Everyonce in a while i like to write an essay about how much i like or dislike an album i've been listening too, to keep up any writing skills i have aquired.
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Length: 72:13
Released: November 9th 2007
1. Tranquilize*
2. Shadowplay
3. All The Pretty Faces*
4. Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf
5. Sweet Talk
6. Under the Gun*
7. Where the White Boys Dance
8. Show You How
9. Move Away*
10. Glamorous Indie Rock n’ Roll
11. Who Let You Go?
12. The Ballad of Michael Valentine
13. Ruby, Don’t Take your Love to Town
14. Daddy’s Eyes
15. Sam’s Town (Abby Road Version)*
16. Romeo & Juliet
17. Mr. Brightside [Thin White Duke Remix]* / Questions with the Captain
For most bands, B-Sides amount to incomplete tracks or one’s not good enough to sell to the general public. Bside album duds like Avenged Seven fold’s ‘Diamonds in the Rough’ and Gorillaz ‘D-Sides’ prove why most bands simply toss their unfinished business aside.
Since their 2003 debut, The Killers have produced a prolific number of non album tracks most of which have been released across their singles. But they didn’t stop at quantity. On their B-Side album, Sawdust, nowhere does it feel like a compilation album. This is possibly due to the tracks sharing central themes & backing instrumentation deviating from their usual sound. Its like when a group of oddballs come together and suddenly fit together. Supremely un-killers tracks that would have stuck out on their glossy studio albums are right at home amid darkness (‘Tranquilize’, ‘Shadowplay’) fragility (‘Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf’, ‘Show You’) desperation (Almost every track) and the downright weird (‘Where the White Boys Dance’, ‘Glamorous Indie Rock n’ Roll’).The best way I can summarize the album is a slow transition from dark to light(er). It begins with the dark Lou Reed duet ‘Tranquilize’ and ends with an upbeat remix of ‘Mr. Brightside’ followed by a pointless hidden track where the band is almost laughing through the short lyrics. Later tracks like their cover of ‘Romeo & Juliet’ by Dire Straits and ‘Who Let You Go?’ drag a bit compared to their more urgent predecessors, but the album provides a less glittery look at pop-rock, and lo’ it is good.
7.3/10
* notes greatness
Length: 57:44
Released: August 20th 2008
1.) execute
2.) Gematria (The Killing Name)*
3.) Sulfur*
4.) Psychosocial*
5.) Dead Memories*
6.) Vendetta
7.) Butcher’s Hook
8.) Gehenna*
9.) This Cold Black
10.) Wherein Lies Continue
11.) Snuff*
12.) All Hope Is Gone
13.) Child of Burning Time
14.) Vermillion Pt. 2 (Bloodstone Remix)
15.) Til We Die
First, let it be said that this is Slipknot almost 10 years after their first record. Anyone who is expecting this disk to be all inbred Nu-metal rage is a fool. That being said, this album isn’t Vol.3 part II. The closest they get to the likes of ‘Circle’ ‘Vermillion II’ or ‘Danger-Keep Away’ is the emotional penultimate track ‘Snuff’. On most songs Corey’s vocals veer between Vol.3 growls and ‘Come What(ever) May’ pining while the rest of the band recalls their ‘Iowa’ era sound. Fans who long for Slipknot without Stonesour, or experimentation should stick to tracks like ‘Gematria’ ‘This Cold Black’ ‘Wherein Lies Continue’ and the Title track. Anyone Else should check out check out tracks like ‘Dead Memories’ which begins sounding like pre-Load/St.Anger Metallica before coming into its own. Additionally Joey fans will be pleased to know the drum god (now sporting a crown of thorns on his mask to prove it) is sounding better then ever. The albums one weakness though is it sounds rushed, guitarist James Root has complained the album sped through production to meet deadlines and their was a lack of communication between the 9 members during production, which shows through particularly in the lyrics and lack of effects contributed by Sid & Craig this time round. If you’re a maggot though, you don’t need me to say this album is good enough for you to consume over and over again.
8.9/10
*Notes which songs kick ass
(Maggots add * next to each song)
Length: 43:30
Released: May 15th 2007
1.) Wake
2.) Given Up
3.) Leave Out All The Rest
4.) Bleed It Out*
5.) Shadow of the Day
6.) What I’ve Done
7.) Hands Held High*
8.) No More Sorrow*
9.) Valentines Day
10.) In Between
11.) In Pieces*
12.) The Little Things Give You Away*
13.) No Roads Left*
14.) What I’ve Done (Distorted Remix)
15.) Given Up (Third Encore Session)
You can’t please everyone. Critics Bashed their last studio album ‘Meteora’ for being an ‘uglier’ rehash of the same breed as their smash success ‘Hybrid Theory’. Not really a bad thing. So then they changed, and got bashed for that too. The first half of this disk has been raped by the radio, thoroughly; but it’s the slower second half that really reaches. Minutes sports the bands first politically charged tracks: slow militant rap ‘Hands Held High’, ‘No More Sorrow’ (like a better version of ‘Given Up‘) a blatant attack on George Bush, and the hurricane Katrina inspired “The Little Things Give You Away”. Other Highlights include ‘In Pieces’ about Chester’s divorce, ‘Valentines Day’ his fathers death , and ‘In Between’ Mike Shinoda’s first attempt at normal singing on a LP record. On the downside, single ‘Shadow of the day’ rips off the U2 masterpiece ‘With or Without You’ and Chester holds a single continuous scream for over 15 agonizing seconds in ‘Given Up’. As a whole album the disk in sketchy, but the individual songs show their sound is evolving something few “Nu-Metal” bands have done.
Side notes: I saw them live in February, Chester opened ‘In pieces’ by saying “Is their anyone in here who has had someone really special in their life…who they just wish would get in a car crash and fucking die already?” and the chorus of ‘Bleed It Out’ gets annoying when the band extends the outro an extra 3 minutes.
7.7/10
*Notes incredibility
Length: 45:53
Released: June 12th 2008
1.) Life in Technicolor
2.) Cemeteries of London*
3.) Lost!
4.) 42*
5.) Lovers In Japan/Reign in Love
6.) Yes/Chinese Sleep Chant*
7.) Viva La Vida
8.) Violet Hill*
9.) Strawberry Swing
10.) Death & All His Friends/The Escapist
Warning: if you hunt urgals with a bow strung with human veins wearing your favorite Slayer t-shirt while drinking vodka mixed with oxblood stop reading right now.
Ignore the hype and hate. It’s the most downloaded album of its time, and yes Chris martin sounds every bit as hammy as Bono. Listen to Lovers In Japan, he’s a fuckin’ Bono-Dopple-Savethechildren-Ganger. But the tracks on this album do something few modern bands dare to do, change. For Instance: ‘42’starts as a soft Radiohead-esque twinkle before a bass beat kicks in halfway backed by a bouncy sting section. From there the track builds in energy til’ right before the end where it breaks back to the opening lines again. The other tracks follow suit, morphing from one musical idea to the next. Only three songs sound out of place on this death themed record: The danceable ‘Viva La Vida’ the flitty ‘Strawberry Swing’ and the sonic ‘Chinese Sleep Chant’. Book-Ending the disk is the instrumental ‘Life in Technicolor’ and its vocal version ‘The Escapist’ which fades out of Death & All His Friends to close out the album. Overall Chris Martin’s expanded his vocals to include lower pitches and the rest of the band has shown much promise by branching out making this cold plays most musically interesting album.
8.9/10 (11/10 excluding ‘Lost!’/ ‘Viva La Vida’/’Strawberry Swing‘)
*Notes biased enthusiasm (greatness)
Length: 68:46
Released: July 9th 2002
1.) By The Way*
2.) Universally Speaking
3.) This Is The Place
4.) Dosed
5.) Don’t Forget Me
6.) The Zephyr Song*
7.) Can’t Stop*
8.) I Could Die For You
9.) Midnight
10.) Throw Away Your Television*
11.) Cabron
12.) Tear
13.) On Mercury*
14.) Minor Thing
15.) Warm Tape
16.) Venice Queen*
Guitarist John Frusciante said the happiest time of his life was writing By The Way, although happiness and awesomeness are totally separate things. By The Way lags compared to its predecessor, Californication, with many similar filler tracks between it’s outstanding moments. At 69 minutes, certainly several tracks could’ve been cut and made By The Way a much tighter album. It also, for the most part, lacks the former funkiness the band championed for so long, only the single “Can’t Stop”, and “On Mercury” hint at the fun that was once “BloodSugarSexMajik.” Only a few tracks stick out distinctly amongst the slow melodic majority of the album: “The Zephyr Song” a smooth wispy sex analogy that sounds like a less depressive take on “Otherside”, And “Venice Queen” a tribute to a friend of Anthony’s whom he met during rehab played out in two parts, first a haunting bow like melody then a faster acoustic section. By The Way closed out the second stage of the Chili Peppers Career capping off their second Best Of Collection, unfortunately it is arguably their weakest album since “Blood Sugar” (Excluding the embarrassment of “One Hot Minute”).
6.8/10 (Singles 9/10)
* Notes Particular Ownage
