falloutbradreviews

[falloutbradreviews]

Infectious Grooves – The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move… It’s The Infectious Grooves

Side projects from various bands and artists can be a range of things, whether it’s really weird, strange, interesting, unique, underrated, solid, awesome, or awful, boring, and forgettable. Side projects can also be a lot of different things, whether it’s a new band, a solo project, or a supergroup. Today I wanted to talk about a band that’s almost a spin-off of another one, because there are those projects that feature a majority of members from one band, as well as a member or two from something else. The other cool thing about side projects is that they can also differentiate from the “original” band, too, and that’s the type of side project I wanted to specifically focus on. Maybe a band likes a certain sound, and they don’t really want to take their own band in that direction, but they want to do something different. A lot of artists like to experiment with other sounds, because they don’t want to alienate people with that sound. Take the band Suicidal Tendencies, for a good example. I just talked about these guys recently with their 1983 self-titled debut, and how much I really enjoy it after not hearing it after six or seven years. Suicidal Tendencies would eventually change their sound over the next few years, instead adopting a thrash and crossover approach to their sound. Their debut is kind of a crossover album, but it leans more into hardcore and punk than thrash. I’ve specifically been playing 1990’s Lights… Camera… Revolution, because that album is more or less a thrash-meets-funk-metal album. The band got a bit funky on that album, and they have future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo to thank for that.

Just a year afterwards, vocalist Mike Muir, bassist Robert Trujillo, guitarist Rocky George, guitarist Dean Pleasants, and a few other musicians, including Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Kushner who performs on a track with a guitar solo, and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins, all got together to make a funk-rock / funk-metal / thrash-metal album with a new band, entitled Infectious Grooves. Their debut album, 1991’s The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move… It’s The Infectious Grooves, is a rather underrated album from the 1990s funk-metal and thrash scene. I kind of knew who these guys were, but I decided to take a look at this album while getting into some Suicidal Tendencies, and even some other funk-metal bands, like Living Colour, Faith No More, and Snot. I had an idea of what I was getting into with this thing, but I was prepared for an album that gave me what the band’s name and album title says – infectious grooves. Sure enough, that’s what I got here. The Plague, as I’ll call it going forward, is a record that’s very fun, energetic, and off the wall, but it's devoid of any substance or meaning. That’s one thing you need to know when going into this record, but if you look at the title, you might have an idea that these guys are not taking themselves seriously. That’s completely fine, too, because not everything needs to be serious, but this album is a bit of a mess. The Plague is 45 minutes of what amounts to a mixture of funk-metal, funk-rock, and thrash, but it plays out like a series of vignettes. Hell, a song might start off as a funk song but suddenly turn into a thrash rager then go back to a funk song again. This album has no sense of direction, and I’ll be honest – that really turns me off to it.

That doesn’t make the album bad, because it’s still a lot of fun, but it’s hard to keep up with it sometimes. It feels like musical whiplash a lot of the time here, and I’m just not a fan of it, for the most part. I like this album, and its sound is really cool, but the album is so unfocused, messy, and jarring, I’m not as into it as I’d like to be. The sad part is, too, the performances are great. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Trujillo go nuts on his bass, this is the best album to listen to, because there are loads of awesome bass riffs that are so groovy and tasty. Muir is a solid vocalist, too, utilizing more of his singing voice (he had been doing that on Suicidal albums at the time, and it was very refreshing to hear), but the guitarwork and drumwork is solid. The instrumentation is great, but it’s just a very unfocused and messy album that doesn’t bring everything together. The album’s a lot of fun, so if you want an album with a lot of energy and groove, you’ll get it. It’s just that I wish the individual songs were catchier and more interesting, and there’s also a weird series of interludes featuring the guy on the cover that’s a lizard or something. It’s never explained outright, but it's a very loose concept that doesn’t make sense and just isn’t very funny. The interludes feel like they’re almost every other track, and I’m not a fan, so that’s another reason why I haven’t gone back to this very much. It still does have some cool songs, though, and if you want to hear some solid funk-metal with a thrash influence, check this out. I think you’ll get a huge kick out of it, and while I enjoy it somewhat, it’s not the best thing out of everything I’ve been listening to lately. It has some good things within it, but this record also has a lot that I’m just not a fan of. It sucks, because I love Suicidal Tendencies a lot, so I was hoping to enjoy this record more than I did.

[falloutbradreviews]

Megadeth – Rust In Peace

Megadeth’s fourth album, 1990’s Rust In Peace, turns 35 this year, and that’s a big milestone for an album of its caliber, so I wanted to give this album another look after not listening to this for a long time. I can’t believe that it’s been over ten years since I first got into metal, but I didn’t start off with Megadeth. The first band I ever heard was Metallica. Now I was into metalcore beforeband, and while those bands are definitely metal bands (at least the metaI, I wanted to get more into classic metal. A lot of metalheads would say that metalcore wasn’t “real metal,” even though there’s no such thing. I started with a few bands I had always wanted to check out, like Metallica and Cannibal Corpse, but I didn’t get into the rest of the Big Four of thrash until later. Truthfully, though, I was never the biggest Megadeth fan, but that’s mainly for vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Mustaine is known for forming Megadeth after he was kicked out of Metallica in 1983, and I can’t imagine a world where Mustaine would be singing on Metallica records, because he isn’t a very good singer. I’m just going to rip that band-aid off right there. I’ve never been a fan of his vocals. Even on their earlier work, I don’t care for his vocals. He has this whiny sneer that I’ve just never been able to get fully into, but I think it’s also just knowing how Mustaine turned out, especially as one of the few conservative metal musicians. Of course they exist, but thrash music is very much a left-leaning genre, so it’s strange. At least their early work isn’t very conservative in tone, but it’s more in line with pretty generic ideas and subject matter of the time. Mustaine is the face of Megadeth, and if you don’t like the frontman of the band, that’s a good reason not to be a fan at all, right?

This band is complicated in that respect, because their instrumentation is stellar. Even Mustaine is a good guitar player, and the guitar riffs and solos on Rust In Peace are great, but that’s about it. The lyrics are pretty solid, too, but they’re nothing really special. This album is considered a classic mainly for the guitarwork, which is insanely impressive, as it flashes between technical, progressive, and just fun. Mustaine’s vocals can be grating, though, but he’s not the worst vocalist in the world. Even when I was younger, I could never get into this album, or any of their albums, because of how Mustaine always preferred being technical and flashy over catchy and accessible. The guitar solos and riffs, especially the twin guitars that pop up throughout the album, are the best part of it. I suppose that’s enough to enjoy an album, especially a thrash record, but I also don’t get why this album is so lauded in the metal scene. In a sense, I do, but at the same time, Mustaine just isn’t a good singer or lyricist. The lyrics aren’t bad here, but they also don’t do anything that many other bands of the era didn’t already do, let alone better, so what gives? I think people really like this album for the technical and complex songwriting / riffage, but that’s about it. There just isn’t much to get into here, minus the guitarwork. Mustaine has never been a musician I’ve liked much, but I can appreciate and enjoy his guitarwork on this thing. Thirty-five years later, the album holds up pretty well, but it’s still not a perfect album. With that said, this is my favorite Megadeth album, and if you want a perfect introduction to their work, this is a perfect one to show someone.

[falloutbradreviews]

Metallica – Load

You can tell a lot about a Metallica fan when they talk about what albums they like from them, and/or when they jumped off the bandwagon, because most Metallica fans fall into a few categories – the fans that love everything (regardless of their sound or era), the fans that only listen to Metallica prior to 1988 (they’ll tell you that they “sold out” with the 1991 self-titled, also known as The Black Album), or the fans that like a combination of their classic and new material (most often, they pick and choose what they like, especially from their new material). The fans that blindly love everything aren’t inherently annoying, but they’ll argue with you if you try to say that St. Anger sucks, and that becomes annoying. If you like the albums that no one else does, that’s fine, but at least admit that not everyone is going to like those albums. Those fans aren’t as annoying as the ones that love everything pre-Black Album, and hate everything afterwards, because at least those fans are more positive. Even the fans that love everything during their “classic years” seem to hate Metallica, and it makes no sense to me. It’s the same with Star Wars fans – no one hates Star Wars more than Star Wars fans. I’m in the last kind of Metallica fans, who are those are pick and choose what they like. I actually quite like some of their later material, even if they started releasing stuff on an irregular basis. 2008’s Death Magnetic is a really solid album, and so is 2023’s 72 Seasons. I’m sort of mixed on 2016’s Hardwired To Self-Destruct, because it was trying to be akin to their classic work, and it just didn’t work as a whole.

Where I’m really torn is on their 90s material, and I’ll be up front when I say that my favorite Metallica album is 1991’s Black Album. It used to be 1986’s Master Of Puppets, but the older I’ve gotten, the more that I just love their “sellout” album the most. It’s a catchy, fun, and surprisingly heavy album. Have you listened to that album recently? It’s got some heavy riffs that rival their classic material, but that’s where my undying praise for their 90s material ends. The band were on top after The Black Album in 1991; it’s one of the highest selling albums of all time, so the band could have gone anywhere and they chose to cut their hair and become a hard-rock band. You kind of have to understand the context in which 1996’s Load came out, because grunge was dominating at the time. Thrash metal, which was very popular in the 1980s, was starting to become rather stale and fading away from the mainstream, so a lot of thrash bands turned to grunge or hard-rock until grunge died in the late 90s. Metallica, I guess, wanted to ride the wave of grunge, so they turned to the genre to also continue their success with the Black Album. They also wrote enough material to take up two albums, so they released one album entitled Load in 1996, and then released the second album in 1997 entitled Reload. I’ll be talking about Load today, but I will say that Reload didn’t need to happen in the slightest, because it basically just feels like B-sides to Load, since it all sounds the same. Both albums have one thing in common, at least – they’re both extremely bloated and way too long.

I haven’t listened to Load all that much, let alone in a long time, but I’ve been wanting to go back to it for awhile now. As a big Metallica fan, I feel like I should check out everything they’ve done. I don’t have to love it all, but I want to hear it all. Load is one of those albums that I’ve heard a few times, but don’t go back to it. Now that the remaster just finally came out, I figured I’d listen to it again to see if I like it. I’ve listened to it a few times in the last couple of weeks, and I’m very mixed on it, but it’s more so “good” than it is outright bad. I’ll rip the band-aid off when I say reiterate that the biggest issue I have with Load is how long it is. This record is damn near 80 minutes, and it doesn’t need to be at all. Almost every song sounds exactly the same, having this hard-rock and blues-rock sound that doesn’t admittedly sound half bad, but everything just runs together. Everyone sounds fine, but this album could have had a lot of moments left on the cutting room floor. A bunch of songs could have been cut to make a great 45-minute album, but at 80 minutes, it’s so bloated and boring sometimes, it hurts. It’s not a bad listen, by any means, but it just gets old and monotonous. It’s not an album I’ve been going back to much, because of how daunting and long it is. This album isn’t horrible, and it’s not as bad as fans make it out to be, but it’s only worth hearing if you’re a big hard-rock fan, or you’re fine with hearing Metallica basically make the same song for 80 minutes. It’s not the best Metallica album, not by a long shot, but it’s also a far cry from the worst. St. Anger and LuLu exist, so there’s no way this is the worst thing they’ve ever done, but it’s far from the best. It’s still worth hearing if you like the Black Album, because it goes more into a hard-rock sound that album kind of had, but don’t expect a total masterpiece.

[falloutbradreviews]

Exodus – Fabulous Disaster

The 80s thrash scene was home to many bands, but the Big Four are the ones that people mainly remember. Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax are considered to be the Big Four, but there are other bands that could be considered the fifth band of the Big Four (kind of like how George Martin was often considered to be the fifth Beatle). There are those bands of the thrash scene, especially the Bay Area scene (where three of the Big Four bands were located), that could have also been included. There are a lot of bands from Europe, too, such as Germany and England, but I’ll be talking about the US only here. Two bands that come to mind immediately are Testament and Exodus. Both of these bands are started around the same time, but Testament released their debut in 1987, whereas Exodus released their debut in 1985. Both of those albums are fantastic, and they’re classics within the genre. I’m more of a Testament fan, personally, but both bands are solid. Exodus’ claim to fame is actually being formed by future Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett in 1979, only for Hammett to leave the band when Dave Mustaine (future Megadeth mastermind) got let go during the recording of their debut album, 1983’s Kill ‘Em All. Exodus has also went through quite a bit of lineup changes, namely with their vocalists. Debut album, 1985’s Bonded By Blood features Paul Baloff, but was replaced by former Testament vocalist (when they were named Legacy) Steve “Zetro” Souza, and the band has bounced between vocalists since. It’s a revolving door for vocalists over there, basically, but I wanted to talk more specifically about Exodus today. I’ve talked about them before, most recently earlier this year when their debut turned 40, but I wanted to talk about another album of theirs I got around that same time, just didn’t listen to much – 1989’s Fabulous Disaster.

Amazon only has their debut, and their third album, but their second album, 1987’s Pleasures Of The Flesh is nowhere to be found. That’s Zetro’s debut with the band, so I’ll just be focusing on his second album with them instead. This isn’t the first album with him that I’ve talked about, though, and that would be 2014’s Blood In, Blood Out. That album isn’t very good. It’s not horrible, and it’s not even relatively bad, but it’s just a long, boring, and grating listen. The thing is, Zetro’s voice is an acquired taste, because he has this screech that can best be described as Bon Scott in a thrash band. Maybe it’s because that album came out 25 years after Fabulous Disaster, but his voice is a bit better on the latter than on the former. That isn’t to say he’s amazing, because his voice is still kind of grating on this album, but he’s better on this album. Fabulous Disaster is honestly a really solid album, but there are a few things that prevent me from really loving it. This time around, I’ll start with what I don’t like, because I already kind of mentioned one thing – Zetro’s voice. Like I said, his voice is better here than on anything else I’ve heard, but his voice is also an acquired taste. If you’re not accustomed to it, I can’t blame you if you think it sucks. He has this screech that get pretty annoying sometimes, but for the first half of the album, he doesn’t sound too bad. It’s that the longer you go on with his voice in your speakers or headphones, the more annoying it gets. I can only take his voice for so long, and that’s the other major thing – this album is way too long. Even if you look past the coincidental AC/DC cover as a bonus track, the album itself is still around 50 minutes long, and that’s just way too long. Hearing Zetro’s voice for almost an hour is damn near torture, even if he sounds fine in the first half.

I think what saves this album are two things: guitarist Gary Holt and Zetro’s lyrics. The guitarwork on this thing is so good, but this is the type of thrash album that’s a bit more lighthearted than albums like Reign In Blood or Master Of Puppets. The music itself is pretty fun, yet it comes through with the solos and riffs. A majority of these songs have some killer riffs and solos, but if there’s one song that sums up the atmosphere of the album, it’s “The Toxic Waltz.” This is one of thrash metal’s most beloved songs, but the song is basically just about how moshing until you die, basically, and if that doesn’t sum up thrash metal, I don’t know what does. Thrash is known for being heavy metal’s partying cousin – thrash is about pizza, beer, and partying. Of course there are more politically-charged thrash bands, but those bands are more or less crossover thrash, but bands like Exodus helped to bring a more lighthearted approach that Municipal Waste would employ. The lyrics on this album are a good mix between being fun and a bit serious. Some songs deal with the typical trappings of thrash at the time, whether it’s nuclear war, crooked politicians, or awful people in society, but a lot of other songs are more fun, lighthearted, and silly. I mean, look at “The Toxic Waltz” with its lyrics about a fictional dance craze, or “Cajun Hell,” which is about being trapped in the bayou. I don’t know why Exodus are singing about that, considering they’re not Cajun, but oh well. It’s pretty fun, so I’ll take it.

It’s funny, because Zetro isn’t a vocalist that I’m particularly fond of, but his lyrics are pretty solid here. There are also two covers, one of which is the AC/DC cover I mentioned, but the other is a cover of War’s “Low Rider.” You know, the song from the George Lopez show, and it’s a lot of fun. You can tell these guys don’t take themselves too seriously, and that could turn some heavy metal fans away, because metal fans love to be so serious all the time, but it’s cool to just have some fun. That’s why I like this album overall, because it’s just fun, and nothing else. Sometimes it’s okay to just have fun, and that’s one reason why I like some thrash, because it’s so much fun. It has a lot of energy, but a band like Municipal Waste is so much fun. They don’t take themselves seriously at all, but not because they don’t care about their music. They very much care about their craft, but it doesn’t feel like they’re making music for a paycheck. Isn’t that why most musicians record albums? Of course they love it, but if they’re signed a label, it’s also because they’re trying to make some money. Some bands don’t sound like they’re trying to get a paycheck, and they just genuinely love it. This Exodus album is part of that for me, but this is also one of those albums that I’ll listen to every now and again, both because of its length and for how I’m not totally into Zetro as a vocalist. He sounds better here than on the first album of his I heard, but that isn’t saying much when he just isn’t anything spectacular. I wouldn’t recommend this for everyone, especially those that aren’t into thrash, or don’t really like off the wall vocalists, but if you like vocalists like Bon Scott, Brian Johnson, or guys with a screechy kind of voice, maybe you’ll have a good time with it. Hell, if you don’t care about vocals all that much, and you want to hear some cool riffs and solos, you’ll have a blast with this.

[falloutbradreviews]

Biohazard – State Of The World Address

I mentioned in a recent review that the 90s were a hotbed for experimentation, and I still stand by that. The 1980s were, too, but it was more so the formation of many genres, such as hardcore, new wave, post-punk, hip-hop, and many more, whereas the 90s were a time that artists in those genres got weird and experimental. Genres began mixing, bands crossed over from genre to genre, and the lines that genres once had blurred for a while. The same thing is happening now, but it happened a lot in the 1990s, too, especially with hip-hop, metal, and hardcore. If you really think about it, metal and hip-hop have a lot in common – they’re both genres that came from people who were thinking outside the box and wanted to do something different, but they also started as very niche genres that people weren’t super familiar with. Metal is still the same way, but hip-hop has become a beloved genre in the world, especially the United States. It wasn’t always that way, and even the 1990s had its fair share of hurdles that rap needed to jump over, such as gangster rap being popular at the time, and how people like Tipper Gore didn’t like certain genres of music, including metal and rap, for glorifying violence, explicit language, and things of that nature. It makes sense that those genres would come together for a good bit, ultimately coalescing in the rap-metal, funk-metal, and nu-metal movements of the late 80s to early 00s. The mixture would become gentrified by the 00s, but early funk-metal and rap-metal bands, like Faith No More, Living Colour, Infectious Grooves, Body Count, and the subject of today’s review, Biohazard, are a lot of fun. There’s something about a metallic groove with some rapped vocals, or a funky bassline that just gets me going. It’s just unfortunate that this whole movement was pretty niche, especially when it turned into nu-metal in the late 90s and early 00s.

Nu-metal is a genre that has rapped vocals, but the guitars are downtuned, the lyrics are whiny and usually of the angsty variety, the rapping usually isn’t very good, and it’s usually done by white people, whereas a lot of the early bands were either very diverse or Black bands. Bands like Fishbone, Living Colour, and a few others were exclusively Black, which was awesome for heavy metal. Those bands did a lot for the heavy metal scene of the 1980s and 1990s, even if it wouldn’t last, but I wanted to talk about Biohazard today. I haven’t listened to these guys much, but they’re a band that’s been around since the early 90s. They’re also one of the earliest bands to combine rap, metal, and hardcore. They’re one of those bands that can appeal to fans of a few different genres, versus only appealing to one group of music fans. Those are the best types of bands, because you can cross over to multiple different demographics and groups of people. Biohazard isn’t the most well known band in that scene, but they’re a band that a lot of people really like. I’ve never really given a full album of theirs a listen, so I ended up picking up their third album 1994’s State Of The World Address. I got a it a few bucks online, but I wasn’t familiar with the album before I heard it. I was familiar with the band, just not this specific album. Being that it turned 30 last year, I was curious to give it a listen. I’ve listened to the album a few times within the last couple of weeks, and honestly, I’ve got some mixed thoughts on it. There are things I really like about it, but the album is merely just “pretty good” to me. It’s a record I’m always happy to listen to, but it’s one of those albums that I haven’t gone back to a whole lot, at least compared to other stuff that I’ve been into.

There are a couple of things I really like, as I said, and their sound is one of them. They have this cool sound that combines thrash, groove metal, hardcore, and rap-metal, and it’s done well; their sound also adds some groove metal, too, which was a burgeoning style in the early to late 90s. Thanks to Pantera and Lamb Of God, groove metal was becoming a bit more widely well known. I like the addition of the groovy riffs, because it’s a good complement to the rap-metal and hardcore sounds. I also really enjoy vocalists Evan Seinfeld and Billy Graziadei are a pretty good pair, and they mesh with each other nicely. They aren’t anything amazing, but they have the perfect tone for rap-metal and hardcore. The lyrics are also done pretty well, talking about societal issues of the time, especially what it was like living in the rougher areas of New York, for example. They lived in the projects, and talked about how rough life was for people out there, where you never knew if you were going to get shot or robbed just from walking a few blocks to the subway. The only issue with the lyrics I have is that they don’t really add anything to the conversation. I haven’t heard their first two albums, but Body Count’s 1992 self-titled debut adds a lot to those ideas, and paints a much better picture of what living in the inner city is like, even though they were from California, versus New York. Each song on their debut is about something more specific, versus using specific buzzwords and repeating similar ideas throughout the album. I like what they have to say, and how they say it, for the most part, but it’s nothing that I haven’t heard before from this subject matter.

I don’t want to invalidate their experiences, but going on face value, at least, it’s nothing that I can’t get from a lot of other bands. The same goes for the music, too, but not in a much more obvious way. I like their brand of rap-metal, hardcore, and thrash, but this album has two major issues that prevent me from really loving it – the album’s too long, and it’s also very repetitive. At 57 minutes, nearly an hour, this album is just way too damn long. It doesn’t need to be this long. When albums are that long, I try to see if the runtime can be justified, and I don’t know if it is here. Not that the album gets bad, or anything like that, but it gets boring and repetitive about halfway through. Every song has a similar sound, but it ends up being too similar later on, and it just gets boring and slightly uninteresting. The energy is always there, and it’s a fun record, but it’s just too long. Even if the album was pretty diverse, and had a lot of variety, I’d still think it’s too long, but it’s not a bad album. I wanted to express that this album is pretty good, but it’s nothing amazing or spectacular, either. If you’re a fan of thrash, rap-metal, or hardcore, I think you’ll enjoy this. As I said in the beginning, bands like this have some crossover appeal, so fans of a few genres could get into this, versus if they were just a rap-metal or thrash band. Hell, fans of hardcore could find something to like in this. While most fans of metal are also hardcore fans, you have hardcore fans that don’t listen to metal, or vice versa. I could see this band a good gateway record, because it’s got a good sound that can appeal to a lot of people. I like this record, and it’s a solid album for what it is, but it’s a bit too long and repetitive for my liking.

[falloutbradreviews]

Snot – Get Some

Throughout every decade of music, there are very underrated bands or artists for one reason or another. Sometimes there are bands that are in the right place at the wrong time, because they end up having a sound that wouldn’t be popular for another few years later, or they have a sound that went out of style a few years beforehand (yet they execute that sound really well and should have been known more). Hell, there are some bands that had a unique and cool sound, but they got lumped in with bands that didn’t sound like them, or at least they did on a surface level, so they never got as big as they should have. One band that could apply to, especially the latter, is Snot. You might not know who these guys are, but that’s understandable, because they dropped one album, 1997’s Get Some, and kind of disappeared after that. That wasn’t their own fault, though, because frontman Lynn Strait was involved in a two-car crash, killing him and his dog, Dobbs (who famously appears on the cover of Get Some). The band released a tribute album in 2000, called Strait Up, and they’ve continued to form every so often with a bit of a different lineup each time. Apparently they have another lineup now, and they’re getting ready to tour this summer, but it’s not the same without Strait. One listen through Get Some, and you’ll immediately understand why – he was a once in a lifetime vocalist. He was one of those vocalists that could do it all. His harsh vocals were something to truly admire, but he could also sing and rap pretty well, too, and Snot utilized them all. I had kind of known who these guys were, because I’m a fan of 90s and 00s nu-metal, and whenever I like to get into a genre, I like to find the obscure bands in it. These guys are relatively obscure, since they had one album and disappeared, but they have a cult following all these years later.

What’s interesting about Snot is that they weren’t totally a nu-metal band. They got lumped in with a lot of those bands, because they shared characteristics, whether it was how Strait screamed in a majority of their music, or how they had some pretty heavy riffs, but they were a funk-metal and hardcore band at their core, and I suppose they overlapped with nu-metal by sharing a few traits. They also kind of predated the nu-metal movement by a few years, releasing their debut in the late 90s, whereas the genre would reach its crux by the early 00s. These guys are one of the most unique bands of the nu-metal scene, because they really aren’t a nu-metal band, at least when you really think about it. I’ve been wanting to check them out for awhile, but I always forgot about them. That is, I forgot about them until I found a copy of Get Some at a game store for only $2, and after looking them up and realizing that I’ve heard of them before, I figured I’d check it out. It’s taken me awhile to check it out, but now that I’ve been in the mood for some nu-metal, I figured now would be the best time to give it a listen. Honestly, I really like this album, even if it does have a few small issues that prevent me from really loving it. There’s still a lot to enjoy, and I mentioned vocalist Lynn Strait, but he’s the biggest reason that it’s so good. He’s such a charismatic frontman, and the way he’s able to go from screaming to singing at the drop of a hat is so impressive. There are also a few songs where he does like a sing-song type of singing, too, and they’re not my favorites, but his versatility is my favorite thing about his vocals.

The band’s sound is a big part of why this album works, too, because it ebbs and flows between different ideas and sounds. Some songs have a more funky sound to them, whereas other songs are a nu-metal / hardcore hybrid, but some are more funk-rock and alt-metal. The album admittedly spends too much being pretty intense, and Strait’s harsh vocals are right up there with Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor, but they’re a little intense at times. The album doesn’t really let up, and it’s a bit of a lengthy one at 48 minutes. It’s a wild ride if you want something heavy, but if you want something more accessible and catchy, you won’t get it. My big issue with this album, and it is something hinders it a bit, is that the songs are so intense, the album’s kind of long, and the album weaves between different styles, so it becomes a bit overwhelming and almost a bit much. It’s not too much in a bad way, but at the same time, it’s an album that I don’t really go back very much, because of how intense and long it is. It almost feels claustrophobic at times, because you really can’t breathe with it. There are a few moments that the band gives you to breathe, and there are some slower moments, but they don’t last long. The album just feels like one long hardcore / nu-metal song, and that wouldn’t be an issue if the hooks were good, but they really aren’t. It’s not even that, really, because the hooks are almost nonexistent. This album is really good, and I think it’s underrated classic in the late 90s heavy metal, alt-metal, and nu-metal scenes, but permitting they were able to continue their sound, I wonder if they would smoothed things out a bit. I like the band’s mixture of nu-metal, funk-metal, hardcore, alt-metal, and even some thrash here and there, but it’s a lot to take in at times, so it’s an album I don’t want to listen to all that much, even though I really enjoy it. It’s worth hearing, even if just once, because it’s a rather underrated album from that era.

[falloutbradreviews]

P.O.D. – Satellite

One of the most interesting nu-metal bands of the 90s and 00s is P.O.D. I’ve talked about them a few times before, most recently last year when I covered 2024’s Veritas. It was a decent little listen, mainly being a nu-metal album that did what they do best, but that was it. If you weren’t a fan, you probably wouldn’t get much out of it, but if you were a fan, I’m sure you really enjoyed it. They’re one of those bands that keep making the same albums over and over again, albeit tweak their sound enough that it remains interesting, but their last album was more or less a straightforward nu-metal album. I wanted to get into some of the earlier stuff, and I’ve been getting into some nu-metal, anyway, so it worked out when I found a copy of their fourth album, 2001’s Satellite, at my local Half Price Books. I actually found a 2002 limited edition reissue with a DVD and a few bonus tracks, so that was a cool find. I was still curious to give it a listen, because it’s been years since I’ve heard it. I remember reviewing it a long time ago, since these guys were one of the best bands to do it. Songs like “Alive,” “Boom,” and “Youth Of The Nation” are so much fun, but they bypass the cliches and pitfalls of the genre.

Bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, and Disturbed could be a bit obnoxious, as well as vulgar and profane, but P.O.D. had a positive message in their music that works very well. They also don’t rely on the cliché where there’s a white boy rapper with some super generic clean vocals. Vocalist Sonny Sandoval is one of my favorite vocalists of the genre, both in terms of his clean singing, rapping, and screaming. He’s got such a great voice, and I really enjoy it throughout this album, including the lyrics. He’s got such a positive message, and it’s so refreshing to hear that in a nu-metal album. The music itself is cool, too, especially with how diverse it gets. Along with nu-metal, the band opts for alt-metal, hard-rock, and reggae, along with some hardcore. I’m not even a huge reggae fan, but I like how they make it work on the album. It all just sounds so good, but it makes sense, where the album was produced by Howard Benson.

Benson was all over rock and metal in the 00s, producing albums from Motorhead, Zebrahead (who I just talked about), My Chemical Romance, The All-American Rejects, Three Days Grace, and Hawthorne Heights, just to name a few. The production is great, but this album is just great all around. The only real issue I have is that it starts to drag by the second half, because the songs run a bit together, but the riffs are fun, the vocals are great, and the lyrics are solid. If you’re a nu-metal fan, and you haven’t heard this at all, or you haven’t heard it in awhile, it’s worth hearing. At 53 minutes, it’s a bit long, but it’s got some diversity that makes it worthwhile, and it also features HR of Bad Brains, so that’s cool in itself. This album is a classic of the 00s nu-metal scene, and for good reason. There isn’t anything I can say that many others have said already, but it’s held up quite well over the last 24 years. Hell, even after nu-metal’s heyday, this is an album that I’ll gladly keep coming back to. I like it even more now than I did a decade ago, because I like nu-metal a lot more than I did back then. This album may not blow your mind, because as unique and interesting as it is, it’s still a nu-metal album at its core that’s done super well.

[falloutbradreviews]

Zebrahead – Waste Of Mine

The 90s were a very fruitful time for music, because a lot of bands and artists were being super weird. Tons of unique bands, artists, and ideas came to fruition, but there was also a small period from the late 80s to the late 90s when funk was somewhat popular again. A bunch of metal and rock bands were getting funky, including Suicidal Tendencies (especially when future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo joined in 1990), Infectious Grooves (which is basically just Suicidal Tendencies, minus a couple of members), Faith No More, Living Colour, and Zebrahead. I’m going to talk about the Zebrahead today, and more specifically, their proper debut, 1998’s Waste Of Mind. I’ve kind of known who this band was for a long time, but I’ve never bothered with them, for better or worse. The most I knew is that they combined rap-rock, funk-rock, and pop-punk, but that’s about it. I’ve been listening to a bit of all of those, actually, mainly pop-punk, so I thought it would be a good time to get into this band a bit. I picked up Waste Of Mind, so I’ve been giving it some listens over the last week or so, and I’ve got some mixed feelings on it. There are things I love about this album, but there are also things that I don’t like very much.

Overall, though, this album is very good, and it’s a fun romp through rap-rock, funk-rock, and pop-punk, at least slightly. I love vocalist and rapper Ali Tabatabaee, as he has such a charismatic presence on the mic, and clean vocalist Justin Mauriello is fine, but his clean vocals are more so generic pop-punk vocals that don’t do much for me at times, especially when his range is quite flat. The hooks on this album all sound the same, and that’s my first issue with the album – the pop-punk aspect of their sound kind of stinks. They mainly go into the sound on the hooks, but they all sound the same. It’s like they don’t know how to write a hook, but everything else about their sound is awesome. I love their funk-rock sound, and the rap part of their sound is really cool, but their pop-punk side isn’t all that good. That’s a big deal, too, because the hooks are important. That’s also a big deal when the album is 48 minutes, and it feels like a bit of a slog to sit through, at least after the second half. The second half drags a bit more, because everything just sounds the same.

The only other major issue I have are the lyrics – they’re not great. I tried listening to some stuff from the follow-up, and it’s just plain awful. The lyrics are either not very good or forgettable here. Hell, the last track is called “Bootylicious Vinyl.” You’re not going to get quality penmanship from that. The song itself is fine, but the lyrics aren’t that great. There’s also a really bad and dated Donald Trump reference in the second track, “Get Back,” and it was when people somehow thought he was a businessman (he’s always been a fraud, and even I could tell that as a kid), but it’s moments like that that sour the album for me. The sound of this album is nice, especially the funkier stuff, but that isn’t totally enough to come back to this thing more than a few times here and there. I like this album, and I love certain aspects, but I don’t love it as a whole. Maybe check it out if you’re curious, but there’s a reason these guys only had one or two hits in the late 90s and early 00s, and have since become a relic of that era.

[falloutbradreviews]

Suicidal Tendencies – Self-Titled

Whenever you get into any genre, there are those bands and artists that are “essential” to that genre, whether they’re bands that pioneered that genre or perfected it. Sometimes, a band can have done both, such as Metallica when they both pioneered thrash metal with 1983’s Kill ‘Em All and then perfected it on 1984’s Ride The Lightning and 1986’s Master Of Puppets, but sometimes a band is an essential because you need to understand where the genre came from. I suppose not all music fans are like that, but if I’m listening to a new genre, I like to hear the classics or albums that influenced the genre. I like to dig deep, but some music fans don’t care, really. They just listen to whatever’s new, or whatever is the most mainstream. I’m not here to determine who’s a “real fan” or not, because I don’t care. I’m not the music police, so listen to whatever you want and do what you want, but there should be some level of respect for certain bands and artists, especially if they did influence or perfect a genre you like. You can dislike those bands, sure, but I hate it when people trash a band like The Beatles and say there was no talent behind them, despite them being the band that changed rock and roll forever. Yeah, you can say they’re not good, but don’t say they didn’t change anything or have any talent at all, because they wouldn’t be the behemoth they were. I’ve been getting into a lot of pop-punk lately, especially 90s and 00s pop-punk, but I wanted to go back a bit further, at least for a brief time, anyway. I wanted to go back to the 1980s, because I wanted to get into some hardcore punk from that era that influenced some of these bands. I already had a copy of Corrosion Of Conformity’s sophomore album, 1985’s Animosity, but I didn’t really spend any time with it when I got it, so I figured I’d start there.

The only other band I could find anything from was Suicidal Tendencies. Now I’m gonna be talking about one of their later albums here soon from the early 90s, because I’m also listening to a bunch of 80s and 90s funk-metal, thrash, and nu-metal, but I wanted to start with their 1983 self-titled debut album. I had a copy of this album many years ago, but I think it was when I stopped reviewing stuff back in 2018 / 2019, because I surprisingly never talked about it. I’ve heard it quite a bit, though, and it’s an album I like quite a bit. It’s not a perfect record, but this is one of those albums that pioneered crossover thrash as the genre knew it. Crossover is what you think it is, because it’s a crossover between hardcore and thrash. You have the metal-tinged guitarwork and riffs of thrash with the speed and songwriting of hardcore, so you get the best of both worlds. Crossover bands included DRI, Corrosion Of Conformity, and Nuclear Assault, but there are a few modern bands keeping the style alive, too, such as Power Trip’s first couple of records, Municipal Waste, and Toxic Holocaust. The genre’s somewhat niche, especially these days, but there are a few bands keeping it alive and doing their thing. This type of genre isn’t very experimental or forward-thinking, but it’s fun, abrasive, heavy, and fast-paced. It’s also known for being very politically-charged, which it shared with thrash and hardcore at the time. The debut Suicidal Tendencies album is very politically-charged, and that’s one reason why I really like it.

There are a lot of things that work about this album, namely its sound, and I love its blend between thrash, hardcore, and punk. These guys would go onto pioneer crossover, although they would eventually go onto play more of a funk-metal meets thrash sound in the early to mid-90s. Their 80s material is more crossover and thrash-based, but this record is their most punk-sounding record. It’s very much in the vein of punk and hardcore, but there are some metal riffs that pop up, which makes it an early crossover record. They all liked heavy metal and hardcore, so they wanted to combine the two. It’s an influential record for a reason, but it holds up very well. The production is a little rough around the edges, but that’s how it was in the early 80s, especially for punk and hardcore bands. Vocalist Mike Muir is a lot of fun, and he’s been the only consistent member of the band, but he does a great job here. His vocals are rough, too, but they would smooth out over time. His lyrics are some of his best here, and they deal with a lot of different ideas, whether it’s fascism in the Reagan era (“Fascist Pig”), Ronald Reagan’s assassination (“I Shot The Devil”), how conservatives favor certain kinds of people over others (“Two-Sided Politics), American propaganda (“Subliminal”), or mental health (“Institutionalized”). The latter song is actually one of their biggest hits, which has become famous for the narrator refusing a Pepsi in the song, but I digress. The lyrics are pretty potent here, and despite being over 40 years old, the lyrics hold up very well.

That’s the thing with some of these songs, and even a lot of 80s thrash, the lyrics criticize conversative values, as well as tackle topics like institutional racism, sexism, immigration, fascism, Nazism, and even mental health and things that a lot of other genres didn’t talk about. Even heavy metal itself was starting to become darker and more focused on stuff like fantasy, sci-fi, Satanism, and in the case of bands like Cannibal Corpse, darker and more horror-elated themes. That’s why a lot of thrash metal appeals to me, because it’s got the lyricism of punk, but the heaviness of metal. The lyrics are more interesting, and there’s nothing wrong with lyrics that are about something else or made up stuff, but I like listening to lyrics that are political. I hate when music fans whine about bands going “political,” especially punk and hardcore bands, but I like it when bands say what they feel, because they need to use their platform to spread those messages. In today’s climate with Donald Trump, and the conservative platform being a far cry of what it was in the 1980s (meaning that it’s a lot worse and more extreme), bands need to speak up. A song like “Fascist Pig” speaks volumes now, just as it did 42 years ago, because fascism is alive and well, folks. Instead of being in Germany or Russie, it’s right in our own backyards, as well as in the White House, and we can’t let these people get away with the many atrocities that they’ve been committing. Whether it’s stripping women, minorities, and LGBTQ people of their rights, or stripping immigrants from their families, this administration needs to be held accountable. I’m not sorry that I turned this review into a “political” piece, but this album and many others like it, still hold up almost a half century later, because the same atrocities committed back then are still being committed now, but much more openly, and we need to put a stop to that.

[falloutbradreviews]

Sugar Ray – Floored

I’ve made it clear in the past that I don’t really believe in the term “selling out,” because all artists have to make money somehow, and if an artist tells you they don’t need money, they’re lying (whether it’s to you or themselves, that’s up for debate). There was an episode of the show Adam Ruins Everything that talks about that exact idea, and how it’s hard for bands and artists to make their living just on record sales and/or touring alone, so they need to take brand deals, have their music licensed, or whatever else they can do to make some money. Selling out usually means a band changes their sound to appease the mainstream, or something along those lines, but it can mean just going against your values to make a quick buck. Almost every band has changed their sound at one point or another, otherwise they wouldn’t have grown as artists, but a lot of people don’t like it when bands change. Hell, a lot of people called Metallica sellouts when they made The Black Album, but it’s one of the highest selling albums of all time (and for good reason, it absolutely rules; it’s my favorite Metallica album, because it’s the one that I go back to the most), but they just wanted to do something different. They didn’t anticipate that album would be a smash hit, but it’s just what people really liked. The same can be said for the band Sugar Ray, and their second album, 1997’s Floored. This band is interesting, because they’re known for two things – the song “Fly,” which appears on this album, and singer Mark McGrath being a TV personality. That’s how I first came to know who they were, because he was a host of the celebrity news show Extra, but I only really knew the song “Fly” before listening to anything from them.

I remember having a copy of Floored for a long time, but I never reviewed it. I’m not sure why, but I had so much stuff before I sold my collection that I didn’t have the time to review everything in my collection. I’ve been wanting to check this album out again for the longest time, and luck would be on my side because I found it at Half Price Books for two dollars on clearance. For that price, I might as well, right? I found a few other things that day for a couple of dollars (there was an album I found for a dollar there, too, and I love when I find stuff on clearance for a dollar or two), but that sealed the deal for me. I haven’t listened to the album in a long time, but I do know one thing about it – it features the hit single “Fly.” I mentioned that earlier, but what I didn’t mention is that it has two versions of it. There’s the version that features reggae artist Supa Cat, and another version that doesn’t have any features at all. I also knew that the album was an amalgamation of different styles of rock and metal at the time, including influences from punk, hardcore, nu-metal, rap-rock, and even some pop-rock. The band would eventually go into a pop-rock direction, hence the sellout accusations, but what can you do? This album is pretty solid, all things considered, and it has a few things going for it. I like its sound, and its energy that it has running through it. The sound is pretty diverse, and each song sounds different from the last, so there’s a lot going on here. That’s both a good thing and bad thing, because as much variety as this album has, it’s kind of musical whiplash. This album doesn’t let you breathe, because each song is something different. It’s not a bad kind of different, but there’s just so much going on. The album isn’t even that long, it’s only 43 minutes, so it’s not like it’s an hour.

I think where this album falters for me slightly is that vocalist and lyricist Mark McGrath isn’t a great singer, but he’s fine enough. He’s not awful, but I wouldn’t say that he’s one of the best singers of all time. He surprisingly makes the heavier moments work, and he has a bit of a scream throughout the record. What’s cool is that he was the one who wanted the band to stay heavy, but because of the success of “Fly,” the label didn’t really want that, so they went for a smoother sound after this album. The riffs and stuff on here are pretty awesome, and there are surprisingly some heavy tracks, but I will say that the hooks aren’t that strong. Instrumentally, the album’s pretty great, and I like how easily they’re able to switch between styles, even if it is a bit of a whiplash. The lyrics are also nothing to write home about, and really, the lyrics are the last thing I pay attention to here. They’re not bad, by any means, but it’s one of those cases where the lyrics are forgettable. There’s nothing awful here, but there’s nothing that really stands out, either. I remember the music itself more than anything else, but this is an album to listen to if you want some fun, upbeat, and energetic nu-metal, rap-rock, pop-rock, and hardcore. You can listen to it in the background and not miss anything. I wouldn’t say this album is an underrated classic, but it’s one of those albums that’s worth hearing if you like this type of sound, or if you want something more unique or interesting. You won’t have your mind blown by this thing, but for what it is, it’s a fun time.

[falloutbradreviews]

Corrosion Of Conformity – Animosity

About a decade ago, give or take, I gave a few listens from heavy metal band Corrosion Of Conformity a listen, but I specifically chose some of their work from the 1990s. See, they’re one of those bands that started off in one genre then moved into another as the next decade rolled on. They started off as a crossover thrash band in the mid-1980s, but by the 1990s, they turned into a sludge metal band. I remember picking up two albums, 1991’s Blind and 1994’s Deliverance. I don’t remember what I thought about those albums, and I don’t think I reviewed them, but I do remember them being pretty good. They were a little long, but they were still solid sludge and heavy metal albums that helped to usher in that sound in the 1990s. I knew that they started off as a crossover band, but I just wanted into that sound yet. Now that I’m hugely into thrash and crossover, I wanted to check out these albums, but I was able to find a copy of 1985’s Animosity at my local Half Price Books awhile back. It was one of those cases of an album that I really wanted to get, because I knew I wouldn’t find it again, but I didn’t want to dive into it at the moment. I was listening to other stuff, so I wasn’t in the mood for it, but I knew I’d be in the mood for it later on.

Sure enough, I’m in the mood for it now, and I figured Animosity would be the perfect album to get into at the moment, although it’s one of the only albums of its kind I’m listening to (at least in terms of 1980s crossover, thrash, and punk). I listened to it when I got it, and I thought it was really good, but I wanted to spend some more time with it to see if my thoughts are the same, or if they’ll change. Thankfully, I still really like this album, but it’s not perfect. I have a couple of small issues with this thing, but it’s not too bad. The issues aren’t bad enough that they prevent me from getting into this. The album is still a solid crossover album that’s worth hearing if you like that type of music. Let’s start with what I like, though – its overall sound and its lyrics. The overall sound of this thing is typical 1980s crossover, mixed with some hardcore punk, but these guys were signed to Metal Blade and the album was produced by CEO Brian Slagel. The lyrics of this thing are also very politically charged and they’re written pretty well, but that leads me to my major issue – the production kind of sucks on it, so everything is kind of muddled and stifled, but it’s also just a generic crossover album with nothing really unique to offer. It’s done well for what it is, but it’s nothing special. That could be why people talk about their 90s stuff more, but if you like thrash, and you want an early glimpse into their music, check this out.

[falloutbradreviews]

Snapcase – Lookinglasself

When people think of hardcore, they think of 80s hardcore, such as Sick Of It All, Dead Kennedys, Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, Minor Threat, and many other bands, but 90s hardcore was thriving, too. Metalcore was starting to come into fruition with bands like Earth Crisis, Vision Of Disorder, Shai Hulud, Poison The Well, Killswitch Engage, Cave In, and Botch, but hardcore itself was turning into a bunch of different things. A lot of the 80s bands were still active, but there were a few bands that were playing with the idea of what hardcore was. New York band Snapcase was one of those bands, especially with their debut album, 1993’s Lookinglasself. Snapcase isn’t the most well known band of the 1990s, but they’re one of the hidden gems of the 90s hardcore scene, and they’ve got a bit of a cult following from what I’ve seen. I remember finding a copy of their debut album at my local Goodwill maybe about a decade ago, and I grabbed it for a couple of bucks, not realizing Snapcase was a pretty cool band. I never reviewed the album, but I’ve been wanting to get into them again for years. I did download a copy of their sophomore album, 1997’s Progression Through Unlearning, back in 2019, because it was a metalcore / hardcore album that dabbled with technical and progressive riffs and song structures, versus being a standard hardcore record. It was a big influence on mathcore bands of the late 90s and early 00s, and even after hearing their debut, I still kind of prefer that record.

I decided to pick up a copy of Lookinglasself on eBay for a good price, because I was wanting to dive into the album some more, but I haven’t listened to it in years. After hearing it a few times, it’s more or less a standard hardcore record with some cool riffs, but this record is kind of rough around the edges in spots. There’s still a lot to enjoy here, but it’s not perfect. I like how short this album is, only clocking in at 26 minutes, but it’s one of those albums that run together. I like what I hear, but I don’t remember it. I was debating on finishing this review at all, and I know that might sound like sacrilege, because this band is so beloved by a certain set of the hardcore scene, but there’s just not much for me to talk about here. Lookinglasself is a good album, but it’s not a great one. That could be why I never reviewed it, even though I had it for years, because I just couldn’t find anything to say about it. It’s a good hardcore record, but that’s it. I like the off-kilter riffs they throw in from time to time, and I like that it doesn’t stick to a set formula, but it does run together and it’s pretty rough around the edges, both in terms of its production and overall sound. They would get a lot better on their second album, but this album is pretty good, all things considered. This album fits right in with the 90s and 00s pop-punk, nu-metal, and hardcore that I’ve been into, but it’s not among the best of what I’ve been listening to, either, if that makes any sense.

[falloutbradreviews]

This New Benson Boone Album Isn’t Good

Hey America, can I ask you all a question: what’s up with making mediocre white guys famous again? I thought we got through this when we made guys like Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi, and Lukas Graham famous a decade ago, but I guess not. Now we have guys like Alex Warren, who had the number one song in the country with “Ordinary,” which sounds if paint drying or grass growing was a sound. Not only does that song sound extremely boring, the lyrics also say nothing. It’s a bunch of pseudo-religious imagery about how much he loves his wife, or something, but it doesn’t mean anything or have any emotional weight to it. It all sounds so empty, and his voice is utterly annoying, because it sounds like he’s trying way too hard to be super emotive. The same can be said for Benson Boone, a guy that somehow got popular within the last couple of years, but I can’t understand why. He was on American Idol, I think, but didn’t do all that well. He somehow made it big with the song “Beautiful Things,” and that’s one of the worst songs I’ve heard in awhile. I can appreciate one thing about it, being that it has a slow build up to a big chorus, but man, that chorus sucks. He sounds like he’s constipated when he scream-sings “Don’t take these beautiful things that I’ve got,” like he’s just eaten a whole bunch of cheese. The song itself is also just some pseudo-religious garbage about how this girl is God sent, and how he can’t lose her, or something. I guess that’s a good idea, but even so, it just feels boring. What’s up with all of these guys making songs with vaguely religious lyrics, too? I swear these guys are all the same, and it’s just so annoying at this point. I listened to Boone’s debut album, and it wasn’t one of the worst albums I heard that year, but it was a boring, cliched, and generic mess that I could barely sit through.

He just dropped his sophomore album, and from the title and album cover, this looked like it was going to be awful. Titled American Heart, the album cover features him shirtless (with a six pack, may I add, for some reason) with an American flag draped behind him. Now if this doesn’t scream conservative propaganda, I don’t know what does. The lead single from this album, “Mystical Magical,” is one of the worst songs I’ve heard all year, whether it’s for the stupid and nonsensical lyrics that just sound like gibberish, or his strange over-singing that he doesn’t need to do. It’s like he can’t just sing normally, he has to sing like he’s in a bad Dreamworks movie, and it’s so annoying. Well, how would you like to hear half an hour of that? Because while American Heart is only a half hour, it’s one of the most annoying half hours you’ll spend all year if you choose to hear this thing. Not only does every song sound the same with generic pop hooks that sound like Boone heard one song from the 1980s and decided he wanted to make something like that, but he sings as loud as he possibly can on every song. He’s not subtle, and that makes this album pretty unbearable as it goes on. The lyrics are also pretty boring, too, because not once did I hear anything that resembled an interesting or unique thought. This is just the embodiment of a mediocre white guy making mediocre pop music, so why would anyone listen to this? The only guy in this vein that I really like is Teddy Swims, but he’s not even a mediocre white guy making mediocre pop music – he’s a soul singer with one hell of a voice that dabbles in other genres, including pop, but I love his last couple of records. This, on the other hand, is the type of garbage I’ll hear in a Ross Dress For Less in a year.

[falloutbradreviews]

Motion City Soundtrack – Commit To This Memory

When pop-punk band Motion City Soundtrack when on hiatus back in 2015, I was gutted, because they were a band that I had grown up with. I remember picking up their third album, 2007’s Even If It Kills Me, back when it came out. That was my introduction to the band, and I really loved that album. It’s still one of my favorites today, but I was severely disappointed with their last album, 2015’s Panic Stations. I wasn’t a fan of that album whatsoever, especially because it was just Motion City Soundtrack running on autopilot, but the writing was on the wall a few years prior. Even on 2012’s Go, an album that I enjoyed at the time, you could tell the band were running on autopilot. It featured some solid hooks, really nice synth lines, some clever and self-deprecating lyrics from vocalist Justin Pierre, who’s also got a really unique and fantastic voice. That was it, though, because it was such a predictable and paint-by-numbers album, I wasn’t in love with it. I liked it a lot, but I don’t know how I’d feel about it today. The same goes for Panic Stations, so maybe I’d like the album more now, but I just wasn’t a fan when it came out. It was even more of a band running on autopilot, and you could tell they were burnt out. That’s all to say that I’m glad they’re back. Motion City Soundtrack has been around for the last few years, but they finally just announced a new album. I’m really excited for it, despite not really caring for their last two albums, but that’s because they’ve put out a ton of classic albums. Even If It Kills Me is my favorite, but I remember 2010’s My Dinosaur Life when that came out. That was their major label debut, and it was a pretty solid album, but their first two albums are the ones I’m not as familiar with.

I’ve heard 2003’s debut I Am The Movie, but I don’t remember a whole lot about it. I know it’s pretty rough around the edges, but it’s a solid record, nonetheless. The only album of theirs I wasn’t super familiar with was 2005’s Commit To This Memory, which has one of their most popular songs on it. I would argue some singles from Even If It Kills Me were pretty successful, such as “Fell In Love Without You” and “Broken Heart,” but Commit To This Memory has “Everything Is Alright,” which has such a cool hook. I’ve wanted to check out the whole album, because it has some cool things going for it – the album just turned 20 a couple of weeks ago, and the album was produced by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182. Hoppus producing (and also appearing for a moment) on the album is the most Blink fans had seen from him in awhile, too, because Blink’s last album had come out in 2003. The album also has Patrick Stump appear on a song, at least backup vocals, anyway. I got the deluxe edition that has a limited edition DVD with some videos and bonus stuff, as well as a bonus track, but the bonus track isn’t anything to write home about. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t really add anything to the album. The album itself, however, is a lot of fun, and it’s a great album of that era. I would still make the argument that Even If It Kills Me is better, because it’s a catchier and more pop-friendly album, but Commit To This Memory is a great balance between pop-punk and pop-rock.

Motion City Soundtrack has always stood out for a couple of reasons, whether it’s due to vocalist Justin Pierre, or their sound that mixes a few sounds together, such as pop-punk, new wave, power-pop, and pop-rock. They’re one of the few bands that make use of the Moog synthesizer, and they were always ahead of the curve when it came to neon pop-punk (which is just pop-punk with synth), because they used synth in their music quite extensively. No other pop-punk bands were using it that much, or that obviously, so they really stuck out for that reason. A few bands had some synth in their music, but not a whole lot, so that made them unique in their own right. This album is the perfect balance between having a more straightforward pop-punk sound and utilizing more new wave and power-pop. Hell, Even If It Kills Me would be produced by the late frontman and songwriter for the Cars, Ric Ocasek, and their influences would be very prevalent. This album is the best of both worlds, so to speak, but it works well. Even If It Kills Me works more so for me, kind of because that album is a lot catchier and has more of a pop-rock and new wave sound, so the hooks stick out a lot more on there. The band has always been good with hooks, but their songwriting is even better with Even If It Kills Me. A big issue I’ve always had with their music is that it does tend to run together. I feel like Even If It Kills Me got their sound done perfectly, and it’s a lightning in a bottle type of album where everything just came together in the right way. Commit To This Memory is close, but a lot of the songs tend to run together. At a crisp 43 minutes (including the bonus track), it’s not bad, and a lot of the songs work very well on their own.

Vocalist and lyricist Justin Pierre is a big reason why this album works so well, because he has such a unique voice that shouldn’t work as well as it does. That sounds mean, but his voice really isn’t that great. His range is so flat, but he somehow makes that work, and even with his limited range, he pulls off every type of song that you give him. He makes the more energetic pop-punk bangers work, such as “Everything Is Alright,” but he also makes the slower songs work, too. I can understand if his vocals don’t work for you, because they won’t work for everyone, but I like them fine. His vocals get better with each album, actually, and on Even If It Kills Me, he sounds even better than he does here. He sounds kind of rough here still, but not much. I think it might be my nostalgia for Even If It Kills Me, but I really love that album. Commit To This Memory is the album most people remember, and the one that most people gravitate towards, but I can’t blame them. I don’t think the lyrics are that much different here, because their lyrics have always been clever, witty, and kind of “nerdy,” but they’re really great here. This album is just a great listen all around, and it's worth hearing if you haven’t heard it at all, or you haven’t heard it in a long time. This is a classic album of the pop-punk scene, and while these guys aren’t the most mainstream or well-known band, they’re one of my favorites and one of the most unique bands of the scene that deserve a lot of love all of these years later. I’m excited for their new album, but I hope they’re not running on autopilot this time around.

[falloutbradreviews]

New Found Glory – Catalyst

I’ve recently talked about a pair of New Found Glory albums, their 2000 self-titled and 2002’s Sticks And Stones, but I also wanted to talk about their fourth album, 2004’s Catalyst. Their 2000 self-titled is a pretty fun, albeit generic, pop-punk album, but Sticks And Stones is a masterclass in pop-punk, especially with an easycore influence. New Found Glory is one of my favorite 00s pop-punk bands, especially this three album run with the self-titled, Sticks And Stones, and Catalyst. The latter is where their sound gets fully realized, but it’s an album I’ve surprisingly never heard; I’ve always wanted to, and now that I’m diving into a bunch of 90s and 00s pop-punk, this would be the perfect time. When I talked about Sticks And Stones, I talked a bit about Catalyst, too, but now I can dive much more into this album. This album is tied for my favorite with Sticks And Stones, but which album I like depends on the day. Sometimes I like Sticks And Stones more, and sometimes I like Catalyst more, but I like each album for different reasons. Sticks And Stones is a masterclass of pop-punk with an easycore influence, but Catalyst is more or less a diverse listen that encapsulates many different styles.

That’s what the major difference between the two albums is – Catalyst incorporates more influences, and even throws in some new ideas for the band, such as synth, metal riffs, and a string section on a song. It’s not overwhelming, but it’s cool to hear something unique in a New Found Glory album. Everything about the band is upped to 11, including vocalist Jordan Pundik, who sounds the best he ever has here, and Chad Gilbert’s guitarwork is top notch. The lyrics have improved quite a bit, too, but they were already improving a lot on Sticks And Stones. This time, though, the material is a bit more mature than their earlier work, but I like the lyrics a lot here. Songs like “All Downhill From Here,” Your Biggest Mistake,” “This Disaster,” and “No News Is Good News” are utterly killer, but the whole album is awesome. It’s a bit on the lengthier side, ultimately being 47 minutes with 15 songs, but it’s a fun and diverse ride through pop-punk. It’s pop-punk in an elevated way, but it’s one of the more unique albums of the era.

New Found Glory is a band that I’ve always enjoyed over the years, but Catalyst is the crux of their labors over the last five years they had been making music. They’ve slowly been getting better and better as time went on, but like I said, it depends on the day when it comes to whether I like Sticks And Stones better or Catalyst. Sticks And Stones is a great pop-punk album with hardcore influence. Catalyst has some hardcore riffs, along with some synth and strings, but that’s along with their usual pop-punk sound that’s been cranked up to 11. Everything sounds great here, and a lot of people really love this album, myself included. Like I’ve said, the way I feel about these two albums depends, but both of those albums are awesome. I’ve been talking about them quite a bit, but it’s two sides to the same coin. I like both albums for different reasons, but you can’t go wrong with either one. Both of those albums would be perfect to start off with if you’re looking to get into the band for the first time. If you do have the choice, however, Sticks And Stones is the one I’d recommend first, but Catalyst is their most diverse and unique album. This is such a fantastic album, folks, so check it out if you haven’t, or listen to it again if you haven’t listened to it in a long while.

[falloutbradreviews]

New Found Glory – Self-Titled

Recently I talked about New Found Glory’s third album, 2002’s Sticks And Stones, and I used that opportunity to fanboy over that album for the millionth time, because I love that album, but I wanted to talk about their sophomore album, 2000’s self-titled. This wasn’t their mainstream breakthrough, but it was right before that. This was their major label debut, especially after 1999’s Nothing Gold Can Stay was a big underground hit, so the band signed a joint deal with MCA and Drive Thru. They also recorded a new version of “Hit Or Miss” from their debut, and they included it here, because they thought the song had potential with a better budget. Sure enough, that’s the song most people remember from this one, and it’s the “My Friends Over You” from this album, but I was curious to give this album a listen, because it’s right before one of my favorite albums from the band, if not my favorite. I would have said Sticks And Stones is my favorite, but after hearing Catalyst, that’s a hard choice. I think that all depends on how I’m feeling that day, but I digress. I listened to the self-titled album a year or two ago when getting into some classic pop-punk, which I talked about in my review of Sticks And Stones, but I didn’t remember much of this one, since I only listened to it once or twice, so I wanted to spend some more time with it to see how I feel about it.

Now that I’ve given this album a few more listens, well, NFG’s self-titled is a solid album, but it’s not my favorite from them. It’s still a great album, but it’s not a perfect one. There are people that swear by this album over anything else, and I can see that if you want a scrappy and rougher edged sound from these guys, but it’s kind of a stepping stone to a better sound (and album). Sticks And Stones is way better, both for its production being much better, and the songwriting being more interesting. You can kind of hear the band’s easycore sound coming to fruition, which combines pop-punk hooks with hardcore breakdowns and heaviness, but Sticks And Stones (and 2004’s Catalyst, even more so) would capitalize on that. You can hear bits and pieces of their hardcore roots on here, especially certain riffs here and there, but the heavy riffs would be more prominent on their next two albums. I also feel as though that everything else is a bit rough around the edges, too, such as vocalist Jordan Pundik, as well as the lyrics. While his voice is good here, it’ll be better on later albums, but I like it a lot here. His voice has always been relatively nasally, but he still has a really good voice. The lyrics are pretty standard for both NFG and pop-punk as a whole, because they just deal with girls and relationships, and their later albums would deal with the same stuff. It’s nothing worthwhile here, but the lyrics would become more memorable over time.

One of the best things about this album is that it’s only 36 minutes, so it’s a very short and sweet listen. The band would get a lot better on later albums, especially their next couple, but this is a pretty solid album, all things considered. If you enjoy 00s pop-punk, I think you’ll like this. I think their next two albums are better, but this one is a good stepping stone, so to speak. It’s one of their shorter albums, but it’s also one of their most straightforward. Sticks And Stones is a pretty straightforward album, too, but it features a few heavier moments and hardcore riffs, whereas this one does subtly. I don’t know if this album is an essential, especially when you can just listen to their next two albums. Sticks And Stones is the essential out of their discography, but Catalyst is also another truly great album, so those two are worth hearing before this one. The self-titled is still great, too, and perfect for fans that want to go back in their discography to see where they started. Pop-punk fans are sure to enjoy this quite a bit, but fans of their heavier stuff will definitely have more to enjoy on their next two albums. I keep bringing those albums up, because those albums are more interesting, but I don’t have much to say about this album. There just isn’t much to talk about with it, other than that it’s a solid pop-punk album with some great hooks, but this is a good stepping stone for their later work.

[falloutbradreviews]

American Hi-Fi – Self-Titled

While diving deep into late 90s and early 00s pop-punk, I found a handful of obscure bands, at least on top of the most popular ones. Of course you have bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, Fall Out Boy, and The Offspring, but you also have bands like New Found Glory, Motion City Soundtrack, Taking Back Sunday, and many more. Those bands weren’t super mainstream, but they were popular enough that casual listeners might recognize a song or two. As with every genre, you’ll have even more obscure bands that may have one or two hits, but they aren’t household names that people will remember. One of those bands if Boston band American Hi-Fi. I actually talked about these guys around a decade ago, because I picked up a copy of their third album, 2005’s Hearts On Parade, at my local FYE store, and I didn’t like it. I thought it was very bland, boring, and not that good. It had some good hooks, from what I remember, but that was it. It sounded like everything else at the time, and it didn’t do much for me at all. Nonetheless, I’ve wanted to check out their 2001 self-titled debut for the longest time, because I heard that was actually quite good. These guys are the brainchild of Stacy Jones, who is most known for being the drummer of both Letters To Cleo and Veruca Salt in the late 90s. He randomly started American Hi-Fi in 2000, and recorded their debut with legendary producer Bob Rock, of all people. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve still his production work. Two of his most famous albums include 1989’s Dr. Feelgood for Motley Crue, and a little self-titled album for a band called Metallica. Yeah, he produced Metallica’s 1991 massive self-titled album, which is also known as The Black Album. Metallica actually wanted him specifically for the album, because they liked his production work on Dr. Feelgood, but I digress.

That alone made me curious to check this out, because what other pop-punk band had their debut produced by Bob Rock? Honestly, though, this album is kind of a hidden gem. I really like this album, both for its production and overall sound. Jones is also the vocalist of the band, and I would say that the one issue I have is his voice. I mean, he isn’t bad by any means, but the music itself here is so good, and it makes his vocals not being that great stand out more. He’s still pretty good, though, and it’s not anything that makes me dislike this album, but if there’s one thing about this album that I’m not a huge fan of, it’s that. He’s still totally fine, though, but everything else about this album is great. Where the album shines is the songwriting. These guys are truly a cut above most of their peers, especially at the time, because this isn’t your average pop-punk album. It’s not even really pop-punk. This doesn’t sound like Green Day, Blink-182, or even The Offspring. There are elements of Weezer, Foo Fighters, and even Nirvana at a few points. There are elements of power-pop, alternative, and a bit of grunge. People might know the song “Flavor Of The Weak,” and that’s the most “typical” pop-punk that you’ll get here. It’s a pretty catchy and fun song, but the album isn’t your cliched and standard pop-punk album. With that said, it’s a bit of a lengthy one; this thing is around 49 minutes, and I would normally clutch my pearls with a length like that, especially it being a pop-punk album, but the album is so diverse that it doesn’t really bother me. I start to feel the album’s length by the last track, “Wall Of Sound,” because it’s six minutes long, and it drags a bit, but it’s got a cool sound, so I don’t know.

Even aside from that song, the last few songs do run me a bit thin, because the album does start to run together a bit. A lot of the album falls into alt-rock territory, and the last few tracks are a bit slower, but they’re not bad. American Hi-Fi is a solid band, all things considered, especially with this debut album, and despite the album being a little long, the album holds up very well. It’s not your average 00s pop-punk album, because it doesn’t really have that sound. It’s still a pop-punk album, for the record, but it has a lot of other sounds. One of my big selling points for this album is that it was produced by Bob Rock. On top of Dr. Feelgood and The Black Album, he also produced albums like Aerosmith’s Permanent Vacation (their comeback from 1987), Loverboy’s Get Lucky, Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet, and weirdly enough, Simple Plan’s sophomore album, Still Not Getting Any. He’s got a big body of work, and he’s an accomplished producer, especially by 2000. He produced a few of the highest selling albums of all time, so he knew a thing or two. I don’t usually focus on producers, but the production is really solid here. It sounds very dynamic, larger than life, but you can still hear everything in clear detail. I’d check this out if you’re wanting something more than Green Day, Blink-182, Sum 41, Good Charlotte, or any of those bands everyone knows. These guys are a bit more obscure, but they’re a ton of fun, and this thing isn’t your generic pop-punk fodder that got left in the dust. It’s a shame this band isn’t as well-remembered, but I didn’t like their third album very much, because it did end up becoming a generic pop-punk album that I was worried this one would be. If you can handle its length, and some slower moments (that is unique for the genre, because aside from acoustic ballads, pop-punk isn’t known for being slower), you’ll really dig this.