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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Rock Flag Still Flies - album reviews 2014

Diary of a Madman, "Rock Flag Still Flies" 7/15/14
by Jason Bink

You could consider this a continuation of my last “state of the union address” for hard rock.  This one is entitled "Rock Flag Still Flies" because that is how excited I am about some of the latest releases of 2014.  Chevelle and Rise Against can also be found on iTunes for $7.99 which is a damn good bargain.  I'll give you my brief summaries of each album in chronological order of release.

Chevelle - La Gorgola
Chevelle have become one of my all time favorite bands.  I was a little bit disappointed with their previous two albums, Hats off to the Bull and Sci-Fi Crimes, however.  La Gorgola absolutely restored my faith in them and cemented Chevelle as one of the best rock bands out there.  In fact, this cd has been played over and over again in my car this summer and I think that the first five songs alone make it better than their last two discs.  The lead single, "Take Out the Gunman" did not blow me away, although it actually grew on me a bit.  It is outdone by the songs that buttress either side of it, however.  "Jawbreaker" contains really sick bass lines and driving rhythms.  Pete repeats the word Jawbreaker a lot during this song,but so do I when I play it in my car on 11.  "An Island" I believe is one of Chevelle's best songs ever. It consists of heavy distortion and groovy hard rock riffs.  The lyrics about escaping the world for a while are pretty cool too, but honestly, there could be no lyrics in this song and I would still play it over and over again.  If you like hard rock, you need to check out this album.
Track commentary part 1 http://vimeo.com/105888376
Track commentary part 2 http://vimeo.com/106974429

Seether - Isolate and Medicate
Seether is another favorite of mine that I love to see live and whose music is always in heavy rotation on my playlists.  This is probably their weakest overall album, in my opinion, but its still about a 7 out of 10.  They tried to grab media attention with their lead single "Words as Weapons" which sampled the melody from "Mad World" (Tears for Fears) and rocked it out a bit more.  Good original lyrics, but as a result of the blatant rip-off, it doesn’t strike me as a strong Seether song.  "Suffer It All"  has crunchy guitar riffs and angry, choppy verses with a catchy smoother chorus.  It is a song about haters, doubters, and searching for inner strength to battle them.  This is more like the Seether I’m used to.  "Goodbye Tonight" sounds like it could have appeared on their previous album Holding Onto Strings Better Left to Fray, which means it is more poppy sounding, but it still rocks.  "See You at the Bottom," the likely second single, and "My Disaster" are two more strong songs that show off the kind of grunge-metal that Seether does so well.

Judas Priest - Redeemer of Souls
So, Nostradamus himself could not have predicted what a flop that last concept album would be.  I predicted that the mighty Priest would come back to former glory, however, and they prove me right with Redeemer of Souls.  The song samples on iTunes sounded very muddy, but once I downloaded the songs and put headphones on, the song quality was much better.  It still has a lot of low-end and a somewhat cloudy mix.  I wonder if this was done on purpose to try to recreate more of a vinyl sound.  The disc does harken back to the days of Screaming for Vengeance but with some of the newer Angel of Retribution influence as well.  I honestly can't pick a standout track on this album and it will take me a few more listens to really capture it well.  Face to the fire, I'd have to say "Halls of Valhalla" does a nice job showing off some of the classic sound and also the evolution of the band.  Rob does some sinister growling on this one like I've never heard from him before as well as the soaring high notes that made him famous.  Suffice it to say, this album is the Metal Gods showing the new school what metal is all about.

Rise Against - The Black Market
This album begins with "The Great Die-Off." It’s ironic, because an album opener of this title lets me know that this band is still bringing the same mix of punk, metal, pop, and rock that I know and love from them and that the band is not going to die off anytime soon. Track 2 "I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore" is introspective and anthemic.  It will probably be "The Eco-Terrorist in Me" that becomes a fan favorite, however.  This song is more like Rise Against of albums past, with their socially-conscious emo-punkitude.  Yeah, I just made that word up, but it describes their dynamic energy and balance of singing and screaming with all the angst and political conscience of Rage Against the Machine or System of a Down.  I love this song!

Upcoming albums of note:
Jul22
(Hed)pe, ‘Evolution’ (Pavement)
Ill Nino, ”Til Death, La Familia’ (Victory)

Jul 29
Adelitas Way, ‘Stuck’ (Virgin)
Theory of a Deadman, ‘Savages’ (Roadrunner)

Aug 5
Godsmack, ’1000hp’ (Republic)

Aug 12
John 5, ‘Careful With That Axe’ (60 Cycle Hum)

Rock on,
Jason

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