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1 |
The White Stripes
- 'Elephant' |
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The
album when The White Stripes truly entered the big league, taking
the intensity of blues rock-fuelled rawness demonstrated throughout
'White Blood Cells' to its logical conclusion. And with a bona-fide
classic single in their canon (Seven Nation Army) the mainstream
was duly aware of the two-piece. 'In The Cold Cold Night' has
Meg White taking vocal duties and again contains simple guitar
and sparse arrangement - and again it's great and instantly memorable.
'You've Got Her In Your Pocket', another song with a long winded
title, sounds like Neil Young's more intimate folk moments, which
takes a few listens to appreciate. For more rocking tracks, lets
welcome 'Black Math' a garage-rock work-out in a similar vein
to 'Fell In Love With A Girl', that reaches it's peak on the
dirty distorted guitar than comes in half-way through. Ok, so
the songs are derivative and nothing Jack White's heroes haven't
played to death many decades ago, but the production is so stark,
uncluttered and thrilling it stands out like a sore thumb compared
to the over-processed technology dominated music of today's mainstream.
This type of production is only found in the Underground where
The White Stripes came from and is a rarity on the radio waves.
Not all the songs work mind, the best moments are incidentally
when the band rock out and deliver some awesome guitar solos
and squeals, and Jack White is one hell of a guitar showman when
he wants to be. |
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2 |
OutKast - 'Speakerboxxx/The
Love Below' |
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After
the Southern fried hip-hop of 'Stankonia' received vast acclaim
and masses of awards, the follow-up record was greatly anticipated.
The double album featured on one side, Big Boi's 'Speakerboxxx'
more conventional opus, and the other side Andre 3000's 'The
Love Below' homage to Prince with funk and classic soul. Taken
as a whole that's 39 tracks including short inserts, a complex
album to consume in one helping. There are so many fantastic
and varied songs it could take years to fully digest from the
obvious stand-out moment 'Hey Ya' to the chaotic 'Ghetto Musick',
from the seductive 'The Way You Move' to the soft 'Love Haters',
OutKast assure their place in Hip-Hop history and yet more unparalleled
acclaim. |
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 Harder
to get into than the more accessible 'White Pony', the self titled
fourth record from Sacramento's premier modern metal act was
worth the wait for those with patience. The vocals of Chino Moreno
are still the band's greatest strength, from menacing whispers
to full-on screams, Chino displays utter conviction, as does
the textured guitar sounds. Despite the lack of solos, useful
to break up the sometimes monotonous nature, taken as a whole,
this is possibility the Deftones most confident album yet, playing
to the band's strengths of emotional resonance, even if previous
records contain stronger, more memorable songs. Chino's vocals
are impressive, ranging from sweet crooning to gut-wrenching
howls of caustic fury. The guitars are relentlessly heavy, with
exception of "Lucky You" and the wryly titled "Anniversary
Of An Uninteresting Event". In fact the only weak track
on this near 50 minute is "Lucky You", an electronic,
mood piece from the Matrix Reloaded soundtrack - it's quite good,
but sounds out of place. You could say the same about "Anniversary
Of An Uninteresting Event", but the opening minute is the
most beautiful and emotional music the band have attempted -
but it's a single idea stretched over a full song and ends up
not progressing in any direction. |
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4 |
Led Zeppelin
- 'How The West Was Won' |
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 I
don't normally rate live recordings so highly because they are
usually inferior versions of studio tracks, and mainly it's just
not the same as actually being there. 'How The West Was Won'
is an exception to the rule for a number of reasons. First, at
last there's a decent Led Zep live documentation for a band that
build its legendary reputation through concerts. Previous live
attempt 'The Song Remains The Same' failed to explain to newcomers
why the band were considered one of the greatest live bands in
the world. Second reason is that the epic side is well documented
on 'How The West Was Won', John Bonham gets to bash away at his
drum-kit for lengthy periods, and 'Whole Lotta Love' turns into
a melody of the band's varied influences clocking over 25 minutes.
Of course the straightforward tracks get a look-in too; 'Immigrant
Song' and 'Rock N'Roll' are even more powerful than their studio
counterparts. And thirdly, the production job is phenomenal,
over 30 years old taken from an archive performance prior to
the 'Houses Of The Holy' album. The sound is fully realised with
the guitars sounding far louder than the studio recordings. Well
worth the wait, and the accompanying DVD is of equal standard,
covering the entire career rather than just one concert. |
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5 |
Radiohead -
'Hail to the Thief' |
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 The
band that can do no wrong, at this rate Radiohead will become
the most vital English band of the last 15 years, with such a
striking discography. Whereas the other so-called "Biggest
90s Band From England" Oasis peaked commercially (in UK
at least) on their second album the same year as Radiohead (Morning
Glory and The Bends respectively in 1995) the Oxford collective
progressed, opened to new ideas, and genuinely became interesting.
Whereas Oasis stuck to the same template and released the same
record under new disguises. 'Hail to the Thief' was a band consolidating
their position, taking ideas of 'Kid A' and adding new sounds,
see the drunken 'Wolf At The Door' or 'The Gloaming' as proof
of a restless band, trying to find new paths away from conventional
rock music. Just like 'Kid A' before it, 'Hail To The Thief'
is greater than the sum of it's parts. In other words, there
are no great stand-out moments like Creep, High N' Dry and Paranoid
Android as on previous releases, more of a steady standard of
quality. |
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6 |
The Mars Volta
- 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' |
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 When
At The Drive-In split at the height of their powers, the afro-ed
ones (Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler) went on to form
the progressive, Jazz-influenced and far more complex proposition
of The Mars Volta. Strange song titles and a loose concept album
of sorts, 'De-Loused In The Comatorium' is clearly the work of
restless and creative artists, playing what the hell they want,
and Prog-Rock they became. Totally pretentious and indulgent,
this worked in the band's favour, as it offered a new update
on all those Seventies Prog records that people secretly enjoyed
yet would never admit in public. Here was a cool band to name
drop, with guitars shifting patterns constantly, styles verging
from pounding rock to vintage 70's organ playing; everything
was inspired and one of the most imaginative albums of the year. |
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7 |
Janes Addiction
- 'Strays' |
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You
could draw comparisons between Janes Addiction and The Pixies
without thinking too hard - both bands were front-runners to
the alt-rock explosion of the early 90s, gaining acclaim with
a clutch of exceptional albums before disbanding just before
going supernova. The reputation of both bands increased with
each passing year, at a time when band members played in minor,
less successful groups (Porno For Pyros, Frank Black & The
Catholics to name but two). Where the parallels differ is that
Janes Addiction reformed in 1997 on their relapse money-spinner
and The Pixies waited over 12 years before confirming their reformation
to play a hugely anticipated tour. That Janes Addiction disbanded
again and reformed a few years later is another factor. Which
brings us to 'Strays', the first proper album since 1990s benchmark
Ritual De Lo Habitual, released a full 13 years later. It's certainly
unashamed RAWK, a band all too self-aware of their grand importance,
the big rock production screams comeback and reminds me of Audioslave's
debut - massive sounding, technically impressive but shallow.
The overriding shallowness and lack of depth though, does not
have a detrimental affect of 'Strays', as it's surely a better
recording that many fans expected. |
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8 |
The Darkness
- 'Permission To Land' |
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Any
2003 list just has to include one of England's brightest hopes
on the world stage, The Darkness bring a sense of fun and Spinal
Tap lunacy to a grim and serious rock climate that's just begging
for a band of their ilk to fill the void. Right place, right
time as with most great success stories, just as Guns N'Roses
did in 1987 and Nirvana in 1991 can be used as examples, although
The Darkness are no where near on the same scale of importance.
The songs are ridiculous in every way, from the daft lyrics,
over-blown solos and Queen styled anthems to Justin Hawkin's
high pitched yelps - and it all works. The songs themselves are
quite simply very strong and back up the over-blown image, 'Get
Your Hands Off My Woman' and 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love'
being the signature tunes. There's a feeling that 'Permission
To Land' is too disposable (which it is) and will be a historical
time capsule than anything relevant or substantial in years to
come, but right now it sure tastes good. |
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9 |
Johnny Cash
- 'Man Comes Round' |
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 I
could have included any of the 'American Recordings' released
between 1994 and 2004 from one of Country's most respected statesmen.
'Man Comes Round' coincided with Cash's unfortunate death, adding
poignancy and a sad outlook of his choice of covers. The haunting
rendition of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' is most definitely made
Cash's own, he knew what was coming and the accompanying video
easily one of the most affecting in recent years. A surprising
Soundgarden cover is pulled off well, turning 'Rusty Cage' into
a jaunty number and 'Personal Jesus' also works well. Some covers
aren't successful ('Danny Boy' too familiar and unsuited to Cash's
style) but on the whole, solemn and touching. |
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 The
Finnish band reached a wider audience with their assured gothic
tinged 'Love Metal', there's certainly sophistication to the
songs, 'Buried Alive By Love' is the ideal album opener, catchy
and charged enough to satisfy fans of the muscular 'Deep Shadows
And Brilliant Highlights', and HIM branch out into the land of
ballads in 'The Sacrament' and 'Circle Of Fear', showing quieter
moments that makes up for the lack of distinctiveness from track-to-track.
It all forms to create a non-ground-breaking yet rewarding listening
experience from a band on the up. Sauvé and cool. |
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ALBUMS OF 2003
(# 11 - 50) |
11.
Muse - Absolution
12. Marilyn Manson - Golden Age Of Grotequese
13. The Strokes - Room On Fire
14. Ministry - Animositisomina
15. Hell Is For Heroes - The Neon Handshake
16. Scooter - The Stadium Techno Experience
17. Iron Maiden - Dance Of Death
18. Beatallica - Beatallica
19. Nas - God's Son
20. Akercocke - Choronzon
21. Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash
22. Massive Attack - 100th Window
23. Hundred Reasons - Shatterproof Is Not A Challenge
24. Therapy? - High Anxiety
25. Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts
26. Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
27. Tomahawk - Mit Gas
28. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves
29. Zwan - Mary Star Of The Sea
30. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
31. Rancid - Indestructible
32. Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There To Come Back
33. Wheat - Per Second, Per Second... Every Second
34. Killing Joke - Killing Joke
35. Opeth - Damnation
36. Cave In - Antenna Poison
37. The Mark Lanegan Band - Here Comes That Weird Chill
38. AFI - Sing The Sorrow
39. Alien Ant Farm - TruANT
40. Ryan Adams - Rock N' Roll
41. Alkaline Trio - Good Mourning
42. Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown
43. Anthrax - We've Come For You All
44. Kings Of Leon - Youth And Young Manhood
45. Evanescence - Fallen
46. Metallica - St. Anger
47. The Well - You Come Before You
48. The Rapture - Echoes
49. The Distillers - Coral Fang
50. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever To Tell
More
Reviews:
Hell
Is For Heroes - 'The Neon Handshake' (Chryalis)
The West London five-piece just like Hundred Reasons in 2002,
have been sitting on their debut album for some time, building
awareness and releasing several singles in Sick/Happy, I Can
Climb Mountains, Night Vision and You Drove Me To It. All four
singles are included alongside equally great tracks like Out
Of Sight and Disconnector. That guitarist Will McGonagle and
drummer Joe Birch played in their mid-teens in Symposium brings
a little history to a relatively brand-new band. Enlisting the
Swedish production team that produced Refused's 'The Shape Of
Punk To Come' has beefed up the sound and energy levels, resulting
in a fresh and exciting prospect. The influence of Deftones,
(dynamics), Helmet (the searing jack-hammer riff on You Drove
Me To It) and Quicksand (bruising emo-styled rock with a strong
sense of melody) are reference points had to ignore, but what
Hell Is For Heroes lack in originality they make up in enthusiasm
and cohesiveness.
Metallica
- 'St. Anger'
The lack of songs, melody and enjoyability starts to drags after
half an hour. By 70 minutes, the sameness gets too much. There
are so many interesting riffs, time changes and kick-ass action,
it takes several listens to absorb, on initial listens no songs
(except maybe the first four) stick in the memory, it's only
after repeated listens it makes sense. As you can gather I have
a love/hate relationship with "St Anger" which is easy
to understand, there's too much! For example the title track
sounds like a 4-minute song repeated twice, it doesn't go anywhere
like Tool's "Lateralus" did, just repeats different
sections over and over. The opener 'Frantic' though is an absolute
belter and 'Dirty Window' stands out from the monotony with a
breath-taking vocal performance from James Hetfield. As I brought
up the performances, you got to hand it to Lars Ulrich, no matter
the song, it still sounds like he's hitting a sewer pipe - bang,
bang, bang - throughout. I miss Kirk Hammett's easily distinguishable
guitar solos - there I said it, but weirdly the songs don't really
suffer for it - it's like a Slipknot record! Even the opening
to "Invisible Kid" sounds exactly like a generic Slipknot
song. To summarise, a genuine lack of quality material is masked
by lack of ideas, a band desparate to make a thrash album deviod
of actual songs.
Ministry
- 'Animositisomina' (Sanctuary/Mayan)
As a keen Ministry fan, and one of the few who actually enjoyed
'99s 'Dark Side Of The Spoon' record, expectations were high
for the latest release from Industrial's leading pioneers. To
be blunt, the album lacks a killer moment - a 'Jesus Built My
Hotrod' or 'Thieves' as each track has the same structure and
begins to merge into one another. Only the opening 'Animosity'
made me wanna crank up the speakers and headbang furiously. By
4th track 'Broken' a pattern was set - repetitively heavy guitars,
Al Jourgensen's hard-to-make-out vocals and fantastic guitar
solos. Which makes the Buzzcocks cover of 'The Light Pours Out
Of Me' quite a shock - a pop tune with singing and nagging guitar
line. OK - it still sounds like Ministry, smothered in thrashy
riffs, but it's such a welcome surprise. A warning to old fans
of Ministry put off by the mid-paced 'Filth Pig' and admittedly
patchy 'Dark Side Of The Spoon', the new album is not a glorious
reminder of the 'Psalm 69' days of 11 years ago. It is simply
very good Ministry, and yes, at a push, I would state a notable
improvement on the last two albums. I just cannot find a fatal
flaw as every track is punishing loud and uncompromisingly heavy.
Placebo
- 'Sleeping With Ghosts' (Elevator)
It seemed Placebo lost some momentum with the luke-warm 'Black
Market Music', and now fourth album 'Sleeping With Ghosts' is
here to re-dress the balance. It takes some time for the album's
qualities to shine, but there are enough stand-out tracks to
savour. The band are best on the surging, rockier tracks like
the opening instrumental 'Bulletproof Cupid' that lasts just
2:22 minutes and is quite simply a stunner. The following 'English
Summer Rain' adds some subtle electronics, and 'This Picture'
has Brian Molko giving a soaring vocal performance. After a promising
opening, the title track and spunky first single 'The Bitter
End' continue to keep interest if not completely thrill, but
the album takes a dive for the worst with 'Something Rotten'
coming across as a Radiohead B-Side which doesn't really go anywhere
- which makes 'Plasticine' a welcome relief, possessing the most
memorable hook on the album. Next up, 'Special Cases', harks
back to the 'Without You I'm Nothing' era with a delicate and
emotional melody and drawn out feedback. Unfortunately, the remaining
tracks are insubstantial and forgettable, only redeemed by the
piano-led 'Centrefolds'. This is perhaps 'Sleeping With Ghosts'
biggest weakness - there's not enough Grade A material within
the 12 tracks, with 4 or 5 gems surrounded by too much filler.
A must-have release for Placebo fans, although unlikely to swell
the dedicated fanbase.
Zwan
- 'Mary Star Of The Sea'
The most immediate thing you notice about Zwan is just how positive
the their debut record is - faith, hope, happiness, religion
- not exactly what you'd expect from a recording featuring former
Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan. Sweeney's former band
were acclaimed indie-rockers Chavez and for it was Matt Sweeney
who instigated Zwan's formation meeting Corgan shortly after
the Pumpkin's demise. 'Declarations of Faith' with the lush guitars
and time-changes on the hook "I declare myself, I declare
myself to faith" stands out as does first single 'Honestly'
which quite frankly sounds like classic '93 era Pumpkins. Corgan's
nasally voice is so distinctive, it's hard not to think of his
previous band. But this was a completely different beast, as
Zwan is far more commercial sounding, the surprising 'Come With
Me', featuring harmonica and a folky vibe. Proving to be a short-lived
project, Zwan split after just one album, failing to make even
half the impact Smashing Pumpkins achieved.
Comments
From:
MinorthreatO@aol.com - 03 Apr'03
Metallica
- 'St. Anger'
This was supposed to be a return to the old days. A return to
the Ride The Lightning days. Excited, I bought the cd. When I
got it home I listened to it. I wondered what is with Lars Ulrich's
drum? It sounds like a trash can. Why does James Hetfield sound
like hes trying to take a dump while singing? Why is Kirk Hammet's
guitar tuned so low? Then I realized this ain't metal. This is
what KoRn and Slipknot have been playing. I can understand this
kind of stuff from Slipknot, but from Metallica? No way. I like
the song "St. Anger", but that is a ripoff of an older
song, "Damage Inc". The cd is too dang boring. It makes
Slipknot look good. Metallica, I'm sure you can do better than
that. So next time, TRY BETTER! It didn't impress me. Rating:"1"
From:
"Carlet, Greg" <GC19@tmw.com> - 2 Nov 2004
Hello,
I have been checking out your website almost weekly since April
and agree with almost everything on your site. I, too, started
listening to music in the early '90s and so we have similar interests
in essential albums.
With
that being said, I think A Perfect Circle's 2003 release
Thirteenth Step should be on your Essential Rock Albums:
2003 page. I've noticed that on some of your pages you have feedback
at the bottom and then add the album from the feedback to the
list above it. I would appreciate that happening for Thirteenth
Step. To me, it is an excellent album and an awesome release
by A Perfect Circle (just like Lateralus from Tool).
Please
let me know what you think. Your feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg Carlet
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