Various Artists -- 'Saw IV' soundtrack [review]

Music from and Inspired by Saw IV
Artists' Addiction Records (10/23/07)
Hard rock / Metal/ Industrial


Rather than a true soundtrack, Saw IV seems more like a collection of songs. Sure, some of them will appear in the movie, most probably during the closing credits, but this is more of a mix with a theme.

In this case, the theme is aggression. Fans of metal, industrial music and hard rock will find plenty to love with this album. Producers did a good job hitting a slew of bands from each genre: Ministry, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy and Dope Stars Inc. fom the industrial department; Everytime I Die, The Red Chord, and Avenged Sevenfold for those who like their metal heavy; newer metalcore acts like Saosin, From Autumn to Ashes and Sixx: A.M.; and filled out with tracks from Drowning Pool, Submersed and Emlie Autumn. There's even some nice instrumental mood music from Charlie Clouser to close the set.

With 19 tracks offering over an hour of music, it's hard to miss with this set. And since a collection like this might not really sell in this age of music downloads (Why buy a collection for a handful of songs when you can download one or two?), Artists' Addiction is actually offering a digital version of the soundtrack with a couple of different songs not available on the CD (due out, according to press materials, in November).

Saw IV is one of those enjoyable soundtracks, simply a collection of songs for people who are into a certain type of music. There's no underlying message or mood, and you can't find fault because the music was crafted specifically for the movie (like, say, the soundtracks for Once or Into the Wild released earlier this year, where the songs were specifically crafted for the film). While the set lacks any big "get" (a song released by a big, notable band specifically for the album), there's enough balance in everything on here (obscure bands vs. bigger acts, for example) to make this work. It's not fantastic, but it's good enough.

Down -- 'Over the Under' [review]

Down - Over the Under
Down Records (9/25/07)
Metal


There's something to be said for a sober and focused Phil Anselmo. While Down is clearly a different animal from Pantera, Over the Under, the band's strongest showing to date, is clearly on par with anything Anselmo created as part of one of metal's greatest bands.

The most notable change on the new album is the clear intent in each track, and focused execution from the band. Sure, Nola and A Bustle in Your Hedgerow are killer albums in their own rights, but each suffered from the same affliction -- the constraints of the "stoner metal" genre. While a band like Clutch was able to take from the genre and build upon its foundation, Down seemed to get caught up in the proceedings. This usually led to meandering songs with no clear direction, the muddy music blending into itself until many of the songs seemed almost forgettable. Anselmo's well-documented drug problems surely didn't help matters, and his vocals, at times, showed as much.

Such is not the case here.

Opener "Three Sons and One Star" comes across like a breath of fresh air -- the guitar is crisp, the drumming turgid with purpose, and Anselmo hasn't sounded so fresh in a long time. The band maintains that muddy (by now) trademark sound, but pulls in a fair helping of blues-inspired riffs and vocals to temper the straightforward metal approach. Of note is the killer harmony Anselmo throws out mid-way through the song. One of metal's greatest vocalists is back with a vengeance.

The rest of the album plays out just as well. There's some fantastic groove on "n.o.d." and "On March of the Saints" is probably one of the strongest songs the band has written, both from a music and lyrical standpoint. The blues guitar work on "Never Try" works phenomenally with Anselmo's wails. "His Majesty the Desert", a psychedelic interlude of sorts, is the perfect breather before the band tears into "Pillamyd". And the eight-minute "Nothing in Return" acts as the perfect closer, with layer upon layer of influence -- classic rock, metal, blues -- and Anselmo doing a great job at simply singing (instead of the usual wails or screams that made him famous).

Down is a much-loved metal outfit. Despite what was written above, Nola and ...Hedgerow have found permanent homes in many metal fans' collection. They are great releases, but Over the Under does its damnedest to blow them out of the water. A fantastic metal album, and tremendous return-to-form for Anselmo, someone many had all but given up for dead over the past few years.

Puddle of Mudd -- 'Famous' [review]

Puddle of Mudd - Famous
Flawless/Geffen Records (10/09/07)
Hard rock



Inconsistent.

That pretty much sums up Puddle of Mudd's latest release, Famous. Actually, it sums up the band's entire career.

On its third album, the band shows little signs of growth, development, or any signs of moving forward. Famous is just another version of the group's last two efforts, which is even more of a surprise when you take into account that half of the band is new members.

The band has never had a problem crafting a simple modern rock track. Famous follows the tried-and-true blueprint Puddle of Mudd has been working with since 2001 -- three or four rock songs, one or two really hard songs, a handful of mellower songs, maybe even a ballad, and finish it all off with a couple of goofy songs.


The problem is, the dumb luck that made a song like "Control" or "Blurry" a hit can only work for so long. And while "Blurry" may have hit a note with listeners, when you look back at "Control," the music stands up but the lyrics just aren't strong enough. And that, in a nutshell, sums up the problem permeating Famous.

The title-track is solid musically, but the lyrics are borderline. Songs like "Psycho," "Moonshine" and "Merry-Go-Round" are laughable at best. And songs that seem to have it musically, like "Livin' on Borrowed Time" or "I'm So Sure" or pretty much everything else on the album, either suffer from ridiculously poor lyrics, over-repetition, an over-reliance on the wrong hook, or complete banality.

The only saving moment, "We Don't Have to Look Back Now", is shockingly the only song not written by the band ... maybe they should look into going this route more in the future.

Puddle of Mudd was fun in the beginning. But given the extended hiatus the band took, along with the state of the music industry in general, it's surprising the band still has a record deal in 2007. Perhaps the constant delays in the release of Famous was a telling sign. This album does a good job of masquerading as a solid rock release, but there's hardly anything under the surface.

Foo Fighters -- 'Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace' [review]

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
RCA Records (9/25/07)
Hard rock / Alternative



Long gone are the days when Dave Grohl crafted quirky, catchy anthems like the ones on the Foo Fighters' 1995 self-titled debut. Over the next 12 years, through sheer force of will and talent, Grohl turned from Nirvana drummer to frontman of one of the best hard rock bands on the scene today.

From its impressive body of work, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is bound to be the band's most focused and mature effort to date. It's as if Grohl knew that 2005's In Your Honor was a little too bloated and overreaching, and so the band aimed to craft an album that attempted all the bombast and beauty of its two-disc predecessor and condense it to its basest form.

And that's what the Foo Fighters do time and time again, with tracks like "The Pretender", "Let It Die" and "Erase/Replace", each of which is explosive in its hook-laden delivery. "The Pretender" creates a false sense of security with a mellow, acoustic drone before drummer Taylor Hawkins destroys the moment and the band unleashes the intense guitar interplay. There's a thick riff that Grohl pulls out mid-way through the song that's destined to become a rock classic, which makes this song actually eclipse "Best of You" (off the Honor set) as one of the band's hardest rocking anthems.

"Let It Die" attempts the same trick as the opener, but Grohl actually draws the melody out a lot longer, making for a much fuller experience.

The tempo builds with each verse of "Erase/Replace" before the crescendo of the chorus acts as a release; a slow, deliberate delivery each time. In this case, the beauty comes in the bridges later in the song.

It's not all hard rock. "Long Road to Ruin" is a fantastic, catchy modern rock number, while "Come Alive" perfectly builds in its intensity, starting off as a haunting ballad before exploding into pure rock fury by the end. "Summer's End" could find a home on a classic rock or Top 40 radio station, and then there's the bluegrass-influenced instrumental, "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners." The piano-driven "Statues", and the acoustic "Stranger Things Have Happened" and “But Honestly" (two of the album's strongest tracks) close out an impressive set. The hits, varied though they may be, just keep coming.

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace is a slow-burn album; aside from "The Pretender", "But Honestly" and perhaps "Erase/Replace", nothing immediately jumps up and grabs your attention. But after a spin or two, it's clear that the Foo Fighters crafted a classic album. Everything is twice what it should be: the melody twice as haunting, the rock twice as bombastic. By the time the piano ballad "Home" pops up to close the set, you can't help but shake your head at exactly what this album represents and want to immediately start it again. When all is said and done, this is bound to become "the album" for the band.

Ministry -- 'The Last Sucker' [review]

Ministry - The Last Sucker
13th Planet/Megaforce Records (9/18/07)
Industrial metal



If The Last Sucker truly is the final gasp for Ministry, then Al Jourgensen should surely be content to have his brainchild go out at the top of its game.



This is exactly what you'd expect from one of industrial metal's most destructive acts. The album, the culmination of a trilogy which was brimming with anger against the current Bush administration, picks up right where last year's Rio Grande Blood left off. This album, perhaps more than any other of the trilogy, sees Ministry return to the form heard in the band's landmark 1992 album, Psalm 69. The one-two punch from openers "Let's Go" and "Watch Yourself" are vintage Ministry -- machine gun riffing with an electronic tinge, Jourgensen's robotic barking spewing forth verses with plenty of topical sound bites incorporated into the mix.

But unlike 1992, Ministry is much more focused in its delivery these days. Each song drops like a precision-guided missile. "Life is Good" plays like the soundtrack to a forgotten wasteland, while Jourgensen takes aim at the U.S. Vice President with "The Dick Song" (complete with twisted samples of Cheney proclaiming, "And I don't think it would surprise the American people -- I have killed hundreds of people"), and the foreboding dirge of the title-track spills from the speakers like a crippling sludge.

Two of the album's strongest tracks actually end up being the most surprising of the bunch. First, the twisted, explosive cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues," which sounds like an out-of-control train ready to derail. Next up, the album-closing (and perhaps, as far as Ministry is concerned, career-closing) "End of Days (Pt. 2)" which features Fear Factory frontman Burton Bell sharing vocal duties. Bell actually appears on three tracks, and his tone and cadence fits perfectly with Ministry's delivery. That he got to work with the band before Jourgensen closed up shop is a gift to both him and fans alike.

"End of Days (Pt. 2)" is unlike anything I can recall Ministry recording before. The 10-minute opus seethes with this haunting, melodic riff that sounds, dare I say, beautiful. Add to that Jourgensen and Bell trading off verses and chanting between a repetitive chorus of children chanting "
it's just the end of days" as the drums and guitars push forward in this massive, layered masterpiece -- truly the band's finest moment. A bulk of the song features a lengthy sample of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech, and the entire package is just impossible to ignore. In the end, Jourgensen isn't making any motion to call attention to the end of Ministry. Rather, he simply keeps hammering home his message about the state of America and its affairs.

Love or hate his message, Jourgensen has undoubtedly crafted the perfect swan song. The purpose may be impossible to ignore, but the delivery is what really counts. Ministry has solidified its place as a true classic in metal and industrial music. The genre(s) will be a little less exciting without the anticipation of a new Ministry album lurking around the corner.

Eddie Vedder -- 'Into the Wild' soundtrack [review]

Eddie Vedder - Music for the Motion Picture: Into the Wild
J Records (9/18/07)
Rock



Into the Wild is, in many ways, probably the last album you'd expect from a man who has fronted one of the biggest rock outfits of the past 20 years. Still, Eddie Vedder crafts a nifty little rocking and (for the most part) mellow album that, for some reason, just seems to fall completely short of its goal.

First the positive.

Vedder wrote all the lyrics and performed all the instruments on this release, save for two cover tracks. There's no stadium anthems on here, everything is low-key, with touches of folk and a mellowness that will remind longtime fans of Pearl Jam's "Who We Are" or "Footsteps." The songs have this sort of inner beauty, and tell a beautiful story when taken as a total package.

Sadly, it's the bad that far outweighs the good here.

It's telling that Vedder, in interviews prior to the release of the album, said the process happened very quickly. The entire album clocks in at just over a half hour, and that includes a lengthy silence following the last track (preceding a hidden track of sorts) followed by some instrumental work. Eight of the 11 songs are less than three minutes in length, and half of those fail to break the two-minute plateau. I guess that's fine and good with musicians that can figure out a way to make it work, but here the songs just seem unrealized or unfinished. This is especially apparent on songs like the rocking opener "Setting Forth" or "Far Behind," that just seem to peter out as soon as they get going. It's a real shame, because from what's there, both seem to be strong songs for Vedder to add to his extensive body of work.

It's also telling when the best song on your album happens to be a cover -- in this case, "Hard Sun", orginally performed by the obscure Canadian outfit Indio. This song is also the longest on the disc, at a little over five minutes in length.

Fleshed out a little more, Into the Wild is a perfectly serviceable soundtrack. There's some very nice storytelling in here, and the music definitely sets a mood. But as a solo debut, it falls far short. Which is a shame, given the high expectations fans have for Vedder's work.

Between the Buried and Me -- 'Colors' [review]

Between the Buried and Me - Colors
Victory Records (9/18/07)
Progressive metal / Metalcore / ????



Many albums are released and declared as great; few are released and considered an event.

Such is the case with Between the Buried and Me's latest album, Colors.

There isn't another genre-bending band this extreme in the music scene today. The band incorporates so many elements to its sound, with a calculated precision, that upon the first couple of listens it's almost hard to wrap your mind around what has been created. And it hasn't really crafted an album. Rather, Colors is a journey across a musical soundscape. Sure, the album is split into eight tracks, but each bleeds into the next, shifting from genre to genre at a sometimes breakneck pace, but always with a purpose.

Take the opener "Foam Born" the song kicks off with a soulful piano opening, with vocals reminiscent of late Beatles material, before devolving into a hardcore dirge. The vocal harmonies drifting over the hard-rock riffing gives way to a solid synthesizer bridge before the death-metal vocals kick in. And somehow the band manages to get it to all make sense, musically.

It's hard to take this album track to track -- at just over a hour in length, it was made to be experienced in full, instead of in separate pieces. It's important to make note of the high points of the album' from the melodic vocal bridge on "Informal Gluttony" and the driving drumming throughout "White Walls", to the mellow, psychedelic guitar play on "Viridian", the intricate prog guitar work on the mammoth "Ants of the Sky" (an over 13-minute opus) and the absolutely breathtaking guitar play on "Prequel to the Sequel" (giving way to the almost polka-esque breakdown mid-way through the song).

And if forced, one would easily point to "Sun of Nothing" as the album's high point. From the rapid-fire drum and death metal opening, to the acoustic guitar bridges and combination clean and hardcore vocals, to the jazz-influenced mid-song breakdown, the European metal-flavored guitar riffs ... this song just seems to have a little of everything. And it's presented in a perfect package, with each segment flowing from piece to piece so that, even though the styles are so drastically different, it makes perfect sense to shift to the next part.

Each minute of Colors is a surprise. The band does a fantastic job of pushing the boundaries of the music it creates. There's (maybe) a minute or two where it almost misses the mark, but it's hard not to with music this experimental. If you ever wanted to know what it would sound like if Obituary, Remembering Never, Tool and Pink Floyd were one band, pick up this album. If you want to hear musical limits pushed to the boundaries, pick up this album. If you want to hear one of the best albums of the year (and maybe decade), pick up this album.

Megadeth -- 'That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires' [review]

Megadeth - That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires
Imagine Entertainment (9/4/07)
Metal



For many years, Dave Mustaine had wanted to record a live album in one of his favorite cities, Buenos Aires. Megadeth finally decided to go for it in 2001, but before the trigger could be pulled, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the world changed. It would take another four years for the band to finally take the stage at Orbras Sanitarias Stadium and record one of the hardest-hitting live metal albums ever put to disc.

That One Night is a stunning collection of tracks, spanning the career of one of metal's most-loved outfits. That's not to say that the set is perfect -- the two discs must have been recorded straight off the soundboards -- but playing in an open-air stadium gives the sound an almost artificial feel (the band's music isn't contained by four walls and a ceiling, so it just keeps going). As for the mix in general, Mustaine is just a little too forward in relation to the rest of the band, so he overpowers at times. Also, given the venue, it would be easy for any crowd noise to drift off as well, which almost seems to be the case through the first two songs of the set ("Jet Intro" and "Blackmail the Universe"). Of course, the main reason Mustaine chose to record in Argentina was the fan intensity, and that's the hidden element that really drives this album in the end.

There's nothing quite like hearing the crowd lose it once the band plays the opening riffs of "Hangar 18". And this crowd doesn't just sing along to the songs, it sings along to the guitar, too, as the hum of the entire stadium rises above the band during many portions of the show, especially during the aforementioned "Hangar 18" and "Symphony of Destruction".

How about the set list? Fan favorites "Peace Sells", "Skin of My Teeth" and "Holy Wars" are here. There are some particularly blistering versions of "She Wolf", "Tornado of Souls" and "Reckoning Day", too. The two high points would be "A Tout Le Monde" (complete with crowd sing-a-long) and the combination of "Hangar 18" and "Return to Hangar", which opens disc two.

Overall, this is a perfectly serviceable live Megadeth album -- probably the best the band has ever released. It does, however, lack the intensity of, say, Slayer's Decade of Aggression set, or the ferocity of something like Obituary's Dead album (to compare to other notable live metal releases). Megadeth don't do a lot of experimenting live, as the songs stay pretty true to the studio versions—not that that is a bad thing, but it just makes this a less than perfect release.

Megadeth has solidified its place in metal lore. Hell, the band is still cranking out killer albums (United Abominations was released earlier this year and is some of the strongest material the band has done in 10-plus years). That One Night has that air of "God, I wish I could have been there," but it's as much for the crowd as for the band's performance. So, in the end, you're left with a decent set list (there are a handful of songs that should have been on there in place of others), with the band being its usual amazing self, and a rabid crowd. Thumbs in the middle, starting to face up.