The Album Review Thread

[mr. excellent]

Fading West (Switchfoot) 7.5/10
I just listened to Switchfoot's latest album Fading West a few days ago. It was alright. They're not revolutionary with their stuff, but they're happy, optimistic, and wide eyed in what they do. For that, I enjoy their tunes. Fading West sounds like a mixture of their own work, mixed in with some other bands that have been on the forefront lately. Some of the songs on the album are amongst their best though, and Jon Foreman has a knack for writing rapid fire catchy lyrics. It fits with pop rock, but the lyrics aren't lazy, which is appreciated. Switchfoot is my favorite band, but I've been more impressed with the artistic ability of other bands more. Like I said, these guys make me feel good. As an acoustic band, they're fantastic.

Speaking of bands that are impressive, Elizabeth and the Catapult. While listening to Fading West from my blu ray player's youtube feature, one of this band's albums came up. It only took a matter of seconds before I was convinced I needed to hear the full album. Boy am I glad I did (and how, too!!) I'd have to listen to it again, considering I didn't even catch the title of the album (it was playing in the background while I did other things in my living room) but I'm leaning toward a 9/10. Holy shit biscuits, you'd better get your gravy. It's wonderful stuff.

[mr. excellent]

Kate Nash: -/- girl talk

This lady is hot stuff musically. I'm having a really hard time assigning my arbitrary ratings for the music category. Honestly, my movie scores are pretty damn arbitrary too, but I'm so used to doing that that it doesn't bother me as much. For music, I don't know. It's just harder for me. I'm being a weenie. Anyway, there's something to this that reminds me a little of 90s rock. There's also, I don't know, an alternative punk rock sound to it. Nash is pretty good at stringing words together in rapid fire succession, but considering I was listening to this album while I was doing some heavy planning, I couldn't really dissect the meaning. It sounded good enough to keep me listening though, so I'm giving it some credit. Nash isn't one to sing about meaningless drivel though, which is nice.

[brotherandbassist]

Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold- 8.75/10

This album takes a well executed departure from the typical Avenged Sevenfold sound to harbor a more classic metal sound. M. Shadow's vocal prowess takes a slight step back for a more raw and thrash esque approach. A lot of this album is very reminiscent of Black Album Metallica and Appetite for Destruction era Guns n Roses. While the majority of the album's influences mesh pretty flawlessly, some of the riffs such as This Means War sound like blatant rip offs of Sad but True by Metallica, for example. Hopefully the small handful of dry spots and unoriginal riffage do not deteur fellow metalheads from checking out this album. It is bass heavy, riff , and groove oriented with an almost "simple is better" approach to rhythm guitar this go around from Zacky Vengeance that is a nice new touch as opposed to the usual one octave down harmonies. The lyrical content is very akin of Maiden's historical, war, or apocalyptic style story telling that almost makes it seem like you are in a super cool history class where the battlefield comes to life. Although Avenged never comes out and says it, (since they like fans to interpret song meanings on their own) I honestly think this album tells a story that seems to almost play out like a mixture of Beowulf, A Knight's Tale, and maybe even Romeo and Juliet. I cannot help but think of the time span from midieval up to the Renaissance when I listen to this. This album is definitely worth purchasing for any metal fan. Jimmy would be proud!

[mr. excellent]

Been listening to a lot of "Greatest Hits" compilations lately. I didn't grow up listening to 80s or 90s music because my dad controlled the radio at all times and I wasn't the type of kid to listen to the radio on my own until the early 2000s. Anyway, I've really been enjoying Journey's Greatest Hits, Queen's Greatest Hits, and Oasis's greatest hits. Weezer comes in every now and then because I love Weezer, but I have a hard time focusing with Weezer in the background because I want to get all up in arms about it like that amazingly accurate SNL sketch with Matt Damon and Leslie Jones. I suppose I should be posting this in another thread, but ... I did happen to listen to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album, which is incredibly cinematic.

Dark Side of the Moon: 8.5/10
This took me on a journey. Ya'll know my numbers don't amount to much, so I suspect one day I may come back and change the score.