Year:2010 Genre:Heavy Metal/Hardcore Punk Label: Chabane's Records Tracks: 12 Length: 35 Minutes My Rating: 5/8
Nippercreep is a French punk-metal band that formed in 2004. They were (I think) one of the first underground bands I ever discovered, around two years ago when I listened to their split with the Warblinkers. Nippercreep was better, though! Their musical style is a mix of hardcore punk and thrash metal... this release leans a bit more to the metal side. The band's current line-up (I believe; at least the one that recorded this album) is: Antoine (vox), Sylvain (guitar), Kevin (bass), and Germain (drums). This is the first full-length album from Nippercreep.
1. Proces Begins with a rolling, galloping drumbeat and a menacing bass riff... the buildup explodes into CUM! I mean, THE FIRST VERSE! The vocals are pretty throaty-sounding, and I don't know French so I dunno what he's singing about it's probably something ABSOLUTELY BADASS, right?? The guitar part in the verse sections sound like a buncha little ghosts wandering around the room, about to strike an unsuspecting FUCKER IN THE ROOM. There's a short super-fast part in the song.
2. Inspiration Starts out sounding completely awesome. It's got a slow blues tempo and an absolutely fucking sinister guitar riff. The verse is kinda quiet with some singing, and it orgasms in a huge scream with that crazed guitar melody again.
3. Faguebine Goes back and forth from tingly to chugging and heavy. It's like traveling through that little bikepath in Urbana... like, some parts are sunny and full of tall grass and then you have to go under dark bridges and shit. I'm just saying shit, though. The vocals are like a (sid) vicious monster trying to jump up for a taste o' pure flesh!!
4. Radondingue They're singing some phrases repeated over and over but I don't know what they are saying. I could learn French but English rock song lyrics can be as unintelligible as-is... that's your typical American for ya. This tune has some Black Sabbath-like qualities to it, especially in the earlier part of the song. In the second half of the song, the tempo gets faster and there's some heavy double-bass-pedal shit goin' on and what I would consider to be very cool soundin' guitar playing.
5. Clonage Psychologique This song is quite fast and aggressive! The lead guitar melodies are near hypnotizing to listen to... I like the vocals of this band because even though the predominant form of vocals are screaming, the vocals have character to them and variate in pitch/intensity and such. I know, over-analyizing sucks but hey, you want my review, RIGHT???!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, towards the end the song progressively slows down and becomes more discombobulated.
6. La Menthation Some parts of this song are pretty upbeat and catchy and then other parts, like the verse sections are kinda gloomy but still charged with that rock & roll energy we all crave. It's very much like a song from Nirvana's first album. Gotta love the feel of angry stoned punk-hippie music. Or maybe they prefer L.S.D.?
7. Le Lievre La Tortue This song drools with heavy metal fury! Gotta love it... feel the groove of the slow but potent beat and the twisted guitar melodies and powerful chords... then slam like a maniac at the fast outro part! 8. Hyper Noel Frantic verse, with a slightly catchy chorus. Imagine a cat getting its throat slit. Such echoes the fury of Nippercreep. It's a pretty standard verse-chorus punk song.
9. Mister Mystere MISTER MYSTEREEEEE... HE'S A MYSTEREOUS MAN WHO LIVES IN A SPOOKY HOUSE THAT LITTLE KIDS GO VISIT ON HALLOWEEN AND THEN THEY GET KILLED WHEN ALL THEY REALLY WANTED WAS SOME CANDY TO EAT! The chords here are hot! Some parts are less up-beat and that's okay because they seep with other things that are, well, HOT. Not hot as in high-temperature or sexually attractive, hot as in ROCKIN'! Of course, there's an obligatory thrash section that the band plays after their cocaine kicks in... they've been speedballing. Cocaine and heroin. HEY EVERYONE, GUESS WHAT???
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
A POLICE MAN LIVES ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
NIPPERCREEP DOES DRUGS!
Alright, alright, I'll stop...
10. Alias Dr. House Slow and heavy. The loud chords come and beat ya down... you can writhe, begging for mercy or you can roll with the rhetorical punches. Nice chorus. The second half of the song is faster. Nice usage of palm mutes... palm mutes usually sound best with fast music.
11. Drancy Sweet Drancy Another slow song... alternates between being kinda quiet and loud. BOING... DOING... BOIING... DOING...
12. C'est Fini From the intro of the song, you wouldn't expect this to be one of the wildest moments of the whole album... after a few moments of somber droning, the music explodes into a scream the music is fast and wild as fuck! I love it!! Great way to end the album, for sure.
Well, I thought this was a pretty good listen. If you want to hear this music which I am speaking of, you can download it for free off of the Chabane's Records website right here:
http://chabanes-rds.blogspot.com/
You can find many other free records as well there from other bands around the world! AROUND AND AROUND AND AROUND, WHEEEEEE!!!!! Well, that's all I have to say for now, check out this album, pleeze.
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Mister Mystere 2. C'est Fini 3. Inspiration
Genre: Post-Punk/Heavy Metal/Hardcore Punk Label: C/Z Records Tracks: 14 Length: 43 Minutes Style:Emotional/Weird/Angry My Rating: 7/8
Look, I know I already wrote a review of this record, but I wrote that one over a year ago and my early reviews didn't do that record very much justice (just ice!), so I'm re-doing it because it's fun to revisit cool records like that anyways.
DEEP SIX is sort of like the first "grunge" record, not counting the first Green River album, because besides that album it was the first official appearance for many of the more famous northwest punk/metal bands such as Soundgarden, the Melvins, Malfunkshun, etc. And like the title suggests, there are SIX bands featured on this record, some contributing more than others. Also the debut release from C/Z Records, with the second being the first Melvins EP. You'll hear some early Green River tunes, the Melvins still in their hardcore punk mode, a very lo-fi Soundgarden, one wild U-Men tune, and some of only Malfunkshun songs ever released in Andrew Wood's lifetime. Also Skin Yard with saxophones! These six bands all visited the Ironwood Studios in Seattle, Washington and recorded some songs, because very few labels were around to make records for the bands so this was a first opportunity for many of the Seattle rock bands that didn't fall into the other aging scenes. Look, "GRUNGE" is just a term made up by the mainstream media who were and have always been oblivious to the idea of punk authenticity and the idea that not every style of music has a super-specific sound. Metal isn't ONLY just angry guys wearing all black groaning about Satan and punk isn't ONLY just people with mohawks playing really fast music about anarchy. The mainstream media, unaware of this concept, because all of these new bands weren't living stereotypes, dubbed it "grunge" because the only stereotype you could pin on '90s underground rock bands were that they all looked kind of "grungy". Green River didn't come up with the term, they said, "PURE GRUNGE! PURE SHIT!" -- it was a joke, "grunge" was originally a term for grime and dirt, very fitting in this context. Nirvana? Heavy version of the Beatles. Alice in Chains? Soundgarden? Sound like fucking Black Sabbath. Pearl Jam? '70s hard rock with twangy vocals. Mudhoney? A really good Stooges rip-off. You see where I'm getting at here. These bands were essentially revisiting styles of music that already existed but actually managed to sound original because. But they had nothing in common besides taking a lot of cues from '70s heavy metal. Anyways, who cares? Apparently I cared enough to write all that, so there's yer answer, dudde. "Dudde". "Dudde Castles". "Come see them". "The Dudde Castles, a historical site for your viewing pleasure, eeeheheheheee!!".
Well, where was I going with this? Oh yes, Deep Six! It's got songs from all six bands, so let's cut to the chase and start listening to DEEP SIX, shall we? Okay. Here we go. One two three four five six seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty. Twenty One. Twenty Two. Twenty Three. Twenty Four. Twenty Five. Twenty Six. Twenty Seven. Twenty Eight. Twenty Nine. Thirty. Thirty One. Thirty Two. Thirty Three. Thirty Four. Thirty Five. Thirty Six. Thirty Seven. Thirty Eight. Thirty Nine. Forty. Forty One. Forty Two. Forty Three. Forty Four. Forty Five. Forty Six. Forty Seven. Forty Eight. Forty Nine. Fifty. Fifty One. Fifty Two. Fifty Three. Fifty Four. Fifty Five. Fifty Six. Fifty Seven. Fifty Eight. Fifty Nine. Sixty. Sixty One. Sixty Two. Sixty Three. Sixty Four. Sixty Five. Sixty Six. Sixty Seven. Sixty Eight. Sixty Nine.
1. Green River - "10,000 Things" First off is a Green River song. Called 10,000 Things. That's more things than I just counted in that last paragraph! Marky Army sings about having "10,000 things chasing him"... now just imagine that when he said "things" he was talking about "pennises". HAHEHEHEHEHEHO. It's a pretty nice angsty hard rock tune. Great heavy riffs, nice guitar-playing, the tempo has just enough energy to it. Mark's voice sounds like Iggy Pop. The guitar solos are absolutely beautiful. This whole song just rocks, man! I just really love that middle section with the guitar solo. OOOWWWUUUAIIAIIAIIIAIIIII!!!! Apparently he's even got "things crawling out his arm"... isn't that hilarious??!! A lovely song for yer heart n' soul.
2. Melvins - "Scared" The... MELVINS!! YAY!! This wasn't actually the first recorded appearance of the Melvins like a lot of people believe because they had some songs on two K Records compilation tapes a year prior. This song is a little slower but definitely not "Melvins slow". The riff is hacks away at the melodic void like a crazy fuzzed-out chainsaw and the intro riff is awesome, with some corny chime sounds and some "whoo whoop whoop"s thrown in for good measure. I absolutely love it. It reminds me a little bit of the riff for "I Saw Your Mommy" by Suicidal Tendencies but better! After this part, Matt Lukin starts playing a very speedy bass riff but the song anti-climaxes back into a mid-tempo funk with a more down-beat guitar riff, and King Buzzo supplies some of the most cartoonishly awesome vocals you'll hear, with his voice pitch going all over the charts, from Bugs Bunny to Cookie Monster. Hah! I really love that. I also like the one part where the whole band shouts "DO IT!"... really fun song. At the end of the song, the band plays a similar section to the intro but in a few steps down and then they all shout "SCARED!!". And that's all there is. There isn't. Any more.
3. Melvins - "Blessing the Operation" This one's really fast! One of the fastest hardcore songs you'll hear, and it's by the Melvins! The whole song is loaded with energy, from the drumming, the vocals, the bass, the guitar... all complete sonic fury! The lyrics seem to allude to the fundamentalist religious-leaning policies of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. But it's just an amazing song! There's a demo version of this on the Melvins album "26 Songs", also.
4. Malfunkshun - "With Yo' Heart (Not Yo' Hands)" This is a slow song and when I listen to it again it kind of reminds me of Black Sabbath with a more glam rock edge. UH-ONE-TIME!!! Andrew Wood (frontman/vocalist of the band) has a voice that goes from a rough Seattle twang to a wispy falsetto. Pretty good drumming, allso. There's sort of a trippy thing of lead guitar floating around the very top of your head like little ghosts. Real angry-sounding fucked up guitar riff in the chorus.
5. Skin Yard - "Throb" Starts out with a simple bass guitar riff and some psychedelic-sounding guitar fading in and out, before heading into full intensity, with loud yet pretty-sounding electric guitar, an angry bass riff, tortured vocals, and a slow beat. This one's real good-sounding. Excellent melodies all around... prepare to be in for something else when hearing Throb!
6. Soundgarden - "Heretic" Out of all of these bands, Soundgarden definitely became the most famous. They got signed to a major label first in the late '80s, they had two really famous albums, and they were pretty talented as well -- they got so famous that Chris Cornell actually thought it was a good idea about 12 years after they broke up to record an album with a lame "rap" artist that most Soundgarden fans wouldn't care for at all! But besides all that... this early incarnation of Soundgarden feels more punk than the metal sound they'd be later famous for. Chris doesn't belt out his mouthsounds as much as he just screams like a dying cat. Like Rosie. This one cat I know. She's a little brown fat kitty and she's so cute but I can't pet her because I'm allergic to her. Doesn't that SUCK?? Anyways, Chris screams things about religious persecution and with references to religion and the occult. This song was re-recorded for the soundtrack to a movie called "Pump Up the Volume", but this original version is much better! Just listen to how that guitar sounds.
7. Soundgarden - "Tears to Forget" This song is a lot faster than the song before it and once again features that amazing guitar tone that sounds like a mix between fire and ice if they knew how to play instruments. The chorus section after the intro has an ominous/exciting riff like something important is about to happen. The verse section's riff and lyrics elaborate on this tension, with a slightly different drumbeat. Once again, this song eventually was re-recorded, and it was featured on the band's first album, "Screaming Life". End of Side A.
8. Malfunkshun - "Stars-N-You" The other Malfunkshun song. Much faster than their other song. It has sort of a euphoric riff and vocal melody, with crazy love-song lyrics and the like. It kind of crashes and takes off... the tempo is real unique-sounding. Return of the infamous "one time" lyric. Again. Heh. Also take a listen to those crazy solos!
9. Melvins - "Grinding Process" One of the most notable Melvins songs and probably their first song where they tried to get real slow and heavy. It has an extremely grimy, tough energy to it... just slow enough to rub that knoize knuckle around in your face after punching it. The vocals are awesome, Buzz sounds snotty as ever! Just listen to how everybody yells "TASTE" all at once that first time! Then there's a guitar solo and an outro section with an ascending guitar riff with an extremely thick, dark sound to it. Different versions of this song have also been featured in their debut 7", the "10 Songs" album, the "Northwest Hardcore" compilation tape, and 26 Songs, which has every version of the song recorded except for this one.
10. Melvins - "She Waits" I LOVE this one. Isn't it funny how the Melvins went from being an ultra-fast band to an ultra-slow band? Anyways, the song kicks off with a fast section with a really cool guitar riff, climaxing in a mega-intense thrash section with Dale Crover on vocals that's only four seconds long but actually the best part of the song. Then there's a slower part of the song. It all ends in some really loud feedback with the bandmates eventually complaining before it gets turned off.
11. Skin Yard - "The Birds" Now we slow things back down... Ben McMillan, the singer of the band sings in a real depressing-sounding and subtle voice. If you liked how things sounded in their other song on this LP, then you'll probably like this one also. And there's some saxophone-playing on this song. The lyrics are very dark and describe feeling plagued by apathy and complacency, and he also complains about there being a lot of birds. Birds must really piss this guy off. That just SUCKS. Birds. They have wings. And feathers. And beaks. They like to eat worms. Isn't that funney?
12. Soundgarden - "All Your Lies" This is the best version of this song. It was later on their album "Ultramega O.K." and it sounds more clean and metal-ish, and that version rocks also, but this version has that really hot guitar sound that makes the song WAY more exciting-sounding. It's kinda chaotic, but the chaos seems to have a direction. If it didn't, the song would go on forever, right? Perhaps. Anyways, this song is really awesome! The verse part is fast and the chorus part is kind of slow. Kim Thayil can play the guitar REALLY good.
13. Green River - "Your Own Best Friend" Starts out slow with a mostly lead-guitar melody before taking off for a faster tempo. This song's about a person who feels alienated by the rest of society and feels like his friends and family don't even care about him and feels pressured to do the right thing and dress the right way all of the time. Kind of depressing. Towards the end of the song I suspect that Mark Arm was smoking quite a few joints 'cuz he sounds so stoned he can barely even sing without laughing. The rest of the band sings in chorus vocals along with Mark's lyrics in one part and I thought that sounded pretty cool. The rest of the music starts to fade out and soon you just hear Mark laughing along with a drum beat as weird Butthole Surfer-like vocal effects haunt the soundscape.
14. U-Men - "They" HEY KIDZ! THIS IS THE LAST SONG! IT'S THE U-MEN: ROCKABILLY ON CRACK COCAINE! The U-Men were the oldest of the bands on this album and had already released a couple of records, so they were more well-known than the other bands here. Yeah, this song is a lot more silly and upbeat than most of the other tunes on here. The singer, John Bigley, has a crazy hillbilly-sounding voice that screams and moans at different times. The first part of the song is real crazy and upbeat, and then there's a calmer, more depressing part of the song where the singer kind of mopes about various mishaps... "Junior flipped the flappin' out on Route 21"... what poetic mastery! I love it! Then a bunch of animals disappear in a "puff of smoke on the road". Great type of song to drink beer and poorly fire bullets outta yer shotgun at trespassers to.
One great thing about this record is that there's so much variety! Every band has their own distinct sound -- even songs from the same band have their own unique sound. This would be the perfect compilation of early Seattle rock stuff if the Accused were also on here or something. But I guess the Accused weren't weird-sounding enough so they aren't anywhere to be found on this album. You'll hear a little bit of punk, metal, psychedelica, all mixed up in one big gigantic stew of (at the time) un-noticed talent. And really, only two of these bands on the compilation made it very far out of obscurity... the Melvins and Soundgarden, and the Melvins soon realized that being on a major label really is bogus! So, if you like any of these bands (I'm sure you like at least one), do check this out... all top-notch material that could have very easily never been put down on the wax slab. It would have been funny if the Mentors were on here also, but then A&M wouldn't want to touch this album the way they did in 1994 almost ten years later. This album just rocks!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Grinding Process (Melvins) 2. Blessing the Operation (Melvins) 3. 10,000 Things (Green River)
Year: 1970 Genre: Heavy Metal Label: Vertigo Records Tracks:8 Length: 42 Minutes Style: Mysterious/Emotional/Political My Rating: 8/8
"Paranoid" by Black Sabbath is one of the most famous and influential heavy metal albums of all time. This band has influenced more bands in my musical appetite than you could shake a stick at, including Black Flag, the Melvins, the Butthole Surfers, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Sourpuss, the Ramones, SoundGarden, etc. blah blah blah blah blah blah bleehhhhhhhhhhhhhh! BLEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yeah, I bought this album on CD a few months ago but had trouble getting it to work in my car, so I sort of put it on the back burner for awhile, but it is really good! Very heavy, moving, dark, intricate music. Some of it is slow and some of it is fast, but people who were "there" back in the day say it was a great breath of fresh air from the dying hippie movement in the early '70s. But I was really listening to the Sabbath-influenced bands first, so I can't totally see it the same way 'cause I don't listen to a whole ton of '60s music, especially the "lame" kind (though it was the kind of stuff my parents used to play when I was little a whole lot, so I can understand how annoying it'd be to hear nothing but that). But enough history shit, this is the second Black Sabbath record and it was released the same year as the first one, so they were recording a lot, evidently! What DID they record? That's what I'm about to review...
1. War Pigs/Luke's Wall Absolutely beautiful intro... pretty slow and bluesy-sounding... it's just got that feelin'... feeling at rock-bottom and like it can't get any worse so it can only get better even though it sucks (not the song), and there's this neat sound in the background that sounds like a train, but the pitch of the sound is in harmony with the music itself. Of course, this song describes and denounces the "war pigs" in the government that control the world, describing them as sorcerers of destruction and poisoning and brainwashing the people. After about two minutes into the song, the song changes once again for a more upbeat, cool part with awesome singing and a cool-ass guitar melody and beat. There is one part that it almost seems that Black Flag almost directly took the riff for "Jealous Again" from in this song. At the very end the song unexpectedly speeds up before coming to a stop. It's one of the most famous Black Sabbath songs and the longest one on this album.
2. Paranoid This is the song that they wrote really quickly in the studio during the recording of the album, but don't let that fool you... it's really good. It's one of the faster songs on the album. The vocal melody is great... hell, it all is! Cool bass sound, also. Awesome guitar solo in the middle of the song. The song captures the sadness of a person whose mind is so overtaken by instability, insanity, and fear that he is unable to enjoy life.
3. Planet Caravan This is a softer, calmer song, but it's really sad sounding. There are little wisps of melody floating around the main bass-dominated melody here. Ozzy sings using a ghostly-sounding vocal effect. The second half of this song really is what makes the song for me, with all of that beautiful lead guitar melody fucking the little vaginas inside your ear... it feels so good. It sounds awesome. Such a good song.
4. Iron Man One of the most famous rock songs of all-time, and deservedly so. How many times do you hear a guitar riff more powerful-sounding than the verse riff for Iron Man? Not many, I guess. But yeah, that riff MAKES this song. Especially when played using the chords. The thumping bass drum in the beginning sets the creepy feeling that explodes into this monster so huge and powerful that it would not be as wise to try to escape as much as to just embrace it. As for the lyrical content itself, it's about a man who travels to the future to see save humanity from destruction, only to be turned into steel, watching the people who care not for him, eventually coming back to life and destroying the world in an act of revenge. Some parts of the song are fast, but for the most part it's a slow, heavy song. One of the greatest songs ever. End of Side A.
5. Electric Funeral Starts off with a moody wah-wah-sounding intro melody and once again a slow tempo. Very doomy and negative-sounding melody and attitude to this song. And that's pretty much what it's about -- describes civilization as an "electric funeral" destroying the human race. There's a faster part in the middle of the song.
6. Hand of Doom The song starts out alright, with a certain bassline dominating the melody and it's pretty slow. The song's sound abruptly changes during the middle to a completely different section with a different riff and a different beat and that part is really cool. Really good singing. Then towards the end there iz a guitar solo with a crashing drum beat behind it. At about five minutes the song changes back to how it sounded in the beginning.
7. Rat Salad Mmm, rat salad! Sounds delicious. This one's an instrumental tune in which all of the members show off their skills at their instruments, including a lengthy drum solo at the end. It's pretty good, especially the lead guitar melody, but I like some of the other songs better.
8. Jack the Stripper/Faeries Wear Boots It's not Jack the RIPPER, it's Jack the STRIPPER, he just shows up at peoples' houses and gets naked! Hee heeeeeeee. The beginning of the song is slow and pretty damn metal-ly (now a thousand metalheads are going to kill my ass) because there's so much lead guitar and it's slow and it's got them funky bass tunes and all of this other shit because I'm too lazy to come up with some bullshit pseudo-intellectual interpretation of the melodic arrangements of this song. Anyways, after that, there's a real cool faster part with a cool riff and it's pretty cool and Ozzy sings cool and all of this other stuff. Duh-duh-duh-DAH! The song's about a guy who sees REAL faeries and finds out that they wear boots, and his doctor thinks he's been doing too many drugs. Lotta crazy lead guitar stringing out of the guitarist's head after the singing part. And then the song returns to a continuation of the first section of the song. The song fades out and then...
IT'S ALL OVER. FUCKERS!!! THE WORLD HAS ENDED FROM A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST WHILE YOU WERE FRIVOLOUSLY READING THIS AND COULD HAVE ACTUALLY DONE SOMETHING TO STOP IT WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE... BUT NO, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE YOUR FUCKING BLACK SABBATH AND LISTEN TO YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE MUSIC AND READ REVIEWS FROM SOME ASS-KISSING FAN TO REMIND YOURSELF HOW GREAT A BAND YOU ALREADY LIKE IS AND HOW GREAT IT IS THAT SOMEBODY ELSE LIKES THAT BAND THAT YOU LIKE AS IF THAT MAKES THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC ITSELF ANY GREATER... nah, just fucking around. TEEHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (proceeds to make ape noises for five hours straight). Well I'll be a barrel of pickled donkey testicles if nearly every song on this record didn't get totally famous. And it was well-deserved fame. Many bands took the band's musical style to heart and put their own twist on it or improved upon it, but this band will stay in the collective conscience of 14-year-old boys for decades to come. G'BYE, 14-YEAR-OLDS!
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Planet Caravan 2. Iron Man 3. Paranoid
Genre: Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Grunge, Hardcore Label: Homestead Records Tracks: 6 Length: 28 Minutes (Medium-Length) Style: Dark/Demented/Mysterious My Rating: 6/8
Green River was formed out of the remnants of the Limp Richerds, a hardcore band from the early 1980s that stopped performing in 1984 (but never officially broke up until 1987). Mark Arm and Steve Turner were in that band, and those two decided to start a new band called Green River (named after a notorious serial killer). They also recruited Jeff Ament, who was previously in a band called Deranged Diction. Green River is often considered to be one of the first 'grunge' bands ever. The band came from Seattle, Washington, and experimented musically by taking the hardcore punk sound they were used to playing and slowing it down to a heavy metal pace, similar to what another band, the Melvins, were starting to do around this time. By late 1984, they were in the process of recording their debut album, "Come On Down". This album is often considered to be the first grunge album ever.
1. Come On Down Begins with a mysterious whisp of noize. The song is pretty slow. Mark Arm plays the role of Green River, inviting you down to him in a sinister way; "C'MON DOWN TO GREEN RIVER...". The guitar is cool, but I don't think it's quite loud enough. But it's okay. During the chorus, alternating parts of the vocals are sung into the left and right side of your speakers. I thought that was a pretty nice touch. There's a guitar solo.
2. New God A slow, heavy song. Once again, it plays upon the victimizer theme. This song is told from the viewpoint of a cult leader or the devil or something like that. The song's narrator assures the listener, "I don't want your money, or anything you own -- I'm not asking for much, I only want your soul". The character also asks for the souls of your children, lest the character gets "ugly and mean". The riff is very ominous and cool-sounding.
3. Swallow My Pride This song sounds more like a traditional punk song, but with a little bit of guitar twang off to the side. The song's about something we've probably all dealt with at some point. It tells the story from the viewpoint of a guy who's dating a girl, who confronts him about politics, telling him, "There's one thing you've gotta see: even though we're heading for war, this nation's prouder than ever before/it's just the spirit in the air; we're more American than anywhere". The song's protagonist feels an undying rage for the girl he loved, thinking "this little girl is going to hell" -- surely if someone said those sort of things to me, I'd be pretty disturbed, too. The riff is a lot more upbeat, in my opinion. There's two other versions of this song that can be heard. One is from their 1988 album, "Rehab Doll", and the other is an early demo featuring Kim Gordon singing the lines that are supposed to be the words of the female character. That version is my favorite one.
4. Ride of Your Life The song kicks off faster than anything else of the album -- real fast! Then it slows down a half-minute into the song, which is the pace it stays at for the rest of the song. For the most part, it's slow and dark. The song describes the process of a person overdosing on heroin ("you bought your last ride with a shot in your arm"). Slowly, the energy shifts, getting more and more calm and beautiful until fading out, like a pleasant death... a guitar solo is played, as the song slowly fades out. End of Side 1.
5. Corner of My Eye Another fast song (not quite as fast as the song before it, though). It's about a stalker who watches his victims and learns all about them, until he attempts to take from them, or else he won't let 'em leave. Halfway through the song, the tempo slows down. Mark's vocals are somewhat muffled by the guitar sounds, which adds to a sort of ominous tone of the song. Towards the end, the song speeds up back to the normal pace, with plenty of lead guitar this time!
6. Tunnel of Love The band attempts to start the song a few times before it finally begins. It's like a heavy hardcore punk song. Similar to Flipper, I guess. It's a very long song, too (eight minutes long). It's about a guy who falls in love with a girl, only to be allowed to do so if he "gives it all up" (it's never really implied what that meant, though). But apparently it had some pretty damn bad effects on the guy, 'cause he shows up at Mark's house all green-faced, and "he fell down shaking on to my floor". Mark reaches some really fucking high screams in this song! The song at one point becomes very slow and quiet, before a fast finale hits us one last time!
To be honest, I never even listened to Green River a whole ton before this. It's still not my favorite album in the world, but it isn't bad either by any means. And hey, helping invent a new genre of music isn't so bad. It's a sinister, creepin', crawlin' mess of sarcasm, cynicism, and a twisted sense of humor. If albums were people, this album would be the guy who snickers at you on your way down to Hell. But anyways, it's a pretty good example of the early days of grunge... somewhere between Black Flag and the later grunge bands (I'm sure you know what those are).
Top 3 Favorites: 1. Swallow My Pride 2. New God 3. Corner of My Eye
Year: 1988 Genre: Heavy Metal, Punk Rock Sub-Genres: Grunge, Post-Punk Label: SST Records Tracks: 13 Length: 42 Minutes (Long) Style: Mysterious/Political/Funny My Rating: 7/8
As the whole hardcore thing was dying down (at least compared to what it was a few years earlier), something new was happening just a little bit north. Punk rock bands were starting to play slower, heavier songs. This was a new sound, combining punk and metal to create an interesting new genre. And while I'm going to be the one to say that OTHER bands in the past had already done this (Butthole Surfers, Flipper, etc), the occasional slow thing was turned into a whole fucking genre. Early practitioners of this style included the Melvins, Green River, Malfunkshun, and another lil' band called SoundGarden. Out of all of the earlier 'grunge' groups, SoundGarden would be the only one to directly experience mainstream fame. And so, shortly after the band formed, a friend of the band since their high-school years started a label to help release their first album on. The label was called Sub-Pop Records. And while nowadays it's mostly a breeding ground for sterile hipster garbage ('cept for Pissed Jeans), at one point it was one o' the best damn labels around! Anyways, the band managed to release their first record, "Screaming Life" on that label. The next year, though, SoundGarden signed to SST Records, home of weirdo punk! This is the second SoundGarden album. Their sound didn't change a ton from their days before this one, but keep in mind that this was a really fresh sound. Hell, it's still a fresh sound, how many times other than early SoundGarden do you hear a guy fucking WAILING over slow hardcore? Well, speaking of which... time to REVIEW!
1. Flower The most well-known song on the album. Begins with a bizarre guitar noise which is supposedly Ben Shepherd blowing across the strings of his electric guitar. Hard-hitting with a more median tempo and great flowing vocals. The lyrics are according to the band about a young girl who grows up and invests in beauty and "burns out quick" due to the obsession. There's probably a reason this one got on the 'A-Sides' compilation -- this song seriously sounds like it would fit on any SoundGarden album! There is a music video for this song.
2. All Your Lies Totally one of my favorites. Though it's a little cleaner-sounding than the "Deep Six" original version, most notably the guitar and the vocals. I like guitar on the older version better. But it STILL kicks ass! For those of you who haven't heard this song, it's a high-power fast song with composition similar to a hardcore punk song from the '80s, with echoey, strong vocals and just about strong everything else. Totally a driving song. One little solo -- NO, TWO somewhere in the middle.
3. 665 A slow, noisy, Butthole Surfers-inspired song. Lots of backwards screaming from Chris can be heard. If you listen hard enough, there's something sinister about it. Sounds almost like a... Satanic message? Let's see -- play it backwards and turns out that Chris Cornell is declaring his love of SANTA [Claus]. This track along with "667" is based on Chris's own musing that if the number 666 is so evil, then the numbers surrounding it must be equally bad. This one's mainly appealing for it's weird quality, so some might see it as filler.
4. Beyond the Wheel A fucking epic song. This isn't the "grunge" your lame trendy parents listened to (if they are lame and trendy or listened to grunge -- mine were a little too old for it). This song is sinister, dark, slow, and hopeless. Very mysterious-sounding. However, it really gets good when Chris just starts BELTING out those vocals like you've never heard it! The lyrics seem to describe society and civilization as a "wheel" which steers all humanity. Really noizy distorted solo in the middle by Kim Thayil.
5. 667 This song is the other "book-end" to Beyond the Wheel. Very similar to 665, except shorter, and Chris is not speaking backwards (though he's still real hard to understand).
6. Mood for Trouble Another really good song on the album. Begins with an acoustic intro before the first verse begins. The verses are very adventurous-sounding and loud, while the chorus is also hard, but serene and more relaxed at the same time. The chorus is my favorite part.
7. Circle of Power This one just sounds like straight-forward hardcore. Hiro Yamamoto (the bassist) sings this song, in a crazy, goofy voice that somewhat resembles the guy from the U-Men. Halfway through, the song like it's gonna end, but then Hiro says something at a speed-of-light pace and then the second half the song starts, with an insano solo. End of Side 1.
8. He Didn't Sounds a lot like something from "In My Head" by Black Flag. Interesting tempo and guitar. I thought the solo was real neat, especially the first part with the feedback-y sounds.
9. Smokestack Lightning Cover of the 1956 blues song by Howlin' Wolf, in a grunge style, of course. Chris really shows off his vocal abilities here. He even harmonizes with HIMSELF!
10. Nazi Driver Weird but cool beat! According to Kim Thayil, it's about killing Nazis, cutting them up, and cooking them in a stew. Very morbid but humorous lyrics. And of course, the music is really cool!
11. Head Injury This one's really cool too! Just listen to the riff... the riff is great, and pretty inventive. It's a fast song. In the end, Chris repeatedly screams "HEAD" until ending it with an "INJURY" just before it all stops.
12. Incessant Mace Longest song on the album. Slow, with very poetic lyrics and ridden with guitar-leads and it's pretty bass-driven. Chris keeps screaming "MACE" at the end and you can hear some speedy harmonica just before the song is over.
13. One Minute of Silence A "cover" of "Two Minutes of Silence" by John Lennon... SUPPOSED to be anyways, but the silence seems to be unable to suppress the group's unwanted chatter back and forth, which Chris blames on Kim Thayil. Over the "silence" is a layer of thick static and some minor sounds from the amps. Not really that silent. Anyways, it ends pretty shortly.
For the SoundGarden fans out there, the band is allegedly reuniting to play new shows in 2010. However, the evidence used to back up wether or not this is true or false in itself can be conflicting, so I'm not completely sure what the REAL plan with that is. We can only hope. Anyways, this was the album that prompted A&M Records to approach SoundGarden and sign them to their label (all of their subsequent LPs were released on A&M), so it's neat to see that this was around the time that the mainstream was FINALLY beginning to recognize the sheer actual talent that resided in the underground... we need a moment like that now -- we've got an entire fucking GENERATION of new bands (some of which are actually quite talented), and the mainstream doesn't even acknowledge them... instead, the focus is placed on third-rate pop garbage and so-called "indie" crap, both of which sound more and more unified every day. You gotta wonder when we're gonna have another SoundGarden -- something that's from & for US, but with enough appeal to mainstream sensibilities that it just might get noticed by some corporate fatass looking to make a buck (hey, sacrifices need to be made sometimes). But yeah, off that topic for now... it's a good album, the last one with their "early" sound before they started shifting towards the more metal-oriented one that the mainstream was more familiar with in the '90s. It's legit.
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