Music Album Review: Are You Satisfied? by Slaves

"I'm not saying this album is the new "Nevermind" but you know what I am saying? It could be, but time will tell."

Looking at all the Facebook comments about Slaves and the excitement drawn from the hardcore fans of the band I read this statement:

"This album is going to be the biggest album since "Nevermind" by Nirvana".

That's one heck of a statement to make from a very strongly opinionated fan. But the comment made me think. Is this album the biggest rock/alternative album in over twenty years?

The answer is... we'll have to find out. The thing about "Nevermind" by Nirvana is that it was a slow burner. People may forget that. It didn't get released in 1991 and got straight to number one and was considered an instant classic. It took time, and word-of-mouth to spread how good it was.

You want my answer? If you put a gun to my head and demand an answer then the simple answer is "no". I don't think this album, or this band, are going to be even an etch of the legendary status that "Nevermind" and Nirvana have set. But what we have here is an exteremely solid garage punk band who have released their debut album and it packs some fantastic welly.

Am I mentioning "Nevermind" too much in this review? If you think so stop reading now. I am comparing the two albums and for good reason. The truth is there are many similarities to "Nevermind" in this album, "Are You Satisfied?". The first thing I'd say is the first track. Both "The Hunter", by Slaves, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are token tracks for both bands. They're also the major single off both albums. They are both brash, catchy, and "in your face" songs that are hard to get out of your head when you hear them for the first few times. They also both have many lyrical weaknesses yet surpass those weaknesses with musical ability. If you're going to take a dig at me for saying that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" isn't lyrically the best song, well, Kurt Cobain did write many many better songs, that's what I mean.

The second track, "Cheer Up London", is only slightly comparable to "In Bloom" by Nirvana. Once again they are both singles, and both contain a very silly side to both bands, video wise especially. The differences stop there mind. "Cheer Up London" is a bizarre track; it's incredibly happy and bouncy to listen to, but the lyrics take lots of digs at London as a city and the citizens that live in it. Still, it's a great highlight in the album because the song, once again, gets stuck in your head for days.

The main thing to compare about this album when it comes to the legendary "Nevermind" album is that the pacing is very similar. We have ups and downs throughout, the tracks range from heavy to silly to calm to punky to heavy again, and it finishes off slightly calmer than its lowest ebb. But so did "Nevermind". And another thing is that like "Nevermind", every single track on this album is listenable, and different. No two songs sound the same, which is actually more difficult than it sounds at times. You want to show variety yet show similarity in your music so not to lose your core listeners. I think Slaves do that to great effect here, in a similar vein to Nirvana did back in the day.

I had a look at some earlier reviews for the album before its release. A lot of them are negative. The people who reviewed the album clearly don't understand what Slaves are about. They tag the "punk" genre on them, assume that they're a rebellious duo of rabbling young men trying to make a massive "fuck you" statement at the country and possibly, the world. That really isn't what Slaves are about.

Sure, throughout the album they do make political statements and show some frustration with certain topics of discussion. Hell, it's in the genre. But if you genuinely listen to them, watch them in interviews and watch their music videos, you can clearly see they are just having a laugh, they seem like really good blokes. They have the sound of a punk rock band but gone are the snarls, the anger, the "we're trying to change the world for the better" type of attitude. Their body language don't give that impression away. They seem to be fans of punk rather than want to be punks themselves. I remember seeing them on Soccer AM and they were talking about how they can tell the differences between all the branded bottles of spring water. That's not punk rock. That's the fucking opposite!

But they are a genuinely fun band. They know how to play music. They know how to pull off punk rock... in style. Times have changed; this isn't the late 70's when the Sex Pistols wanted to piss off as many royalists and snobby British people as they could. This is 2015, most of the very serious problems have gone, yet there are issues in our lives today, that this band try to address. Are they good at addressing them? Not really. But they do sound fantastic and create very catchy punk rock tracks. Just listen to "Do Something" - my favourite 'non-single' on the album. It's lyrically poor in a certain way, comparing life to... a traffic jam? It's a bit bizarre but that amazingly dirty and dirgy guitar and the simply effective chorus make it one of the stand out tracks on the album. This band can play good, catchy yet old school low quality (intentionally, in style) music that's just so much fun to listen.

And you know what? That's enough for me. I don't want to give the impression that this is a band that are like no other, that they are going to be the pioneers of punk rock for the next decade and beyond. But rock music in general is quite stale at the moment. And they are shaking the scenery around enough to make the picture around us a little more colourful. They're a fun, catchy, energetic garage punk rock that are having fun and want everyone around them to have fun as well.

To wrap up, this album isn't perfect. As I said earlier in the review and I want to emphasise, this album may not be the new "Nevermind". But the great thing is, it could be. Frankly "Nevermind" wasn't a perfect album either, but it was released at the right place at the right time and its consistency throughout the album in quality is what made it the album it is today. Every track is great but not perfect. And Slaves have created in effect, a very similar album, in a different genre, to "Nevermind" by Nirvana.

Slaves ask us, "Are You Satisfied?" - the answer is yes. More please!

Rating: ****1/2 stars

Stand out tracks: "The Hunter", "Cheer Up London", "Do Something"

Here's the music video for the first single, "The Hunter":

Music Album Review: The Path of Totality by KoRn

"The Path of Totality" is a gamble - a big gamble. I think long term we'll recognise this bold move as a success.

“The Path of Totality" is KoRn's tenth album in their nineteen year career, quite a feat really as it results in roughly an album every two years. This album however is their most diverse album yet, as they do arguably what no mainstream metal artist has done before, and that's do a full music album combining the sounds of metal and dubstep. I spoke in length on dubstep and electronic music being used more emphatically in an article I wrote yesterday, and how metal as a genre overall is refusing to embrace this genre as a whole. You can read that article here. 

Back to the topic at hand, KoRn's brave move to make a full length album combining metal and dubstep is a pretty damn big deal. As I said no mainstream metal band have really done this before, and it's safe to say that this album has received mixed reviews due to the complete sound change from previous albums. Some have said this is possibly their best album to date, and are truly appreciating what Jonathan Davis and co. are doing here by pushing metal into new boundaries and combining new sounds to go with it. Other hardcore KoRn fans have called it the worst KoRn album ever created, going as far as to say the sound and direction is abysmal and that it's one of the worst albums of all time. What's my opinion? Here's my review. 

I thought I'd start this review properly by stating that I'm not the biggest fan of dubstep music in general. The sound is repetitive and it's basically drum and bass with a bit more wobble and grind. It's not my cup of tea. So to say that when I decided to review this album I chose it out of intrigue and had a lot of scepticism in my outlook on its sound. I do appreciate dubstep though and understand its place in music, and it's opening up a huge new window for new musicians to try and make music at home on their laptops and PCs, something that was never really considered a true form of music twenty or even ten years ago. This album is completely different to KoRn's other nine albums, it's safe to say. But Jonathan Davis' vocals are still as striking as they've always been, and you can still in some parts hear the phenomenal buzzing guitars that make KoRn one of the finest metal acts of the past twenty years. This isn't a heavy album though, the dubstep soothes the KoRn sound dramatically. Jonathan Davis says this is probably the "the most well-proportioned KoRn album of all time" and I have to say it's probably a true statement. There's some really cool tracks on here, some angry tracks and some mellower, sadder songs. It combines lyrically, all that makes KoRn one of those artists that teenagers and young adults associate with their lives as KoRn have always been one of the most emotional (not necessarily emo) metal bands out there. It's good that this album is so well-proportioned because it helps get over the initial shock of the style change musically. It was a good move. 

So what have we got on this album? Well one thing is for sure, is that this is actually quite a short album, at 11 tracks and less than 38 minutes long, it's KoRn's shortest album to date. There idea behind this album was that KoRn would make the music with electronic producers and then the dubstep artists would, well, 'dub' over the tracks with their sound. There's nine dubstep artists here and their work is pretty damn good if you like the general dubstep sound.  

The opening track, "Chaos Lives in Everything" which was remixed and finalised by Skrillex is a good choice to start this album with as it combines dubstep and KoRn's general sound well together. It doesn't take that many risks in comparison to what else is on this album, and it slowly soothes the listener into this experimental piece of music. Overall it's probably one of the best songs on the album as it does its job really well, but at the same time it's a good track to listen to, if you're open minded enough. The second track was produced by Noisia is called "Kill Mercy Within", and it's one of the mellower tracks. Once again I think it was a good choice to put this track early on as it still helps new listeners to get into this new sound, and Davis' vocals are exceptionally prominent in this track. 

The third track is one of my favourites, and it really kicks the dubstep gear-stick up a notch. "My Wall" was produced by Excision, and it really has some great wobble and pretty cool dubbing in there. Parts of dubstep I really like when done sparsely and the general dubstep sound in this track is definitely to my liking. The metal however severely lacks in this song, and it starts a common trend and criticism in this album. You see, if you take Jonathan Davis' vocals away from some of the songs on this album you pretty much have a dubstep album for the most part. Some of the songs you're really scratching your head and trying to figure out where the actual instruments are. It does make you think that it's "Jonathan Davis sings dubstep!" rather than KoRn and dubstep artists collaborating. Either way, "My Wall" is one of my favourite tracks on the album. 

The fourth track on the album is also the second single released, and is "Narcissistic Cannibal", which charted higher in most countries than the first single despite, in my opinion, it being inferior to it. It's a lot mellower however, and once again is a good example where you can hear metal and dubstep in the track at the same time. Skrillex collaborates with another dubstep artist in Kill the Noise to produce this track and between them they get a good dubstep metal track, one that KoRn we're obviously proud enough of to release it as a single. It's not necessarily one of my favourite tracks but I understand it's appeal to a more general audience. Tracks five, six and seven are all decent in different ways, and combine dubstep and metal with mixed results. In track six, "Burn the Obedient", Jonathan Davis actually gets some old school 'nu-metal' rapping in there, so that's pretty cool. These songs aren't as good as some of the others but have nice efforts of attempting to combine the two genres together, even if they all have varying outcomes. 

Two of my favourite tracks on the album are tracks eight and nine. First we have "Let's Go" which gives Noisia another credit on his name in terms of production. This, for me, is probably style-wise, the most old-school KoRn sounding song on the album. Everything about the song, the rhythm, the lyrics, the rambling of "gotta get away, get-get-get away", the short and simple chorus, everything screams KoRn, apart from of course, the dubstep that's branded the track. It's a very good song, and probably the most appealing for KoRn purists. Track nine is the first single, "Get Up!" which was also produced by Skrillex. It's probably my favourite track on the album but once again I do often question the actual instruments in the track - are they there? Jonathan Davis screaming "shut the fuck up and get it up" is definitely a highlight of the track, as well as the awesome dubbing after the second chorus. It's just a good track, especially in this dubstep genre I'm very uneasy about. 

The last two tracks close the album up nicely for what is definitely an experimental offering by KoRn. We even get a bagpipe and dubstep solo at the end of the last track, "Bleeding Out" which was produced by Feed Me. What I can't really review is the two bonus tracks that I had on my album, which are "Fuels the Comedy" and "Tension", it's a shame these songs aren't actually featured on the album as I think they're two of the best songs on the CD. If you do decide to pick up "The Path of Totality" I'd recommend you get the copy with these tracks on as they're awesome. 

Overall this album is not for everyone. It really depends on a few things whether or not I'd recommend you get it. The first question really depends on how open you are to dubstep, to experimentation with the genre. If you want to hear something different, something that you've probably never heard before in metal, then get it. If you like KoRn and dubstep, chances are high you'll like this album, it's a great piece of work in my eyes. I really like listening to this album, despite not really liking dubstep overall. But if you're closed to the idea of dubstep, experimentation and anything that KoRn do that don't have their vintage sound, then this album simply isn't for you. There's a reason why this album has got a range of strongly negative to strongly positive reviews across the board. It's just simply like nothing metal has seen before. And you have to give great credit to KoRn for thinking outside of the box, for taking that bold step for metal as a genre that no other artist has done before, for mixing with dubstep. 

It's up to you and I to decide now if it's been a success. In my eyes I think it has. But one thing is more important than my opinion on this album, and your opinion on this album. What's more important is how this album will be perceived in the future. Will more metal bands take the plunge into fusing with dubstep? Is it going to be become the norm of the future? Or is it going to be reected, put to the scrapheap, and be listed on many top 10 lists of failures in the metal genre? No one knows for sure, if you like the sound or not, no one knows. But the future of metal, as I emphasise in my article here, is definitely heading in a very odd direction. "The Path of Totality" gives us a possible insight to what direction it may or may not be heading in.

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand out tracks: "Get Up!", "My Wall", "Let's Go"

Here's the music video for the first single, "Get Up!":

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Music Album Review: Velociraptor! by Kasabian

Finally, Kasabian have made a great album - "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date.

“Velociraptor!” is Kasabian's fourth album, and was released last October, just over five months ago. Kasabian have been around for a while now, they're an established British band who have found the respect of the British public and have tried to break out to the States, with unfortunately little success. For me and a lot of people I know, Kasabian have been one of those bands who produce quality singles but their album material never keep up. Does "Velociraptor!" follow the same pattern? Here's my take on the album. 

The album starts off with "Let's Roll Just Like We Used to", a great opener, it's catchy and full of the material that makes Kasabian one of the better indie bands in recent times. Tom Meighan's Leicester accent has always been the thing that make Kasabian stand out from the rest of the indie crowd, and it's prominent in this opening to the album. 

The first single off the album is the second track, "Days Are Forgotten", which is a pretty damn cool track. I love the howling in the beginning of the track and as the choruses fade out. The song was also used on WWE's Pay-Per-View "Tables Ladders and Chairs", which was cool, being a wrestling fan, and it was also great to see Kasabian get some exposure over in America. "Days Are Forgotten" is not as good as some of the other singles in Kasabian's library but it still holds its own amongst them. It's a very good track. 

Track three is also the third single off the album, "Goodbye Kiss", which, in my opinion, is easily one of Kasabian's weakest singles in their catalogue. Kasabian as I've said a few times produce fantastic singles, and they're usually very catchy. This song is different from most of their singles, as it's a slower, more bitter romantic track, something they don't do too often. This song was also used in the montage for Formula 1 at the end of the 2011 season. 

After track three are five brilliant tracks. The middle of this album is fantastic. Track four is "La Fee Verte", possibly my favourite song on the album. It's excellently similar to The Beatles, and it's sung by guitarist Sergio Pizzorno, and his vocals are surprisingly fantastic. I'm not going to pick favourites in terms of vocals on the album, Tom and Sergio both bring different styles to the album and they're both welcome in my opinion. That being said this song is just awesome. It's crafted beautifully and sung so well. I love it. Track five is the title track, "Velociraptor!", by some distance the shortest track on the album but it packs some excellent punch. It's similar to a lot of their singles actually, although it's a bit more fast paced. I'm surprised this hasn't been released as a single yet. It's catchy, a little funky and just sounds really cool in general. Nothing more really needs to be said about it really! 

The sixth track, "Acid Turkish Bath" is also sung by the guitarist Sergio and once again it's another well sung, well balanced track. But this time the vocals aren't what makes the song, it's the drums and the violin. This song for me shows the band expanding their horizons a little. Kasabian use an orchestra and this is the first track on the album where you can definitely here it. I really like this song and it's one of my favourites on the album again. Track seven is "I Hear Voices", which sounds good for the most part, but the one thing I really dislike about it is the frustrating new indie/modern new wave electronic music that they've decided to put in the song. It's a personal pet peeve, but I hate this new indie/electronica hybrid that's been around recently, like MGMT and Foster the People. That sound is a sound that I really hate, and to see Kasabian use it annoyed me slightly. But the song otherwise is really good, I like the chorus a lot. 

After that is the second single off the album "Re-wired", which is fine. All three singles on this album are quite good but they pale in comparison to some of the stuff they've released in the past 9 years. "Re-wired" sounds good on this album, but when you compare it to some of the great tracks Kasabian have released as singles in the past, like "Empire", "Club Foot" and "Fire", it just doesn't sound like it's on the same level. 

But the rest of the album keeps up with these singles very well. "Velociraptor!" the album, is great. I've already said that some of my favourite tracks on this album are the non-singles, and it's true. Because the singles aren't as good as the older material, yet the album quality is much better, the album is overall a very balanced piece of music. It's a strange situation, but the singles lacking in quality a little makes the rest of the album stand out, which is great. This album is critically Kasabian's best work. I'm not the only person who has said this, many critics have and it's true. "Velociraptor!" is their finest work to date. 

The rest of the album drops the quality down a little notch, but the best of the three end tracks is the penultimate track, "Switchblade Smiles", which has been used on the new FIFA 12 game (and also part of my "Best of FIFA Trax Mixtape, you can read that here), as well as on Match of the Day 2. This is the most electronic Kasabian have become, and it's not in an annoying indietronica/modern new wave way like in "I Hear Voices", it really kicks ass with the electronic guitars and the electronica music. It's almost Muse-esque, which is a compliment I swear. 

Overall "Velociraptor!" is a great album. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's by far Kasabian's best effort and the album songs are good tracks and support the singles well. It's a balanced album, that tries new things while keeps the elements that make Kasabian stand out a little from all the other indie bands. "Velociraptor!" is Kasabian's finest work to date and well worth a listen if you enjoy Kasabian's singles by norm, and want to get one of their albums. Kasabian usually fail to deliver the goods on their albums, but they've proved me and a lot of other critics wrong. "Velociraptor!" is a cracker of an album, and well worth the risk if you're thinking of purchasing their album.

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand out tracks: "La Fee Verte", "Velociraptor!", "Acid Turkish Bath"

Here's the music video for the first single, "Days Are Forgotten":

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Music Album Review: Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine

"Ceremonials" is a strong effort, a more streamline ride than "Lungs", yet it lacks the venom the debut album had.

“Ceremonials” is Florence and the Machine’s second album, and was released last October, just over three months ago. Florence's first effort, "Lungs" was a huge success primarily because of brilliant rendition of "You've Got the Love", originally sung by The Source and Candi Staton, which. I haven't reviewed "Lungs" in full before but I wrote about it when I put it at #10 in my Top 20 Albums of the Naughties, and rated it ****1/4 stars. What are my thoughts on this album then? Is it better or worse than "Lungs"? Before I get into that I want to talk about Florence a little.


Florence Welch fronts "Florence and the Machine", which, not too dissimilar to Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor, is the focal and vocal point of the band, the rest of the band play on tour and sometimes in the studio. But the band is all about Florence Welch, she's the mastermind of the project and is the commander, so to speak. Florence, remarkably, is only 25 years old but seems incredibly mature and you wouldn't expect a woman as young as Florence to make the deep and soulful music she is capable of making. Her voice is what makes the band work so well, she combines gospel, soul, blues, folk and opera. But the music also backs that up amazingly, using a mixture of hippy and psychedelic sounds, large African-style drums and that folk and indie music we spoke of earlier. There's a lot of great singers coming out from Britain in recent years, including Duffy and Adele, but Florence is above that in my opinion. She backs her amazing vocals up with excellent music, and an innovating style. She is THE female icon of Britain in music at the moment, in my opinion, regardless of if you like pop, rock, indie, metal, modern or older music. Florence released "Lungs" two years ago, and it was met with critical and commercial acclaim. "Ceremonials" has also sold well, and has been received well too. Lets get into my thoughts on the album.


The album starts off with "Only if for a Night", which is as grand in sound as many of Florence's tracks off the first album. If you compare this intro to that of the first album which was "Dog Days Are Over", then you can immediately tell that this album is taking a different direction. "Lungs" mixed all of Florence's musical tastes and influences. Put it this way, the majestic drums are not as prominent on this track as they are on "Dog Days". But the album does have many twists and turns as it goes on, just like "Lungs" does. "Only if for a Night" definitely as an opener is good as it contrasts that of "Lungs" and sets the tone of the album well.


The second track is also the second single off the album, which was "Shake it Out". I believe this should have been the first single as it's a great track; it grabs your attention really well and has a good amount in it to attract both the pop fanbase Florence has and the indie fanbase. Florence is so incredibly gifted that she attracts so many different fans with different music tastes, and this song is pretty damn cool; it's short and sweet, yet striking and hard at the same time. There's a lot of gospel in this track too, not to dissimilar to Kate Bush, someone I've seen Florence compared to many a time whilst researching other reviewers opinion on this album.


The third track is "What the Water Gave Me", which was the debut single off the track. My feelings on "What the Water Gave Me" are mixed, not because of the quality, that's prominent. But I disagree with its choice of being the highlight single for the album's promotion. The track doesn't stand out as much as other songs on the album and its style doesn't feel have that majestic feeling evident on other songs. I think proof of this is with the disappointing chart position the single got; getting to only #24, "Shake it Out" did twice as good getting to #12. As I said I like this track, I just disagree with the choice of putting it as the highlight single. That being said I've disagreed with the choices for singles off the first album as well.


After the two album's singles, we're treated to "Never Let Me Go", which is one of the more beautifully sung arrangements on the album. I always said that Florence reminds me of Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries due to Florence's ability to sing in so many stunning ways, as well as howling graciously. This is one of those songs. "Never Let Me Go" is an incredibly crafted piece of work, and vocally, it's one of the best songs.


We're then treated to three great songs off the album, first with "Breaking Down". Now, Florence mixes so many genres and styles into her music but the one genre she didn't really touch upon on "Lungs" is glam rock. But "Breaking Down" is a brilliant glam rock track. As odd as it sounds, I can hear a lot of Marc Bolan in this track, as well as, dare I say it, Gary Glitter. Obviouslly it's a purely female song but it's the music, the way Florence sings with the ricochet vocal effects and most importantly, the echoed drums in the background. "Breaking Down" is a glam rock song twisted and distorted to suit a modern gospel Florence and the Machine. It's absolutely fantastic. The second of these tracks, track six, is "Lover to Lover", takes another turn in the genres and is more eighties than seventies. There's a lot of background clapping and tambourines in this song and it just sounds so cool. Florence mixes so many genres and sounds but maintains her uncanny originality at the same time, this track is evidence of this. We're then treated to "No Light, No Light", the third single off the album, and my favourite of the three. I love the battling chorus sections of "You want a revelation/Some kind of revolution", it's a fighting track with bite but it maintains the soothing elements in the verses that Florence always somehow is able to balance. It's a great track and represents everything that is so good about Florence and the Machine.


"Seven Devils", track eight, reminds me a lot of "I'm Not Calling You a Liar" off the first album albeit music more harrowing and dare I say, gothic. It's one of the highlights of the album, the deep and heart pounding drums, the solemn verses contrasting the deep and disturbingly sung choruses. It's a gothic track through and through, it's a strong presence and is absolutely mindblowing. Following the darkness of "Seven Devils", we're treated to one of the happier yet colossal tracks of the album with "Heartlines". I love the huge drums in this track, the clapping, the excellent "Heeyaa!" chants, it's just a song full of grandeur. It's probably the 'biggest' song off the album in terms of combining so many elements that total to one song. It's an absolute belter. The tenth track, "Spectrum",  completes the high points of the album for me, the album loses steam a little from here on. "Spectrum" is a galloping climax, using a drumbeat that literally sounds like a horse running, combined with more of Florence's iconic howling, "Say my name!" she says with all her heart. It's an excellent track.


Unfortunately as I said, the album loses steam a little after this point. That's not to say the rest of the songs are crap, I just feel the album drags on a little afterwards. One of the highlights is probably "Leave My Body", another thumping track not too dissimilar to "Seven Devils" but less dark. "Remain Nameless" is another good track, and bizarrely, reminds me of a much darker version of Ultravox's "Vienna". The album ends with "Bedroom Hymns" which once again is a good track but it doesn't end the album well. I don't feel the album reaches a climax, it feels like the album was too long or too short and this track is a pause between the two. As I said I like this song, it's good, but it feels like an abrupt ending and slightly taints what is otherwise a great album.

"Ceremonials" for me is a cracking effort, if not a little inferior to its earlier sister, "Lungs". That's not a strong criticism as "Lungs" was felt almost impeccable. "Ceremonials" is a strong follow up, it has a decent amount of variety on here but once again not as much as Florence's earlier effort. There were so many strong and diversive sounds on "Lungs", not to mention it being  a stronger rock and indie sounding album, which is more towards my tastes personally.


But one thing that "Ceremonials" does in comparison to "Lungs" is make me feel that Florence is in some form of comfort zone. Sure Florence Welch, the person, has had some up and downs over the past few years as she has confessed in some interviews, but her music seems to be her comfort zone and that's definitely evident in this album. "Lungs" felt like Florence was smashing plates together in order to make music; trying and testing so many different sounds and genres and the end product being an 'in your face' and 'listen to what I can do' type of album, yet in a shy way. This album feels like Florence has listened back to "Lungs" and gone "okay, I like that sound and that sound" and then concentrated on those feelings, sentiments and certain resonances, and then "Ceremonials" is the end product of that. "Ceremonials" is a more consistent album, a more streamline ride, yet there's still more than enough genres and experimenting with sounds is still a rewarding experience.


Overall, "Ceremonials" is a strong effort, a more streamline ride than "Lungs", yet it lacks the venom the debut album had. It's more than worth a listen. If you liked the debut album you'll more than likely like this. If you like the sound of the singles, definitely give this a go. It's a fantastic album, I just quite simply, prefer "Lungs".

Rating: **** stars

Stand out tracks: "Heartlines", "Breaking Down", "Seven Devils"

Here's the music video for the third single, "No Light, No Light"

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Music Album Review: Welcome 2 My Nightmare by Alice Cooper

“Welcome 2 My Nightmare” surpasses the original album released 26 years prior, and shows that music doesn’t have to be serious; it can be pure entertainment and fun.

Alice Cooper released “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” three months ago. It’s his 26^th album and is the official sequel to “Welcome to My Nightmare” which was released ironically, 26 years ago. Three years ago Alice Cooper released “Along Came a Spider” and was considering doing a sequel to that album, but when producer Bob Ezrin (who also sequenced The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails and has worked with well respected artists like Pink Floyd, KISS and Peter Gabriel) didn’t like the idea of a sequel to that album proposed they do a sequel to “Welcome to My Nightmare” instead, Alice Cooper liked that idea more. Alice Cooper was touring extensively while the album was being prepared for release and expected it to be released next year, but released it in September instead.

The album starts off with “I Am Made of You” which is a great intro, showing the homage to the past while using modern influences too. How? Well the tune in the beginning is from the track “Steven”, arguably the best song on the original “Welcome to My Nightmare”, but you can clearly hear Alice Cooper using modern auto-tune in this track, which divides me personally as I hate auto-tune, but it doesn’t take too much away from the track. It’s a great opener, and it does its job well, which is set you up for the rest of the album.

After the intro track, we’re treated to “Caffeine”, which shows pretty much all sides of Alice Cooper in one track. On one side you have a decent hard rock/metal track, but you also see the silly side to the shock rock legend, which is that he’s simply, singing a song about needing caffeine. Yes, that’s what this song is about. And the chorus is “Caffeine! Caffeine!” in a squeaky voice. It’s incredibly cheesy but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. If you haven’t followed Cooper’s career much you need to realise that this guy has never taken himself seriously. Ever. He’s an entertainer and plays the part so well.

“The Nightmare Returns”, track three, basically sets up track four, “A Runaway Train”, and is Alice Cooper describing his incapability of sleeping. “A Runaway Train” which shows tribute to country music and has a drum beat similar to a train on tracks. It’s a decent track, it shows another side to Cooper that he doesn’t show too often but in all honesty Alice Cooper plays what genres he feels he can pull off, and trust me, he can pull of loads, and he proves he can do country well here.

But track five, “Last Man On Earth”, is my favourite song. It’s so fricking cool, it shows so much swagger and glamour, and Alice Cooper’s vocals are brilliant. The song follows Alice Cooper off the “Runaway Train” from the earlier song, where the train crashed. If you think Alice Cooper is a has-been, he’s lost it, he’s a relic and can’t go anymore, seriously, give this a listen and it will prove you wrong. This song is easily as cool and smooth as his seventies stuff. In fact, this song is proof that Alice Cooper’s “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” project is a success.

“The Congregation” is apparently inspired by The Beatles according to Cooper himself but it reminds me more of the general glam-rock sound of the seventies, a sound and era that Cooper was attached to quite closely. If you listen properly you’ll hear a cameo by Rob Zombie, whose very good friends with Cooper. It’s a good song, very catchy and it continues to use modern and old influences in this hybrid album. “I’ll Bite Your Face Off” is track seven and is so far the only single off the album. It’s an odd choice if you ask me, but then again Alice Cooper doesn’t always choose his singles well in my opinion. But it’s a decent traditional seventies rock song, a nod to The Rolling Stones according to Cooper himself, it’s as decent as most of his singles over the years have been. I don’t know if Alice Cooper will release any more singles off this album, purely because he doesn’t chart anymore, he makes music for fun and for his fans rather than to make money. That being said, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” is Alice Cooper’s highest charting album since 1994, when he released “The Last Temptation”, and in the US since 1989 when he released “Trash”, so that’s great news.

One of the best songs on the album for me is “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever”, which mixes allsorts of different genres from glam rock, goth rock, shock rock, disco, techno and dare I say it, rap. It’s odd to describe, it just sound fantastic. It sounds complicated, what with all the genres Cooper incorporates but it’s simply good sounding music, and John 5, once of Marilyn Manson and currently of Rob Zombie, gives a helping hand with a fantastic guitar solo at the end to top off what was already an awesome song.

I could talk about all the songs in honesty but the feeling is very similar throughout the album, but there are three more songs I will talk about. First is track eleven, “When Hell Comes Home”, which is arguably the heaviest song on the album, what with it’s heavy bass and Alice Cooper’s dark lyrics and sinister voice. It’s definitely one of the more serious songs on the album.

However contrasting the sincerity of this track, track twelve is “What Baby Wants”, which is a duet with, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, Ke$ha, which is a lot better than it sounds trust me. I hate to say it but you can trust me, it’s a good duet, the contrasting styles and music backgrounds all count for nothing in this song because Alice Cooper is in a silly mood again. And when I say silly, I mean that affectionately, because in the end music is entertainment and there’s very few entertainers in the music industry as good as Alice Cooper. The song is about Alice Cooper and his encounter with the devil, although the devil is actually Ke$ha, and he must sell his soul to her. It’s silly and fun and Ke$ha, kudos to her, she plays her part very well and her vocals aren’t as bad as I feared when I heard about the duet. One more thing though, there’s an auto-tune bridge towards the end of the song and it’s cringe-worthy, but once again, in a good way. Kind of.

Lastly, the album ends with an awesome outro, called “The Underture”. This song is basically a Broadway-esque exit to both “Nightmares”; mixing the music of both albums into a quite simply beautifully crafted outro. It mixes great songs from both albums, like “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever” and “I Am Made of You” from this album and songs from the original album like “Steven”, and the title track, “Welcome to My Nightmare”. I can’t sum up how great the outro is in words, if you’ve heard both albums by the time you reach this point it’s a great way of wrapping everything up.

 “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” was a lot of fun to listen to. Is Alice Cooper the best hard rock artist in the world? No, I don’t think so. But I never thought he was, I’ve always seen Alice Cooper as an artist who consistently brings the goods at a good level throughout his career. He did in the Seventies, he did in the Eighties, and while the Nineties or Noughties weren’t too kind on the man, this could be another surge of interest and popularity for the guy, who’s now in his sixties. I wouldn’t rule it out. Alice Cooper still has it. Doing sequel albums are a risky business; you’re paying homage to your former self, while trying to reach a high level you may not be able to reach again, never mind excel. And that’s what Alice Cooper does here. Yes I said it, “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” is better than “Welcome to My Nightmare”. Is this album as good quality as other albums being released at this time? No it’s not, but the nostalgia is there, the purity is there, the beauty, is there. And most importantly, this album is so much fun. It’s so much fun to listen to an album where you can hear the entertainment value, where you can hear how much of a ball Alice Cooper had going back into the studio with the same guys he released music with 26 years ago, and with artists who he has met along the way. Alice Cooper as a person is in a great place right now, and you know something? His music is too. “Welcome 2 My Nightmare” in a nutshell, surpasses the original album released 26 years prior, and shows that music doesn’t have to be serious; it can be pure entertainment and fun.

Rating: **** stars

Stand out tracks: "Last Man On Earth", "Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever", "The Underture"

Here's the music video for the only single released so far, "I'll Bite Your Face Off":

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Music Album Review: I’m With You by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

“I’m With You” is just that – the Chili’s being with us, on CD, but definitely not in spirit.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ tenth major effort is called “I’m With You”, and was released three months ago. “I’m With You” is the first album since “Stadium Arcadium”, which was released five years ago, and was met with decent acclaim and excellent sales. It marks the longest break between two albums by the band, who have been active for twenty-eight years. Only Anthony Kiedis, lead singer, and Flea, bass guitarist, have been active for that long.

The album marks a major landmark in their career; influential guitarist John Frusciante left the band two years ago. He was with the band for a total of thirteen years, from 1989 to 1992, and then from 1999 to 2009. It’s safe to say replacing him was difficult, but the Chili’s chose Josh Klinghoffer, someone the band were very familiar with, as he had worked with Frusciante many times beforehand. Klinghoffer has been a tour and session guitarist for many bands, including PJ Harvey, Butthole Surfers and Beck.

The album starts off with “Monarchy of Roses”; the beginning is pretty cool with some distorted guitars and a nice drumbeat, but then it turns into every other Red Hot Chili Peppers song. That sounds critical, and in a certain way it is, but it isn’t a bad song, it’s just nothing different you would expect from the Chili’s. The disappointment really is that this is the second single off the album, and you would expect better when you compare it to other songs the band has released. After the balanced opener, we get “Factory of Faith”, which features a lot of the funk you’d expect from the band, without it ever getting past second gear. It’s one of the better tracks on the album as it sounds quite cool, but as I said, it just doesn’t step up at all, and remains a relatively upbeat song.

And that’s the problem with this album on the whole; it never goes to third gear or beyond. What’s on this album is fine, it truly is; it’s what you would expect from a Chili’s album, apart from that it lacks that spice that their singles usually pack. There’s no fantastic and funky song on here, like a “Give it Away” or a “Can’t Stop”, nor is their a truly beautiful and heart-pulling track like “Breaking the Girl” or “Otherside”.

The best song on the album is probably track three, “Brendan’s Death Song”, it’s a beautifully written, beautifully sung and beautifully composed song. The song builds up slowly as it goes on, once again it never takes off, but in this instance you don’t want it to. It’s very similar to a lot of the other slower songs on other albums, in the respect that it remains a rock song, but also has certain elements of ballad in there. It’s just a great track.

The seventh track, “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”, is the main single off the album but if you didn’t know that you wouldn’t have thought so. The song has no redeeming features that other main singles off other albums has. Compare it to “Dani California”, “By the Way”, or “Scar Tissue”. It’s not even in the same league.

The album is jam-packed full of dare I say it, generic Chili’s material. I can barely comment on most of the songs without stretching myself, something I don’t really want to do, as it sounds desperate. But I find myself doing so; track eight is “Did I Let You Know”, and it sounds quite good, but it’s further emphasis to the “slightly upbeat” Chili’s song. Oh, and there’s a nice guitar solo in “Goodbye Hooray”. See? I’m stretching myself.

Track ten, “Happiness Loves Company”, is one of the songs that stand out a little more than the others, it has some nice work on the drums and Kiedis’ vocals are particularly good here. “Even You, Brutus?”, which is track twelve, features some almost preaching vocals by Kiedis and it has a slightly on the cuff feeling to it and the chorus is quite fun, especially in comparison to what else is available on here. The album’s ending, “Dance, Dance, Dance” ends in a way that’s fitting for this album, a slightly upbeat (yes I used the term again) track that suggests you dance all night long. And if you want to dance half heartedly, then the song is definitely apt for it.

I don’t want to come across as bitter and disappointed but I’ve got to be honest, I am. This album was very disappointing for me. I’ve reviewed many younger artists than the Chili’s and I’ve reviewed artists that have been going on for longer than the Chili’s. And I can honestly say that this album feels the most lacking in effort that I’ve reviewed. Now, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are a great band, and the quality is here. But it’s like a firework past its explosion. I find the album lacks the energy, the drive and imagination that their previous work has. I don’t want to call the Chili’s past it. I don’t even want to say it’s the departure of iconic guitarist John Frusciante that leads to this disappointment. It just feels the band haven’t tried very hard, and in turn, it leads to me not trying very hard to review it. “I’m With You” is just that – the Chili’s being with us, on CD, but definitely not in spirit.

Rating: *** stars

Stand out tracks: “Brendan's Death Song”, “Even You, Brutus?” “Factory of Faith”

 Here's the video for the second single "Monarchy of Roses"...

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Music Album Review: Gold Cobra by Limp Bizkit

“Gold Cobra” is for the hardcore Bizkit faithful; it’s like they travelled back in time and remade their first album from scratch.

Gold Cobra is Limp Bizkit’s sixth major album release and their first in six years. The album was released back in June and marks the first album by the original Limp Bizkit line up in 11 years, when the band released their most successful album, “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water”. Before I go into the album review let me take you down memory lane.

Limp Bizkit were on top of the world when nu-metal and rap metal was at its peak, the turn of the decade. Alongside the Bizkit was Linkin Park, Papa Roach, POD and others and they all churned out hits and rock anthems that were very successful considering the genre they were associated with. None of these bands got a #1 hit, apart from Limp Bizkit, who got to #1 in both the UK and Ireland with the now classic track “Rollin’”. “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water”, the album the song was on, got to #1 in the album charts in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and has sold at least 12 million copies worldwide. As I said, Limp Bizkit was on top of the world. However, as the years progressed, nu-metal was dying a quick death and was often a mocked genre rather than one that was considered ‘cool’. In the ashes of nu-metal raised another genre of music, that of emo music, which dropped a lot of the rap vocals and started mixing punk with metal, alongside modern ballads about youth and young love. A lot of the nu-metal bands started incorporating these themes and musical changes into their music to stay relevant and successful, and some since have remained successful, Linkin Park especially, where as others have struggled to keep up with the changing times and transitions in teenage interest in music, and have been dropping into the obscurities of metal music.

Limp Bizkit struggled to keep up with the times. “Results May Vary”, while on paper was successful, getting to #1 in many countries and selling well, started to show cracks in the band. There were band members that came and left and came back again, there were problems on tour, the band got mocked a lot due to the waning popularity and Fred Durst, the lead singer, became a bit of a joke. The band released “The Unquestionable Truth Part 1” two years later, six years ago, which barely hit the major music radar in any way at all. Limp Bizkit then went on indefinite hiatus. Both albums after “Chocolate Starfish” showed glimpses of the band giving baby steps into the world of emo, but it was always unsuccessful and often criticised.

Four years later, it was officially announced that Limp Bizkit were getting back together, with the complete original lineup. They did a few short tours and festivals, most of them were well received. Being out of the spotlight and thrusting themselves back in it was a bold move but it was one that seems to be working, the band’s tours are doing well and there was a certain reminisce and quirkiness about people seeing the band live again. They decided to enter the studio again and that’s where we are now, with “Gold Cobra”.

The album’s beginning, “Introbra” does very little but start to prepare you for “Bring it Back”, a decent little track that does a great job of set you up for what’s to come on the rest of the album. The first thing you’ll notice is the great music; something that Limp Bizkit have often done is produce decent sounding metal with the help of Wes Borland who has always been a good guitarist. Fred Durst’s rapping vocals are as fierce and venomous as always; the profanity in this album is definitely cranked to 11. “Bring it Back” is a good song, but the confusing element of the track is that the verses and the chorus are on two different speeds and it feels like the song jigs from a low gear to a high gear too quickly. It’s still good and transcends nicely into “Gold Cobra”, the title track, which was later released as the second single off the album. “Gold Cobra” is definitely one of the best songs off the album, and it’s a nicely polished song in comparison to what else is on here. Fred Durst claims he wanted as much rawness and as little polish on the album as possible and “Gold Cobra” does go against that intention, but that’s a good thing in a way, sometimes the better songs on these albums are the tracks that can work with a broad audience. “Gold Cobra” is a better track than some of the songs released as singles in the latter part of Limp Bizkit’s career and it’s like a mellower “Eat You Alive”, to compare it to another single.

I mentioned it before, but I’d like to emphasise there’s a lot of swearing in this album. Now this isn’t new for Limp Bizkit, they’ve taken this approach in nearly every album they’ve produced, but it does take you aback slightly when you compare it to the music around today. Not only is there a lot of swearing but there’s a lot of scathing lyrics and threats in the album, once again, this isn’t new, it’s something Fred Durst has done many times before. The reason I’m mentioning this is because it’s very reminiscent of the anger and malice Fred showed back in the late nineties when he was an immature man in his mid-twenties. Now that Fred Durst has hit his forties it’s a little surprising to see him using the language and lyrics he uses; the man is over twenty five years past his adolescence. But in a certain way it’s once again very reminiscent of the old Limp Bizkit that got them popular way back in the nineties.

There are two songs that come to mind when it comes to this type of lyrical content, the first is “Get a Life”, one of the hardest hitting songs on the album, where Durst screams “Get a life, get a motherfucking life, you don’t want to see what I can do with a knife!”. It’s a little tragic but there’s a certain aggression that sound good in the lyrics, it does bring me right back to when I started listening to the band a good ten years ago. The song, the lyrics aside, is actually quite good, and the lyrics are fine and unsurprising even, if you’ve listened to Limp Bizkit properly before. The other song is “Douche Bag”, a song that Fred Durst claimed he wanted released as the first single but for reasons more likely politics related rather than a change of heart, it was then pulled from single release. “Douche Bag” has a similar chorus, one that has “I’m a fuck you up, fuck you fuck you fuck you up” as it’s hook. It’s immature, it’s childish, it’s ‘naughty!’, but it’s really catchy at the same time. I can’t help but like these two songs I have to admit, but if you’ve not heard much Limp Bizkit, this type of lyrical content might come as a surprise, not many bands do this nowadays where it was a lot more commonplace in the early part of the last decade.

The first single was actually “Shotgun” in the end, and this is a slightly more raw track in comparison to “Gold Cobra”, but it’s nothing on the two songs above. “Shotgun”, a song that mixes in that threatening lyrical content of the use of a shotgun, and the neighbourhood having them, is quite a cool song. The song barely charted, actually, none of these Limp Bizkit singles have sold particularly well which is a shame, as the songs are nearly as good as the stuff that was released by the band in the early part of their career. I definitely like the ‘shotgun’ sample used later on in the track to work as a beat; the song is one of the best on the album.

My favourite track though, is “Walking Away”. Limp Bizkit usually have one or two of these songs on their albums where Fred Durst sings rather than raps or shouts. This is one of the best pieces of singing Fred’s done in his entire career, and the song really stands out in an album full of frenzied aggression. That being said, the song then twists into an angry output towards the end, and once again, it makes the song stand out even more.  Hearing the relatively nice singing clashing with the fierce screams in the same track work very well here. After “Walking Away” is another one of softer songs, a song called “Loser” which deals with either the difficult relationship with a loved one, or the end result of an old relationship. It’s one of the more mature tracks on the album, especially in comparison to what’s available on here, and deals with Durst contemplating what he had done and how he feels about what happened.

All in all “Gold Cobra” is a good album, not great, but good. There’s nothing really outstanding on here, but the album is consistent in its ability to be an album with good metal, decent rap vocals, lots of aggression and lots of nostalgia. This isn't Limp Bizkit trying to fit into the new 'emo' genre. In the end this is Limp Bizkit doing what got them their fame in the first place, rocking hard, rapping harder, swearing lots and sticking middle fingers up at anything and everything. If you liked Limp Bizkit’s old stuff, seriously, give this a listen, it’s like Limp Bizkit travelled back in time and remade their first album from scratch. If you don’t like Limp Bizkit, quite simply, this isn’t for you, and I wouldn’t even recommend this album if you like some of their material, it’s purely an immature indulgence for the hardcore faithful, and no one else. If you’re in the Limp Bizkit party, enjoy it motherfucker, if not, keep away because you’re not invited.

Rating: ***1/2 stars

Stand out tracks: Walking Away, Gold Cobra, Loser

Here's the video for the second single, "Gold Cobra":

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Music Album Review: Alpocalypse by Weird Al Yankovic

It's disappointing that nearly half of "Alpocalypse" is rehashed material, but even so, it's a decent but underwhelming effort.

“Alpocalypse” is Weird Al Yankovic’s thirteenth album, and was released just over four months ago. That’s quite a statement, thirteen albums in twenty-eight years; Alfred has had a heck of a career. I wouldn’t say his career has been the greatest, or the easiest, or the most successful, but he’s a legend at the craft he performs and deserves the respect of every musician regardless of age or genre.

Just in case you’ve never heard of Weird Al Yankovic, and trust me, there are those who haven’t, Weird Al is now 52 years old. He is a parody artist, one of the first, and now probably the most famous worldwide. He takes a song that was popular and changes the lyrics for comedy value. He has had many ‘booms’ in his career, his first being the early eighties when he started off, back in 1984 he had a very famous parody called “Eat It”, a version of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. “Eat It” took the music of “Beat It” and changed the lyrics, and made a song about someone who was fussy with his food “just eat it!”. It was with this track Weird Al started to find he was onto something with his songs. In 1988 he found more success with a second Michael Jackson track, this one was “Bad”, which he turned into “Fat”, a song naturally about a man being overweight. In 1992 another decent hit was “Smells Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and this song took the mickey out of the fact that Kurt Cobain’s famous vocals were hard to understand sometimes. Weird Al Yankovic found it difficult in the nineties when many of his songs barely got airplay, but of those tracks, the most famous was in 1996 when he parodied Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” and turned it into “Amish Paradise” a song celebrating the lifestyle of the Amish.

But it wasn’t really until 2006, five years ago, when Weird Al had finally got the major recognition he arguably deserves. He released “White and Nerdy” a parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’”. The original was about ‘riding dirty’; gangsters riding in cars with drugs, and Weird Al changed the lyrics dramatically into a song about white nerds who want to be cool and hang out with the cultured black population. It was a brilliant parody, no, a brilliant song, and was the platform Weird Al needed to finally start to get the recognition of the younger population. The album that came out with that hit, “Straight Outta Lynwood”, Weird Al’s twelfth effort, was a huge hit and was fantastic. I reviewed it around five years ago but that review has disappeared into the obscurities of the internet. I gave it ****1/4 stars and touch on its greatness in my Top 10 Albums of the Noughties here. 

So this is Weird Al’s thirteenth major effort and his first since the fantastic album that was “Straight Outta Lynwood”, released five years ago. So what has Weird Al got up his sleeve this time? Well, if I say that the material on this album is new I’d by lying. Yes, this is Weird Al’s first major album in five years but three years ago Weird Al released “Internet Leaks”, a five track EP, and five of the songs on this album are actually those songs. Keep in mind this album is twelve tracks long, that means nearly half the album is re-released material. Now, Weird Al hasn’t been criticised for this by many people but I personally wasn’t approving of this move. For the fans who bought “Internet Leaks”, the hardcore Weird Al fans, it probably feels like being a little ripped off I’m sure. The songs that were on Internet Leaks are "CNR", "Skipper Dan", "Craigslist", "Ringtone"  and "Whatever You Like".

The album starts with "Perform This Way" a parody of "Born This Way" by mega star of the moment Lady Gaga. Now this song has a story of its own; Weird Al approached Lady Gaga's management for permission to use her song, not that he has to, by law he can do parodys but out of respect he always asks the original artists. He bent over backwards for her management, something he doesn't do, he gave them ideas of what the song will be about, made all the proceedings to go to charity, and even, make the song for them to listen to before it was released. That also, was created on the spot as he was busy doing an Australian tour. The management rejected the idea, and it was a complete waste of Al's time. As a consolation he released it for nothing on Youtube. Lady Gaga was hounded about this on Twitter for the next 24 hours, and it turns out she had no idea about Weird Al trying to contact her, and that she was a fan and definitely approved his version of her song.

Now onto my review of the track itself. Well, I don't really think it's that good to be honest. It's okay, but it lacks the invention that other parody's Al has done in the past. I need to give credit where it's due, Weird Al didn't have much time to produce this track, but surely, after he got full and proper permission from Gaga herself, surely he should have reworked the song and made it sound richer, and more crisp? Based on how the song came about, you can feel that the song was rushed and not done as finely as it could have been. Another problem personally I have with this song is that it's aimed directly at Gaga and her lifestyle rather than a complete parody lyrically. Most of my favourite Weird Al tracks are where he takes the music from a song and changes the lyrics dramatically into a completely different topic, rather than talk about the artist. One of the reasons "White and Nerdy" was so good was that the song had nothing to do with gangsters driving fast and taking drugs. It was about white nerds doing nerdy things. It makes the song stand out on its own while being funny at the same time.

Track two is a style parody. Once again if you're not familiar with Weird Al's work, as well as do direct parodies to artist's tracks, Al also does style parody, where he takes an artist's general sound and makes a song in that style. He doesn't often release style parodies as singles but he usually has a few on each album. Track two is one of my favourite style parodies on any Weird Al album. It's called "CNR" and it's done in the style of The White Stripes, and it sounds fantastic. The guitars and the drums are great and sound just like the original band, and the lyrics are pretty damn good too. "CNR" tells the story of Charles Nelson Reilly, a real life actor and comedian, most famous for his work a game show called "Match Game". He died a few years ago, and Weird Al pays overdramatic homage to the guy, talking about his superhuman capabilities, in a very similar vein to the internet meme Chuck Norris Facts. It's a great song on its own and even funnier with all the silly 'facts' about CNR.

"TMZ" is the third track and like the website itself, it has loads of 'oh my god!' celebrity stories in its lyrics and just mocks the stupid obsession that many people have with celebrity status. The song it's parodying is "You Belong To Me" by Taylor Swift. Track four is "Skipper Dan" and is a style parody of alternative rock band Weezer. The lyrics are about a man who despite having a degree has to resort to working as a tour guide. These two songs are okay, they're a step below the quality from the previous album "Straight Outta Lynwood".

Next on the album is the polka. Again, if you're not too familiar with Yankovic's work in nearly every album there's a polka styled medley, that incorporates many famous songs all wrapped up in a polka track. They're fan favourites and are often always fun to listen to. In this track, appropriately called "Polka Face" mixes a lot of the more modern pop and RnB tracks like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "So What" by Pink, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and "Tik Tok" by Kesha. Comparing this to the other polkas on the other albums, it's pretty good, not the best, but it's difficult to rate polkas as Weird Al has to work with what's popular today.

One of the best highlights of the album for me is "Craiglist", another style parody, this one paying homage to The Doors and even the original keyboard player from the original band plays in this track. "Craiglist" sounds fantastic, once again the music is close to perfection in comparison to the originals. The song itself is about the website Craiglist, which specialises in online advertising for pretty much anything and everything. The lyrics are great and it's just one of the best songs on the album.

I personally find the album gets better as it goes on, with further highlights being track eight "Ringtone", a style parody of Queen and talks about how annoying personal mobile ringtones are. While the quality of the Queen parody is not as good as the previous ones on The Doors and The White Stripes, the lyrics make up for that by being very funny. In terms of direct parodies my favourite is track nine, "Another Tattoo" which is a parody of "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B. and naturally talks about a guy getting many many tattoos. As I said previously, my favourite parodies tend to be the ones that change the lyrical subject completely, and this is a great example of that, the lyrics work so well with the beat and style of the original song.

Weird Al likes to have a song of great magnitude either near the end of the album or as the last track. He follows this trend by having "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me" as the final track. The song is not as long as similar songs on other albums, but is very similar in style to "Don't Download This Song", the final track from "Straight Outta Lynwood". In fact, it almost sounds exactly the same but the lyrics have changed. I don't know if it's just me that feels this way but because the songs sound so similar I can't help but feel that it's a bit lacklustre in effort by Yankovic.

All in all "Alpocalypse" is a decent but disappointing effort. "Straight Outta Lynwood" was such a great album and all the pieces in the jigsaw fit perfectly, where as this album feels disjointed. There are some very good tracks on here and some songs that are just below par. Having nearly half the album full of rehashed material was a bad move in my opinion and definitely has a direct impact on the quality of the album. If you like Weird Al Yankovic then I think you'll like this album overall, but if you're new to his work then I'd avoid starting your interest here, and get "Straight Outta Lynwood" instead, that album has great quality all over from start to finish where as this album lacks in certain areas.

Rating: ***3/4 stars

Stand out tracks: "CNR", "Craigslist", "Another Tattoo"

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