Every Tuesday is an exciting new day for music! Here are a few selections worth checking out (or avoiding), with links to articles, reviews, videos and anything else the Internet could provide...Happy Listening!
New Releases.
Muse (Released 10/2/12)
I remember vividly the first time I heard Muse. Summer of 2004, I was living at the beach in Maryland. A friend and I were on our way out and he had the CD, Absolution, playing. I remember asking, "Is this some forgotten Jeff Buckley?!" "No," he replied. "New Radiohead?!" "No," he replied again. "WHO IS THIS?!" I demanded. And the rest was history...
I've done a lot of complaining lately about artists that hold a special place in my heart abandoning their true sound for that of a more commercial friendly sound. Though I do not completely feel that way about Muse, they are headed down the same path.
Absolution was an incredible listening experience for me. It was full, operatic, dramatic. The voice akin to Jeff Buckley and guitar riffs akin to Radiohead, the combination was truly out of this world. Tracks like
Apocalypse Please and
Stockholm Syndrome were so mind blowing to me, it didn't take me 24 hours to rush out to the only record store in the area and buy the album. Play after play I'd find something new about each track I hadn't heard before, something exciting. I can't say I feel the same about
2nd Law, but there are definitely things about it that remind me of the Muse I discovered so many years ago.
Upon its release, I asked a few people what they thought and it seemed the overwhelming opinion was they hadn't quite formulated an opinion of the whole album, but the first song, "Supremacy," was "SLAMMIN," the exact words of a friend. It took me a moment to figure out which song he was referring to and after listening a few times, I have to politely disagree with his assessment. This song does not sound like Muse, less the voice. The next song, on the other hand, "Madness," sounded more like Muse and at least piqued my interest enough to listen to the rest of the album. Though that feeling was short-lived. It was hard to really pinpoint what about this album I liked and what I didn't because it didn't sound like a Muse album, throughout 2nd Law, I heard Scissors Sisters ("Panic Station") and even a little Erasure ("Follow Me"). Perfectly good bands in their own right, but seriously Muse, What. The. Fuck. I know Muse can do better. They have done better. I only hope they do better before succumbing to the
Green Doubt Syndrome (like that? I just made it up...).
I will not buy this album, but would consider going to see them live, just for the chance to hear some of their early hits.
Tracks: Madness, Save Me
Elle Goulding (Released 10/9/12)
I don't get this music. And I think this album is pretty awful, made worse only by the fact that her voice is completely annoying. Like nails down a chalkboard.
Not only would I not buy this album, I will never listen to it again, lest blood pours out of my ears. You can bet your sweet ass I won't be seeing her live either.
Tracks:
Anticipation.
Bat For Lashes - 10/16/12
Ben Gibbard - 10/16/12
Pinback - 10/16/12
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - 10/23/12
Further Seems Forever - 10/23/12
Paul Banks - 10/23/12
SOUNDGARDEN!!! - 11/13/12
Alicia Keys - 11/27/12
