Trollheart

Title: I am the Law!
Artiste: Anthrax
Genre: Heavy Metal
Taken from: Among the Living, 1987
Familiarity: I know some Anthrax, sure. I used to own Fistful of Metal...
Suggested by: The Batlord

Expectations: Hoping to like this one.

Good heavy rockin' guitar gets us underway, trundling along nicely. Good vocal from Belladonna. Like the lyric ”You're just a man, he is the Law!” Why wasn't this on either of the Dredd movies? Huh? Huh? Speeds up around 3:35 and gets into a real shredfest. Nice. I've heard better though, the aforementioned debut album being a case in point. Good fun though.

Conclusion: Decent song, but if it was the first time I'd heard Anthrax I would probably wonder what all the fuss was about, and how they were considered one of the Big Four of Thrash?

So, Love or Hate? As Batty said, it's about Dredd though, so it could be nothing else than a Love, could it really?

Chances of looking into the album: 40%


Title: Loose
Artiste: The Stooges
Genre: Hard rock/Punk
Taken from: Fun House, 1970
Familiarity: Zero
Suggested by: The Batlord

Expectations: I doubt I'll like this. I've seen Iggy perform “I want to be your dog” and thought little of it.

Hard guitar to get it started and a very Bowiesque sound (not surprising as they were friends, although he would really only have been getting started at this stage). Vocal's good. Not as chaotic as I expected. Good guitar solo. Great feel of being onstage somehow from this; you can't really picture them in the studio, headphones on, watching a mixing desk and smoking cigarettes.

Conclusion: A lot better than I had expected really.

So, Love or Hate? Give this a Love. Two for two, Batty!

Chances of looking into the album: 50%


Title: Terrorbird
Artiste: Author & Punisher
Genre: Industrial Doom Metal?
Taken from: Ursus Americanus, 2012
Familiarity: Zero; think I read an article about him once, may have been in one of Batty's journals?
Suggested by: The Batlord

Expectations: No idea

Okay, well that's just industrial noise to begin with, then a voice saying something over and over again. Decent drumbeat comes in but it's essentially the same for about a minute or so, then some growly vocals and more drumming, some heavy guitar but this is not engaging me at all. Just pretty much the same all through so far and we're halfway through the song. Meh.

Conclusion: Pretty boring and annoying. And thanks for the nasty video Batty!

So, Love or Hate? That's a definite Hate.

Chances of looking into the album: 0%

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The Batlord

There just might be hope for you yet.


Yeah, that was a Hail Mary.

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Trollheart

I can think of literally an infinite amount of things I would rather do in five hours than listen to that.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Frownland

Hell yeah! You could listen to a different bull of heaven song!

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Trollheart

Or this

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

The Batlord

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Trollheart

Better than five hours of Frownland-inspired music...

There's also this.

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Trollheart

Title: Southeastern
Artiste: Jason Isbell
Genre: Alt-Country
Familiarity: Zero. Apparently he's the lead singer with Drive-by Truckers. Don't know them either.

1. Cover me up: Nice gentle acoustic, pedal steel coming in. He has a strong voice, takes you a little by surprise when he shouts the lyric. I like the picture it paints of a simple life, particularly when he sings “It's cold in this house and I ain't going out to chop wood.” Pedal steel solo is great; don't often hear that.
2. Stockholm: More uptempo, nice rolling guitar and there's a female vocal in there too. Kim Richey apparently. This track reminds me of someone, think it may be David Gray. Something about the structure of the song.
3. Travelling alone: Back to slow tempo, with acoustic and violin, both they and the female vocals this time supplied by Amanda Shires, who apparently is part of his band, the 400 Unit, and is now his wife. Actually it's a mid-pacer, very nice.
4. Elephant: A pretty bitter song, with a sharp vocal. I'm not sure how I feel about this one.
5. Flying over water: Lot of punch and energy in this. Like this one a lot. Another good guitar solo, though it's a normal electric one this time.
6. Different days: This reminds me of something Nanci Griffith would write. Very acoustic and pleasant.
7. Live oak: Is this an acapella song? Well no, but for a few lines it is. Shows how strong his voice is. Very touching lyric.
8. Songs that she sang in the shower: Really like the guitar riff here. Quite an emotional song, very well written. More violin, fits in well.
9. New South Wales: Bouncy and uptempo but with a sort of folky feel, some great violin/fiddle.
10. Super 8: Kicking things up with a real hellraiser that reminds me of Blue Sky Riders. Quite rock and roll really, lots of guitar. Also reminds me of early Steve Earle, especially Exit 0.
11. Yvette: This is really nice. Given the subject matter it could have been darker than it ended up being, but he did a really good job with balancing it out. Hmm. Kind of a dark message at the end. Did he kill Yvette's father?
12. Relatively easy: Nice uptempo, cheery song

End result: Really accomplished album. Good to see someone who can just take a guitar and a mike and create such a great collection of songs. I know he uses other instruments but the acoustic, homegrown nature of this album is quite refreshing.

So, Love or Hate? An easy Love here.

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Trollheart

I meant inspired by you to try it. No that's not it. I meant music you like, therefore I probably wouldn't. See my Bon Jovi review.

Also, get a room, you two.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018