Album review
In Utero
Nirvana
There is a lovely tune hiding inside much of In Utero. Sometimes Nirvana let it stand in the open. Sometimes they put a very unpleasant guitar sound directly in front of it. T…
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Album review
Tell All Your Friends
Taking Back Sunday
Two people trying to finish the same argument can make a remarkable amount of noise. On Tell All Your Friends, Adam Lazzara and John Nolan turn overlapping vocals into the mai…
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Ride the Lightning
Metallica
Metallica make a surprisingly wide world out of eight songs on Ride the Lightning. There is speed, certainly, but there is also room for dread, melody and a quieter kind of de…
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Animals
Pink Floyd
Animals is a bitter record with a remarkably expressive band inside it. Roger Waters' portraits of power, competition and obedience are severe, but the music keeps finding nua…
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viagr aboys
Viagra Boys
Sebastian Murphy can make an ordinary problem sound deeply strange. On viagr aboys, a trip to the vet or a concern about health can turn into a ridiculous story with something…
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Audio Vertigo
Elbow
Yeah. Elbow. There's something funny about this album. I've listened to it front to back maybe 30 times by now. And for some reason I still don't really know what to think. Do…
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Album review
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
Panic! at the Disco
Panic! at the Disco have enough ideas on A Fever You Can't Sweat Out to make a much less organised record. Electronic beats, bright synthesizers, piano flourishes and theatric…
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Rust in Peace
Megadeth
On Rust in Peace, Megadeth make difficult playing sound urgent rather than academic. Dave Mustaine's riffs keep changing direction, but the songs have clear points of arrival.…
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Album review
Moving Pictures
Rush
Moving Pictures makes difficult playing feel immediately memorable. Rush give each of its seven songs a clear identity, with a guitar figure, bass movement or drum accent ofte…
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The Shit ov God
Behemoth
The title of The Shit ov God does a fairly efficient job of introducing Behemoth's position. Subtlety has taken the day off. The more interesting part is whether the music giv…
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Album review
From Birth to Burial
10 Years
The heaviest parts of From Birth to Burial feel connected to something more interesting than volume. Jesse Hasek sounds unsettled even when he is singing cleanly, and the guit…
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Come Clarity
In Flames
Come Clarity is driven by the way its guitars and vocal hooks compete for attention. In Flames puts sharp harmonized leads beside large choruses, making the songs feel immedia…
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I.O.U.
Allan Holdsworth
I.O.U. gives Allan Holdsworth's unusual guitar language a compact, focused setting. The music combines flowing lead lines, rich chords and a rhythm section that can change dir…
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The Dark Third
Pure Reason Revolution
The voices on The Dark Third often seem to belong to the atmosphere as much as to individual singers. Jon Courtney and Chloë Alper build harmonies that float through the guita…
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The Sound of Madness
Shinedown
Brent Smith is the main reason The Sound of Madness works as well as it does. He can give a heavy song enough force to cut through the guitars, then make a much quieter melody…
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Album review
In Love and Death
The Used
The Used are especially convincing when they sound impatient on In Love and Death. Take It Away gets the album moving with hard guitars and a vocal that keeps changing shape u…
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Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)
Slipknot
The quiet opening of Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) gives Slipknot room to rearrange expectations. Prelude 3.0 is patient and uneasy, with a vocal that invites attention inst…
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As Good as Dead
Local H
Local H make frustration sound sharply specific on As Good as Dead. Scott Lucas' songs are rooted in the feeling of being stuck somewhere, watching time pass while resentment …
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Datura
Boston Manor
Datura gives Boston Manor's alternative rock a more concentrated setting. Across seven tracks, electronic textures and heavier guitar parts create a dark, continuous atmospher…
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Silver Bleeds the Black Sun…
AFI
AFI have moved the furniture around again. Silver Bleeds the Black Sun… puts their goth and post-punk influences directly in front, with Davey Havok using a deeper, more theat…
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Album review
Twilight of the Thunder God
Amon Amarth
Twilight of the Thunder God turns Amon Amarth's heavy guitar melodies into something immediately memorable. The songs have a firm rhythmic pulse, Johan Hegg's growl gives them…
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Album review
Black Lines
Mayday Parade
Black Lines gives Mayday Parade's guitars much more to say. The sound is rougher, the riffs carry more weight, and Derek Sanders allows an abrasive edge into his voice. The ch…
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Album review
Moments Elsewhere
Johnny Booth
Moments Elsewhere gives Johnny Booth's heavy sound more room to move. The band still deliver sharp rhythmic changes, harsh vocals and substantial breakdowns, but melody has a …
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Album review
MTV Unplugged in New York
Nirvana
A quiet Nirvana record still has plenty of bite. MTV Unplugged in New York removes much of the distortion, but it leaves Kurt Cobain's voice exposed enough to make even famili…
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