Angel Rat by Voïvod
This is the third Voivod album for me and I'm a fan of both previous efforts I've heard (Killing Technology, Dimension Hatröss). Skipping the 1989's Nothingface, the next one on the plate is 1991's Angel Rat, one of Repo's favourite metal records of all time. It's fair to say that the hype is through the roof 😁 And the verdict? The album's good but not as much as I'd hoped. Definitely a step down from KT and DH, utilizing the more mid-paced, proggy style which is not exactly what I wanted to hear. Another thing I don't particularly love is that the vocals are less gnarly - they were never particularly harsh, but Bélanger/Snake had his peak voice in the Killing Technology era. Some songs (Freedom for example) are basically 80s heavy prog rock, a far cry from their music just 2-3 years earlier. Enough about the negatives, let's talk about Voivod's strength - the songwriting. They've always been among the most interesting 80s thrashers in terms of their song structures, riff choices etc. Mixing the best of prog metal (the dynamic rhythms, atmospheric passages, with a decent amount of variation between the songs) with the best of thrash (fast riffs and general coolness). This one keeps almost all of that coolness and songwriting prowess. Panorama would probably be my pick for the best song, it's a bombastic opener and has the most memorable riff imo.
Fair critique! It took awhile for it to grow on me, but I LOVE the songwriting on Angel Rat. Voivod's sound was a moving target since their debut War & Pain which btw I HIGH RECOMMEND for you especially after hearing what you like about Voivod. It's one of the most abrasive, punk-influenced Thrash albums out there and should get way more kudos than it does...
(2)
Japanese Whispers is a nice comp - short, enjoyable, easy on the ear. Not their best pop moment, but very good nonetheless.
Great choice! I love this little comp/ep. The production is so weird. It's like skewed alternate reality Cure. It's what I throw on when I want something really different from them.
Alright, I gotta throw on some Mingus while I have some breakfast. Hopefully I can write something up this weekend. Going to see John Carpenter's They Live (1988) with my kids tonight at the multiplex so probably not tonight. 😎
It's been a while since I posted in this thread, hope you don't mind me hopping back in!
I did actually review the last album I listened to, which was from Mercury's top albums of the 90s (I just never got around to posting it):
1.
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March 16-20, 1992 by Uncle Tupelo
This was the first Uncle Tupelo album I listened to, and in the months since I've also listened to Anodyne and No Depression. March 16-20, 1992 is by far my favorite. Like the other bands made up of former members of Uncle Tupelo (Wilco and Son Volt), I find Uncle Tupelo's quality to be a bit inconsistent. But Uncle Tupelo at their best is very very similar in quality to Wilco at their best. What I find so interesting about March 16-20 is how amazingly the original songs blend with the covers and renditions of traditional folk songs. While "Coalminers" and "Atomic Power" are highlights for me, the songs written by Tweedy ("Wait Up", "Black Eye", and "Fatal Wound") are very close, as is "Sandusky". When I redid my 90s charts earlier this year, this album fell at #13 of 1992 and just barely outside of my top 100 of the 90s (falls somewhere around 110). Great album, great recommendation; I could easily see myself enjoying this more and more in the future.
3. I'm going with some combination of highly ranked albums on RYM that unfortunately are now out of order since they were added to my wishlist months ago, but they all fall within the top 500 on RYM's all-time list (including live, archival, and soundtracks without de-weighting them... which means that pretty much all these albums will fall into at least one of those categories):
Knebworth 1996 by Oasis (archival / live)
NieR: Automata by Keiichi Okabe & Keigo Hoashi (soundtrack)
Joy - Tatsuro Yamashita Live by Tatsuro Yamashita (live)
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! by Bob Dylan (archival / live)
UNDERTALE by Toby "Radiation" Fox (soundtrack)
Rock Dream by Boris with Merzbow (live)
Archive 1967-75 by Genesis (archival / live) - I realize this is 4+ hours of music, it still seems really interesting
Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 by Miles Davis Quintet (archival / live) - same comment as above
Live by Magma (live)
The Brussels Affair: Live 1973 by The Rolling Stones (archival / live)
The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
Indeed, the whole album has an instant classic feel. So many good, catchy songs. Roadrunner is obviously one of the standouts and their signature song, but you have Astral Plane, Pablo Picasso, She Cracked, Girlfriend, Modern World... It's hard to pick a song I like the most. Classy production by John Cale, excellent hooks, even better lyrics - and y'all know I'm not a lyrics first guy usually, but this is a big exception because I struggle to remember when I've heard something so fun, witty and quotable.
"Well some people try to pick up girls
And get called asshole
This never happened to Pablo Picasso
He could walk down your street
And girls could not resist his stare and
So Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole"
"I go to bakeries all day long
There's a lack of sweetness in my life
And there's pain inside
You can see it in my eyes"
"Well listen
Well the modern world is not so bad
Not like the students say
In fact I'd be in heaven
If you'd share the modern world with me
With me in love with the U.S.A. now
With me in love with the modern world now
Put down the cigarette
And share the modern world with me"
Glad I've finally listened to a full Modern Lovers album, it was more than worth it. High 8.5/10
(2)
Try Magma's Live
(3)
Picks from BEA metal charts, 2023 wishlist, some other cool picks.
R marks relistens
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun (Gowi) (R)
Neurosis - Souls at Zero (Mercury) (R?)
Slowthai - Ugly
George Clanton - Everything I Want
Laaraji - Segue To Infinity
Dukes of the Stratosphere - Chips From the Chocolate Fireball
Crass - The Feeding of 5000
Junior Boys - Last Exit
Genesis Owusu - Struggler
Asia Menor - Enola Gay _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
The Modern Lovers by The Modern Lovers
Indeed, the whole album has an instant classic feel. So many good, catchy songs. Roadrunner is obviously one of the standouts and their signature song, but you have Astral Plane, Pablo Picasso, She Cracked, Girlfriend, Modern World... It's hard to pick a song I like the most. Classy production by John Cale, excellent hooks, even better lyrics - and y'all know I'm not a lyrics first guy usually, but this is a big exception because I struggle to remember when I've heard something so fun, witty and quotable.
Glad I've finally listened to a full Modern Lovers album, it was more than worth it. High 8.5/10
Yay!!! 😁
One of my all time faves! "I'm Straight" may be my favorite track, but as you point out, it's chock full of goodness!
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
An odd little collection of loosies that feels like exactly that. It begins on a high note with Let's Go To Bed, and most of the rest of the tracks are good but not great. While it's an enjoyable listen, there's nothing that feels essential here that I didn't already hear on Standing On A Beach. That said, as a document of their stylistic departures from gothic gloom post-trilogy, it's significant to the history of the band. 3.5/5.
~~~~~
2. This is the only one I've heard, and the music is great. I prefer thinking about these songs separately as an EP and LP rather than as a compilation, though.
1981 silver: Deuce - Kurtis Blow
1982 silver: Live Convention 82 - Various Artists
1983 bronze: It’s A Beat Wave - Warp 9
1984 bronze: Fat Boys - Fat Boys
1985 silver: The Album - Mantronix
1985 bronze: King Of Rock - Run-D.M.C.
1986 bronze: Saturday Night! The Album - Schoolly D
1995 bronze: Mystic Stylez - Three-6 Mafia
1997 silver: Ser Hümano!! - Tiro De Garcia
1997 bronze: A Day Late And A Dollar Short - The Ballers _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Chips From The Chocolate Fireball by The Dukes Of Stratosphear
This compilation is the only release by the band on Spotify, that's why I've chosen it. It does indeed feel like a collected works type of compilation (an EP 25 O'Clock and an album Psonic Psunspot), which is not a bad thing as I've now listened to their whole discography in one go. And as you might expect from an XTC/Andy Partridge side project, it's pretty and wonderful. Psychedelic, fun, even more throwback than anything XTC I've heard. If not for the more modern sounding effects and production techniques, one could easily think this was written in the late 60s. It exudes sweetness and it's top notch in terms of songwriting, while also being more experimental and weird than most of the XTC works. Yeah, this was a very enjoyable listen, exactly what I love while working. I guess the only negative thing I have to say is that it's not in the Black Sea/Skylarking tier of awesomeness. 8/10
(2)
Mystic Stylez is obviously an essential listen if you're into Memphis rap
(3)
Picks from BEA metal charts, 2023 wishlist, some other cool picks.
R marks relistens
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun (Gowi) (R)
Neurosis - Souls at Zero (Mercury) (R?)
Slowthai - Ugly
Genesis Owusu - Struggler
George Clanton - Everything I Want
Laaraji - Segue To Infinity
Crass - The Feeding of 5000
The Raincoats - The Raincoats
The Pop Group - For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
An odd little collection of loosies that feels like exactly that. It begins on a high note with Let's Go To Bed, and most of the rest of the tracks are good but not great. While it's an enjoyable listen, there's nothing that feels essential here that I didn't already hear on Standing On A Beach. That said, as a document of their stylistic departures from gothic gloom post-trilogy, it's significant to the history of the band. 3.5/5.
It starts with a warning. A boozy, jarring warning. A night on fire. Until suddenly it slips into a tranquil, fantasy-filled dream of the prefect life. Domestic bliss behind white picket fences. The juxtaposition of the life he knows versus the life he thinks he wants but does not feel worthy of. Until the whole thing is pierced. Popped. Shot through with self-hate, frustration, and...
No. No, that’s not right. It’s…
Fuck this ballet bullshit. What a conceit! This is music for films, about films and from films. Our boy Mingus channeling every film noir motif – the confusion, the dread, the inevitabilities, the good guy going bad for the bad girl – taking THAT - all of THAT - and making it EVEN MORE. MORE psychotic. MORE bawdry. More, more more. And it sucks because even he can kinda see it coming. Even though he knows this is not the right life for him. That this going to end very, very badly. He just. can’t. help. himself.
Nah. That's not quite right either.
Honestly this album can hold a multitude of false-starts, wrong directions, and jags off course. And that's what's so great about it! AND why it took me a million days to write something up. 🫢The Cure kicking ass! 😈 > It’s just too BIG. A mad genius of an album if there ever was one. A fractured, tormented fever dream that was the perfect album to obsess over after catching The Big Heat (1953) a couple of weeks ago!
Can't see how this LP doesn't end up in my top five for 1963!!!
1985 Metal
1. Amebix - Arise!
2. Possessed - Seven churches
3. C.O.C. - Animosity
4. Helloween - Walls of Jericho
5. Sacrilege - Behind The Realms of Madness
1963
1. Sam Cooke - Night Beat
2. Dylan - Freewheelin'
3. Mingus - Black Saint
4. The Searchers - Sugar & Spice
5. Jimmy Smith - Chicken Shack
5. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Magma Live (Magma Hhaï) by Magma (FR)
Magma is such a weird band. Frontman Christian Vander formed the band to fill the void left when John Coltrane passed away (??), and they sing almost entirely in their own made-up language called Kobaïan (which explains why I can't understand shit and haven't ever recognized their singing as anything like French). And they defined their own genre as "Zeuhl", a term which stuck, and apparently means "celestial" in their own made-up language. I don't know that I'd say their music sounds anything like Coltrane or reminds me of him, but their whole weird-ass celestial I guess reminds me a bit of Coltrane. Or... reminds me of the canonization of Coltrane and the growth of his reputation following his death.
Magma have released a ton of live albums, a few of which I've heard already. It appears that they excel live, and this was the first live album they released, following some of their best studio albums. Many of the songs on this album are re-imagined versions of their studio tracks, but I honestly can't say I really recognized anything on this live set. It's still some amazing work, and they were clearly at their prime during this recording. I think I prefer this to their other big live album(s) Retrospektïẁ.
What sets this apart from almost any other Magma album (live or studio) I've heard, is that I actually prefer the shorter tracks rather than the long progressive masterpieces. "Köhntark 1" is great and my favorite of the 8+ minute tracks, but I think "Lïhns", "Kobah", and "Da Zeuhl Wortz Mekanïk" (last one wasn't on the original LP release) are my favorites.
2. Glad you liked Mingus! It's one of my favorites of all time, awed me on my first listen and I've enjoyed it even more with each re-listen. The other 1963 albums you have there are all fantastic, but I'm sure others will pick some of those masterpieces. Instead let's go with:
3. I'm going with some combination of highly ranked albums on RYM that unfortunately are now out of order since they were added to my wishlist months ago, but they all fall within the top 500 on RYM's all-time list (including live, archival, and soundtracks without de-weighting them... which means that pretty much all these albums will fall into at least one of those categories):
Knebworth 1996 by Oasis (archival / live)
NieR: Automata by Keiichi Okabe & Keigo Hoashi (soundtrack)
Joy - Tatsuro Yamashita Live by Tatsuro Yamashita (live)
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! by Bob Dylan (archival / live)
UNDERTALE by Toby "Radiation" Fox (soundtrack)
Rock Dream by Boris with Merzbow (live)
Archive 1967-75 by Genesis (archival / live) - I realize this is 4+ hours of music, it still seems really interesting
Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 by Miles Davis Quintet (archival / live) - same comment as above
The Brussels Affair: Live 1973 by The Rolling Stones (archival / live)
Katamari Damacy Soundtrack: Katamari Fortissimo Damacy by Yuu Miyake
Mekong Delta- Dances of Death (And Other Walking Shadows)
Integrity- Those Who Fear Tomorrow
Brutal Truth- Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses
Painkiller- Buried Secrets
Believer- Dimensions
BUCK-TICK- Darker Than Darkness -style 93-
Sentenced- North From Here
BT- Ima
Ceremonium- Into The Autumn Shade
Michael Gira- Drainland
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