I've never been a big Depeche Mode fan, but I was kind of excited to hear this because the name makes it sound like a super dark record. Well it is, compared to a lot of synth pop, but I'd say Violator sounds darker. And unlike Violator, which has a couple knock-outs in Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence, this one didn't have any real high points. Like a lot of their stuff it sounds kind of flat to me, I guess this just isn't my kind of synth pop.
I was between this and Shoot Out the Lights in what to recommend (since I didn't want to torture you with Iron Maiden). I checked your ratings and saw that not only is this the only Husker Du album you haven't rated, but that you like Candy Apple Gray the best. I think you'll like this then; I think it shows off how great the band was at writing pop songs and mixing in hardcore elements.
BEA's top 1,000 albums:
606. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
656. Songs for Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra
675. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
691. Artaud by Pescado Rabioso
696. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
697. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
700. Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
711. O by Damien Rice
731. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine
739. Faust IV by Faust _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
Hm...this seems to jump between fast-paced thrash riffing, slower groove-style riffing, and some melodic passages that I can only describe as power metal. Saying that probably makes it seem more thrilling than it actually is. Some good tracks are here (like "Semtex Revolution"), but also some repetitive elements that wear on you over the course of the album. The guitar riffs, mainly...but the vocals also get fairly monotonous, as well. Can't say I'm a fan of the Beatles cover (which sticks out like a sore thumb). I think it's heavy-handed and mechanical, and lacks the rawness and intensity of the original. Overall, it's alright, but I didn't find it as engaging or as exhilarating as Killing Technology.
// 2
I might prefer their second album, but this one is pretty good. See what you think.
1. Vektor /--/ Black Future
2. Vektor /--/ Terminal Redux
4. Coroner /--/ No More Color
5. Voivod /--/ Dimension Hatröss
7. Coroner /--/ Punishment For Decadence
8. Annihilator /--/ Alice In Hell
9. Vektor /--/ Outer Isolation
10. Annihilator /--/ Never, Neverland
11. Аспид [Aspid] /--/ Кровоизлияние
12. Sadus /--/ Illusions _________________ Can you play free, or in three, or agree to try something new?
This was a pleasant listen with some high points that kept me interested, but most of it didn't stand out that much.
Jameth, you got me again. Alice in Hell by Annihilator will be much different than the last two you listened to.
16. The Advent- Elements of Life (1995)
18. As One- Celestial Soul (1995)
19. Cari Lekebusch- Det Jag Vet (1999)
20. The Connection Machine- Painless (2004)
21. Darren Price- Under the Flightpath (1997)
24. Nexus 21- The Rhythm Of Life (1989)
25. Orlando Voorn- Ignitor (2007)
26. Portion Reform- The Supreme Negative (1998)
28. Terrace- Round Up (1992)
The first time listening to this, I was a little put off by the vocals for "Alison Hell". I didn't think they were very good and they didn't seem to align with the awesome instrumentation occurring around them. But, after a few more tracks, I kind of realized they were a one-off. In fact, there seems to be a lot of little vocal one-offs throughout the album, so the guy definitely has some serious stylistic range. I mean, I have no way to explain the vocal from 3:35 - 3:37 in "Schizos (Are Never Alone)", other than it's a guest appearance from the future by Andy Serkis as Gollum. He's got a little Mike Patton in him.
As for the rest of the band...they can play. All of them. As much as they seem to show off, and as bombastic as this album gets at times, I never got any feeling that they have lost grip of the reins and fallen off into full blown showboating. The songs are well composed, and provide great framework for them to play around and keep things really diverse. No complaints here.
I guess my big complaint is that the last two tracks are a lot weaker than the rest. Still ranks behind Killing Technology, for me.
// 2
Painless is very well rated on RYM. See if that rating holds up.
// 3
RYM's Technical Thrash Metal chart:
1. Vektor /--/ Black Future
2. Vektor /--/ Terminal Redux
4. Coroner /--/ No More Color
5. Voivod /--/ Dimension Hatröss
7. Coroner /--/ Punishment For Decadence
9. Vektor /--/ Outer Isolation
10. Annihilator /--/ Never, Neverland
11. Аспид [Aspid] /--/ Кровоизлияние
12. Sadus /--/ Illusions
13. Deathrow /--/ Deception Ignored _________________ Can you play free, or in three, or agree to try something new?
The Runners Four by Deerhoof
Deerhoof are another band that has slipped under my radar up until now. Apparently they're a very well known indie/noise/experimental band. And I have to say, they really are weird and interesting. Especially the unique mix of vocals by Satomi Matsuzaki with that classic Japanese accent and the eccentric instrumental parts. The song Rrrrrrrright is a weird choice for a closer, since it doesn't sound like a closer at all. It's not the only oddity here, there's also a sweet acoustic song After Me The Deluge in the middle of the tracklist. I liked the album quite a bit for its quirkiness and overall variety, but I have to let it all sink in. 2 listens is barely enough to memorise 20 songs here. And their discography is quite intimidating too, they have 16 albums (if my count is correct). Think I'll try their 2020 album next, and see where that takes me. 7.5/10
(2)
Vektor's Black Future is definitely worth a listen. They seem to be doing a reunion, which I'm not sure will be received well considering the tragic events involving the main guy David DiSanto. He shut the band down only a few years ago and seems to think the dust has settled now, but I'm surely not gonna support him even though I love the band.
(3)
RYM metal top 100 & SquishypuffDave's Top 100 Greatest Albums
Cryptopsy - None So Vile
Immolation - Close To The World Below
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Demilich - Nespithe
Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations
15. Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You
21. VHS Head - Persistence Of Vision
24. Gum Takes Tooth - Mirrors Fold
27. Geinoh Yamashirogumi - 輪廻交響楽 [Ecophony Rinne]
28. Torres - Torres _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
Thanks Blue for taking the time and effort to actually check out my ratings for Hüsker Dü albums before selecting this. I appreciate that. I am not even sure how you can easily do that. Yes you are correct Candy Apple Gray is my favourite album of theirs. Like that album this is also a lot more college rock than their earlier post-hardcore, but it doesn't have the highlights that Candy Apple Gray has. I do really like the guitar tone in this album, and love both Bob Mould and Grant Hart's voices, and the song-writing is of a very decent quality, but one of the strengths of this album is also one of it's weaknesses. That's it's consistency. Admittedly this is based off just one listen but for now there are no really strong high points (the single Could You Be The One? comes closest), and no low points (not that that's a bad thing) but for a double album this long there is not much variety (a little bit here and there) to really keep me fully interested through the whole thing. Instead it was an enjoyable, but a bit long and same-ish album. Good for someone who does like the band, but not one I would recommend as an introduction to them, and personally I would be more likely to return to Candy Apple Gray again, even after many listens over a long time, or the more exciting Zen Arcade. I am glad this allowed me to complete listening to their studio album discography, just a live album and an EP to go now. 7.5/10, and 34/38 for 1987.
I haven't heard any of those Zep, but I really liked her album Sprinter, so let's try the debut album from Torres.
Top 97 Music Albums of the 1980s by babyBlueSedan (2 picks left)
12. The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden
15. Shoot Out The Lights by Richard & Linda Thompson
20. Anything You Sow by William Onyeabor
24. Pleased To Meet Me by The Replacements
25. Nail by Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel
34. Hats by The Blue Nile
36. The Colour Of Spring by Talk Talk
37. The River by Bruce Springsteen
39. Reckoning by R.E.M.
41. English Settlement by XTC
babyBlueSedanUsed to be sort of blind, now can sort of seeProfile
Thanks Blue for taking the time and effort to actually check out my ratings for Hüsker Dü albums before selecting this. I appreciate that. I am not even sure how you can easily do that. Yes you are correct Candy Apple Gray is my favourite album of theirs. Like that album this is also a lot more college rock than their earlier post-hardcore, but it doesn't have the highlights that Candy Apple Gray has. I do really like the guitar tone in this album, and love both Bob Mould and Grant Hart's voices, and the song-writing is of a very decent quality, but one of the strengths of this album is also one of it's weaknesses. That's it's consistency. Admittedly this is based off just one listen but for now there are no really strong high points (the single Could You Be The One? comes closest), and no low points (not that that's a bad thing) but for a double album this long there is not much variety (a little bit here and there) to really keep me fully interested through the whole thing. Instead it was an enjoyable, but a bit long and same-ish album. Good for someone who does like the band, but not one I would recommend as an introduction to them, and personally I would be more likely to return to Candy Apple Gray again, even after many listens over a long time, or the more exciting Zen Arcade. I am glad this allowed me to complete listening to their studio album discography, just a live album and an EP to go now. 7.5/10, and 34/38 for 1987.
I think your assessment of this is pretty much the same as mine. The album's a bit too long, and it has less variety than their best albums. But over quite a few listens the best songs have really started to stand out for me (personal favorite is "Back From Somewhere"), and I admire how few low points it has for an album so long. I think I like it a bit more than some partially because I really like the pop influences in their songwriting. I still like Zen Arcade and New Day Rising better though.
Also, searching your ratings wasn't as hard as it sounds. If you view someone's ratings, expand the list of artists at the bottom, and CTRL+F you can just filter them down to a single artist pretty easily. _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
I had no idea this was part of a trilogy; I only knew about Seventeen Seconds/Faith/Pornography. In any case, this is a return to vintage form for the band. I like it better than Wish, which was previously the newest album of theirs I had heard in full. There are a couple great tracks, and the quality is quite consistent. That said, it doesn't hold a candle to their best work, and it doesn't offer anything particularly fresh stylistically. Still, I'm glad I heard it. 3.5/5.
30. The Strokes [they were #31]: 2. Room On Fire
32. Arctic Monkeys: 2. AM
33. The Smashing Pumpkins: 3. Adore
34. My Bloody Valentine: 3. m b v
35. Fleetwood Mac: 5. Then Play On
36. Black Sabbath: 5. Heaven And Hell
37. Metallica: 4. ...And Justice For All
38. Oasis: 3. Be Here Now
39. Weezer: 4. Everything Will Be Alright In The End
40. Genesis: 3. Foxtrot _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
As fast and as precise as these guys can play, they have no chops. No touch, no feel. It's obvious on the rare occasions that they try to play something at a slow or moderate tempo. It's dull. I'm also not even sure that what I heard was nine distinct songs because of the...songwriting. A riff is played, and then another, and then another. One big, ******* jumble of riffs. Until someone looks up at the clock and realizes they've been playing for a length of time suitable to call that particular riff jumble a song. Then they brickwalled the album, in case you didn't already have a headache.
// 2
You haven't rated or charted any Fleetwood Mac albums that I can tell, so I'm not sure what you think of them. To me, this is their best. It doesn't really remind me of anything else.
This is not what I expected when I saw Heavy Psych listed as one of the band's genres on RYM. I guess that was their earlier stuff. Pretty pleasant mostly acoustic rock and folk, great for a sunny day like today. The vocals are really great, as is the piano on some of the tracks. Despite its pleasantness I found it a bit anonymous though. It's a fairly slow, relaxed record and I think it could have used a few more heavy or fast-paced moments, or at least more left turns in the songwriting.
Well Jameth, I hate to rub salt in the wound, but not only is this the only one on your list that I've heard but it's also one of my favorite metal albums of the decade. FWIW I listened to one of Vektor's earlier albums and didn't like it much, so maybe this well prove a better listen.
BEA's Top 1,000 Albums
594. A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
648. Songs for Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra
680. Love Over Gold by Dire Straits
695. The Final Cut by Pink Floyd
699. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
701. Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
715. O by Damien Rice
720. Buena Vista Social Club by Buena Vista Social Club
736. Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine
737. Faust IV by Faust _________________ And it's hard to be a human being. And it's harder as anything else.
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babyBlueSedan
Jameth
Tha1ChiefRocka
LedZep
Purplepash
baystateoftheart
