Very good, not Trents best, but still damn good.
592557
Here's where Hesitation Marks falls into my top 5 NIN albums list. I've been a NIN fan since the early 90's. Take it for what it's worth.

1. Pretty Hate Machine
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. With Teeth
5. (tie) Broken/The Fragile

I really enjoyed the first 6 tracks...the second half of the album, while it may still grow on me, is not really my cup of tea.

**UPDATE**

I've now listened to this album about 20 times over. The second half of it HAS grown on me! (Except for "Everything". That track could be deleted from the album and I wouldn't miss it. Not a pop fan.)

My top 5 tracks from this album:

1. All Time Low
2. Came Back Haunted
3. Copy of a
4. In Two
5. Disappointed
6, for good measure: Satellite
4835740
I consider myself a die-hard Glass Hammer fan. I own 13 (practically all) of their albums and I have enjoyed every incarnation of the group. I try to be supportive of everything they do, because they have earned it.

Perilous is a really solid album. It sounds a bit like If and Cor Cordium, but with a few nice little additions here and there, such as the Adonia String Trio, an excellent Latin choir part, and some classical guitar virtuosity by Alan (and others). But after listening to this album about 8 times, I have to admit that there are certain parts of certain songs that don't quite work for me. More often than not, the problem is with the vocals. No, it's not Jon Davison's fault. In fact, it's no one person's fault. I just think the group, collectively, could have put a little more creativity, or "flavor", into some of the vocal melodies. I get the impression that the music and lyrics were worked on separately, so at times (approximately 1/4 of the time) there is some awkwardness in the way they come together. But maybe that's just me. Furthermore, I tend to prefer vocals slightly lower in the mix, so that I can concentrate on the music more easily. These compositions are nearly flawless, and as you would expect from GH, they are performed flawlessly.

Overall, I like Perilous a lot. In my experience, it sounds best on long walks very early on a cold morning. But unlike some other GH albums, I don't find myself drawn back to it over and over with seemingly endless enjoyment. If I had to rank all their albums, I doubt this would be near the top of the list. So even as a die-hard fan, I feel like I can't give it the full 5 stars. Sorry.
124784
I loved Trent! I love the maddox brothers! Some are better than others!! But still, a great one! =)
3686723
When I hit play, Kingmaker got my blood going.  It set the tone for the album... and that tone is "driving".  The bass drum and bass lines really stand out, and so maybe if you have different eq settings, you might have a totally different impression.  Anyway...

First: Dave's voice sounds awesome
Second: The mastering is super sharp. They clearly spent a lot of time choosing the heaviest sound to go with Dave's voice.
Third: Kudos to them for taking chances with the banjo/fiddle, the spoken word (more about that later), and the mix of themes and sounds.
Fourth: bass... bass bass bass.  And more bass.

The tracks:
- Kingmaker was great to listen to.  Good hooks, good crunch, and surprisingly good vocals from Mustaine.
- Supercollider... I had heard it before, and was not impressed.  But somehow when it followed Kingmaker, it was better.  Sort of cheesy, but better than I remembered.
-Burn, and Built for War - Now I started to get a little less enthusiastic.  They are filler-ish.  Not anything to write home about, but not horrible.  Just sorta there.
-Off the Edge started to get the groove back a little bit, but lyrically, it's weak.
- BUT THEN Dance in the Rain hit, and I wasn't sure about the "spoken word" part... It worked on Angry Again, but I wasn't sure another one would be good.  WRONG.  The lyrics are good, and the time-signature shift in the music really makes it interesting.
- Beginning of Sorrow - sort of a re-hash of Supercollider, but with way better lyrics; classic Mustaine.
- Blackest Crow - starts out so cool with the bluegrass feel.  I loved it.
- Forget to Remember was a decent song, pop-ish, a little bit like they were stretching for a radio hit.  But still solid
- Don't Turn Your Back - Awesome intro, again with the heavy driving bass, and then some shredding thrown in for good measure.
- Cold Sweat - good way to end.  Plenty of guitar, angry voice, almost like an outro.
2295651
It really pains me not to give "Tyranny of Souls" five stars.

I will not bore you with Bruce's solo album history as if you are reading this, you probably know all about it anyway.  I feel it right though to give this as fair as review as possible.

To cut to the quick, I believe this new record falls just short of the exceptional standard of the quite extraordinary masterpiece that was "The Chemical Wedding".  There are crushing riffs and dancing solos galore here but the musical innovation from the previous album is somewhat lacking.  Songs such as "Abduction", "River of no Return" and "Power of the Sun" whilst thoroughly enjoyable for fans such as myself, I think are guilty of being a little "run of the mill". "BeliEvil" has a spooky, eerie sound but sadly becomes a bit of a dirge.

Nevertheless, there are still a good number of flashes of inspiration to be savoured.  "Navigate the Seas of the Sun" stands out in particular for its acoustic charm and thought-provoking lyrics.  The curiously-named "Devil on a Hog" features interesting layered vocals on the chorus and a great foot-tapping riff.  For those real headbangers, the intro to "Soul Invaders" will make you very happy indeed.  "Kill Devil Hill" is excellent - as far as it goes that is.  Just when you feel the middle section is building back up, it fades out, alas, alas.  The album really builds up well towards the end, climaxing with the epic title track, which unfortunately loses its way for me a little towards the middle of the song.

Comparisons to what Bruce and Roy have achieved on previous records is inevitable.  Tyranny of Souls is a splendid record in its own right and maintains an excellent balance of being pretty heavy with hummable melodies, without falling into the trap of becoming cheesy.  It's a cracking record and the production and songwriting is to be applauded.  However it's "The Chemical Wedding" which will be regarded as Bruce's finest hour when we look back at his illustrious career in years to come.
1767065
The Texas Tadpoles have really matured for this record, from their prior releases: Pleather and Rubberneck.  Is that to say that their previous efforts were juvenile? No Way! Also, does this mean that the Toadies have slowed their raucousness? Definitely not!
"Plane Crash," the album's opener starts with a bang, an abusive punk rock riff coupled with a holler/scream reminiscent of Judas Priest's Rob Halford moonlighting as an alt-rocker.  Intensity remains at just under too much, continuing with the Toadies signature sound through the next few tracks until the mid-tempo "You'll Come Down."  Good, solid, rock that presents listeners with accessible yet intelligent melodies and lyrics.
Next up, we really see the Toads begin to shine: "Pressed Against the Sky" is one of the best songs that this reviewer has ever wrapped his mind around.  A soft, building, not quite melancholy, not quite tender piece that reminds of "Tyler" from Rubberneck.  This song really showcases the band's range from quiet, bluesy, almost Hawaiian guitar to ragy ballad.  The album's closer features the Toad's rage-ballad as an encore: "Dollskin."
The title track took this reviewer some getting used to, given its 'in your face' beginning, mid tune mode shift, and gospel choir backup vocals.  However, after a few spins, it won me over in the end.
The Toadies do what they do best on this album: Rock.  There's a gentler texture at work here too though, not really seen on their previous efforts.  This twelve song journey is not very long in real world time, so the high intensity won't tire out the listener before the end.  Adding that the album closes on a melodic and almost sweet note, it'll have people reaching for the 'play' button on thei CD players to start the album over again.
745224
This is a proper album, it holds up very well against Jagged or Pure and I like it more than Sacrifice or Exile. Yes, it is just a collection of older material but that gives it more variety than anything he's done in ages. The Fall might sound a lot like something off NIN's Downward Spiral but it is way better than anything on that album (or anything else Reznor has done). In fact, The Fall might just be the best song Numan has done in 30 years. Big Noise Transmission is almost as good, but in an entirely different vein, and the instrumental, Resurrection, is a brilliant opener that gets you straight into the mood for the rest of the album.

I should also point out that I don't consider myself a huge Numan fan at all. I love Replicas but I think most of what came after that is rubbish. He seemed to be great at making hit singles but the albums were full of filler and I never had much interest. It was only when I heard Exile that I got a bit interested but I still take each release as it comes. I'd definitely buy this over the double-live album from a few years ago, Scarred, which is OK but doesn't really offer anything new.
3640403
This is an excellent release for trent's first release on his own private label. I enjoyed it quite a bit, the unfortunate bit of it was that it didn't include anything but music, which i understand is for trents newest fad of wanting remixes made of his music (see year zero remixed). I enjoy the industrial noise, but i wish it had had lyrics.
1311276
I am a big Alter Bridge fan and I know that sometimes it takes several listens for music to grow on you and to fully appreciate it, so I waited this 6+ weeks to write my personal review.

I think that overall the album is good. I would even go so far as to say that almost every track is at least "solid." To me this means that none of it sounds like album filler type tracks. Essentially none of it is just plain old boring rock music.

However, I do not think that there are as many tracks that "stand out" as there were on the album Blackbird. I really hate to compare either album to One Day Remains because most of it was written solely by Tremonti. Don't get me wrong, I think that he is a great song-writer, but I also think that he is very nicely complimented by Myles.

Stand-out tracks for me on this album include Slip To The Void, Isolation, Couer d'Alene, and Words Are Darker Than Their Wings. That's not to say that I don't still enjoy many other songs on the album, because I do.

Simply put-I really like this band and look forward to future releases and concerts.
1273689
I am writing this review from a pure music perspective, not by the vile acts of Ian. I personally really liked this album. I didn't really have any problems with the songs on this album. You can hear the tension between the band in the music, however, Not Lostprophets best effort but definitely not horrible. Standout songs include Heart On Loan, Can't Get Enough, We Bring an Arsenal, and Bring 'Em Down.
3181361
I know it may not seem like much considering it's only 3 tracks long, but given the impact and depth of the title track (I pity those who claim to know music and yet rate a song soley on how euphonic it sounds and nothing more; to me that's just the icing on the cake), I think this short EP deserves every single star I'm giving it. The only reason I'm taking off one star is because it's so short, and giving a legendary 5-star rating to such a short EP would be like giving legendary fame to a 5th grade football player.

 For those not in the know, it was around this time that Trent was coming out of some bad events in his life, namely the depression he fell into after the death of his grandmother in 1997. In fact the general motif of the Fragile era revolved around this, which would explain the gentler mood and (dare I say it?) more positive sound throughout The Fragile LP. Halo 13 (this EP) gives us a taste of that with both the title track and the Quiet remix. Just the title itself, "The Day The World Went Away", gives at least a hint of what sort of mood the song should set. In a way the song symbolizes the beginning of Trent's depression, just think about it. On the Quiet mix in particular, with it's gentle piano and minimalist sound, I can personally sense the segue from complete happiness to total sadness in a heartbeat...the sound sounds happy and sad simultaneously. Just take a look at the cover; a supposedly beautiful flower shaded completely in grey.

 If the title track symbolizes the beginning of depression, then the (barely) extended version of "Starf**kers, Inc." could count as coming out of the angry phase. One of Trent's more topical tunes, the song basically conveys Trent's frustration with the "material girl" sort of women (read: Courtney Love). That being said, it's the closest song Trent has ever written to a Marilyn Manson song, hence his appearance to the song's music video. While not quite as deep as the title track, it definitely doesn't disappoint when it gets its meaning across, and every artist needs to have a topical tune once in a while, otherwise how can he/she prove versatility?

 Some closing notes: to anybody who says this album isn't worth getting because the songs are available on other albums, take a step back for a minute...it's an official release, so that in itself makes it worth getting. Also to those who hate it just because it's not aurally appealing...I think you need to think twice and ask yourself if you really understand the meaning behind music; a euphonic sound is only part of the equation here, and quite an insignificant one in my opinion. When I judge a song I judge it based on the depth of its meaning, the quality of the songwriting, the emotion used in creating it, the mood it creates, the versatility of the artist to play from one style to the next...I think you get the idea. Long story short, many of you "fans" of NIN and those that aren't should look before they leap and really analyze the content first on more than just a sound/style level.
69304
Last Christmas my grandmother sent me some money, and this album is one of the things I bought.  Having had no exposure to NIN (except through music videos), I was taken aback by my immediate liking of this particular work.  I've since obtained a copy of "The Downward Spiral", and while I find it to be fascinating--not to mention obnoxious at times--I have to admit that, at age 41, I prefer "With Teeth", which is more advanced both lyrically and musically.  Mr. Reznor's prodigious anger has thankfully been somewhat tempered by his new-found penchant for intelligent reflection and, yes, emotional growth. That's not to say that he's gotten boring.  His innate talent precludes that.  There are some genuinely beautiful melodies here to go along with his improved singing voice, but--not to worry--there's also the residual self-hatred, self-absorption, and loathing for existence shared by all nihilists.  I like to think that I have a little man that lives inside of me.  His name is Trent Reznor.
3223457
I have always loved NIN,  but honestly,  I enjoyed the Fragile more than any of his albums simply because of the instrumental tracks.  I like his voice and all,  its just not that great sometimes.  I would rather hear his instrumentals than his voice.  You would probably need to be a fan of instrumental music to fully appreciate this CD.  Its diverse,  its broody, its dark, and its a great journey.  Listening to this type of music is for people with a good imagination,  have open active minds, and generally steer clear from the normal composure of a track.
4939693
I don't think it's a mind-blowing album but I do think it's good.  It's definitely better than I expected.

I disagree that it's a "vanity project" and, for the most part, I don't think it's overproduced.  I'm actually relieved that Earle didn't try harder to slavishly imitate his idol.  Earle has a long track record of experimenting (successfully, I think) with Celtic, bluegrass, punk, and other musical influences and I'm glad he didn't abandon this just to sound more like Townes.  There are enough people out there trying to be the next Townes; we don't need it from somebody like Earle who can clearly stand on his own.

I don't necessarily think he picked the best of Townes' songs to record, but that's more a matter of personal taste.
3571982
I can't say that I was blown away by Van Hunt's self-titled album when I first heard it, but despite my personal gripes, this is a pretty solid album.  Van Hunt doesn't try to wow you with vocal prowess (I don't know if that's good or bad), but he does enough to keep you interested.  He borrows from the greats like Prince, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, and Parliament Funkadelic, but never comes close enough to be a rip-off, which is very cool.  One thing that I didn't realize before I got the album is that Van Hunt is one heck of an instrumentalist.  He produced 4 songs on Rahsaan Patterson's (another bad neo-soul artist) 2nd solo album (4 good ones by the way).  On this album, he isn't credited with playing any instruments, but I'm sure he said what he wanted and how he wanted it played.  I like that he had full control of the sound he wanted.  One song on here, "Hello, Goodbye", sounds too much like Patterson's "Sure Boy" though, but considering he produced both songs, that's forgiveable.  The most interesting songs are here are the Lenny Kravitz-meets-Curtis Mayfield "Dust", the lost George Clinton number "Highlights" (I REALLY like this one), and the Stevie Wonder-esque "Out of the Sky".  I think the 2nd half of the album is more interesting than the first to be quite honest, but there's not one bad song on here.  Some songs may drag on a little, but the good ones are really good.  If he gets out of his vocal comfort zone a little, I think that in time, Van Hunt may become one neo-soul (or whatever you want to label him) artist to be reckoned with in the near future.
631775
Ok, I admit this isn't their best album, but I still enjoy most of it, and it's still Concrete Blonde. "A Road" is a good rocking opener, and the next two tracks are strong as well. The cool cover of "Ghost Riders In The Sky" is appropriate for them, and especially this album. Mid-album is kind of slow, and there is a spoken-word track in "Mojave", but "Snakes" is better, and a bit spooky. "Jim Needs An Animal" is a decent shot of humor, and does stick out as the only silly spot on the album. This ends with "Tornado At Rest", which isn't the greatest song, but it is a good ender. Overall this isn't the first Concrete Blonde album I would reach for, but recently it's gotten alot more play than "Bloodletting".
2507949
This is a good, solid disc in their style.
Can't really say why, but I don't find it their very best.
I'm enjoying it immensely, and am absolutely satisfied with it.