Thanks for NOT trying, MGMT
585067
I want my money back! It's not just that there aren't any singles on this album, there's also nothing even remotely worth listening to....which I think is the point. These tortured artists are painfully sick and tired of being rich and famous, so they made an album that no one will want to listen to.  HUGE disappointment after the brilliant Oracular - one of my all-time favorite albums. My well worn copy of Oracular is going to get another listen just so I can cleanse this rubbish out of my head. Congratulations, indeed.
3993796
MGM save us all the anxiety & frustration, please recall this defective dvd collection. First it took me 3 different shipments just to receive a non broken acrylic case that houses the dvds (from another website). Well after all that grief I mailed the box set to my mother for Christmas, she calls me up to tell me all the movies she's watched so far stop midway. I am so embarrassed & so should MGM. Oh yes the transfers are magnificent BUT so what if the movies peter out right before the climax!!
2835096
Four years was probably too long between albums. Since playing their last CD, the excellent "The Moon and Antarctica" to death, a new album from MM was highly anticipated in my household. The mediocre filler EP, "Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks" was unmemorable at best, and the side project Ugly Cassanova was interesting, but not overwhelming. And a remastered version of "Moon" is simply inexplicable, so I have avoided it.

I have finally just picked up the new MM after being won over by the pair of singles, "Float On" & "Ocean Breathes Salty". The first 3 tracks sound strong, but I am sorry to say that in my estimation they are the best tracks on the album.

This album as a whole is marred by some of singer/chief songwriter Isaac Brock's weakest songwriting, with "Bury Me With It" & the sub-Tom Waits "Devil's Workday" being the low points, with awkward phrasing & a lurching melody on the former and trite lyrics & worn out structure on the latter. The last few tracks on the album seem merely tired, especially the closer, "The Good Times Are Killing Me." This isn't anything we haven't heard from MM before, and better the first time around.

Brock mostly seems taken by the production end of things here, as he seemed to on the Ugly Cassanova album, which seems now like a template for much of "Good News". As such, it's a good-sounding disc with some subtle production touches and features the broadest instrumentation on any MM album, featuring horns, synths, and whistles & strings (effectively used on the gentle opening track, "The World at Large").

Lyrically, Brock seems lost inside his own mind, turning his generally bleak worldview inward, with the title of the last track speaking to the need for change. I hope that he gets it together on the next release.

Consistency has never been MM's strong point, and they have always had a tendency to overstuff their albums, but I would still opt for "The Moon & Antarctica" for a more all-around example of the MM sound, and "The Lonesome Crowded West" for their best individual songs and spazzy sound.

Admittedly, I this review is based on my initial impressions, but I feel that they are capable of better. Though I would more acurately place this album closer to 2 stars based on enjoyment, it receives 3 stars due to my affection for the band.
4847336
I just need to say that not since Dig Your Own Hole have I listened to a Chemical Brothers album and not had mixed feelings about it. Maybe that's a confusing statement. I mean, that if I was to rank Chemical Brothers albums, I would probably tie Exit Planet Dust & Dig Your Own Hole (1st and 2nd places), and Further at 3rd. No mixed feelings about this album here.

There has always been some kind of goofy song or lyric that keeps me from enjoying their whole albums. Listening to Surrender I despised hearing the lyric "Superstar DJs... Here we go!". On Come With Us, "My Elastic Eye" was like 'yeah, I guess I see what you're trying to do here, but this is too goofy'. "Denmark" was redundant. I missed Push the Button altogether (Oops). And We Are the Night's single "Do It Again" was the lowest of the low in Chemical Brothers canon. Of course these albums had lots of great moments too, but it was these lame songs that kept me from keeping the Chemical Brothers as one of my favorite groups ever.

When I heard Further though, everything came easy. These were the Brothers that had impeccable taste--that could do no wrong. I mean it isn't mindblowing music or anything, but it's fresh and fun. It's full of great beats and flashy production (albeit less funk-laden than back in the day) and that's why we look forward to a new Chemical Brothers album! I also appreciate how these new songs are more skeletal in a way; they are built on simple chords or riffs, the vocals are only like one or two lines per song. In general, there are fewer ideas going on at once yet this does not detract from how interesting the songs are.

I'd say that if you have fallen away from whatever THE BROTHERS have been doing for whatever reason, try this new one out. I'm sure they will swoon the pants right off you.
4678219
After several ballad heavy albums ("Hollies", "Another Night" and the UK-Only "Write On") the Hollies decided on a different approach for 1976's "Russian Roulette". Get rid of the heavy orchestration and get back to basics (with some horns and keyboards helping out). The result was the Hollies last great album with Allan Clarke on lead vocals and one of the best albums featuring the classy 69-72 and 74-80 Hollies lineup.

Instead of big ballads, the band tries their hand at Disco (the silly but fun "Wiggle That Wotsit" - proof they weren't going to jump on that bandwagon like the Bee Gees did), Salsa ("Draggin' My Heels"), and a very convincing try at Hard Rock ("48 Hour Parole"). "My Love" (not the McCartney song) is pure classic Hollies pop with some country-rock touches. The formula that worked so well in their 60's heyday still worked wonders in 1976, and it should have been a single.

After several albums with spotty songwriting the Clarke-Hicks-Sylvester team clicked and wrote some great songs that could have been big hit singles and album rock tracks. The Hollies don't sound tired or bored at all on "Russian Roulette", in fact they hadn't rocked out this convincingly for several years. I remember James Spina in Hit Parader magazine raving about this album, and Rolling Stone gave it a positive review in their "Imports" section.

It's just a shame no record company wanted to give this fine effort a chance. Punk was starting to break loose in the UK, and again Polydor botched the promotion of this album and it's singles overseas. As usual, Epic in the USA didn't give a damn about the Hollies unless they scored a big hit first in the UK, and gave us Americans a tossed together cheap looking compilation of tracks from this LP and "Write On" with "Sandy" from "Another Night" tacked on and re-released as a single (which tanked again).

Had someone at Epic had the foresight to get "Russian Roulette" released and promoted, get the right singles to radio, it could have revived the Hollies career in the USA when records with basic relaxed production styles like "Hotel California" and "Fleetwood Mac" were selling millions here.

The Hollies survived another weak selling album by scoring a huge hit catering to their old UK fans with the fine "Hollies Live" album. The Hollies last two original albums for Polydor unfortunately retreated back to a ballads and adult contemporary soft pop formula to little success despite some worthy songs.

Magic Records has been very hit and miss with the sound quality of their reissues - many have used inferior vinyl dubs. But on this CD they found great sounding master tapes for all tracks. The bonus cuts are a nice touch, including the USA-Only dance mix version of "Draggin' My Heels" which is a highly sought after Epic 12 inch single by Hollies and disco fans. My only gripe is they omitted the original liner notes and lyrics from the vinyl version.

If you don't think the Hollies were still a great band in the seventies, you need to hear this album. To get this rare jewel on CD is a treat, so don't miss your chance.
2722197
Great stuff.  I'm still alive, so...  Actually I forgot to take it today so thanks for the reminder.
3798482
I haven't listened to TSE in several months and I decided toplay it once again tonight. I never really liked this album andunfortunately, it hasn't improved with age. The previous Marillion album, Afraid of Sunlight, was a measured triumph and one of my favorite discs of the mid-90s. What happened after AOS is unfortunate but not completely unexpected for a band that has been together for over 15 years.  The band takes a WTF attitude with This Strange Engine. I saw Marillion live during the TSE support tour and I found the going-through-the-motions posture a bit startling. Marillion fans constantly talk about the "magic" and I'm not referring solely to Fish-era Marillion. There is precious little magic on TSE and that's why I find this album frustrating.  "Man of a 1000 Faces" is a decent opener with the trademark Marillion dynamics but some of the lyrics sound preachy. The next track, "One Fine Day", starts off with an odd classic-rockish riff and bluesy rhythm. This is Marillion? "Memory of Water" has Hogarth singing alone over piano and just doesn't fit in with the rest of the material. I have no idea what they were thinking with "Hope for the Future". Some might say the band was expanding with world-beat influences, but it comes across very awkward with corny lyrics.  Fortunately, "Estonia" captures the Marillion sound we all adore and would have fit nicely on AOS or Brave.  The 15-minute title track may be considered a small return to form and while it has some nice passages (though not near their best or most compelling), you feel ripped off the first time through because your CD player reports this track as having 30 minutes. The last 14 minutes are silent and are followed by a minute of some ingratiating laughter.  I know many fans won't like what I have said, but I must share my point of view on this public feedback forum. Spend your money instead on the 24-bit remastered discs.
3631924
I was really excited to purchase this album, thinking it was music from this year's tour of the same name. Thankfully, I read the reviews and found out that it was almost  exactly the same album I already had.  I felt like someone was trying to trick me and  that doesn't feel good.  Somehow changing the name of an  already existing album doesn't seem fair to either the customers or the fans, and I surely don't hang the blame on the singers.  I am certain they have no control over this at all.  I have enjoyed this group from the first time I saw them on PBS. But if you take a look, they have lost a wonderful musical director, Zara,  the O'Leary sisters on strings, Paul, Damian, Emmett sadly George, and Barry on pipes.  It is still a good group, but it just isn't the group we initially fell in love with.  And that is sad.
1064447
Following up a record like Sigh No More would be a difficult task for any group and certainly Mumford & Sons knew this. Do you play it safe and stick with what made you popular or do you shake things up and risk losing the tide of support you've gained? That's never an easy question to answer and every artist must make that decision for themselves. In the case of Babel the answer is simple: don't stray too far from the formula but find a way to keep it interesting. The payoff is, for the most part, satisfying.

The record bursts out of the gate with great strength. The album's title track is forceful and engaging, followed by the catchy "Whispers in the Dark" and the popular hit "I Will Wait". "Holland Road" continues in the same fashion, giving us the trademark melodies and poetic lyrics we've come to expect from the group. Everything that made their first release so surprising is still here, even if it doesn't sound quite as fresh as it did the first time around. It's hard to fault the band for continuing their unique sound, yet it does feel a bit less exciting, mainly with the middle half of the record. Songs like "Lovers' Eyes", "Ghosts That We Knew", and "Reminder" are not in and of themselves bad songs. Rather, they simply cause the middle part of the album to drag in too many ballads. A slightly different running order would have helped the pacing a bit more. The ending run of "Broken Crown", "Below My Feet", and "Not With Haste" end the album with a bang and they bring the record to a wonderful conclusion.

Babel is a solid effort and its many accolades are well-earned. I find the tracks in the middle to be a bit too slow in the running order, though they are enjoyable when taken individually. M&S have a winning formula but it's also one that will eventually need to expand and grow in order to keep them from sounding too routine. This group is talented and I look forward to seeing where they carry themselves from here. I have faith that they can do it.
3945422
I'm taking a long trip with my music and almost became another victim... Just want to say thanks to all the reviewers for saving me a lot of pain and suffering! I hate when companies think they are "all that" and fail to even beta test their products and get VIP feedback before pushing them on you involuntarily! WOW, you'd think with all the $$$$$$ they could do better. Mr. Bezos at least give us a temp fix until you put the fire out, PLEASE!
4880728
It seemed that Adios was going to be the last KMFDM album, but now ATTAK is about to be released, so the prophetic title of Adios has failed. Now, to comment on the album.
I admit I'm not exactly a KMFDM fan; My fav bands are FLA, Skinny Puppy, NIN, but I think KMFDM are very important in the development of industrial music.
However, the more guitarristic cds by KMFDM are not my cup of tea; not that I hate guitars, not at all. But i prefer them not to beon control of the songs, that's why I don't like cds like Xtort. So since all have our own preferences, my favourite KMFDM album is ADIOS.
ADIOS presents KMFDM at their most electronic effort; guitars are present of course, but always controlled by the synthesisers and electronic sounds; the beats used are electronic too. ADIOS has no bad song at all, unlike other KMFDM cds, in my opinion. They're quite varied: we have heavy industrial songs like 'Adios' or 'DIY', which have hard beats, heavy electronics and guitars, agressive voice; we have almost techno-pop hymns, such as the delightful 'Today' (it's a gem of new techno-pop: distorted voice, amazing chorus with female voices...); then we have 'That's all', a mixture of a techno-pop song and a rock song, especially in its catchy chorus: it sticks into your head for a long time. This song displays the always interesting Ogre's voice, as in 'Full worm garden', which is a bit more agressive, similar in vein to the songs on Skinny Puppy's The process. 'Rubicon' contains guitars, and it's a short and brilliant techno-rock song. 'Witness' displays Nina Hagen's voice, and it's about aliens; quite long, very electronic. 'Sycophant' is also one of the most interesting tracks on AFIOS, with an amazing percussive work, good voice, no chorus. 'Bereit' is the only song sung in German, maybe less catchy than the others but good though.
Almost all the songs are sung by Tim Skold. I know many fans don't like this, but i prefer it, since Skold gives KMFDM a more melodic side which fits perfectly in this album.
1522909
Despite the raves of True Believers giving Nanobots 5-star treatment, even TMBG fans like us really must have a high tolerance for mediocrity to adore most of this album. Granted, as one raver goes on about, one shouldn't expect the superlative excitement of discovering something new from a band that has been around as long as TMBG has. But it must be said that most of the tracks here are tired and uninspired, attractive only if one does not have hundreds (literally) of better TMBG songs at hand to hear. That's not even counting the 4 or 5 snippets of musical ideas included as separate tracks, which are not unwelcome: TMBG fans are interested in hearing those.

What I try to do to counteract the tendency to compare a long-lasting artist's latest album to their best is not to ask whether it is among their best, nor to compare it to their last album. Instead, I ask myself: If this was one of their first three albums, would critics and new music bloggers pay attention? Regarding Nanobots, the answer would be: "Maybe. A little."

Five songs out of twenty (again, not counting the snippets): "The Darlings of Lumberland" (absolutely the most ambitious and creative track I've heard from TMBG in many years), "Stone Cold Coup d'Etat", "Great", "Stuff Is Way" and "Sometimes A Lonely Way" might raise enough interest  for music writers to keep sniffing around looking for their potential to blossom on subsequent releases, if the mediocrity of the other 15 doesn't turn one off. But that's a nearly absurd thing to even imagine, given the deep outpouring of talent and wonder from TMBG in their first decade (far longer than their first 3 albums).

I don't hold against The Johns that they aren't producing prodigious amounts of tune-mastery any longer. If they don't have a financial need to release new music I would not fault them for taking a few years away from any pressure to record anything for release so they could recharge. But if they're going to stay in the game and stick to the standard every-other-year album release schedule, I don't know what prompts them to think most of Nanobots was good enough to make the cut as original-release album material. Most of what's on the album are curiosities at best - again, something TMBG fans have an interest in. But their sense for distinguishing between what's album-worthy and what's extras has skewed into not caring to distinguish anymore territory. If the only people who are left to pay for the album are those who want it all, and want it all now, then I'm just a voice speaking for a non-existent market.

And those 5 songs would have made a 4 star EP, and are almost good enough to prevent me from giving Nanobots 2 stars, because I can't agree that 2 stars, as Amazon defines it, means "I don't like it" for ALL of the album. But to be fair and true to the parameters Amazon provides, I don't like more than half of it so, reluctantly, 2 stars it is.
2899394
"Hello I Love You" ,over-produced, DUH! Maybe it is perfectly produced. I can't imagine it any other way! Can you? "Hello?"
  Name another group that is dissed for writing "mellow songs"?
The Doors were never afraid to take chances. I will always respect them for that. I will admit that sometimes it results
in (mostly Jim's) self-indulgence. But the band was always willing to walk out to edge and look over and see what could be.
  A great album! As are all of the Door's albums!
  john savage
1406533
People talk about what KMD might have been, and I guess that will never end.  Elektra dropped the ball by shelving this; the cover art is provocative, but the content isn't exactly riot-inducing.  I think this album is only such a big deal because of all the drama surrounding it.  Subroc died soon after, Grimm almost died and is now in prioson, and Doom came back several years later with an assortment of new identities and blistering styles, and besides that, the label took forever to let this out of the vault.  And then when they finally did let it out, it has bad sound quality and one entire song (plumskinzz) split in half by  a loud record skip and somebody saying "you're so g-dd-mned stupid."

But on to the content of the album.  The beats are generally very good, with a little jazz flavor, and have a cluttered sound that lends to the album's energy although it also obscures some of the vocal work.  Someone else wrote that some of these beats may have been looted by others, since they probably thought it would never see the light of day, and that sounds right to me.

The rapping is good, although not quite as worthy of imitation.  Zev love X, the spunky kid version of Doom, raps loudly and entirely according to the conventions of this period, but his style is really immature and shallow compared to where he is now.  This stuff sounds a little like some of the other native tongues stuff; it would have fit right in, although I don't think their glorification of alcohol and marijuana helped the clarity of the native tonges style message, which is much easier to understand with De La Soul and Quest's music.  However, this is a very strong sophomore album (i haven't heard Mr. Hood yet though) and it definitely deserves to be heard.  Maybe it should have been remastered or something instead of seeing a sloppy and tardy release like this.
4443953
Ok, first of all, no I haven't heard the "album" yet (my copy is in the mail). But I have been listening to versions of some of these songs for more than a year now. Secondly, sometimes you don't NEED to hear a bands new album to know it's going to deliver. Some bands refuse to conform to the recording industry and instead deliver sincere, great and uninhibited music. And I am putting my money on these guys being just that. It does suck not knowing when or if this album would ever be released in the U.S. But I guess that comes with not playing ball with the corporate recording industry.
787288
I recall listening to the LP back in the late '70s and while I have a few Little Feat (LF) discs in my collection, and a superb anthology, they 'best of' collection did not include one of my LF favs; "New Delhi Freight Train".  Picked this CD up (used) for a song & a dance and loved the whole thing.  The All Music Guide (AMG) was not so kind, sighting Lowell George's failing health/addictions, and the bands 'jam' aspects as less than satisfying or deep. The AMG is just that a 'Guide". I would agree the instrumental (Day at the Dog Races) would not be a cut I'd load on to my iPod but it was better than anything on so-called AMG five star rated discs like the Replacements "Let it Be", for example. As far as I'm concerned Time Love a Hero has a full 4 LF classics, another 3 or 4 near classics and was well worth the money.  Billy Payne is one of my favorite ivory ticklers & Paul Barrere steps up to the plate with clever lyrical musings as George was battling his demons. Now that I'm closing in on 50 years, time loves a hero and heroes are hard to find.
.
So you know, that you're over the hill
When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill.
 BARRERE MUSIC
2886581
Thank you for not putting out Grand Illusion Part 2. Thank you for being you. Carry on chaps.