Hopefully by now you've resigned yourself to the fact that
this band just isn’t going to make another ‘Number of the Beast’ or ‘Piece of
Mind’. If so, and you’ve liked the direction Maiden has been going in since
about the time of ‘Seventh Son...’, chances are you’ll enjoy this collection.
“Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker” open the album well. Like most of this album,
I wouldn’t characterize either song as being metal. More like fast hard rock.
Perhaps not much of a distinction to some, but compared to classic tracks like
“Aces High” and “The Trooper” these just aren’t that heavy. Still good,
though. “No More Lies” is a good song as well, displaying Maiden’s effortless
knack for writing long songs that don’t get boring, and “Montsegur” is probably
the closest this album gets to the full on metal fury that won this band their
loyal fan base to begin with. After those first four tunes, the rest of the
album doesn’t really stand out much, though. Not bad, but just typical later
period Maiden. Lots of folk music and prog rock getting mixed in with the
metal, lots of slow quiet sections in the songs. It’s not the return to form
some might have been hoping for, but it’s anything but an embarrassment. If you
enjoyed ‘Fear of the Dark’ and ‘Brave New World’ this should do you just fine.
(Bob Ignizio)
I really liked this band when I caught them live at The
Phantasy earlier this month, but this CD doesn’t quite measure up to that
performance. I still dig songs like “Always Tomorrow”, “Waking up Buttercup”,
and “Poltergeist”, I just don’t like the way they sound. It feels like they
were trying too hard for perfection at the expense of passion. Also, the mix
emphasizes vocalist Lily Lane’s sultry delivery while pushing the band into the
background. This works ok on songs like “The Girl Upstairs” and “Sleepyville
Creepshow” (both very good songs) which have sort of a Portishead goes goth
vibe, but more rock oriented numbers like “Always Tomorrow” and “Soul Thief”
sound weaker than they should. The order of the songs doesn’t make a lot of
sense to me, either. While the majority of songs on this CD play up Lazy Lane’s
rock tendencies, the first 3 songs are all slow, languid mood pieces. Overall,
despite my gripes, this is a pretty good release; just not as good as it could
have been. (Bob Ignizio)
If there is any doubt as to the influence of The Ramones,
they just need to listen to the Marked Men's selft titled album to know that the
influence is real. Let's see, there are 13 songs on the album and none of them
are over 2:19 in length. When you listen to the album, there is no doubt that
The Ramones are alive in spirit. From the vocals, to the guitar riffs(all THREE
chords), to the subject matter involved in the songs. Now, you might think that
sounding like the Ramones is a bad thing, but that shouldn't necessarily be the
case. The Ramones aren't making any more music, so it's up to bands like The
Marked Men to keep the spirit alive. Besides, if you don't like any particular
song, it will be over and on to the next one in about two minutes. (Mr. Lee)
The self-titled ‘Pennywise’ and ‘Unknown Road’ are, in my
opinion, forever lodged in the punk rock hall of fame. Both were major
influences in pointing me in a positive direction in life. For that I am ever
grateful as well as appreciative of the kick-ass music accompanying it. So when
I saw their new release I got excited, even knowing full well that since their
fourth album Pennywise has been pretty much mediocre, producing only 1 or 2
decent songs per release. Lyrically, Jim seems to bitch about things rather
than presenting the overcoming alternative. Musically, it doesn't seem to go
anywhere. Some songs border too close to top 40 for my blood. I've hung out
with PW and respect them as musicians, so I don't want this to sound like a put
down at all. But is it just me or does it seem like they only tour on the Van's
Warped Tour anymore? The best song is the first one, "Now I know". And now I
know to treasure good things of the past. However, if you've liked the last few
PW albums you will like this, too. (Mike Salamone)
Hopefully by now you've resigned yourself to the fact that
this band just isn’t going to make another ‘Number of the Beast’ or ‘Piece of
Mind’. If so, and you’ve liked the direction Maiden has been going in since
about the time of ‘Seventh Son...’, chances are you’ll enjoy this collection.
“Wildest Dreams” and “Rainmaker” open the album well. Like most of this album,
I wouldn’t characterize either song as being metal. More like fast hard rock.
Perhaps not much of a distinction to some, but compared to classic tracks like
“Aces High” and “The Trooper” these just aren’t that heavy. Still good,
though. “No More Lies” is a good song as well, displaying Maiden’s effortless
knack for writing long songs that don’t get boring, and “Montsegur” is probably
the closest this album gets to the full on metal fury that won this band their
loyal fan base to begin with. After those first four tunes, the rest of the
album doesn’t really stand out much, though. Not bad, but just typical later
period Maiden. Lots of folk music and prog rock getting mixed in with the
metal, lots of slow quiet sections in the songs. It’s not the return to form
some might have been hoping for, but it’s anything but an embarrassment. If you
enjoyed ‘Fear of the Dark’ and ‘Brave New World’ this should do you just fine.
(Bob Ignizio)
I really liked this band when I caught them live at The
Phantasy earlier this month, but this CD doesn’t quite measure up to that
performance. I still dig songs like “Always Tomorrow”, “Waking up Buttercup”,
and “Poltergeist”, I just don’t like the way they sound. It feels like they
were trying too hard for perfection at the expense of passion. Also, the mix
emphasizes vocalist Lily Lane’s sultry delivery while pushing the band into the
background. This works ok on songs like “The Girl Upstairs” and “Sleepyville
Creepshow” (both very good songs) which have sort of a Portishead goes goth
vibe, but more rock oriented numbers like “Always Tomorrow” and “Soul Thief”
sound weaker than they should. The order of the songs doesn’t make a lot of
sense to me, either. While the majority of songs on this CD play up Lazy Lane’s
rock tendencies, the first 3 songs are all slow, languid mood pieces. Overall,
despite my gripes, this is a pretty good release; just not as good as it could
have been. (Bob Ignizio)
If there is any doubt as to the influence of The Ramones,
they just need to listen to the Marked Men's selft titled album to know that the
influence is real. Let's see, there are 13 songs on the album and none of them
are over 2:19 in length. When you listen to the album, there is no doubt that
The Ramones are alive in spirit. From the vocals, to the guitar riffs(all THREE
chords), to the subject matter involved in the songs. Now, you might think that
sounding like the Ramones is a bad thing, but that shouldn't necessarily be the
case. The Ramones aren't making any more music, so it's up to bands like The
Marked Men to keep the spirit alive. Besides, if you don't like any particular
song, it will be over and on to the next one in about two minutes. (Mr. Lee)
