Alternative Rock music reviews

This album is probably one of my favorites! This band really does move me - their songs are very heartfelt and are phenomenal. I hope that everyone catches one of their shows - they play in the area quite a bit!

I think this album is awesome. This is one of the few if only cd that I own where I can listen to whole cd and not have to skip any of the songs. This cd has both slow and fast songs. There is also a lot of emotion in the lyrics of the songs. I would defintely say this is one of my favorite cds. Lastly I would just like to say that this band puts on an awesome concert!!

It's been a year since I bought my copy of Oxygen and I think I have worn it out. These four guys are some of the most amazing musicians that are out there right now- if you don't believe me, catch a live show! If "Dixie Queen" doesn't make you want to get up and dance, then nothing will.

Through the ups and downs with the band over the years Nicola Sirkis has done a great job perservering, and has finally come out on top! I love the new line-up, the new style of music, and the new image... I love it all. OK, so these guys come across as big bad hard core punk/goth rockers at first impression, but not to worry. They're completely harmless. They're Frenchmen. And as Frenchmen do best, they talk of love, passion, and romance.

The music might sound a bit heavier when you first put it on, but you'll quickly get used to the new sound and actually come to embrace it after a few listens. For me it only took two. Some of the songs are hard and fast and then some of them are beautiful and slow. I play Paradize almost every day. It's a great pick-me-upper. There's a youthful spirit, great energy, and great emotion all pent up in this album. So when you play it, play it LOUD!

As usual, when Nicola sings, one always listens to what he has to say. The hermit lifestyle, quite a popular theme in Paradize, never sounded so good and so cool. In a handful of songs, Nicola talks much of staying indoors, locked up, with great fear of the outside world. His lyrics have always served as great inspiration, as well as great insight into some small corners of life. They still do. Some of them may end up meaning something special to you. A few examples are:
- "On se disait quelquefois que c'etait juste une aventure, et que ca ne durerait pas." (J'ai Demande a la Lune)
- "Moi je veux vivre un peu plus fort." (Marilyn)
In Punker, he will ask you several times, "Est-ce que tu viendrais faire le sexe avec moi?" What will you answer? A bit of a bite from Patti LaBelle's 'Lady Marmalade' but definitely one of my most favorite sing-a-long Indo songs.

This album does not disappoint. It still continues on with the Indochine legacy. They do a great job at keeping the new wave/punk/underground/industrial spirit alive in the new millenium.
I'm wishing they were better known in North America, but Quebec will have to do for now. Impatiently and anxiously awaiting the next album and their next visit to Montreal!

The music on this CD is really amazing, and unlike that produced by any US or British rock band I've heard. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, it's worth buying this album just for the music. Having previously heard their Le Best Of album, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this album is quite different: less upbeat but more mature. Each song, from beginning to end, is special.

Lyrics are great, arrangements are excellent, the songs are awesome. A new Indochine. I picked my CD in Quebec while visiting. What a great album to listen to at home or on the road! I also picked the Rita Mitsouko CD and enjoyed the various beats and sounds from both albums. French techno with excellent lyrics.

I loved the CD, but really fell in love with the Ray Charles song that was played near the end when they return to Paris. Yikes! They left it off the CD. I did find it on Amazon, The title of the CD is Ray Charles and Betty Carter. The first track is Every time we say goodbye. Great song!

This is a cool CD. This isn't a rap music CD but it's great to dance to. I suggest you see the movie before you buy the CD. The soundtrack it well done. The music is easy to sing along to and easy to like. I hope this review helps those who are confused about buying it.

- One reson I really like this is there is no swear words in it

If you liked the movie, I totally recommend this CD! You'll love it so so so much!!! I especially like "Never Let You Go" and "Groovin'". The new version of "Let's Get Together" by Nobody's Angel is really cool too. So buy this CD!

One of the truly unique bands to emerge from the early-90s Dischord scene with their statement album. NOU can be writen off for any number of things: their penchant for sophmoric noise, comic-politico stance, overstated haircuts and suits, smarmy didacticism. Yet somehow, they overcame all of that and produced a album thats incendiary, informed and confrontational all at once. A true beam of inspiration.

Quite simpy this is the greatest record of all-time. All bands bow beneath the power of Ulysses. They are the anti-aesthetic of the new music. If only mainstream music had taken a cue from NOU, perhaps we would not be stuck with the talentless menageries flooding the airwaves with their mundane thumps.

this has to be one of the greatest live albums ever .nation of ulysses has takin it live for there 13 point program to destroy america.( these guys say alot and im not going to write it all out).so when i first heard about these guys with there suits and clean cut image from D.C.I thought it was going to be some kind of joke band .i listened to this album passed out went into a coma and awoke fresh and feeling good. .so back in 1992 when the dischord lable was kind of going down the tubes (only fugazi was doing anything good)with all the knew bands coming out on the major lables this album brought them back.so what i am saying if you are down and out with any kind of new stuff coming out today this will bring you back to .why because if you hear this live album of intelligence/courage/brutality/scream therapy it will knock all the wits out of ya and bring ya back for the dead....some other important notes special guests such as members of fugazi.bikini kill and alec makaye help out on this live album...

A gem of an album from this low-key Irish band, the vocals are haunting, reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, and the ambience sublime. Highly recommended.

I couldn't begin to tell you how grateful I am to have stumbled across 'Polichinelle' by the relatively unknown band The Prayer Boat - still, I'll try and put my gratitude into words.
I don't know too much about the bands origins but their peers must surely be as others have wisely pointed out, The Blue Nile.
The Blue Nile's lovelorn balladry has affected people that prize musical integrity, strength of songwriting and sheer sonic beauty above all else. The Prayer Boat use these special and increasingly rare qualities to draw you in and keep you coming back again and again. This is music that swells with passion and melody, it seems to have endless depth, and endless meaning - it is perfect in every sense. Yep, I've fallen hard for it.
Many of the songs showcase Emmit Tinley's wonderful voice as the musical focal-point, and rightly so, it has a beautiful confessional quality as if he were reading from his most personal life pages. On 'It Hurts To Lose You' Tinley croons like the last of the romantics, while 'Dead Flowers' positively bursts with melody. My favourite song though is the tense and thrilling 'Balance' which boasts some wonderful chord changes and Tinley communicating his feelings perfectly. I could go on like this through song after song, but I think when you encounter an album as special and flawless as Polichinelle it really needs to be heard to be appreciated, and believe me when I say - it will be appreciated no end.

This is an absolutly beautiful album. If you can find their first cd, "Oceanic Feeling", buy it. You will not be dissapointed.

Actually, Curve music is not an easy listening, if you consider what music market offers today...when I saw Curve on MTV for the first time in 1992 I felt that their music was different from any other sound I heard before. No compomise, you can love them or hate them because I think it's hard that somebody could think that their sound is "nice". Maybe weird, or the best ever but not middle way. I cant't tell you that this music is a mix of electronic rock, goth or something else, because is not. Only think that maybe it deserves you to run the risk to buy it.

For those of you who have not managed to locate the EPs or did not purchase them when they were first release, this is a wonderful way to make up and complete your Curve listening experience. It also includes an extended mix of 'Fait'. Curve's earlier sound is gritty, innovative, and most importantly fun in an "angry girl gets back" kind of way. Of course Toni's voice is completed beautifully by the wonderful noise of Dean, which is the yang to her yin, and the twang and grind in what would otherwise be another chick fronted band with angst (which, as we all know, would be Garbage ; ) ).

Even here Toni's lyrics show a maturity we don't get from many female front persons, where she broods but not without a sense of irony and responsibility. She doesn't blame everything on men like most of my gender do. And how can she, when a man, Dean Garcia, provides the best music a girl to hope to sing with? I envy her, I do. But in any event, get this, because if you don't, you will be kicking yourself over and over later when you chance to hear it at your dodgy ex-boyfriend's house.

Hands down, one of the top 25 records of the 1990's, although some may disqualify it on account of it being a collection of the band's first 3 or 4 EPs.

Curve was definitely a studio band, and the production here lacks a peer. From "Cherry", "Clipped", "Coast Is Clear", to (my favourite on the album) the extended version of "Fait Accompli", there isn't a weak track on it. It sounds more abrasive than anything Skinny Puppy could put out, but at the same time, more lush than a Brian Eno wet dream.

Time might have passed Curve by, but a certain band loved them enough to revamp/dilute the formula a few years later to mainstream success (read the other reviews to figure it out); the difference in quality between the two is massive.

Shirley Manson, eat your heart out...

yep. truly creative and intense, excellent musicianship, truly memorable songs. d,boon dies, minutemen write songs longer than a minute and add melody. furkin' RAD. if you like amazing drumming, thumping basslines, or quirky guitar stuff and you don't own this album, then you suck. BUY IT.

We were all way into the minutemen in HS in Houston Tx, all 7 of us, in a school with 4000 kids. When this came out, we could not believe how good it was. It simply dumbfounded us. No D Boon, and this incredible disc? It was so minutemen, but different. On this tour, the guy ED from Ohio, had no musical background and played his guitar, poorly but earnestly.

Mike W and GeorgH just watched him, half laughing at his Mel Bay guitar book chordplay. I wonder how the songs were written, if he brought fresh blood in to inspire these classics. IFN was almost as good, Flying the Flannel ok, and then they nosedived.

This music was too early to capitalize on grunge, but bands like this one are why Kurt Cobain seemed embarassed to be credited as the one to 'break' punk rock, when so many did it before and way better than Nirvana. RIP D, Curt.

I first heard "brave captain" on a skateboard video named "ohio skateout". I knew that had to be Mike watt, and thats how i got introduced to firehose. Great album!

The Slackers are amazing musicians, and this album is probably my favorite of theirs on a collective level. If you are new to the Slackers, or ska in general, this album is a fantastic introduction. "Cooking For Tommy" starts the album off with a danceable, instrumental track. "Married Girl" is a classic and catchy Slackers song, and sexy "Soldier" follows it up. "Rude and Reckless" is incredible, while "Come Back Baby" is a favorite love song of mine - acoustic, and just beautiful. Every song in between is great, as well. Again, these guys are just AMAZING. I recommend all of their material, expecially this album.

even though the slackers were around (before, during, and after) the horrid 3rd wave ska revolution, they are nothing like the skankin' pickle and save ferris mess of the mid 90's... they are one of the best bands i have ever heard. they are brilliant, and truly what ska was intended to evolve into. victor ruggerio has THE sexiest voice i have ever heard in my entire life. "married girl" is one of my all time favorite songs; it is a provocative, swooning ballad with amazing imagery and equally sexy music. "solider" is another one of my favorites; again the slackers demonstrate the ability to make a dark subject incredibly sexy. to sum it all up, this is a quote from my book in progress: "I had a past experience with The Slackers, the one and only ska band that I like, and one of my all time favorite local bands. (One of my favorite East Coast north of New Jersey bands to be exact - I'm a bit of a music fiend.)"

This is definately my favorite Slackers album. I have all of their music, seriously every album on both CD and vinyl, and I have to say without a doubt that Redlight is the best. If you are new to the Slackers, get this one. If you already have The Question or Better Late Than Never or any other one, GET THIS ONE TOO! The Slackers are one of the top five best bands ever!!!!!!

Man I remember these idiots walking around Marshall University campus handing out flyers to their shows. One of their members would be wearing a Boba Fet mask. Back then they were a crappy nu-metal korn worshiping puke band that most people on campus hated unless you were a drunk fraternity brother laying face down in your own puke. Well this band has sure changed. I guess they must have kicked out some members and discovered circus crazed bands like Finntroll, Dodheimsgard, and Arcturus. This album is way avant gard. They sound exactly like Arcturus. I couldn't believe it. I will now be trying to get this album from a band I neglected at college and once was not proud of comming from West Virginia.

Bobaflex is the best thing to come from Wv. I grew up just outside huntington. once i heard them i couldnt put the cd away. they kick ass and they have a song for every mood you can be in and they can only get better. i promise if you listen youll find a song about you or a friend.

I saw these guys at 10 Bells in Grand Rapids Michigan and they rock. It is true that one of the guitarist is a little strange, at one point was drooling on himself, they do have some strange comments about their music and they do act a little "friendly" with each other. However none of that has any effect on how the sound of the music, isn't that what people want to know in a review. They have a good range of heavy and mellow and in some instance in the same songs with lots of nice riffs. As soon as I heard "Midnight Nation" I was hooked. The entire cd is worth listening to if you're a fan of heavier music. I strongly recommend checking out this cd and the band if they come to your neck of the woods.

Proximity Effect. (Australian Electra Records version)

Nada Surf is a strange band. You think you have them figured out. Then the pull something different and unique off.

Us fans of "High/Low" got a surprise when we cracked this 30 dollar Australia only version open. (This was back before it was widely availible in the states). The punky energy that radiates from stem to stern on "High/Low" is downshifted considerably. It is replaced by at times a more sullen and morose feeling.

That is what made me stop following them. "High/Low" was brillant for its musical umph. It picked you up. Featuring fast tempos, swagger and a fabulous wit. "Proximity Effect" loses much of that. The depressing feeling about this record just isn't enjoyable to me. It may connect well to teenagers, but songs of angst, sorrow and sometimes preaching just don't radiate with someone in their 30s (me).

As for the songs you get a varied selection of slow softer numbers along with heavier rockers. Subject matters runs the gamut from lecturing machoness, feeling out of control to wonder what the hell is wrong with people. There is no question the band has something to say. However, as mentioned previously these are subject matters best related to by younger people.

My personal favorite track is the bonus cut "Spooky" its the only on this album I come back to. Maybe because I relate to the subject the matter. The song though is beautiful for its post-relationship sadness and anger. Oh, yah and the song rocks.

There are many people who love what this record ushered in: Nada Surf the angst ridden, morose and thoughtful artists. I for one prefer them being smart, fun, speedy, sassy with something say.

This album is great, it may even be better than their first. i have a hard time believing that it is only now being released in the states. They definitely should not be considered a one hit wonder (Popular). If radio people had any brains they would play '80 windows' now, it is an amazing tune, better than anything Pearl Jam or the Smashing Pumpkins have done recently. If you like rock and roll go get this cd now! The best songs on this great album are: 1. Hyperspace 2. Amateur 3. Why Are You So Mean To Me 6. 80 Windows 13. Robot

There is not much i can say but that your cd collection is not compliete without this album.....so........BUY IT RIGHT NOW...what are you waiting for