I really wanted to hate this album. I almost bailed out on it after the pompous, boring intro that starts the first song on this CD called That Was Just Your Life, but after sticking with it, and a few forced, repeated listenings, I can honestly say it's not that bad. Miles better than St. Anger, but is that really saying much? A dog taking a shit sounded better than St. Anger. First record for Warner Bros. too, which might explain why the band actually made an effort to make this sound like an older Metallica record than any of their last crappy offerings. They got rid of Bob Rock too, and got Rick Rubin to produce it. Good choice. He's the Man responsible for more career resurrections than Dr. Frankenstein himself.This album is no Master Of Puppets, leaning more towards ...And Justice For All than the Black album. Sure, there's moments of absolute arrogant virtuosity on here, and sure, the songs are still too long, but at least they're long for a reason. They're actually letting Kirk Hammett play some solos on here. I don't think he played even one on their last release. hahahaha Lars drums actually sound like drums again (no more crappy Nu-Metal snare sound for him) and the dueling guitar work will have you marveling in amazement and air guitaring right along with the music. Look, it's a new Metallica album. If you like any of their old stuff, you'll like this. If you like the newer, more popular stuff, you might not dig this new album. Enough said.
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I saw this band at East Side Joe's. Liked them so much that I bought a tee shirt as well as a CD from them. Came home, put them on my pile of stuff to review, and left it at that. Few weeks later, I go to burn the MP3's onto my hard drive, to listen to the songs to give 'em a write up, and guess what? The CD case is empty. Yup. Paid $7 for an empty CD case. So I contact the band via Myspace, and they tell me to talk to Fat Wreck Chords. I send them a message on their website, and they basically tell me to fuck off. Nice. So fuck you Flatliners. No Soup or Review for you. If I was some big titty slut and I told you I didn't get a CD in my case, I would bet that not only would I have gotten a replacement CD, but I would of also gotten a band tee shirt, and maybe the personal email addresses of some if not all of the band members... which is a damn good idea! :-) Dammit! Why didn't I think of that sooner? LOL I might of gotten some free stuff, instead of an empty CD case. Booooooooooooo. Available from Fat Wreck Chords. What a safe, sterile, serene little release from the Damned. Harkens back to the day of their Phantasmagoria / Black Album / Strawberries phase of their career (yuck), but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Kind of rocking, in a 60's Garage Punk Psychedelic kind of way, and it's a little spooky too, courtesy of the graveyard crooning of Mr. Dave Vanian. He sounds as great as ever, but his lyrical musings are asinine and meaningless, but in a good, Pop sort of way... heh heh. Captain Sensible has a knack for picking out beautiful musical passages on that guitar of his, and I think he may be a bit underrated in that department. The guy really can play that thing. The rest of the boys in the Damned at the moment do a good job of accompanying the 2 elder punk musicians on their musical journey through Punk, Pop, Goth and Psychedelia. I mean, the last song on here, Dark Asteroid, is over 14 minutes long! Talk about an acid flashback! LOL I guess with the passage of Time comes the onset of Maturity, and for the Damned, this is definitely a 'mature" album from them. I'll leave it to you to decide if that's a good thing or not. Finally! Some properly recorded Mapes material. And on vinyl! 3 songs that are some of the many highlights of the bands now legendary live performances (Journey To The Center Of The Mapes - Tits - Rocket In My Pocket), presented on a format that classic Punk Rock is meant to be listened to on. I think I seriously had a chubby as I watched the needle hit the groove of the record. As the first notes came crashing out of my speakers, my dog Kenny went running upstairs, and that's always a good sign! hahaha Just amazing stuff, the recording quality is incredible, the 3 songs are over waaaaay too quick, and if these tunes are a sampler of what awaits us on the long forthcoming Mapes CD that's brewing, then I for one can not wait to get my hands on it! A soon to be Legendary release from the Mapes, and oh yeah, there's 2 songs from NYC's World War IX on the other side, which is good in a Smut Peddlers - Rats Of Unusual Sizes kind of way, but not even as close to being as good as the Mapes stuff is... heh heh heh Available from Red Black And Blue Records. |
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