This is roughly the scale I use when reviewing:
*****
= Classic
****= Amazing
***= Good
**= OK
*1/2= Poor
*=
Horrid
Night Visions
Imagine Dragons
It’s not
really my favorite format, but I’d sure as hell love to get Imagine Dragon’s Night Visions on vinyl. Just imagine taking the thing out of its
sleeve, popping it into a vinyl player, setting the needle down on the black
plastic, and collapsing onto your bed holding the album sleeve above your head
just as an ethereal instrument arrangement introduces “Radioactive.” The album cover just fits the music so
well.
If I were
to take this image further (I am) I’d say that the lone figure in the center is
the band and the pentagonal pillars of stone surrounding it represent the
different kind of fans the band is destined to have.
See, the
thing is Imagine Dragons’ debut has something for pretty much any listener of
modern music, (save hip-hop/rap.) Sing
or hum along choruses for the Pop crowd, introspective lyrics for admirers of
modern rock, atmosphere for the alternative crowd, drops and synths for listeners
of electronic*, and something bordering between dark and light for the
metalhead in us all.
The
aforementioned “Radioactive,” in fact, embodies this the most out of anything
on here. The little touches and nuances
the band give this three-minute track are just perfect, especially the strained
gasp during the end of the first verse.
Other songs
similarly shine with a complete atmospheric feel to them, particularly “On Top
of the World,” a song adorned with jangling guitars, passioned whistles, and
vocals that remind me oddly of Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis. There’s a great folk-y feel to this song that
just makes it very spirited and is one of those songs that will likely be
unjustly overlooked. “Amsterdam” has a
similar feel, sans the folk, being more driven by a bass and vocal verse with a
weaker, but still impressive, chorus.
“Demons” is
another strong introspective pop song about a loved one finding out about your
dark side.
Meanwhile,
“Tiptoe” is perhaps the best song that wasn’t previously released. It goes in a similar vein as “Radioactive,”
but it’s got stronger vocals and a very alt-pop chorus. While it’s not an obvious hit, it has a
fighting chance and there's just a very good feel to it.
Of course,
the obvious hit is/was “It’s Time,” a great song driven by percussive claps and a
chorus that would’ve been sung at High School Graduations across the country if
it had caught on a month prior. There’s
something both mournful and hopeful about the band’s proclamation that “It's
time to begin, isn't it? / I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit / I'm
just the same as I was / Now don't you understand / That I'm never changing who
I am.”
Lyrically,
none of these songs break new ground, but they don’t retread either. Even what is perhaps the most derivative
track here, “Hear Me” is a good listen, though I cringe when the chorus starts
and I get the dreaded temptation to sing Avril Lavigne’s “Since You’ve Been
Gone.” (C’mon, I dare you not to feel the same way.)
Matched with the music, the lyrical
content seems fresh, and perhaps goes a little deeper than does most popular
music nowadays.
The overall
result is, while suffering a significant dip in quality in the second half (I
had a hard time making it through “Every Time” even once), a cohesive and
powerful milestone for alternative music.
Maybe this is just me, but I can’t
shake the mental image of Imagine Dragons being some offbeat fusion of The Red
Hot Chili Peppers and Coldplay crafted in an alternate universe. The former is one of my favorite band, while
the latter I can’t help but cringe at.
Yet I definitely weigh this debut as a good, if not excellent, one, and
I can’t imagine any fan of either band detesting of these guys.
*
Imagine Dragons will be a surefire
breakout band this year, but the question on the minds of anyone who already
knows and loves the band will be if the album, as a whole, is worth
getting. After all, four of the five
songs off the Continued Silence EP are represented on their debut, three of
which are obvious single choices. As one
might’ve guessed, my resounding answer is yes.
*I’ll
count it as music though it’s arguably just noise….
**** Stars
North
Matchbox Twenty
Y’know, I
wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything about Matchbox Twenty’s “comeback” album if
it came out two months ago, because I just got over their music being
overplayed in 2002 right around then.
Yet since I am, and have been listening to them a bit lately, I was
mildly excited to see if they would be able to turn up the guitars one last
time for Rob Thomas’ swooning, “smooth” (Santana fans will get that pun) vocals
to croon cliches of 90’s rock one last time.
Well, there
is no “Push” or “Unwell” here, but maybe that’s a good thing. As it is, songs like “She’s So Mean” won’t
infect the masses, but sport a solid hook, and one of the group’s better lyrics;
a similar analysis would apply to “Overjoyed,” except for “dumber” lyrics.
“Parade” is the conventional choice
for a post-grunge band to open their album with. An upbeat rocker with riffs fans will love
but that will never make a commercial splash, the opener is certainly one of
the better things on here.
In the end though, MB20 in 2012
isn’t much different than MB20 in 2002: some strong melodies, some weaker ones,
some filler, some meaningful tracks. The
only difference is that it is 2012,
and post-grunge here reaffirms itself as one of the less endurable rock
movements.
**
Stars
Magic
Smashmouth
…..But
wait, MB20 isn’t the only 90’s rock band unexpectedly releasing an album! Yup, Smashmouth are still alive, and they
haven’t evolved much since the Shrek movies.
This album is pretty much what you’d expect, and therefore, I wouldn’t
expect anybody to listen to it, unless you too get intrigued by Smashmouth
still being around. Which actually
should be everybody.
If you do, the seven year old in
you will be filled with uncontrollable glee.
The poppy sentiment is very 2000’s, as a listen to opening track “Perfect
Planet” will affirm. It’s actually kind
of a catchy song. In fact, a lot of
these are fun little romps back to the world in 1999.
“Magic” is the would-be hit, but it is kinda enjoyable, and there was something
doofily awesome about “Live to Love Another Day,” and ridiculously appealing to
“Flippin’ Out.”
If nothing else though, you have to
give them credit for having the audacity to name a song “Justin Bieber,” in
which they ironically insinuate he’s going to go out of style in between a
chorus of “whoah oh oh oh oh oh oh whoah.”
This might actually be worth picking up if I ever feel like reverting to
my childhood self. So, sometime
soon.
*** Stars
Self-Titled
The Sheepdogs
If you too are utterly and
devastatingly perplexed by the prospect of a Canadian Southern Rock Band in
2012 called Sheepdog, don’t worry about it and just listen to the music. It’s worth it.
Overall, there’s actually a very
garage-y feel to it, the thing having a “laid back” (first song on the album)
feel, filled with guitar fuzz and psychedelia.
In an age where you can’t escape the computer’s influence on music, it’s
refreshing to hear something like this, which is to say, raw, comparable to
early Black Keys or any White Stripes.
That’s not to diminish from it’s
very 70’s feel. Songs like “Feeling
Good” or “The Way It Is” breathe and speak 70’s. All punning aside, it really is a laid back
album. Sure, there’s much higher quality
southern rock and boogie rock, and the production doesn’t feel that much different
than what’s on this, but this is much more accurate a continuation of the style
than modern Lynyrd Skynyrd or Country music.
When it comes down to it, listening
to this reminds me of my phase where I tried to find “sleeper” albums of the
early 70’s, that is, Black Sabbath, Cream, and Deep Purple sound-alikes. In the end, I enjoyed the ride, but there
wasn’t very many songs I’d come back to.
**1/2
Stars
Emerald
Forest and the Sun
Swallow The Sun
Admittedly,
I find most doom and death metal offputting, so who knows what possessed me to
listen to a song off the latest album of a doom/death metal hybrid group. Regardless, it’s not at all what one would
expect, the indistinguishable vocals and lyrics of death and the boringly heavy
churning of doom being mostly absent from this release.
Instead what we get is something oddly
akin to sludge meets folk. The first
track “Emerald Forest and the Blackbird” almost channels The Lord of the Rings,
Celtic-ish chanting adding to the epic feel of the nearly ten minute song. It’s certainly original, and not something
you’d expect coming from an extreme metal band on either side of the
genre. Inevitably, it does go into
full-throttle screaming, but never loses the melody and eloquence to it, kind
of making me want to charge off into some sort of medieval battle with the
thing on.
There’s some odd, unexpected
element to merely every song: melodic singing, acoustic jangles, chords more
akin to power metal, whatever it may be, there’s definitely more to this band
than their supposed label.
A lot of the songs, however, never
take wind beyond their sweeping set ups, showing a band with more than meets
the eye that just can’t channel it all into one concentrated stream of music,
but might someday. In the meantime, I’m
off to listen to some of their earlier stuff.
***
Stars
***FLASHBACK***
Screaming for
Vengeance
Judas Priest
Thirty years on and there’s still not many concert openers that can top “Hellion/Electric Eye,” but what makes it so great is that it also works tremendously well as an album opener. The amount of energy built up in just 40 seconds by the dual guitar leads of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing is unparalleled, and that it’s followed up by the speed riffery of “Electric Eye” makes it all the more incredible.
They’re a
perfect intro for Screaming for Vengeance,
one of Priest’s most well-acclaimed albums.
Rob Halford’s screams and shrieks hint here at an Orwellian Society, the
“electric eye” being Big Brother, whose part is played by Halford for chilling
effect.
Though
Priest don’t carry this energy through all ten songs, the next one certainly
does, “Riding on the Wind” being another live standard for the band, and a
furious one at that, being one of longtime drummer Dave Holland’s best
performances.
Other
tracks don’t have the same live energy as the first few, but remain high
quality metal, such as the simmering “(Take These) Chains” or the Halford
screamer “Bloodstone.”
Halford’s
most impressive shrieker of the album, if not their career, is no doubt “Screaming
for Vengeance,” a song embodied by the album cover and blaring into a red and
seething intensity. With a blaring,
echoing chorus and a devastating riff, this too is Priest at their finest.
Of course,
the adrenaline-pumping “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” may be their best
known, a song both prime metal and a showcase for Priest’s commercial
sensibilities in the early 80’s.
In fact,
the only bad songs on here are “Pain and Pleasure” and “Fever,” both a bit of
an 80’s metal cliché with no hooks or memorable moments.
Priest
choose a song with a decidedly AC/DC crunch to it to close out on, the superb “Devil’s
Child.” By the end of the song,
metalheads were all the more enamored with the Priest, and this still stands as
one of the better albums from one of the most influential names in metal.
The recent
30th anniversary edition couples the original album with five
excellent (per usual) live performances of songs from the album, as well as the
outtake “Prisoner Of Your Eyes,” a respectable song, not to mention adorning it
all with an even cooler cover than the original.
****1/2 Stars
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