album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
You Want It Darker
2016 was a dark year full of, among other bad omens, the deaths of many icons of the musical community. Among the many musical legends we lost that year was Leonard Cohen, the legendary Canadian singer/songwriter and poet who passed away on November 7th, a day before Trump won the presidency. Cohen's passing was but the latest in a long line of music deaths and it only served to further the notion that 2016 was a terrible year. Before he left us however, Cohen released You Want it Darker, his fourteenth and final studio album. Released just 19 days before his passing, the album gives us Cohen's final musings on life with nine of his most strikingly poetic and darkly prophetic songs delivered by a man not quite ready to go gently into that good night.
By Matthew Frati7 years ago in Beat
Ryan Follese's Debut Solo Album Is Evidence You Can't Change Those Roots
Everyone may not realize this but the guy with the guitar singing about backroads and putting a label on it isn't new to music, let alone country music. That's Ryan Follese, son of singer songwriters with country roots Keith Follese and Adrienne Follese, and he's most well known as being the front man from the pop rock band Hot Chelle Rae.
By Chelsea DeVries7 years ago in Beat
Ke$ha's 'Rainbow' Is a Hopeful Comeback After Five Year Hiatus
I'm not sure if I need to say this but Ke$ha started out as a songwriter for other artists, most famously Britney Spears. Her debut as an artist was called "Tik Tok," and featured a comment about brushing your teeth with Jack Daniels. It was a party anthem that instantly became a hit simply because not only was it catchy but it showed the kind of free spirit Ke$ha was, even early on.
By Chelsea DeVries7 years ago in Beat
Somehow It's Already Been a Year: A Look at Touché Amoré's Post-Hardcore Masterpiece: 'Stage Four' - 1 Year Later
"Somehow it's already been a year," lead vocalist Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré bellows out at the beginning of "New Halloween," the second track off of the band’s 4th studio album Stage Four. However in this context, Bolm is referring to the time passed since his mother Sandra Bolm passed away of Stage 4 cancer, just a year earlier. When such a tragedy occurs it is nearly impossible to predict the implications that might follow, from an instant deluge of grief and emotions poured out in the most open of ways, to an almost complete shutdown of social communications and interactions, everyone handles death in his/her own way. While seemingly delicate and complex, the subject certainly hasn’t gone unexplored in music. Billie Joe Armstrong gave us “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Eric Clapton penned the legendary “Tears in Heaven,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth gave us- well, yeah let’s not remember that one…
By Matt Knight7 years ago in Beat
Top of Their Genre: Pop-Punk
Music has always had the ability to represent emotions that people have, thoughts they have, experiences they have; the list can go on. Certain kinds of music represent different emotions, thoughts and experiences. Pop-Punk is one of these genres which has always had an image around it, a guideline for what the content should be and what it should represent and what emotions, thoughts, and experiences the listener has or goes through, and while this formula has produced many enjoyable albums and projects, it has always fallen short of the records which draw from other influences and themes not seen in the standard Pop-Punk formula.
By Tom Clarke7 years ago in Beat
Pvris — All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell: Album Review
Lead singer Lynn Gunn marches through a destructive atmosphere, she fights against the droves of demons which rack her brain, and she tries to overcome the strips of darkness which pummels the light. She’s damaged, there’s no doubt, but she’s an angel, shifting between rooms filled with love and hate. And on new record All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell, Pvris quiver the spines, their output is of struggle, but redemption comes. Gunn sings with pride, she pushes her bellows like red alerts, and she has written lyrics of her broken past, a past blotted in fear.
By Mark McConville7 years ago in Beat
Album Review: Bobaflex 'Eloquent Demons'
Bobaflex has just issued their latest album, Eloquent Demons, the follow up to 2015's Anything That Moves and their first for new label Thermal Entertainment. It's the group's eighth album overall since their Mason, West Virginia origins which date back to 1998; a long and often painful band history that includes various lineup and label changes and even label bankruptcies among other various temporary setbacks.
By John Parks7 years ago in Beat
Lil Uzi Vert - Luv Is Rage 2
Will his new release solidify his place in Hip-Hop? How did we get here? Since bursting onto the scene in 2015 with Luv is Rage, Lil Uzi Vert has been a magnet. He has managed to keep polar opposites talking about him—both his haters and his fans. After several mixtapes, a feature on “Bad and Boujee,” and the success of “XO Tour Life,” his career has skyrocketed to new heights.
By Rap Disciple7 years ago in Beat
Green Day: American Idiot—A Saving Grace
In 2004, a band from California revitalized their careers with a record which sent shockwaves through the industry. That band was Green Day, an act predominantly hooked to punk, a group of aging rockers looking to latch onto the prize once more. The prize would be acclaim from critics who thought the band was derailed, falling wayward, giving up. But they were rekindling their brand as punk showmen.
By Mark McConville7 years ago in Beat
Brand New: A Retrospection and a Record of Wonder
It came like a red alert, it startled many minds, it now dazzles with its emotional entanglement, proving that the New York band Brand New love to surprise. They did so with their new record Science Fiction, an album which truly resonates, and an opus, formidable in its execution. With all the hype surrounding it, 500 copies of it were sent to unsuspecting fans who pre-ordered. This sent shockwaves through the industry, it managed to create a storm of bewilderment, but nobody complained.
By Mark McConville7 years ago in Beat
Neck Deep: 'The Peace and the Panic' – Album Review
Pop punk is a strained genre and it has many acts under its umbrella. But, there’s always a shiny gem, a diamond in the rough pushing through for glory. That band is Neck Deep, an act raising hairs with their brand of loud, unapologetic, emotive, sneers. Led by vocalist Ben Barlow, they add a sense of intelligence to a scene which has somewhat faltered over the years. This stems from lacklustre releases and a bloated formula, sounds which imitate, and that’s not good for a genre that should be celebrated for its glittering past.
By Mark McConville7 years ago in Beat