Released: 1990
Tracks: Best I Can; The Thin Line; Jet City Woman; Della Brown; Another Rainy Night (Without You); Empire; Resistance; Silent Lucidity; Hand On Heart; One and Only; Anybody Listening?
Best track: Empire
Tracks to skip: Jet City Woman, Della Brown, Another Rainy Night, Hand on Heart, One and Only

Over the past couple of years whenever I’d listen to this, I noticed there was something that bothered me about this album…something that made me a bit uncomfortable.  In listening to it now for this review, I get it.  I don’t really like this album much anymore.  I used to love it, but I find it annoying now.  Part of my “weirdness” in listening to it, I think, is that I feel that I’m supposed to love it.  I did love it, for a long time from the time it came out.  I think now I can finally admit that I’ve outgrown it.  Not just that, but it doesn’t hold up.  I think the band’s use of love/relationship lyrics in a few of these songs really turn me off.  Of the five songs that I outright skip, three of them are love songs with bad lyrics.  I really, really hate the whiny lyrics of Another Rainy Night. I swear that chorus sounds like it could be Def Leppard.   I think that Jet City Woman is definitely a catchy song, but ultimately the “I miss my woman” lyrics bore me.  Della Brown is a song I’ve never really liked.  I think it creates a great mood, but as a song I don’t care for it.  In the second half, both Hand on Heart and One and Only (more awful lyrics) are nothing more than filler.

The first two tracks are average, but my issue with them is the overuse of keyboards.  I actively hate the keys in the chorus and outro of The Thin Line.  Queensrÿche doesn’t need keyboards; they have two outstanding guitarists and the keyboards add no depth.  Otherwise, these tracks are fine, but nothing I really get excited about.  The title track remains my favorite song on the album and a true classic in the band’s history.  I like it when they tackle more serious issues like this one.  Although I do think it oversteps into being preachy, it’s still a great song and one that I’ll always love.  Queensrÿche’s influences in their music really come out in the second half of this album: Resistance sounds a lot like a Rush song and the hit single Silent Lucidity REALLY reminds me of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb.  It’s a good song so I’m not going to get too worked up about it.  The album ends on a great note with Anybody Listening.  It’s another excellent song that I still love hearing.

In listening to this album today I noticed that the band is incredibly confident here.  They had a lot of success with Mindcrime and that really worked in their favor for making Empire.  It was this album that really gave the band a lot of attention (temporarily, anyway) and I think it was a good thing.  While I’m not into these songs much anymore, there are definitely still a lot of progressive touches and great musicianship throughout.  I always appreciate that.  My problem is that I don’t love these songs anymore and as an album it doesn’t really hold up.  Three really good songs (Empire, Anybody Listening & Silent Lucidity) can’t sustain an album over time and that reflects in my feelings on it now.

Rating: 75

Released: 2002
Tracks: Things That Scare Me; Deep Red Bells; Outro With Bees; Lady Pilot; Tightly; Look for Me (I’ll Be Around); Stinging Velvet; Pretty Girls; I Missed the Point; Blacklisted; I Wish I Was the Moon; Runnin’ Out of Fools; Ghost Writing; Outro With Bees (Reprise)
Best track: Lady Pilot or Deep Red Bells
Track to skip: Outro with Bees (Reprise)

I’ve been listening to Neko Case for a few years now so it’s fun to finally dive into her albums on this website.  While she’s usually lumped in with “alt-country”, in my mind her music tends to be more country than alternative rock.  I heard her music described as Country-Noir and I think that fits.  It’s often dark and mysterious and her voice is absolutely haunting.  The particular touches, esp. in the lead guitars and pedal steel, give Neko Case’s music a distinct quality.  There are a lot of spaces in the guitar notes and within the drumming that I love.  The music breathes so well.  I appreciate in such a huge way that her songs aren’t conventional, either in the lyrical sense or in their structures.  It’s so refreshing to hear a songwriter really step outside of the usual boundaries and still make compelling music.

Things That Scare Me is a great, upbeat opener, but after that you totally get sucked in with Deep Red Bells.  Case’s hypnotic vocals and the great chorus make this one of her best and most famous songs.  Her voice here has this quality of being simultaneously commanding and yet vulnerable.  There’s a slight breather in Outro with Bees before hitting the chilling Lady Pilot.  I love this song and how unsettling it is.  It’s a short song, but manages to say so much in that time.  It was Lady Pilot that really first grabbed me about her music.

I like the songs individually throughout the middle of the album, but they do tend to put me in a bit of a lull.  The last four proper songs are all tremendous, though.  I Wish I was the Moon is more of a traditional country song with a great guitar solo.  It’s got a great peacefulness to it.  Case does a fantastic version of Aretha Franklin’s Runnin’ Out of Fools before heading into the trippy Ghost Writing.  After this one, there’s a minute of silence before we get a reprise of Outro With Bees.  It’s pretty useless and I usually skip it.

Neko Case brings such a spooky, cinematic quality to her music and I love being submerged in this world.  She’s an unconventional songwriter who still writes high quality songs.  Above all, it’s her voice that pulls me in.  It’s so great to hear a real singer these days.  Her albums are all pretty consistent and Blacklisted is definitely a great place to start.

Rating: 91

Released: 1986
Tracks: Amanda; We’re Ready; The Launch; Cool the Engines; My Destination; A New World; To Be a Man; I Think I Like It; Can’tcha Say (You Believe in Me)/Still in Love; Hollyann
Best track: We’re Ready, I guess?
Tracks to skip: The Launch, Cool the Engines, My Destination, To Be a Man, Hollyann

Well, at least it’s only 36 minutes long!  A 36-minute long album was considered “short” in the late 60’s, but to put one out that short in 1986…with two of the songs being short instrumentals…wow.  Something’s really wrong with that.  To top it off, it took the band (Tom Scholtz specifically) 8 years to make 36 minutes worth of music.  If you were a fan of the “rocking” Boston songs, it also might’ve annoyed you that 5 of the songs were cheesy ballads – 20 minutes worth.  I think that even at the time this album could’ve been deemed a massive failure.  While it’s true that it sold millions of copies and both the album and first single Amanda went to #1, that doesn’t mean it’s actually *good*.  This album is proof that you can sell millions of copies by name alone and you don’t need much substance in there.

Even with all of the lawsuits, studio fires and Tom Scholtz’s well-known studio perfection, there’s NO REASON for any album to take 8 years to make.  Believe me, I understand how someone can want things *just right* on their album.  I get that.  But it doesn’t take 8 years.  That’s ridiculous…and even more so since the quality of this album is so piss-poor.

I grew up with this album and I’ve probably heard these songs thousands of time, but when I listen back now it’s just incredibly awful.  I hate the sound of the instruments on this.  The guitars and pianos sound like they’re coming from the inside of a little box (the Rockman!) and there’s no meat to them.  Listen to the first album and you can hear a lot of depth to the music.  On Third Stage you can’t; everything sounds so small and compressed.  It certainly doesn’t help things that there are also awful-sounding drum machines on here (it’s the worst on Hollyann).

A lot of these songs don’t seem to have fleshed-out ideas.  Songs like The Launch, My Destination and A New World all end seemingly out of nowhere and even though they’re not very good songs, you’ve got to at least finish writing them.  Maybe Scholtz was just sparing us the pain?  Perhaps.  It’s really disappointing that so much of this album is taken up by cheesy, whiny ballads.  There are some really awful rhymes in Amanda in particular.  I understand this is a concept album, but I get really tired of the repeated phrases and motifs (“and…feelin’ the way I do…).  It smacks of laziness, but there’s so much of this album that does just that.  Even the “not so horrible” song We’re Ready still doesn’t have much ooph to it and is ultimately forgettable.  Here’s my most honest review for this album: lazy and often awful, occasionally only marginally better.

Rating: 60

Released: 2011
Tracks: Intro; Greasy Wheel; Life Story; Get Things Done; Thanks in Advance; Love Terror Adrenaline/Break Through; Seven Percent Grade; View; Cave Dweller
Best track: Get Things Done or Thanks in Advance
Track to skip: none

I’m doing something fun for this review and the next one.  On September 15, 2010, the Bryan Beller and Mike Keneally Bands played a show at the Baked Potato in LA.  Both sets were recorded and subsequently released on audio and video (click here for the review of Mike’s album).  So, I’m going through these as they happened, one after the other.  Super Cool Thing: both bands featured the same band members for both sets: Beller on bass, Keneally on guitar/keys, Griff Peters on guitar, Rick Musallam on guitar and Joe Travers on drums.  I caught the bands on the same tour in Baltimore and it was an amazing show.  Ok, here we go: it’s party time!

That stretch from Get Things Done through Seven Percent Grade is absolutely phenomenal.  That half hour of music completely floors me.  Great songs with inspired musicians make for possibly the best music on any of Beller’s albums here.  From the excellent bass solo and Beller’s incredible tone on Get Things Done to the gorgeous melodies of Thanks in Advance and to the edge-of-your-seat playing on Love Terror Adrenaline, it’s one seriously amazing chunk of music.  That bit in itself is worth the price here and the great thing is that everything else is excellent as well.  The band is tight throughout and playing with serious ferocity.  Seven Percent Grade is the proper end of the set, with View and Cave Dweller tacked on as bonus tracks from other shows.  Both are excellent (especially View…damn, that guitar melody!) and I’m so glad they’re here.

This is definitely Bryan Beller’s best album yet and a perfect summary of his first two albums.  When comparing this with Keneally’s set, I think this one is a bit better.  The band was just on fire for Beller’s songs.

Rating: 95

Released: 2011
Tracks: Kedgeree; Blameless (The Floating Face); Life’s Too Small; Click; My Dilemma; Chee; Them Dolphins is Smart; 1988 Was a Million Years Ago; Yep, Them Dolphins is Smart, Alright; Bullys (sic); Pretty Enough for Girls; Taster; Tomorrow; Scotch; Chatfield Manor; Potato
Best track: Click
Track to skip: Bullys is kind of boring, but I’ll usually let it play through

This is a continuation of the review for Bryan Beller’s Wednesday Night Live.  On September 15, 2010, the Bryan Beller and Mike Keneally Bands played a show at the Baked Potato in LA.  Both sets were recorded and subsequently released on audio and video.  So, I’m going through these as they happened, one after the other.  Super Cool Thing: both bands featured the same band members for both sets: Beller on bass, Keneally on guitar/keys/vocals, Griff Peters on guitar, Rick Musallam on guitar and Joe Travers on drums.  I caught the bands on the same tour in Baltimore and it was an amazing show.  On to Keneally’s set!

While the actual release of Beller’s set split the DVD and CD, with Keneally’s you get both in the same package.  Keneally’s Guitar Therapy Live DVD was also recorded at the Baked Potato and he always seems to play well there.  The DVD of this Bakin’ show features 4 songs not included on the CD: Hallmark, Cold Hands, Natty Trousers & Career Politicians.  This set features a nice cross-selection from most of Mike’s albums with a heavy dose of material from Boil That Dust Speck.  Having three guitarists in the band enabled Mike to play some songs truer to the original versions and also enabled him to stretch out on arrangements of others.  The three-guitar lineup really beefs up such songs like Click, My Dilemma, Chee, Pretty Enough for Girls and Chatfield Manor.  Click is my favorite on the disc – the arrangement is fantastic and closer to the original Nonkertompf version than I’ve ever heard.  Having two guitarists besides himself in the band really opens things up and enables him to either play keys, or go all out and have so much kick ass guitar (as on Chatfield Manor) that my head certainly felt like it was going to explode.  Newcomer Griff Peters is a hell of a guitarist and I hope he stays in Keneally’s band for a long time.

Kedgeree is a fantastic way to open the set; power right through the gate.  Next is Blameless and while the three guitarist-lineup makes this one sound great, it’s such a bad placement of having it second song in the set and right after Kedgeree.  Life’s Too Short doesn’t help things either, as it’s barely an average song and definitely not one of my favorites on the Scambot 1 album.  It’s not too thrilling live either…until the middle section and guitar solo, which are infinitely cool.  After this, the set really settles in and we get the aforementioned Click , an awesome jammed-out version of My Dilemma, Scambot 1 standout Chee and then the real meat of the set: Dolphins > Bullys > Pretty Enough > Taster.  All 4 songs (6 if you count the 3 movements of Dolphins) flow together perfectly and present some eclectic and inspired playing.  This 5-piece band could be heavy as hell with Tomorrow and Scotch back to back showing how much playing in Dethklok has rubbed off on Mike and Bryan.  Potato’s a naturally perfect way to end the show.

I think that the band sounded better playing Bryan Beller’s material, but there are enough “wow” moments in Keneally’s set to make this a worthwhile purchase.  Guitar Therapy Live is definitely a better live album, but I love how this one is so different than that one (no Dog or Hat material, for one thing) and neither album shares even a single song.  Bakin’ and Wednesday Night Live are both tremendous documents of this phenomenal band.

Rating: 91

Released: 2011
Tracks: On the Backs of Angels; Build Me Up, Break Me Down; Lost Not Forgotten; This is the Life; Bridges in the Sky; Outcry; Far From Heaven; Breaking All Illusions; Beneath the Surface
Best track: Build Me Up, Break Me Down
Tracks to skip: Beneath the Surface, Far From Heaven, This is the Life

Most of the attention surrounding this album was due to the change in personnel – co-founder and drummer Mike Portnoy had quit the previous year (creating one of the biggest musical soap operas I’ve ever seen…keep it classy, Mike) and the band brought in former Steve Vai/Extreme drummer Mike Mangini to replace him.  Honestly, I don’t notice Mangini much on this album and I love that.  His drumming is fantastic, but it’s not IN YOUR FACE the way Portnoy’s always was.  Along with his awful background vocals, Portnoy seemed to always think of himself as the leader of the band and would no doubt have his drums mixed louder than they should be.  It’s refreshing to have Mangini in the band now and the drums sound right when combined with the other instruments.  The drums aren’t overpowering and unless you’re a drummer or specifically listening for them, you probably won’t pay too much attention.  Both Mangini and Portnoy are great drummers, but I thoroughly appreciate Mangini’s subtlety.

With the soap opera out of the way, it’s time to focus on the music.  What I love most about this album is that it’s a return to the classic feel of their Images & Words/Awake period.  The songs are so melodic and the melodies are a huge part of this album.  Dramatic Turn of Events tends to feel a bit more focused and in some ways, restrained.  For sure, they play some ridiculous sounding dual leads and dive full force into the proggy stuff, but it’s not unnecessary and always works within the context of the song.  That’s another area where the album reminds me of Awake.  The first three songs are all tremendous and prove that they can experiment and remain grounded to their “classic” sound at the same time.  For me, they’re just very well-written songs, especially Build Me Up Break Me Down and Lost Not Forgotten.  The main riff on Build Me Up is just a monster riff and that crazy unison section at the beginning of Lost Not Forgotten…it’s so insane it just makes me laugh.  While I do think that Build Me Up is the best song on the album, I certainly love the melodic section near the middle and the chord changes behind Jordan Rudess’ solo in Lost Not Forgotten.  Rudess seems a lot more restrained overall and less “wanky” and that contributes to the  positivity of the album.

The other faster songs on the album, Bridges in the Sky, Outcry & Breaking All Illusions are all great songs with another excellent opening riff on Outcry.  Breaking All Illusions is a definite fan-favorite that really shows the band flexing their compositional muscles.  It’s a solid song that features the return of bassist John Myung’s lyrics.  Breaking All Illusions would be a great final song for the album and it SHOULD BE, but the band decided to stick Beneath the Surface at the closing spot and it really damages the feel of the album.  I think it’s a bad song and it left a bad taste in my mouth.  While I like the melodies on This is the Life, it’s pretty boring and ultimately forgettable.  Far From Heaven feels the same way to me – forgettable and unnecessary.  Notice – those are the 3 slow songs on this album.  I appreciate the change of mood for those three, but the sequencing and overall inclusion of them puts a serious black mark on this album.

A Dramatic Turn of Events isn’t Dream Theater’s best album and while it’s not even in the top group, it’s still a nice step up from the past 3-4 albums that leave me pretty uninspired.  It’s a great step in the right direction for the band after losing such an important band member.  For me, this album is DT figuring out how to exist without Portnoy.  They pull it off excellently and he’s not missed.  I think that this album is more of a first step, where the next one will probably be more confident and hopefully one of their best ones.  I can’t wait to see what Mangini can contribute writing-wise.

Rating: 83

Released: 2011
Tracks: Bloom; Morning Mr. Magpie; Little By Little; Feral; Lotus Flower; Codex; Give Up the Ghost; Separator
Best track: Give Up the Ghost
Track to skip: Feral

This is a hard album to review for me.  The truth is, I really don’t care about it.  I think Radiohead’s a great band and I enjoy everything from Pablo Honey through In Rainbows, but this is the first release I’ve heard that completely disinterests me.  The songs simply aren’t engaging.  While I appreciate the creativity and how interesting the songs are, King of Limbs isn’t an album that I actively WANT to listen to.  When I first listened to it my reaction was, “wow…um…yeah…it’s…uh…is the next song any better?  Hm, no, it’s not.”  In the months since its release I’ve kind of forced myself to listen to it simply because I own it (and knowing that one day I’ll review it) and because they’re a band I love.  Very little on the album connects with me, either through some emotion or experience or even purely as a musician.  Most of the songs on this album don’t sound composed as much as pieced together – it feels like they said, “OK, let’s have an annoying electronic drum beat, have Thom sing his usual random lyrics over it and then put sparse bass and some subtle other sounds on.  Excellent, there’s another one done.”  It doesn’t suck, I’ll say that, but it’s certainly not engaging.  The only tracks on the album that I actively like are the last two, Give Up the Ghost and Separator.  Give Up the Ghost is a wonderfully peaceful song with some nice melodies.  It’s one of the few moments of true calm on the album.  I’m glad that the album ends on a good note with these last two, but for the rest of the album it’s just a bunch of meh.  It doesn’t make me want to go and listen to other, better Radiohead stuff, it makes me want to listen to something else entirely.

Rating: 71

Released: 2011
Tracks: Supercollider; The Butcher
Best track: Supercollider
Track to skip: The Butcher

This was a 12” single and later download released for Record Store Day in 2011.  I got it for free because I purchased The King of Limbs from the band so it’s a nice bonus.  Well, Supercollider is, at least.  It’s a good song and if it would’ve been included on The King of Limbs, it would’ve definitely been a standout.  From what I’ve read it wasn’t a leftover track from those sessions but something from a couple of years before.  It sounds like it was more “composed” rather than just haphazardly put together.  Which, is what The Butcher sounds like.  It’s an outtake from King of Limbs and sounds like it.  The Butcher’s an extremely tedious track and after about a minute I wanted it to be over.  While I like Supercollider, it’s absolutely not worth it to try and seek out this release.  I figure, if you’re THAT dedicated of a Radiohead fan, you already own this.

Rating: 72

Released: 2011
Tracks: Worship; Earth on Hell; The Devil You Know; Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t; I’m Alive; Hymn 1; In the End; The Giant; Hymn 2; Judas Priest; Crawl; The Constant; Revolution Screams; New Noise (hidden track)
Best tracks: The Giant, Fight ‘Em Til You Can’t, The Devil You Know, In the End
Tracks to skip: Worship, Hymn 1, Hymn 2

I think it’s easy to be skeptical of “reunion” albums and I’m sure Anthrax wouldn’t blame their fans for at least being a bit cautious with a reunion album, especially given the number of lineup changes during the past decade for the band.  For me, that caution went out the window with the first note I heard Joey Belladonna sing on this album.  Immediately I noticed how much FIRE the band has on this album.  They sound ALIVE and I haven’t heard them like this in a long time.  It’s refreshing, absolutely.  I caught Anthrax’s 2010 tour with Belladonna and was blown away by how great he and the whole band sounded.  It made me very curious to see how the new album would be – it’s one thing to sound fantastic playing your hits, but it’s something totally different to put out a quality album filled with passion of guys half your age.  Well holy crap, they did it.

I’ll say up front that there aren’t many weak areas to this album.  The choruses are uniformly excellent on these songs – The Devil You Know, The Giant, Fight ‘Em & I’m Alive especially – the band sounds fantastic throughout and the production is perfectly clear.  That just goes to show that you don’t need to have sludgy production to sound heavy as hell.  Whether it’s Joey’s vocals or Frank Bello’s thunderous bass, everyone really stepped up their game on here.  The guitars and drums also sound deliciously heavy on the album.  Honestly, the only things I don’t like on the album are the three short incidental tracks: the intro tune Worship, and the two Hymns.  While they do create some atmosphere, ultimately they’re an unnecessary break between these great songs.  Hymn 2 is the worst, because The Giant is such a fantastic song that I don’t want a military snare drum break before going into Judas Priest (a nice tribute to the band and the characters from their songs).  Oh, and hidden tracks are stupid and completely useless.  I like having the Refused track New Noise to end the album, but forwarding through the silence after Revolution Screams is lame.

Still, those are minor complaints about an otherwise great album.  I enjoy Worship Music the more I listen to it and I find myself always getting excited to hear this album.  Lyrically, there’s a good balance between the serious/political songs (In the End, Earth on Hell, Revolution Screams) and the more “comic book” ones (Fight ‘Em, Judas Priest).  Earth on Hell is a great opening track, but once The Devil You Know kicks in I’ve just got the biggest smile on my face…and it pretty much stays there for the whole album.  I love this lineup of Anthrax and I hope they keep it going for a long time.  Is this the best album of 2011?  You tell me – it just might be.

Rating: 92

Released: 2011
Tracks: Ready or Not; Sick and Tired; Captain Zero
Best track: Sick and Tired
Track to skip: none

Once I found out about this release, I was very excited to hear it.  Jason Weisenburg (vocals, guitar & bass) was previously in one of my favorite bands, Flat Mass, and it’s great to hear new music from the voice of that (for me) highly influential band.  It was great to hear his voice after not having any new music from him in so long.  Well, the wait was definitely worth it.  As much as I love the progressive and improvisational aspects of Flat Mass, it’s great to hear Weisenburg working in a more modern rock/pop direction.  Once I got over my initial excitement of this single, I was really blown away by the quality of the songwriting.  No surprise, that’s for sure, but still a nice jolt of WOW.  Sick and Tired, especially, is an absolutely tremendous song.  It’s so well-crafted with a fantastic bridge and a chorus that sticks in your head for days.  Captain Zero is another great chorus with a nice groove throughout the song.

When someone’s been away from music for so long (over a decade for Weisenburg, I believe) it’s easy to be a bit skeptical.  I mean, would he still have it?  I’m so pleased to say that these songs have such a fire in them and there’s so much passion in the music that it’s infectious.  Everything sounds great here and the contributions from the backing musicians (Pete Young on drums, and Polyphonic Spree’s Nick Groesch on keys and Luna Matto on backing vocals) boost the songs even further.  These are all really great songs and I can’t wait to hear more new music from Jason.  A three-song CD is way too short and I find myself listening to this several times in a row…and like any good music, I continuously discover new aspects to these songs with each listen.  Great stuff & highly recommended, esp. for Sick and Tired; what a great song.

Rating: 85