LULLACRY – ALRIGHT TONIGHT (CD Single) (
Heavy Pop-Metal/Rock)
Nothing much here, this is just a 2-track single. The title track is one of the best tracks on Crucify My Heart, very catchy, great song. The second track is a re-recording of “Sweet Desire” from their first full-length of the same name (now out-of-print). This new version is a better recording, but there’s not really anything very different about it. This is obviously a single for the completists.
Rating:
70/100
Website:
http://www.lullacry.com
Downloads:
ALRIGHT TONIGHT (Clip)
LULLACRY – DON’T TOUCH THE FLAME (CD Single) (
Heavy Pop-Metal/Rock)
This is another 2-track single, the same thing basically applies, but this time the second track makes it a much better single to seek out. “Don’t Touch The Flame” is the standard fare for Lullacry, a very catchy, rock/metal anthem. A very cool tune. The second track is a killer cover of Nine Inch Nail’s “Head Like A Hole.” This version is very different from the original and sounds like it could be a Lullacry original. It’s a great song, definitely worth finding if you like this band.
Rating:
80/100
Website:
http://www.lullacry.com
Downloads:
DON’T TOUCH THE FLAME
BEN HARPER – BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN (3CD) (
Bluesy Folk/Soul/Reggae)
What? Pffft! Ben Harper is excellent. This is his seventh studio album since 1994, there have been a bunch of singles, two EPs and three live albums thrown in, as well. He’s not as prolific as someone like Ani Difranco—who had released about thirteen albums in her first twelve years, including one double live CD—but he’s still releasing albums at a good rate, and they’ve been very good. Like Ani Difranco, one of the things that makes Ben Harper so good is that each album is slightly different from the previous. Styles have varied between funk, soul, rock, reggae, and many other styles, all still retaining an element that is undeniably Ben Harper.
This album features two main albums, one is a softer, more acoustic album and the second is a bit heavier (relatively speaking, of course) and groovier. Both CDs are excellent and offer up a range of different styles within the main sound of the CDs. There is also a bonus disc here that includes six songs, four are alternate mixes and two are live. The day this was released it cost me $13.99 on sale, which is a great price for a 3CD set, and while the bonus disc has some really cool takes on some songs, I wouldn’t suggest paying the normal price of like $23.99 just for the added bonus disc. Still, the main two CDs are well worth checking out (if you’re not too metal, of course).
Rating:
85/100
Website:
http://www.benharper.net
Downloads:
BETTER WAY (Streaming)
DADDY X – FAMILY TIES (
Punk Rap)
I’m not a huge rap fan, though I do like some. I love the old shit like Run DMC, Eric B. & Rakim, the first two L.L. Cool J albums, etc., I also really dig on the early Nineties rap like House Of Pain, Cypress Hill and Funkdoobiest. Since then there have been very few rap groups that I have even remotely liked. I discovered Insane Clown Posse in high school and because I’m a clown—no pun intended—I found them to be hilarious, they lost it in the past few years when they got rid of their long-time producer, though. When the good beats are gone the retarded lyrics are no longer funny because the hooks and verses become weak. Anyway, then there is Kottonmouth Kings, formed out of the punk band Humble Gods, they mix acoustic music, reggae, rock, metal and punk with rap. It’s a very unique mix that never sounds like rapcore, it always maintains that rap element as the predominant sound. Kottonmouth Kings have released a lot of music, each CD usually contains around twenty tracks, many times more than that and unlike many rap albums there aren’t ten songs and ten stupid skits, these are mainly songs. Sometimes I feel like this is a good thing, and others not a good thing as some songs just aren’t all that great, but they’re not total crap so it’s not so bad.
Apparently the members do nothing but record music (and, according to the lyrics, smoke a lot of weed) because not only have Kottonmouth Kings released nine albums since 1998—the tenth coming June 6th—the individual members have also released some solo/side-project albums. This is Daddy X’s second solo album. Like Kottonmouth Kings his solo material is a variation of styles mixed in with a lot of rap, although his lyrics are more introspective and political than those of Kottonmouth Kings who rap more about partying and smoking weed. There are twenty-one songs here and again it sometimes feels like too many. There are a ton of kick ass songs, but there are some slight snoozers that just feel a little thrown together. The lyrics suffer sometimes, too. Have you ever written lyrics to a rap song? You have to write a fucking ton of lyrics! This is no six-line verse, four-line chorus. You have to write like forty-line verses, three of them! It’s ridiculous! Anyswayze, in order for rap lyrics to work they have to be well thought out and generally they are here, but sometimes they reek of laziness. Still, in the end this is another very good release from the Kottonmouth cam…err…kamp. Give it a chance, these dudes are white so it’s not your typical mainstream rap.
Rating:
75/100
Website:
http://www.kottonmouthkings.com
Downloads:
SAMPLER and
MINDBENDER (Video featuring a legless break-dancer, freaky!)
LEPRECHAUN – THE ULTIMATE DANCE (DEMO EP) (
Irish Folk Power Metal)
I was intending to review this on the main site, but decided against it for three reasons. One thing that pissed me off when I paid like $17 for this was the fact that when I got the CD it was in a cardboard slipcase. Strike one. Those things suck, but at least the glossy artwork and stuff was cool. Then I slide the CD out and it’s a fucking CDR!! Seriously…what the fuck? Strike two. I paid $17 for
this? That’s extremely cheap if you ask me, and it’s just a 7-track EP and there’s not even any label on the CDR, it’s blank! The EP is very good, though. So I figured I’d still review it, support the band even though I felt slightly ripped off. Then just the other day I popped the CD in to give it some listens before I reviewed it and at 2:21 of the second track it fucking skips! The CD is scratch-free, but like many CDRs it degrades over time for a variety of reasons. Now the band can kiss my ass! Hahaha. Luckily it only skips a few times and then works its way past, the skip also didn’t translate to the MP3 when I ripped it, which is good. Still, I can’t in good conscience review this on the main site. It’s not worth the price.
As for the music, apparently it’s very much like Elvenking, whom I’ve never heard, but considering that this band is lead by Damnagoras from Elvenking it wouldn’t surprise me. Basically this is Irish folk/power metal and it’s excellent. And that’s all this band gets from me. Pffft!
Music Rating:
85/100 | Packaging:
25/100
Website:
http://www.leprechaun.it
Downloads:
ROOK BLACK CROW,
THE ULTIMATE DANCE (Clip) and
KNOCKGRAFTON (Clip)
