American Alternative music reviews

maybe frankencrist if you really enjoy fresh fruit....this is a very annoying and bad b-sides album...california uber alles and holiday in cambodia are over-produced and watered down...and where is the killer intro to holiday in cambodia?

yeah i like jello biafra's voice and his mixture of funny and scary themes hit the spot, but this album consists of b-sides for a reason...aka they werent good enough to go on anything else.

If you want punk...here it is in all of its glory. B sides and rarities from one of the most respected and influential punk bands in history. This album contains so many of their greatest songs (unfortunately it does not contain Viva Las Vegas). There is even a funny short story that Jello recites at a concert as Ray fixes a broken guitar string. This was one of the frist punk albums I even owned as a teenager and it will remain in my collection until the day I die. Every punk needs to own this...no scratch that. Every BODY needs to own this album.

Good release and all the songs are good,I recommend this with
Bed time for democracy,Fresh fruit..., Plastic surgery disasters,Get them all.

I have been a huge fan of Vertical Horizon for close to 6 years now, and I don't understand why anyone could be disappointed with this album. I hate it when people say "I was hoping it would be more like Everything you Want and Go". This album is their sophmore album and it came out long before "Everything You Want" and "Go". If I'm not mistaken this album along with their debut, and third album, where all re-released a few years after they origionally came out. I have owned this album for six years now and I think it's wonderful. This album portrays Vertical Horizon before they hit mainstream with their albums: "Everything You Want" and "GO" I personally prefer their first 3 albums over "Everything You Want" and "GO" This album is all acoustic work. All the tracks on this album are great. I highly recommend:
Track 1: Heart in Hand
Track 2: Wash Away
Track 3: Fragments
Track 5: The Man Who Would be Santa
Track 6: Angel Without Wings
Track 11: Sunrays and Saturdays
Track 13: Falling Down
Track 14: Goodnight My Friend. This song is my favorite on this CD. A few moments after this track is a secret track. It features a blended mix of songs on this album. It's amazing.
I also recommend that if you enjoy this CD and their first, "There and Back Again", you listen to their third album "Live Stages" if you haven't already. It's a live performance of songs from their two previous albums and its great. Running on Ice is truly a remarkable gift to Vertical Horizon fans.

if you love James Taylor, you will definately LOVE this. Vertical Horizon is totally different than what they used to be. Everything before "Everything You Want" are all classics. Their Live Stages cd is amazing. if you really want to experience a friggen good live concert, listen to that. Don't expect to hear the same stuff from EYW and Go, this music is raw and shows their true talent

This Cd is amazing. It is more relaxed than Vertical Horion's newer Cds. When I listen to it, the singers drive home their purpose, and each word cuts right to you. ESPECIALLY in Wash Away. I love that song, and I am in love with Keith Kane's voice. This CD was at first just another addition to my Vertical Horizon collection (which is growing by the day) but now I am sure I will never be so obsessed with a band.

I have been a huge fan of Vertical Horizon for close to 6 years now, and I don't understand why anyone could be disappointed with this album. I hate it when people say "I was hoping it would be more like Everything you Want and Go". This album is their sophmore album and it came out long before "Everything You Want" and "Go". If I'm not mistaken this album along with their debut, and third album, where all re-released a few years after they origionally came out. I have owned this album for six years now and I think it's wonderful. This album portrays Vertical Horizon before they hit mainstream with their albums: "Everything You Want" and "GO" I personally prefer their first 3 albums over "Everything You Want" and "GO" This album is all acoustic work. All the tracks on this album are great. I highly recommend:
Track 1: Heart in Hand
Track 2: Wash Away
Track 3: Fragments
Track 5: The Man Who Would be Santa
Track 6: Angel Without Wings
Track 11: Sunrays and Saturdays
Track 13: Falling Down
Track 14: Goodnight My Friend. This song is my favorite on this CD. A few moments after this track is a secret track. It features a blended mix of songs on this album. It's amazing.
I also recommend that if you enjoy this CD and their first, "There and Back Again", you listen to their third album "Live Stages" if you haven't already. It's a live performance of songs from their two previous albums and its great. Running on Ice is truly a remarkable gift to Vertical Horizon fans.

if you love James Taylor, you will definately LOVE this. Vertical Horizon is totally different than what they used to be. Everything before "Everything You Want" are all classics. Their Live Stages cd is amazing. if you really want to experience a friggen good live concert, listen to that. Don't expect to hear the same stuff from EYW and Go, this music is raw and shows their true talent

This Cd is amazing. It is more relaxed than Vertical Horion's newer Cds. When I listen to it, the singers drive home their purpose, and each word cuts right to you. ESPECIALLY in Wash Away. I love that song, and I am in love with Keith Kane's voice. This CD was at first just another addition to my Vertical Horizon collection (which is growing by the day) but now I am sure I will never be so obsessed with a band.

Yeah! Hazelnuts rocks and so does this cd. This cd is for people who like folk rock and if you're looking for a great folk rock album this one's it. Their message and vibe are powerfully attractive. I'm not gonna fool yeah there are a couple of skippers, if your new to this. If you keep listening to it a couple times through you'll eventually love the album.

This thing is a work of art. Every summer since this album came out in '97 I get S.M.F. out and It immmediately puts a smile on peoples faces. This is an album you can play at a great early evening Avalon Deck Party/Cookout. Starfish is a fantatic jam song. Cereline is soulful. and well...All for You is a powerhouse singalong. These guys have another album released in 2002/03 called "Chasing Daylight" that is nearly as perfect if you need a pickup and a smile. get em both and see em live.

If you have never heard Sister Hazel, you are in for a treat. Soulful music that speaks to everyone's heart. And if you have never seen them in concert, you are surely missing out. There is an energy in this band that revives the weary soul. Imagine 6000 people singing every song at the top of their lungs.
Sister Hazel is an Everyman band. I challenge you to find one song that does not truly move you or that you cannot relate with.

My vote is to put this band on the cover of Rolling Stone!

Yeah! Hazelnuts rocks and so does this cd. This cd is for people who like folk rock and if you're looking for a great folk rock album this one's it. Their message and vibe are powerfully attractive. I'm not gonna fool yeah there are a couple of skippers, if your new to this. If you keep listening to it a couple times through you'll eventually love the album.

This thing is a work of art. Every summer since this album came out in '97 I get S.M.F. out and It immmediately puts a smile on peoples faces. This is an album you can play at a great early evening Avalon Deck Party/Cookout. Starfish is a fantatic jam song. Cereline is soulful. and well...All for You is a powerhouse singalong. These guys have another album released in 2002/03 called "Chasing Daylight" that is nearly as perfect if you need a pickup and a smile. get em both and see em live.

If you have never heard Sister Hazel, you are in for a treat. Soulful music that speaks to everyone's heart. And if you have never seen them in concert, you are surely missing out. There is an energy in this band that revives the weary soul. Imagine 6000 people singing every song at the top of their lungs.
Sister Hazel is an Everyman band. I challenge you to find one song that does not truly move you or that you cannot relate with.

My vote is to put this band on the cover of Rolling Stone!

I'm giving this Better Than Ezra album two stars. And that's generous considering how bland and generic the album overall is. The two hits it spawned are the obvious standouts, with "Good" the better of the two. The bassline and song structure in "Good" reminds me of something off Green Day's Dookie. "In the Blood" is more serious but still quite nice. The rest of the songs are dull with a rock/country blend that surprisingly doesn't manage to be interesting. There were many bands out around '95 that had this 'safe' version of Alternative perfected. These kinds of bands lacked the unique vocals, kooky lyrics, and bizarre perspective that bands like Sublime, Local H, and Goldfinger offered, while still retaining the same kind of overdriven guitars and bouncy basslines. Some other bands that churned out this 'safe' brand of Alternative and only had a few hits were The Rembrandts, Collective Soul and Toad the Wet Sprocket. But the kicker is this: I'd have no beef with Better than Ezra and their ilk if they actually put out a greater volume of hook-filled or at least memorable tunes. For a 'safe' Alternative band that put out a ton of great music, I would suggest Live's Throwing Copper.

I remember being pleseantly surprised when this album came out originally. It had quite a few hidden gems and overall lasting appeal. It got Better Than Ezra on the map and recieved quite a bit of radio play in the mid 90's. Summerhouse, Good, and In The Blood are the highlights if you ask me. There are a few country songs that are complete duds and don't belong on this CD or in the BTE lineup. By the time they came out with the far superior Friction Baby, they had eliminated most of their country sound.

Ten years later this is stil a decent CD but some of the songs are a bit dated and they just don't hold up well. The songs are catchy but aren't extremely complex and some like Roselia get old after one or two listenings. This is one of those CD's that just pops up my IPOD randomly a couple of times a year and it's great as long you don't play it more than that.

Bottom Line: Newer BTE fans must have this as it is probably thier most successfull album but Friction Baby is tops...

I first saw Better than Ezra in concert at bars around Louisiana Tech in Ruston. Like the guy's comments from LSU, they always packed the bars they were playing in and they were really good live. I was so excited when this album came out because they really were considered the best band in Louisiana at the time. Everytime I listen to it, it transports me back to that time and I get really homesick.
See them in concert if you ever get the chance.

really an album that should be played in the background, if at all - it's slow and wandering music won't keep your attention for long and rightly so. and other reviewers are correct about the lyrics, if you're still paying attention you'll be less than impressed.

i'm amazed at how many reviews can be written here with absolutely no reference to Built to Spill - a band this album really really wants to be. it's true that this album, with its guitar work and focus on an atmosphere over progression, sounds VERY VERY much like parts of the Built to Spill albums.
but would i compare this album to BTS? or Death Cab? no chance. it's just got nothing to offer other than background - nothing is being created here. no novelty. the horns people talk about in other reviews are out of place and forced - like your best friend's idea you can't talk him out of.

two stars seems a little harsh, but it's a gift. i can't honestly recommend people buy this album when you can get Built to Spill or Death Cab for Cutie albums which give you this and so so much more.

****UPDATE**** trust me, the Built to Spill comparison is valid. everyone should go listen to them both and i promise you'll get it!

I was sorry when Mike Kinsella moved on to other projects. American Football was surely his best. These songs are soft spoken, but speak volumes, and are highly original. Everything here is soothing and nostalgic, "Never Meant," "For Sure," "The Summer Ends," are especially good and the music, if not the lyrics, have always reminded me oddly of childhood; old friends; little league nights; kicking a tin can down an alley when you were ten. The fade out for "Honestly?" is the longest part of the song, and reminds one of a boat floating out to sea; you wait for it to drop out of view; it's beautiful while it lasts, and you're sorry when it does. The cd is wholly thoughtful and poignant without being melancholy or maudlin, unlike my review. Soft melodies, soft harmonies, Simon & Garfunkel's "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright" is the most mainstream thing I can think of to compare American Football to. This may take a while to grab hold of you, but for your sake I hope that it will. My only regret is that I gave this four stars when I should have given it five.

American football and built to spill are both great bands, but I don't get these similarities you speak of.

The first time I saw Hootie and the Blowfish was in 1993 when I was a freshman at USC and they played a frat party I went to - I was completely hooked! They continue to be my favorite band! Darius has the most amazing and distinct voice - I can't get enough. The only reason this rating isn't 5 stars is because they didn't record my favorite 2 cover songs they used to do (maybe it's a copyright thing) --> "Mustang Sally" and "Love the One You're With." But I can't complain too much - this whole album is a treat!

Finally, a collection of the stuff that for whatever reason, didn't make the original albums, or wound up scattered (get the title now?) over various soundtracks or import versions of the albums...all in one place. The band has been doing 54-40's "I Go Blind" for years. in fact it was recorded back during the Cracked Rear View sessions...appeared on the Friends TV soundtrack...Use Me has been a concert tune for a long time too...nice to see these and all the other songs together that up until this album have been a case of get 'em where you can find 'em. Thanks guys...and thanks for continuing to be consistently excellent...for those of you who STILL (!) aren't familiar with these guys, get their new Best Of collection...and this one...then go out and grab Cracked Rear View...and then the rest of 'em!

This album is definetely my favorite Hootie & the Blowfish album. I think that it is better than all of the other albums because it has some of the best songs on this slbum, like "Fine Line" and "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You" and "Use Me" those are my absoulte favorite songs of all the Hootie songs. I definetely recommened that you buy this album if you are a true Hottie & the Blowfish fan.

Through the incredible movie 'Loved' I got to know the Counting Crows with their amazing number 'Miller's Angels'. From then on I started buying almost all their albums. So I don't need this album at all. It doesn't even have the best songs on it (at least the ones I like best).

IF I WERE THE PRODUCER I WOULD HAVE MADE A 'BALLADS' ALBUM. But since that wasn't coming I produced one privately. I copied my favourite ballads on a cd and called it (of course) 'Counting Crows Ballads'. Perfect when you are snoozing with your loved one on a Sunday- or Saturdaymorning. Here come the tracks in the correct order (the order is VERY important for the mood):

1. Carriage (from 'Hard Candy')
2. Have you seen me lately (from 'Across a wire'... the best version!)
3. Angels of the Silences (from 'Across a wire'. Yep, the unplugged version... MUCH better than the loud one!)
4. Long December (from 'Across a wire')
5. Holiday in Spain (from 'Hard Candy')
6. Perfect Blue buildings (from 'August and everything after')
7. Black & Blue (from 'Hard Candy')
8. All my friends (from 'Desert Life')
9. I wish I was a girl ( from 'Desert Life')
10. Speedway (from 'Desert Life')
11. Miller's Angels (from 'Mercury Falls')

I bet they are going to steal this idea from me, and otherwise you guys can :-) Enjoy!

Considering the band has a trajectory of more than 10 years and five official albums in their pocket, you can expect plenty of this album, and it will not disappoint. With a title extracted directly from the lyrics of one of their most memorable songs (from Mrs. Potter's Lullaby `if dreams are like movies, then memories are films about ghosts...'), this album includes 14 tracks very well selected from their discography, a cover of `Friend of the devil' and a demo recorded before their first studio album. `Einstein on the beach'. A special edition of the album was released after they were nominated for the Oscar for the song `Accidentally in love', which is basically the same album plus the nominated song.

This greatest hits album presents the highlights of each of their studio works (nothing included from `Live across the wire'). The popular `Hangin around' with its feel good lyrics, their first hit `Mr Jones', the commercial `American girls' (whether we like the commercial idea behind it or not it is a great song), and most importantly, the all time favorite and melancholic `Round here'.

This is a great opportunity to listen to them if you have never heard the band before, and if you haven't heard their whole discography I can almost assure you will buy it all after listening to this disc.

The design is quite simple but very interesting and adds a nice melancholic touch to the CD, the booklet has a brief story of the band and the complete lyrics for all the songs, including stories from some of them (they even mention the disappointment of their fans when they heard `American girls' announcing Coke). If you don't have the pleasure of owning their discography yet, this is a good reason to start collecting it. An excellent selection of songs makes of this album a good resume of their history, and a perfect introduction for newcomers.

This is good music for when your hanging out with your "mates" (thats aBritish for friends, PEO_PLE)! We like to put on this music and jump around and act out scenes and pretend we're actors we like. i pretend I'm James Dean, but no one knows who he is , eccept my friend Brett, who is a genious, so I act like Neo. Also good music for guy fun is Matchbox 20, 3 eyes blind, and Sugar Ray. SO get this music and have soem guy fun!!

After releasing their Burn the Priest album, this band couldn't get much more heavy or brutal. New American Gospel does not try to out-gun the band's previous effort. It is slower, but still VERY raw and relentless throughout.
New American Gospel was the first Lamb of God cd I got (this was a big mistake). I didn't like Randy's inaudible vocals on this album at first. It took me many listens to develop a liking for this album. If you're looking to buy your first Lamb of God cd, get Ashes of the Wake. This album is very in-your-face and the entire band really wants to punish your ears on all 10 tracks. The instrumental is top notch throughout, and the lyrics are very good also- which brings me to my only gripe. Randy's inaudible vocals, though usually good, get a bit annoying on "Letter to the Unborn", "Subtle Arts of Murder and Persuasion" and "O.D.H.G.A.B.F.E." if you listen to them for too long.
The assault begins with the awesome "Black Label", which is one of my personal favorite Lamb of God songs. The first 30 seconds or so of this on either this cd or Killadelphia really speaks for itself. "A Warning" is short and very sweet. "Black Dahlia" is very fun to listen to, especially towards the end. "Terror and Hubris in the House of Frank Pollard", aside from having a bizarre title, is very good, beginning with the guitar solos and then moving into the rest of the song, which is quite diverse fromt the rest of the cd and really stands out. "Pariah" is one of the most lyrically brutal songs on the cd, and really delivers.
Overall, New American Gospel is a very good listen for those who are already Lamb of God fans. A lot of these songs translate very well to their live cd/dvd release, Killadelphia.

Come on folks, How can you not give this band at least 5 stars. One of the reviewers said that they did not like this type of metal music. Well, revisit Motley Crue and Poison. Sissy. I am a HUGE fan of LOG. Randy, Mark, Chris, Will and John on the Thunder. What a band.

This CD was so good... it made me want to go out and kill a few kittens and splatter the blood all over my white car and drive around town while listening to this CD for a few hours... seriously, it is that good. It will have you screaming at the top of your lungs... I reccomend listening to this CD while you are far away from other people so that you do not disturb them with your screams of pure anger and hatred. This CD recieves a double devil horn salute.