While there is little denying the title track's status as one of Sonic Youth's strongest songs from their early-'90s period, the bonus live recordings are the real reason to own the Dirty Boots CD single. The scorching versions of "White Kross," "Eric's Trip," and "Cinderella's Big Score" reaffirm the group's status as one of the strongest live acts amid the alternative rock movement. Furthermore, this EP also includes an unreleased instrumental song, titled "The Bedroom," which isn't anything special, though it does make for an interesting listen. Source: [AMG]
Any doubts as to the continuing relevance of Sonic Youth upon their jump to major-label status were quickly laid to rest by Goo, their follow-up to the monumental Daydream Nation. While paling in the shadow of its predecessor, the record is nevertheless a defiant call to arms against mainstream musical values; the Geffen logo adorning the disc is a moot point -- Goo is, if anything, a portrait of Sonic Youth at their most self-indulgently noisy and contentious, covering topics ranging from Karen Carpenter ("Tunic") to UFOs ("Disappearer") to dating Jesus' mom ("Mary-Christ"). Even Public Enemy's Chuck D joins the fracas on the single "Kool Thing," which teeters on the brink of a cultural breakthrough but falls just shy of the mark; the same could be said of Goo itself -- by no means a sellout, it nevertheless lacks the coherence and force of the group's finest work, and the opportunity to violently rattle the mainstream cage slips by. Source: [AMG]
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing
Track Listing 1. Dirty Boots 2. Tunic (Song for Karen) 3. Mary-Christ 4. Kool Thing 5. Mote 6. My Friend Goo 7. Disappearer 8. Mildred Pierce 9. Cinderella's Big Score 10. Scooter + Jinx 11. Titanium Exposé
The Afghan Whigs' final recording for Sub Pop, Uptown Avondale is anything but a contractual obligation -- a five-track EP comprising four R&B covers and a remake of Congregation's unlisted bonus track "Milez Iz Ded" (here retitled "The Rebirth of the Cool"), it's a soulful, scorching collection that captures the band at their gritty best. Quickly dispelling any lingering doubts that Greg Dulli's soul-man aspirations are anything but genuine, the disc's covers of chestnuts like Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" and the Supremes' "Come See About Me" are remarkable, remaining true to the music's R&B roots but infused with the Whigs' noise-punk energy -- Dulli sings like a man possessed, rejuvenating this familiar material with both reverence and attitude. Source: [AMG]
The Afghan Whigs - Come See About Me
Track Listing 1. Band of Gold 2. True Love Travels on a Gravel Road 3. Come See About Me 4. Beware
The Afghan Whigs ankled the grunge comparisons and emerged as the best blue-eyed soul outfit of their generation with their cover of the Supremes' Motown classic "My World Is Empty Without You." Operating in a Curtis Mayfield-inspired falsetto fraught with a desperation and longing that Diana Ross never mustered, Greg Dulli delivers his most remarkable performance to date -- he and his bandmates are no Funk Brothers, of course, but their spectral, finely wrought arrangement deftly captures the Whigs' growing mastery of nuance and mood. A pair of LP tracks -- Congregation's ferocious "Conjure Me" and Up in It's sinuous "You My Flower" -- round out the package. Source: [AMG]
The Afghan Whigs - My World Is Empty Withou You
Track Listing 1. My World Is Empty Without You 2. Conjure Me 3. You My Flower
The Black Soul Gentlemen bootleg offers an okay radio broadcast from an Italian show during the Afghan Whigs' Gentlemen tour. The performance is decent, if a bit somewhat meandering, which pretty much comes with the territory of most Whigs shows. Singer/guitarist Greg Dulli injects enough barbs from to keep things interesting in lieu of the mediocre recording. Battling a language barrier and introducing "Retarded" to an inactive crowd, he muses, "This song is from our first record called Up in It. You ever heard of it...on Sub Pop? Does anybody care? No? Okay." Quality-wise, there's an uneven emphasis between the guitars of Dulli and Rick McCollum, and John Curley's bass gets completely lost from time to time. A major deciding factor in the purchase of Whigs' bootlegs is the covers; on most occasions, the track listings provide no indication of what they might be, since the Whigs often incorporated verses and snippets into their own material. Add uninformed bootleggers to the pot, and there you have the lack of info. Such is the case here. A fair amount of the lyrics to the Spinners' "I'll Be Around" is tucked inside of a breakdown during "Turn on the Water." Lyrics from Prince's "When Doves Cry" gets mixed into a nine-minute version of "You My Flower." And to a much lesser extent, Dulli throws in a couple lines from Dr. Dre's "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" during the Supremes' "My World Is Empty Without You," as well as Madonna's hop-to-it snips from "Into the Groove" and "Express Yourself" during a rip-roaring "Miles Iz Ded." As far as the overall set list is considered, it's favored toward Gentlemen, with a fair amount of attention paid to the records that preceded it. Source: [AMG]
The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
Track Listing 1. If I Were Going 2. Debonair 3. Turn on the Water 4. Gentlemen 5. Be Sweet 6. My World Is Empty Without You 7. When We Two Parted 8. Retarded Dulli 9. Fountain and Fairfax 10. Come See About Me 11. You My Flower 12. What Jail Is Like 13. Tonight 14. Miles Iz Ded
Put Sleepy Eyed in your CD player, hit play, and prepare to be amazed -- "Tangerine," the lead-off cut, signals the brief but welcome return of "Dinosaur Jr. Jr." with two-and-three-quarters minutes of charging neo-grunge guitars and galloping drums, the likes of which you haven't heard from this band since Birdbrain. But, of course, Buffalo Tom sound a lot tighter, stronger, and more confident when they dig into the big shaggy dog rock than they did five years previous, and while they never get quite as rollicking as "Tangerine" again on Sleepy Eyed, cut for cut it's a far more direct and straightforward rock album than anything they'd managed since their creative breakthrough on Let Me Come Over. To some listeners, Sleepy Eyed might sound like a regression, moving back into noisy power trio mode after the more polished surfaces and intricate arrangements of Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day, but play Sleepy Eyed back to back with Birdbrain and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the differences. Sleepy Eyed decisively proves Buffalo Tom write better hooks and better melodies, write smarter lyrics, and even rock harder than when they were still trying to find their way out from under J. Mascis' shadow, and they sound like they're having a great time just turning up the amps and letting rip, especially Bill Janovitz, whose rock-dude guitar outros are a hoot (and this is one band who I cannot begrudge for enjoying themselves every once in a while). On Sleepy Eyed, Buffalo Tom go back to the old neighborhood and show everybody how much bigger and stronger they've become -- it's sorta like a high school reunion, but louder and a lot more fun. Source: [AMG]
Buffalo Tom - Summer
Track Listing 1. Tangerine 2. Summer 3. Kitchen Door 4. Rules 5. It's You 6. When You Discover 7. Sunday Night 8. Your Stripes 9. Sparklers 10. Clobberred 11. Sundress 12. Twenty-Points 13. Souvenir 14. Crueler
On their third release, 1995's Yes, Morphineshied away from the more accessible direction they laid down on 1994's superb Cure for Pain, going for a more challenging (but just as rewarding) direction. While the singles/videos "Honey White" and "Super Sex" did contain a pop edge (and were the album's best), other tracks, such as "The Jury" and "Sharks" pushed the envelope by containing lyrics that sound as if they're stream of consciousness. Like its predecessor, it's a highly consistent album -- even the lesser-known tracks are integral to the album's overall makeup. "Scratch," "All Your Way," "I Had My Chance," "Free Love," and "Gone for Good" all sound like the observations of a broken-down man, steeped in despair. But the mood lightens up on such selections as "Radar" and the title track, plus the aforementioned singles. With nearly all alt-rock bands sounding identical and bashing angrily away at their instruments in 1995, Morphineproved to be in a league all by themselves. Yesis perhaps just a shade less spectacular than Cure for Pain, but certainly not by much. Source: [AMG]
Morphine - Honey White
Track Listing 1. Honey White 2. Scratch 3. Radar 4. Whisper 5. Yes 6. All Your Way 7. Super Sex 8. I Had a Chance 9. The Jury 10. Sharks 11. Free Love 12. Gone for Good
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" began as a demo that the band recorded at STS Studios in 1990. The band worked on it during the formal Achtung Baby sessions, including several failed attempts at Hansa Studios in Berlin. This produced several versions of the song and about a dozenmixes. However, the original demo remained their preferred version. Producer Jimmy Iovine, in particular, expressed his preference for the demo version when lead vocalist Bono played it for him. During the group's time recording in Dublin in 1991, producer Steve Lillywhite was brought on to provide a "fresh pair of ears" and mix the song. The album version most closely resembles the original demo.
Lillywhite recalls that, "They hated that song. I spent a month on it and I still don't think it was as realised as it could've been. The Americans had heard it and said, 'That's your radio song there', because they were having trouble with some of the more industrial elements [of the album]. It's almost like a covers band doing a U2 moment. Maybe we tried too hard." Bono said, "It's a song I feel we didn't quite nail on the record because there was another whole set of lyrics that were dumped and I wrote those quickly and off we went." The band later released an alternately arranged "Temple Bar Remix" as the single, the version of the song they most prefer. The band also has claimed they find the song difficult to perform in concert. Bassist Adam Clayton said, "It's a great torch song, with melody and emotion, but I don't think we ever captured it again and we have never really been able to play the song live."
Single release When the covers to "Even Better Than the Real Thing", "The Fly", "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses", and "Mysterious Ways" are arranged, a picture of the band members driving a Trabant is formed. The single included Bono's solo version of Can't Help Falling in Love, which was recorded in STS studios in Dublin on 29 June 1992 for the movieHoneymoon in Vegas. Source: [Wikipedia]
U2 - Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
Track Listing 1. WHO'S Gonna Ride Your WILD HORSES (Temple bar edit) 2. Paint it BLACK 3. SALOMÉ (Zooromancer remix) 4. CAN'T help falling in LOVE (Triple peaks Remix)
As he was promoting the last Sugar album, File Under: Easy Listening, Bob Mould hinted that he was tired of working with a band and was fascinated by the simple, four-track recordings of Sebadoh and Guided by Voices. So, it didn't come as a complete surprise when he disbanded Sugar a year after the release of FU:EL and began working on a record by himself. Bob Mould, his third solo album, was recorded entirely by Mould, but it doesn't sound like a lo-fi project -- it doesn't have the professional production of Sugar's records, but it has all their sonic detail. What has changed is the details themselves. Bob Mould may not surge on waves of loud guitars like Hüsker Dü or Sugar, but Mould is reaching into new territory, using distortion as a coloring device and exploring trancier melodies. And Mould sounds revitalized throughout the album -- although it is clear that this isn't a collection of first-takes, his obsession with making the album entirely on his own makes the music fierce and alive. Mould may be heading further into singer/songwriter territory with each album he releases, but he keeps his music away from stodginess by continually changing his approach and delving into new sonic territories. It also doesn't hurt that his increasingly bitter lyrics are gut-wrenchingly provocative and his melodies are consistently engaging. Source: [AMG]
Bob Mould - Egøverride
Track Listing 1. Anymore Time Between 2. I Hate Alternative Rock 3. Fort Knox, King Solomon 4. Next Time That You Leave 5. Egoverride 6. Thumbtack 7. Hair Stew 8. Deep Karma Canyon 9. Art Crisis 10. Roll over and Die
Buying time and thwarting bootleggers, Nirvana and DGC released the rarities compilation Incesticide toward the end of 1992. Like any odds'n'sods collection, this is uneven, but that's its charm since it captures Nirvana's character better than any official album. After all, this was a band that was born equally from '70s sludge metal, bubblegum pop, post-punk artiness, and indie rock inclusiveness, each of which are apparent on this collection. There are some non-entities here, particularly on the second side, but the plodding sub-metallic grind was part of their identity, one part of their multi-faceted character. Nirvana meant everything to everyone, from the jangle pop veterans to the garage rock ravers that worshipped the Stooges to stoner metal fetishes and indie rock bed-sits that adopted Sebadoh just as they outgrew Morrissey -- everybody loved Nirvana, and there's something for every kind fan here, thanks to murky sludge, Devo and Vaseline covers, BBC sessions, instrumentals, and limited-edition singles, plus sub-Melvins goop, everything visceral where Bleach was tame. Nevermind doesn't capture this freewheeling indie spirit but Incesticide does, piling on some essentials in the meantime -- the pummeling "Dive," the childhood snapshot "Sliver," the terrific forgotten indie pop tune "Been a Son," and "Aneurysm," perhaps the greatest single song the group ever recorded. Yeah, there's some filler here, but this is the sound of what Nirvana was actually like. Source: [AMG]
Nirvana - Aneurysm
Track Listing 1. Dive 2. Sliver 3. Stain 4. Been a Son 5. Turnaround 6. Molly's Lips 7. Son of a Gun 8. (New Wave) Polly 9. Beeswax 10. Downer 11. Mexican Seafood 12. Hairspray 13. Aero Zeppelin 14. Big Long Now 15. Aneurysm
Will I fall into a cool, cool river?/Or will I fall into a frozen lake?" sings Mark Eitzel on American Music Club's seventh album, summarizing the band's chipper MO: You're gonna fall – just where is the question.
San Francisco follows 1993's major-label debut, Mercury, but this time around the Bay Area quintet offers a more seamless sound, avoiding some of the arty confusion that plagued that record. The songs now flow naturally on dark and weighty pop lines instead of scattering inside "clever" musical arrangements.
Eitzel sings about love, love and more love: "I don't need anyone's love/I couldn't afford it anyway/With my penny's worth of hope/It's not funny, but it's a joke." His deep, breathy voice bends awkwardly in frustration and bottoms out into whispered loneliness. Lines such as "Twist the light so it shines down on us/And wait together for the touch of something more" expose the idealist at the core of every cynic. But SF holds more than just the stuff of daily journals. Eitzel lets his cheap-apartment romanticism ooze in slick, detached vocals. The simple pop lines and slow ballads are filled with stunning guitar work – from spare and distant acoustic to surreal pedal steel and slide to caressing feedback. The rhythms are delicate and sad (occasionally evoking Joy Division), then cocky and catchy, riding freely under the effects of winding bagpipes, jangly tambourines and rushing wind.
AMC's San Francisco does not signal the second coming of Van Morrison or even the Replacements. Instead, it's just pretty music for emotional down-and-outs who still harbor a penny's worth of hope. Source: [rollingstone.com]
American Music Club - Hello Amsterdam
Track Listing 1. Fearless 2. It's Your Birthday 3. Can You Help Me? 4. Love Doesn't Belong 5. Wish the World Away 6. How Many Six Packs Does It Take to Screw in a Light 7. Cape Canaveral 8. Hello Amsterdam 9. The Revolving Door 10. In the Shadow of the Valley 11. What Holds the World Together 12. I Broke My Promise 13. The Thorn in My Side Is Gone 14. I'll Be Gone 15. Fearless (Reprise)
The Smashing Pumpkins didn't shy away from making the follow-up to the grand, intricate Siamese Dream. With Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, the band turns in one of the most ambitious and indulgent albums in rock history. Lasting over two hours and featuring 28 songs, the album is certainly a challenging listen. To Billy Corgan's credit, it's a rewarding and compelling one as well. Although the artistic scope of the album is immense, the Smashing Pumpkins flourish in such an overblown setting. Corgan's songwriting has never been limited by conventional notions of what a rock band can do, even if it is clear that he draws inspiration from scores of '70s heavy metal and art rock bands. Instead of copying the sounds of his favorite records, he expands on their ideas, making the gentle piano of the title track and the sighing "1979" sit comfortably against the volcanic rush of "Jellybelly" and "Zero." In between those two extremes lies an array of musical styles, drawing from rock, pop, folk, and classical. Some of the songs don't work as well as others, but Mellon Collie never seems to drag. Occasionally they fall flat on their face, but over the entire album, the Smashing Pumpkins prove that they are one of the more creative and consistent bands of the '90s. Source: [AMG]
The Smashing Pumpkins - Zero
Track Listing Dawn To Dusk 1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 2. Tonight, Tonight 3. Jellybelly 4. Zero 5. Here Is No Why 6. Bullet with Butterfly Wings 7. To Forgive 8. Fuck You (An Ode to No One) 9. Love 10. Cupid de Locke 11. Galapogos 12. Muzzle 13. Porcelina of the Vast Oceans 14. Take Me Down
Twilight To Starlight 1. Where the Boys Fear to Tread 2. Bodies 3. Thirty-Three 4. In the Arms of Sleep 5. 1979 6. Tales of a Scorched Earth Corgan 4:16 7. Thru the Eyes of Ruby Corgan 4:14 8. Stumbleine 9. X.Y.U. 10. We Only Come out at Night 11. Beautiful 12. Lily (My One and Only) 13. By Starlight 14. Farewell and Goodnight
Danny Boyle, Andrew MacDonald and John Hodge's adaptation of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting was one of those rare films that captured the spirit and style of contemporary youth culture. That alone was a remarkable event, but what was even more surprising was how its accompanying soundtrack summarized the sounds of mid-'90s British alternative music. They couldn't hope to replicate that seminal event with the soundtrack to their subsequent romantic comedy, A Life Less Ordinary, and they don't, even though the album has plenty to recommend it on its own. Since the film is set in America, it is only appropriate that there are several American bands on the soundtrack (Trainspotting was almost entirely British), and several of the songs have a distinct country leaning. The first half of the record is stellar, featuring Beck's groovy, swinging "Deadweight," and Luscious Jackson's "Love Is Here," Ash's storming title track, R.E.M.'s re-recorded (and superior) "Leave," and Folk Implosion's "Kingdom of Lies," among others. The second half sags a bit, as a pair of oldies (Elvis Presley's "Always On My Mind," Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea") and a couple of nonentities (Dusted's "Deeper River") hurt the momentum, but that doesn't distract from the pleasures of new tracks from the Cardigans, A3, Underworld and the Prodigy. In the end, A Life Less Ordinary isn't as consistently engaging as Trainspotting, but it doesn't really matter, since this soundtrack offers more thrills than average and has a distinctive, compelling mood of its own. Source: [AMG]
Ash - A Life Less Ordinary
Track Listing 1. Beck - Deadweight 2. Luscious Jackson - Love Is Here 3. Ash - A Life Less Ordinary 4. Sneaker Pimps - Velvet Divorce 5. The Folk Implosion - Kingdom of Lies 6. R.E.M. - Leave [New Version] 7. Faithless - Don't Leave 8. Underworld - Oh 9. The Cardigans - It's War 10. Elvis Presley - Always on My Mind 11. Alabama 3 - Peace in the Valley 12. Bobby Darin - Beyond the Sea 13. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Put a Lid on It 14. Dusted - Deeper River 15. Prodigy - Full Throttle
The Downward Spiral positioned Trent Reznor as industrial's own Phil Spector, painting detailed, layered soundscapes from a wide tonal palette. Not only did he fully integrated the crashing metal guitars of Broken, but several newfound elements — expanded song structures, odd time signatures, shifting arrangements filled with novel sounds, tremendous textural variety — can be traced to the influence of progressive rock. So can the painstaking attention devoted to pacing and contrast — The Downward Spiral is full of striking sonic juxtapositions and sudden about-faces in tone, which make for a fascinating listen. More important than craft in turning Reznor into a full-fledged rock star, however, was his brooding persona. Grunge had the mainstream salivating over melodramatic angst, which had always been Reznor's stock in trade. The left-field hit "Closer" made him a postmodern shaman for the '90s, obsessed with exposing the dark side he saw behind even the most innocuous façades. In fact, his theatrics on The Downward Spiral — all the preening self-absorption and serpentine sexuality — seemed directly descended from Jim Morrison. Yet Reznor's nihilism often seemed like a reaction against some repressively extreme standard of purity, so the depravity he wallowed in didn't necessarily seem that depraved. That's part of the reason why, in spite of its many virtues, The Downward Spiral falls just short of being the masterpiece it wants to be. For one thing, fascination with texture occasionally dissolves the hooky songwriting that fueled Pretty Hate Machine. But more than that, Reznor's unflinching bleakness was beginning to seem like a carefully calibrated posture; his increasing musical sophistication points up the lyrical holding pattern. Having said that, the album ends on an affecting emotional peak — "Hurt" mingles drama and introspection in a way Reznor had never quite managed before. It's evidence of depth behind the charisma that deservedly made him a star. Source: [AMG]
Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs
Track Listing 1. Mr. Self Destruct 2. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) 3. Heresy 4. March of the Pigs 5. Closer 6. Ruiner 7. The Becoming 8. I Do Not Want This 9. Big Man With a Gun 10. A Warm Place 11. Eraser 12. Reptile 13. The Downward Spiral 14. Hurt
With the corporate rock cognoscenti frothing at the mouth to sign the next Nirvana, in 1991 a seemingly "nerdy" band from New York by the name of Helmet was about to set the world on fire -- at least on paper. Seemingly overnight, the Amphetamine Reptile faves had a fat check in their pockets and an astounding major-label debut by the name of Meantime. Eschewing Cobain's neo-punk/power pop instincts, Helmet opted instead for a more a minimalist approach, whereby rhythmic tension over 4/4 melodies reigned supreme. Now poised to step into their role as future darlings of a sound that can only be described as bludgeoning aggro-punk-atonal-rock, the band was propelled by a massive hype campaign and heralded as East Coast tastemakers du jour. But for all its accolades (mostly well-deserved), Meantime's commercial success sadly fell short of expectations and, by 1994, Helmet was giving it another try with Betty -- its second effort for Interscope. Label pressure notwithstanding, Betty had a lot more riding on it than even perhaps Hamilton was willing to admit. Lacking some of the tightly focused ferocity of Meantime, Betty appears to be an almost too well-thought-out affair and, ultimately, its songs miss out on some of the discreet melodic accents that had served to underpin even the most bludgeoning noise-fests on Meantime. Songs like "Wilma's Rainbow," "Biscuits for Smut," and especially "Milquetoast" have their moments, but don't quite live up to expectations. And although Helmet's tuned down, stop-go-stop dynamic (originally pioneered by New Yorkers Prong) would go on to influence hundreds of up-and-coming acts, their complete lack of image or star quality (a key ingredient to Cobain's magnetism, as much as he himself despised it) would play a major role in eventually doing them in. Betty initiated a commercial spiral for the quartet that not even the return to form and progress displayed by 1997's massive sounding Aftertaste could reverse. Source: [AMG]
Helmet - Milquetoast
Track Listing 1. Wilma's Rainbow 2. I Know 3. Biscuits for Smut 4. Milquetoast 5. Tic 6. Rollo 7. Street Crab 8. Clean 9. Vaccination 10. Beautiful Love 11. Speechless 12. The Silver Hawaiian 13. Overrated 14. Sam Hell
Soundgarden's finest hour, Superunknown is a sprawling, 70-minute magnum opus that pushes beyond any previous boundaries. Soundgarden had always loved replicating Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath riffs, but Superunknown's debt is more to mid-period Zep's layered arrangements and sweeping epics. Their earlier punk influences are rarely detectable, replaced by surprisingly effective appropriations of pop and psychedelia. Badmotorfinger boasted more than its fair share of indelible riffs, but here the main hooks reside mostly in Chris Cornell's vocals; accordingly, he's mixed right up front, floating over the band instead of cutting through it. The rest of the production is just as crisp, with the band achieving a huge, robust sound that makes even the heaviest songs sound deceptively bright. But the most important reason Superunknown is such a rich listen is twofold: the band's embrace of psychedelia, and their rapidly progressing mastery of songcraft. Soundgarden had always been a little mind-bending, but the full-on experiments with psychedelia give them a much wider sonic palette, paving the way for less metallic sounds and instruments, more detailed arrangements, and a bridge into pop (which made the eerie ballad "Black Hole Sun" an inescapable hit). That blossoming melodic skill is apparent on most of the record, not just the poppier songs and Cornell-penned hits; though a couple of drummer Matt Cameron's contributions are pretty undistinguished, they're easy to overlook, given the overall consistency. The focused songwriting allows the band to stretch material out for grander effect, without sinking into the pointlessly drawn-out muck that cluttered their early records. The dissonance and odd time signatures are still in force, though not as jarring or immediately obvious, which means that the album reveals more subtleties with each listen. It's obvious that Superunknown was consciously styled as a masterwork, and it fulfills every ambition. Source: [AMG]
Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun
Track Listing 1. Let Me Drown 2. My Wave 3. Fell on Black Days 4. Mailman 5. Superunknown 6. Head Down 7. Black Hole Sun 8. Spoonman 9. Limo Wreck 10. The Day I Tried to Live 11. Kickstand 12. Fresh Tendrils 13. 4th of July 14. Half 15. Like Suicide 16. She Likes Surprises
The Posies let their true power pop colors fly but with a tougher edge by steeping the songs on their fourth album in punk rock and '70s metal. "Throwaway" is a big guitar rocker with a harmonious chorus — the kind that became the band's calling card. The band invited Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen and Robin Zander to sing along on "Hate Song." Unfortunately, the elder pair's charms were lost in the mix, though "Daily Mutilation" would be a good choice of cover for their own band. "Everybody Is a Fucking Liar" takes a trip back in time with its histrionic guitar parts. Naturally, "Grant Hart" and "Broken Record" are punk rock. "Song #1" and "Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?" are the kind of gorgeous pop songs on which the band grew their reputation. Whether they tackle punk, hard rock, or soft rock, the Posies' brand of songcraft is extraordinary, though, sadly, it would appear this was their swan song. Source: [AMG]
The Posies - Daily Mutilation
Track Listing 1. Daily Mutilation 2. Ontario 3. Throwaway 4. Please Return It 5. Hate Song 6. Precious Moments 7. Fight It (If You Want) 8. Everybody Is a Fucking Liar 9. World 10. Grant Hart 11. Broken Record 12. The Certainity 13. Song #1 14. ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind? 15. Terrorized
Perhaps co-defining the future of heavy metal, White Zombie's major-label debut nearly equals fellow classics Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction, the Cult's Electric, and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger in significance. With a funky rap-metal undercurrent, these metal monsters combine Black Sabbath's riff sludge and Metallica's rhythmic intensity, a combination that would again resurface in the late '90s. On La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1, Zombie and co. take listeners on a hokey carnival ride capable of inducing vomit yet provide an exhilarating, heart-throbbing metal experience. Tactless and continuously shocking, lyricist Rob Zombie reveals blatant tales of muscle cars, sleazy encounters, and Fangoria-mustered fantasy, clearly paying homage to vintage trash culture. Complemented by Russ Meyer film soundbites and demonic aura, Zombie ridicules middle American Leave It to Beaver values and insolently challenges the politically correct. Diabolical manifestos such as the barbaric "Soul-Crusher," macabre "Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah)," and sexually indiscreet "Thrust!" will intrigue those yearning for lewd explicitness but may offend traditional hard rock enthusiasts. "Thunder Kiss '65," an ode to Russ Meyer's 1965 busty B-movies Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Mudhoney, remains this album's most listenable and enduring highlight. Along with perverted lyrics, Rob Zombie's vocal snarls and the band's muscular metal thunder produce the furious concoction that secures La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, Vol. 1's place in heavy metal history. Weak appetites for raunchy, tongue-in-cheek decadence need not apply. Source: [AMG]
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
Track Listing 1. Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag 2. Knuckle Duster (Radio 1-A) 3. Thunder Kiss '65 4. Black Sunshine 5. Soul-Crusher 6. Cosmic Monsters Inc. 7. Spiderbaby (Yeah-Yeah-Yeah) 8. I Am Legend 9. Knuckle Duster (Radio 2-B) 10. Thrust! 11. One Big Crunch 12. Grindhouse (A Go Go) 13. Starface 14. Warp Asylum
Monster is indeed R.E.M.'s long-promised "rock" album; it just doesn't rock in the way one might expect. Instead of R.E.M.'s trademark anthemic bashers, Monster offers a set of murky sludge, powered by the heavily distorted and delayed guitar of Peter Buck. Michael Stipe's vocals have been pushed to the back of the mix, along with Bill Berry's drums, which accentuates the muscular pulse of Buck's chords. From the androgynous sleaze of "Crush With Eyeliner" to the subtle, Eastern-tinged menace of "You," most of the album sounds dense, dirty, and grimy, which makes the punchy guitars of "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" and the warped soul of "Tongue" all the more distinctive. Monster doesn't have the conceptual unity or consistently brilliant songwriting of Automatic for the People, but it does offer a wide range of sonic textures that have never been heard on an R.E.M. album before. Source: [AMG]
R.E.M. - What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
Track Listing 1. What's the Frequency, Kenneth? 2. Crush with Eyeliner 3. King of Comedy 4. I Don't Sleep, I Dream 5. Star 69 6. Strange Currencies 7. Tongue 8. Bang and Blame 9. I Took Your Name 10. Let Me In 11. Circus Envy 12. You
While there is little denying the title track's status as one of Sonic Youth's strongest songs from their early-'90s period, the bonus live recordings are the real reason to own the Dirty Boots CD single. The scorching versions of "White Kross," "Eric's Trip," and "Cinderella's Big Score" reaffirm the group's status as one of the strongest live acts amid the alternative rock movement. Furthermore, this EP also includes an unreleased instrumental song, titled "The Bedroom," which isn't anything special, though it does make for an interesting listen. Source: [AMG]
