Release Date: June 29, 2010
Record Label: Primary Wave

Review:
I’ve been following Taddy Porter since they were featured in a Type 3 Media Artist Spotlight a couple years ago. What I wrote then still holds true, so I’ll simply reprint it here.

Taddy Porter has got a perfect vision of what 70′s influenced rock and roll should sound like. I’ve got a couple LPs from that era that I quickly toss in favor of this Oklahoma quartet’s compositions.

“Shake Me” is the first single from the album. It’s a fairly straight forward rock anthem perfect for radio. But it’s the first track “Whatever Haunts You,” that really made me take note. A perfect mix of blues-infused southern rock with a killer riff. Another track that grabs you is the brilliant  “In The Morning.”  It’s a slower tempo piece that has a feel not unlike the music of Kings of Leon.

From start to finish, this album consistently puts out great music. Taddy Porter still strikes me as a band on the verge of busting out, and this album get them closer than ever.  With just a little push, Taddy Porter sounds like a band we’ll be enjoying for years to come.

Track Listing:

1. Whatever Haunts You
2. Big Enough
3. Shake Me
4. Gotta Get You Back
5. Long Slow Drag
6. I Gotta Love
7. Mean Bitch
8. Bringing Me Down
9. In The Morning
10. Fire In The Streets
11. Railroad Queen
12. King Louie

Purchase:

Links:

www.taddyporter.com

Release Date: July 13, 2010
Record Label: Roadrunner Records

Review:
This is shaping-up as the year of the retro sound, with many well established acts going back to the drawing board in an attempt to recapture the essence of their early work.  So far, this has not been a bad thing, with many bands reminding us why we fell in love with their music in the first place.

Enter Korn, one of the latest artists getting back to their roots with the release of their ninth major studio release, Korn III: Remember Who You Are.  To help them with this endeavor, he band enlisted Producer Ross Robinson, who also produced Korn’s self-titled 1994 debut, and 1996′s Life is Peachy.

A few bars into the first single, “Oildale (Leave Me Alone),” and it’s instantly clear that the production plays a huge role in separating this album from other recent Korn recordings.  Robinson and band have stripped the music back to a more organic sound, not buried under too many audio layers and studio magic.  The result is crisp, powerful, and energetic songs.

This is the first Korn album to feature new full-time drummer Ray Luzier (formerly of Army of Anyone).  We first get a taste of Luzier’s percussion prowess in the song “Pop a Pill.”  It sounds incredible to hear Luzier and Fieldy (Reginald Arvizu) perform in absolute sync.  The rhythm section is so tight that you’d think they’d been playing together for years.  It also sounds like having Luzier to work with is allowing Fieldy to lay down some really outstanding bass-lines.

When reading about this album, I keep seeing the word “simple” tossed around, like the music has been dumbed down in some way.  Simple is not the adjective I would choose to describe the music.  Aggressive, infectious, rapid, and eerie, are better descriptive words, especially when trying to describe Munky’s (James Shaffer’s) guitar-work.

The guitar in songs like “Lead the Parade” is anything but simple, with interesting chord progressions and rapid, often jarring changes.  This may be as close to a Beatles song as Korn will ever create… if the Beatles somehow merged with the Dead Kennedys in an alternate universe.  The structure of the song is maddening, with Jonathan Davis’ narrative painted over it.  If your not agitated by the end of the song, check your pulse.

The album closes with “Holding All These Lies”, which features fast and heavy verses, and a more melodic chorus.  Midway through, the track breaks-down to a quiet tone, then explodes again into a powerful cathartic opus.  Not unlike the final track on their self-titled debut, “Daddy,” Davis bears his soul and pours so much of himself into the music, that by the end of it he can be heard weeping in the background.  While listening, you may begin to realize at this point that you’re white knuckled and holding your breath waiting for the tension to abate so the air can come back into the room.

This is the Korn album you’ve been waiting for.

Track Listing:

1. “Uber-Time”
2. “Oildale (Leave Me Alone)”
3. “Pop a Pill”
4. “Fear Is a Place to Live”
5. “Move On”
6. “Lead the Parade”
7. “Let the Guilt Go”
8. “The Past”
9. “Never Around”
10. “Are You Ready to Live?”
11. “Holding All These Lies”

Purchase:

Links:

www.korn.com

Release Date: August 17, 2010
Record Label: Rocket Science Ventures

Review:
Willy Wonka said “you’ve got to go forwards to go back.” With the upcoming release of The Trouble With Angels, Filter is doing just that.  The band is moving forward with renewed enthusiasm to create music that explodes with a raw energy seen and heard in their earlier releases. In short, this album kicks-ass.

The Trouble With Angels kicks-off with “The Inevitable Relapse,” The track starts in on you with a bass line reminiscent of Short Bus‘ “Hey Man, Nice Shot.” Then, the chorus explodes into Richard Patrick’s screaming and belting out the line “Drink it, drink it, snort it, smoke it.” It’s made clear with the first few notes that Filter is bringing back the rock.

The heavy rock influenced theme continues with the heavy Dogman-esque verses of “Drug Boy.”  “Absentee Father” has an infectious groove coupled with some punk attitude, and sounds a bit like the songs from the previous Filter album, Anthems for the Damned. Unlike the previous album, the lyrical themes are less political and more personal.

The track “No Love” starts with pounding drums and bursts into the best guitar riff I’ve heard in ages. The track moves from the mosh-ready guitar to more melodic verses with a driving drum beat underscoring the entire track; easily one of my favorites.  The other tracks on the album, “Down With Me,” “The Trouble With Angels,” “Clouds” and “Catch A Falling Knife” simply (but not simplistically) rock out.

The album does have more melodic songs as well, as with “No Re-Entry,” a slower more emotionally driven song, and the closing track “Fades Like a Photograph (Dead Angel),” a lighter piano and acoustic driven piece. A version of “Fades Like a Photograph” appeared on the 2012: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The new remixed/rerecorded version has less grandiose feel to it (less drums), seems to flow a bit better than the movie version, and is a powerful close to this intense album.

Filter is back, and better than ever.

Track Listing:

1. The Inevitable Relapse
2. Drug Boy
3. Absentee Father
4. No Love
5. No Re-Entry
6. Down With Me
7. Catch A Falling Knife
8. The Trouble With Angels
9. Clouds
10. Fades Like a Photograph (Dead Angel)

Purchase:

Links:

http://www.officialfilter.com
http://www.filter.com

Release Date: June 1, 2010
Record Label: The Null Corporation

Review:
Trent Reznor’s latest project is called How to Destroy Angels, and its members include his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross.

“The space in Between” in reminiscent of a slowed melancholic Sneaker Pimps. The second track “Parasite” begins with a distracting rhythm that will make your skin itch, but through the mastery of how the track is put together, it becomes a lush and complex song. The final track “A Drowning” is a gorgeous seven minute composition with a bit of The Downward Spiral vibe, and might possibly be the strongest track on the EP.

What I love most about this music is hearing how Reznor and company treat the music… how the layers were assembled to make the songs. Early Nine Inch Nails often was about complex beats driving songs. This is more about simple beats and more attention paid to how the parts fit together to create the whole. I’ve listened to this EP six times at this point and have taken away something different, and surprising each time.

The 6-track EP is now available as a free download (high-quality DRM-free MP3s) on the How to Destroy Angels website. For the modest fee of $2, you can upgrade to the HD package, which adds options for lossless audio (24-bit 44.1kHz WAV and 16-bit FLAC and Apple Lossless) and the music video for “The Space in Between” in 1080p and 480p.

Just go and get it already, then decide for yourself if you like it.

Track Listing:

1. “The Space in Between”
2. “Parasite”
3. “Fur Lined”
4. “BBB”
5. “The Believers”
6. “A Drowning”

Links:

www.howtodestroyangels.com

Release Date: June 22, 2010
Record Label: Evilive/The End Records

Review:
It’s never a good sign when I have to ask the publicist if the review copy they sent me is the final mix.  They rarely send a rough-cut.  And so began my utter disappointment with the new Danzig album, Deth Red Sabaoth.  The disappointment is compounded by the knowledge that it could have been a great album, but falls flat.

Tunes I really dig include “Black Candy”, which is dark, disturbing, and will stay in your head for a while.  “On a Wicked Night” has a crisp acoustic intro, then really ignites half-way through.  “Ju Ju Bone” is a strong bluesy-rock tune and I can’t help but wonder if it’s penned about a penis with supernatural powers.  The powerful track “Left Hand Rise Above” closes the album in a very fulfilling manner.

The song-writing on this album is impressive.  Glenn Danzig states “I’ve been told several times that the album has a cool vitality to it, it sounds energized.”  The songs really do convey a sense that the Danzig sound is revitalized, and also have potential to be some of his best work to-date.  The problem is that most of the energy is lost in a murky and unfocused production.

The opening track, “Hammer of the Gods,” has a great riff and scorching guitar solo, but the guitar mix is chaotic and the vocals are a mess.  It ends up sounding like a $300 garage band demo.  “The Revengeful” showcases awesome guitar sounds, but the chorus vocals are a bit sloppy and the guitar solo is buried in the mix.  The drums in “Rebel Spirits” will knock you on your ass, but the vocals disappear.  “Deth Red Moon” is mixed as poorly as the first track and Danzig struggles to stay in key.  “Pyre of Souls: Seasons of Pain” has all the writing and performance elements to be a great tune, but the mix is an intolerable 7-plus minute torture.

This could have been a great album.  Danzig’s production down-slide probably started with Circle of Snakes, but the songs on Deth Red Sabaoth are so much better.  Better songs, sloppy production, the disappointment is complete.  Think I’ll go crank up “Am I Demon” to get over it.

Track Listing:

1. “Hammer of the Gods”
2. “The Revengeful”
3. “Rebel Spirits”
4. “Black Candy”
5. “On a Wicked Night”
6. “Deth Red Moon”
7. “Ju Ju Bone”
8. “Night Star Hell”
9. “Pyre of Souls: Incanticle”
10. “Pyre of Souls: Seasons of Pain”
11. “Left Hand Rise Above”

Purchase:

Links:
www.danzig-verotik.com

Release Date: April 13, 2010
Record Label: The End Records

Review:
Every once in a while an album comes along that completely shatters all of my preconceptions. And quite remarkably, it’s usually a good thing.

I first saw Helloween perform during the Headbanger’s Ball Tour in 1988. I spent most of the time making fun of them, especially Michael Kiske’s odd theatrics (which included a great deal of singing to the rafters, instead of to the crowd). It was so abysmal, I avoided anything branded “Helloween” since. Even though Kiske was replaced by Andi Deris in 1993, my first reaction when opening the envelope with Helloween’s latest release, Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary, was still something like “Oh God, why did they send me this crap?”

Horns (not the ones on your head) are what greeted my ears when I stated playing the first track “Dr. Stein.” The music was so unexpected an startling that I had to recheck the CD label to make sure I didn’t inadvertently swap it with another. This is not the power metal sound I expected. Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary displays many different sounds arrangements, from the pop styles of “If I Could Fly,” “Fallen To Pieces,” and “Perfect Gentleman” to the theatrical “The Keeper’s Trilogy,” which sounds like a cross between the Trans Siberian Orchestra and an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Probably the greatest highlight of this album is the vocal performance of Andi Deris, who deftly handles the stylist changes. He also has a nice duet with Hellsong’s Harriet Ohlsson on “Eagle Fly Free.”

It took me twenty-two years to give Helloween another chance, and I’m glad I did. Unarmed: Best of 25th Anniversary shows that Helloween’s music can be re-imagined, at its core, can stand the test of time.

Track Listing:

1. Dr. Stein
2. Future World
3. If I Could Fly
4. Where The Rain Grows
5. The Keeper’s Trilogy (Medley)
6. Eagle Fly Free
7. Perfect Gentleman
8. Forever & One
9. I Want Out
10. Fallen To Pieces
11. A Tale That Wasn’t Right
12. Why (Digital Exclusive Track)

Purchase:

Links:

www.helloween.org

Release Date: May 4, 2010
Record Label: Ipecac Recordings

Review:
As a kid, I used to peruse through my mother’s old record collection. In the process, I was exposed to decades-old sounds and styles of music that I remember finding so interesting because of how different it was compared to what was played on the radio at the time. Listening to Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane gives me the same feeling of listening to those old LPs.

Mondo Cane is collection of traditional Italian and pop songs, including a rendition of Ennio Morricone’s “Deep Down,” that were originally recorded in the 1950′s and 60′s. Patton’s vocal performance is supported by an orchestra, choir, and band to create the Mondo Cane sound. The recordings retain the original character of the music. Patton explains “My purpose in revisiting these pieces is not to relive the past, not for nostalgia, but more to illustrate through modern and adventurous interpretation exactly how vital and important this music still is.”

Recorded at a series of European performances, the production of the tracks was done in such a way that it’s not difficult to imagine that the music could have been recorded long ago. Patton’s dynamic range and vocal prowess are put to the test. I’m not fluent in Italian, so I can’t say with any certainty just how well he tackles the language on this album, but to my ear, the vocal expressiveness is terrific.

I’ve said before, just about any release by a Mike Patton project release is worth listening to, because he always offers something different, and never disappoints.  Not convinced?  Play “Urlo Negro” as loud as you can.

Track Listing:

1. Il Cielo In Una Stanza
2. Che Notte!
3. Ore D’Amore
4. Deep Down
5. Quello Che Conta
6. Urlo Negro
7. Scalinatella
8. L’Uomo Che Non Sapeva Amare
9. 20 KM Al Giorno
10. Ti Offro Da Bere
11. Senza Fine

Purchase:

Links:
Mondo Cane Facebook

Release Date: March 9, 2010
Record Label: Legacy Recordings

Review:

It seems like every article I read about the latest release from the Jimi Hendrix estate, Valleys of Neptune, refers to it as a “posthumous album.” Like we need more reminders that Hendrix has been dead for 40 years. His musical legacy is all the reminder needed that this man left Earth too soon.

Valleys of Neptune, with twelve previously unreleased Hendrix recordings, is the probably one of the best albums I’ve heard in 2010 so far.  That’s as much a testament to Hendrix’s greatness as it is to how watered down much of today’s mainstream music has become.  Highlights of this album include a scorching instrumental rendition of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love,” and a nearly eight and a half minute version of “Red House.”

Valleys of Neptune reminds me a lot of the Blues compilation released in 1994. The production is mostly stripped back to the basics; guitar, drums, bass, vocals, which serves to accentuate the blues-rock feel of the album. Some of the tracks are far from fully polished with popping sounds and over-driven mics, but this actually make the album better, because you can really hear just how good the music is, flaws and all.

I listened to this album in the format of a V-Album, played on software by ScatterTunes. The audio quality of the download is superb, much better than a typical MP3. The V-Album also contain cool extras, like lyric sheets, videos, and photos.  Other Hendrix albums are also available in this format.

Track Listing:

1. Stone Free
2. Valleys of Neptune
3. Bleeding Heart
4. Hear My Train A Comin’
5. Mr. Bad Luck
6. Sunshine Of Your Love
7. Lover Man
8. Ships Passing Through The Night
9. Fire
10. Red House
11. Lullaby For The Summer
12. Crying Blue Rain

Purchase:

Links:

www.jimihendrix.com

Release Date: February 9, 2010
Record Label: E1 Entertainment

Review:
Pretenders-Live in London captures one of the band’s many electrifying performances from their 2009 tour.  Live In London captures this legendary act at their best. Available as a DVD/CD package, The Pretenders – Chrissie Hynde, Martin Chambers, James Walbourne, Nick Wilkinson, and Eric Heywood – perform their greatest hits, including “I’ll Stand By You”, “Kid,” “Back On The Chain Gang,” “Middle Of The Road,” “Brass In Pocket” and many more.

A good friend said to me, “This is the best CD I’ve heard in years.” I would certainly agree that this may be one of the best live albums I’ve ever heard.  The mix is done so well and the performance is so good that it’s easy to forget it’s recorded live.  Solid from start to finish, The Pretenders’ extensive catalog can easily hold your attention for the entire time the CD is spinning.

What’s remarkable about the CD is that it’s actually culled from the film (DVD/Blu-ray). Not only can you hear just how great this band really is, but you can also witness their live energy as Chrissie Hynde and the rest of the band give it their all for the crowd. Pretenders-Live in London is a sold reminder of what true rock and roll is all about.

Track Listing:
CD
1. Boots Of Chinese Plastic
2. Don’t Cut Your Hair
3. Talk Of The Town
4. Kid
5. The Nothing Maker
6. Don’t Lose Faith In Me
7. Back On The Chain Gang
8. Love’s A Mystery
9. Don’t Get Me Wrong
10. Tequila
11. Stop Your Sobbing
12. Day After Day
13. Cuban Slide
14. Middle Of The Road
15. The Wait
16. Tattooed Love Boys
17. Precious
18. I’ll Stand By You – Bonus Track
19. Brass In Pocket – Bonus Track

DVD
1. Boots Of Chinese Plastic
2. Don’t Cut Your Hair
3. Talk Of The Town
4. Kid
5. The Nothing Maker
6. Don’t Lose Faith In Me
7. Back On The Chain Gang
8. Love’s A Mystery
9. Don’t Get Me Wrong
10. Tequila
11. Stop Your Sobbing
12. Day After Day
13. Cuban Slide
14. Middle Of The Road
15. The Wait
16. Tattooed Love Boys
17. Precious
18. I’ll Stand By You – Bonus Track
19. Brass In Pocket – Bonus Track
20. Message Of Love
21. Rosalee
22. I Go To Sleep
23. Break Up The Concrete
24. Thumbelina

Purchase:

Links:
www.thepretenders.com

Release Date: February 9, 2010
Record Label: Purdy Records

Review:
“Out with the old, In with the new” wails Shannon Curfman in her new album’s title track “What You’re Getting Into.”

Right off the bat, What You’re Getting Into‘s first noticeable attribute is the sound. It’s been recorded and produced very well, and the entire album sounds great and is worthy of some major volume cranking. Interestingly, compared to Curfman’s previous release, Fast Lane Addiction, the guitar tone has been reigned in, choosing to embrace more of the blues and funk sounds than the rock.

Joe Bonamassa makes a guest appearance on a cover of Eric Clapton’s “The Core”. This is easily the best track on the album. The guitar playing is sublime, with both Curfman and Bonamassa channeling Clapton and Eric Johnson simultaneously. The vocal duet, with Curfman’s edge and Bonamassa’s smooth delivery, is fantastic.

Curfman also tackles covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well” and Queen’s “Dragon Attack”. The renditions are relatively faithful to the originals, and allow Curfman to demonstrate her awesome vocal power. However, while “The Core” was brilliant cover choice, these two fall a bit flat compared to the other tracks on the album.

The album closes with the song “Strange,” which gives off a weird (but cool) early 90′s psychedelic/alternative rock vibe, that oddly reminds me of King Missile. I’m not convinced that What You’re Getting Into is a better album than Fast Lane Addiction. While the production has been taken up a notch or two, and Curfman continues to develop as a guitar player and vocalist, the music is less aggressive and subsequently less ambitious. Still, Shannon Curfman’s latest is a very good album overall.

Track Listing:

1. What You’re Getting Into
2. Free Your Mind
3. The Core
4. Heaven Is In Your Mind
5. All I Have
6. Curious
7. Oh Well
8. What Would Mama Say
9. Dragon Attack
10. Strange

Purchase:

Links:

www.shannoncurfman.com