Souls At Zero by Neurosis
I do think I've heard this one before, but cannot be sure. There was a time several years ago when I was going through the RYM top metal albums and listening to the stuff I didn't know all that well. Neurosis was one of the major blind spots - I've only ever heard Through Silver in Blood once or twice. After listening to that one again, and then Times of Grace a few times and probably this, I've come to the conclusion that Neurosis is good and cool. That's it. Listening to Souls at Zero now, it's hard to see why I wasn't completely head over heels in love with this brand of weird, suffocating, atmospheric post/sludge metal. Because it's that good. I'd go as far as to say it matches the peak Cult of Luna output, who are to me undisputed masters of weird, suffocating, atmospheric post/sludge metal ๐ Though the two bands are clearly different. Cult of Luna is more song oriented imo, have better vocals (at least in comparison to the early Neurosis), write slightly more melodic and huge sounding songs. Neurosis, on the other hand, matches the intensity but not thorough the vocals or big heavy sections, but through avant-garde, hardcore tendencies. Their music is more unnerving, if that makes sense. It's also incredibly diverse - the first band I actually thought of wasn't CoL, it was Swans. The first two songs were the definite highlights for me, but the whole album is pretty consistently fantastic, it didn't feel front-loaded or too long. A Chronology of Survival's violin part and the breakdown is one of the best moments on the album as well. Excellent stuff, I'm abruptly ending my drum and bass afternoon and listening to Neurosis in the evening. 9/10
(2)
Let's hear how Tatsuro Yamashita's feelgood city pop sounds live
(3)
Picks from BEA metal charts, 2023 wishlist, some other cool picks.
R marks relistens
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun (Gowi) (R)
Slowthai - Ugly
George Clanton - Ooh Rap I Ya
MIKE - Faith Is A Rock
Slowdive - everything is alive
Crass - The Feeding of 5000
The Pop Group - For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues
Close Lobsters - Foxheads Stalk This Land (R)
Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
Just in time for Halloween. AND what a treat! Not a trick in sight with this deliciously tasty Speed Metal CLASSIC! Besides Agent Steel's own debut, also released in 1985, I can't think of a better pure Speed Metal album. It's Judas Priest on speed, BUT with a certain nimbleness and playfulness that really causes it to stand out from its peers. A very different Helloween than the one that would release the Keeper Of The Seven Keys duology a few years hence. Whereas the Keepers have an obvious Queensryche influence thrown into the pot, this is basically pure Priest worship with a touch of Accept (see "Gorgar") and a whiff of Scorpions (see "How Many Tears"). BUT just done with so much joy that it leaves you with a smile from ear to ear.
Highly recommended for any and all Priest heads or anyone who wants to know what vintage, straight-up Speed Metal done right sounds like.
Do NOT โ I repeat DO NOT โ overlook their fantastic self-titled EP either. Its songs are just as good ๐ > as any on Walls of Jericho!
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
6. Manilla Road - Open The Gates
1963
1. Sam Cooke - Night Beat
2. Dylan - Freewheelin'
3. Mingus - Black Saint
4. The Searchers - Sugar & Spice
5. Jimmy Smith - Chicken Shack
6. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
baystateoftheartNeil Young as a butternut squashProfile Massachusetts
While I love the Memphis style of production Three 6 Mafia is associated with, I don't have the stomach for most horrorcore lyrics, especially when there's a lot of explicit gore. I don't mind the satanic lyrics, just the gruesome ones. They cause a problem for me on more than a few tracks, dragging down my enjoyment of this album after it gets off to a good start. 74 minutes of very similar beats and flows is also a lot, which doesn't help. Gangsta Boo (RIP) appearances are too few and far between. However, these are good beats and flows, so I don't want to suggest that I don't respect the artistry here. Unfortunately though, for my taste, it's a bad album. 2/5.
1980 bronze: Sugar Hill Presents The Sequence - The Sequence
1981 silver: Deuce - Kurtis Blow
1982 silver: Live Convention 82 - Various Artists
1982 bronze: Tough (EP) - Kurtis Blow
1983 bronze: DโYa Like Scratchinโ (EP) - Malcolm McLaren
1984 bronze: Fat Boys - Fat Boys
1985 silver: The Album - Mantronix
1985 bronze: King Of Rock - Run-D.M.C.
1997 silver: Ser Hรผmano!! - Tiro De Garcia
1997 bronze: Endonesia - DJ Screw _________________ Join us in the canon game :) / Add me on RYM
Is โDonโt Think Twice, Itโs Alrightโ the best breakup song of all time?
Is โMasters Of Warโ the best protest song of all time?
A โhard yesโ and a โperhaps, maybeโ from me. And these are the sorts of questions that can be asked for a bunch of the tracks on Freewheelin'. An album so complete and well-crafted that it pretty much formally announces the Era of THE Album for the which the 60s is known.
Two things stand out for me that I hadnโt really thought of before. First, Dylan is funny as hell! Like really, really funny. I guess he stole his sense of humor from Woody Guthrie, but heโs still a natural at it.
Second, at least half of these songs are incredibly warm and lived-in. Like that aging fleece blankie you keep in the car for those first cold nights of Fall. I never really though of Dylan as a comfortable fleece blankie before. But this album is totally that for me.
As I already mentioned, Freewheelinโ is one of the first important ALBUMS released. A cultural milestone to be dissected & discussed. So it not only announced Dylan, it announced the artistry of making โan album.โ Something Iโm sure the Beatles were already paying attention to even if they donโt quite come nearly as close as Dylan to making such a grand statement in 1963. ๐ > Itโs one of the reason I chose 1963 as the first year for this little project. And thereโs no way in hell it wonโt be my #1 record of 1963.
3. *** LAST CHANCE to pick a 1985 Metal album before I post my top ten of '85. ***
1985 Metal Meets 1963 Hodgepodge
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
6. Manilla Road - Open The Gates
7. Slayer - Hell Awaits
8. Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion
1963
1. Sam Cooke - Night Beat
2. Dylan - Freewheelin' 3. Mingus - Black Saint
4. The Searchers - Sugar & Spice
5. Jimmy Smith - Chicken Shack
6. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
If you have a sound in mind with those descriptions, then you probably already know what this album sounds like. BUT, sometimes that's not a bad thing. If you want that kind of vibe, then this album does as good a job as any to fit that certain feeling. Cold, abrasive but sometimes beautiful, this is a great album for this fall going into winter time of year. (As the album title would indicate.)
I'd say this album could have actually benefitted from some clean vocals now and again to match some of the feelings of the quieter passages. Not that the vocals were bad, but I think it would have made for a more dynamic listening experience. I also much preferred the "Doom" segments to the "Death" segments. Better songwriting in those sections.
Best tracks were "Serenity" and the title track. I'll probably relisten to this album a few times, because it clocks in at about a half an hour which is always a plus for me.
REPO! So many good ones, but Sacrilege is one of my favorites from that year.
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
Michael Gira- Drainland
Mylรจne Farmer- Anamorphosรฉe
Sol Invictus- In The Rain
Ooozy punk slithers on up through swamps overridden by blue-green algae as crusty Slayer riffs bubble to the surface. Itโs hardcore punk left in the sun to melt & morph into the prokarytotic ooze that is known as stenchcore.
Stenchcore. crustcore. Call-it-waht-u-will-core. THIS is music of the pit, by the pit and for the pit. So HELP me god. So call it whatever u want to call it. It donโt mind. I can guarantee u that. It sounds like the crusties smell - Unshowered and strong.
Harcore punk rarely gets better than this so itโs abso-fuckinglutely essential. So. There's only ONE thing left to do is. ๐ >
Repo Ranks: '90+s Bowie
Black Tie White Noise
Outsider
Earthling
Hours
Heathen
Reality
the next day
Blackstar
1963
1. Sam Cooke - Night Beat
2. Dylan - Freewheelin' 3. Mingus - Black Saint
4. The Searchers - Sugar & Spice
5. Jimmy Smith - Chicken Shack
6. Roy Orbison - In Dreams
Joy by ๅฑฑไธ้้ [Tatsuro Yamashita]
Itโs been a while since Iโve listened to Tats. I love For You, itโs been in and out of my top 100, but havenโt been super impressed with anything else Iโve heard by him. Joy probably presents Tats at his best, but the live set still leaves something to be desired. For one, at 2+ hrs this is quite long and without much variety. And while Tats himself is great (as is the occasional saxophone), most of the instrumentation and background vocals arenโt as stellar, and the mastering/balance of this live recording is a bit weak. This all might be nitpicking though, because this was still a wonderful album. A blast to listen to from beginning to end, Iโd highly recommend it if you've enjoyed his studio stuff.
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)
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! by Bob Dylan (archival / live)
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)
Chrono Trigger by Yasunori Mitsuda (soundtrack)
Live at the Fillmore East (March 7, 1970): It's About That Time by Miles Davis (archival / live)
Foxheads Stalk This Land by Close Lobsters
I could listen to C86 stuff for years and not get bored lol. Don't think Close Lobsters are a particular standout in the scene, but I wanted to confirm that with a more focused listen (I've heard this one already a couple of years ago). And I did confirm it. Cool indie pop/rock jangly tunes. Adore the sound of the guitars here and the I haven't really delved deep into the lyricism, but I liked what I've heard. The songwriting is okay to good, which is the main reason this cannot compare to the likes of The Sundays, The Field Mice etc. Still, I love the sound enough to occasionally give it a listen, and there are several highlights which will fit well into my indie pop playlists. They've apparently reformed in 2012 and are still touring now and then, so that's nice. 7.5/10
(2)
Listen to King Crimson next
(3)
Picks from BEA metal charts, 2023 wishlist, some other cool picks.
R marks relistens
Sacramentum - Far Away From the Sun (Gowi) (R)
Slowthai - Ugly
George Clanton - Ooh Rap I Ya
Travis Scott - Utopia
MIKE - Faith Is A Rock
Crass - The Feeding of 5000
The Pop Group - For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues
Charlie Rich - Behind Closed Doors
Klaus Schulze - X _________________ Overall chart Fake overall chart
Genre(s): French Pop, Pop Rock, Downtempo, Alternative Rock
Mylene Farmer has the most number one singles of all time in the French charts. I had not ever heard any of her music before to my knowledge.
According to a few sources, this album marked a reinvention for the artist going away from the primarily synth pop roots of her early music to a fuller and more rock-oriented sound on this album. I can't say that anything particular that really sticks out to me, but the album is really solid. This is professional and finely crafted pop music. From the voice of the star, down to the varied instrumentation, it's all done very well. Although maybe a bit sterile and by the numbers sometimes too. I enjoy the more downtempo sort of tracks on this album than anything else, and I'd say that Madonna's 'Ray of Light' could be a point of comparison as a well-established pop star successfully expanding their sound using contemporary musical trends.
Might have to take a second listen. I was also a little distracted the first time I heard this a few days ago.
I enjoyed Slowthai's 2023 album more than I was expecting.
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
Michael Gira- Drainland
Sol Invictus- In The Rain
Bethlehem- Dictius Te Necare
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