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[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #10

If you’re like me then the year 2001 was just a shitty year to be alive.  George Bush was president,  Now That’s What I Call Music was on it’s 7th volume, Freddy Got Fingered and Bridget Jones’ goddamn Diary.  The internet had transformed the landscape of music and the industry was pivoting to serve a customer base that no longer wanted to pay for the music they so enjoyed.  Pandora internet radio would not be a public option until 2005.  The ancient technology known as just the plain ol’ radio was a large factor in determining one’s career success.  Yes, you could spend years touring on underground circuits garnishing a cult following from small town to small town, but nothing quite beats a radio single that can be played simultaneously for an entire nation.  In other words, the general public still played a determining factor for your determined breakthrough.

It is with this in mind that I present to you the case for Nickelback’s 3rd studio album Silver Side Up.  One cannot deny the societal connotations that come with just mentioning this band, and in my opinion, that horse has just long been laid to rest and I invite you to open your mind musically for just one second, as I have forced myself to in this series of truly eye-opening reviews.  Taking the title as Canada’s most commercially successful band among many many other prestigious honors of a similar nature.  Surely an entire generation doesn’t consider this band laughable and just a shitty shitty representative of rock music, especially in the year of our forsaken lord 2001? 

Is Nickelback a prime example of male mediocrity failing upwards into superstardom? or is there a valid claim for their status as a “pussy band” (which sounds kinda cool to me tbh) among rock n roll aficionados and real cool dudes in the scene?  We plumb the depths of a road at least 10 million have previously plumbed.

1.  Never Again

I’m gonna have a difficult time saying this is a “shitty” band whenever their first song addresses something that (excuse the pun) hits so close to home.  As an intro track they open up with a pretty heavy song about domestic violence “He’s drunk again, it’s time to fight/ She must have done something wrong tonight/  The living room becomes a boxing ring”.  Told from the point of a view of a child growing up to see his mother abused at the hands of his drunken father.  It’s a heartbreaking song that has a satisfying ending for those of us who don’t like to dwell too much on the downsides of life. Especially if one chooses to escape through music, but sad music in sad times is a personal habit I partake in.  This is a great song, content wise.  Kinda weird to have it set to such an upbeat sounding song but I guess it goes to serve the rage of a child being helpless in the face of his abusive father.

2.  How You Remind Me

Does the lead single of this album really need a review? Yes, because this review is about taking a second look at shit you take for granted.  This song is just poetry.  In the fact that it’s just a perfectly executed song, lyrically.  Being non-cryptic and just flat out honest about ones feelings.  There’s thousands of songs about being down in the dumps or heartbroken and I can see why this is easily one of their biggest hits.  It’s a song that doesn’t care about your preconceived notions of masculinity or what rock music should or shouldn’t be.  Some people were put on this planet to make one song to connect the world to each other, and I think this is Nickelback’s song.

3.  Woke Up This Morning

Now I wouldn’t exactly call this metal, but it’s too heavy to be pop-rock.  But it easily straddles these fine picket fences of being almost too heavy for their own lyrics at times.  There’s noticeable flavors of southern rock sprinkled throughout the album which I can see having a blue collar/WWF crowd appeal.  Again another song consisting of being absolutely honest with the listener “I felt like shit when I woke up this morning, I’ve been a loser all my life I’m not about to change”.  

4.  Too Bad

With the events of Track 1 in mind, this song takes a remorseful shift into the story of the father.  Now racked with guilt, the song title lays it out pretty evenly.  It’s too bad.  It’s too late.  Despite the behavior of an antagonistic and toxic father, they made it out on their own without the breadwinner of the family.  At the expense of the mothers time and love, at least they still had clothes on their backs and food to eat.  Another heartbreaking but heartfelt song that is one of the first songs that I’ve reviewed in this series that actually gave me chills.  

5.  Just For

This is the typical male violent fantasy that could lean either way.  It’s either about a girl he lost to another man, or given the past material in the album being about his mom, it could be pertaining to his relationship with his father.  However you feel personally about this band, understand that lead singer Chad Kroger opened his soul up on a record which is rarely an experience put forth in an album.  Now arguably you could tell me that’s what all bands do, and yes I’m inclined to agree.  But it’s rare that it’s not wrapped up in sarcasm or a false sense of confidence.  Usually such displays of anger and torment are disguised with metaphor and mystery.  There’s none of that at play here.  And usually I’d call that dumb music for a monkey brain audience.  But this is just some of the most sincerest lyrics you could listen to.

6.  Hollywood

Now listen I know I said all that stuff about his lyrics being pretty straightforward?  Well I’ll eat my own words on this song, as I can’t really pickup the metaphor he’s laying down...correct me if I’m wrong but is this song about being in a mental hospital or going to a methadone clinic?  Don’t beat yourself up if this track isn’t your cup of tea, I didn’t really vibe with it like other tracks.

7.  Money Bought

Pretty straightforward song about a woman whose living off of her parents just being an all around Samantha .  Songs like this I could really do without, heavy strong riff but if there’s one production complaint I have is that alot of the mixes are too guitar heavy and the drums get washed out.

8.  Where Do I Hide

Feels like a continuation of the previous song with the too loud guitar mix, the lyrics themselves are pretty boring and not really worth going over as I can’t figure out if he’s making an outlaw fantasy song or something about his dad again. There’s a decent little guitar solo but I wouldn’t say to go out of your way to listen to this song.

9.  Hangnail

I’ll give them this, they can kick out some pretty good riffs.  But like good standard rock riffs.  I couldn’t tell you they have their own sound musically.  I think their sound is largely wrapped up in the lead singers voice.  You could convince me it was 3 different bands if 3 different singers sang their songs.  This song feels like a weak follow-up to “How You Remind Me”, and if that’s the case it really missed a mark in my opinion.

10.  Good Time’s Gone

Nothing says “album closer” like acoustic guitar strumming away into a swaying jam.  Definitely leaning more country western than most of their songs, but with a hard rock kick to it.  It’s a nice revamp of energy from the previous couple of songs that just felt to get a little weaker as the album progressed.  Kroger gives a powerful vocal performance to lead us out and I can’t help but think to myself, dear god I just listened to a Nickelback album several times today.

So where do you land on the spectrum of hate for Nickelback?  For me, personally I see absolutely no reason why Nickelback is more hated than say Three Days Grace or Papa Roach, both of which have garnished their own cult followings respectively.  No, I believe this to just be a meme that society has taken and ran with it by constantly making Nickelback be the butt of some non-existent joke.  Are they the best band ever? Fuck no.  Should people be mocked or made fun of for listening to bands they enjoy? Double fuck no.  Because music becomes your personal experience, and we should let others bask in what little, small things bring them joy.  Why gatekeep listening to music?  Music is supposed to connect others and bring about the feeling of belonging, the act of belittling others for their choice in music isn’t only pointless, it’s just downright disrespectful of a persons identity and personal choices.  And with that being said, Five Finger Death Punch is REAL garbage music.

I refrained from mentioning that this album was actually released on September 11th, 2001.  Not wanting that to factor into my writing but it’s at this point that I argue the case that Nickelback was a relic of a time before shit got worse in America.  Without 9/11 in the narrative of some of these tracks I feel like they don’t hit as hard and yeah, in some fucked up way I’m saying that if it wasn’t for 9/11 itself, I don’t think they would have had a breakthrough.  As audiences scrambled to tune into something different I’m sure the radio offered some form of escape from a world ravaged by national news.  I give the album:

⭐⭐⭐/5

This album begins pretty lively and begins to fizzle out about halfway with track #6, saved only by the ending track.  This was a decent album and if you’re curious to check it out, I recommend tracks 1-5, then just skip to 10, the album makes more sense that way. 

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #9

Picking up our journey through 80′s genres, I found myself at an important crossroads for hip hop.  As previously stated in another review, one way to quickly lose me is a rap/rock hybrid song, but this is an album lead by hip hop beats and assisted by punk rock 3-chord smashing and classic rock samples.

By all means, this Frankenstein of an album should be repellant to my music snob ears.  But it holds up  35 years later as an important move for Def Jam Records.  To make hip hop cool and mainstream, that decision would be a catalyst for an explosion of Rap culture emanating from New York, arguably the birthplace of the rap we know and love today.

Today’s album is the Beastie Boys’ debut album from 1986, Licensed to Ill.

1. Rhymin & Stealin

The drums are Led Zeppelin, the riff is Black Sabbath.  Sampled masterfully and immediately out of the gate is the signature sound of the Beastie Boys.  This is hip hop make no mistake, with an undeniable rebel punk theme in the lyrics and attitude.  Hip-hop up until this point was largely a dance and DJ affair, the Beastie Boys grabbed people’s attention not only for their skin color but the way they delivered lyrics in almost borderline annoying screaming.

2.  The New Style

By track 2 there’s a bold claim from the 3 wailing emcees.  Purveyors of a new sound, mixing B-Boy breakbeats with Funk Soul and AC/DC samples.  This is close to a Run DMC style with simulated passing of the microphone between the Beasties as they treat us to their whimsical house party rhymes.  While the lyrical content isn’t too complex, it is worth mentioning some of the lyrics aged poorly as they seem to take several liberties with the ladies in their music.  I do enjoy the way the song ends as the tempo slows to a really hype song, laced with simple 808s and chanting.

3.  She’s Crafty

This song contains yet another iconic song resampled and repurposed for iconic hip hop.  Another Led Zeppelin riff assisted by basic hip hop beats. The Beastie Boys are crafty wordsmiths themselves, but with that skill they are also able to embody that spirit of OG rap music, which was an art of storytelling, if the Beasties aren’t anything on your radar they should definitely be hailed as entertaining.

4.  Posse In Effect

A hard hitting 808 jam, purely a lark as the Beastie Boys engage in the trademark mic passing and shrieking rhymes.  The classic emcee rhyme where you introduce yourself and proceed to list your qualifications as to why you’re the best at controlling the mic.  Beastie Boys take very simple rhyme schemes and make em actually pretty cool.

5.  Slow Ride

As someone who really loves the artistry of music sampling, this is just a fun trip through samples and the many ways they can be bent to favor another artists sound. Containing an excerpt of War’s classic hit “Lowrider”, this is another song that keep the energy of the house party going at an even keel, I feel once this album peaks from the first two songs its just non-stop party music.  But a nice party you could invite your cousins to.

6.  Girls

The Beastie Boys approach the topic of girls as I suppose most rappers do, entitled to their time and/or attention.  And while that is obviously toxic and shitty behavior, whenever the Beasties engage in their locker room humor it seems almost harmless and from the point of view of dorky over obsession.  It’s a fun song but it’s never something I’d put on seriously or to brag about the awesomeness that is the debut album from the Beastie Boys

7.  Fight For Your Right

The samples are noticeably absent as the album takes a turn to some real party rock.  Driving hard rock drums and dirty guitar riffs and yes even a guitar solo.  A masterful blend of rock and rap which rarely happens in my opinion, but this song could easily find a place in the hearts and minds of hip-hop heads and punk rockers alike.  Making The B-Boys an important relic of hip-hop.  Bridging that gap between two very different genres with similar goals.  I mean if you’ve never heard this song, stop reading right now and go listen to it. I mean it.

8.  No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Keeping with the hard rock portion of the album, no samples.  All rock guitar and rock drums, feels like a sequel to the previous track, just toned down a tiny bit.  It feels, sounds like punk just way cleaner and tighter.  For a general audience.

9.  Paul Revere

I think stylistically, this song will stick with me for a very long time.  The rhyme schemes, the mic passes.  The storytelling, again a major staple in their repertoire.  That reverse kick drum is just so good, such a plain and simple song meant to display their rhyming prowess.  A constant theme of just pure fun and silliness, a love and care for hip hop largely absent in today’s popular drivel.

10.  Hold It Now, Hit It 

Another fun foray with the B-Boy hip-hop style, much like the previous song, its barebones, no guitars, no classic rock samples.  Just pure rhyme skill on display as they just slip and slide all over this beat.  Using a 3 man team to their fullest with chants and adlibs full of energy, this is another song worth NOT skipping.

11.  Brass Monkey

Returning to the sample bin we have this absolute 80′s club banger, hard hitting 808s and the signature shrill lyricism of Mike D, MCA, and Ad-Rock.  This deserves to be in your party playlist, or your workout playlist.  Any occasion that just calls for fun energy.  Also shoutout to the one song that shouted out Charlie Chan.

12.  Slow and Slow

It’s pretty cool to hear these heavy beats being punctuated with ACDC riffs I’ll say that, it really does establish that this is a new sound unto itself.  Not to be replicated for fear of being just another poseur trying to front on the scene.  In an album full of bombastic beats and energy this is one song that didn’t do it for me like the rest.  The beat is good, energy, all that is good but is largely forgettable in the context of the entire album

13.  Time To Get Ill

Closing out the album we get thrown every sample in the bin it seems, as we are played out with the same energy that opened the album.  Driving home their message, who they are, and what they came here to do, and its no doubt at all that they display absolute mastery of the craft on just the first album alone.

Now alot of hip hop heads would hold me in contempt knowing I’ve never heard perhaps one of hip-hops greatest albums--but again, I largely started this series to explore all those bands whose singles I love probably a little too much.  This album is a pure house party album, its just non-stop once the album opens, it never has a lull, it doesn’t have a slow song to break up the momentum and it’s definitely worth listening to, not only as a relic of hip hop music, but it’s probably the most fun you can have JUST listening to music.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

From start to finish, I was never bored or taken out of the energy. In determining a rating, I think the only thing keeping it from being a 5 star is just some questionable, and sometimes even criminal lyrics.  It doesn’t darken or take away from the album but it’s just a lyrical preference, maybe the listener doesn’t care about what you do with your dick.  Now that’s food for thought.

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #8

Today’s review will abandon the traditional structure to honor the album I have listened to today.

Hip Hop has largely remained an elusive myth to me as the 2010s spun off into several sub genres of rap.  Underground acts proliferated to niche groups on the internet and algorithms began determining what’s popular for the streaming public.  Hip-Hop has suffered in quality in the past decade as more pop and electronic dance elements have been incorporated for popular acts to be more accessible and cross-genre friendly.  Long gone are the days of gangsta rap and rappers who could rhyme fluently about their life on the streets. Largely replaced with corporately funded and approved personas that work better as brands than as artists.

It’s with this disillusionment that I enter alot of “modern” hip-hop albums with, and I’m very rarely surprised, moved, or even inspired by rap music that came out post 2010′s

Then I was suggested an album today that was new and different.  From a different time, even.  The year 2012, when the world was much much different, and the country itself had different problems to obsess over than our current shitstorm in Feb. 2021.

billy woods is a rapper based out of New York who kicks the structured verse/chorus/verse monotony of hip-hop to the side in favor of loosely spoken-word poetry overlayed over chaotic hip-hop jazz and electronic beats. I find myself listening to his 2012 release History Will Absolve Me.  His seventh studio album and a welcome addition to the world of fringe hip-hop that I thoroughly enjoy

Now due to such limited information apart from magazine interviews that would eat into my time trying to write this, paired with the length of the album, I have concluded I cannot succinctly review each and every song without it becoming repetitive or boring so I just wanna touch on the album and what it means to me.

From the beginning of the album you are greeted with the immediate electronic chaos that will be the main delivery system for Woods’ intelligently thrown together rhymes.  Each song is filled with some of the best lyrics I’ve heard from a rap album in a very long time.  For surface fans of hip-hop this may be a hard listen as woods’ style is very loose and almost spoken word, barely hanging onto the tempo of each beat but somehow able to make a full circle with his drunken master rhyme schemes.  Deeply political and thought provoking, this is a dark and hostile look at the world and society through real hip hop artists.  The popular artists of today all speak from a place of high privilege and lavish living.  Reality suffers when we don’t have artists who are living real lives, experiencing or at least understanding the harsh conditions of poverty and the dwindling middle class. 

Hip Hop comes from a place of struggle, whether that initial message was to talk about the sadness of growing up disadvantaged or to create a way to escape those surroundings that gave no aid to big dreams.  Rap music has turned into a glitz and glamour, glam metal era of it’s own.  The aspiring rapper is no longer chasing an escape but a route to being rich and famous.  Which can arguably mean two completely different things.

woods’ lyrics don’t feel like the expression of a lifetime lived in someone’s shoes but to be dictated at the speed of thought.  It feels like stream of consciousness plain speak. Almost bordering on manic and incoherent ramblings of a drug addled mind (I make zero assumptions with that statement as I believe it to be a style choice) There’s nothing about this record saying to keep partying and ignore the social fabric on fire outside your window.  The production is chaos but kept in line enough to give us the rhythm that woods’ conveniently is either one step ahead or behind.  No glitz, no glamour, no thumping obnoxious 808s or bass noise. He can’t hide behind high end production value and instead you’re forced to fully focus on the lyrics and listen to the words being spoken to you.

Fans of Immortal Technique, Saul Willains, Aesop Rock, Earl Sweatshirt, and MF DOOM can find a common thread with this album. And billy woods earns a staying position in my mentions when it comes to competent rappers making real hip hop music in an age of fake ass dime a dozen rappers.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

It’s an album worth checking out if you’re truly in the market for rap music with substance and you want a break from the structured and regular.  It is a dark and unfriendly journey but you feel almost compelled to finish out the journey.  Clocking in just over 1 hr runtime, this album is a great trip away from the normalcy that has become the standard rap music schlock being pumped out at a steady pace.

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #7

As we continue to explore bands that have pioneered sounds we find ourselves on the 4th studio album from Faith No More.  A peculiar but unique band.  While the New Wave was waving, Faith No More blazed their own path of funk rock and blended it with metal to come out as one of the more interesting bands of the 90′s.

The 90′s is cursed with a playing-field of post-punk bands just doing their own thing and getting swept up in the Grunge era madness.  Faith No More I think is one of those bands that refused to be part of that wave and incorporated heavier metal with their funk and was looking to standout rather than be swept away by the wave.

1. Land of Sunshine

The album opens with a metal-esque satire about the parental state of the United States at this point in time.  Told in a theatrical spitfire of infomercial messages.  You get a real sense of alienated youth and rebelliousness, a band that really wanted to come out swinging.  To build upon--and sort of leave behind their old sound to go a new direction for a new era.

2. Caffeine

A chugging metal tune, that is no worse for wear than the previous track, we keep the momentum moving along.  I really get a sense of the Alice Cooper theatrical movements and big sounds all around.  It’s a loud album meant to be played loud, you try to digest it like a metal album but it perhaps is too interesting and weird to be taken at face value.  So far the album has my curiosity in its hostility and lyricism. 

3. Midlife Crisis

This is probably my favorite song off of the album, it stays in this very sterile space of not being metal, kind’ve poppy but also a little bit of that funk groove lays dormant in alot of their songs.  This song probably being one of the more cohesive and structured songs, also has this kind’ve strange “Pretty Hate Machine” bridge portion that I really dig.  You reach this point of the album wondering if this is a metal record or just an alt rock band flexing their styles for fun.

4. RV

I really don’t know where to approach this song from.  They dip their toes into this Primus style of storytelling and twangy bass, which I don’t necessarily hate.  I really think this song is just making fun of white trash ignorant racists and after 2020 I’m pretty comfortable making that judgement, especially if you check out the lyrics.  Humorous and fun, definitely different and not the direction you expected the album to take. “Toss me inside a Hefty and put me in the ground”  that line just really resonated with me for some reason.  

5.  Smaller and Smaller

Mike Patton is a powerhouse vocalist as far as I’m concerned, able to hit these beautiful clean almost operatic vibratos, ALSO while being able to nail the metal hardcore screams when needed.  You got this Anthraxy main riff, sprinkled with a Pantera-y guitar lick and can you really complain.  Maybe Patton’s vocal style is a bit different but the music on display in this album is pretty different from the saturated grunge playing field.

6. Everything’s Ruined

The lead guitarist, after touring this album quit the band.  Citing the direction of the band declining, calling it “gay disco”.  Admittedly this is my first Faith No More album so I don’t have much to compare it to.  Perhaps a 1985 single of theirs that sounds like a “Midlife Crisis” b-side.  Perhaps coming from funk metal, and ending up on this song may not seem like the coolest choice but it’s not bad music, the guitarwork is awesome and if at anytime you feel a lull in the energy you can expect Patton to delivery some awesome vocals.

7.  Malpractice

I don’t know how anyone could feel their band going the way of the dogs whenever they have such a random array of genres to lean into.  I initially wanted to remark on how much this chorus kinda sounds like an Alice In Chains type of song but stylistically it just makes too many twists and turns for you to really nail them down to a comparable band in their class.

8.  Kindergarten

One area you lose me is the rap/rock hybrid. And this song straddles that fence of Run DMC and Aerosmith if that makes sense.  White dudes trying to evoke the coolness of rap and mix it with basic metal noise is usually a way to get skipped in my playthroughs but again, the musical direction this album takes makes this it pretty easy to listen to because it is just different enough to remain interesting. One of the better songs off the album.

9.  Be Agressive

This is that funk metal you keep hearing about.  Like a badass Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Just another face smasher of a song, but again we get treated to these very theatrical.. heavy metal Phantom of the Opera moments.  This is one song I’d definitely wanna see live as it just has that big opener energy.

10.  A Small Victory

This sounds like a song written completely on synths and a drum machine and Faith No More just said “fuck it, transcribe it”.  Undeniably lighter than the album preceding, an underdogs anthem.  Gets a little repetitive and doesn’t come off as a highlight of the album for me.  Let’s call it filler.

11.  Crack Hitler

Did I tell you about that funk metal? And I mentioned how they kinda dip their toes in that strange strange Primus water?  Here’s the masterpiece of that.  Sweet funkitude.  This just has everything going for it with that badass bass slap, wah wah pedal is just working overtime to bring you the jam.  Maybe the previous song needed to fall short so this one could hit that much harder for me.

12.  Jizzlobber

This is where I unearth a Nu-Metal artifact.  I mean--name the band, this is that sound and Patton abandons his clean vocals for heavy distorted screamed.  Half rapped, half screamo, this is a pretty decent song and oddly stands out as the black sheep of the album.  What the hell are you doing in THIS album? This is their most normal song to me, oddly enough. I was gonna make a joke about JNCO jeans but it flared out.

13.  Midnight Cowboy (Theme From)

This is a pretty chill (mostly instrumental) jam.  Theatrical rock music if I had to give it an official genre that I made up.  I’d say more filler but I know there are a few people who enjoy a nice instrumental soundscape and this could be one of em for you.  It reins in the heavy and gives you a nice listening experience.

14.  Easy

Funnily enough, their one cover song that was only included on later reprints of the album--is the one that earned them most of the acclaim.  A cover of Lionel Richie’s laidback sunday morning jam.  Is it better? mmmm arguably.  But I’d say they’re in a tie for being good.  Faith No More doesn’t change it in anyway that makes it unique into itself but comes off as a pretty decent tribute to the entire energy of the song.  Carefree and fun, all this after an album full of chaotic guitar and operatic rock singing, and a beautiful way to end an album full of twists and turns.

As stated before, this was my first Faith No More album and I really didn’t know what I was getting into, even for being knowledgeable about their singles that really doesn’t set you up for what their album contains and that's largely an overlying mission of this review series.  Discovering bands past their singles, their one hit wonders, and perhaps there’s something to be learned in that journey alone.

this journey was a

⭐⭐⭐/5

The good moments of this album really shine, I don’t see it as something I can play through without skipping a few tracks though.  I enjoyed the heavy metal elements blended with funk and I think Mike Patton is one of the funner vocalists of our time.  Worth a one time listen at the most and I think you could very well come out liking a song or two.

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #6

You ever hear those one hit wonder bands and wonder to yourself if they ever had anymore good songs hiding in that album that made them big?  I do.  In fact, it haunts me nightly and I blame it directly on dissolving at least 3 of my relationships.  But after diving kinda deep in the infant stages of goth and emo rock, I decided to take a hard left turn into something a bit lighter.  While the overarching theme of pop is present in alot of the bands I’ve reviewed so far, I’d like to discuss a relic of pop music that may be a little unappreciated in terms of the importance of bands you’ve (probably) never thought twice about.  The Cardigans.

After the death of Kurt Cobain, and inherently grunge, Americas music industry goes through what I essentially call it’s identity crisis, and if you don’t believe me just go look at what charted from ‘96, the year The Cardigans released their 3rd studio album:

As the Macarena dominated the states, artists remained hard at work to pump out the next big music movement and you could really follow it all from the 90′s. of Ska, Swing music, spanish hits, techno, nu metal.  It was a mad dash to be the next trendsetter.  And the entire country was on the receiving end of the horrid trash that the 90s pumped out post grunge-era.

And then, there’s The Cardigans. A swedish indie-rock band that received acclaimed success, winning several awards for their Disco-Pop romance anthem: “Lovefool”.  This led me to explore a question I had always asked myself, is a one hit wonder’s album worth checking out? And in this case I’d say yes, and allow me the pre-emptive correction of saying The Cardigans are not a one hit wonder.  While their biggest song to this day will be “Lovefool” they have had some chart ranking songs but none ever matched the success of the song that broke them through on their 3rd album.  Which is the album I’ll be reviewing today.

1. Your New Cuckoo

Beginning our journey is a Nu-Disco Pop jam that just leaves you wondering what you’re in store for.  By now you know my affinity for nice, bassy songs and this delivers, with some very smooth guitarwork to boot.  At this point I begin to wonder who calls the shots in determining the hits because the fact that the general public doesn’t know this song is pretty criminal.  Definitely give this one a listen.

2. Been It

Along with amazing bass lines, I also enjoy whenever a track transitions perfectly into the next and this is accomplished perfectly here.  With a bit of a harder edge, juxtaposed with lead singer Nina Persson’s soft vocals as she tells a tale of devoted love, playing the roles of everyone in someone’s life and coming at that crossroads where you realize you can definitely do better than what you currently got.  Driving guitar and drums, its a great pop-rock song that opens doors for this familiar pop-rock in the 90′s.

3.  Heartbreaker

This is a sultry, hypnotizing song that I really love, the bass line, the percussion, Persson’s voice is breathy and seducing, as she lazily sings about the fleeting passions of her heart.  Produced with lush instrumentation and attention to detail.  This is just all around a beautiful song that I had to listen to a couple of times because it really is an interesting choice of musical direction.  The Cardigans are not a one trick pony as this album progresses, they’ve displayed strong roots with pop and guitar led indie rock, and this song just dives into the shallows of psychedelic rock, all respect to where it’s due but I can’t help but get strong Nancy Sinatra vibes from this song.  From as it begins a light pop song, bends with some doom metal guitar vamping to fadeout, a really great song worth checking out

4. Happy Meal II

My first remarks are really about the drums that just stink of Ringo Starr.  Which isn’t a bad thing.  Playing on this psychedelic rock sound they lean into, this is their bubblegum pop entry into the album and I gotta say I’m not annoyed at anything here.  A catchy hook, and Nina Persson’s voice again is just this sugar frosted cherry on top of this beautiful arrangement of percussion and guitar.  This album keeps you interested as it twists and turns through it’s genres. 

5.  Never Recover

I get more Nancy Sinatra vibes here.  Like a pop Bossa Nova, the drummer has times where he really shines and brings this amazing energy to these basic song structures, really makes even the most simplest of songs easy to enjoy.  Nina’s lyrics don’t take themselves too seriously and come off sincere as she questions her own actions in the face of love.  Lyrically competent between being the victim and also realizing one’s faults and the role that plays in the loneliness. 

6.  Step on Me

A tongue in cheek ballad that leans more into a rock genre but providing a genre-bending twist as only I’ve come to expect from the band by now.  Playful and carefree, it’s a nice showcase of guitar work and Persson’s innocent harmless voice.  Laying groundwork for alot of indie music of the 2000′s in my personal opinions, flip flopping between hard pop-rock and indie slow jam, its a testament to their unique use of every genre they touch.  

7.  Lovefool

I mean, we all know this song I’m sure or at least heard it once. Within the context of the album itself, this song gets lost to me, obviously strong enough to launch their career into stardom.  It seems to lack a certain quality that I can’t quite pinpoint.  Perhaps owing to the fact I’ve heard this song about a hundred times more than the rest of the album.  It’s not a bad song, but to me, personally boring as the rest of the album is an absolute treat to the ears, especially if pop music is a guilty pleasure thing for you. Listen at your own discretion. But may I invite you to listen to the absolutely bitchin’ guitar portion that kicks in at 1:01.  Just amazing.

8.  Losers

Reminiscent of track 3 with its intro, we are led into another pop-rock standard experience. Once again a beautifully done transition from the previous track. Probably the most bleak song of the album as it begins with the lyrics “Close your eyes, look at all these losers/ You find them everywhere, they’re fucked up and annoying”.  A song you could definitely see playing at the end portion of a CW show where the final thoughtful message of the episode is being narrated.  

9.  Iron Man

Black Sabbath cover.  And easily one of the best covers of any song I have ever heard. EVER.  And I mean it.  A band from Sweden, arguably a birthplace for cold dark demonic harmonics and face paint-clad goth bands.  Have absolutely every right to kickass this much.  In their way of course.  Heavy Metal takes a backseat as they turn this into a trippy deconstructed journey of the classic heavy metal anthem.  Smooth and chill, it’s just an amazing cover.  These guys made “Lovefool” for fuck’s sake, and they’re covering Ozzy better than most metal bands could ever hope to.  Please listen to this song.

10. Great Divide

Back to the lush fields of bubblegum sugary sweetness, more symphony led than most of the songs on the album, comes off as a little broadway tune, largely forgettable in the context of the record.  So many good songs in this album and I personally feel this didn’t meet the standards of the rest of the album.  Lyrically strong, I don’t think it takes away from the album if it was skipped.

11. Choke

The send off track is a nice somber closer, reiterating their use of nu-disco, psychedelic sounds, an obvious love for that 60′s retro-rock.  This song implements use of several horned instruments, as well as some flute that can be heard prominently in a few tracks. It’d be really hard to pin down exactly what genre this is as it wavers between alot of genres, as could be said for alot of their songs as they’re able to successfully blend these elements of soul, funk, disco and pop and become their own specific sound. (fans of Tame Impala may find something familiar in the nostalgic guitar and groovy basslines)

I can’t say this album is underrated because it scores fairly decently across the board with some prominent music reviewers, so I’ll say this is definitely an album everybody should check out.  I’ll go out on a limb and say that in an era or chaotic post grunge, this is one band that kinda kept this pure Pop essence strongly in its foundation.  Didn’t go the route of synthesizers and drum machines, but instead utilized a full band to make some of the most unique music you will ever please your ears. 

 Without The Cardigans, I don’t think you get a direct line to later acts like Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears, Hilary Duff and Miley Cyrus respectively.  It’s pop without being too sugary sweet, and it utilizes every single instrument perfectly, every song feels perfectly engineered to hit that sweet spot and from my non-stop gushing I guess it’ll come as no surprise if I rate it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I’ll admit, the album starts strong and burns out towards the end for my taste, only kept alive by the Black Sabbath cover, if you’re curious at all about this album, I highly recommend that song the most and checking out the album at least once. 

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #5

Stepping further into the darkness we find our journey landing us on July 18th, 1980. The release of Joy Division’s second and final studio album.  Those not familiar with the band history should be aware that this album was released 2 months after singer Ian Curtis’ death. 

By this time in music history the world had witnessed the folly of mankind as societies collapsed and transformed due to economic or social woes.  This is some of the first popular music that was perhaps the most honest as it could be, it didn’t lie to you, there was no promises of a better tomorrow, your future prospects will be dried up by the time you’re old enough to manifest them.

Curtis’ lyrics pull no punches about the dour and hopeless experiences of the human condition.  The music itself is a sparse backdrop to his narration. Definitely not an album you come strolling into looking for a good time.  Although I read previous reviews saying it was danceable music so what the %^&* do I know.

1. Atrocity Exhibition

The album opens with a tribal-like drum lead, beginning a relentless journey through the tortured mind of Ian Curtis. Random sounds and textures fade in and out, building to add a layer of menace to the overall tone. The lyrics, stark and crushing. “All the dead wood from the jungles and cities on fire/ Can’t replace or relate can’t release or repair.”

2. Isolation

A synth heavy turn-around from the intro song, something a little more cozy, but in contrast of the upbeat sounding song, Curtis goes on to sing “I’m doing the best that I can/ I’m ashamed of the things I’ve been put through, I’m ashamed of the person I am”.  The theme of--yes Isolation is heavily present throughout the album as it feels this entire album was recorded in the vacuum of space.  Sterile and cold.  Almost empty.  As mentioned before Curtis pulls no punches with his lyrical content but the rest of the bands playing feels like an exercise in taming that overwhelming emotion that Ian constantly struggles to keep in.

3.  Passover

As a pretty empathetic person it’s difficult to read his lyrics at times because they are just so brutally raw and negative.  Most people don’t talk this way for fear of alienating people, but the way he sings it, how it’s sung. You just feel the exhaustion of a world beating down on you. The music is simple, but it serves a perfect device for him to convey his message of “This is the crisis I knew had to come/ Destroying the balance I kept”.

4.  Colony

In reading some interviews from Joy Division, when asked to explain the lyrics to his songs, Ian says that it was simply up to anyone’s interpretations what his lyrics meant.  And I can really respect that, because for one it makes it easy for me sound like I may actually know what I’m talking about here.  But really it allows the listener to make something personal to their own experiences, I’d offer mine up but this album is dreary enough.  It really feels as if Ian is just in a completely different band from the rest of his bandmates as some of these compositions don’t really match up with the vocal moods. 

5. Means to an End

Now with the previous song in mind, this is where I feel they all align in ideology or mood.  As previous bands I reviewed, Joy Division seem to have a distinct style that made them stand out from a crowd of hundreds of bands in the same position as them. This is that sound and it embodies everything perfectly. Vamping lyrics, a hopeful hopelessness in the sound but it’s all just the soundtrack to the deteriorating condition of someone whose experienced too much loss to really muster up the energy to keep fighting. 

6. Heart and Soul

“Existence, well what does it matter?/ I exist on the best terms I can”.  And this album is just full of these strikingly dark and beautiful lyrics. The song itself, which was brewed with a punk backbone, but lacking the power of rage, it’s chill mood music and again such simple arrangements carrying Ian’s haunting singing.  A steady groove of vamping lyrics and regretful self-loathing. 

7.  Twenty Four Hours

Another staple sound for goth bands of this era is the chorused bass sound heavily present here and I love it. One of their more energetic songs for Ian to brood over. According to interviews with Joy Division, Curtis’ bandmates wish they would have noticed the signs pointing to his untimely demise sooner.  Furthermore also saying they’d never really paid attention to the lyrics.  Because I mean.....it doesn’t take a scholar to read between the lines of the massive monoliths Ian Curtis was constructing to doom and gloom. And I got all this from wiki so if you wanna read up more about it I suggest starting there and digging through their sources provided.  Invoking a gloomy Jim Morrison, this song is a pretty standard experience with Joy Division by this point in the album but the stylistic changes are welcome to break up any monotony you may be feeling.

8. The Eternal

A very somber song encased in synth pads and dark gothic piano.  Painting the picture of a funeral, of going through the motions of death and loss.  These are probably some of the saddest, depressing songs I’ve ever heard in a row.  Not being said to take away from the album.  If you ever wanted to hear what a normal person sounds like, I think Ian Curtis is that voice, just a young man lost in a gigantic world, suffered from epilepsy and battling depression amid a dissolving marriage. Being hoisted on-stage where he would be victim to his seizures.  Even in wanting to shout his pain to the world, he was made to suffer.

9.  Decades

The album closes with a realization of sound.  A beautiful piece of music as they abandon almost all instruments in favor of cold, lifeless synthesizers.  and they play with Ian’s voice so beautifully in this moment.  Alot of these songs play as if they’re being sung by someone dying on the side of the road.  Watching a world pass them by, counting up all the regrets and eventually having to let go. 

This was not an easy album to review as it took multiple listens to really get it to sink in, perhaps I’m not at the darkest moments of my life, but I empathize deeply with Ian’s thoughts and emotions.  Through the research and listening of this album I do feel a bit of sadness for him, and thankful that such a record exists of such a HUMAN take on the world and music. I find it really hard to rate because of how relentlessly depressing it is at times, does that take away or add to the experience? I guess every listener will react differently and perhaps if you’re one of those people who needs sad music to get through difficult times, this could serve as an important piece of music to you.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I decided that the depressingly real aspect of it only adds to the experience.  While not exciting in terms of a party or dance record, it really does serve as an important document to mental health and the struggles of depression. I’d be hard pressed to say I’d revisit this album again. But I’m glad to have discovered it and really gave it a chance to grow on me. 

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #4

The closing of the 70's had birthed a multi-headed front of new genres of music. In America, the closing of an era of post-war guilt, peace and love had only dampened our spirits, corrupting the feel good era of disco and early metal. In the United Kingdom, experiencing perhaps it's worst unemployment crisis since the World Wars, public services from schools to cemeteries were collapsing. The native music had yet to reflect the dreary downturn of the economy, the national gloom that had built over a decade of class struggles.

on May 8th, 1979 The Cure debuts with their first album Three Imaginary Boys and what follows are the first breaths of a goth culture explosion.  A voice from the back of society, taking a moment in the limelight.

1. 10:15 Saturday Night

The Cure begins their entry into world's ears with a great song that is poppy and bouncy, very minimal but energetic and laying the groundwork for what we all know are the classic songs in their library. One artifact present in this song that I don't really hear in subsequent Cure songs is a pretty damn blisterin' guitar solo. It's an awesome song from start to finish. Probably my favorite song of the record.

2. Accuracy

I find only one thing particularly cool about this song, and that would be some vocal effects employed at the end of the tune, a commonly used trick in this album that I like. Although forgettable, it's not bad--but not as good a follow-up from the spirited intro. 

3. Grinding Halt

NOW we're back to that sound I love. The happiest Robert Smith (guitarist & lead vocalist) will ever be. With elements of pop and that familiar twangy guitar sound we got from Talking Heads only more loose and groovy. Sad music that you could contently be sad to. I think this is another great entry in this album, particularly relevant to today's time's in America unfortunately. It doesn't take away from this song at all though, it gets a spot in one of my many playlists.

4. Another Day

I could easily see this as an entry in someone's poetry book. It sounds like a band that wants to sound like The Cure and while not a bad song it really showcases nothing spectacular short of Smith's haunting lyrics and vocals, which are not getting the respect they deserve in alot of these mixes. Proceeding albums will fix this affront. 

5. Object

A song that departs from their conventional sound and goes for something a little more pop-punk. The use of the vocal delay is really what makes this song for me. You couldn't convince me this was The Cure in a blind test. Lyrically strong, again Smith's vocals feel underproduced at points. Still an energetic song that keeps the album pacing pretty decent.

6. Subway Song

This is where we get a glimpse into a somewhat playful side of The Cure. Menacing and jazzy, meant to be filler perhaps but still pretty damn good because I didn't know harmonicas could be goth til this point in my life.

7. Foxy Lady

Another thing you wouldn't be able to convince me of prior to hearing this album is that The Cure covered a Jimi Hendrix song. Heavily leaning into New Wave pop and completely bending the classic solo-heavy song into their own design. I didn't quite enjoy it at first. or again. But a few listens through I began to not hate it. So there's that. It's definitely an interesting and new take on such an iconic song. I invite you to be the judge on this one. Also it’s worth noting that bassist Michael Dempsey is on vocal duties here.

The Original--->The Cover

8. Meathook

This is a really fun song that I can really vibe with. It has vaudevillian elements with that familiar jazzy crook to it. You read the lyrics and just think to yourself wtf but the song itself--the arrangement and melodies are just too good to not like, dont skip this track.

9. So What

Designed to be sung as if he's ripping through the newspaper in a manic tantrum, mostly spoken or yelled. Furniture and paper rustling is dubbed in to add to the theater. A raw display of humanity in an album that pulls you alot of directions. Perhaps owing itself to wondering where you fit into a big world whenever your own small world never seems to be going right.

10. Fire in Cairo

I can't for the life of me think of a cool song that spells words out--unless we're talking Schoolhouse Rock or something. A jangly guitar jam, a faint signature sound in those bass lines, but once you get to the chorus you lose me.

"F-I-R-E in C-A-I-R-O/ F-I-R-E in C-A-I-R-O/ F-I-R-E in C-A-I-R-O/ Then the heat disappears and the mirage fades away"

It gets a bit repetitive, perhaps part of some larger scheme by the Electric Company. I don't think it's missed if this one was thrown out of rotation.

11. It's Not You

The energy is picked back up with this fast paced ode to a love gone sour. Back to a pop-punk format that once again defies that very nature of what you’re used to hearing from a Cure song. The bass is just a nonstop force as a leading instrument throughout the album.

12. Three Imaginary Boys

The eponymous track is an awesome farewell that culminates in possibly The Cure’s most metal song ever?  Hippie space rock that I really would loved for them to have explored this area more during the album, or even their career. A very strong song all around and a satisfying end to the debut album of a band that will go on to define a generation of bed-headed, drably dressed misfits in the years to come.

13. The Weedy Burton

Hardly worth a review, just a little blues outro standard for your listening pleasure.

This album has two really good things going for it, that’s energetic pop-punk energy, and some of the best bass lines for your time.  This album is built on some awesome bass work and I personally feel not enough bassists get their credit and Michael Dempsey just absolutely kills it in this album.

⭐⭐⭐/5

While alot of amazing composition is present in this album I feel some of the vocal production takes away from the final product and I think even Mr. The Cure himself would agree as per this wiki entry

Despite those remarks, and my rating, it’s not a BAD album and it’s worth a listen as a relic of emo/goth music history.

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #3

For today’s review we stay in familiar waters, the late 70′s. Yet another band that is heralded as a progenitor of the New Wave era.  the Talking Heads, formed in New York City with a very apparent mission. To bring the nation the sounds of anxiety and paranoia deep from the heart of a city that most people only experience through movies.

Now I am not a Talking Heads newbie, lets just get that part out of the way, I am at most a “singles” kinda guy in this matter. This series is meant to review albums I’ve never heard before in their entirety and give my review within the same day. Burning Down the House, Psycho Killer, that one David Byrne song with the music video-- that’s my extent of knowledge here. So without further ado:

1.Thank You for Sending Me Angel

For some context to what this album enters with, its worth taking a look at what was popular when this released, as per Billboard and Wiki

...yea. The country had Saturday Night Fever.  And in the Mad Max-ian hellscape of disco there were these emerging bands that didn’t sound like your typical punk band but were doing every damn thing they could to tell an industry to go fuck itself.  As synthesizers entered the picture at this point in music it’s interesting to hear all the ways they were being experimented with and I feel like the chaotic unknown of these sorta new instruments lends itself to Byrne’s erratic yelping and anxious singing. This intro to their 2nd album is a nice sampler of what Talking Heads are all about, what sounds like random noise is pulled together with eclectic percussive elements and Jerry Harrisons distictive guitar playing.

2.With Our Love

One thing the Talking Heads really have going for them are these plainly written lyrics that really leave no neuroses untouched.  At times you feel like you’re reading from a page from Byrnes’ diary circa ‘75.  Byrnes plays heavy on the theme of self reflection and the anxieties of boy/girl dynamics in this album. This track begins like a pseudo-disco jam, but as more elements are introduced into the mix we get into the familiar pacing of a Talking Heads song, that slow thumping, that guitar barely hanging onto the tuning. Byrnes’ erratic, broken vocal delivery adds to the feeling of chaos. The bass and guitar work really shine in portions here. Dare I call it emo disco?

3. The Good Thing

This album is admittedly a bit of a slow burn for me, this song feels like it could been left off to preserve the progression of the album. It’s light and airy, the lyrics are actually really good though.  Like a daily affirmation, something to meditate on, I advise if you’re not into the song at least look up the lyrics. Don’t feel bad if you skip this track.

4. Warning Sign

If there’s one thing I love is a good bass line, and we enter with this great great guitar lick from Jerry Harrison to accompany.  The jam intro gives way to an ominous tune that is the inner workings of self doubt and over-thinking. Is it paranoia if there are truly signs everywhere? Fans of Sonic Youth rejoice, this is the song that birthed several of theirs I’m sure. Definitely one of the better songs on this album and I’d say it has a home somewhere in a playlist of yours. 

5. The Girl Wants to be with the Girls

A very mindful song about the observations of male/female society.  Nothing cryptic to unravel here “Girls want things that make common sense/ The best for all concerned/ They don’t want to have to go out of their way”.  Which is some pretty sane shit if you ask me.  Lyrically a great song but musically unimpressive for what really impresses me later on in the album.

6. Found a Job

Another strong point for this album is the infectious bass grooves that are just non stop at points, once the energy is gained that momentum is never lost. (dont mind track 3). This song tells an interesting story that’s worth your time, a Talking Heads essential if I could be so bold.  A story about a couple who are television writers, inventing situations, putting them in their scripts, making stories about their friends and family.  “So think about this little scene, apply it to your life/ If your work isn’t what you love, then something isn’t right.” And what more is there to say but hell yea David Byrnes.

7. Artists Only

If one of their first singles, “Psycho Killer” was Scream, this would be Scream 2, (electric boogaloo, sorry.) In such that it conveys that same dark, manic feeling of that first person point-of-view. It’s dissonant and creepy, if you have a Halloween playlist, chuck it in there for some major artheux points. And I think any creatives out there would really appreciate the tone of this song as it conveys what we’ve probably all felt in our processes.

8. I’m Not in Love

The slow burn is over. I find myself liking the latter portion of the album alot more than the first portion.  Maybe it’s because I get major Queen vibes from this, there’s some disco in there. This is probably one of my favorite tracks off of the album purely for the structure and lyrics. “I can answer your questions if you won’t twist what I say/ Please respect my opinions, They will be respected someday/ But I don’t need love--”. And again-- hell yea David Byrnes. Despite any small changes in sound, each flavor is completely their own as that ever distinctive guitar owns so much real estate in these songs. Please please please, for the love of Freddie Mercury, do not skip this song.

9. Stay Hungry

This song in itself is a slow burn but there’s a beautiful payoff if you can just wait a minute. literally. This is a beautiful Talking Heads moment as you get the classic two for one song, one song leading into a completely different one. This is like a direct descendent of a Nine Inch Nails song. And as we all face our dietary woes in this pandemic, who can’t agree with the title of the song? This song has a bass line that just kills me. Don’t skip.

10. Take Me to the River

It’s nice to have a reference for a cover so if you got the time, check out the original here. It’s an interesting choice for a cover, but you hear the original and you think to yourself, well damn it’s like it was made to be covered by this exact band.  Tacking on an extra two minutes from the original, it’s a masterful cover that only builds on an already-legendary record. Don’t skip. Every performer in this recording is at the top of their game.

11. The Big Country

The album closer takes a hard turn down south into a country-western type beat.  A stark contrast of what the usual representation of what life on the road as a rockstar would be. It’s a hard wind-down from all of the energy and chaos of the past 10 tracks, the lyrical content and clarity of the track comes off as the clearest parts of his mind have purged all of the quirky mannerisms and humor to shirk off the dark feelings of depression and/or anxiety.  This is a beautiful song, in complete opposition from what the rest of the album presented.  Another point on this album is that it always leaves you wondering what the next song is gonna sound like.  From this album alone no two songs sound alike, no experience feels duplicated, but at least one track could have been left off just to make that slow burn a little faster

This album was a bit harder to digest than the previous two and I needed to listen to it a few times before it really grew on me.  I stand by my statement that this album definitely gets better in the latter half and it has some amazing songs worth checking out.

⭐⭐⭐/5

The more I listened to it, the more it grew on me, but I can’t help but feel like I wasn’t listening to their best. While their best songs on this album were really good, I think Talking Heads has yet to be fully realized in their sophomore album.

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #2

Today’s album finds us at the end of the 70′s, disco has America in it’s groovy grips, what will the next decade hold, where can we look to chart that singularity when it all came together and history was made. Thanks to the benefit of hindsight and Spotify (not an ad), we know that band to be none other than the B-52′s. The first wave of the New Wave era of bands awaiting us in the 80′s.

Make no mistake, on the surface this band appears kitschy and bubble gum but after a couple of listen throughs, I’ve determined that this may be the most punk rock shit that came out in 79, why you ask?

1. Planet Claire

It’s like the 60′s Batman Theme had a child with Monster Mash and that child rebelled against a system that wanted you to wear platforms and dance like a goob. It’s sci fi. It’s different and new, especially if you look at what the top songs of the year were in 1979. 

All I can say is thank the music gods for the B-52′s, and watch the video for Planet Claire. Tell me you’re not curious to go further.

2. 52 Girls

We are too far to go back. And why would you want to, this is an absolute head bopper. It has all the elements of nothing you’d expect from a band straight out of Athens, Georgia. I believe Cindy Wilson is lead vocalist here and just shatters the performance. A song that lyrically doesn’t really deliver but vocally shines. Oh and I lost the first draft of this but I remember the intro of it was like “This album is the physical embodiment of you had to have been there.” and you need to listen to this song.

This chart has been my guide, provided by the wiki so if I do make a mistake on whose doing the vocal work, apologies.

3. Dance This Mess Around

Cindy Wilson’s vocals are amazing here, with the early uses of that grunge “low to loud” vocal structure. This is one of those songs that’s like a two for one, it starts off as slow paced motown-esque sound and by the mid-point there’s a change in tempo that brings the B-52s sound in full focus, with Fred Schneider joining in on singing duties. Don’t Skip, this is just barely touching the surface just how good this band is.

Cindy Wilson 

4. Rock Lobster

It’s like The Munsters at the beach. and don’t question the logic. This is where I begin to ask myself ok what is the goal of this band, are they fucking with me, is this supposed to be an assault on my senses because:

Is she making a fucking dolphin noise? (4:50 mark)

It’s not working.  

Although this lobster rocks about 3 minutes longer for my liking, its worth a once-through. It’s the new front of punk rock music. By doing absolutely everything that the industry wasn’t doing but also making an entire industry shift to this new form of avant garde art rock that was emerging. There seems to be no apparent message, but to me there’s something inherently rebellious about committing to this sound and coming out to be pioneers of New Wave and yes, even Grunge.

5. Lava

One of the great discoveries of this album is the awesome guitarwork of Ricky Wilson who has such a unique guitar sound, surf rock vibes with that robot rock tightness that gives me major early Queens of the Stone Age vibes. Another fun thing about this band? 3 singers. Female leads, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, accompanied by Fred Schneider. Wilson and Pierson are F*CKING powerhouse vocalists not to discount Fred at all but these women will be the model for a ton of female vocalists for the next decade, and I’ll just put it on front street..I dont think you get a Karen O without the B-52′s.

6. There’s a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)

Now if there’s one gripe I have with B-52s it’s the lyrical content which range from wtf is going on there to wtf is going on here, and while you’d think the latter point would take away from the experience it really doesn’t, and I think the album experience itself is true escapism. It’s out of it’s time and would be just as welcome in a modern day release under today’s indie-lovin’ crowd. That being said, this is a badass song. It’s a song about space, and it has a roll call for the planets, that jaunty jangly guitar that’s a central sound of this group. 

7. Hero Worship

This album has alot of the building blocks that the generation of New Wavers will co-opt in the coming decade, if you’re a fan of 80′s New Wave and early Grunge you can get a sense of the direct inspiration this album must have had on many teens at the time of this release. A song that falls lyrically into the literal category, Hero Worship is a song about just that, and comes of as the most lyrically strong song to me, another staple in a pretty strong album this far in.

8. 6060-842

Before 867-5309, there was this little jingle about a forgotten past time know as: finding numbers in bathroom stalls in promises of good times, all you gotta do is call. And I guess the odd thing about it is that it’s about a girl (sung by a guy) named Tina who finds a number on a bathroom stall, calls it...and nobody answers. End of story. This would be considered the bottle episode of the album if you ask me.  Largely a skippable song but what’s 2 minutes and 52 seconds of your life? 

9. Downtown

A cover of the Petula Clark classic to close out the album. This is where I have suspicions confirmed. This is a punk band. This is just pure wild abandon for anything that people wanted out of a mainstream release, a loose rendition that pulls itself together at the close with beautiful guitarwork. Wilson’s lyrics are definitely influenced by some punk rock essence. Also, there’s cowbell so don’t skip.

The B-52s are a very impressive band and based off of the debut album alone, I have a further interest to check out more of their releases.  If you’re looking for something to take you away from the current day stresses and wish to be transported to a different world for a moment, this is a nice start. This was a delightful little escape from the landscape of music I usually listen to and it could be for you as well.

I give the album 

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

[glumvillain]

GlumReviews #1

     Todays first “Old New Album” is from Mississippi-born singer, guitarist and harmonica player, Howlin Wolf. With a unique and sometimes haunting vocal style, Howlin Wolf could be considered a progenitor of the screamo grunge era of the early 90s.  This man didn’t come to croon a tune into your ear about a love lost--no. He came to play some damn blues and howl into the night. On my first ever listen thru I was transported to an era of smoky blues clubs and sweltering afternoons sitting on the porch, waiting for a pissed off lover to come back home.

     And if you’re asking yourself if this is my first time doing this, then that answer is yes, so bear with me, as we dive into Howlin Wolf’s first compilation album titled “Moanin’ in the Moonlight” a collection of a decade’s work (1951-1959), and a perfect first album for nascent Blues fans who would like a nice jumping off point to blues appreciation.

We begin with Track 1:

     1.Moanin at Midnight

We enter with the trademark “howls” as harmonica and guitar pickin’ chug us along into an upbeat little jam about nothing in particular, to an amateur such as myself this song appears to me as just a nice little jam to showcase what you’re in for with the rest of the album, I’ll refrain from calling this one of the weaker songs on the album, it does have the toe tapping jaunt of a good blues track, and its only the beginning of a journey into the life of a bluesman beginning his rise to blues stardom in Chicago.

       2. How Many More Years

Proto-rock at its finest, with crunchy guitar pickin’, and rolling blues piano, by the time HW croaks in his throaty vocals with “How many more years have I got to let you dog me around/ I’d soon rather be sleeping six feet in the ground”, you know this is what you came to listen to, real blues, a story about a man being treated wrongly by his lover. Shame. When you know you’re not being given the best you can get, having no choice but to retire to separate quarters of the house to salvage peace. Oh and if anybody asks about Ol’ Howlin’ Wolf, just tell ‘em he walked out on ya

          3. Smokestack Lightnin’

This is it. Not gonna bury the lead here, this is why you put on this album, if there was ever any song that made a statement about why the singer is named “Howlin’ Wolf” this is it, a 3 minute blistering ballad of a man wailing his soul out. “Why don’t you hear me cry” he wails into the night, as harmonicas pickup the groove, you cant help but dance a little while this guy is just...being emo essentially, but its GOOD emo music. And all respect to where its due, this is just good fucking music, and it only exists to amplify emotion. All captured in this track here, the heartbreaks and ordeals of another lost lover. Don’t skip this track.

     4. Baby How Long

Winding down into some fine driving music if I say so myself, leaving the emo trail behind a bit, a nice upbeat tune about waiting. Awakened to his lover having just left him, Ol’ Howler only does his best work on days like this, another vocal delight on the album and his harmonica work is not to be underestimated either, both skills on beautiful display as he wails “Well when you leave home/ You can call me on your phone”. 

     5. No Place to Go (You Gonna Wreck My Life)

Leaning a little more RnB here, Howlin’ Wolf begins with a clean vocal that gives way to his croaks, and I gotta say I’m reminded of the clean/heavy switch off with grunge bands and later emo screamo bands, just in a blues format. Very chill song about the inner thoughts of another down and out day, lamenting the time spent with someone whose now a stranger to you. Possibly how one has wasted their best years with someone “Now I’m old and gray, got no place to go”, this is a leaving song, this is when he packed his bags, headed into a great unknown.     

     6. All Night Boogie (All Night Long)

Ok put out your cigarettes and get on the dancefloor, you could call this the song he played after Track 5′s scenario at his local venue, while an upbeat danceable tune we stay on the topic of scorned lovers. Just another worrisome bluesman wondering where his woman is all hours of the night, but instead of wailing his heart out on this one, we get some great harmonica work, if you like harmonica, this is the jam for you, sometimes the ol’ mouth harp can convey emotions better than “I cried, I cried, I cried, all day long”

      7. Evil (Is Goin On)

Another benchmark in the album as we get deeper into these soulful RnB sounds, a little ballad about a man who likes to visit your woman when you’re away from home. Bass led and vocal heavy, this is just another notch in HW’s belt for his many styles, if you started from track 1, you could essentially call that bare bones as we progress thru the compilation (spanning 10 years as mentioned before), you can really chart progress of an artist and recording quality, another track you shouldn’t skip. A highlight of this track is definitely that ragtime piano.

          8. I’m Leavin’ You

Bet you can’t guess what this songs about. Well if you can’t then it’s just another day in the life of Howlin’ Wolf as he explains to his woman that one day will be the day he finally packs it up. “meanest woman I ever seen/ No matter how I try to treat you right/ Still you’s a mean little thing” he sings to a rambling blues chord progression-- which it’s worth noting that HW has penned several blues standards and if you’re interested in the history I advise you to check out the wikipedia article. Nothing relatively noteworthy in this track but it keeps the album energy at a moderate pace and never once are you taken out of that momentum once it starts.

          9. Moanin’ for my Baby

Step back into that swelterin’ blues bar with me for a sec because we got more Howlin’ to do. The soulful blues tracks give way to the OG sound of the first few tracks that started the compilation, a repetitive toe tappin blues jam session. I sense gospel singing that slowly gets bent into blues. The light giving way to dark, pure rivers running into muddy water swamps. Ramblin’ man blues, that damn Howl is just poetry, an instrument unto itself, apart from the singing, apart from his guitar work, and apart from his harmonica, his voice becomes the perfect tool to not only sing but to emote the blues in dissonant wails and vibratos.

     10. I Asked Her For Water

“I asked her for water/ She brought me gasoline“

--ok come on wouldn’t that lyric fit just as well before the breakdown drops from any number of your favorite Emo era bands? 

nearing the end of this journey, we find that the theme visited heavily in this album is the theme of home and homelessness, he has no sense of home and anywhere he has found a home...isn’t a big fan of his presence. His lady is gone all night when he’s home, wants him gone when she’s home, and whenever he’s gone from home, she’s worried about what he’s up to, and vice versa. NOT to mention, that whenever he’s gone from home, apparently there’s some guy waiting for men to leave their women alone so he can entertain them. What a fucking world. 

     11. Forty Four

I get a real gospel/pop vibe from this, mixed with a little marching band. The scenario set is a pretty neat little story about once again, being away from home, the pawning of possessions and a need for a direction to travel to. I wanna be vocal and say that if I truly believed a song was worth skipping I would say it, and so far no track has lost my interest, with an average song time of about 3 minutes each track this is a nice slice of blues, each with a different bend to the sound, nothing is duplicated in this journey, the theme is essential and it really does set up that perfect bluesman story, minus the crossroads.

     12. Somebody In My Home

We made it. You made it. And for that, I thank you.

wrapping up this first of what I hope is many reviews to come is this sludgy blues ditty and while it appears as just another run-of-the-mill blues song -- This is what I’ll have to say is his most lyrically strong song in this entire album “Colors dont bind, oh no/ What do they know? They speak falsely”

It feels as if this is him personally sitting down in a chair across from you and just cutting straight to the chase about life, like if he had to boil everything down into one nugget of wisdom to impart, then this would be it. A personal chat from a man who was born in 1910. A slice of history told thru music.

In Conclusion:

“Moanin’ in the Moonlight”, clocking in at around 30 minutes, an easy choice to make if you’re looking for a nice introduction into blues, and I’ve said it before but a large takeaway from this album is SEVERAL styles of blues being presented here and none of it gets repetitive, I am sure guitar beginners could become some decent blues pickers studying the techniques on display here as well.

rating system [subject to change]

1-bad

5-good

The rating system for now is kinda arbitrary as there is nothing to base it off of until I’ve made other reviews to weight it against, but based purely on the album runtime and the contents of the album I’ll give it:

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I was gonna go with 3, but with the help of Spotify (not an ad), it led me down the rabbit hole of some great blues guitarists as well. Gave it a little bump for being a beginners blues album.

[glumvillain]

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Basterd. - pollard

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