TYPE O NEGATIVE / Bloody Kisses (1993)

The Limited Edition release is reviewed here. Go read it instead. :)

The standard edition of the Bloody Kisses album, which came out first. It has fourteen tracks, whereas the Ltd Edition only has nine. Although eight of them are also to be found here, it has a different running order. The tracks that were later removed actually bring the album down a notch; they're either pointless and irritating interludes or much too fast and only serve to interrupt the flow of the better tracks. It may sound odd, seeing as the regular edition has almost the same tracks, but I'm judging it as a whole, not as a collection of songs. If I could only choose one, I'd choose the Ltd Edition over this. It scores higher, too.

Songs of Note: Same as the other version.

3½ deaths in the family out of 5

ALICE IN CHAINS / Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)

AiC without Layne?! I know what you're thinking, because I was, too, but it's surprisingly good. New vocalist William DuVall fits in well. I'm not sure if he's trying to replicate Layne or if he naturally sounds like him at times, but his voice is a good fit with the pitch and tones of Jerry Cantrell's guitar work. The classic sludge/grunge sound is the same. Cantrell can still produce killer riffs that feel like a head full of drug. Reminiscent of Dirt and even Jar of Flies on occasion, there are moments where it feels like AiC had never been away.

Songs of Note: Check My Brain; A Looking In View

3½ desperate plans out of 5

TYPE O NEGATIVE / Bloody Kisses (Ltd Ed) (1993)

The Drab Four must have shut themselves away from sunlight for a year to come up with this opus. It's a gothic masterpiece that crawls into your brain like viscous blood seeping into your ear canal. The fuzzy slowed down Black Sabbath bass sound perfectly complements Peter Steele's drawn out vocal delivery. The guitars are low in the mix. Along the way there are some beautiful pastoral moments that by contrast heighten the gloom. Then they throw in an upbeat happy tune with keyboards and you know that the full spectrum of grief is to be explored. Play it at a funeral for extra good times.

Songs of Note: Summer Breeze; Black No.1 (Little Miss Scare-All)

4½ burning thighs out of 5

Note: The Ltd Ed loses some tracks and adds one new one. It's a more coherent listening experience, and I would recommend it over the original release.

GREEN DAY / Kerplunk [1992]

With drummer Tre Cool firmly intact, making up the Green Day line-up that we know today, the pop-punker's second album Kerplunk is a step closer to that defined sound that would catapult them into the mainstream two years later.
Billie Joe Armstrong's perfected the snotty vocal delivery and friendly guitar crunch, while Mike Dirnt's bouncy basslines and harmonizing back-up vocals are coming into their own. It's teetering back and forth between the fast to-the-point radio pop songs of Dookie and lyrically bloated, weaker songs of 1,039.
Not quite there but it's so damned close it can't help but be noticed as good, foot-tapping, head-bopping fun.

3½ Sweet Children out of 5

Songs Of Note: One For The Razorbacks; No One Knows

INFANT SORROW / Get Him To The Greek [2010]

You know the rock music genre is in a bit of trouble when the best "rock" album to come out in 2010 was a joke album by a fake rock band, Infant Sorrow fronted by comedian Russel Brand.
Serving as a soundtrack of sorts to the film, Get Him To The Greek, Brand is pompous Brit-rocker Aldous Snow who is trainwreck hybrid of Jarvis Cocker (one of the album's co-writers), Liam Gallagher, Bono and Mick Jagger. Playing it straight, Brand is hilarious, yet emotionally effective, spouting out inane lyrics about "furry walls" and "bangers, beans & mash". It's not an instant classic by any means but it's great fun with some good chuckles and catchy tunes front to back.

3½ hilarious cases of the Clap out of 5

Songs Of Note: Going Up; Yeah Yeah Oi Oi

CLAMS CASINO / Instrumental Mixtape [2011]

Rising hip hop architect Clams Casino's compilation of instrumentals can't help but leave me in awe of the genre.
Clams Casino makes use of standard hip-hop beats, then layers them with dreamlike atmospherics and hazy wordless vocals, conjuring up therapeutic emotions filled with sadness, wonder and serenity that's perfect for rainy weather daydreaming. Like his hip-hop instrumentalist peers Blue Sky Black Death and Araabmuzik, I could bear to hear more of Clams Casino's work without any lyrics. Lets hope his future projects are as effective as this wonderful little compilation.

4 Adele's on slo-mo out of 5

Songs Of Note: Motivation; Numb

DEATH GRIPS - Exmilitary [2011]

Experimental hardcore hip-hop act Death Grips 2011 debut, Exmilitary is admittedly a difficult listen.
Channeling the old-school sounds of Black Flag and Suicidal Tendencies mixed with industrial like hip-hop beats that are constantly changing tempo and fractured samples that would be out of place in any other hip hop project, Death Grips isn't for everybody. The hardcore punk aggression is captured perfectly with the brutish like vocals and grungy production that would probably make a Slayer fan think twice about entering a Death Grips moshpit.
It's a little too different for it's own good. Excellent production and composition are overshadowed by the intense anger that seems a bit much at times.

3 Interstellar Overdrives out of 5

Songs Of Note: Klink; Thru The Walls

PINK FLOYD - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn [1967]

Pink Floyd's 1967 debut album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn is a force to be reckoned with.
Nightmarish and simultaneously charming, Piper is a psychedelic classic filled with lyrical allusions to Lewis Carrol and teetering on the brink of madness. Showcasing the undeniable genius of troubled frontman Syd Barrett, this album is a rarity in the psychedelic genre. Instead of the usual positively uplifting lyrics & sound of the psychedelic age, Barrett & the Floyd took a more frightening route and rattled the brain with horrifyingly dizzying sound effects and lonely lyrics about isolation and outcast misfit characters.
Perhaps one of the best debut albums of all time, Piper is an experience that will remain with me and many others for the rest of time.

5 good mice out of 5

Songs Of Note: Interstellar Overdrive; Bike

HELLOWEEN / Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II (1988)

A sequel that's better than the original. 0_0 The same speedy rhythms, dramatic vocals and extravagant guitar solos that made the first part so good are once again firmly placed herein, and there's some wonderfully enthusiastic drumming beneath the furore, if you care to listen. Though it may be too long for some people, for me the thirteen minute titular track is a masterclass in lengthy orchestration that I never tire of. It's Helloween's best work. The two parts of Keeper of the Seven Keys are the only power metal albums I class as essential.

Songs of Note: I Want Out; Dr Stein

5 clones upon a shelf out of 5

GREEN DAY - 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours [1990]

Released in 1990, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours is widely considered to be pop-punkers Green Day's first studio album when in fact it's a collection of previously released E.P.s on the recently defunct record label Lookout! Records.
Raw and not quite refined, Green Day's first "full-length" isn't an instant classic but a blueprint of what was to come. It's catchy and melodic but is missing that punch n' crunch that would catapult Green Day into the multi-platinum mainstream. An interesting listen to where the boys from Berkeley started out but never really goes much further than that.

3 Operations Ivy covers out of 5

Songs Of Note: Going To Pasalacqua; Rest

THE SISTERS OF MERCY / First and Last and Always (1985)

The unique sound of the first Sisters album is a love it or hate it thing. Somewhat similar in tone to Joy Division or Bauhaus, it's infused with a gloomy repetitive atmosphere that'll depress or elate the individual, and only really works in the correct environment. It's solely responsible for the gothic tag that dogged the band for years afterwards. It's nihilistic 80s Rock music that engulfs the listener in a fog of self-reflection. If you can embrace that, it'll never leave you.

Songs of Note: Walk Away; First and Last and Always

5 voices that pass with time out of 5

LEONARD COHEN / Old Ideas (2012)

Leonard the poet. He's 77 y/o and his soul is still a thing of beauty that shines through in every word he speaks. Expect simple guitars in support of his voice like the early days, heartfelt piano, lazy-day drums, dreamy female backing vocals and a feeling of drifting through redemptive waters on every track. There are no surprises, it's Leonard by numbers, but they're numbers we like. There's a little piece of Leonard's life in each of us and we're all the better for it.

Songs of Note: Going Home; Show Me the Place

3½ manuals for living out of 5

DANZIG / Deth Red Sabaoth (2010)

The riffage is back! The heavy blues is back! The soaring chorus is back! Lock up your virgin daughters because the hamster of evil is back!! His voice is aged but still strong; it sits beneath the guitar sound, which is a shame because it really deserves to rise above it like the days of old. The music is heavy but not violent and abrasive like before, it's closer to Danzig II and III than anything since those glory days. If the production had been handled better it would be a top scoring album. As it stands, it's almost essential and will no doubt please the fans of old.

Songs of Note: Hammer of the Gods; Pyre of Souls Incanticle

4 bones of doom out of 5

BUCK SATAN AND THE 666 SHOOTERS / Bikers Welcome! Ladies Drink Free (2011)

It's electric hillbilly, Buck Satan style (Ministry's Grandpa Jourgensen ). He's aided by Rick Nielson, Tony Campos and Mike Scaccia. If you've heard the Revolting Cocks album, Sex-O Olympic-O (2008), then you've heard most of this. It has the same sound and lazy riffing but somehow works a lot better. Add some fiddles and banjos and it begins to make even more sense. It shouldn't but I'll be damned... it does. Expect songs about drugs and innuendo that raise a chuckle. If the production hadn't been so slick sounding, I'd have liked it a lot more.

Songs of Note: Quicker Than Liquor; I Hate Every Bone in Your Body Except Mine

2 get that hoe down out of 5

ORGY / Candyass (1998)

Marilyn Manson clone band that fails to do anything unique or original. Think of all the bad MM songs and put them all on one album, you'll have something like Candyass. Its saving grace is a cover of New Order's Blue Monday. It's such a classic song that it'd take a real idiot to screw it up. It's played the same (because to do it any differently would require creativity, which they lack) but it's on distorted guitars and it works beautifully.

Song of Note: Blue Monday

1 for obvious reasons out of 5