Six of one.....

So, I recently bought six (6) new CDs. Which brings the total number that I have purchased for myself in the last year up to (wait for it) 7! The rest I just copied from either family, friends or random people on the internet. Four of the albums I just purchased I already owned in pirated form, but I felt bad about the stealing thing so I bought them anyway. To cut to the chase, here are quick reviews of each album:

Coldplay – X&Y
I can sum up my feelings about this album in one word: disappointed. In my opinion, A Rush of Blood to the Head is a fantastic album. It’s cohesive, it’s thoughtful. It may not be all that original, but the music is good. Unfortunately, I think the popularity of AROBTTH ruined X&Y. Throughout the new album I got the feeling that Coldplay were writing songs for their fans, not themselves. When you do that, it’s really easy to fall into the trap of using a what-people-like formula to make your music, and then every song sounds pretty much the same. And that is exactly what happened here. There are still a couple good songs, but not enough to make it a great album. 3 bricks out of 5

The Postal Service – Give Up
A little bit downer, a little bit techno, a lotta bit catchy. This is a good album by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard. Yay for me. I know cool bands! Watch this! The Shins! Dntel! Bloc Party! The Mars Volta! Modest Mouse (before last year)! Slayer (wait, are they uncool enough to be ironically cool yet?)! But still, it is a good album. 4 out of 5

Snow Patrol – Final Straw
Sounds like Coldplay had a baby with, well, Coldplay at a slightly higher tempo. Snow Patrol play some darn good brit-pop, if that’s your cuppa tea, which it is mine. If not, I wouldn’t bother with this one. 3.5 out of 5

Kings of Leon – Youth and Young Manhood
First off, if I hear one more person say that KoL are the “Southern Strokes” I will punch them in the head. I’m serious, I will. Now that I’ve got that out of the way, I love this album! It’s messy to the point where, at times, you’re not sure if they can finish a song without totally falling apart. But they never do and that is what makes it great. The whole thing rides the knife-edge between melodic pop and total cacophony. Basically, it sounds like the Allman Brothers got into a drunken brawl with The Stooges and Tom Petty, and beat them to death with some lo-fi instruments. On the flipside, I’ve heard reports that KoL kinda suck live. At least when they’re in a big stadium opening for U2. But the real kicker here is the album name Youth and Young Manhood. That name rules! The only two that I can think of that are better are Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Dinosaur Jr.’s You’re Living All Over Me.
5 out of 5

Oasis – Don’t Believe the Truth
I used to be an Oasis fan. Heck, I still think Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory are awesome. The thing is, they are also 10+ years old and the intervening stuff from these feisty Mancunians was, let’s just say, lacking. But then, about two months ago (in Phoenix) I heard a song on the radio and thought to myself “Wow, this song is good. Why haven’t I heard it before?” Then the DJ comes on and says that it’s the new Oasis single Lyla from their forthcoming album. And then I thought to myself, “Oasis? Really? I may have to check that out!” And check it out I did, and glad am I that I did. It’s nothing fancy; it’s just good old rock (what’s with me and brit-pop?). The best songs on the album are Mucky Fingers and Lyla. Check em out.
4.5 out of 5

Secret Machines – Now Here is Nowhere
What can I say? This album is incredible. Hands down, my favorite album of 2004, and probably the best one I’ll buy in 2005. Imagine Keith Moon hooking up with OK Computer era Radiohead and then moving to Texas and being staunchly anti-war. And then you punch Keith in the stomach. No, wait, that isn’t right. He slaps you silly? No, that isn’t right either! I’ll never be a rock journalist if I can’t come up with good analogies that make use of other bands and fighting! Here’s what I think I meant to say: the drums are really good. I mean, the guy is no Bonzo but the propulsiveness and the production of the drums really hit home. The drums on this album are to the drums on most albums as getting hit in the stomach with a baseball bat is to watching someone else get hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. Big, big difference. Just listen to 9 minute opening epic and you’ll see what I mean. 5.5 out of 5

And now, to end this long-winded nonsensical second-review-post-in-as-many-days post, here are two of my favorite lines from the Secret Machines album. I don’t really know why I like them, they are just AWESOME!!!!

Maybe the rain will stop following me
With millions of colors
Reflected in daylight
Right on the kick drum
We’re turning the sound up
From "Now Here is Nowhere"

We were dressed in uniforms left over from the war
A tourniquet, an iron vest, our emblem was a star
The younger ones looked frightened
Left unguarded by the clouds
While sons of fire with trembling hands
Burned heroes to the ground
From "Pharoah’s Daughter"


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