Cookie-Monster vocals eat into an otherwise fair Therion album
585830
With operatic voicing, slammmin' guitars & bass and backed by a symphonic orchestra, _Lemuria_ starts off as a great Therion album. Shortly, however, death-metal style 'cookie-monster' vomiting into the mike cut in and destroyed a few songs. I'm not a big fan of 'Cookie-Monster' vocals: I don't see the attraction of the style. An old buddy of mine with a music degree loves the heavy, harsh tonal growls: in his opinion, guttural death-metal style vocals are closer to 'pure music' (e.g. lacking verbal content) than main-stream singing. I certainly see his point, and I definitely prefer it to auto-tuned 'singing', but it's "just not my bag, baby." If guttural "throat singing" is 'your thing,' then this album will be just fine for you. Not every song is ruin't; however, so it's entirely reasonable to give the songs a listen & pick and choose. I find that Therion albums lose some of their magic if you don't listen to them in a linear fashion, but that in no way detracts from the excellence of individual songs.

Therion's musical style has changed drastically over the enterprise's ('band' doesn't really seem to signify when discussing Therion) many continuous decades of music creation. As a result, Therion fans enjoy diverse tastes and few love/hate the entire catalogue equally. To identify weather or not this review will help you: I love _Deggial_, _Secret_of_the_Runes_, _Vovin_, and _Theli_. I absolutely adore their cover of ABBA's "Summernight City". Good songs do exist on this album: "Lemuria", "Quetzalquatal", and "An Arrow from the Sun" are worthy pieces. However, death-metal style vocals eat into a few songs, and even w/o that particular detraction, the album as a whole doesn't compare to Therion's better works: _Secret_of_the_Runes_, _Vovin_, _Deggial_, and _Theli_. _Lemuria_ is pretty good operatic metal, but certainly is not an awesome Therion album. If you like Therion, you'll find enough here to please you; although, given a choice you should investigate other Therion albums prior to settling for this one.

I'm not displeased with this album.
597509
As with every TMV release from Amputechure onwards -including, and in particular the el Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez- group frontman/vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala is the weakest link, proving it with this Spinal Tap-esque terminal excreta called NOCTOURNIQUET: an appropriately ironic title for has-been 40-something hipster Bixler-Zavala; the only thing preventing a doze into the comparatively blissful silence of sleep whilst listening to this album is the freak-eunuch, electronically treated spastic faerie-mewlings of the vocalist as he smears his farce-tastically unplayful neologisms over the otherwise acceptable instrumental work accomplished by the group's talented half.

The Mars Volta is a chameleon, shape-shifting recycling plant for the transmogrification of what's actually happening and relevant in contemporary music into an acceptably neutered and consumable package for the ADD-ADHD/"I-me-me-mine" generation.

This is the "Dad-Music" of the future, and it is stillborn.
3517158
Not a horrible album, and the exhibition of talent and musical craft is definitely there, but what I have a difficult time overlooking is the "whining" vocal style.  At times it almost becomes a flat-out distraction.  I am not referring to a sense of passion or conveyance within the song being sung, or the lyrics, but a literal style in which the singer is singing.  Only one other vocalist has ever had a singing style that annoyed, distracted, or repulsed me more than this one (Darius Rucker of Hootie and Blowfish... ironically, he improved when he went solo, and his voice took on some life).  It's that aspect alone that will prevent me from investing in any more albums by Phosphorescent, unfortunately.
4897087
If L7 or Hole had borrowed some of the Lunachicks' thunder on their later albums, they would have sounded like Betty Blowtorch.  Fifteen songs about betrayal, drinking, rock and roll, and sex that would have Kittie scrambling to sharpen their claws and Babes In Toyland (if they were still around) a run for their money.  Heck, I can see them going fifteen rounds with Kittie, L7, Courtney Love, even Sleater-Kinney at the same time(!) and come out bloody, but not bowed, in say, three rounds.  I kid you not.  So if you are a man who has betrayed or wronged them, prepared for A) instant death, B) instant castration, C) instant violence done to your person, D) a song written about you, or E) all of the above.
They have no problem above shrieking the words "slut," "hooker," the F-word, or any other profanity multiple times.  In fact, they thrive on it.
The opening guitar riffs on "Hell On Wheels" and the eff off attitude against the law would make Motley Crue proud, even the way vocalist Bianca B***hole pronounces a** as "ay-yass."  Her voice here sounds like but outdoes Courtney Love.  Come to think of it, Bianaca sounds like a female Vince Neil here and on "Love/Hate."
Vanilla Ice makes a guest appearance on "Size Queen," where he boasts the credentials of his reputed manhood.
Bianca really sounds like Donita Sparks of L7 on "I Wanna Be Your Sucker."
The tempo slows down a bit with the heartbreak story song, "I'm Ugly And I Don't Know Why."  It's probably the angriest song here and is about the bitter growing pains of elementary school.  The monologue involving a confrontation with a girl who steals away the narrator's boyfriend blazes with fury and builds to a crescendo to where the narrator calls her rival a little c***.  Do I feel her pain and anger?  Until it burns away my skin!
The girls grew up on hair bands and they do a heartfelt mid-paced number here, naming Lita Ford, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, and Ratt, on "Big Hair, Broken Heart."  I grew up with those hair bands too, and not many of them have survived the 1990's or 2000's.
I can list more than a handful of people who deserve the lyrics of sing/chant "I Wish You'd Die" sung to them just to let'em know where they stand.  Yes, I hate that many people.
 The CD sleeve contains not only the lyrics to the songs, but also Playboy-like vital statistic about each of the girls.  For example, the heavily-tattoed Bianca describes her breasts as "2 Scoops of Whipped Cream & a Bowl of Cherries= 36-24-36" and lists her fantasy as Steve Tyler's lips around her bowl of cherries.  Lead guitarist Blare N ... has the funniest list; her sign is "Radioactive Waste," measurements are "Long And Narrow," and her fantasy is "Car Insurance."  Or how about guitarist Sharon Needles' fantasy, to have an all-girl bike gang called "The Menstrual Cycles"?
Take my advice--these girls mean business!  And whatever you do, don't mess with them, unless you have a death wish.  They could go ten rounds with any world dictator and come out the champs.  Oh yes, and they can put out a killer album, like this one!  Thanks, and please don't kill me!
1972199
Album #2 for Portuguese band Oratory sees the group sally forth with this eleven track (+1 one hidden one) totalling over fifty minutes of metal that has more than a touch of hard rock in its belly and hard rock that is too stridently serious via power metal infusion to be called .... well.... hard rock.

That is, I guess, a complicated way of saying that this isn't face melting metal that will kill your pet beagle or scare off your grandmother and it does have a fair amount of groove by dint of its rhythm section along with vocal hooks. When these ingredients are augmented by the incisive guitar work of Miguel Gomes the brew heads off to headbang-ville and the listener is greeted with a power metal album that has a range of the hysterics of that genre removed.

The aforementioned points would allow this band to be a reasonable enough proposition but they do have another ace in the hole - they have a female vocalist (no, seriously, don't run away guys, hear me out). Rather than go the symphonic path with some sort of feline with its genitalia in a vice the vocals of Ana Lara are more in the human realm. Her voice is undeniably feminine but she fires off her vocals without trying to make it look like she is doing a clinic. And when the band use some male vocals there isn't a cookie-monster-on-acid in sight. Nope, just a standard male voice as a counterpoint and it's a quality gambit.

Production wise the album sounds fine, everything hangs together making for a complete sounding package and the booklet has full lyrics and very brief and effusive band bio.

A healthy four stars for Beyond Earth.
2556027
Luckily, I never bought Best of Vol I. So this is a better value for me than others. I am satisfied with the song selection from the Roth era, which is the only thing I was interested in. Like others have noted, Roth and Hagar each serve a different audience that have little in common. Roth VH caters to the traditional long-haired hard rock demographic of the early-80s and Hagar VH is for the trimmed and primped top 40 radio audience.

 Bearing the above in mind, that brings me to my main beef with this compilation - why on earth did they interlace each track with a different vocalist, i.e. Roth, Hagar, Roth, Hagar, Roth, Hagar, etc. That is beyond annoying! You have to buy both disks with the package. Why does the record company care if you only end up listening to one of them? They still get their money. It's like they're telling me "you better listen to Sammy, too, or he might feel bad."

 Now I have to burn all the Roth tracks on to a CD-R in order to avoid pressing the skip button on my stereo remote every four minutes (not to mention switching from disk 1 to disk 2). The three new tracks are not very impressive. The guitar playing is heavier but sounds tuned way down. The lyrics are completely moronic. Way immature for guys in their fifties. I would rather have 'Beat It' on here than 'Up for Breakfast.'

 Not worth $20 in my estimation. (I got it for $14.99 by the way.)
2048146
On paper, Audioslave sounds like the ideal fusion of the talents present in Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden. Wrap your head around the potential--the talents of Rage guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Cumberfield, and drummer Brad Wilk (maybe not as talented as the rhythm team of Ben Shepard/Matt Cameron, but more than adequate) with the soaring vocal prescence of Chris Cornell instead of Zach De La Rocha's harsh rapping. Good idea, right?
It should be said that I am a fan of both bands, and both had their own unique values and characteristics that endeared them to me. I enjoyed RATM's political message and the unique feel that Zach added, and I loved Soundgarden's "Black Sabbath-meets-Led Zeppelin by way of Seattle" sound too. But Audioslave, in the end, does these influences a disservice by being inferior to both bands.
The lyrics ditch the political aspects in favor of philosophical/mystical subject matter, and I'm fine with that. The problem is that the sum of the band members just isn't as strong as it should be here. While Tom Morello's guitar work is still unique and powerful (listen to that solo on Like A Stone and try telling me you don't get goosebumps), the rest of the band feels somewhat uninspired. The rhythm section is solid but dull compared to their work with RATM, pretty much just bashing out imitations of what they did before. Most importantly, Chris Cornell's voice has degenerated badly since his Soundgarden days, and has become much too raspy. He's lost his patented banshee howls, and while his softer vocals are passable they certainly aren't as powerful. The overall effect is that of a second-rate Soundgarden.
Alright, perhaps I'm being too critical, as there is enough good material on this debut to make it worth buying. The opener and single Cochise is a great song to start, and it's followed by good tracks like Gasoline, Like A Stone, Exploder, I Am The Highway, and Hypnotize (which features neat, almost spoken word vocals). My pick for favorite is Shadow On The Sun, which features a mind-blowing solo and shows what this band *could* create if they put some more work into it.
I'll throw this album a three-star score. Looking at it from the angle of a brand-new band, this is a good debut (especially given its mainstream competition). However, as a Soundgarden/RATM fan, it is very disappointing to see this level of talent go to waste. I won't write them off just yet, as their upcoming second album may be a lot better. For now I give this album a tentative recommendation.
3714654
I have built up hype for this album, based entirely on the single "en que momento" which is truly awesome. It is the old flavor of Moenia with some new treats.  The rest of the tracks are listenable, easy on the ears. Falls short of the 5th star since it let me down, but gently.  Kind of the same way Le Modulor did.  The same hurting because we are breaking apart theme is there, but in a bit less meaty way.  popsynth.com has samples and some translations if you need.  Get Televisor only after you have Adicion, Morbo, and self titled.
3980929
The vocals need a lot of work, and I was just really let down...
4464261
Not too bad, not bad at all. I still consider "Theli" as the best work of theirs, unfortunatly that one isn't that easy to obtain in US. But this one is in a lot of ways similar to "Theli", maybe even too similar, I would appreciate some more variations in theme. That's probably the only reason for 4 stars, instead of 5. But if you've never heard Therion before, or if you haven't heard their "Theli" or "Vovin", buy this one, at least. It's not too heavy (actually, even my mother likes it), it's stuffed with gothic. It is also a recommended buy, if you want to introduce your girlfriend to the world of your music, for it doesn't "hurt" the ears of mortals, unlike many other albums by other Doom or Gothic metal bands. And also, it will stay in your CD-player for a while: there's a lot of melodies, symphony instruments and choir, and cool guitar riffs to enjoy.
4932208
The first time I ever heard of Spock's Beard was when I discovered the mighty Lord Chimp's page on Amazon.  In every album he reviewed by SB, he gave it five stars all the way, with such memorable lines as "they're the best band ever," "they're all gods," "they write rich and melodic progressive rock songs," and so on.  This intrigued me.  Since I fell in love with Dream Theater and Rush and these guys seem to sound good, why not?  I took a chance and bought V, their most recent release. Unfortunately, I wanted to send it back to the store immediately.  I still continued to play it, giving it chance after chance, repeatedly pressing the play button on my CD player to see if I could find something I would like.  Well, I tried and...this album is a major disappointment.
Out of the six songs on here, only two - count 'em - TWO stand out.  "Revelation" is a good rockin' song.  It's a traditional rock song, starting slow in the verses and rocking out during the chorus.  It's done so well that I'm surprised guitarist Alan Morse doesn't stand out as much on the rest of the album.  "Goodbye to Yesterday" is a nice, supple ballad with a cool French horn solo and a memorable chorus.
Other than those two songs, the rest all seem like really bad songs to me, especially the two "epic" tracks.
"At the End of the Day" is the 16-minute opener that starts out strongly for the first 6 minutes...and quickly fades into oblivion.  I don't know how many times Neal Morse sings "At the end of the day/You'll be fine."  Around the 100th time he sings it, I wanted to strangle him.
"Thoughts (Part II)" would've worked better as a ballsy, no holds barred instrumental, but Morse's irritating whine and the rest of the band's goofy vocals turned me off.
"All on a Sunday."  It stinks.  'Nuff said.
Finally, we reach the 27-minute closer "The Great Nothing."  This song has boredom written all over it.  And I mean boredom in gigantic letters.  B-O-R-I-N-G.  Where's the awe?  The sense of wonder?  The melody?  The complexity?  The fantastic musicianship?  The imaginative lyrics?  NONE of that is presented here.  I literally wanted to kill myself - it was so awful.
The musicians play well, but they're not "gods."  Nick D'Virgilio is a good drummer, but he's not a mind-blower like Mike Portnoy, John Bonham, or Neil Peart.  He's actually pretty boring (there's that word again).  Ryo Okumoto basically repeats Morse's keyboard parts.  Speaking of Neal Morse, why is his voice so irritating on this record?  I recently bought Transatlantic's BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER and his voice sounds really amazing on it.  On V, he sounds weak, raspy, and uninspired.  Now, Spock's Beard are far more talented than a lot of the things that pass off as rock these days on MTV or on the radio.  But SB are a really bland group.
If you want to hear some truly awesome progressive rock, then I suggest you go out and buy Dream Theater's SCENES FROM A MEMORY, Rush's MOVING PICTURES, and Yes' CLOSE TO THE EDGE.  If you want to hear Beatles-esque prog. done to perfection, buy Transatlantic's BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER.  I suggest you buy V only if you're suffering from a severe case of insomnia.
2337189
When I heard "REBIRTHING" on the radio, I thought, "AWESOME, Skillet is back in force!"  That song is undoubtedly one of their most powerful blow-you-out-of-the-back-of-the-concert-hall tracks they've ever laid down. So, I waited with eagerness the release of the full album, refamiliarizing myself with the great ALIEN YOUTH and COLLIDE in the mean time.

How disappointing, then, when I heard the rest of the disc!  The second track, "THE LAST NIGHT," featuring wife Korey, is a nice follow up to REBIRTHING, no doubt - but then there was another slow song, then a slight break with BETTER THAN DRUGS, and then slow, and then slow, and then slooooow . . . till I got to THOSE NIGHTS - and that's when I actually picked up the cover to make sure I hadn't accidentally gotten an Audio Adrenaline CD (those "Oh-Oh-Ohs" in the backing vocals . . . COME ON, MAN!)  Sadly, the rock edge is just missing this time.  Skillet started with grunge, then segued into industrial a bit before landing firmly in hard rock with ALIEN YOUTH and COLLIDE, their best works to date.  This is a sad turn into more mellow territory.  It is still loud, but it just lacks the emotional punch and verve of the previous releases.  I don't mind some slower songs, in fact I've always liked them before.  But when its track after track, it just gets disappointing!  Like the reviewer below said, this album seems geared for a different audience, a more mainstream audience that likes catchy ballads - it is not the disk that long-time fans of this stellar band deserve!  I hope they will return to edgier sounds in their subsequent releases.

I give it two stars for REBIRTHING, which is one of their best tracks of all time.  But the rest of the album is sorely lacking!
520026
I'm a metal head & most of my music perspective comes from that viewpoint.  "Salisbury" rocked, "Look At Yourself" rocked, "Demons & Wizards" rocked (although a little less than "Look"). On this effort, however,  other than the opening track "Sunrise", there is not one  really hard rocking track to be found.  Yes "Sweet Loraine" rocks minimally, but Hensley's screaming organ really overshadows nearly everything on this song.  This album is far, far from "heavy".
If you like your music laced with keyboards, acoustic rhythm guitars & with no memorable guitar solos, you could maybe up this album to 3 1/2 stars.  Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad album.  It's a must have for any Uriah Heep fan.  But newcomers would be better served to start with the twin purchase of "Look At Yourself" & "Demons & Wizards". Heck  add the "Live In 1973" album to your cart if you have the extra cash.  Soak in those purchases for awhile before you opt on this one to mellow out.
663296
Redemption's one of those bands where I have to listen to the album, process it and then listen to it several more times before I get a sense of what the band's trying to do and this album is no exception. Like their previous efforts, the lyrics are intelligent and topical and the song-writing is pretty strong, though a bit more uneven on this effort than their last album. The thing I struggled with the most personally on this album more than their previous albums were the vocals in about half of the songs. I've never found Ray to be an outstanding prog-metal singer, though in past releases he's been mostly serviceable and in some cases has actually done quite nicely. This album made me wonder if perhaps on some of the material they have brought in a different vocalist to sing lead on several of the songs where I thought Ray's voice just didn't cut it alone.

Musically, I felt the album was a bit more uneven than their last couple of albums as well. Some of the songs like "Stronger than Death" were very strong and others just didn't much for me despite the obvious talent of the musicians involved. They did incorporate a few new wrinkles to their sound in this album but by and large it's very similar to  "The Fullness of Time" and "Snowfall on Judgement Day".

With that in mind, if you're a big Redemption fan, then obviously you'll want to pick this up even though I don't consider this to be their strongest effort. If you're a casual fan of them or the prog-metal genre than I'd either start with "Snowfall on Judgement Day" or given the 30 second preview clips several spins each to see if there's enough in there that appeals to you.

Note: I purchased the edition with the cover songs from Toto, Elton John and others and while they do a reasonably competent job covering the material, there's nothing about the covers that I feel warrant spending the extra money if you already have the originals.
4572943
All the songs here are upbeat, given that it's Fred Schneider, who originally released this in 1984, before the lackluster B-52's album Bouncing Off The Satellites.  A pity, because this could've been a better album for them.  This was remastered and remixed in 1991.
"Monster" is one of my favourite tracks here, as there is an innuendo implied, although Fred states in the disclaimer that this wacky space-age song with tag team guitars that it's about a dinosaur walking around in his polka dot PJ's and not what some dirty-minded people might think.  Think about it:  "There's a monster in my pants and it does a nasty dance.  When it moves in and out.  Everybody starts to shout.  Monster aah!"  The backing vocalists include Kate Pierson.
"Cut The Concrete" is a quick-paced tune made a bit funky by the clavinet bass synth, but also fiery with some guitar by Tom Beckerman.  It also features some call and responses between Fred and his male backing vocalists.  "Cut the cake/cake ain't good/cut the rug/don't know if I should" and so on.
"Summer In Hell" is the other favourite here, about a lost city in Atlantis, so Fred says in the disclaimer, but the lyrics seem to indicate otherwise.  Although after some party conversation, and the song goes on, it emphasizes "hell" as a fun party rather than the infernal regions, where the "hottest time is the hottest place/and don't be ashamed to show your face."  A really fun number and a fun place to be, if someone'd invite me.
The rowdy space song with its space age sounds, "Orbit" seems to be a throwback to old B-52's songs like "There's A Moon In The Sky" and is about a trip to space, encountering all sorts of things "oh...the dog in the Sputnik!" or a place I want to go, "the Asteroid of Lonely Women."  Worthy enough to be a B-52's song.
"I'm Gonna Haunt You" is a silly Halloween song, about "spooks and ghouls and horrors and haints/one more scare and you'll see the saints."  Nice and catchy, but what's a haint?  Kate Pierson contributes backing vocals here.
A duet between Fred Schneider and Patti LaBelle?  "It's Time To Kiss" is that song, with some surf-like guitar, with the usual silly lyrics about my lips meeting your lips.
"Pack it up baby, put on your best dress, the ship leaves soon, this planet's a mess" says Fred on "This Planet's A Mess," about a scenario where mankind has failed the test, ecologically and possibly nuclear, and the world has gone down the tubes.  The moral:  "Better think about our future/Yeah, it's time we planned it."
After the surfing song "Wave," comes the ultra silly "Boonga (The New Jersey Caveman)" which seems more like a dance with the "boonga boonga boonga" line, and where Fred urges the Jersey girls to shout "boonga" which they do in a really high-pitched vocal.  And I give Fred credit for rhyming "snobby" with "wasabi."
Fred had enough ideas of his without the rest of the B-52's.  A good and silly, but fun album, though it would've been nice if a), he had released another solo album after the B-52's Good Stuff, and b) if Kate Pierson had also done a solo album herself.
3618672
Blonde Redhead could just be one of those for composing melancholic and eccentric melodies.  Above anything, this is the band's bait to lure listeners into their indie underground.  The way they evade the recycled and banal sound of the guitar/drum/and vocal set through `Misery is a Butterfly' gives the album a desired meal, complete with desert and desirable aftertastes.  Makino and Amedeo's vocals, though a bit queer fit and compromises with the originality with their music.

This album isn't quite a step forward from `Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons' anymore than Radiohead's `Kid A' was a step forward from `OK Computer.'  It's just a step away, which isn't a bad thing.  Rather, it's a creative move.  The group simply took their music in an ostensive direction.  It seems the two albums weren't meant to be cohesive, but allows each individual album to shine.  Misery certainly gleams despite its pseudonym.
2991331
This band is quite off the wall. A few songs are silly, such as "mammal," but otherwise pretty damn good. Their bizzare lyrics remind me of another "avant garde" or "art-rock" band Silver Apples. But after listening to this album, Silver Apples seems pedestrian. The bugger is the songs get stuck in your head real easily, and then you need to explain to people what the heck is wrong with you!! I say buy it for the overall performance of the album.