What can be
said about this 4 CD, 1 DVD box set, except that it is awesome. There are
tracks from every single Judas Priest album, including the two early Gull
Records releases ‘Rocka Rolla’ and ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’, as well as a few
tracks from the Tim “Ripper” Owens era. Just about every song you’d want by
this band is on here, with only a few glaring exceptions like “The Ripper”,
“United”, and “Locked In”. A few tracks are on here only as live versions, but
where Priest is concerned, that’s not a bad thing. Buy this, and you’ll pretty
much have all the Judas Priest you’ll ever need. On the downside, if you
already own all the albums, there isn’t much here you won’t have already. A few
of the aforementioned live tracks are unique to this collection, and there’s an
unreleased studio track called “Heart of a Lion”. But the one thing that might
make this set tempting, even to the fan that has everything, is the DVD of a
1982 concert from the ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ tour. This was Priest in their
prime, and both the set list and the performances are excellent. The box set
also comes with a book, but my review copy did not, so I can’t say much about
that. (Bob Ignizio)
Well I’ve raved about these guys before on here, while
reviewing some of their side projects, so it’s nice to finally see a proper new
full-length (almost – 7 songs in a little over 20 minutes). While I would
recommend most everything these guys (and gal) have done, in my mind their
masterpiece is the “Rats Brains and Microchips” LP from 2002. And this 12”
comes off almost as a missing third side to that great record. Even cover art
carries on the same motif. The record starts out very similar musically as
well, beginning calmly with a cello introduction before bursting into the
all-out chaos of the title track. Basically the same driving art-punk with both
Jay and Alicia shrieking over the guitars and synths. Most of the record
follows in the same vein as well, with the exception that compared to the Rats
Brains… LP , this almost sounds danceable at times – In particular the
short-but-catchy “Rearview Mirror” and a remake of Digital Leather’s (an
electronic project of ex-Reatard and sometimes LS co-conspirator Ryan Wong)
“Black Flowers”. This record probably isn’t the best starting point for the
band, but essential for fans. Don’t let the mentions of female vocals, synths
and danceable fool you though – comparing LS to a band like the Epoxies is like
comparing the Reatards to a straight-forward Back From the Grave revival band.
Watch for a proper full-length in October and check out recent side-projects
such as Nervous Patterns and Mouserocket if you need more now.
http://www.lostsounds.net (Russ Romance)
Cleveland, Ohio has had some
of the greatest punk bands ever: Dead Boys, Pagans, Squirts, The Plague. The
list is far too long to list here. Add Murdercoaster (MCR) to those ranks of
greatness. They don't take themselves too seriously, and are an absolute joy to
listen to. Old school style punk rock that puts a big smile on your face. I'm
not kidding! I played them for my friend Sebastian, and he grinned from ear to
ear like I haven't seen him do in a long time. That's because MCR's sound is so
old school it'll take you back to the early 80's, when punk was punk and not
infiltrated by shit like Blink 182 and Yellowcard calling themselves "punk". And
guess what? They're not!! MCR is!!!! Classic songs like "Have You Seen My
Billfold?", "Landshark", and the "C.S. Pierce Blues", will put a mohawk on your
head just by listening. Keep your eyes out for these guys. (Mike Salamone)
I’ve liked the
vast majority of albums by England’s The Orb, and I found their more recent
releases like ‘Orblivion’ and ‘Cydonia’ especially satisfying. Unfortunately,
‘Bicycles & Tricycles’ is a mixed bag, with detours into “trip hop” and
repetitive dance beats getting in the way of the psychedelic ambience the group
is best known for. The disc starts off with a one-two punch of blandness with
the instrumental “Orb Is” and a track featuring the vocals of one Soom T titled
“Aftermath”. “The Land of Green Ginger”, on the other hand, is classic Orb;
inventive ambient music with a strange spoken word sample providing the “hook”.
Then it’s another two tracks of unmemorable filler before “Prime Evil” and
“Abstractions” remind us what this group is capable of. “From a Distance”
starts off pretty cool, but then the vocals come in and cheese things up.
“Tower 23” is another so-so instrumental. The last two tracks, a pair of
ambient instrumentals titled “Rompania” and “Dilmun”, at least end the album
with some material as good as the best of The Orb’s past work. I understand
artists wanting to evolve and experiment, but the tracks on here where The Orb
branches out feel more like attempts to get played in the dance clubs. Even by
the undemanding standards of club music, the attempts fall short. At least
there’s still half of a good album here, but whether or not that’s worth
spending your money on is debatable. (Bob Ignizio)
What can be
said about this 4 CD, 1 DVD box set, except that it is awesome. There are
tracks from every single Judas Priest album, including the two early Gull
Records releases ‘Rocka Rolla’ and ‘Sad Wings of Destiny’, as well as a few
tracks from the Tim “Ripper” Owens era. Just about every song you’d want by
this band is on here, with only a few glaring exceptions like “The Ripper”,
“United”, and “Locked In”. A few tracks are on here only as live versions, but
where Priest is concerned, that’s not a bad thing. Buy this, and you’ll pretty
much have all the Judas Priest you’ll ever need. On the downside, if you
already own all the albums, there isn’t much here you won’t have already. A few
of the aforementioned live tracks are unique to this collection, and there’s an
unreleased studio track called “Heart of a Lion”. But the one thing that might
make this set tempting, even to the fan that has everything, is the DVD of a
1982 concert from the ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ tour. This was Priest in their
prime, and both the set list and the performances are excellent. The box set
also comes with a book, but my review copy did not, so I can’t say much about
that. (Bob Ignizio)
Well I’ve raved about these guys before on here, while
reviewing some of their side projects, so it’s nice to finally see a proper new
full-length (almost – 7 songs in a little over 20 minutes). While I would
recommend most everything these guys (and gal) have done, in my mind their
masterpiece is the “Rats Brains and Microchips” LP from 2002. And this 12”
comes off almost as a missing third side to that great record. Even cover art
carries on the same motif. The record starts out very similar musically as
well, beginning calmly with a cello introduction before bursting into the
all-out chaos of the title track. Basically the same driving art-punk with both
Jay and Alicia shrieking over the guitars and synths. Most of the record
follows in the same vein as well, with the exception that compared to the Rats
Brains… LP , this almost sounds danceable at times – In particular the
short-but-catchy “Rearview Mirror” and a remake of Digital Leather’s (an
electronic project of ex-Reatard and sometimes LS co-conspirator Ryan Wong)
“Black Flowers”. This record probably isn’t the best starting point for the
band, but essential for fans. Don’t let the mentions of female vocals, synths
and danceable fool you though – comparing LS to a band like the Epoxies is like
comparing the Reatards to a straight-forward Back From the Grave revival band.
Watch for a proper full-length in October and check out recent side-projects
such as Nervous Patterns and Mouserocket if you need more now.
Cleveland, Ohio has had some
of the greatest punk bands ever: Dead Boys, Pagans, Squirts, The Plague. The
list is far too long to list here. Add Murdercoaster (MCR) to those ranks of
greatness. They don't take themselves too seriously, and are an absolute joy to
listen to. Old school style punk rock that puts a big smile on your face. I'm
not kidding! I played them for my friend Sebastian, and he grinned from ear to
ear like I haven't seen him do in a long time. That's because MCR's sound is so
old school it'll take you back to the early 80's, when punk was punk and not
infiltrated by shit like Blink 182 and Yellowcard calling themselves "punk". And
guess what? They're not!! MCR is!!!! Classic songs like "Have You Seen My
Billfold?", "Landshark", and the "C.S. Pierce Blues", will put a mohawk on your
head just by listening. Keep your eyes out for these guys. (Mike Salamone)
I’ve liked the
vast majority of albums by England’s The Orb, and I found their more recent
releases like ‘Orblivion’ and ‘Cydonia’ especially satisfying. Unfortunately,
‘Bicycles & Tricycles’ is a mixed bag, with detours into “trip hop” and
repetitive dance beats getting in the way of the psychedelic ambience the group
is best known for. The disc starts off with a one-two punch of blandness with
the instrumental “Orb Is” and a track featuring the vocals of one Soom T titled
“Aftermath”. “The Land of Green Ginger”, on the other hand, is classic Orb;
inventive ambient music with a strange spoken word sample providing the “hook”.
Then it’s another two tracks of unmemorable filler before “Prime Evil” and
“Abstractions” remind us what this group is capable of. “From a Distance”
starts off pretty cool, but then the vocals come in and cheese things up.
“Tower 23” is another so-so instrumental. The last two tracks, a pair of
ambient instrumentals titled “Rompania” and “Dilmun”, at least end the album
with some material as good as the best of The Orb’s past work. I understand
artists wanting to evolve and experiment, but the tracks on here where The Orb
branches out feel more like attempts to get played in the dance clubs. Even by
the undemanding standards of club music, the attempts fall short. At least
there’s still half of a good album here, but whether or not that’s worth
spending your money on is debatable. (Bob Ignizio)