Album review
Legacy
Ihlo
Legacy gives Ihlo's progressive metal a clear sense of scale. Heavy guitar patterns sit alongside bright synthesizers and expansive clean singing, with songs that build patien…
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Reviews
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Album review
No Rain, No Flowers
The Black Keys
No Rain, No Flowers is an easy record to spend time with. The Black Keys put warm melodies and steady grooves at the front, with fewer rough edges than some of their earlier w…
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Album review
Wasting Light
Foo Fighters
Rope is a good reminder that a Foo Fighters song can be catchy without moving in a straight line. The guitar figure stops and starts, the rhythm keeps its balance and the chor…
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Koi No Yokan
Deftones
The transition from the quiet opening of Leathers into its full guitar attack is one of the strongest moments on Koi No Yokan. Deftones make the change sudden without making i…
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Album review
Error
The Warning
The bass line that starts “DISCIPLE” tells you plenty about Error. The Warning want these songs to hit hard, but they also want every instrument to have a clear job. Guitar, b…
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Amaryllis
Shinedown
Amaryllis aims its choruses high and usually gets them there. Shinedown's fourth album gives Brent Smith a large, clear setting, with the guitars, strings and backing parts al…
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Album review
Frogstomp
Silverchair
Silverchair were teenagers when they made Frogstomp, and the record has the confidence of a band who have found a loud guitar sound and would quite like to keep using it. Ther…
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Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?
Megadeth
Megadeth sound wonderfully unstable on Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?. The guitars twist through difficult patterns, the drums keep finding extra movement, and Dave Mustaine…
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Album review
Pretty. Odd.
Panic! at the Disco
The harmonies on Pretty. Odd. give Panic! at the Disco a different kind of confidence. The band trade much of their electronic urgency for acoustic guitars, orchestral colour …
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Black Gives Way to Blue
Alice in Chains
The bend in the guitar riff on Check My Brain is a small detail with a big job. It makes the song sound familiar and slightly seasick at once. Black Gives Way to Blue understa…
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The Surface Seems So Far
Seether
Seether haven't lost their taste for a heavy guitar and an unhappy thought. The Surface Seems So Far keeps that combination at the centre, with Shaun Morgan moving between con…
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Vulgar Display of Power
Pantera
The spaces inside Pantera's riffs are as important as the notes on Vulgar Display of Power. Dimebag Darrell leaves sharp gaps for Vinnie Paul's drums and Rex Brown's bass to s…
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Album review
Versions of the Truth
The Pineapple Thief
Different people can remember the same event in incompatible ways. Versions of the Truth turns that ordinary problem into an atmosphere of doubt, giving The Pineapple Thief's …
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From Under the Cork Tree
Fall Out Boy
The bass line in Dance, Dance gives Fall Out Boy a useful place to start: a strong rhythm, a little space and a singer who can make the melody do something unexpected. From Un…
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Fear of a Blank Planet
Porcupine Tree
Anesthetize takes more than seventeen minutes to finish, but Porcupine Tree give it a clear reason to be that size. The song moves through tense, spacious passages, heavy guit…
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Album review
Unto the Locust
Machine Head
Seven tracks give Machine Head enough space for a substantial statement on Unto the Locust. The songs are long, but their strongest ideas are easy to identify: a clear guitar …
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Album review
Human Clay
Creed
Higher does exactly what its title promises. Mark Tremonti gives the verse a recognisable guitar figure, then the chorus opens out far enough for Scott Stapp's voice to fill i…
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Handwritten
The Gaslight Anthem
The opening of Handwritten makes The Gaslight Anthem sound comfortable with being a large rock band. "45" has a clear guitar hook, a firm rhythm and a chorus that Brian Fallon…
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Album review
Paper Doll
Samantha Fish
Paper Doll has nine songs, and Samantha Fish makes the most of them. The record moves easily between tough guitar rock, slower blues and warmer melodic passages. It also gives…
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Album review
Blackwater Park
Opeth
Opeth make contrast feel natural on Blackwater Park. A harsh vocal can give way to a clean melody, and a dense guitar passage can open into acoustic detail without the song lo…
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Collective Soul
Collective Soul
December turns a small guitar figure into a whole song's identity. The pattern is easy to recognise, but the vocal layers and well placed changes keep it from becoming static.…
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21st Century Breakdown
Green Day
The piano on 21st Century Breakdown is not there to offer a quiet break between punk songs. It helps set the scale of the whole album. Green Day build a broad rock record arou…
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Album review
Core
Stone Temple Pilots
Core knows the value of a heavy entrance. Dead & Bloated begins with Scott Weiland's voice before the band drops in behind him, and the arrival makes a proper impact. Stone Te…
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Album review
Toxicity
System of a Down
Toxicity can change direction several times inside a short song and still leave you with a tune to remember. That balance is its great achievement. System of a Down makes stra…
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