(#5 on the Alfred Top 25)

Opeth "Watershed"


2008 was a great year for music, and one of the standouts of the year was of course, Opeth's Watershed. In a year with as many standouts as 2008, it's very hard to lay claim to album of the year. Unfortunately, Watershed was not album of the year (despite what I used to think about the album). But it is still a huge, monstrous, epic album that definitely puts up a fight for the title. Let's investigate the beast that is Watershed.

The album begins off with a sad, beautiful acoustic track called Coil. Mikael Åkerfeldt and female vocalist Nathalie Lorichs take turns singing on this gorgeous piece, and it works quite well. Putting the album on randomly, you might expect to hear classical guitar and dueling genders for the duration...

...but that is not to be. After the last notes of the acoustic guitar on Coil fade away, something completely different and just as magnificent enters the ears. This is the sound of Heir Apparent. A complex death metal track that is sure to please any headbanger. Clocking at almost nine minutes and featuring a number of changes in mood, tempo, and instrumentation, this is the sound everyone has come to expect from Opeth, and displays the heavier side of Opeth wonderfully. It's a brutal piece of music that, at its heaviest could put many heavier bands to shame. Åkerfeldt's growls sound as clear and guttural as they have ever sounded, and the instrumentation is as tight as possible.

The mid-range in Opeth's sound is shown off with the gloomy single Burden. It's soulful, emotional, and oddly catchy. Åkerfeldt's vocal performance is outstanding, and the accompanying lead guitar greatly adds to the level of emotion present throughout the song. The case is similar for the following single, Porcelain Heart. While the lyrics aren't the strongest, a lot of enjoyment is to be had throughout the song. With verses that sound similar to what was heard on Coil, and choruses consisting of sorrowful, yet catchy "ahhhhh's", this is the most accessible Opeth song you'll find. Nice touches like the electric guitar fading into the chorus make for a solid and engaging listening experiance.

What Opeth has demonstrated on Watershed is that they can be varied. They can combine just about every sound they've tried into one album and have it make sense and fit together. Soft, medium, brutal, it's all here. One moment, Opeth verges on a ballad, the next they're sharp and technical.

Watershed used to be my favorite Opeth album, without a doubt, but I find myself constantly debating whether that title belongs to Ghost Reveries. Either way, Opeth created an all-around solid album that just falls short of excellence. It's nothing that the band did wrong, it's just that at certain times, they may not hold your interest or you find yourself saying "I heard this before!". I feel that some of the heavier parts have been done better on previous albums, which is a shame because Watershed would be the ultimate Opeth album if not for this reason alone.

This little complaint aside, Watershed is the ideal album to listen to if you have never listened to Opeth before. It's soft, brutal, emotional, all rolled into one fifty five minute long engaging listen. Recommended.

85%
Awesome

(#3 on the Alfred Top 25)

The Wallflowers "Rebel, Sweetheart"


The Wallflowers were all over the radio in 1996, the year their quadruple platinum album "Bringing Down The Horse" came out. Everyone knew the hits "One Headlight", "Three Marlenas", "The Difference", and "6th Avenue Heartache". But over the years they fell out of the public eye, not that I can really object. In 2000 you had the incredibly soft album "Breach" and in 2002 you had the overly poppy "Red Letter Days". Unfortunately, by the time The Wallflowers released their masterpiece in 2005, no one gave a shit. The Wallflowers were old news. Has-beens.

And maybe they realized that. Maybe they decided that they weren't in it for the money anymore, that they weren't going to make another Bringing Down The Horse. And as a result, they made Rebel, Sweetheart, a poetic, jangly, solid album. The first album I fell in love with, back when I was about eleven or twelve years old.

I remember putting this album in the CD player for the first time, so excited at hearing more songs from the only rock band I was allowed to listen to. The lazy riff of the incredibly catchy opener Days Of Wonder filled my ears and I laid down on my bed and listened to the whole thing. And then I listened to it a few more times after that. It was awesome.

And it's still awesome to this day. This is not an album that merely holds sentimental value with me, this is an album whose art I can still appreciate. It's a solid listen from start-to-finish, not a bad song on the CD. From the bright, upbeat rock songs to the poetic, gloomy folk rock, to the beautiful acoustic tracks, this is the band's most varied and well-produced album to date. It's always catchy but never seems to be commercial. Organic is the word.

In case you don't know, lead singer Jakob Dylan is the youngest son of Bob Dylan. As with his father, he's a great lyricist, but on Rebel, Sweetheart, his songs are more abstract than his father's. A favorite selection of mine from Nearly Beloved:

Compared to other albums, Jakob sacrificed his band's radio appeal for his best songwriting to date (solo album included).

My copy of Rebel, Sweetheart sits downstairs on top of a dresser with the rest of my CDs. It's definitely one of my most prized CDs because not only is it the first one I ever fell in love with, but it's incredibly rare to find one of these (I had to order online). The only Wallflowers album that sees the store shelves is Bringing Down The Horse, and you're lucky if you find it. I would definitely call Rebel, Sweetheart a lost, overlooked gem. It's a truly magnificent album.

93%
Masterpiece

(NEW RELEASE)

Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III


After completely exhausting Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster's first two albums at the end of 2008, I wanted more. I needed more. Maylene's first two albums could only satisfy my craving for Dallas Taylor and the Gang's southern-fried, story-driven heavy metal for so long. Now that the sounds of Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster's third album have entered my ears multiple times I can confidently say that Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III was worth the wait. Maylene III sees the band making their most solid, accomplished, and downright enjoyable album to date.

With Maylene III, the band breaks out of the shell that they were once confined in. With Dallas Taylor and Roman Havaland being the only original members, you could say that this is a reinvention. As well as Maylene's traditional southern metal, we hear a nice melodic, radio-friendly track called Listen Close, the long-awaited use of banjo and non-gruff vocals from Dallas Taylor on Step Up (I'm On It), and a new lead vocalist on Oh Lonely Grave. Little changes like this help make III special, and not just a repeat of II.

But it's not as if the more traditional Southern Metal songs are just standard Maylene. I mean, they are, but instead of just being scattered, breakdown laden scream-fests, there's hooks galore. The riffs have their own style here, and all songs are memorable. Add that to the fact that all the tracks are perfectly laid out, and you have an album that manages to be good as a whole and on a track-by-track basis.

I love a band that manages to get better with every new release. Compare their rough, unfocused debut to this... the improvement is irrefutable. Maylene finally got it all right. It maintains most of their traditional aspects, but they finally sound like they were destined to sound. Dropping most of the chugga-chugga metalcore elements and embracing melody and instrumental hooks, Maylene sounds extremely comfortable. There really is nothing you can hold against the band now. They're shrugging off their "Lynard Scenerd" roots and becoming the band they were destined to be.

I hope that everyone listens to Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III this year. It's bound to be forgotten because it's not "indie" or even particularly artistic. But sometimes you have to ask yourself why you even listen to music in the first place. I'm at the point where I just don't care. Maylene is rock 'n' roll at its finest. Pause your shitty obscure noise album. Listen to Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III.

88%
Awesome

(#2 on the Alfred Top 25)

The Clash "London Calling"


I don't want to review this album.

Why? Because doing so would be redundant. You've heard this album before. I don't need to tell you that all of The Clash's dabbling in other genres worked like a charm. I don't see why I should have to repeat the fact that London Calling is the most groundbreaking album to come out of the UK punk scene. I don't need to remind you that if you haven't heard this album you've been living under a rock since 1979 (or for those born after, your whole life).

It's late. I'm going to bed. Enjoy the album if you haven't already. Ha, what a concept. Not having heard this album.

100%
Perfect

(NEW RELEASE)

He Is Legend "It Hates You"


I was pretty skeptical when I heard that He Is Legend was making a new album. I enjoyed all of their releases, their EP and their two full-lengths, but they never seemed to completely pull it off. Their weak lyrics, inconsistant vocals, and annoying filler prevented their previous albums from being truly great. As much as I liked the EP and "I Am Hollywood" they both had that sort of shittty scenecore vibe about them, and as much as I liked "Suck Out The Poison" the vocals were smokey, muffled, and occasionally annoying to listen to.

But this time they got it right. They nailed it. They found their sound.

While maintaining that sort of progressive quality that all of their releases have featured, "It Hates You" manages to be a lot less scattered and more methodical than previous releases. While previous work felt somewhat rushed, "It Hates You" is carefully formulated and exacted. The first thing that struck me as different when the engaging opener, Dicephalous came on was Schuylar Croom's vocals. High pitched on the first two releases, muffled and worn out on Suck Out The Poison, here they are captivating and powerful.

Another bad trend that plagued their earlier releases was the often piss-poor, generic, trying-way-too-hard-to-make-words-rhyme songwriting. It stuck out like blood on a white shirt. I guess ol' Schuylar learned a lot in his three year absence. He still rhymes, but he certainly makes it work a hell of a lot better than he previously attempted to.

Alongside being lyrically and vocally stronger than their previous albums, "It Hates You" is the heaviest release from the band so far. This is evident from the first track, Dicephalous with its fast pace, thick instrumentation and commanding vocal delivery. It also feels like they stopped dicking around and made sure that their melodies deliver the hooks. However, it's not just twelve big hard rock songs, many slower interludes, introductions, and bluesy leads are heard throughout the course of the album to mix it all up and keep it interesting.

"It Hates You" is a definite contestant for my pick of Album Of The Year 2009. Out of everything I've heard so far, no one has surprised me more than He Is Legend. I guess I never knew that they had it in them to make an album so solid, catchy, and well planned out. I'm sure that a band will come along and top them before the year is done, but regardless: well done He Is Legend on creating your first masterpiece.

90%
Masterpiece

Originally Posted by Alfred (NEW RELEASE) He Is Legend "It Hates You" Year: 2009 Genre: Hard Rock Length: 57:34 I was pretty skeptical when I heard that He Is Legend was making a new album. I enjoyed all of their releases, their EP and their two full-lengths, but they never seemed to completely pull it off. Their weak lyrics, inconsistant vocals, and annoying filler prevented their previous albums from being truly great. As much as I liked the EP and "I Am Hollywood" they both had that sort of ****ty scenecore vibe about them, and as much as I liked "Suck Out The Poison" the vocals were smokey, muffled, and occasionally annoying to listen to. But this time they got it right. They nailed it. They found their sound. While maintaining that sort of progressive quality that all of thier releases have featured, "It Hates You" manages to be a lot less scattered and more methodical than previous releases. While previous work felt somewhat rushed, "It Hates You" is carefully formulated and exacted. The first thing that struck me as different when the engaging opener, Dicephalous came on was Schuylar Croom's vocals. High pitched on the first two releases, muffled and worn out on Suck Out The Poison, here they are captivating and powerful. Another bad trend that plagued their earlier releases was the often piss-poor, generic, trying-way-too-hard-to-make-words-rhyme songwriting. It stuck out like blood on a white shirt. I guess ol' Schuylar learned a lot in his three year absence. He still rhymes, but he certainly makes it work a hell of a lot better than he previously attempted to. Alongside being lyrically and vocally stronger than their previous albums, "It Hates You" is the heaviest release from the band so far. This is evident from the first track, Dicephalous with its fast pace, thick instrumentation and commanding vocal delivery. It also feels like they stopped dicking around and made sure that their melodies deliver the hooks. However, it's not just twelve big hard rock songs, many slower interludes, introductions, and bluesy leads are heard throughout the course of the album to mix it all up and keep it interesting. "It Hates You" is a definite contestant for my pick of Album Of The Year 2009. Out of everything I've heard so far, no one has surprised me more than He Is Legend. I guess I never knew that they had it in them to make an album so solid, catchy, and well planned out. I'm sure that a band will come along and top them before the year is done, but regardless: well done He Is Legend on creating your first masterpiece. 90% Masterpiece

Originally Posted by Sansa Stark I'm down with Jesus, in that case.

The Dillinger Escape Plan "Ire Works"


When the chaotic mess of Fix Your Face first entered my ears in February of this year, I expected more of the same from the rest of the Dillinger Escape Plan's 2007 full-length "Ire Works". And this would have been no bad thing either. The opening track provided all the awesome thrills and tempo changes that I expected to hear from the founders of "mathcore". This album was my first experience with the band, so you can imagine my surprise when the catchy pop song Black Bubblegum came on.

When the whole album was over and done with, all I could say was "what the hell was that?". I could barely remember anything I had heard in the forty minutes it took me to listen to the entire album. It was a huge mess of scream-laden structureless songs and pop hooks. And now that I've listened to this album many, many times, this verdict still holds true (in a more positive way). And after listening to all of The Dillinger Escape Plan's major releases, Ire Works seems a lot more special than it first did. They pretty much laid the groundwork for mathcore with Calculating Infinity, put a nice Mike Patton spin on it with Irony Is A Dead scene, took the Mike Patton influences and threw in many pop flavors with Miss Machine, and finally perfected it all with one big cohesive, monstrous album.

Many people might object to this comparison, but I see Ire Works as being The Dillinger Escape Plan's "London Calling" in that it's the band's finest album, it's incorporates many other elements while still maintaining the band's signature sound, and that there's never a bad moment on either album. Of course, being inaccessible to a large amount of music listeners, and incorporating too many pop elements for mathcore purists are things that hold the album down from being as highly regarded as London Calling.

But screw the purists. I have listened to other mathcore bands such as Botch and PsyOpus and all their music amounts to is stomach turning growl/feedback carnivals that rips off so much of Calculating Infinity it's not even funny. Not only do The Dillinger Escape Plan execute their mathcore in a tasteful, enjoyable way, but they also show much progression from their debut album, something so many other bands, mathcore or not, fail to do.

As a closing comment, I am going to go ahead and recommend "Ire Works" to just about everyone on this forum. I know most of you find this kind of music unbearable, inaccessible, or maybe you just plain can't take screaming. But even if you don't neccesarily enjoy it, most of you will be able to appreciate its merits, whether it be the eclectic mix of music, the complex, jazz-influenced instrumentation, Greg Puciato's freaking amazing voice, or the overall musical skill of the band. Just please do yourself a favor and listen to one of the greatest albums of our time.

96%
Masterpiece

(album re-visited)

Alexisonfire


Let's get one thing out of the way here: Alexisonfire's 2002 self-titled debut album dominates my life. The album is, in my opinion, forty-two minutes of the most pure raw passion ever put to hardcore punk. Many of you may groan because this is Alexisonfire, the same band that gave you "Boiled Frogs", but before there was safe radio post-hardcore, there was this. Cutting, razor sharp, energetic tunes that stick to you like leeches. From the depressing guitar riff of .44 Caliber Love Letter to the final shrieks of Pulmonary Archery, Alexisonfire is the finest record that five eighteen and nineteen year old kids could possibly make.

Alexisonfire's early sound is characterized by raw production, constant tempo changes, high-pitched guitar leads, harsh screaming, pretty backup vocals, strange but poetic lyrics, and powerful climaxes. Some of the songs sound like demos, that's just how punk rock and no-frills they were. During this time, they described their sound as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls in mid-knife-fight" (you should take a look at their artwork and maybe read a few lyrics) and I think that this describes their sound pretty accurately.

You can tell that Alexisonfire weren't in it to make a quick buck at this point. And being as young as young as they were, a lot of their youthful energy, struggles, and artistic wandering made its way onto this album with no commercial goal in mind. Some odd things make their way on to the album such as a blood-curdling scream, death growls, and the following lyrics:

Even in their randomness, they do paint an odd mental picture that only an artsy high school student could understand.

During the large amount of time that I have spent with this album, it has been relevant with me in one way or another, whether that be musical or lyrical inspiration, relevant lyrics, or the overall mood that it portrays. I wish that Alexisonfire made more albums like this, or even "Watch Out!" but Alexisonfire said it best in the absolutely terrible "Keep It On Wax" from their 2006 album Crisis. "Times change and people change with 'em". Or on "Old Crows" from Old Crows/Young Cardinals. "We are not the kids we used to be". I respect that Wade, but when I hear the painful gang-screaming on Waterwings, I wish you were.

98%
Masterpiece

Green Day "American Idiot"


American Idiot came out around the time that I was really starting to take notice of music. Back then, my father was still very strict on what I could and could not listen to. And being that Green Day was a (relatively) heavy band with the odd use of strong language in their lyrics, they were an iffy band. Their music blew my mind, I loved it, but at the same time, I felt guilty because I knew in my heart that it was not the kind of thing I was supposed to be listening to. A couple years later I disowned Green Day. I was sick of their music, their style, their lyrics, their makeup, everything about them.

I decided to revisit this album this month just for kicks, and I am pleased to announce that I enjoy it now just as much as I did back when I was ten years old. It is a catchy, confident, poppy, triumphant, and sort of creative take on the faux-punk sound that bands like Sum 41, Blink 182, and Green Day themselves made popular. But unlike all of the similar music that came before and after it, American Idiot was truly special.

For 2004, American Idiot was a pretty culturally significant album both musically and lyrically. The sound was very typical of the big mall punk bands at the time: poppy, extremely catchy, mildly profane, and full of studio polish. Lyrically it is politically charged while still tame enough to appeal to the typical radio listener. And of course, everyone knows that it tells a rather pointless story of a modern-day junkie named Jesus.

The songs, as arena rock anthems for the twenty-first century are surprisingly excellent. There is not a bad song on the album, and many standouts for sure. Jesus Of Suburbia in particular is a nine minute epic that acts almost like a journal for the album's protagonist. It has five movements throughout that all boast distinct pop hooks. Even more interesting is the fact that some other notable hooks from other popular songs seem to have been... borrowed. City Of The Damned sounds eerily similar to a certain Bryan Adams chorus while the second segment of Dearly Beloved has me thinking "Ring Of Fire". And of course, who can forget the anthemic Holiday, or the power ballad Wake Me Up When September Ends? The pop quality per dollar is absolutely fantastic.

American Idiot remains one of the most talked about and popular albums of the decade, and I would go so far as to say it is one of the greatest. Fans of more obscure/abrasive/artistic music will dismiss it as radio garbage, punk fans will continue to call Green Day sellouts, and the kids who have moved on to 3OH!3 and LMFAO probably don't even remember all of the words to the title track. But none of that matters, because American Idiot has made it's mark, and like it or not, it is one of the defining albums of the decade.

91%
Masterpiece