Alternative Rock music reviews

This is a great album, and I won't add anything to what's already been said. I just thought I'd let those who don't much like keyboards know that this is still a totally worthwhile purchase. I'd thought of trying the magnetic fields for a while but never did because I didn't think I'd like the keyboard sound that everyone talks about. They treat the keyboards so much, and warp the sound to make it so it really doesn't make a difference. The songs are strong, and I think he makes sure to never sound cheezy on the keyboard (maybe once.) Anyway the songs are so good that the way it's played doesn't matter. Plus, the keyboards really do sound very good for the most part, and serve the songs well. Guitar fanatics, give this one a try, it's an excellent piece of music.

I first heard this album about eight years ago, and I have listened to it several times a month since. It just doesn't get old--the more I hear it, the more remarkable it is. Many people have commented on Merritt's eclectic instrumentation, which is indeed striking. But the really fantastic thing about his music is just how great he is at turning out a tune. The instrumentations are novel, but not novelties, and the tight melodies have the charm and stay-in-your-headness of folk tunes. Stephin Merritt is just so damned smart--and not in a look-at-me-I'm-so-deep or hipster way, but in the understated, constant, prolific manner that makes for lasting songwriting. His lyrics are also smart and moving, even when, as with the 69 Love Songs trio, he insists on claiming they're ironic or meta. He's a master at wry, pithy little lines that stick with you a lot more strongly than most of the abstract, self-congratulatory crap that passes for poetry these days.

I've listened to each Magnetic Fields album several times over--I'm completely addicted to them, in fact--and while there's not a bad one in the bunch, Charm of the Highway Strip does stand out as the most consistently fantastic and aesthetically unified project. Give this album a try. You won't regret it-none of the many people I've forced this on have.

I'm in a Magnetic Fields month, or maybe a Magnetic Fields six months, who knows? Haven't dipped into 69 Love Songs, yet. And that's probably a six month project itself. But of I, The Wayward Bus/Plastic Trees, and Charm of the Highway Strip, Charm is my current favorite. Like the work of Handsome Family, Giant Sand, and Hank Dogs, this country is not going to be crashing into the mainstream any time soon. Made up of equal parts electronic, synth mixes, cello, and something that sounds like a harpsichord (personally I hear more Phil Spector than Abba in the music), every one of these nine vocal songs -- the tenth, Dust Bowl, is an instrumental that can be skipped -- trades on the classic country themes of trains and highways. Only in Merritt's hand they are neither appealing nor romantic, but obsessions that promise escape and deliver only more pain and loneliness. Which, of course, is exactly what defines Merritt. Lonely Highway, with its references to Jackson, might be the fate that awaited Lee and Nancy, Johnny and June, after they got married in that "fever hotter than a pepper sprout." My two current favorites are I Have the Moon (though written eight years or so earlier, it's what Drusilla might have sung to Spike on Buffy after he became human) and Fear of Trains, where Merritt joins the Ramones in having the KKK take someone away, in this case the history of a Native American girl. Next week the favorites are likely to be different. What's certain is that Charm of the Highway Strip as a whole is going to be a very long-term favorite.

Take a dark Nine Inch Nails song and make it four times darker. Each remix is a bit different from each other. all in all, portray a dark and dismal atmosphere, in an audio-theatrical presentation. each remix tells a different story of closer. some of the sounds produced from this session could be described as a scraping, shredding sound with rythmic pounding and animal instinctive foreplay of industrial rock, with pulverizing smashes and crippling, flesh wrenching fiascos, produced in sounds. in regards to an older review, there is a closer two disc, it must not have been available back in 2000, but there is an EP from 1994 that was recently reissued (late `00/early `01) it's the Closer to God ep. it's a combo of both Parts 1 and 2 (Halo 9), you'll notice that neither Part One nor Part Two has a Halo number with it......Closer and it's remixes are great in every aspect, buy this disc, or Closer To God for the the full effect.

Just buy it. Trust what all these folks are saying. This is NIN's best song of the 90's.

While it's true that this is the song that people accuse Nine Inch Nails for selling out, one listen to this single will prove you wrong in a heartbeat. Other than the original, the 4 remixes on the first disc of this single will stop you in your tracks. They're all pretty radical reworkings, with the Coil and Meat Beat Manifesto remixes taking center stage over everything. MBM's mix is very laid back with strong nuances of traditional elements. It remains incredibly faithful to the original while sounding extremely different. Coil's remix takes the cake though. Clocking in at a whopping 7 minutes, you never see what direction the song will go into next. One minute will be incredibly dark and atmospheric and then you'll be lead into straight forward beats and guitars playing under Trent's heavily processed voice. If you've seen the movie "Seven", this is the song that plays during the opening credits. Very unforgetable. The Further Away remix leans more towards traditional industrial. Very noisy and overdriven. And the Internal remix is a sparse cut and paste collage, not bad, but gets overlooked by the rest of the disc. If you liked the original song, you might be incredibly intrigued by these remixes. If you're a NIN fan, this breathes new life into an otherwise dead song. It's definitely worth getting.

Until the track "Jesus Was A Communist," this is a flawless, breakneck speed early 80's hardcore disc. After that point, it gets a bit too metal-ish for my taste (I mean, come on.... there's practically a guitar solo on What Will the Neighbors Think.)

So, I gave this 4 Stars instead of 5. Additionally, I gave it 4 instead of 3 because it's an important piece of musical history (which I'm sure that Reagan Youth would find pretty funny) and because the first 11 tracks are so great.

This is good 80's hardcore,If you are new to punk I suggest you pick this up and add it to your collection.

The riffs are heavy and the drums are fast what more can I say other then this is an amazing hardcore album. I'd reccomend this to any fan of punk or hardcore.

Favorite Songs: "New Aryans" "Happy" and "Jesus Was A Communist"

This album was the first MLTR I bought. And since then I have collected all of their albums. All of the songs here are very melodious and relaxing. They sing with such harmony, soooo beautiful. 25 Minutes, Wild Women, Sleeping Child, Out of the Blue, Ocean of Love, well... all of them are really good. They are not like any other bands, they write their own songs and sing with their hearts and it shows through the music. For anyone new to MLTR, try listening to a couple of songs and you'll see what I mean.

This is a great band. Voices match with each other, and the beat of the music goes with the voices. I am waiting for their new album.

This is NO "boyband!" Michael Learns To Rock is an eclectic mix with a unique sound. They are pop, rock, and dash of contemporary country, believe it or not. This is my opinion anyway. As with their other albums, every song on this one stands on its own. MLTR performs various styles but still remains true. Colours should appeal to those who like all types of music. There is the beautiful ballad of "Sleeping Child." Rock songs such as "Wild Women" and "I'm Gonna Come Back." Finally, there's the love-loss story told in "25 Minutes," which sounds a little "contemporary country" with both its music and the lyrics. Overall, a great album.

I only got Come Up Screaming recently, and I really wanted it to be the definitive performance of Big Country's best songs. It's a welcome addition to the catalogue, but ultimately doesn't quite achieve that status.

The sound is clean, straight-ahead rock, and the vocals are stronger and clearer than I've heard from them anywhere else. The simplicity allows many of the songs to stand alone and sound better than ever before. There are blistering performances of `The Storm', in particular, and `Harvest Home', while `Where the Rose is Sown' is melodic and powerful. `Broken Heart' is something of a revelation, shorn of the plasticky production of Peace in Our Time. `Dive Into Me', which I hadn't heard before, is dynamic and uplifting. This should surely have been a huge hit, if uplifting guitar anthems could still be hits in this day and age.

But there are quibbles. A minor one is that Stuart's lead guitar doesn't seem to have enough sustain, so that it sounds a bit thin and trebly on some of the high parts, and at times is buried in the mix. Missing, too, is the spiralling guitar lead-out at the end of `Inwards'.

I also have a few issues with the song selection. I've never liked `King of Emotion' nor the overlong, strident `We're Not in Kansas'. Neither am I really enamoured of any of the most recent songs apart from `Dive Into Me' (`John Wayne's Dream' is particularly ho-hum and obvious). Of The Crossing songs, I'm not sure that `Porroh Man' really works here. Where's `Close Action' or `I Walk the Hill', both of which would sound great in this stripped-back setting? Where's the moving ballad `Ships' or, if epics are in order, the much-overlooked `Sailor' from The Seer?

I guess it depends on whether this is supposed to be a best-of, recorded in Big Country's natural environment, or a unique collection of live performances which happens to be a swansong. If it's the latter, why have versions of five of the same songs with much the same live "tweaks" as on Brighton Rock? (Though I do enjoy the snatch of "Wild Mountain Thyme" thrown into "Fields of Fire"). If it's the former, then there's just a few too many "you had to be there" live moments. While the odd bum note and missed vocal are fine, the crowd participation is ultimately a bit overdone. It's spine-chilling on "The Storm" when the crowd sing the high harmony part leading into the chorus. It also works on "Chance", which lends itself to a singalong. But they really didn't need to put a couple of "this is yours" choruses into every one of their better-known songs. In my view, the "introducing the band" interlude ruins "In a Big Country", too.

Enough complaint - I guess I was just looking in vain for that elusive perfect Big Country album. I've still played this over and over since I got it, and it's worth the purchase price for the versions of "The Storm" and "Where the Rose is Sown" alone. For anyone new to Big Country, however, I would recommend getting the great first three albums plus Restless Natives. This is a fine reference point for them.

And yes, truly tragic irony in Stuart's parting comment to the crowd - "remember, stay alive"...

It's amazing how many people thought Big Country split in the mid-eighties. In fact, the band carried on recording and gigging until 2000. It is a story of unrealized potential, lack of support from record labels, and a musical style that the music industry couldn't pigeon-hole. However, let's go back to the beginning.

The band formed in 1981 when hugely-talented vocalist/lead guitarist/songwriter Stuart Adamson left Scottish punk band The Skids and joined with long-time Dunfermline pal and ex-nuclear submarine cleaner Bruce Watson on rhythm guitar. In 1982 the original rhythm section was fired and Tony Butler (bass) and Mark Brzezicki (drums) were recruited from On the Air via session work. On the Air was a three-some with Simon Townshend, who's now helping brother Pete out in The Who.

The band signed up with Phonogram and released their first single `Harvest Home'. It introduced the band's distinctive twin-racing guitar sound. References have been made to a `bagpipe' sound. Let me tell you that most bagpipes I've heard would make a deaf dog cringe. We'll leave this stereotype to the ill-informed. The band's second single, `Fields of Fire', hit #10 in the UK charts in 1983. The excellent first album, `The Crossing', charted initially at #4 and eventually reached a peak of #3. Subsequent touring and singles releases confirmed Big Country as the hot new act in the post-punk music industry.

Big Country's second album, `Steeltown', hit the UK charts in 1984 and went straight in at #1. More successful singles and sellout gigs followed. The band then took a brief sabbatical to record the soundtrack to the movie Restless Natives.

The third album, `The Seer', was released in July 1986 and reached #2 in the UK charts supported by the success of their biggest hit single (at #7) `Look Away'. High profile live appearances followed at the classic 1986 Princes Trust Concert and at Knebworth, supporting Queen at their last ever UK gig in front of 200,000 people (including this dog!). Looking back, 1986 was the band's commercial peak.

Each of the five studio albums that followed had some elements of experimentation and achieved varying degrees of success. The sixth studio album, `Buffalo Skinners', was a classic twin-guitar hard rocking album that eventually reached #25 in the charts, but with proper support from the record label could have brought the band back into the big time.

Big Country's last studio album, `Driving to Damascus', encompassed many of the styles of the previous albums and had a more relaxed leaning consistent with Stuart Adamson's move to Nashville in the US.

So, what do we have in Come Up Screaming? A double live album of 22 of their best tracks taken from the Glasgow and London gigs on the `Final Fling' tour of May 2000. The album kicks off with the rousing `Harvest Home', quickly followed by the hard-rocking `King of Emotion' from the `Peace in Our Time' album. `John Wayne's Dream' and `Driving to Damascus' follow with Adamson and Watson in great form, supported by the tightest rhythm section in the business. Other classic tracks follow including `The Storm' with the unique E-bow intro; a quieter moment with `Come Back to Me', before cranking up again for the ever-popular `Look Away' and 'Wonderland'. The finale is formed of four tracks from `The Crossing' in rapid succession - the epic `Porroh Man', `Chance' with vocals as usual loudly augmented by the crowd; theme song `In a Big Country', and great favourite `Fields of Fire', all with the racing guitars on full throttle.

Where are they now? Sadly, Stuart Adamson took his own life in December 2001; Bruce `the man who invented the seagull' Watson is recording and touring with ex-Marillion-frontman Fish; Mark Brzezicki has been recording and playing in Procol Harum, and Tony Butler currently concentrates on remastering and music production.

It's always been a mystery why Big Country never made the big time commercially. They shied away from publicity-seeking at the height of their popularity, when many of their less-talented contemporaries sought the limelight. The band stayed together for most of their 18 years and continued to be a great live act to go and see. However, a band with four top ten albums and four top ten singles should not have been forgotten so easily. Their legacy is kept alive by the ever-supportive ex-Manager Ian Grant, the two websites he runs (Track and Big Country), and an enthusiastic group of fans across the world. Live and rarities albums continue to be released and some of the studio albums have been lovingly remastered by Tony Butler. The big stores in Thailand have seen fit not to import `Come Up Screaming', so the best bet is the Track Records website - www.trackrecords.co.uk or the Big Country website - www.bigcountry.co.uk

Mott the Dog.

Fitting 2 CD live performance from one of, if not the best rock act of the past 20 years with material representative of 8 studio albums. If you lost touch with the group in the mid-eighties then this is a great album to reacquaint yourself with them doing what they do best LIVE!
In A Big Country and Fields of Fire have to be the two best encore songs it is possible to rock to.

(3 1/2 stars) I'll say this about Mike Kenneally...Its impossible to pigeonhole him, stylistically, compositionally or intellectually. The guy is simply oozing with brilliant and interesting musical ideas, and what's more, he's got the rare dexterity and talent to carry them to fruition. The problem is restraint - even for those thirsty for fulfillment, sometimes quenching that thirst with his music can be like trying to fill a shot glass with water from a firehose. On _Dancing_, Mike follows the same pattern that he did with the otherwise phenomenal _Sluggo_ - pick an absolutely obnoxious leadoff single, the kind that makes you want to take the Zappa "icepick in the forehead" repeatedly - here the pristine dorkiness of "Live in Japan". It takes a while to regain his step, too. The songwriting seems superficially more focused, with less song fragments, but it just doesnt execute that way in practice. Even good, edgier fare such as "We'll Be Right Back" and the straight metal of "Ragged Ass" just seem a bit bogged down and tend to meander at points, while like the soft-rock sheen of "I Was Ready For You" is a scary reminder that MK could be one or two odd time signatures away from Sergio Mendes. Nonetheless, there are some outstanding compositions and surprises, such as the unbelievably soulful prog-in-disguise of "Joe", and the delicate, acoustically-constructed beauty of the title track, that are good enough to cover for the missteps.

Buy this album. Seriously. Anything else I write here will be so effusively over-the-top that it will get ignored as fanboy ravings, so just do yourself a favor and buy "Dancing". It's one of the greatest albums I've ever heard.

Mike K. & BFD have really created one of the most incredible CDs ever made! This CD has it all. Fantastic musicians, great lyrics, great writing. Nothing else like it. I hear the influences of Zappa, Vai, and others, but it is blended so perfectly well with Mike's own thing that it stands as a work of pure genius! Very reaching and very listenable even to those who only like the younger groups on the charts - it has that element too. It could be played on American radio if only people would wake up and listen! They would really be surprised!

If Pearl Jam today really cared about their fans, they would release a decent Live CD from their earliear live shows instead of releasing 300 or so Bootlegs from their last couple of World tours which were awful compared to this - musically and to watch.

This is really good, Pearl Jam live in 1994 sounds 100 times better than in 2004. The difference in performance from the bootlegs compared with this is significant.
Buy it - definitley.

Although "Dissident" is an excellent song on its own, I bought this single for its live tracks, and I was not disappointed. It's the brilliant, arena rocking early Pearl Jam style that the world fell in love with (though just about all of Pearl Jam's songs rock, in my mind; it's all subjective, really). "Why Go" is an underrated PJ gem, and "Deep" has some of the best drumming in the band's history.

Fans of these songs, plus the amazing "Rearviewmirror", "Release", and "Even Flow" should check out the "Dissident" single's splintering (and in "Release"'s case, simply beautiful) live tracks. And don't forget a live version of "Dissident" is included, too!

Back in the days this cd was the only official record where you could get "live PJ."
Now you have 72 official bootlegs, most of which contain the songs in this cd, but do not be fooled.
There is a great difference in the pearl jam of 94 than the one of 2002. The following is a list of things that have changed in them:
1. maturity
2. ideals
3. intensity
remember that back in 94 the band was struggling against ticketmaster, a struggle that rid them of a lot of energy. Today, even though all the songs still have a lot of meaning, they do not have the same anger or emotion that they used to put into them. Today they are not angry young men trying to raise global consciousness, but mature artists that have found different ways to express their feelings, and that have evolved into another level of music.(do not interpret this the wrong way, pearl jam is even better now than ever!)

If you are a PJ fan, this is a record you must own, because its a legacy of the early begginings of the band.

Yes, this album regroups Elvis with the Attractions as his band.

Yes, it's got a great raw sound and energy. (Co-producer Mitchell Froom and recording engineer Tchad Blake likely helped to accomplish this.)

No, this is NOT one of his finest hours, sorry....there simply aren't the unforgettable hooks to match past triumphs like "(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding", "Allison", "Pump it Up","Accidents will Happen" and "Everyday I Write the Book" to name a few.

It's a solid album while it plays and Costello devotees will probably like it, but it's not one that's likely to make those outside the fold take notice. There's not quite enough here that I find myself humming after it's over.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Kinder Murder" is the tale of a heinous crime ("Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence/He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless/Then he went back to his regiment..")hushed up by the powers that be and rationalization. ("She could have kept her knees together/Should have kept her mouth shut..") "This is Hell" is the tale of an aging lothario who finds the old efforts of no effect anymore. ("It's not the torment of the flames/That finally see your flesh corrupted/It's the small humiliations that your memory piles up..") "Just About Glad" is Costello's sarcastic lament for the one that got away ("Just about glad/we didn't do that thing/Just about glad/we didn't have that fling..") as he imagines himself as "the greatest lover that you never had". In the end, he admits his self-deception ("And it's all just a stupid creation/Of my feverish imagination..")

LOWS:
"20% Amnesia" lurches around in an arrangement that feels like it's forced, Costello trying to show us he can be "loose" and "raunchy" musically. The biggest fault of the album is mentioned by another reviewer: it's simply overlong. Too much material that's listenable while playing but not that memorable after ("Rocking Horse Road","London's Brilliant Parade","Still Too Soon to Know") drag down the album as a whole for me.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you borrow it from the library or a friend and find you adore it, get the Rhino re-master instead (ASIN B00005Y1Y1) which has lots of alternate versions and demos of the album's tunes as well as the complete lyrics (which do NOT come in this original set). If you're NEW to Costello's music, don't start here. Look to MY AIM IS TRUE (ASIN B00005MLU0), SPIKE (ASIN B00005MLTW),THIS YEAR'S MODEL (ASIN B00005Y1XZ) or ARMED FORCES (ASIN B0000787GM) before this one.

Brutal Youth is a very nice from one of the vocalist with most unique vocals in the business. The book-let is a shoddy piece of work with no lyrics or text in it. The cover photo is photo of two young boys and I have no idea what it is supposed to indicate. The music is nice and sounds just like what one expects from Costello. He writes strange but nice lyrics to semi advantgarde music. The glasses that he wears on this album are atrocious and hopefully he has gotten lasic or bought a pair nicer.

Great, great energy -- reminiscent of the early work but really unlike anything Elvis has ever done elsewhere. "Favorite Hour" is as good a song as Elvis has written. The production on "This Is Hell" and "You Tripped At Every Step" is amazing. The lyrics are head-and-shoulders above much of what has Elvis has released since. This is really a gem of an album. Only a small complaint: it could have been a tad shorter -- it's a little unwieldy at 15 tracks, though there is not a clunker among them.

an immense letdown. i first heard of this Irish band when i heard of their legendary sessions with the great obscure band OTT. Unfortunately this album does not have that same authentic raw groove that ott's album has There are some risible moments especially the album standout 'Star Star' which gives the sensation of Glen whispering harshly into the ear. It is the one song in which could have been written in the framses OTT days. They are undoubtably a very interesting band with a small future ahead them. Aiming this album at the teenybopper market does them no favours at all.

A CD that should be in your collection. I think it is the best Frames CD in print. It will take you several listens to get into this CD, but once hooked, you are hooked. Buy it, keep it in your CD player and play it in the background for a couple of days. You will be hooked.

If i asked "Who are the most talented band from eire?"-The large % of the world would instantly answer "U2!!"
This is due to the fact that most of the world live in ignorance to the amazing songs, lyrics of "The Frames" and the greatest voice ever in Glen Hansard!
The third album from this Dublin group finds them in great form, dare i say bettering their first 2 albums ( If that was possible!). Immediately songs such as Star Star, Pavement tune & Perfect opening line stand out as Massive hits!But if you listen deeper into the album, you will hear the beauty of "Neath the bridges", the incredibly catchy "God bless mom" & the Sublime "Dance the devil..."....With the great excert from willy wonka near the end of that song(for those who noticed)
There is no doubt that "The Frames" will make it big & when they do, thousands will be reading these reviews - So i would just like to say "Welcome everybody to the world of The Frames & enjoy this album from the greatest rock band in existence!!

Tub Ring, MSI, etc. should all bow to Mike patton, Mr. Bungle and Faith No More for giving them a reason to live!

Looking for something new. This album will jerk you right out of your seat. Mike Patton fans have their own genre and this is right in the middle. Keyboards,Keyboards,Keyboards did I say crazy keyboards. Very interesting song structures. This album is very influenced by Mr. Bungle,but I don't think that has anything to do with Trey(bungle guitarist)being the producer here. The mix on the album is very raw and live sounding. It took me a few listens to accept and appreciate this recording. I can't get it out of my cd player............

This band is (in my opinion, I could be wrong) very original, and took me a little while to get used to. I saw them live with mindless self indulgence (if you don't like mindless self indulgence, you lack a sense of humor/irony, and can die), and they blew me away. They were a perfect opener for MSI, and the crowd loved them. But, to the album. The songs are very short, with the exception of a few, so the experience isn't long. But this album isn't about quantity, it's about quality, and there's TONS of that. I can't say that I like every song on the album, there are a few near the end that aren't the greatest, but as an album, it's stellar. Favorites: faster, she's the pro, numbers, bite the wax tadpole, Bernard's three awakenings