A review to come tomorrow, I think.

Released:

Stupid Dream is Porcupine Tree’s fifth album, and my personal favorite of theirs. Though not overtly so, it’s a bit of a concept album, drawing on Steven Wilson’s own problems regarding the music industry, particularly the idea of marketing one’s creativity and the “stupid dream” of having an easy, fun lifestyle as a rock star.

Some sad, droning synths, sliding guitar work and that memorable laugh before Even Less starts the album with a loud, guitar-driven bang. In these louder sections, which later contain the chorus, the electric guitar work is some of Porcupine Tree’s most hard-hitting and memorable. In the softer parts, there’s a nostalgic sadness created by Steven Wilson’s angelic voice, string sections, and acoustic strumming. These two sides of the song are balanced with a perfection that keeps the song accessible, and while not particularly inventive, also incredibly gorgeous. Of course, Porcupine Tree throws in the heavy metal hits as well, and it’s appreciated. The closing of the song is particularly interesting to me, though that’s because I actually know about shortwave number stations…for many people, the number station sampling will be boring, but for me it’s haunting. 

Piano Lessons is the first single here, and it’s lyrically a nod back to a musical childhood and the “stupid dream.” There’s doubts, with people telling the child “you’d better give up hoping,” and then there’s the fame reality, with “forget your own agenda/get ready to be sold.” The slightly psychedelic atmospheres are wonderful, as is the hard rock riffing…and if there’s any song on this album that summarizes the album’s concept, it’s this one, and that lyricism is really some of Wilson’s best. This is the “stupid dream” right here, moreso than the instrumental Stupid Dream is, of course. I have doubts for the necessity for this extremely short instrumental, but since it just sounds like a pretty outro to “Piano Lessons,” it’s not in any way bad.

The next three songs seem to be the failed romance trio. In Pure Narcotic, Wilson’s protagonist has sunk to a low level of depression and is desperate to be good enough for the woman that has beaten him down. “I’m sorry that I’m not like you” he says in the chorus…and that chorus really strikes me as one of the saddest moments in Porcupine Tree history. The protagonist now blames himself and surmises that he’s just not good enough for the woman he loves. He even listens to Radiohead’s The Bends. Nice touch. The acoustic guitar work is just beautiful, as is the accompanying piano. The melody reminds me a bit of the still-to-come (at this point) “Lazarus.” Next, in Slave Called Shiver, there’s a perverse side to unrequited love. The protagonis is obsessed over lovely lady, and is “falling apart” more every day because of it. But it’s a dark love, it seems, as evidenced by that chilling “mother I need her” chorus, with the distorted vocals. I like the choice to use Colin Edwin’s bass as a lead in the verses with piano backing, and that weird percussion (almost like steel drums or something) in the chorus is a gorgeous touch. I think I can pretty easily say “Slave Called Shiver” is my favorite out of this trio. Don’t Hate Me is an even more extreme unrequited love scenario, with things turning ugly as the protagonist cries “don’t hate me/I’m not special like you.” Apparently the obsession became known to the girl, and she is distressed by this obsessor calling her on the phone. Of special interest here is a flute solo by Theo Travis…and then an even more beautiful sax solo by the same guy. Also essential is the atmospheric section afterward, with that dark, memorable guitar riff being drowned in a sea of synths and flutes. 

This is No Rehearsal is a step down in quality, but it’s not bad in the least…just listen to that cool wah-wah guitar solo. The lyricism is sad and gruesome, weaving the tale of a boy taken from his mother and murdered (referring to the murder of James Bulger). The chorus is a bit weak, but oh well. 

Steven Wilson said of Baby Dream in Cellophane: “the baby’s kind of singing from the pram if you like, saying ‘well, actually no, I’m not going to go down this path that’s been laid out for me. I’m gonna break out.’ It’s almost like a very surreal teen rebellion song. If you imagine Nirvana, if they wrote about rebellious teenagers, I write songs for rebellious babies.” Bravo, Wilson. I quite like the surreal-ness of this track, with the psychedelic “bubbling” and such, and that rebellious lyricism is just another hash mark for the long list of Wilson’s quality lyrics. 

Drummer Chris Maitland apparently does the backing vocals in the poppy chorus of Stranger by the Minute. Actually though, the entire song is pretty poppy, at least for a Porcupine Tree song, and suffers in that area by not being particularly interesting compared to their deeper work, but the song is irreplaceable regardless, because it’s catchy as hell, and the guitar riffage is top-notch. Even the more generic than usual guitar solo is actually quite wonderful. Mix a 70s pop song with Porcupine Tree, and it ends up something like this, I’d say.

And now we come to my favorite moment on the album, A Smart Kid. God, this song is beautiful on so many levels. The longing synth backing, the acoustic guitar riff that opens up the song…just the whole atmosphere really, all put together, is as cold and sad as the lyrics, which tell of a sole survivor after a nuclear holocaust. The chorus is particularly sad, because the protagonist states that he will wait for his love, because…what else can he do? There is no hope, so all he can do is wait. My favorite moments of this song are its intro, its instrumental bridge with the heavy breathing effects and spacey synths, and the absolutely gorgeous closing guitar solo. And the voices that the song fades out on…spooky stuff, very Pink Floyd like, mimicking the closing of “Echoes.” 

Those voices move into Tinto Brass, which sticks out like a sore thumb as a very weird instrumental…but also very awesome. I don’t care about the relation to the director (“Caligula” is a terrible movie), but this song just rules. Wilson’s girlfriend speaking in Japanese at the beginning carries a nice effect, and I love how this song uses a phone’s dial tone as a metronome of sorts. There’s cool, heavy bass riffage, spooky flute bits, and some odd percussion effects. The “chorus,” which is more typical Porcupine Tree stuff, isn’t as good as the amazing “verses,” with the flute taking the foreground. I find the slower portion of the song to also be a bit duller…but damn, that flute and percussion, and just the overall weird atmosphere make up for any misgivings. The hard-hitting heavy metal portions are wonderful too.

As for our closer, we have some more moping about, with Stop Swimming. This song can really speak to all of us, I’ve found…we can all get that impulse to “stop swimming,” and to just give up and go with the flow. The depressing lyricism is a real highlight here, as are the interesting jungle-beat percussion and the sad, cinematic string sections. All put together, it’s a very sad song, but it’s positively beautiful, like most of this album.

It should be easy to see why I think Stupid Dream is Porcupine Tree’s best effort. The band is the tightest they’ve ever been, and Wilson’s lyricism is even more heartfelt and sincere than usual. You have the unforgettable apocalyptic ballad “A Smart Kid,” which is easily the best here, but you also have 11 other gorgeous songs…not a single one is less than an A- in my book. Simply put, my friends, this is an amazing album, and a bigger landmark in progressive rock than most other bands ever managed.

Rating: A+
Best Song: A Smart Kid
Worst Song: Stupid Dream (not because it’s bad, just because you don’t even notice it) 

Another random tidbit: I bought a bunch of spine-b0und notebooks today. I can’t help but love these things, even though they eventually fall out of their binding. Maybe it’s the fragility that makes me like them…or maybe I just hate spiral binding. I’ll go with the latter. I’m designating a new, crisp green one and writing “California Waiting” (Kings of Leon song) or something like that across the front to designate it as my writing notebook for the trip to CA in June.

Here’s some footage of previous renditions of “Hey Joe” at the Thanks Jimi Festival…can’t find any footage on Youtube of the 2009 one.

Read more here.

Released:

I don’t get what the big deal is about these guys. They were absolutely huge during their peak in the mid 80s. It’s those weird, divided 80s, you know…half the world wanted pop, half the world wanted rock, but the whole world wanted arena rock, apparently. A scary thought indeed, especially when you consider that your parents and mine were into this.

Anyway, let’s get down to business. When Rock! Rock! Till You Drop opens, you notice two important things: it sounds dated, and it sounds boring. But then the guitars come in, with their 80s edge and power, and then the anthem starts. Rock, rock, ’til you drop. Yes. But there’s not a whole lot here to “rock” to, as far as I’m concerned, except the guitar work. If there’s anything Def Leppard was good at it, it was retaining the classically hard rock influences in their guitar work, especially the solos in their harder tunes. Like this one. But the vocals are distant and have a rather dull gruffness, and I simply do not enjoy Def Leppard’s particularly generic brand of backing vocals.

Photograph is better, with some slightly better vocals all around, but more importantly, the riff. And as much as I dislike admitting it, the whole thing is quite infectious, even right down to the stupid lyrics (“look what you’ve done to this rock n’ roll clown”). So yes, here Def Leppard has constructed something we can remember and hum to ourselves, and even slightly enjoy.

I can’t stand the way Stagefright opens. The crowd, the way Joe Elliot stupidly shouts “I said a-welcome to my show!”…it’s all annoying. The rest of the song is pretty lame too. Not even the slight heavy metal presence of the chugging guitars (they sound that way in almost every song, actually…) can really save this from being a bore. Almost just as bad this song’s opening is the opening to Too Late for Love. Are we in space now? No, wait, they changed their minds…we’re in the windy wild west now, and they’re suddenly Bon Jovi doing “Wanted Dead or Alive.” Again, the rest of the song is mostly dull…there’s a certain catchiness in the “whooooa whoa whoa” bit, though, if nothing else. But I truly dislike the song because of the pretentiousness of throwing wind and other keyboard effects in with a band like Def Leppard, as if there’s something intelligent going on here.

Christ, again with pretentious intros…helicopters, sirens, the works. Die Hard the Hunter starts out with a dark pop scheme before it turns into another generic Def Leppard song, with the same goddamn electronic drum beat as every other song and the same chugging guitars…but, yuck, synth backing? That’s the fault of Thomas Dolby, of “She Blinded Me With Science” fame. As for Foolin’…hey, didn’t we basically just hear this intro in the last two songs? Yes, we did. No originality, I tell you. This song is overall better, though. The chorus is lame, but there’s a certain catchiness in the “is anybody out there?” bit…but in the softer parts, it’s just a really boring “80s sad ballad.” 

And then…wait, what the hell? “Gunter gleeben glouten gluben,” you say? That signifies the start Rock of Ages, which is the only song on this album that’s more than mediocre. Why? The anthemic lyrical content is actually better than usual, the keyboard backing actually fits, Joe Elliot sounds mildly tolerable, and the guitar crunch is fleshed out better, with hard riffage actually making a robust forefront. The guitar solo, even, is actually very cool. And hey, an interesting outro for once. That’s nice. It’s too bad the chorus still mostly stinks, but we can’t have everything, now can we?

Back down into the muck again. Comin’ Under Fire is as generic as any 80s pseudo-ballad, with its hard-soft-hard-soft formula and carbon copy Def Leppard chorus. Action! Not Words is even less inspired, and certainly takes its title to heart. No lyrical qualities here, I assure you, so we’ll just listen to Joe Elliot barking some…stuff. The guitar solo is this song’s one quality. 

Whew, finally at the closing song, Billy’s Got a Gun. It’s been a long trek through a whole bunch of sameness…can the last song save me? Well, there’s something different here, that’s for sure. Heavier bass, at least. But the song is quickly ruined once we hit the chorus, where it becomes a copy of “Die Hard the Hunter,” complete with yucky synth action left and right for no apparent reason other than to draw attention to itself. The worst part about this song, though, is its really long synth n’ drum outro. While it may be the single instance on the album where the band tries something vaguely daring in the least, it’s not enjoyable…and it’s certainly too long.

An album of moderate length and huge success, thanks to MTV and radio stations. It’s a good thing that people don’t make music like this anymore…it all sounds so much the same, with hardly any variation between songs. And unlike with, say, AC/DC, where every song may sound the same but at least they’re ballsy and full of testosterone-fueled riffage, Def Leppard “rock out” about as much as a sponge. They’re far too careful. Their shiny production values and poppy vocals may have won the heart of my mom in the passenger seat of a Duster, but they ain’t f-f-f-foolin’ me. This stuff is robotic – cold and non-engaging, plodding on the same old way every time…and without any soul to spare.

Rating: D+
Best Song: Rock of Ages
Worst Song: Billy’s Got a Gun

Released:

So Megadeth finally stops putting ellipses in their album titles, and starts putting them in their song titles. Cute, guys. Not only that, but a new Megadeth lineup and a cleaned up Dave Mustaine. But most importantly, the strongest musical effort Megadeth ever put out.

The album opens with the two singles…and why not? Well, I’ll tell you why not: because it leads to bad album balance. Luckily this album is short enough that it’s not a problem, though. Holy Wars… the Punishment Due is a classic within the first couple seconds, with some of the best metal guitar riffage these guys ever spat out. The whole band is just tighter than ever before, with the new drummer especially welcome. The instrumental intro, although long, does not feel like it’s dragging, and the song only gets better once Mustaine’s vocals come in. Even Mustaine’s previously clumsy lyric-writing has improved with a decent depiction of the Northern Ireland conflict. That, of course, was all the “Holy Wars” section, and the song cuts to “The Punishment Due” at 2:14, starting with a cool little acoustic bridge before becoming a slow, menacing statement with vocals that are first chant-like and then more typical. I love the way Mustaine does the “first mistake…last mistake” and “next mistake…no more mistakes” parts. Oh, and need I mention that every single guitar solo here is just fantastic? The song, being multi-part, is of course a myriad of face-melting guitar solos, but all of them are top-notch, especially the last one. Hangar 18 actually tops the opener in terms of solos though, and boy are there a lot of them. And the song wastes no time – the second it starts, it’s in full force. The UFO conspiracy lyrics are nice enough, but this song is all about the power of a heavy metal guitar for me. The main riff, as simple as it is, is equally wonderful and memorable. And of course, there’s the aforementioned solos, with the second half of the song being a a different-tempo suite of solos, all of which are better than the miniature ones on the first half. I especially love the shredding at about 3:48, right after the song changes tempo and riffage yet again. For me, there’s no getting around the fact that “Hangar 18″ is the quintessential song here, and one of Megadeth’s finest moments. Actually, one of heavy metal’s finest moments, especially for the guitar, but also simply for song construction.

Next is Take No Prisoners, which features a cool intro that swaps guitar and bass licks before the song moves into another swap, this time between Mustaine’s typical singing and heckling backing vocals. I used to really detest the use of those backing vocals here, but I actually quite like them now, and almost want to shout “take no shit!” along with them. Mustaine’s main vocals are also a bit varied here, and he accents it in different styles here and there for good results. 

Though a good song, Five Magics is one of the weaker numbers here, I think, mostly just because its two-minute intro isn’t exactly the most exciting thing the guys ever put out. But it gets way better once the song picks up and starts swapping between Mustaine’s verses and miniature guitar solos. Oh, actually, now that I listen to it again, another weakness: “our master, five magics.” The way Mustaine chants that isn’t very refreshing. But he sort of redeems himself by moving into a section where he sings something and then repeats it in a demonic growl. And the following guitar riffage and subsequent solo kick some ass, I must say. Poison Was the Cure, a much better song featuring some crazy speedy lead guitar riffing, also suffers from the “slightly boring, slightly overlong intro” disease, but boy does it kick ass once it starts going. Hoo boy, does it kick some ass. Possibly the most overtly “thrash” song here, with fittingly dark and mystical (and stupid, but it’s all right) lyrics that really fail to be a nuisance because of the sheer instrumental power. It’s also got one of the best guitar solos on the album, I dare say, at the song’s conclusion.

Lucretia is a surprising highlight. It’s surprising because the dumb laugh at the beginning should serve as a warning for utter shit to come, but instead we get one of the best songs on the album, with some of Mustaine’s best vocal work to date. And the tempo is really refreshing after all the thrash, too. The riffage is simple but highly memorable, and the solos are slower and more hard rock typical (well, sometimes), but everything is still oh so Megadeth. This song features a pretty much perfect balance between vocal sections and the closing (and lengthy) instrumental section, with guitars in the forefront as usual.

Something happened to Mustaine for Tornado of Souls, though, because he sometimes sings in a way that’s more childlike and annoying at times. But it’s not a big enough difference to be a big hindrance, luckily. The highlights of this song are the introductory guitar riff and Nick Menza’s drumming, which is strong on every other track as well, but here gets shown off a bit more. Oh, and another gorgeous guitar solo. This album should be called A Collection of Great Guitar Solos (sorry for the terrible Pink Floyd reference). 

One good thing about this album is that pretty much everyone can agree that Dawn Patrol is the worst song here. Why? Don’t tell me you can actually appreciate that sleepy, stuttery speech. It’s really sad to see this annoyance show up, because everything else is at least good…but this is terrible. 

And finally, the closer. More ellipses, dear lord! Rust in Peace… Polaris isn’t as good as its bookend partner opener, but it still rules. The “Rust in Peace” section is nice and all, since I like Mustaine’s slight variety of voices and the memorable riffage…oh, and that delicious chorus too, with the perfect end (“the warheads will all rust in peace!”). But man, it’s all about the latter third of the song, “Polaris.” “Eradication of…Earth’s population loves…Polaris!” I don’t quite understand it, but I love that line. Quite clever of Mustaine to slant rhyme that way. But…but…where is the killer soloing? Frankly buddy, the guys mostly ran out of that particular juice on other songs, but there are some small ones that are still pretty nice here. 

As far as I’m concerned, this album is about as good as heavy metal gets. And when I say heavy metal, I mean the way the term is used in the modern music world…think Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer…not Deep Purple. But uh…yeah, Rust in Peace. If you don’t own it, and you like metal at all, then what the hell is wrong with you? This is a landmark in heavy metal. I even like it as much as the revered Master of Puppets. Buy it.

Rating: B+
Best Song: Hangar 18
Worst Song: Dawn Patrol 

But he’ll always be Koos a la goop a goop to me.

Released:

Whether it’s a truth or not, this is Manic Street Preachers’ fifth album, and it continues the digestible Britpop feel started with the previous Manics album, Everything Must Go. Despite being geared for easier public acceptance than their darker albums, this album contains a lot of musical variety. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing is up to you.

The album opens on a definite high point with The Everlasting, a lovely ballad with lyrics longing for the “ex-lover’s gap” to be filled. This is a song typical of this album and the previous one, embracing wonderfully moving string sections, but that wonderful James Dean Bradfield vocal melody (“in the beginning/when we were winning”) and the echoey guitars are what really seal the deal for me here. Not that the strings aren’t gorgeous in their own right, of course. I think my only problem with the song is its dull conclusion.

Next we have the major hit from this album, If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next. I suppose you could call a title like that pretentious, but it ain’t no hangin’ matter. Again, the vocal melody is just wonderful, especially in that chorus…”aaaaaand if you tolerate this, then your children will be next.” Great string backing once again, and I love the guitar solo here. My favorite thing about this track, actually, is the wonderfully executed Hey Jude-esque climax, with the chorus restated over and over with nothing but “ahhh.” The song’s cheeriness makes it hard to connect it to the subject matter, but it just doesn’t matter because the song is just that good on a melodic basis. You Stole the Sun from My Heart was another big hit here, though failed to chart as a single (as far as I can tell) whereas the two above tracks succeeded. The cool percussion from Sean Moore here is definitely worth noting, best observed in the opening. But I think this track’s main strength is its infectious chorus, with one hell of a hard guitar crunch and singalong lines (“you stole the sun from my heart” repeated). Its lyrical dryness other than that title line may be the song’s only true weakness, because everything about it is just catchy as hell. 

So next we have Ready for Drowning, which is okay, but I don’t particularly care for its intro. Its guitar crunch is healthy, and Bradfield adds a little growl to his voice for a moment, but other than that, it’s one of the more generic songs here, I think. Oh, and the voice sample isn’t effective in the least. But after that bit of a tossoff, we’re into Tsunami, which is an absolutely fantastic tune. The sitar work is gorgeous and somehow it just really works here. Eat your heart out, George Harrison. Aside from fantastic sitar work, we also have a gorgeous chorus (even if it doesn’t fit into the other lyrics and the subject matter as far as I can tell) and some of my favorite lyrics from these guys ever. Lines like “disco dancing with the rapists” stick with you, ya know? It’s a shame that the omnichord intro on “Ready for Drowning” just didn’t work the way the sitar does on this track. Score of 1-1 for experimentation thus far, with more to come.

I’m not entirely sure if I like My Little Empire or not, so I guess I’ll stay neutral on this song. It’s a bit dull most of the time, and that cello makes the song sound positively dreary, but at the same time I really appreciate the dreary emptiness here. If there’s anything to not like here, it’s the vocal harmonies. You might not always notice the lower-pitched voice, but when you do, it’s just terribly boring. Similarly, the dark synth backing in I’m Not Working is just boring really, and even the sitar work here is a bit dull, not being used to its full melodic potential at all. The percussive beat just plods in mid-tempo, and the whole song just comes off as slow filler. You’re Tender and You’re Tired is better, but still slightly leaning on the dull side when it comes to instrumental quality, probably because the pounding piano backing is pretty lame. But the vocal melody here is better than the previous two tracks, and this song’s chorus echoes the robustness of the bigger hits on this album, but it doesn’t quite reach that high. One major issue here though: the whistling is not exciting in the least. Sounds like a last-minute addition. But you know, these three tracks are all quite exciting compared to Born a Girl, which is probably the only song on this album I really dislike. Singing about wanting to be a girl is interesting enough, but the whole song is just so empty and tired-out that I can’t enjoy it. There’s not even really a build-up…just very slightly louder uninspired guitar strumming during the chorus. Oh, and when Bradfield strains his voice to go real high near the end of the song…yeah, no thanks.

Luckily, that boring quadruplet is broken with Be Natural, which is a wonderful song. I love the guitar work, especially the soft, up-down alternating guitar licks as Bradfield sweetly says “beeeee natural.” I also really appreciate the slightly spacey aura of this song. It reminds me a lot of The Verve or something, at least during the aforementioned “be natural” parts. When the song hits harder, it does it well, with some cool riffage and heavy drumming and typical Manics sonic sugar-sweetness. 

Another dip back down with Black Dog on My Shoulder, but not terribly far. I appreciate the eastern-inspired drumming, and the acoustic guitar is spot on. Reminds me of Led Zepp’s”Black Mountain Side.” The only big problem here is the strings. On other songs, they’re not overpowering, but here they’re a bit sickening really. I like to think that the kickass guitar solo at the song’s conclusion helps to even things out though, so the song is still a slight success. 

And back up again! Nobody Loved You is a great song that is kept from being fantastic by only one minor problem: that intro. Yes, it’s surprising the way the loudness just suddenly disappears, but I prefer a gradual decline in volume or at least a quick fade-out (which is used later in the song) rather than this trickery. Maybe you could call the staleness of the repeated “cherry blossom tree” phrase a bit of a problem too, but I kinda like the image. The chorus is definitely the best part here, probably largely because of the wonderful backing vocals and the easy-to-love guitar crunch.

If anything hearkens back to previous, darker albums by the Manics, it’s the closer, S.Y.M.M. It’s a pretty unsteady balance, with dark, pulsing wind-whirr noises and happier guitars and other bits. The lyrics are definitely dark, though, being about a massacre and all. And really cynical too, talking about how nobody cares about the context of the song or its principles. The lyrics sometimes even seem uninspired, unfortunately. Overall the song isn’t bad, but like I said…unsteady balance. Rockin’ guitar solo though.

As a whole, This is My Truth carries several problems hindering it from being a fantastic album. The experimentation is not balanced out too well with the more typical (and often better) Britpop numbers, and there are some real moments of boring, instrumental emptiness. About a third of the album is gorgeous, another third is fairly good, and the last third is dull and forgettable. Since the album is too long anyway, it would have been nice to see a couple of the worst songs here tossed off. Or would it have been, really?

Rating: B-
Best Song: If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Worst Song: Born a Girl