First Take - Christ Illusion

It's been five years since Slayer's last album and more than 16 since the original lineup disbanded. So the million dollar question is, "Now that Dave Lombardo is back in the band, is this a super awesome record?"

First, let me say that I like Slayer's newer stuff. I admit that Divine Intervention didn't do a lot for me, but I enjoy Diabolus In Musica, and God Hates Us All is quite strong. So I don't really fall in the same camp as the "Slayer hasn't done anything good since Seasons" people.

But I'm supposed to be talking about Christ Illusion. Here's the deal: if you were expecting a record as good as Reign In Blood, South, or Seasons, keep dreaming. This record is not a return to the structure or sound of any of those releases.

It should come as no surprise that Christ Illusion is a refinement of what Slayer sounds like on God Hates Us All. Arya is singing in that same shouting style, the tunes are similarly thrashy, and the riffage still has the tone (thankfully a little less processed) and fierce downtuning present there. In fact, there are songs that even sludgy-er, which isn't my cup of tea. I wish they'd leave that to the young-uns, like Mastodon, whose material and style suits the sludge better.

What this album does have over God is cooler riffs. They aren't quite as drop dead obviously awesome or complex as the South or Seasons years, but the band does lock in and groove with the riffage more than they have in years. There is more detail to the guitar parts than we've heard lately (punctuated at appropriate times with lead fills, tremelo wanking, and pick slides), and the solos dive in and smoke with conviction. If you want different, there's even a weird pluck-y chord-y part that introduces the already controversial "Jihad".

Past drummers have always been technically good, but there's something about Dave that meshes perfectly with the Slayer soundscape. He seems to have a better grasp of exactly what fill or beat fits with what riff. Welcome back Dave; we missed you.

The old boys tried hard, and for that alone we should be thankful. But if I may give a word of advice: next time guys, just work your brains out on complexity, pacing, structure, and rhythm, and give us one tune as epic as you were on "Angel of Death", "Raining Blood", or "Seasons In the Abyss". Start now and you'll have it!

Rhino to Release Jane's Compilation

Up From the Catacombs is Rhino's greatest hits package for Jane's Addiction, to be released September 9th. Since this disc won't have any new or unreleased songs, new fans are better off just buying Nothing's Shocking and Ritual, since both can be found under $10 these days.

But if you just love those newfangled remasters: go for it.

Track list (where's the studio version of "Jane Says"?):

1. Stop!
   
2. Ocean Size
   
3. Whores
   
4. Ted, Just Admit It...
   
5. Ain't No Right
   
6. Had a Dad
   
7. Superhero
   
8. Been Caught Stealing
   
9. Just Because
   
10. Three Days
    
11. I Would For You
    
12. Classic Girl
    
13. Summertime Rolls
    
14. Mountain Song
    
15. Pigs In Zen
    
16. Jane Says (Live)

New 3 Inches of Blood Demo

If you ever wanted to know what Kill 'Em All era Metallica mixed with Judas Priest would sound like, this new demo song gives an idea.

Good riffage, although the vocals are definitely an acquired taste. The name of this demo is really silly ("Goatrider's Horde"), and their last album cover is more than a bit goofy, but after discovering this band via (of all places) MTV last year, I've been keeping an eye on them.

I like you new song.

Alternate Christ Illusion Cover

For those who wish to buy Slayer's latest at Wal-Mart (or other record chain that is easily offended), here's what you'll be getting on the cover. Hard to imagine the cover being any worse, but there you go.

This might be the right time to say that I've never been too fond of any of Slayer's covers. Ah well, it's the music that counts, right?

Rock Star: Supernova

I was flipping through the tele last night and came across the new Rock Star show. I didn't expect much based on last year's stint with INXS, but felt the need to be sure, so I forced myself through it.

And it was every bit as bad as the last one. Brooke Burke was just as bland as ever (and wasn't wearing anything spicy) and Dave was his normal "don't insult the singers too badly" self. The addition of Tommy Lee (who was quite funny on his own reality show, Tommy Lee Goes to College) and Jason Newstead didn't add too much color to the show. And the one point where Jason "suprised" everyone by taking to the stage to play bass made me want to crawl into a ball and wimper.

The contestents? I hate them all. It's irrelvent who wins on this show because we all will lose. At least INXS had a back catalog full of cool songs; I can't imagine this band putting out anything song-wise that will be worth listening to.

Dave Navarro to Write Good Music Again

Sorry Dave, but it's all for the best for us fans.

I know, I know, it's rude of me. But I am honestly getting tired of "David Navarro, Celebrity". It seems ever since he found Carmen, being her husband has become his job, and it wore thin a while ago. I really don't need to see him showing up at various celebrity studded events in her wake, or playing with an Xbox at E3, or playing poker on television. Just...write...good...music!

At least it explains why Carmen doesn't have the job of hostess on Rock Star.

Mary Chain DualDiscs Don't Suck

This weekend I learned from an informative soul on the Some Candy Talking message board that the new Mary Chain DualDiscs do in fact have high resolution (24-bit/96 kHz) DVD-Audio on their flip side. So in a service to you, dear reader, I made it a mission to go out and purchase all five new releases.

Quick conclusion: good stuff if you have a DVD-A player. The high resolution layer does three things right:

1. It is no louder than CDs that were made about 15-20 years ago.
   
2. The sound is less harsh in the high end.
   
3. The low end/bass is tighter and has more definition.
   

The CD layer, however, is much louder than the DVD-A layer, so even though there's probably some improved clarity over the original CDs, it's probably less dynamic, there's a greater liklihood of sound clipping, and it's more tiring on the ears.

The discs also include videos (usually for the singles off of the designated album), a Dolby Digital Stereo mix of the album, on-screen lyrics, and about four pages of new liner notes.

Conclusion? Perhaps DualDiscs don't suck as much as I orignally said they did. First, it seems most of the DualDiscs that have the lamer 16-bit/48 kHz audio are actually Sony ones, so they don't directly compete with their SACD format. Second, yes, these things don't work in a lot of regular CD players and usually that layer is mastered too loud, but so what? If they release high quality DVD-Audio content on the flip side, then people like me can be happy, and the people who don't care about sound quality can listen to the other side and "be happy".

Considering the fact that the DVD-A and SACD sections in Best Buy and Circuit City seem to be going away, this may be the best option to keep high quality audio alive.

New Maiden Video: "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg"

View here or here.

Pleasantly surprised, I am. A very interesting choice for single for a variety of reasons, especially due to its over seven minute run time. Quiet at first with faint guitar noodling, plucky bass by Harris, and softly uttered lyrics by Bruce. At two minutes it blasts into simple cool riffage, and yes, it's actually louder than the intro! Nice soloing where expected. Winds down with the same quiet noodling it started with.

I can actually hear the drums snap and the bass plunk throughout the song. This is good news, and I hope the actual album has this sound - it's a million times better sound-wise via lousy streaming compressed format than what we've got on the Dance of Death CD.

The Panic Channel

You may ask yourself, "Why hasn't HM said a word about Dave Navarro's new band, The Panic Channel (which is 3/4 of the latest defunct incarnation of Jane's Addiction)? The answer is simple really: I haven't been too fond of the songs they've released so far.

Go take a listen yourself at their home page or their MySpace page. "Teahouse of the Spirits" is rock-y, but nothing that makes me go "w00t". Part of it has to do with their singer, Steve Isaacs. It may not be fair to him, but he's no Perry.

Second, Dave just isn't at his best here guitar-wise. The riff is fine (better than what most guitarists do these days), but his I expect much more technically from Dave (the lick he wrote for the Chili Peppers's "Warped," for example, is so much cooler). There's some ok lead noodling at the end of the tune, but man do I miss the shredding Dave of the Nothing's Shocking days.

The other song you can hear, "Why Cry," is downright bland. The quieter stuff on Dave's solo record, Trust No One, makes my ears prick up more. I will say the solo screams more than one would expect for a song as blah as this, so at least I wake up a bit in the middle of the tune.

Their album, One, gets released August 15.

New Slayer - Teh Suck?

The first review of Slayer's forthcoming Christ Illusion has surfaced (courtesy of Rolling Stone), and it doesn't paint a pretty picture. It's good to hear that the reviewer was impressed with Lombardo's drumming, but a disappointment that he doesn't feel it's an improvement over their last release, God Hates Us All.

I probably liked GHUA more than the average Slayer nutcase, but I was so hoping for a return to the riffage that is South or Seasons. I could care less about the lyrics and the singing being like their old stuff - why the heck would I want THAT to be different from any of their previous releases? This is Slayer after all, not Pet Shop Boys.

I'll try to take this short review with a grain of salt, and hope that the album surprises me (in a good way).

Maiden Decides Against Mastering New Album

In a surprise move, Iron maiden has announced that they are not going to master their new album. What does this mean? Well, if we're lucky, this means it won't fall prey to the loudness wars that you've read me going on about ever since Band Chat resurfaced last year. If we're unlucky, some record suit will still pump the levels when they transfer the final copy to disc.

An interesting move, and I'll be curious to hear the final result.

Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett Dead at 60

Another talented guitarist and songwriter gone. Definitely no better time to throw a copy of Piper At The Gates of Dawn on the stereo and reflect upon spacecraft, bikes, gnomes, and little mice.

Kiss the Skull

Mastodon's new album, Blood Mountain, may not be coming out in stores until September 12, but you can hear the full version of their new song, "Crystal Skull," here or here.

Share and enjoy!

JaMC Reissued

Oddly enough, while at The Gap this weekend, they were playing "Head On" by The Jesus and Mary Chain. Definitely haven't heard much about this band in a while, but they're always worth looking up to see if they're doing anything interesting. You can't beat a band that plays with its back to the audience.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that as of tomorrow their catalog is to be re-released in the DualDisc format. The flipside is theoretically going to be in high resolution stereo, but I guess until someone in the know takes a closer look, we won't know whether it's real (i.e. DVD-Audio format a la nin's with teeth) or lame (like the DualDisc of Priest's Angel of Retribution).

Regardless, these albums have been out of print for some time here in the USA, so it's nice to see them available again, even if the CD side is remastered (i.e. will sound like ass). As for the DualDisc side: hopefully the irony of The Jesus and Mary Chain being released on any type of theoretically higher quality recording won't be lost on their fans.

Imperfect Sound Forever

Another good article on compact discs and the loudness wars.

Linky!