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Bullet for My Valentine: Fever

April 27, 2010 /


RIYL: Killswitch Engage, Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu

Look no further than the first 80 seconds of Bullet for My Valentine’s third studio album, Fever, to see what these guys are capable of. Those seconds, filled with thumping drums and building guitars, are undoubtedly mosh-worthy, but they aren’t completely indicative of what’s in store with this record. While the band remains as polished as ever technically, the songwriting leaves a lot to be desired and singer Matt Tuck’s vocals go off the glam deep end too often.

The aforementioned opening track, “Your Betrayal,” is one of the album’s better tracks and is a great showcase of Valentine’s love for dynamic guitar solos and layered rhythms. The choruses are catchy enough to not scare the parents and Fever is, without question, the band’s most accessible release to date. “A Place Where You Belong” is an infectious power ballad, as is “Bittersweet Memories.” The first single, “The Last Fight,” has a fist-pumping chorus and energy is not in short supply.

Peppered throughout the record, however, are some seriously groan-inducing moments. Tuck has a great voice, but his persistent whisper becomes obnoxious, as do lyrics like those found in the title track. Try this on for size:

Come here you naughty girl you’re such a tease
You look so beautiful down on your knees
Keep on those high heel shoes rip off all your clothes
You smell so fucking good it makes me lose control!

Even Def Leppard in their heyday would laugh at that. Despite the moments of cheese, Fever is an above-average thrash/melodic metal record that offers great guitar licks and effectively melodic choruses. Bullet for My Valentine will crack an expanded fan base with this offering, but it does come at the expense of some quality in comparison to their previous releases. (Zomba/RED)

Bullet for My Valentine MySpace Page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Metal, Rock

Rufus Wainwright: All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu

April 23, 2010 /


RIYL: Leonard Cohen, George Gershwin, deathly seriousness

All musicians should have Rufus Wainwright’s ambition, with a reach that far, far exceeds their grasp the way his does. The only catch, of course, is that there is no guarantee that you will like what he’s reaching for from one album to the next. He’s like Neil Young in the ’80s, only without the whole ‘fuck you Geffen’ thing.

There are two clear phases to his career at this point: the pop years (his 1998 debut, 2001’s Poses, and 2003’s Want One), and the stage years, which is everything he’s released after Want One. Hell, the man did a show as Judy Garland, so Broadway clearly appeals to him more than conventional popular music. And that’s okay: the man is nothing if not melodramatic, so he’s wise to play to his strengths.

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This time around, though, the ‘melo’ to ‘drama’ ratio is tilted mightily in favor of the former. All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, Wainwright’s first studio effort since 2007’s Release the Stars, is Rufus armed only with a piano, a stark contrast to the elaborate productions he’s been assembling for the last, well, ten years now. It’s pretty, but hot damn, is it maudlin. Wainwright’s pulse quickens only three times here, and they wisely opened the album with one of them: “Who Are You New York?” has the album’s biggest hooks both vocally and musically, with “Give Me What I Want and Give It to Me Now” not far behind. Someone needs to talk to him, though, about his tendency to draw out the syllables to the point where it doesn’t sound like he’s singing actual words. Entire songs can go by without a single lyric leaving a mark, and when it’s one of the, ahem, many ballads that All Days Are Nights sports, the experience of listening to the album can get laborious in a hurry.

In a business where promising careers get smashed by simple-minded executives who want to put a square peg in a round hole, Rufus Wainwright is one of the few artists who could stand to benefit from a little direction. Unless, of course, Wainwright is actually trying to make albums that appeal to fewer and fewer people, in which case he should continue doing exactly what he’s doing. All Days Are Nights is fine for what it is, but if he doesn’t watch it, Wainwright’s subsequent releases will be given the same fanfare as a new album by Sarah Brightman. (Decca 2010)

Rufus Wainwright MySpace page
Click to buy All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu from Amazon

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD Reviews, Melodramatic, Pop, Vocal

Jakob Dylan: Women and Country

April 22, 2010 /


RIYL: Bob Dylan, Neko Case, T-Bone Burnett

Jakob Dylan is back for his second solo album, sans Wallflowers, and he’s delivered an Americana gem. There’s not much in the way of the rock or roll here, but that clearly isn’t Dylan’s intention. There’s a mature vibe that sounds not altogether unlike some of the recent output from his dad. Jakob Dylan has teamed with producer and longtime friend T-Bone Burnett (who also produced the Wallflowers’ breakthrough album Bringing Down the Horse) to craft an old-school album of bluesy, alt-country majesty. The addition of the fabulous Neko Case and her backing singer Kelly Hogan adds an extra quality that lifts the songs to a higher plane. Instrumental enhancement from pedal steel guitar, fiddle and banjo also help to generate an authentic, way old-school sound.

Much of the album sounds like it could work as a soundtrack for a Clint Eastwood western about pioneers trying to make it through hard times, and that vibe fits all too well here in this foul economic year of our Lord 2010. “Nothing but the Whole Wide World” and “Down on Our Own Shield” open the album and immediately establish a rich sound with lush, bluesy guitars and the sweet backing vocals from Case and Hogan. “Lend a Hand” mixes it up a little by adding in some horns that conjure the Preservation Hall Jazz Band sound of New Orleans. “We Don’t Live Here Anymore” comes out with a somber vibe, but in solidarity with those suffering from home foreclosure. The backing vocals provide a haunting quality, and there’s rich texture from some timely banjo plucking by David Mansfield. “Everybody’s Hurting” mines a similar thematic vein, a retro throwback to another time, yet tuned into a lamentable 21st century zeitgeist. Mansfield strikes again by adding some sad fiddle to enhance the vibe.

“Holy Rollers for Love” is a little more uplifting with a major key tone, but still follows the down-tempo American template that informs the album. “Truth for a Truth” conjures a “High Plains Drifter” gunslinger mode with lyrics that speak of “an eye for an eye, a truth for a truth.” “They’ve Trapped Us Boys” is almost a little bit of a hoedown with its walking bass and mandolin strums, and is enhanced with glimmering pedal steel and angelic vocals as Case and Hogan sing “shine a light, shine a light.” “Standing Eight Count” closes the album with a horn intro that sounds similar to the theme from “Rocky,” followed by the album’s strongest beat to wrap it up with something of a triumphant, upbeat vibe. (Columbia 2010)

Jakob Dylan MySpace page MySpace page

Adult Contemporary, Americana, CD Reviews, Folk

The Apples in Stereo: Travellers in Space and Time

April 22, 2010 /


RIYL: ELO, The Beatles, Cliff Richard

If the early returns are any indication, 2010 is the year that musicians realized that it was all right to admit that they like ELO. The power pop circuit has been cribbing from Jeff Lynne for years, of course, but they have about 600 records sold to show for it. Perhaps that’s why bands like the Apples in Stereo and the Silver Seas (wait until you hear their song “What’s the Drawback”) waited until they developed a devoted fan base before dropping the news on their fans that yes, they like ELO, too. For a band that was so successful, the ELO name carries a curious amount of baggage.

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Don’t be surprised if Travellers in Space and Time, the new album by the Apples in Stereo, changes that stigma some. This is not the first time the Apples have dabbled in Lynneisms, but Travellers ups the ante by exploring different aspects of the ELO sound. “Hey Elevator” is this album’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman,” while “Dignified Dignitary” is a clear descendant of both “Do Ya” and the band’s own song “Go.” “Wings Away” is the album’s big Beatles moment, with one of those instantly recognizable ascending progressions in the chorus. The album does explore other catalogs besides ELO’s, though, as “Next Year at About the Same Time” sounds like Squeeze covering David Bowie’s “Blue Jean.”

At 16 tracks, the album does feel a tad long, even with two of those tracks being interludes. Still, it’s nice to see a band tackle the whole in-crowd notion of indie pop and declare the party open to anyone and everyone interested in attending. Get your Vocoder on. (Yep Roc 2010)

Apples in Stereo MySpace page
Click to buy Travelers in Space and Time from Amazon

Alternative, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Big Audio Dynamite: This Is Big Audio Dynamite (Legacy Edition)

April 22, 2010 /


RIYL: Public Image Ltd., Primal Scream, The Clash

Big Audio Dynamite are kind of a “lost” bands of the ’80s. Sure, you may still hear “The Globe” a cut from the band’s second incarnation Big Audio Dynamite II, on retro playlists, but aside from that they’ve all but vanished from the pop culture lexicon, not that they were that big a presence on it to begin with. The band’s measured success remains befuddling when you consider it was Mick Jones’ baby, the group he put together after getting fired from the Clash in 1983.

Big_Audio_Dynamite_02

Hopefully this new Legacy Edition re-issue of the group’s 1985 debut will open the band up for re-evaluation. The importance of This Is Big Audio Dynamite has faded over time, but when it came out it was a technological wonder, the first rock record to embrace the sampling movement of rap music and take it to a direction never heard before. While singles like “E=MC²” and “The Bottom Line” may seem a little quaint now, they were revolutionary at the time in how the took samples from movies and other sources and seamlessly incorporated them into the music. It’s a style you saw resurface just a few years later in bands like Massive Attack and Portishead. Ahead of their time back then, it now sounds dated in the most charming of ways.

The bonus disc is what makes this re-issue really worthwhile though, because while the album versions of their singles were always good, the 12” remixes was where the band really shined. Making the package an even sweeter deal are excellent b-sides such as “Electric Vandal” and the forgotten title track, which is a condensed amalgamation of nearly every sample that appeared on the album. Even the goofier bonuses, such as the vocoder version of “BAD” and the beyond-silly “Albert Einstein Meets the Human Beatbox” are welcome time capsules of a bygone era where stuff like this was groundbreaking and cutting-edge. A must-buy for fans of the band as well as fans of dance-punk who want to see where it all started. (Columbia 2010)

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Dance, Dub, Electronica, Punk, Reggae, Rock

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