Reviews: Metal Edition

Megadeth
Endgame
Roadrunner
CD

I know that I'm a bit late on this one but in a year where two thrash metal giants release albums as strong as these and with a supergroup making (good) noise, it seemed best to wrap them together. Everyone knows the story by now about the genesis of Megadeth and how it roots in founder Dave Mustaine's jealousy and anger towards wiping Metallica off the planet. For the better part of this millenium, Mr. Mustaine should have rested easy, as his former bandmates experimented themselves into near irrelevence. With Risk closing out the '90s and The World Needs A Hero starting this decade, it seemed as though the mighty 'Deth had lost its way. But despite being "born again", Mustaine has proven to be reinvigorated since his sleeping accident that almost took away his ability to play guitar. He has followed those "efforts" with now 3 strong, politically charged albums: The System Has Failed, United Abominations, and Endgame. While the band most likely will never reach the heights of Countdown To Extinction again, there is certainly nothing to be ashamed of in this present incarnation. The musicianship is as tight as in the Rust In Peace era and the material is nearly as strong. This is a relentless assault that you don't mind being hit with. And speaking of relentless...


Slayer
World Painted Blood
American
LP/CD

Admittedly, I have never been much of a Slayer fan. I have seen them perform and it is quite an experience but being put on record seems to bottle up their fury. This album, somehow, pulverizes me just the right way. Slayer has zero pop sensibilities. Their idea of a chorus is to slow down enough so that the listener can maybe catch a few of Tom Araya's yells so that they know the song title. Dave Lombardo is easily the best drummer in metal and the guitars of Hanneman and King serve their purpose. Their strength as a band is their unrelenting beating upon the eardrums almost forcing a listener to submit, maybe, rather than enjoy. Well, I give. I give. And I enjoy.


Shrinebuilder
Shrinebuilder
Neurot
LP/CD

I know I said "supergroup" but bear with me. The lineup is Scott "Wino" Weinrich from Saint Vitus, Dale Crover of the Melvins, Scott Kelly of Neurosis, and Al Cisneros of OM. I realize this is hardly a who's who of metal but, believe me, the combo shows a lot of promise. Crover has been a solid drummer for over 20 years and Weinrich was a fixture at SST Records in the glory years, so there's definitely some cred here. While definitely slowing it down from the thrash legends reviewed above, there is a dirge quality to the tracks reminiscent of Black Sabbath along with growling that is far more overtly evil than the wailings of Osbourne or Dio. A solid debut from grizzled vets that doesn't outdue any of the bands mentioned here but will make them sleep with one eye open.


The Grades:

Megadeth

1. Dialectic Chaos – 7.7
2. This Day We Fight! - 8.0
3. 44 Minutes – 6.7
4. 1320' – 8.4
5. Bite The Hand – 7.2
6. Bodies – 7.4
7. Endgame – 7.5
8. The Hardest Part Of Letting Go...Sealed With A Kiss – 8.3
9. Head Crusher – 8.6
10. How The Story Ends – 8.8
11. The Right To Go Insane – 8.2

Overall=7.89

Slayer

1. World Painted Blood – 8.5
2. Unit 731 – 7.3
3. Snuff – 7.1
4. Beauty Through Order – 7.4
5. Hate Worldwide – 8.1
6. Public Display Of Dismemberment – 7.8
7. Human Strain – 6.7
8. Americon – 8.4
9. Psychopathy Red – 8.0
10. Playing With Dolls – 7.6
11. Not Of This God – 8.3

Overall=7.75

Shrinebuilder

1. Solar Benediction – 7.8
2. Pyramid Of The Moon – 7.1
3. Blind For All To See – 6.7
4. The Architect – 8.0
5. Science Of Anger – 8.6

Overall=7.64

Jemina Pearl - Break It Up

Jemina Pearl
Break It Up
Ecstatic Peace
CD

For those of you who may not know who Jemina Pearl is, she was the lead singer of the short-lived and wonderfully exuberant Nashville punk band Be Your Own Pet. BYOP was raucous, fun, and had songs about food fights, safety pins, and zombies. While a very young band (members were in their late teens and early twenties), they had boatloads of attitude and the chops to back it up. The first release by any of the members since the break-up, Break It Up (purely coincidental and unintentional) continues Jemina Pearl's slow vocal maturation a la Karen O becoming less of a yeller and screecher and adding more actual singing to her repertoire. What happens is a bit of a mixed bag.

In BYOP tradition, there is a classic song title recycled for a brand new, lesser tune. Like BYOP's "Stairway To Heaven,", "Band On The Run," doesn't come close to living up to the original but it is entirely unrelated. While this doesn't quite live up to the efforts of her previous band, Break It Up does have some real gems like the duet with Iggy Pop and "Undesirable," which lead me to believe that Miss Pearl does have a future on her own. The album as a whole, while not spectacular, is really fun and has some truly enjoyable moments.

Track Grades

1. Heartbeats – 8.5
   
2. After Hours – 7.4
   
3. Ecstatic Appeal – 8.6
   
4. Band On The Run – 8.2
   
5. I Hate People (feat. Iggy Pop) – 9.0
6. Looking For Trouble – 7.2
   
7. Retrograde – 7.5
   
8. Nashville Shores – 6.6
   
9. No Good – 7.7
   
10. D Is For Danger – 7.3
    
11. Selfish Heart – 8.4
    
12. Undesirable – 9.2
13. So Sick! – 7.9
    

Overall=7.96

Built To Spill - There Is No Enemy

Built To Spill
There Is No Enemy
Warner Bros.
LP/CD

Built To Spill has always sounded to me like a Neil Young-fronted Pavement. But being a relative newbie to the canon of Built To Spill, having only heard their major label efforts (and finding them mostly uneven or lackluster), I am extremely impressed with There Is No Enemy. This is easily one of the most consistently great albums of the year and that has not proven to be a strength of most of their albums. The pattern I have noticed with Built To Spill is that the success (not commercial but musical) of an album is largely dependent on how much of an iron fist founder/guitarist/vocalist Doug Martsch rules with. His stranglehold of the songwriting provides a clear vision and this one is a message of reflection. Whether this was a conscious effort or just what happened to be on Martsch's mind is not clear but, with the longest layoff between albums in the band's history, it is hard not to believe it is intentional. The result is a resounding success that proves again that Built To Spill is worthy of their loyal fanbase. If anyone has jumped off the bandwagon in recent years, it's time to get back on.

Track Grades

1. Aisle 13 – 8.2
   
2. Hindsight – 9.5
   
3. Nowhere Lullaby – 7.8
   
4. Good Ol' Boredom – 9.6
   
5. Life's A Dream – 8.3
   
6. Oh Yeah – 8.6
   
7. Pat – 7.6
   
8. Done – 8.5
   
9. Planting Seeds – 9.2
   
10. Things Fall Apart – 8.4
    
11. Tomorrow – 8.3
    

Overall=8.55

The Entrance Band

The Entrance Band
The Entrance Band
Ecstatic Peace
LP/CD

This, the fourth full-length album from guitar virtuoso Guy Blakeslee, is a revelation. I had the good fortune of seeing Entrance, now The Entrance Band, with full-time contributors Paz Lenchantin (ex-A Perfect Circle, ex-Zwan) on bass and the über-talented Derek James on drums open for Sonic Youth earlier in the year. In the months following, I found myself trying to hunt down all of the albums I could and was largely disappointed in what I had gathered.

I first acquired 2004's Wandering Stranger and based on the covers that Blakeslee chose, I expected an effort the likes of Chris Whitley and instead heard something far more amateurish. Then there was Prayer Of Death and it contained at least a hint of the brilliance that I had seen in concert, including the track, "Grim Reaper Blues," (which has been changed a bit for this album with more clear sound). There was still something missing here and I do believe Blakeslee has found it with a now full-time collaboration with Lenchantin.

With Lenchantin and James in tow, Blakeslee concentrates on actual songcraftsmanship more than just guitar improvisation and the results are startling. Or they would have been had I not seen it before me months ago. The standout tracks that they knocked out that night ("M.L.K." and "Lookout!") are no less impressive on record and there are some welcome great new tunes as well ("Lives" and "This Is Why"). The presence of the Entrance Band is understandably missing from their live performance but not the power. Definitely a band on the rise and a force to be reckoned with.

Track Grades

1. Lookout! – 9.0
2. M.L.K. – 9.2
3. Still Be There – 8.1
4. Sing For The One – 7.5
5. You're So Fine – 6.3
6. Grim Reaper Blues (Part 2) – 8.8
7. That Is Why – 9.2
8. Lives – 9.3
9. You Must Turn – 7.3
10. Hourglass – 7.9

Overall=8.26

The Times They Are-A-Over

It has become painfully obvious to my ears during the listening of Together Through Life that Bob Dylan has shriveled into a completely unlistenable artist. I don't even know what the hell it is that I'm listening to. I do know that it has earned the lowest rating of anything I have bothered to review before: a 3.4 out of 10. I feel as though I am on a train, listening to a band of drunken hobo stowaways that are picking tobacco out of their teeth. The fact is this: Dylan is recording past the point of his musical importance.

This is not to say that Bob Dylan should stop recording. A legend of his stature and resume should be able to do whatever he wants. He's earned it. This is more about reviewers tripping over their own lips as they press them to his cheeks. Come on, guys. Be honest with yourselves and the reader. You can't possibly think that this album deserves 4 stars or above, maybe out of 10 but not out of 5. I would assume that these major (and obsolete) rock magazines just find the one reviewer on their staff that is so hopelessly sentimental that they can't help but give the latest album by whatever “legendary” artist a glowing review. They couldn't possibly be honest and risk hurting these dinosaurs' feelings. I'm looking at you, David Fricke.

The problem is that the majors put artists like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Dylan on pedestals above contemporaries (Lou Reed, David Bowie, or Black Sabbath) even though the latter's music has meant far more to my generation, directly or otherwise. That is not to say that Reed and Bowie haven't made some clunkers. They certainly have. But the magazines have even dismissed truly interesting albums like Bowie's 1995 concept album, Outside. It received no airplay anywhere outside Downers Grove, IL's 88.3 and that's because I played it a ton on my show. Sorry that it didn't have any real radio hits but it was a strong album, brilliantly produced with studio genius Brian Eno. And it doesn't stop with the old timers. The writing scene is littered with pieces and reviews on newer bands they are told to like by record companies and highly placed hipsters. I suppose I can't say it is all the writers' fault because they are dictated to as well. Again, I'm looking at you, David Fricke.

So, again, no disrespect to Bob Dylan. He is a true legend but let's not let that cloud his contemporary output. Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all-time but when he played for the Washington Wizards, he was a shell of his former self. Just keep things in perspective and keep your standards high. Just because an artist like Bob Dylan belongs on the Mount Rushmore of rock and roll doesn't make everything he does gold. On the other hand, you can't give him a pass just because he's old. You have to look at a record as its own entity. And maybe it isn't my or anyone else's place to judge someone else's art. But I know what I like, and this sure as hell wasn't it.

Here are some other more favorable ratings that I was too lazy to write full reviews of:

A.C. Newman: Get Guilty – 8.15
John Fruciante: The Empyrean – 6.3
M. Ward: Hold Time – 7.42
Andrew Bird: Noble Beast – 8.28
Mastodon: Crack The Skye – 7.79
Revolting Cocks: Sex-O Olympic-O – 6.44
Dark Was The Night : A Red Hot Compilation – 7.65
Lacuna Coil: Shallow Life – 8.11
Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career – 8.23
Neko Case: Middle Cyclone – 8.07
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz – 8.20
Iggy Pop: Préliminaires – 7.67
PJ Harvey & John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By – 7.15