Alternative Rock music reviews

My friend from Cali introduced me to this band and I immedately loved them. From start to finish it is a great album, to the point where I bought all of their cds. Definately new and original.

This is one of the best Latino cd's I am proud to play in my rotation 6 years after the album was released. I first heard Ozomatli when they opened for Santana in Montreal and I was like woah! I was on my feet dancing throughout their opener. They were so pumped and hyped that no matter what mood you are in they just get you in this partying and dancing mood that you cannot resist. If you are the kind of person who loves those smooth Latino beats blended with a bit of everything for an ultimate summer driving cd be sure to pick this up!!!

As a fan of J-5, the release of this album made sense, in that Jurassic 5 make a point of putting their music first and image last. Ten piece band 'Ozomatli' seem to work perfectly in tandem with Chali 2na an Cut Chemist, blending all of their styles so well that it sounds as if this is how hiphop should be- a fusion of a wide variety of styles. When this album came out, i would listen to it over and over again, and because of the albums' diversity, it never felt tiresome. It is very difficult to put into words how successful this collaboration is, buy it and you will understand. For those who dont want to buy it, download track such as:
cut chemist suite, o le le and cumbia de los muertos

As many of the reviewers point out, just a few years ago we were hit with a mess of new bands like puddle of mudd, trapped, smile empty soul, nickelback, that had a similar formula and style to them. This album was an outsider dark horse from that time period. Often overlooked, this album has that hevier edge that many people may have missed, but enough of a finished edge that make it really easy to bring into a collection without alienating friends and neighbors, like much of the new Metal does with it "cookie moster" vocal styles. It's no suprise that Butch Walker had a hand in producing this band, who had some success with Marvelous 3 (before that Southgang) and it's hard edge but commercial friendly music, and darn catchy as well. Overall, many good songs on this album, best known single was "Faithless". Nice flow and power to this, a good pick up for any collection. Also, The last two albums from bowling for soup are produced by him (drunk enough to dance, and A hangover you didn't deserve) are a good show at how he helps pick a talented band and take it to the next level (and Grammy nomination for the song "girl all the bad guys want")

Rock music is something that has been morphed and reconstructed so many times it is hard to remember what the original sounds like. This is what it sounded like. There are no dominating Hybrids of rap and rock or country and rock or polka and rock (ok that's a stretch but you get the point) This album is a resurgence of the ciggarette smokin' guitar soloin' hide your daughters and mothers rock n'roll that has all but vanished. Ah it's like the (...) son of G N'R. I don't want to pick this album apart song by song because I find it disrespectful to dissect art like that. This album is this good. I will tell you that if you are going to use this site to sample this album the best rockers are "burn it black" "Sherman" (go figure) "Used up" and "lights are low." The best ballads are "Misfortune" (amazing song) and (faithless). Really the only song I recommend you don't base your decesion on is "bullet" because it is the weakest song on the album lyrically.

What can I say. This cd can be purchased for mere pennies from amazon marketplace, and is probably one of the best deals out there! This cd rocks!!!
Rock 'n Roll with an edge. Every track here has something melodic about it that makes it memorable. Rock 'n Roll, metal, flashes of psychedelica, intelligent lyrics...a unique sound which puts the "Injected" stamp on it. Play loud!!! over 47:00 min in length.

I am surprised by how many people do not know what this album is about. It is, as stated by the band themselves, an album about heroin abuse, specifically its pitfalls. Saturday Savior is not a song about sexual politics. It is a song that Ken Andrews sings in character. The character that he takes on is heroin personified. As the drug "speaks" to the listener, the premise for the whole album is set up. The user is hopelessly in love with the drug and wants something from it that it can never give. The drug is cold and will never give itself to the user. It will only tease, as it has no heart to give. The user is being used and tossed aside like so much trash. The rest of the album chronicles a day in the life of the user and the drug's parasitic "relationship" with him. The album begins and ends with clock-like sounds, bookending the beginning and end of the user's day and offering an eerie reminder of the user's lost and perhaps, very limited, time. "Stuck on You," while not so subtle in its title, subtly compares heroin to a tune that slowly but surely creeps up on you and becomes ingrained in your consciousness. "The Nurse Who Loved Me" is the user deluding himself into thinking that the girl with "pharmacy keys" (heroin) actually cares for him. He insists that the girl "acts just like a nurse with all the other guys," but the song begins and ends with the user lying by himself face-down on the ground. This is the moment on the album where we realize just how pathetic the drug has made the user and to what extent he has been degraded and demoralized by his addiction. The pounding horror of "Daylight" ends the album. The user tries to assure himself that "daylight won't find us here," but there is, of course, no escape from reality, and this is confirmed by the aforementioned clock sounds. This is an album that is practically overflowing with symbolism both in its lyrics and in its music. Failure sound like no other band, but it would not be inaccurate to characterize them as a combination of Nirvana and My Bloody Valentine. They can create massive soundscapes and love their feedback, but they also understand their way around a pop song, albeit really heavy pop songs. This is a landmark in space rock. Enjoy.

Unfortunately it was lost in the shuffle of the 90's. It is a plodding album, but anyone who listens to this style of music should understand this. There are a lot of people who listen to Tool and similar bands, who really don't appreciate the music for what it is, if there was a psychedelic album from that era, this is it. I like A Perfect Circle as well, but there really is no comparison between either of the aforementioned bands and this masterpiece. To bring Nirvana into the conversation, is just a travesty. That's just like bringing Herman's Hermits into a conversation about Hendrix's Band of Gypsy's...maybe a little extreme of an analogy, but Nirvana was a completely different band with a penchant towards punk, not a penchant towards Prog. Anyone who is disappointed with this album should either go back to listening to pop music that they play on radio or delve deeper into listening to an album as a whole. The Nurse Who Loved Me is an incredible song and A Perfect Circle's rendition is good as well in a different way, the only reason that I bring it up is that I am sure that more people have heard that. The soundscape that the song builds into is one of complete bliss and probably one of the best representations of a drug induced peak that I have ever heard. If there were only more music like this, I would still be listening to it...instead of being forced to write this review after being disgusted by someone saying they are a little disappointed by the album and saying that A Perfect Circle is much better.

these guys are great! the best way to describe them is, if nirvana and a perfect circle had a baby, its name would be failure.

It's 5.196 star material (the extra .196 comes from adding pi/16 to 5.)

Onto less stupid antics, 'Burn My Eyes' really is everything most say it is: a classic that, unfortunately, Machine Head will unlikely ever surpass or even match. One reason this album is great is because even now (12 years later), there is little in the metal field that is similar to it. It possesses a technical intensity that transcends most nu-metal, yet it isn't like many other talented metal bands who are so bogged down with their music that it's hard to listen to (like death metal tends to be.)

Instead, 'Burn My Eyes' is a nostalgiac version of 80s metal, but with a more modern and evolved sound than most 80s metal. It is aggressive enough to be taken seriously as a modern metal band, yet structured enough to always provide the listener with a clear sense of purpose in each song.

One great feature of this album is the innovative combination Machine Head pioneered with quiet, slow melody and faster, more-aggresive thrash. Songs like 'I'm Your God Now,'Death Church,' and 'None But My Own' are good examples of this. They start off quietly, then just when you think the song is going to be boringly slow the whole way through, it piques your interest by getting louder and becoming angrier. These songs alternate between softer melody and louder aggression until they more or less climax with the aggression at the end.

There are, however, other songs, such as 'Blood for Blood,' and 'Block,' which are fast through almost the entire song, and others, such as 'Old' and 'Davidian' which are a bit slower for their duration (but not by much.)

Lastly, this is one of two albums where vocalist Robb Flynn's voice is actually decent (as his voice seems to only get worse with each release.) He is more than capable of delivering the needed aggression to each song.

If you're a metal fan (especially thrash), it's hard to go wrong with this. Buy it, listen to it, and enjoy it, because it's one of the few in its class.

This is why I listen to heavy music! Intensity, for lack of a better word, this is what the entire album is made up of! Favorite songs, Davidian, old, A Nation on Fire.

Awesome. Can't quit listening to it. Love Machine Head and this is one of their best!!!!!

The film that this soundtrack represents (when it's actually in print) was a funny little gem, and from the Breakfast Club on, John Hughes always made sure that his soundtracks were very carefully assembled.

In this case, some great alt-rock from Gene Loves Jezebel ("Desire"), a classic crooner by Bryan Ferry ("Crazy Love"), a Smiths cover by Kirsty MacColl ("You Just Haven't Earned It Yet Baby"), and one of Kate Bush's best tracks ("This Woman's Work") round out a phenomenal collection of essential 80s tracks.

According to moviemusic.com this title is to be released on 3/25/03

this movie is a john hughes classic!!! the soundtrack is awsome... kate bush's the woman's work is eerie and just perfect for the scene....please rerelease this sound track I.R.S. music!!! bring it back!!!

This is a solid record glad I picked it up. Probably the best all around of Ben Harpers.

Ben can say so much in just one word. The tracks are mostly deep acoustic that you can jam along to.

For an artist such as Ben Harper, who's reflective blend of acoustic soul & organic stripped down blues and R&B, coupled with his emotional singer/songwriter approach gave his debut album "Welcome to the Cruel World" a great starting point, for those tired of music lacking any intellectual content. But it was this, his fiery politicised second album "Fight for your mind", that he was to truly make his mark on the musical landscape.

This is a intimate and deeply introspective record, that not only looks inwards, but frequently looks at the world from the perspective of a enraged musical poet (Harper's influences such as: Dylan, Hendrix, Bob Marley, are clear to see). Because for a track like "Another Lonely Day" which is largely minimal in its instrumentation, and relies mostly on Ben's soul-folk singing to carry the emotional impact of this song, (think stripped back folk, with some lovely slide guitar), it went some way to prove that Ben wanted people to hear what he had to say, rather than just purely focus on the music.

"Burn one Down" which is actually a Pro-weed song, with Harper brazenly declaring ""if you don't like my fire, then don't come around, yes I'm gonna burn one down.", shows that Ben like the protest songs of someone like Dylan, many years before him for instance, hasn't shy-ed away from controversial subject matters.

"Ground on Down" is unquestionably my favourite track, Ben hooks up the electric guitar for a occasionally feedback drenched throwdown, that has more place on a rock album, such is its explosive energy, with Harper assuming the lyrical stance of a righteous commentator over the energetic guitar that is probably the nearest he's come to sounding like an infuriated Jimi Hendrix, in this insistent, almost slightly aggressive rock-out.

There is an undeniable sense of Harper wanting to get a lot of his chest, as quite of few of the songs deal with social/racial injustice to some degree, as "Fight For your Mind" & "Oppression" immediately spring to mind, with unsettling guitar tones which range from poignant one minute, to curiously uplifting the next. Although none of this would mean anything without some inspired writing by Harper, that easily surpasses his debut in structure and musical dynamics. In fact Ben would never truly match (much less surpass what was achieved here), this level of articulation and poetic lyrical content, although with impressively strong musical arrangements.

If your looking for a Ben Harper Cd, and your not interested in collecting his albums, then without doubt Its widely known that this was his most significant effort on the album market, and although his other albums are certainly worth a look if you like his music. The combination of righteous finger pointing, consice lyrics and, cerebral blues-folk would never quite have the same bite, as this, his finest album.

I was totally in love with 'There's Nothing Wrong With Love' when it came out but was dissappointed by the songs I heard from 'Perfect From Now On' I heard on the radio. They seemed longwinded, boring and not as short and fresh as I was used to.

10 years later I gave it another try and was glad I did.

Maybe it's maturity and patience. The songlength at first scared me but I am proven wrong. A song like 'I Would Hurt A Fly' could easily have been more than one song since the last 2,5 minutes are completely different, something they have done before and would continue doing after this album on the even more brilliant 'Keep It Like A Secret'.

The same happens in 'Stop The Show' which has a 2 minute intro before the song bursts loose and then changes again around minute 5!. And this continues on the entire album.

It's not their easiest album to listen to and certainly not the most fun. But it's very rewarding to listen to the richness of sounds, melodies, riffs etc that are all in one song.

Again Martsch has shown to be an absolute genius in the indiemusic world.

I can't believe it took me until 2006 to discover Built to Spill...It only took one listen to their earlier release "There's Nothing Wrong With Love" to decide that I'll be spending the rest of the year catching up on all their music. For the moment, I can't stop playing this CD.

Almost ten years later, I put this one on and it still takes my breath away. One of the top ten albums, ever.

I think this is a mundane version of previously heavenly Cocteau Twins. Much of the dreamlike quality in Treasure (darkly) and Victorialand (airily) is lost, and Blue Bell Knoll is a more emotionally powerful album. While the songs are still good and Liz's voice is still strong, the listener feels that he is simply listening to songs instead of being engulfed in a mystic atmosphere. There may be reasons to love the Twins' matured sound, but I am one of the people who miss their creative young days.

The Cocteau Twins are some of the most unique musicians one may ever encounter. Their sound is largely ineffable - something that is not easily defined, elusive, shimmering, yet most lucid. The lyrics are largely unscrutable yet serve almost as a form of a hypnotic chant in the backdrop of sheer ambient engineered soundscapes. To summarize, I really find myself enchanted by their sound and "Heaven or Las Vegas" serves as a great introduction and encapsulate of their overall thoroughput.

The title track has a mesmerizing bent to it that just pulls me in again and again. I find it hard to pull myself from its eddy. It's a fantastic exercise of what happens when pristine production, vocal arrangements, and textured sonic atmospehrics can do when layered in the right combination.

Other standouts are "Wolf In The Breast", "Iceblink Luck", "Road, River, & Rail", "Cherry Coloured Funk", "Fotzepolitic", among many others. To note, the song titles themselves are at both enigmatic, obscure, and alluring.

It's ambient goodness and an astounding encapsulate of some of the most unique music ever.

Every drifting and floating mood of the warm summer nights and freedom of my youth is captured in the music of this album. It's a wall of sound wonder that anyone who lived on the outskirts of pop and drifted in the melancholy of the early 90's will love.

Well, this cd is great for what it is. A catchy up-tempo sing along. Incubus isn't doing anything here that hasn't been done before, as least as far as song structure goes, but they do it very well. You know the whole verse, catchy hook, verse, catchy hook, musical interlude, catchy hook, next song. Anyway, it's all good.

Some notable tunes here are, Nebula-Ilovethespeedychoursthatrunsveryquickly and then
Slooows right down. Redefine and New skin are tight, tight, tight.

This is what Incubus was back in the days of 1997. "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." is probably my favorite album that Incubus has ever put out. The album has so much variety from jazzy tracks like "Summer Romance" to funky tracks like "Magic Medicine" to harder tracks like "New Skin". I'm a huge fan of them and enjoy pretty much everything they have done. "Make Yourself" had once been my favorite until I discovered "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." not so long ago. It now stands as one of my all time favorite records. My favorite tracks are probably "New Skin", "Vitamin", "Idiot Box", and "Calgone". Here are my track ratings...

1. Redefine - 9.5/10
2. Vitamin - 10/10
3. New Skin - 10/10
4. Idiot Box - 10/10
5. Glass - 9.5/10
6. Magic Medicine - 9/10
7. A Certain Shade Of Green - 9/10
8. Favorite Things - 10/10
9. Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song) - 9.5/10
10. Nebula - 8.5/10
11. Deep Inside - 10/10
12. Calgone - 10/10

Overall: 96% A

From beginning to end this album is awesome. I love every moment and I feel that everything is put together so well. Even the hidden track keeps you entertained for the entire 12min or so that it goes. I just can't tell you how much I love this album. A word of advice though, for anyone who feels that "Make Yourself" isn't the best and enjoys "A Crow Left Of The Murder" or "Morning View" the most should take my review with caution. I wasn't a huge fan of "ACLOTM" and I like the harder "Morning View" side of Incubus more. You will probably still find something you enjoy from this you just may not consider it the best. Anyway, check this out if you are interested to hear the Original harder funky side of Incubus.

the definitive incubus album that translates in a kind of friendly and slightly more focused "Mr. Bunglesque" album

in my time I have heard people say that hum is similar to bands like Failure and Blinker the Star quite a bit. Okay, fair enough, but really they are in a league all of their own. While their music will most likely appeal to fans of those bands, hum owns a uniqueness that few have experienced but many come to love. Everything from the swelling guitar riffs to the soaring solos (if you can call them that, they usually have one guy soloing during the chorus, and the other is playing riffs), to the manic drumming, and the stuffy vocals set them apart from the mainstream. Its really too bad they didnt stick around, although it really wasnt their fault either. Downward is Heavenward starts out slow, with Isle of the Cheetah, Mat Talbot's nasal voice slicing through a lush guitar riff. It builds up slowly and gets heavier and heavier, until it fades off and gets light again. One would think this sets the mood for the album, but it really doesnt. Hum mixes in emo, pop, and rock in an amazing record. Highlights include If you are to Bloom, The Scientists, The Inuit Promise, and Green to Me. Check this one out if you havent already, I think that you will like it. Hum was a band with a lot of potential and a lot of talent. These four musicians blend together very very well, and it works extremely good. A musical masterpiece not to be missed.

A sonic (I hate to call it grunge) masterpiece by HUM, a Champaign band that performed their last gig on Dec 31st, 1999. Y2K did them in.
This album is on par with their also amazing "Electra 2000" CD, but is more refined, intricate, orchestrated, and poetic space rock. My faves are "Cheetah", "Dreamboat", "Green", and "Scientists", but the whole album is very strong and varies nicely in tone and tempo. Buy it, love it.

Lovers of HUM can find a strong follow-on work by a band called "Centaur", which features the lead-singer, song-writer, guitarist of HUM, Matt Talbott.

I have yet to find a reason why Hum is not more well known or popular (around Los Angeles at least). Sadly, Satan (the radio) mainly allowed only ONE track of Hum seep onto the radio waves and that song was "Stars" from their album "You'd Prefer An Astronaut". Any Hum fan could tell you that Stars was not their best song, maybe the catchiest, but not their most complex.

By first appearance the members don't look as intimidating as their music. Although love through a scientific microscope really isn't "intimidating" to many. Matt Talbott (vocalist) doesn't look like he could hurt a fly unless it slammed into his large bifocal lenses. The band itself doesn't resemble the clich� of "hardcore rock band". Maybe it has something to do with coming from Champagne, Illinois.

They push their instruments in all directions, from a hard ambient orchestra of grunge as in "Isle Of The Cheetah" or the tranquil yet distorted space rollercoaster of "Afternoon With The Axolotls", these 4 gentlemen could easily be mistaken for neo-grunge symphony composers. Though their intellectual aspect is seen not only through instruments but also through their lyrical sentiment. They combine love with science and astronomy and create a true uniqueness that defines Hum. I'm not going to sugar coat anymore explanatory definitions in reference to Hum, you can find an ultimate and passionate understanding here: [ http://www.h-u-m.net/bio/index.shtml ] (Oh and bookmark that site--it's amazing how much passion was devoted. Thanks Marijun!)

There may not be many fans out there, but I've noticed that the majority that are, are diehard. There has to be a reason for that impact. Maybe you should check it out and find out for yourself--then enlighten friends! After hearing an album, it shouldn't surprise you why 3/4 band members obtain their Master's Degrees. Yet, the only surprise that stands is the majority that are unaware of the brilliance that remains to echo here.

Maybe it's just that Hum is too deep for the common listener, whom prefers to swim comfortably at the surface rather than swim down into the unknown. After all, Downward is Heavenward. (Cheeeesy but true!)
-Steve