 1 bonus track and 14 tracks total.
Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Industrial Rock, Alternative Rock
Label Number: 0602498824375
☠: Selected by Lass
© 2005 Nothing Records
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Trent Reznor always was a perfectionist, laboring over his final mixes with a fine-tooth comb, a belabored process that inevitably led to long gaps between albums. About five years a piece, actually, a wait that was sustainable between his 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine, and his 1994 breakthrough, The Downward Spiral; a wait, considering the expectations, that was understandable between that record and its 1999 sequel, The Fragile; yet it was a wait that was a little bewildering and frustrating between that record and its long-gestating follow-up, With Teeth. The Fragile was a grandiose, indulgent double album, dense enough to alienate fairweather fans while making advocates of those with enough time, patience, and fanaticism to listen to it repeatedly until it all made sense. It may not have pleased everybody, but it seemed like a record that necessitated half a decade to construct, and arrived with an appropriate sense of drama. That's not the case with With Teeth, which appeared in the spring of 2005 with the requisite deluge of press but without the sense of breathless anticipation that greeted The Fragile. Part of that was changing times -- fans who were 25 in 1999 were now 30 and weren't following pop music as closely -- but it's also true that the double-disc set whittled his audience down to its core, diminishing Nine Inch Nails' stature somewhat. They still had their cult and still won accolades from those convinced that artists who were important in 1995 were still important in 2005, but NIN seems not only out of step but diminished in 2005. Sure, Rick Rubin had Johnny Cash sing "Hurt," but Reznor's recordings seemed to have less impact on modern music than ever. His soundalikes vanished, his long-abandoned protégé Marilyn Manson turned the corner from self-parody to college lecturer, his romanticized goth morphed into Hot Topic stores and Evanescence. Not that any of this mattered one bit to Reznor. Instead of grabbing the gold ring when he had a chance in 1995, he squirreled himself away in his New Orleans house, recording obsessively, and according to some interviews conducted around the release of With Teeth, succumbing to alcohol addiction. He consciously turned away from stardom, along with anything happening in contemporary pop, so he could tinker in the studio. That lead to the obsessive, insular The Fragile, and that same impulse drives the sleek, streamlined, diamond-hard With Teeth.
Quite frankly, this is the record that NIN should have released if Reznor had wanted to capitalize on the success of The Downward Spiral. It's loud and angry, doesn't skimp on hooks, and is heavy on both sexy robotic dance beats and crashing rock rhythms (some supplied by everybody's favorite drummer, Dave Grohl, but not that you'd know it from reading the CD; the chintzy packaging not only has no credits, it has no booklet) -- all things that made "Closer" an alt-rock classic. But for all the surface similarities to his past albums, there is a palpable difference in tone and approach on With Teeth. This is the work of a craftsman, a musician who meticulously assembles his work by layering details so densely, there's never a moment on the record where something isn't roiling under the surface, where something isn't added to the mix. He's good at this, though. With Teeth is an impressive achievement technically and the music is generally strong, yet there's a nagging problem -- namely, there's nothing new here. It's not that Reznor is recycling himself -- he's far too compulsive a craftsman for that -- but he's not pushing himself, either, preferring to work within the box he created himself ten years ago. Consequently, the music sounds as if it comfortably could have been released in 1996, the time when Reznor's style of music was at its popular peak. There's nothing wrong with that -- plenty of rock and pop musicians are craftsmen, working the same sound and finding interesting variations within it -- but there's something awkward about an industrial craftsman, or at least as how it's practiced by Reznor. His biggest problem is that while he shows considerable skill, even subtlety, in his music, the tortured sentiments of his lyrics are frozen in amber. They're eternally adolescent and they sound juvenile, even embarrassing, coming from a man on the verge of his 40th birthday. These words work when sung by a young man, when they're sung with a sense of urgency, but "urgency" is not a word that can be associated with NIN, even on a record like this that takes great pains to sound visceral and alive. Reznor is too insulated, too shut out from the outside world, too unconcerned with pleasing anybody but himself to make anything close to urgent. Without that sense of hunger, his music doesn't have mass appeal, leaving it to the hardcore who appreciate his sense of craft and construction, listeners who are eager to listen to the album enough times to memorize the details. In short, the same listeners who had the patience to learn how to love The Fragile will learn how to love With Teeth.

tags: nine inch nails, with teeth, 2005, flac, (with teeth),
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Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero (2007)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Industrial Metal, Alternative Rock, Electronic
Label Number: B0008764-02

© 2007 Interscope Records
AllMusic Review by Thom Jurek
Nine Inch Nails' 2007 release Year Zero will undoubtedly go down in rock history for the way the recording was marketed before its release. It may mark the first time that the advance strategy -- conceived of and executed, for the most part, by NIN auteur Trent Reznor himself with 42 Entertainment -- became part and parcel of the edifice that is the album's concept: an alternate reality game and a possible film project that lasts three years in total make up the rest. Months before the recording's actual issue date, T-shirts appeared with highlighted letters in code that spelled out "I Am Trying To Believe." Hip fans added a dotcom to the words and found a website discussing "The Presence," a shadowy four-fingered hand on the set's cover that appears throughout the booklet, in web discussions of the set, and references to the drug "Parepin," which was allegedly introduced into the water supplies of large cities to make them safe against bio-terror yet induced mass hallucinations as a side effect. There were other websites as well which described the "Church of Plano," the confessions of a government murderer for hire, and more, as well as a phone number that played the spooky beginning of the track "Survivalism." There were several thumb drives placed strategically in bathrooms of NIN concerts around the world that contained entire tracks from the album. What's more, this guerilla "marketing" campaign has not been commented on by Reznor except to say that it is not marketing, but part of the concept of Year Zero itself and not meant to induce consumers to buy the record. Right.
Given this ambitious schemata for Year Zero's release along with the concept -- a dystopian, paranoid, angry and schizophrenic look at life in the United States circa 2022 -- it is the music contained on the disc and only the music that is the bellwether of whether or not the ambition and effort were worth it. Year Zero comes virtually on the heels of 2005's With Teeth, and is a virtual sprint for Reznor who is known to take notoriously long breaks between recordings. A large portion of the album's rough tracks were recorded with a laptop setup while on tour, and it feels like it. There are hidden sounds, textures, shadings, passages, and more in virtually every cut where heavy metal, industrial , ambient, hip-hop, post-futurist balladry and strings rub up against each other and punch one another in a glorious rawk din. Melodies are asserted and turned inside out, added onto with other segments, and either returned to or not. And yet, the sound of Year Zero is cohesive, adventurous, full of dynamics, tension and character. The songs sound like songs. There are discernible hooks in "The Beginning of the End," "Survivalism," "The Greater Good," and the utterly moving and brilliant "Zero-Sum," which closes the disc. While many of the Nine Inch Nails recordings after Downward Spiral relied on sheer force to bludgeon listeners into submission, the atmospheres on Year Zero are far more seductive and and inviting. This doesn't mean there isn't a powerful blend of electronics and in-the-red vanguard rock, along with mutant science-fiction funk, from the opening "Hyperpower!" and "The Beginning of the End," where guitars squall against glitches, beeps, pops, and blotches of blurry sonic attacks. Percussion looms large, distorted, organic, looped, screwed, spindled and broken. It's as if Reznor spent some real time listening to the Hank Shocklee and the Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's sound architects for inspiration. His notion of the same doesn't borrow from them so much as extrapolate and shove to the margin the idea of sound as the driving force that carries a song's structure, and not vice-versa: check "Survivalism" and "Me, I'm Not."
It comes down to something both prophetic and age old: Year Zero is an album that more accurately reflects its time period than any other in the pop pantheon. Its paranoia and rage are well founded by the lack of choices. Near the end of "The Good Soldier," Reznor's protagonist emerges shattered and bewildered by the bloodshed in all this world and his personal one intones: "No one's even sure/What we're fighting for/Or who we even are anymore/I feel/so far away...." In the faux-hip-hop funky rock in "Capital G" amid the scree and feedback, this character with his ragged singsong rap offers: "Well I used to stand for something/But forgot what that could be/there's a lot of me inside you/maybe you're afraid to see/Well I used to stand for something/Now I'm on my hands and knees/Traded in my god for this one/signs his name with a capital 'G'," while a horn section bleats and burns, treated and mutilated by bleeps and glitches with a deep, scathing bassline. In the universe of Year Zero, apathy, though desired, is never enough. This is portrayed in "My Violent Heart" and "The Warning," sonically as well as lyrically. In the latter track, beats shift with huge electronic and guitar drones, pushed by the confounded emotion inherent in the lyric to the place of the apocalyptic entrance of the "presence" coming down from the sky -- is it an hallucination, an actual vision of retribution, or willful destruction by the protagonist? -- "....We've been watching you with all of our eyes/And what you seem to value most/so much potential/or so we used to say/your greed, self-importance, and your arrogance...your time is ticking away."
The burning electronic funk in "God Given" reveals the urgency of a situation with no choices but to look straight in front of you." Apocalypse and some frightening future of absolute control have been seeded and watered in the present day, from one American generation to the next as societal disintegration has resulted in the willful acquiescing of freedom, all done to monster beats, scratches, chants and completely sick rock & roll freak-out. You can find the tension whipped to frenzy pitch in "Meet Your Master," where the new boss is some grainy reality that acquits no one, offers no mercy, and where forgiveness is a concept rather than a definition of anything real. In the bass throb and guitar caterwaul in the middle, Reznor dispassionately intones, "come on down down, come on down, come on down..." It's echoed endlessly as layers of noise and feedback assert themselves over the shuffling bomb of the bass loop. What all this schizophrenic fright, political and cultural nausea and social paranoia add up to is a future of no choices because those choices were all pissed away in our gluttonous use of the environment, of other societies for our own purposes and sheer hedonism. The strange sound of marimbas and vibraphones slip ethereally from one song to the next, as if to belie the absence something that was; it has been placed under erasure; it's a collective past whose trace is barely recognizable in the future of no choice "freedom."
Year Zero is the finest Nine Inch Nails recording since Downward Spiral. Its songs are memorable, beautifully constructed and articulated. Reznor's manner of writing on a laptop and recording as he went on the road was beneficial in that it provided a larger context for his lyric ideas as they matched up to the splatter and crash of his musical ones. This is Reznor's least "personal" album," and hence it becomes his most personal; because as his vision widens to embrace an entire generation inside the conceptual reality of Year Zero and "The Presence," he embraces the things he dreads, fears and bristles at most with complete conviction -- even if that conviction is rooted at times in irony (and thank goodness for that). Certainly the album is bleak and doesn't make for bland entertainment, but then, his records never do. This one is as fully realized as a rock & roll album for the post-9/11 world can be, even if its totality is not held in the zeros and ones of binary code, but in extraneous web sites and alternate reality gamesmanship: in other words, the music stands on its own no matter what else accompanies it. Year Zero is bloodied but unbowed rock with a capital "R"; it's a serious and marginal pop treatise on the lack of political and social awareness inherent in the current and perhaps near future culture. It reveals in song and sound the helplessness bred in the individual's eminent collision and collusion with a perceived enemy. It becomes a kind of manifesto, a Jeremiad prophecy of what may arrive, however metaphorically, if these shadows do not change. It's brilliant, disturbing, necessary.

tags: nine inch nails, year zero, 2007, flac,
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The Order - 1986 (2012)⚓

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

Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Genre: Heavy Metal
Style: Melodic Heavy Metal
Label Number: MAS CD0778

© 2012 Massacre Records
Review by YngwieViking for Metal-Temple.com
THE ORDER’s 2007’s album "Welcome To The Metal Casino" was a very good release like a mix between WASP & GOTTHARD with some slightly modern US Hard Rock influences, still  a very recommended platter. The first and third albums were a little bit less interesting more in the traditional Hard Rock roots, but the vocals by Gianni Pontillo (Also singer of PURE INC.) were obviously the main asset of this Swiss outfit. In fact with PURE INC. his vocals sound quite near of those provided by the SOUNDGARDEN's leader Chris Cornell. For the three early albums some Blackie Lawless overtones were also more than perceptible. With a clear will to make a revival CD, in “1986” their fourth works, Pontillo sounds more like a mix between Paul Stanley / Sammy Hagar & David Coverdale or maybe a young version of Paul Shortino, while the melodic type of Metal displayed by the band is fully in the vein of RATT / DEF LEPPARD / KING KOBRA / QUIET RIOT / CINDERELLA / ROUGH CUTT / KICK AXE / ICON or KISS. Because as you can easily guess, thanks to the title and the airbrushed cover, you may notice that this album is a tribute to the greatest era of all time, at least concerning Hard Rock & Hair Metal: The late 80s. But if you pass on this particular aspect, this album may hold some strong melodies and some perfect 80s Rock N Roll / Party Metal cuts, the whole boosted by a dash of Euro Metal like JUDAS PRIEST & co. The gimmicks aren't too obvious but the style is definitively somewhere between contemporary acts like: WATCHMEN / SLIPPERY / JETTBLACK / KORITNI / DIAMOND LANE / GUNNERS SIXX but not in the parody way used by the likes of WIG WAM. Yes, It’s a tribute and not a caricature, made with respect and subtlety, not a spoof satire, except for a short time in “Fire It Up” where the lyrics were borrowed from “Panama” by VAN HALEN…It’s truly authentic. I even double checked if renowned producer Spencer Proffer wasn't involved at some point. This album is recommended for all nostalgic Metal Quarantine Maniacs but not exclusively.

tags: the order, 1986, 2012, flac, the order band, 1986 album,

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October 12, 2017

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (1989)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Industrial Rock, Electronic Rock
Label Number: 2610-2

© 1989 TVT Records
AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
Virtually ignored upon its 1989 release, Pretty Hate Machine gradually became a word-of-mouth cult favorite; despite frequent critical bashings, its stature and historical importance only grew in hindsight. In addition to its stealthy rise to prominence, part of the album's legend was that budding auteur Trent Reznor took advantage of his low-level job at a Cleveland studio to begin recording it. Reznor had a background in synth-pop, and the vast majority of Pretty Hate Machine was electronic. Synths voiced all the main riffs, driven by pounding drum machines; distorted guitars were an important textural element, but not the primary focus. Pretty Hate Machine was something unique in industrial music -- certainly no one else was attempting the balladry of "Something I Can Never Have," but the crucial difference was even simpler. Instead of numbing the listener with mechanical repetition, Pretty Hate Machine's bleak electronics were subordinate to catchy riffs and verse-chorus song structures, which was why it built such a rabid following with so little publicity. That innovation was the most important step in bringing industrial music to a wide audience, as proven by the frequency with which late-'90s alternative metal bands copied NIN's interwoven guitar/synth textures. It was a new soundtrack for adolescent angst -- noisily aggressive and coldly detached, tied together by a dominant personality. Reznor's tortured confusion and self-obsession gave industrial music a human voice, a point of connection. His lyrics were filled with betrayal, whether by lovers, society, or God; it was essentially the sound of childhood illusions shattering, and Reznor was not taking it lying down. Plus, the absolute dichotomies in his world -- there was either purity and perfection, or depravity and worthlessness -- made for smashing melodrama. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Pretty Hate Machine was that it brought emotional extravagance to a genre whose main theme had nearly always been dehumanization.

tags: nine inch nails, pretty hate machine, 1989,
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October 10, 2017

2GE+HER - 2GE+HER Again (2000) ☠

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Pop
Style: Parody
Label Number: TVT 6840-2
☠: Selected by Lass
© 2000 TVT Records
AllMusic Review by MacKenzie Wilson
MTV was brashly intelligent when they introduced 2ge+her in February 2000, a humorous spoof five-piece designed to poke fun at the TRL-dominated world of teen pop stars. Six months after the MTV TV movie, 2ge+her relished in their popular take of being a boy band parody and got serious enough to release a real record, 2ge+her: Again. As if "U + Me = Us (Calculus)" wasn't cheeky enough, the 13-track album is even more wildly amusing. The pop styling is completely imitated, glossy, and shiny like the band's serious counterparts. The clever dance hooks are in place on songs like "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up (Is Getting Your Stuff Back)" and "Awesum LuvR." The comical aspects, however, are a bit over the top for die-hard fans of N 'Sync and the Backstreet Boys. Perhaps they wouldn't be able to settle down enough to appreciate the spunky wit surrounding 2ge+her's efforts. That's unfortunate, but they weren't old enough to understand Spinal Tap, either.

tags: 2gether, 2ge+her, together, 2gether again, 2000, flac,
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2GE+HER - 2GE+HER: Music From The MTV Original TV Movie (2000) ☠

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Country: U.S.A
Genre: Pop
Style: Parody
Label Number: TVT 6800-2
☠: Selected by Lass
© 2000 TVT Records
AllMusic Review by Tim Sheridan
This send-up of teen pinup bands like 'N Sync and the Backstreet Boys has some truly hilarious moments, like the goofy "Say It (Don't Spray It)." But the whole album is such a dead-on parody that if you aren't a fan of the style, you probably won't need to hear the disc more than once.

tags: 2gether, together, 2ge+her album, music from the mtv original tv movie, 2000, flac,
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October 09, 2017

The White Stripes - White Blood Cells (2001)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Garage Rock
Label Number: SFTRI 660 CD

© 2001 Sympathy For The Record Industry
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
Despite the seemingly instant attention surrounding them -- glowing write-ups in glossy magazines like Rolling Stone and Mojo, guest lists boasting names like Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson, and appearances on national TV -- the White Stripes have stayed true to the approach that brought them this success in the first place. White Blood Cells, Jack and Meg White's third effort for Sympathy for the Record Industry, wraps their powerful, deceptively simple style around meditations on fame, love, and betrayal. As produced by Doug Easley, it sounds exactly how an underground sensation's breakthrough album should: bigger and tighter than their earlier material, but not so polished that it will scare away longtime fans. Admittedly, White Blood Cells lacks some of the White Stripes' blues influence and urgency, but it perfects the pop skills the duo honed on De Stijl and expands on them. The country-tinged "Hotel Yorba" and immediate, crazed garage pop of "Fell in Love With a Girl" define the album's immediacy, along with the folky, McCartney-esque "We're Going to Be Friends," a charming, school-days love song that's among Jack White's finest work. However, White's growth as a songwriter shines through on virtually every track, from the cocky opener "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" to vicious indictments like "The Union Forever" and "I Think I Smell a Rat." "Same Boy You've Always Known" and "Offend in Every Way" are two more quintessential tracks, offering up more of the group's stomping riffs and rhythms and us-against-the-world attitude. Few garage rock groups would name one of their most driving numbers "I'm Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman," and fewer still would pen lyrics like "I'm so tired of acting tough/I'm gonna do what I please/Let's get married," but it's precisely this mix of strength and sweetness, among other contrasts, that makes the White Stripes so intriguing. Likewise, White Blood Cells' ability to surprise old fans and win over new ones makes it the Stripes' finest work to date.

tags: the white stripes, white blood cells, 2001,
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The White Stripes - Elephant (2003) ☠

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Garage Rock
Label Number: 63881-27148-2
☠: Selected by Lass
© 2003 Sheridan Square Records
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
White Blood Cells may have been a reaction to the amount of fame the White Stripes had received up to the point of its release, but, paradoxically, it made full-fledged rock stars out of Jack and Meg White and sold over half a million copies in the process. Despite the White Stripes' ambivalence, fame nevertheless seems to suit them: They just become more accomplished as the attention paid to them increases. Elephant captures this contradiction within the Stripes and their music; it's the first album they've recorded for a major label, and it sounds even more pissed-off, paranoid, and stunning than its predecessor. Darker and more difficult than White Blood Cells, the album offers nothing as immediately crowd-pleasing or sweet as "Fell in Love With a Girl" or "We're Going to Be Friends," but it's more consistent, exploring disillusionment and rejection with razor-sharp focus. Chip-on-the-shoulder anthems like the breathtaking opener, "Seven Nation Army," which is driven by Meg White's explosively minimal drumming, and "The Hardest Button to Button," in which Jack White snarls "Now we're a family!" -- one of the best oblique threats since Black Francis sneered "It's educational!" all those years ago -- deliver some of the fiercest blues-punk of the White Stripes' career. "There's No Home for You Here" sets a girl's walking papers to a melody reminiscent of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" (though the result is more sequel than rehash), driving the point home with a wall of layered, Queen-ly harmonies and piercing guitars, while the inspired version of "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" goes from plaintive to angry in just over a minute, though the charging guitars at the end sound perversely triumphant. At its bruised heart, Elephant portrays love as a power struggle, with chivalry and innocence usually losing out to the power of seduction. "I Want to Be the Boy" tries, unsuccessfully, to charm a girl's mother; "You've Got Her in Your Pocket," a deceptively gentle ballad, reveals the darker side of the Stripes' vulnerability, blurring the line between caring for someone and owning them with some fittingly fluid songwriting.
The battle for control reaches a fever pitch on the "Fell in Love With a Girl"-esque "Hypnotize," which suggests some slightly underhanded ways of winning a girl over before settling for just holding her hand, and on the show-stopping "Ball and Biscuit," seven flat-out seductive minutes of preening, boasting, and amazing guitar prowess that ranks as one the band's most traditionally bluesy (not to mention sexy) songs. Interestingly, Meg's star turn, "In the Cold, Cold Night," is the closest Elephant comes to a truce in this struggle, her kitten-ish voice balancing the song's slinky words and music. While the album is often dark, it's never despairing; moments of wry humor pop up throughout, particularly toward the end. "Little Acorns" begins with a sound clip of Detroit newscaster Mort Crim's Second Thoughts radio show, adding an authentic, if unusual, Motor City feel. It also suggests that Jack White is one of the few vocalists who could make a lyric like "Be like the squirrel" sound cool and even inspiring. Likewise, the showy "Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine" -- on which White resembles a garage rock snake-oil salesman -- is probably the only song featuring the word "acetaminophen" in its chorus. "It's True That We Love One Another," which features vocals from Holly Golightly as well as Meg White, continues the Stripes' tradition of closing their albums on a lighthearted note. Almost as much fun to analyze as it is to listen to, Elephant overflows with quality -- it's full of tight songwriting, sharp, witty lyrics, and judiciously used basses and tumbling keyboard melodies that enhance the band's powerful simplicity (and the excellent "The Air Near My Fingers" features all of these). Crucially, the White Stripes know the difference between fame and success; while they may not be entirely comfortable with their fame, they've succeeded at mixing blues, punk, and garage rock in an electrifying and unique way ever since they were strictly a Detroit phenomenon. On these terms, Elephant is a phenomenal success.

tags: the white stripes, elephant, 2003,
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The White Stripes - Icky Thump (2007)

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Country: U.S.A.
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label Number: 162940-2

© 2007 Warner Bros. Records
AllMusic Review by Heather Phares
A lot changed in the White Stripes' world between Get Behind Me Satan and Icky Thump: Meg White moved to L.A., while Jack White left Detroit for Nashville, married and had a daughter, and formed the Raconteurs, a side project that won so much praise that some fans worried that it meant the end of the Stripes. Those fears were as unfounded as the speculation that White's new hometown meant that the band was going to "go country" (after all, Jack and Meg are wearing the costumes of London's Pearly Kings and Queens, not Nudie suits, on Icky Thump's cover). Though it was recorded at Nashville's state-of-the-art Blackbird Studio and covers everything from bagpipes to metal, Icky Thump is unmistakably a White Stripes album. The eclectic feel of Get Behind Me Satan remains, but is less obvious; interestingly, out of all the band's previous work, Icky Thump's brash and confessional songs most closely resemble De Stijl. "300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues"' acoustic blues and carefully crafted wordplay hark back to "Sister, Do You Know My Name." Meanwhile, "Rag & Bone" is a cute, ragamuffin cousin of "Let's Build a Home" that casts Jack and Meg as enterprising garbage-pickers; the sly grin in Jack's voice as he says "we'll give it a...home" is palpable. And, while Get Behind Me Satan was heavy on pianos, Icky Thump is just plain heavy, dominated by primal, stomping rock that feels like it's been caged for a very long time and is just now being released. Jack White's guitars are back in a big way; "Catch Hell Blues" is a particularly fine showcase for his playing. Once again, though, the Stripes defy expectations, and their "return to rock" isn't necessarily a return to the kind of rock they mastered on Elephant.
Aside from the searing "Bone Broke," which would fit on almost any White Stripes album (and in fact was partially written in 1998), on Icky Thump Jack and Meg push the boundaries of their louder side. Darker and slower than most Stripes singles, "Icky Thump" is their very own "Immigrant Song," with guitars that chug menacingly and lyrics that run the gamut from fever dream meditations on redhead senoritas to pointed political statements ("Why don't you kick yourself out/You're an immigrant too"). "Little Cream Soda" is also outstanding, pairing ranting, spoken-word verses with grinding surf-metal guitars that make it one of the Stripes' heaviest songs. However, the boldest excursion might be "Conquest," which turns Patti Page's '50s-era battle of the sexes into a garage rock bullfight, complete with dramatic mariachi brass, flamenco rhythms, backing vocals that would do Ennio Morricone proud, and dueling guitar and trumpet solos that capture the band's love of drama. As fantastic as Icky Thump's rockers are, its breathers are just as important. Though the Celtic detour that makes up Thump's heart feels out of place initially, "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" is indeed a sweet and genuine sounding homage to Scottish folk, bagpipes and all (and could also be a nod to the Rolling Stones' flirtation with British folk in the mid-'60s). And while its psychedelic counterpart "St. Andrews (This Battle Is in the Air)" doesn't work quite as well, it feels like the kind of quirky tangent that pops up on plenty of vintage albums as a palate cleanser. The Stripes' poppy and vulnerable sides get slightly short shrift on Icky Thump. "You Don't Know What Love Is" is so hooky it could just as easily be a Raconteurs song, though it boasts a guitar solo that stings like lemon juice in a paper cut. "I'm a Martyr for My Love for You" is the album's lone ballad, and while its melody is beautiful, it may be the album's weakest track. And though Icky Thump's track listing might be slightly front-loaded, the Stripes uphold their tradition of ending their albums on a playful note with the wonderful "Effect and Cause," which feels equally indebted to hillbilly wisdom and Mungo Jerry's sly jug-band shuffle. With its fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy, Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy, album -- and, as is usually the case, it's just great fun to hear the band play.

tags: the white stripes, icky thump, 2007,
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