Industrial Compilations music reviews

When Roadrunner Records first started out, there were a handfull of bands that kept the label rolling, and while this compilation has a few good moments, it misses the mark for the most part. Sure, Slipknot helped catapault Roadrunner to superstar record label status, but they don't belong on here, and neither does lead singer Corey Taylor's Stone Sour band either. Of all the Sepultura songs that could be included on here, they picked "Roots Bloody Roots", which was the band's only real hit. Anything from "Beneath the Remains", "Arise", or "Chaos A.D." would have been a better selection. Coal Chamber and Killswitch Engage helped find the label success as well, but they don't belong on here either, and neither does Max Cavalera's Soulfly. Not to mention that material from Fear Factory and Type O Negative should have been from their debut albums, instead of the more recent hits. Thankfully, someone remembered the band's that made Roadrunner a force to be reckoned with at one time: Deicide, King Diamond, Life of Agony, Obituary, and Nailbomb; but where is Mercyful Fate, Death, and Biohazard? Who knows, but for everything this compilation does wrong, it does a lot right. Thankfully they decided not to include any tracks from Nickelback.

This is a great cd Ididn't expect much from.I bought it for 4.99
at my fav record store.here are the best tunes and why i chose
them.
1. Fear Factory-Replica.Fear Factory kick ass and this is one of
their best songs.Never slow and always crunchy and heavy
2.Killswitch Engage-In the Unblind.KSE kick the sh@t out of every
one,I like Howard Jones,But Jesse was the man.
3.Sepultura-Roots Bloody Roots.A classic tribal/metal tune from
the Calvera brothers and co.
4.Chimaira-Fascination St.Melodic and relentless at times.GREAT.
5.Decide-.Got to have some all out death once in a while.
Well those are stand outs the rest are good though.

this incredible album is a compilation of artist from roadrunner records back in 2003! i highly recomend this cd to anyone who is or has become interested in metal. the heart of roadrunner records compilation has a very very VERY good selection of talented artist new and old.
and about a half of the songs are exclusive, like the remix of "spit it out" by slipknot and "unreal" by ill nino. it also includes the cover of the cures dark "fascination street" by chimara, which is actually pretty good even though its about 5 minutes long. the classic song "roots bloody roots" by sepultura is very catchy song and was a great way to kick of this cd. what i enjoyed the most on this compilation though was the song "brujeria" by brujerizmo! which is a very unique mexican heavy metal band. during the song "dead by dawn" by deicide they scream like frogs croaking, which is interesting i guess... i like all of the other songs to although i am sort of disapointed by the soulfly song because its kind of retarded and anoying, it sounds more punk rockish and is only a minute and 30 seconds long. but the song i really hate is the song "abigail" by king diamond. the guy screams like a little girl, its sounds really anoying. but other than that this is a great compilation and the inserts include long list of roadrunner artist during 2003 and small portrates of all the bands on the inside cover except Nailbomb and Brujerizmo. o'yeah song number 3, "In the unblind" is by Killswitch Engage!

CD's good but he's no Junior ..........

If you are into House music, this is a classic you must own. Not because it has a great music selection or even the pretty box that it comes in for that matter but for it's mixing aspect of it. This album deserves the spot on your music collection as it brings out a unique form of music to your ears. This is what NYC underground huse music is about and simply put, this album defines it for you. I guarantee you that this album will blow your mind.

This CD set is amazing! Jonathan Peters creates a dark, sexy vibe and keeps taking it higher and higher over the course of two CDs. Can't recommend this one enough. "The Hurting" from Mac Quayle featuring Donna DeLory is by far the best cut but they are all hot. The companion DVD showing the Sound Factory crowd experiencing this music is kinda fun too. Hurry up and grab this one and get ready to FEEL IT!!!

If you don't have bought it yet you'll better do it now.
This is a really awesome remix album from Mr. fatboy slim.
Funky beats and cool effects makes it just so cool. Everybody big
beat's and fatboy's friend should buy it.
Om du ?lskar en STOR beat du m?ste k?pa det skiva! Heja Sverige!
Ostakaa hyv?t ihmiset t?? levy jos l?yd?tte jostain. Aikamoista
fatboy slim revittely? loistavine beatteineen...

I don't like waiting around for music to become catchy.
If you're like me, you'll love this album! This album rocks! Put it in your car stereo and crank up the volume! The best tracks are Fat boy's remixes of Underworld, Lunatic Calm and Wild child! Buy it and be happy!

I had purchased The Wall 2000, so I thought why not this? This is from a Danish electronica outfit with a female lead singer. Some people say Floyd paved the way for electronic music. This is more than a tribute. It's a reinterpretation.

OUT OF PHASE, great band and great tribute, you can try too " the dark side of the moon", "animals" and "the wall", I have no doubt about it, this 4 albums are the best tribute ever made, you must buy it, I can guarantee...

Pretty decent comp, but maybe not as wide ranging as that Nine O'Clock Drop comp Nuphonic put out in the same genre (post-punk dance). What's up with the liner notes though? Reads like they were written by a fourteen year-old for a book report. Dubious.

so can we give out an award for best re-issue of the year AND best comp of the year even though it's barely february? one could spend years looking for these songs on long out of print singles and lp's (i know, i have) but soul jazz comes along and hands 'em to you on a silver platter! if the names mentioned above mean anything to you already (ACR, Pop Group, Gang of Four, etc.) you already know how good this is and would be a fool not to buy this comp RIGHT AWAY before the chance eludes you (hey soul jazz has already deleted some of their titles). what are you waiting for? a written invitation?

the mighty soul jazz records brings out the big guns for the best re-issue & comp of the year, and it's only january. you could spend years looking for most of these songs on long out of print singles and lp's (i have), but now it's being handed to you on a plate. don't be a fool! buy this while it lasts! if you've gotten this far, and read the teaser about bands like Gang of Four, A Certain Ratio, etc. you already know what you're in for, you just need to know it's really THAT good. it's so about time this happened.

I purchased this album yesturday and simply can't get enough of it.

I'm not sure why exactly it seems to be getting so many bad reviews; sompe people seem to be complaining that its not just one genere of music: "Goth rock", "Goth", "Darkwave" or whatever else when apparently they haven't even read the booklet that came with this compliation cd

"Orginally, this collection was going to be similar to previous releases such as Goth Box, in that it would feature only "Gothic music", When compiling began, it became blatantly obvious that the material needed a fresh approach." etc. etc.

As for the people that say that the songs choosen for this album were "mundane" or unorginal, or whichever else; I wonder why they purchased this set in the first place without even looking at the back of the box; everything is clearly marked there plane as day.

I don't mean to start any kind of "Flame war" here, but I feel that the negative criticism that this album has recived is un-fair based on the incompetence in its authors.

Oh, the person I had purchased this compilation from also meantioned that it seems that this is also going out of print, so if you manage to track down a copy I would highly suggest not passing up a chance to get this.

A nice mixture of different dark styles. From the usual suspects of Spahn Ranch, Ministry, Bauhaus and Switchblade Symphony to some of less well known stars of the dark side.
Some surprising choices from those bands, like choosing a song off of Ministry's keyboard album instead of the even darker stuff that was to follow.

While most of the people buying it probably already have a lot of what's here, the things you don't make it worth it. If you like Darkwave, industrial/goth, etc., etc. it's well worth the price.

I suppose it's difficult to please fans of Goth, who tend to look on the gloomy side of things by definition, but I think this collection is very good! There are four CDs in a nice case and the extensive liner notes are quite informative and entertaining.

Here you'll find cuts from Alien Sex Fiend, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Magenta, Die Krupps, Mission UK and many others, many of them on a compilation or for US distribution for the first time. Of course not all of your favorite groups will be here and you would undoubtedly have put on a different song than the one selected, but with the great range of music and the great written information, chances are you will learn something as well as discover a few new favorite groups.

As in many reviews of soundtracks, I DO NOT own this paticular album. I do, however, own a lot of the albums the tracks are taken from (12 in this case), and will review those songs, and skip those I haven't heard:
DISC 1:
1.Limp Bizkit-My Generation-3/5-A great song at first, but it gets very annoying after listening to it as many times as I have. If you ask me, they should've put "Counterfeit" or something on here from one of Bizkit's old albums, since they were better then. Money goes to everyone's heads.
2.Puddle Of Mudd-Control-5/5-Puddle Of Mudd's best song, so it has a right to be on thi album. it also launched their sucess in the music industry, and is an overall good song.
3.Deftones-Back To School (Mini Maggit)-5/5-One of Deftones's more rappier songs, this wasn't original on the first million or so copies of "White Pony", but now is on the newer versions. One of their best.
17.Cold-Just Got Wicked-4/5-Cold is a great band, and they deserve WAY more popularity and credit than they're getting. They'll be discovered someday, just like Staind.
19.Spineshank-Synthetic-4/5-Like Cold, this band's pretty much underground, and deserve more of a fanbase. A quieter song from the rest of their stuff, but still good.

DISC 2:
1.Linkin Park-One Step Closer-4/5-We've all heard it.
3.Marilyn Manson-The Beautiful People-4/5-This is from Marilyn Manson's "Antichrist Superstar" (I think), and is pretty good, despite what a f@ggot Manson is.
4.Kid Rock-Bawitdabaw-5/5-...See #1 on disc 2.
9.Papa Roach-Last Resort-4/5-Papa Roach's first single, and launched major sucess for the band. Suicidal and sometime vulgar lyrics, but, hey, it makes a good song in rock.
15.Godsmack-Awake-5/5-The album title track from Godsmack's sophmore effort, "Awake" is a very powerful song, both musically and lyrically.
17.Mudvayne-Dig-4/5-This has the most vulgar lyrics than any other Mudvayne song, and is one of heaviest, but does get quite old after a while. They should've put "Death Blooms".
18.Orgy-Blue Monday-5/5-The best Orgy song, which was originally some [poor] 80's new wave song, and Orgy did a fine job changing that.

this is a album to get if you want to sample Nu- metal/metal at it's best. Limp Bizkit, Rage against the machine, Machine head and the non- forgetable Marylyn Manson all feature on this cd along with a video for Limp Bizkit's My generation [ enchanced ] Bascially if you like Nu- metal/metal but don't know which band or solo artist to choose then buy this cd, you won't be disappointed!!

this is just a purley brillinat album, for new comers to this music and for those that are well into it. For new comers you have bands like Linkin park, deftones, limp bizkit, puddle of mudd, papa roach, feeder and mudvayne. then there are the less known but even better my vitriol, machine head, soulfly, queens of the stone age, taproot, marilyn manson, incubus, raging speedhorn and white zombie. This was put together y people who work with musci everyday and they did a bloody good job, this album is the best. u just cant hate it!!!!!!

It had very dark tones which I liked, but some of the music was very repetitive. Still, pretty good.

This was my first purchase of Witchcraft, and I was blessed.
The CD automaticly captured my sole, and spoke through my
heart. It was a magickal work of art, dedicated to remembering
the "Old Ways", and enhancing the spirit of the witch.

With a movie featuring Dani Filth, the throat of Cradle Of Filth, and a serial killer resembling Rob Zombie, one would expect a metal soundtrack. Right? Wrong. Most of the songs here are industrial techno and one would be hard pressed to tell one from the other. It's good as background music or as something with BPMs fitting for a long nighttime car drive. However, if one sees grim visions or becomes demonized as a result, don't be surprised.

There are bits of dialogue linking one song with another, and in Intense's "Time Space Continuum," there's a [bit] of dialogue unflattering describing Dr. Rotting, a character from the movie and the modus operandi of Kemper, the serial killer/hypnotist/cannibal.

However, the [sounds] of death, bestial roars, and splattering liquid that begin with the eerie techno of "Fallout/The Beast Within" should alert the listener what he or she is in for.

However, there are some highlights. "Plastic Surgery" by Jezebel, has fuzz guitar accompanying the industrial techno resulting in a NIN sound. The vocalist sounds like an [inexpensive]knockoff of L7's lead singer.

"Disconnected/Resurrected" and "Blueprint/Rip The Face Off" by Lungworm has some distorted vocals and heavy beats mixed in. The Dark Poets' grim "It Doesn't Matter" begins with dialogue between Nick and Thomas, with Nick shooting Thomas after telling him he wants his leg. They also do the pounding "Breakbeat Hallowe'en," one of the more upbeat tracks here.

Cradle Of Filth's techno "Dance Macabre", originally on their Lovecraft and Witch Hearts greatest hits, has some elements of the Midian album song "Saffron's Curse" and movie dialogue mixed in. The ominous phrase, "You never believed in evil!" repeated throughout. In fact, COF provide the only metal song here, "Lord Abortion," taken from their Midian album, but there is some dialogue mixed in at the beginning of the song.

"Shoes" by D.O.P.E. is the minimalist track of beats that closes the movie, if I recall collectly. However, it ends with some screams and monstrous roars.

Not a bad gothic industrial collection. Anyone who hasn't seen this movie first will get a clear picture via this soundtrack. Those of us who have seen it, myself included, have sunken deep into that paradise of depravity.

LIKE MANY TRIBUTE ALBUMS THEY ARE UNEVEN OR JUST SUCK CUZ THE BANDS ARE ALL UNKNOWN GARAGE BANDS. I FEEL THAT A TRIBUTE ALBUM SHOULD BE AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL RECORDING IF NOT BETTER THEN THEN ORIGINAL. SOME OF THESE BANDS KNOCK IT OUT OF THE PARK AND OTHERS JUST STRIKE OUT. HERE IS MY QUICK SUM UP.


1. Never Let Me Down Again - Smashing Pumpkins (THE REASON I BOUGHT THIS CD, AND WORTH EVERY PENNY JUST FOR THIS SONG)
2. Fly On A Windshield - God Lives Underwater (IT'S NOT BAD, BUT IT'S NOT GOOD EITHER. IT'S TOLERABLE.)
3. Enjoy The Silence - Failure (A STAND OUT HIT, IT DID JUSTICE TO THE ORIGINAL VERSION)
4. World In My Eyes - The Cure (I EXPECTED MORE FROM THEM, BUT A 3 STAR RATING FOR THIS SONG)
5. Policy Of Truth - Dishwalla (THIS BAND SURPRISED ME, THEY REALLY KICKED ASS ON THIS PIECE OF WORK)
6. Somebody - Veruca Salt (IT'S OK, A LIL ABOVE AVERAGE, BUT I DOUBT IT WOULD BE ANYONE FAV. SONG COMPARE TO THE REST OF THEM)
7. Everything Counts - Meat Beat Manifesto (I FIND THIS SONG ANNOYING COMING FROM THEM)
8. Shake The Disease - Hooverphonic (IT'S A BIT ADDICTING, ONE OF THOSE TYPE THAT YOU CANT GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD)
9. Master And Servant - Locust (BORING, WAKE ME UP WHEN IT'S OVER)
10. Shame - Self (ANOTHER SUCK ASS SONG)
11. Black Celebration - Monster Magnet (I HATE THIS BAND, BUT FOR ONCE THEY GOT IT RIGHT)
12. Waiting For The Night - Rabbit In The Moon (I RATHER BE KICKED IN THE BALLS THEN TO LISTEN TO THERE VERSION OF THIS SONG)
13. I Feel For You - Apollo Four Forty (ANOTHER CRAPY BAND MESSING UP A GREAT SONG. WHY DO THEY EVEN BOTHER???)
14. Monument - Gus Gus (I HATE THIS SONG TOO, LOOKS LIKE ALL THE A MATERIAL IS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE CD.)
15. To Have And To Hold - Deftones (FINALLY A GOOD SONG, IT'S IT'S LOUD, IT'S GRITTY, IT'S WHAT YOU EXPECT FROM THIS BAND.)
16. Stripped - Rammstein (THE ONLY ENGLISH SONG THEY HAVE EVERY CAME OUT WITH, AND IT BETTER THEN THE ORIGINAL)

I BOUGHT THIS CD TWICE, SO IN MY BOOK IT'S WORTH BUYING IT. BUT AS I SAID BEFORE, 1/2 OF IT IS GREAT THE OTHER 1/2 SUCKS. BUT IF YOU CAN DEAL WITH THAT THEN GO FOR IT.

Various Artists For The Masses

I just bought this album in San Francisco (July 2006) some 8 years after it first came out.
As a long time fan of Depeche Mode who has admittedly not paid them very much attention in recent years I can honestly say that I have been reminded why I used to love them so much. Depeche Mode are bl**dy fantastic and this collection of tributes while not being universally wonderful is well worth a listen. As many people will not have heard this release I really wanted to review it. There are some turkeys and some Xmas crackers and be warned that I get a bit cross about the turkeys. Afterall, this is Depeche Mode we are talking about!

The album kicks off with Never Let Me Down Again by the Smashing Pumpkins. If you asked most fans what their 3 favourite DM tunes were, chances are that this is one of them. It's a defining anthem and it truly rocks. The fans know how good it is. We've all been to the concerts and we've all sung our hearts out. Well.... Wait till you hear what the `Smashing F**kwits' have done to it. It is hard to find the words to describe how wide of the mark they are in trying to capture the essence of NLMDA. I mean if you were going to try and do it any justice at all you might have a stab at keeping some of the power, emotional intensity and sheer b*ll**ks of the original. But no.... I don't know anything about the Smashing Turnips or their own music but it is my best guess from this effort that they basically get stoned, jam for a bit in an ineffectual way, put some p**s weak whiny vocals down, pop to the all night garage for some more skins, finish off the Stellas, and call it a day. I now know why I have never noticed anything the Smashing Numpties have ever done. (0 out of 10) Lets move on, as it gets a lot better from here.

Next up, Fly on the Windscreen cruises into town with laid back funky beats and some interesting vocal harmonies which present the tension in the song in a new way. You can nod your head to this more than the original and the dark undercurrents are maintined behind the slick groove. The vocals are more musical than DGs and they really work. It's cool and different. A big thumbs up to God Lives Underwater. There's nothing wrong with taking a song in a different direction, as long as you have one. (Smashing Wasters take note) (8 out of 10)

Enjoy The Silence by Failure doesn't deviate too much from DMs' first version apart from in the obvious, in that the guitars are in and the synths are largely out. The intro is delicate, the chorus thumps and the voice of Failures' singer (whose name I am shamefully ignorant of) resonates nicely while lacking DGs power. They've messed a bit with some of the melody in an acceptably pleasing way and it is quite ... well, enjoyable, without capturing the heartfelt passion of the original. So.. a modest success. (7 out of 10)

Now the Cure have got their work cut out here, as World In My Eyes is a bit of a personal favourite. The consumate Kraftwerk feel is gone but Robert Smith maintains the angst and delivers a very listenable performance. They've been a bit lazy on the drum programming, just using one loop with no real variation but the guitar riffs and howls are good which I guess is their forte. It's quite catchy and if anything a bit more accessible than the original. Rather lost its edge but overall not a bad effort. (7 out of 10)

Enter Dishwalla, who grind out a full throttle take on Policy Of Truth with a certain amount of welly and lots of guitar. It builds nicely throughout and ends with all guns blazing. The vocals are great and the finale sees a very musical deviation that powers it's way up to a blistering climax. How cool?.... Very. For me this is way better than the original, which I always used to find a bit dull. Can't wait to put this on in the car. Go Dishwalla!
(10 out of 10)

Somebody is presented by Veruca Salt and it gets a passionate workout here. The rhodes piano and cello really work, vocals are very genuine and you can get lost in this version the same way you get lost when Martin sings it. A beautifully constructed copy of one of DMs best ballads. (8 out of 10)

Everything Counts by Meat Beat Manifesto is a bit of let down. It's a little hard to see where the creativity went. It didn't go into the drum programming which while being marginally better than the Cures' is a bit pedestrian. Aside from trotting out the main melody, they don't really offer anything on the melodic front either which kind of just leaves noises. I didn't like their noises. Oh yes .. the vocals. A bit pants as well. (1 out of 10)

Shake The Disease has a really sparse electronic feel to it with silky vocals, both courtesy of Hooverphonic. It's a very simple cover but astoundingly beautiful and totally captures the repetitive hypnotic drive of DMs version. Go Hooverphonic! (9 out of 10)

Locust's Master And Servant has a surreal The Devine Comedy meets light jazz feel to it which puts it just above elevator muzak. This makes it slightly interesting. (2 out of 10)

I guess Shame is a surprise choice for a cover but hey why not. Selfs' version is quite catchy, in yer face and fun. Not worthy of great praise but neither was the original. (5 out of 10)

With Black Celebration we are back in anthem territory. Monster Magnet throw a lot of energy into this and I really wish they hadn't. If you are going to mess with people's melody you better do it good. i.e Compliment the original. Draw it out and reframe it. Add something. Bring something to the party goddamnit! Or as MM see it... crash the party, nick the beer, p**s all over the place and do a runner. (0 out of 10)

Waiting For The Night To Fall by Rabbit In The Moon starts with sparse beats that pick up into light drum and bass (without the bass). The vocal is a bit karaoke and the whole thing goes on for way too long. (7 minutes 34 seconds too long) (1 out of 10)

Appollo 440 take on I Feel You and the result appears to be a draw. The vocals don't really stand up to DGs but there is an energentic feel to the proceedings with some lively samples thrown in to the mix. It's OK (5 out of 10)

Gus Gus cover Monument which is an interesting choice. It's been given a far more up to date feel here while maintaining the sparse simplicity and brooding atmosphere of the original. The production is nice but the vocals are a little bit too bronski beat for my liking. Not a turkey and not a craker. (6 out of 10)

Deftones crank it up for To Have And To Hold and make a reasonable fist of it. The vocals don't quite reach the same sharp edged menace that DG gives it but the rest is all there. Screaching guitar solos and smash it all up finale. Pretty good (7 out of 10)

Finally we have Rammstein's Stripped which is completely awful. But let let's leave that to one side for a moment and deal with something else. It's funny as f**k. The vocal comes across as Rocky Horror Show meets Lordi (of recent EuroVision fame). This is all backed up by wannabe death metal come eurobeat. Whether they approached this cover seriously or not I don't know. I am confused and amused by it. Which is a shame as I'd really like to hear somebody have a proper crack at it. (no idea what mark out of 10 this gets ... probably about 4 for being weird)

For fans who want to hear a different take on their favourite band I thoroughly recommend this collection. Half of it is indeed rubbish but that's what CD rippers and MP3 players are for. If you haven't listened to your old DM albums in a while, this will ensure that you rediscover them. While you're at it get the remastered CDs in 5.1 surround sound. They're great.

Chris Danson. Ashford. Middlesex

I mainly bought this cd because of the band Failure being on here. But there also some others on here that I like as well. Never Let Me Down Again is done by the Smashing Pumpkins and it is a standout on here. Enjoy The Silence by Failure was the main reason I bought this and it is an amazing version.Another standout for me was Moster Magnet covering Black Celebration and Deftones covering To Have And To Hold. Overall the album may appeal to people differently but those were the standouts for me being that I am a fan of all of these bands and it was nice to hear their interpretations of these songs.