Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)
I was a bit slow on discovering Bruce Springsteen. For the longest time I only knew him for a song with an awful synthesisor and a music video with Courtney Cox, something about dancing in the dark.. that was until last year when I listened properly to The Boss for the first time. After lapping up Darkness on the Edge of Town, I quickly went out and purchased a copy of Born to Run, just to see what all the fuss was about. A couple of hundred plays later, I can safely say it’s safely made its way into my five favourite albums.
Working on a Dream is one of his most varied albums and has very little consistency throughout. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that the casual listener will pick out their favourite tracks quickly, and no doubt skip the styles that they don’t like. Upon second and third listen, I found myself skipping out the bluesy rock track Good Eye (where he sounds creepily like Chris Cornell) and the title track (a bit too earnest and cheesy for my liking).
With the exception of those tracks, the rest have been great fun to listen to. The wild west adventure of Outlaw Pete flies past, despite the 8 minute length. My Lucky Day is a great first single from the album and deserves more airplay that it seems to be getting. Two tracks stood out for me, Queen of the Supermarket and This Life. Strangely enough, these are the cheesiest tracks on the album, yet they are so comfortable and vocal about their cheesiness it just seems to work. Lush arrangements accompany both of the songs, including a fantastically bittersweet saxophone solo from Clarence Clemons to conclude This Life.
I was weary of the Brendon O’Brien production (with the exception of the new Mastodon album, his CV is patchy to say the least … Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, Papa Roach, The Offspring etc). I was uncertain if I was going to enjoy his interpretation of the Springsteen sound I had become accustomed to over the last year or so. My conclusion after listening to the album is that it suits some of the tracks better than others.
The album wraps up with a tribute to fallen E Street member Danny Federici called The Last Carnival and the bonus track The Wrestler that was unfairly overlooked at the Academy Awards this year in favour of two songs from Slumdog Millionaire.
It’s a flawed album no doubt, but it has moments of brilliance that definitely shouldn’t be ignored just because some of the songs fall flat. If you don’t listen to it expecting a Darkness on the Edge of Town or Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen fans should find a lot to like in this album.
Rating: 3.5/5
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)
To those who have not had the pleasure of listening to Neko Case, she is an American singer/guitarist and a member of indie-pop supergroup The New Pornographers. In stark contrast to the joyous power pop on such classic albums as Electric Version (2003) and Challengers (2007), her solo albums are often beautifully dark and brooding country records. She has received much acclaim for her previous albums Blacklisted and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, so anticipation was very high around the release of this record.
The overall tone on this album is lighter than the melancholic predecessors. People Got a Lotta Nerve, the first single from the album, could easily get a few electric guitars added and it would fit right in with a New Pornographers setlist. There are further moments of pop brilliance on the album, with a cover of Harry Nilsson’s Don’t Forget Me, accompanied by a piano orchestra (six pianos played simultaneously in an old barn). However, the dark Americana creeps back in with tracks like Prison Girls and The Pharaohs. The mix of the two styles creates an exciting blend of music that makes the album a lot more accessible to listen to fully.
Two tracks stood out for me on this album: the bookends to the album. Opening track This Tornado Loves You is a strikingly beautiful tale of destructive love (quite literally in the form of a tornado), and closing track Red Tide (reminiscent of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black), a cinematic “good riddance” farewell to her former hometown Seattle.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys acoustic singer-songwriters or alt-country music. Even if you don’t usually enjoy these styles of music, check it out anyway and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Rating: 4.5/5
To those who have not had the pleasure of listening to Neko Case, she is an American singer/guitarist and a member of indie-pop supergroup The New Pornographers. In stark contrast to the joyous power pop on such classic albums as Electric Version (2003) and Challengers (2007), her solo albums are often beautifully dark and brooding country records. She has received much acclaim for her previous albums Blacklisted and Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, so anticipation was very high around the release of this record.
The overall tone on this album is lighter than the melancholic predecessors. People Got a Lotta Nerve, the first single from the album, could easily get a few electric guitars added and it would fit right in with a New Pornographers setlist. There are further moments of pop brilliance on the album, with a cover of Harry Nilsson’s Don’t Forget Me, accompanied by a piano orchestra (six pianos played simultaneously in an old barn). However, the dark Americana creeps back in with tracks like Prison Girls and The Pharaohs. The mix of the two styles creates an exciting blend of music that makes the album a lot more accessible to listen to fully.
Two tracks stood out for me on this album: the bookends to the album. Opening track This Tornado Loves You is a strikingly beautiful tale of destructive love (quite literally in the form of a tornado), and closing track Red Tide (reminiscent of Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black), a cinematic “good riddance” farewell to her former hometown Seattle.
Recommended for anyone who enjoys acoustic singer-songwriters or alt-country music. Even if you don’t usually enjoy these styles of music, check it out anyway and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Rating: 4.5/5
Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Review for Nexus Magazine (www.nexusmag.co.nz)
First off, I’d like to state that I am not a huge metal fan. There will often be some element on a metal album that I find detracts from the overall listening experience, whether it is cringe-worthy lyrical blunders or clichéd riffs (for both examples, see Disturbed). I had never listened to Mastodon before I listened to this album, but the positive press it was getting enticed me into purchasing a copy of the album. Any regrets? None whatsoever.
Brendan O’Brien, the producer of Crack the Skye, has a sporadic list of albums on his CV. He helped revitalise the career of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, but he was also the man behind the mixing desk for many of this decades most painfully boring rock albums. Thankfully my fears of butchered production quickly vanished after the first couple of minutes listening to the album.
The album really hits its stride with the single Divinations, an impressive showcase of the bands musicianship and great compositional skills, and the track Quintessence which manages to correspond perfectly to the barmy prog-rock storyline of the album, involving astral travelling, wormholes and Rasputin.
No matter how bizarre the arrangements are on this album, it never seems out of the ordinary, which is a huge credit to the band and the producer. Whether it is a balalaika solo or a banjo riff, it fits perfectly within the song and does not scream out for attention. It is no often the word ‘subtle’ is associated with metal, but this album gives an impression of meticulous care to create a cohesive sound that really separates Mastodon from the majority of the metal/prog-metal pack.
One of the most engaging albums of the year so far, recommended to anyone with a hard rock or metal inclination.
Rating: 4/5
First off, I’d like to state that I am not a huge metal fan. There will often be some element on a metal album that I find detracts from the overall listening experience, whether it is cringe-worthy lyrical blunders or clichéd riffs (for both examples, see Disturbed). I had never listened to Mastodon before I listened to this album, but the positive press it was getting enticed me into purchasing a copy of the album. Any regrets? None whatsoever.
Brendan O’Brien, the producer of Crack the Skye, has a sporadic list of albums on his CV. He helped revitalise the career of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, but he was also the man behind the mixing desk for many of this decades most painfully boring rock albums. Thankfully my fears of butchered production quickly vanished after the first couple of minutes listening to the album.
The album really hits its stride with the single Divinations, an impressive showcase of the bands musicianship and great compositional skills, and the track Quintessence which manages to correspond perfectly to the barmy prog-rock storyline of the album, involving astral travelling, wormholes and Rasputin.
No matter how bizarre the arrangements are on this album, it never seems out of the ordinary, which is a huge credit to the band and the producer. Whether it is a balalaika solo or a banjo riff, it fits perfectly within the song and does not scream out for attention. It is no often the word ‘subtle’ is associated with metal, but this album gives an impression of meticulous care to create a cohesive sound that really separates Mastodon from the majority of the metal/prog-metal pack.
One of the most engaging albums of the year so far, recommended to anyone with a hard rock or metal inclination.
Rating: 4/5
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