To
The Point: Sum 41- Green Day- Duran Duran- Rod Stewart- Brian Wilson- Cake-
Silvertide- Upside/Feds- The Vote- G.Love- Stimulator
with antiGUY (and
friends)
Dont
want to read longwinded reviews? Want to get right to the point?
antiGUY does just that with these quick and dirty reviews.
Could it be that Sum 41 grew up?
Maybe just a little. They have definitely fattened their sound with
this release where they take the predictable pop-punk formula and add heavy
doses of metal. Sort of like the pop-punk answer to Linkin Park.
If this were the band's first CD they probably wouldn't have such a bad
reputation with serious rock fans. While this CD isn't incredible by any
measure, it is still a lot of better than I expected. If the band can evolve
just a bit more and dump the formulaic pop-punk elements and concentrate
more on the metal side they may just totally change my mind. Until then
Chuck is a good effort. How it will go over with the young girls
that love this group is anyone's guess at this point. But they earn a little
credibility with this CD. Not a lot, but enough for those that had previously
written them off to give them another listen.
I have never been a fan of Green Day. In
fact, Billy Joe has always gotten under my skin with his nasally vocals.
I've always appreciated the simplic beauty of the songwriting and acknowledge
the skills but once he opened his mouth it turned me off. So I expected
a similar reaction to this CD. Although I have to dismiss the simpleminded
politics, the music itself is a huge breakthrough for the band. Billy Joe
doesn't even annoy me! Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised with what
I heard when I put this CD on. It's a solid effort from start to finish
and Green Day have become what they have always been, a great power-pop
band hiding behind a façade of quasi-punk. The pop-punk formula
is here but the band does venture beyond it or even transcend it to the
true power-pop realm.
The moment of truth has arrived for the
reunited Duran Duran. Can they come back after such a long absence
and deliver the goods? The lead off track "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise"
makes that hope spring forward. It's classic upbeat Duran Duran but it
doesn't quite reach the heights of the band's signature work like "Rio",
"View to a Kill", "Hungry Like the Wolf", "Save A Prayer" or "The Reflex".
It doesn't even come close to the brilliance of "Ordinary World".
That's just the first song. From there it is all down hill. That's not
to say that this is a bad album, it is quite good pop music but it's nowhere
near the quality of this band's earlier work. Die hard fans will probably
love it, but it is not likely to make the kids of today pay much attention.
I give Rod points for being honest. He
knows that he is long past the days of being "cool" and the best he can
hope for is an adult contemporary hit. That being said, this format
seems to be tailor made for Rod's voice. He's not Sinatra and that's a
big part of the appeal. Instead of the smooth throated delivery that is
typical of this style of music, Rod's gravely vocals give it an edge. The
highlight is "Blue Moon," which benefits from Eric Clapton's lead acoustic
guitar treatment. Rod did an admirable job on this collection. You
know that Clive Davis must be proud. But given the genre, it's doubtful
many antiMUSIC readers would find much appeal with this CD. Then again
it might be just mellow enough to chill out to with a little green.
At last! Smile has been released
at last! It only took 37 years but we have it at last. Perhaps the most
famous "unreleased" album in rock history, you really have to take the
history and context of this album into account when listening to it. If
it had been released as planned in 1967, it would have been revolutionary.
Perhaps people were not ready for this much of a departure, but given that
the Beatles "White Album" came out a year later, I think it probably would
have gone over well. But it didn't come out, instead this project
led Brian Wilson into personal and emotional tailspin. We did get a taste
of Smile with "Good Vibrations" which at the time was a marvel in
recording and songwriting with the brilliant juxtaposition of the somber
verses and upbeat choruses. "Good Vibrations" only touches the surface
of Smile. Even in today's context this album is brilliant. Brian
takes us on a sonic journey, with a wide tapestry of sounds and flowing
musical directions that may sound disjointed taken separately but when
heard together formulate a landmark recording even in 2004, let alone 1967
when this material was conceived. Bravo to Brian for this masterpiece and
thank you for letting go and sharing it with us.
Some bands try to pass off strangeness
for brilliance. Cake is one of those bands. If anything this CD is a lazy
attempt from the band. They don't come close to matching the brilliance
of a Beck or the Flaming Lips. They do come close to breaking through with
"The Guitar Man", if the writing and performances on this CD matched this
track then Cake would indeed have something special on there hands. But
as it is, this album is really rather bland and highly forgettable to any
but the most ardent Cake fan.
If you have a soft spot in your heart for
70s style hard rock then Silvertide more than delivers. Show & Tell
is the album that Chris Robinson or Josh Todd should have recorded the
last time out but didn't. Silvertide deliver great rock anthems with
hook heavy choruses in the tradition of Fog Hat or Foreigner (before the
wimpy ballads stuff of the 80s). Some say that rock is dead, but one listen
to this CD and you can quickly smack them in the mouth. But will this appeal
to younger listeners? We will have wait and see on that one.
This CD brings together two indie modern
rock bands Upside and the Feds. And modern rock is just what you get. Both
bands are more than competent in their musicianship. There are no big break
away hits here with huge memorable choruses that cry out for radio airplay
but both bands deliver strong efforts. Upside stick pretty close to the
modern rock formula while The Feds spread their wings a bit. All
and all this CD is a cool look at two up and coming modern rock bands.
On All things Considered The Vote
churn out an album's worth of melodious punk inspired tunes that forsake
the true edginess of punk but don't come near to selling out like new wave.
This is one band that is hard to pigeonhole with a label. The definitely
fall somewhere under the punk umbrella, closer to the alternative cousins.
What some may see as their biggest weakness may just be what's most appealing
about them, they don't write songs with radio airplay in mind. They instead
seem more focused on feeling the music out and letting it flow. Not
quite as innovative or inspiring as The Blood Brothers but The Vote do
earn a vote of respect from this jaded critic for doing something different.
And this is one CD where you do tend to get more out of it with each subsequent
listen. If you have the patience and the adventurous spirit to check out
something different, this band just may earn your vote as well.
G.Love is ambitious in his attempted mix
of hip-hop, funk, blues and rock. Sometimes it works but at others the
limitations of the root genre bring the songs down, especially in the simply
stupid " Booty Call" and the other songs focused around raps. But at other
times with more focus G.Love breaks beyond the limitations and delivers
something remarkable like the 60s tinged "Love" and "Loving Me".
Arrested Development and Everlast don't have to watch their backs, but
G.Love might be a good gateway sound for hip-hop fans into rock.
That path is less likely to succeed going in the other direction. But it's
easy to see how people that fall for G.Love will fall in a big way. An
interesting listen and definitely not what you'd expect from a Universal
Records release in 2004.
Stimulators self-titled debut starts out
promising, but in the end, they end up falling flat. The album open with
"78 Stimulator" where singer Susan Hyatt sound eerily like Shirley Manson,
but thats as good as it gets. Stimulator begins its downward spiral with
"Feelin Alright", and doesnt look back. The lyrics really seem to dumb
down as the album turns into a more alt pop record that sounds like something
Hillary Duff would spit out. If this album was more intelligent lyrically,
I could give it 3 stars. Instead, I give it a 2.5.
Posted by I_Hate_chas:
Green Day sucks big time and should not be allowed to be in the music industry. They should just do the world a favor and stop recording.
Posted by Rudy:
American idiot is awesome
Posted by freak:
woops i thought this was a green day review
Posted by freak:
i love GREEN DAY's new cd! they are awesome!
Posted by God Jones:
Silvertide's single is rockin, i may have to check out their cd.
Posted by muisc:
I've always liked Sum 41(yes, shamefully even through thier pop punk days) but I havent heard Chuck yet, but I love We're All to Blame. Im gonna go give a listen to it now. I also love the new Green Day CD. That is Brilliant CD. Also do ike the new Cake CD. I like it because it is different. Trumpets and banjos are always a cool thing. And in some songs the keyboard has a kind of The Doors feel to it. Now im not sayin in any way is Cake as good as The Doors no no no no. Im just saying I like the CD.
