I'm happy for a new WWE cd but it's far from their best...
353425
I'm always happy for a new WWE cd and it's been quite awhile since the 15th anniversary cd only had like two new tracks and Volume 7  going through Itunes was a bunch of bs but I'm glad Volume 8 is now available and I got mine at Wal-Mart for the 3 bonus tracks so I'll break it down by track.
1- Jeff Hardy- Decent rock track but nothing special (5/10)
2- Kofi Kingston- I hate raggae but this isn't too terrible, again nothing special (4/10)
3- Beth Phoenix- Better than the first two tracks kind of a weird futuristic sounding song doesn't fit Beth well (6/10)
4- Mark Henry- Better than his previous themes but didn't care much for this either, the beat is good but the rapping is crap (5/10)
5- Hawkins & Ryder- Suprised this is on here since they never talk about these guys, another lame track (5/10)
6- Jillian- Oh lord this is bad and not even funny (2/10)
7- Mr. McMahon- Another version of No Chance In Hell and the worst yet, I like Theory of a Deadman and look forward to their new album but they crapped on this (4/10)
8- ECW Theme- Best track on here really good (8/10)
9- Jesse & Festus- One of the better tracks on here too (7/10)
10- Candice Michelle- Absolutely horrible mix of her old theme, worst track on the cd (1/10)
11- John Morrison- Good rock track but not great (6/10)
12- Shelton Benjamin- The rock is good but rap is the worst garbage ever and brings down any song (4/10)
13- Mr. Kennedy- I don't like Airbourne much but they did a good job with this (6/10)
14- Chris Jericho- This wasn't needed at all, too many versons of Jericho's theme just like McMahon's but a decent cover I guess (5/10)
And the 3 bonus tracks exclusive to Wal-Mart
15- Ashley- This is a terrible cover of her original theme, the original was really good this is really bad (3/10)
16- Hornswoggle- I'm glad this is on here it's a happy little tune and one of the better tracks for sure (7/10)
17- Santino Marella- I like Santino and this is kinda good, better than most of the tracks on here (5.5/10)

Overall I'd give this a 3 out of 5. It's one of their worst cds but I'm a huge wrestling fan and was still happy and still worth the money for several good tracks. I'd like an Anthology volume 2 but I'm hoping Volume 9 doesn't take years to come out.
4667895
So this CD basically sounds like what it is. It's a great band before they were truly great. Here they are good, and I can't really credit them for being more than good. It's not as good as the classic Andiamo or the newer 12:34, which for me get playtime almost every week in my CD collection of more than 150 CDs, but it's still a good effort and a must-have for fans of this band.

The problem with this CD, that is, what keeps it from the pure greatness of the other releases, is that it's all over the place. Not like Andiamo, where the transitions from song to song find us experiencing different sound, but on this CD, a lot of SONGS are all over the place. Not that I don't love punk, reggae, and surf music, but if you're going to shove all that down my throat at least give me some time to get ready for it. A perfect example is the song "Superb*tch" which starts off with a speedy ska-punk sound, then breaks down into a reggae bit, and then picks up and finishes on straight out in your face punk. Now, they did this again on their other CDs, on songs like "100 years of war," but here it's less coherant and more random. The other issue, and this is an issue with every Authority Zero CD, is that when they were mixing it they made the bass too quiet on most songs. Jeremey Wood was a phenominal bassist with this band and his lines are very intricate, yet we can barely hear them.

All that aside, this CD seriously kicks it some time. It's got a good blend of fast beat mosh songs and then the more chill/relax tunes that you could sit back on the beach or in your home and just jam to, the most notable being "One More Minute," which is 6+ minutes of reggae bliss, even if it failed to launch these guys into the mainstream (But that's good right, I mean nothing good ever happens to bands once they launch into the mainstream, right?)

Overall, this is a CD that is good for parties and when you're down and need to listen something to cheer up. Personally, I love running and working out to it, it gets me pumped. I would say, however, to get the other two Authority Zero CDs first before this, and remember when you finally do get this, that it's a little out there, and it takes a few listens to truly enjoy as a great piece.

Okay I lied, I did end up using great instead of good, oh well.

Highlight tracks: "A Passage in Time" "Everyday" and "Mesa Town"
3258124
I too, am not thrilled by the last 3 offerings from this great artist. I liked M2 but since that CD, nothing. I still play M2 just like I just bought it....and will continue to do so until Marcus releases something better.
The music isn't bad it just lacks energy and power. I'm still a fan, though.
3448913
Dunno why, but it seems like the studio where these tracks where recorded just wasn't up to par.  I consider myself an audiophile, and for some reason every track is missing a certain crispness and quality ive come to expect.  Ive listened to it in my car and on my PC and was disapointed in both locations.  Some of the songs are really catchy and hot.  They have a new CD now too that I am debating on checking out.
3619751
The soundtrack for Cursed is not exactly what I thought it would be.  I like the songs on it, but I was expecting, I think, perfection and it is not.  It is not quite up to par for many of the bands that are on this CD.  This CD is not that bad, however, it is not special.  If you like the bands I would purchase it for those bands, but if you are wondering about the bands I would hold off on this CD.  And buy one of the bands CD you like.
725069
Anybody that says that 3rd Strike is going to explode on the rock scene, well, too late.  They have already broken up so I don't see that happening anytime soon.  But I'm not saying I didn't like them while they were around. They put on great live shows.  This rap-metal group comes all the way from San Diego.  While this album is very good at being heavy while the leadman lets loose his straight, forceful raps, it lacks in the originality department.  A million bands have tried this before: combining hard rock jams with a MC rapping the vocals.  And a lot of them have gotten very little recognition, such Revielle or the Phunk Junkeez.  3rd Stike pulls this off decently, but still have gotten virtually no recognition.  The cd kicks off kicking ass with Flow Heat, then most of the songs follow the same formula, with the exception of "Redemption" and "Hang On".  The hardest song on the cd has to be "All Lies" ,which I like a lot.  They also throw in a Black Sabbath cover "Paranoid" which would be a lot more enjoyable without the turntable scratching.  I would say that this is worth the money if it's on sale for 12 bucks or under. It's not bad, but it's not the best rock album out there right now.
4147418
I really enjoyed Plans and The Photo album, so I was really looking forward to this CD.  Maybe it's one of those albums that need several listens before the songs grow on you, but so far after two times of playing through the CD, I'm not really liking it much.  The first single "I Will Possess Your Heart" is just sort of meh, the other songs didn't really stand out to me like so many on past albums have.

I'm wishing I had waited for a friend to buy this so I could have borrowed it instead of buying preordering it only to be so let down.
3932110
It's an ok cd, but some of the songs are not very good.
1396707
I was excited when i bought this cd, but i listened to it a few times, i do feel that some of the songs get old quickly. There's way too much rapping in this record, although there are a few good songs on it such as "My Way" "Rollin'(Air Raid Vehicle)" and "My Generation". Limp didn't really do well on this album, but they tried, just not there yet. A few songs on this record are boring, the effects aren't that good or badly used. Still, their hard work on this album is much appreciated.
I'm not saying that this album is bad, it's just that it won't grab your attention the way other bands do. Don't expect too much from this record, try out "Significant Other", one of the older stuff from Limp, you would find it more satisfying than this.
165336
It was a good cd but I feel it was missing something. There hasn't been a helloween cd I've listened to that I haven't liked yet and this is pushing it. Little too radio friendly with this one. Still a solid outing but won't win album of the year or have that long lasting of impact on anything.
660805
I don't think the theme music dubbing won't be a big deal.  You don't really here the wrestler's theme music when they enter the royal rumble anyway.  Maybe the opening matches will matter but not the rumble itself.  Overall I'm glad they released this set. I hope SummerSlam and Survivor Series come soon too.
1696257
Here it is at last. The highly anticipated new cd from The Gathering!
No doubt this new release was very important for the band to prove they can carry on just fine without their former singer. Did they succeed?

Well, to be honest, yes and no. Overall I find this to be an "okay" album. The new singer is proficient enough, but lacks a little in comparison to the former The Gathering singer Anneke (which is understandable given how great Anneke is).

There are some really nice songs on here that I find to be moving and fairly solid. This is a little more guitar driven than the last cd "Home", but by no means is it very heavy at all. The songs seem like a natural progression from "Home" and if you liked that last album you'll find something to like on The West Pole also.

But there are several songs on here that to me seem boring and uninspired. Almost like they didn't really know what direction to take some of the songs, so they just kind of dragged them out in a repetitive way. It's difficult for me to find a strong desire to restart the cd again unless for the reason of seeing if I can try to like it more. Perhaps with more time it will grow on me some.

My personal hunch is that their former singer Anneke also contributed her own ideas and parts to the song making process on previous Gathering albums. Whereas this time, the band was left to do it all on their own without Anneke's help, and then just have the new singer sing the parts assigned to her. So they lost a strong creative force in the band and I think it shows.

By no means is this a "bad" album. It's good, just not great, and to me doesn't feel very much inspired. Still, if your a long time fan of The Gathering like me and want their new works then feel free to get it. You'll for sure enjoy 3-4 of the songs on here, maybe more.
3094956
These guys are one of my favorite bands of all time and they haven't disappointed, this just wasn't as good of a CD as their older stuff.
3302551
Not a bad CD, but not as good as their earlier work. Still worthwhile!
3909156
the fact that this is the most likely the last 'original' album by coal chamber is a downer coz this shouldn't be the way to remember them by the releasing of b-sides and whatnot. now, i do like this cd. its actually good to have i guess all of their rare tracks in one place.

but i do take issue with some of this. for example, the first track. if you download it off the official roadrunner records site and just listen to it, you can't really tell what dez is saying. you understand the majority of it, with some parts leaving you scratching your head. its only here while reading the lyrics it gives you an idea that dez's ego is really kicking in and taking multiple potshots at his bandmates (at the time their future was up in the air and no one knew what was what). its disrespectful in a manner to use a coal chamber song as a "f**k you" to the people who made the music. also, its old music with dez's new vocal style...it just doesn't work.

then there the "remixes"...they can hardly be construed as remixes as there is barely anything there that is different. if anything most of the songs have tiny portions that are minutely different with the rest sounding like an album version. if anything, it's almost like a lord-alge remix, barely anything different but requiring a listen to both back to back to hear a difference. but there is a difference that you can hear, but not much. "el cu cuy" is an example of that, it just sounds like the album version with the beginning removed. now, the only one that truly sounds like a remix would be "sway" with guest vocals by jay gordon and ryan shuck of orgy. the "bradley" remix is not that great and i do deduct points coz it's an edit. imagine, an edit on an album with a p.a.

but, the remixes are listenable and good as long as you think of them as alternate versions, not remixes. the original version of "pig" sounds exactly like the album version...its weird. then you got the stuff that were soundtrack exclusives. you have the phenomanal original version of "not living" that was on 'strangeland'. its absolutely great. then theres "blisters" that was on 'bride of chucky'...again another great track.

then there's some unreleased stuff like 'anxiety', 'save yourself' that are pretty good. but i'm confused coz i knew about 'anxiety' since '97 or so before 'chamber music' came out. apparently it was on the loco single, but here in the booklet it says 'dark days outtake'. the live version of 'big truck' is nice but it bothers me that i don't know when it was recorded...but since its the last track before the demos, i imagine it was somewhat recent.

now the demos are not all that spectactular. its hard to listen to them and not draw a comparision to what ended up on the debut. it does make you appreciate the debut just a bit more and how it turned out coz if those songs weren't fine tuned, the demo versions are most likely what we would've had. an example is 'loco'...dez's vocals are no near as good as the debut. in fact, its dez's vocals that no more near as good on any of them...its almost as if getting dumped on the day of recording vocal tracks for the debut did him a favor. the music is great though. the one demo thats truly good is 'babbit'. why? coz we've never heard it before and there is nothing to compare it to. it stands on its own and it is great. in fact, the beginning is pretty good...it's pretty jaw-dropping.

in the end, when its over...its just a sad ending to what was a great band. especially when listening to demos...it's difficult to imagine the band recording them trying to get a record deal ended up going out with a whimper instead a bang. shame.
4449712
The CD overall is alright.  It doesn't capture his full potential.
3732352
I originally ripped this as 'Nowhere close to the quality of their&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Halestorm/dp/B001SGEUNI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Halestorm</a>&nbsp;debut, one of my favorite female rocker albums ever.'  But after multiple more listens, that may have been too harsh.  I was just expecting better after their awesome debut.  If not compared to that & just taken on its own merits, it's not bad.  But I still think they have better stuff in them.  Hopefully they'll combine the best of their 1st 2 for #3.  I also still recommend the "Deluxe" version for its 3 nice Bonus Tracks.