Recent reviews

Our latest album reviews, featuring the records we've most enjoyed (or not) over the past few weeks.

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)

Marillion

Somewhere Else
Intact (2007)

Throughout their over twenty-five year history, Marillion and their music have maintained what many thought impossible: prog without pretension. This has been a key component to their rabidly loyal fan base. It would appear that nobody jumped ship after the band's loss of their original frontman, Fish, way back in 1988. What would have signaled the death of many a lesser band became a rebirth of tenacity and quality that stands to this day. See, Marillion fans don't ever dislike anything the band releases. They simply have albums that the individual fan will prefer, or not prefer. Hence, the controversial plan a few years back to pre-sell an album a year before its release to defray recording costs before it was even fully written. A risky experiment to say the least, and while some thought the hubris behind the move was a bit much, it didn't affect sales a bit - that is to say consistent as always over in Europe and sparse as always in North America. A lesser band might reward fan loyalty with substandard fare album after album but Marillion is different - this is a group that could release an album of ambient coughing, knowing that … Read more

LCD Soundsystem

Sound of Silver
DFA (2007)

This is the LCD Soundsystem experience; the more you test it and the more you take a sip, the more … Read more

Champion

Different Directions | The Last Show
Bridge Nine (2007)

I'm not going to lie; I was never the hugest fan of Champion. Actually, I think Champion's greatest achievement lies … Read more

Multiple Authors

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

Not many albums open with a song like "Brianstorm." I'm talking Dick Dale on angel dust. I'm talking a sentient … Read more

Multiple Authors

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare
Domino (2007)

If I am to believe Wikipedia.org, this album is one of the greatest albums ever released. If I have to … Read more

Volt

Rorhat
Exile on Mainstream/Southern (2006)

There are a lot of bands out there that sound like nothing more than the sum of their influences, without … Read more

Browse our review archives

Reviews by year

Choose a year to view reviews of albums released in that year.

Reviews by artist name

Choose a letter to view reviews ordered by that letter (band name first).

Review categories

200 Words Or Less

750 reviews

Book Review

42 reviews

Classic Album

25 reviews

Multiple Authors

300 reviews

Review

4948 reviews

Video/DVD Review

19 reviews

One from the archives

Arctic Monkeys

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Domino (2006)

In years to come, when the inevitable "I <3 2004" rockumenterary hits television with its small army of washed up never-were celebrities in tow, I can say "I lived through that". I was there putting copies of Franz Ferdinand on the shelves on release day. I danced unabashedly to that catchy Killers single. I shook my fist at many a U2 ipod commercial. More than anything though, I remember the dark cloud that descended over my little record shop in August; The Libertines. What little taste remained in the national consciousness literally packed up and fucked off the day their second album came out, and here I am again, little under sixteen months later and the same thing has happened again with pretty much the exact same album from a … Read more

More album reviews

Trash Talk

Walking Disease
Rumble (2007)

Some bands are like wine; they only get better with age. Trash Talk's new "full-length" effort is a great example of just that. Trash Talk has been playing shows since late 2005, with a demo, seven inch, and split with Bay Area friends Steel Trap put out in just over a year. But this is what we've really been waiting … Read more

The Dustheads

Tall Tales I & II
Don Giovanni (2007)

Peanut butter and chocolate; Hall and Oates; French fries and nacho cheese. Some things were meant to be together, but punk and stoner metal? That's kind of like touching two jumper cables together. Explosive! Tall Tales I serves as a nice introduction to what this New York City band is all about. Side A boasts the track "Save Our Souls," … Read more

Type O Negative

Dead Again
SPV (2007)

Alright, stop thinking about Pete Steele holding his wang in Playgirl - don't lie, you know you've Googled the pictures. Instead let's talk about better things, like Dead Again the "4 Dicks from Brooklyn's" seventh studio album, sixth if you're nit-picky and don't consider the faux-live Origin of the Feces a studio album. Anyone familiar with Type O Negative will … Read more

Cheap Tragedies

2000 and 7: Demo
Independent (2007)

Cheap Tragedies note that they formed shortly after the members ran into each other at this summer's Gorilla Biscuits reunion tour in Cleveland. Given this fact and their extensive collective resume of previous bands, one may be concerned that their current project might serve as nothing more than a nostalgia piece - worthy in its own right, but without any … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

The year I was born, Trent Reznor, under his Nine Inch Nails alias, released Pretty Hate Machine, an album which through the iconographic concept of the mix tape circuit launched his career. Fueled by a nihilistic sense of self-realization, and far too much booze, Reznor produced tracks which resonated with audiences for their highly inter personal lyrics and the "industrial" … Read more

Multiple Authors

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero
Interscope (2007)

Let me bring you up to speed on the world of Nine Inch Nails. 2005 saw the release of With Teeth, an album which boasted three number-one singles, a Grammy award nomination, and respectable position on many 'top albums of the year' lists. Like the widely acclaimed The Downward Spiral before it, With Teeth showcased distinct pop-sensibilities in frontman Trent … Read more

Bright Eyes

Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
Saddle Creek (2006)

If I had a bunch of superfans crocheting armwarmers for me I could sell my half-assed b-sides just like Connor Oberst. Connor/Imaginary Successful Me: Remember that song we made when we were drunk and then that girl came over? And that one where I was learning how to make drum sounds on my iMac but we got drunk and that … Read more

Maria Taylor

Lynn Teeter Flower
Saddle Creek (2007)

One of the first reviews I ever did for this website was for Maria Taylor's debut solo album, 11:11. It's been two years since our respective efforts and I think it's safe to say that we've both matured. On Lynn Teeter Flower, a record named for a family friend, Taylor succeeds in capturing her own sound, rather than borrowing from … Read more

Insect Warfare

Endless Execution Thru Violent Restitution
625 Thrash (2006)

Insect Warfare is back bringing their Gulf Coast grindcore obliteration in the form of a new 7" EP entitled Endless Execution Thru Violent Restitution on 625 Thrash. Although their fanbase and popularity soared in the wake of their debut EP, At War With Grindcore, this EP is sure to make them into the legends that they deserve to be. The … Read more

Mayhem

Ordo Ad Chao
Season of Mist (2007)

Black Metal: (n) a subgenre of heavy metal music that uses screamed Satanic lyrics, fast guitar playing and drumming, and heavily distorted music with a focus on satanic imagery and occult themes. For some, the above definition is redundant. Some of you reading this review are already familiar with Mayhem and their, shall we say, tumultuous history. For the rest, … Read more

Pagoda

Pagoda
Ecstatic Peace (2007)

It's 2005: Gus van Sant releases another part of his Death Trilogy: Last Days, a movie depicting the demise of a very Cobain-like character called Blake. It tore the fans of Nirvana apart; some loved it, others hated it. Arguments ranged from "Peeing on Kurt's legacy" to "a beautiful homage to Kurt's final days." During the movie Blake plays a … Read more

Drawing Voices

Drawing Voices
Double H Noise/Hydra Head (2007)

Drawing Voices is easily one the most experimental and groundbreaking projects that I have come across in all my years of listening to and reviewing music. Mastermind Craig Dongoski with help of Aaron Turner of Isis/House of Low Culture has taken the art of drawing and writing and transformed it into an auditory experience. The two as Drawing Voices have … Read more

Stars of the Lid

And Their Refinement of the Decline
Kranky (2007)

When it comes to currently running ambient acts, they do not get any more prolific than Stars of the Lid. Having released material since 1995, the duo made up of Brian McBride and Adam Wiltzie have relocated since releasing their last album and absolute masterpiece The Tired Sounds Of... and found themselves living more than 6,000 miles apart. This distance … Read more

Jesu

Sundown/Sunrise
Aurora Borealis (2007)

Justin Broadrick and company has been extremely busy. Sundown/ Sunrise is a two-song 12" EP that Aurora Borealis is releasing. These songs are also available on the Japanese import version of the latest Jesu album, Conqueror. The tracks are not remixes of songs on the album, but rather they are entities to and of themselves. With a combined running time … Read more

Reviews by score
Browse our album reviews according to score: Highest (9.5/10 or more) or Lowest (2/10 or less)