Album Review: Dixie Chicks - Fly

Yes, I've been procrastinating on this one, I don't really know why, but I have a quota to meet so I should get my act in a pile.

This was the fifth studio album by the Dixie Chicks, and it topped the Top Country Albums, Billboard 200 and Canadian RPM Country Albums, only peaking at Number 6 on the RPM Top Albums. It even won a Grammy for Best Country Album in 2000, and was nominated for best album of the year, losing to Santana's Supernatural however. That did not stop it from certifying 10x Platinum in the U.S. and 3x Platinum in Canada. So this was a pretty big album for the time, but does it deserve such high accolades?

Not really if we're going by the first couple of songs, neither of which offer anything really great to the album, it isn't until the third song "Cowboy Take Me Away" that there is a song that is better than okay. It featured nice opening instrumentals and offered a nice change of pace to the album. The following track "Cold Day in July" also stands out, although not really for the right reasons. The track is forgettable, I don't even remember it that well, and this is the only song that has that problem, as even though very few of the other songs are great, I can still remember a good chunk of them, but this? I don't think I could recognize this song until the chorus.

The fifth track is the stand out single from the album "Goodbye Earl", which is my favourite song on the album. I've already talked about the song on my Ace Audio blog sub-series so if you want a more detailed look at the song follow this link. I like the subject of the song and how well the story itself is told, listening to the whole album this time around, the instrumentals sound the same quality wise, but they still stand out with that odd keyboard sounding instrument and how upbeat the song is despite how dark the lyrics are, I love it.

Unfortunately, for here onward there are very few songs that go farther than the "okay" rank. "Hello Mr. Heartache" is a song that could have worked, especially with the groove and lyrics, but it still is just "okay",  and there are plenty of tracks where my notes are simply just "This song is okay". The only other note I had here was for "Hole in my Head" which I thought may have worked better as a glam metal song, or something like that.

For a fourteen track album, I've only found three tracks that I think even go past the "Okay" rating, and the twelfth track "Heartbreak Town" is one of them. It's slower and has nice instrumentals and vocal work, it isn't a great song, but it works. The final track on the album "Let Him Fly" is a lot of the same, just okay. When I reviewed Hardwired... to Self Destruct I found that the album got better towards the end with the last two songs, but this didn't.

I mean, overall I have heard worse, but I really wanted to like at least a few more songs from this album. With the exception of three songs, most of them were just okay, and "Cold Day in July" may be the most forgettable, but it is not the only dull song on this album. Maybe I shouldn't have said I would have reviewed this. Oh, well what's done is done.

I give this a 5/10, it's just okay. I'm the Entity of Darkness, and sorry about this being my only review this month, I'll try to make it up next month.

Album Review: Metallica - Hardwired... To Self Destruct

I don't think it is a stretch to say that Metallica has not faired well in recent years. Love it or hate it, you can not deny that St. Anger was much different from their earlier works. After that, it was almost as if Metallica was dead to some fans, although to some Metallica "sold out" with Ride the Lighting, but even then how many of you have heard Death Magnetic? So with all that taken into consideration, and a whole lot more, I find it interesting that there was some excitement for their newest album. This was the band that turned off the bass in ...And Justice for All, the band that went after Napster and the band that nearly broke apart with feuding, but then again, this is the band that defined what Thrash Metal was, rocked on every single continent, and made some of the greatest songs of all time, not just in the Heavy Metal genre. An entire list of the best Metallica songs would take several difficult choices. That is why I find the hype for this album interesting, but even still fans are split on the album, so is it good or is it hardwired to suck?

I'll admit, I myself was a tough into the hype with this album, and I was quite excited to listen to it, and apparently the rest of the world was too because it topped twenty-five separate charts including the Billboard 200, and charts in other countries like Greece, Canada, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Argentina, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea, and it peaked at number 2 in five other countries including Brazil, Hungary and the UK, and peaked at it's lowest in Italy and Number 4, and it has been certified 2x Platinum in Poland, Platinum in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Greece and Hungary, 3x Gold in Germany, and Gold in Italy, New Zealand, and the UK, and this is a recent album, as in 2016 recent and it has all of that behind it.

The album does open strongly with "Hardwired", although personally I think it sounds more suited to be a Megadeth song. The album didn't really pick up until the fourth track "Moth Into Flame", which has some hints of classic Metallica in the riff, especially from Master of Puppets, although there is also a bit of Ride the Lighting and even The Black Album in there. The following track "Dream no More" is also one of the better songs on the album, I find that I could get into the groove of that song more than other songs.

Despite this, there are plenty of songs that don't really demand ones attention, or at least not mine, songs like "Halo on Fire" sounds more at home in the song line-up for an 80's Hair Band, and "ManUNkind" is definitely more melodic, but that is really all the song has. Other songs like "Confusion" and "Here Comes Revenge" are good, but don't really offer a whole lot, there really is not a whole lot to comment on those songs, although maybe they just need time to grow on me.

The album doesn't pick up again until the final two tracks, "Murder One" and "Spit Out the Bone" which have some great instrumental work. These two songs keep me bobbing my head in rhythm and are some of the better songs on the album because of it.

Overall, there is not a lot to this album, although there are good songs like "Atlas, Rise", there are very few songs that are better than "Great", which coming from any other band would make a good album, but this is Metallica. Even though I heard this album on it's own, I can't help but compare this to some of the other songs that Metallica recorded like "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "One", and even "Enter Sandman". Taking away that element though, a few of the songs kind of blended together in my own head. However, there is still some stuff to recommend here for Metallica fans as there are flavours of classic Metallica sprinkled within this album.

The best way I can describe it is, you have a plate of mashed potatoes, a regular plate of mashed potatoes, but added within that pile of potatoes are spices you like, but not enough to make you want to eat that plate of mashed potatoes regularly. I can't say it's not worth buying or even listening to, but I also can't say that I'll be listening to the album as a whole to often.

I think a 6/10 is a fair enough rating for this album, which is kind of sad for Metallica. To give you some perspective, I gave the 2016 Babymetal release Metal Resistance a 7.5 and it had similar issues.

I'm the Entity of Darkness and now I'm going to prepare for the upcoming battle I got myself into for giving Babymetal a higher rating than Metallica.

Album Review: Dio - Holy Diver

Another year, more albums, and plenty more albums, I haven't even touched upon the amount of albums I actually own, and getting albums from my library is easy. This year, since I also have my song blog, I'm going to try and get at least two of these out a month, three if I'm on a roll, and to kick off my year of album reviews, an album I wanted to get to last year.

Holy Diver was released on May 25, 1983 and was the debut album for this, not yet super group, consisting of Ronnie James Dio, Vinny Appice, Vivian Campbell and Jimmy Bain. It has not topped any Album Charts on release, but it has reached as high as number 13 in the UK and number 18 in Sweden, but only number 56 on the Billboard 200. It's been certified Platinum in the USA and silver in the UK.

The album definitely starts off stronger than most with the opening track "Stand Up and Shout", which shows off the talents of Vivian and Vinny and the vocal abilities of Dio himself. The track is high in energy and does actually make me desire to stand up and shout. The motivational song is a highlight of the album, which would normally be a bad thing as it mostly proves that the album has it's best song first and loses momentum as it goes on such as the case with Metal Resistance, but Holy Diver delivers a double whammy with it's second track "Holy Diver".

To state that the title track is incredible would be an obvious statement, but it really does show what kind of talent the group has. Vivian Campbell's incredibly catchy guitar riff and Vinny Appice's solid drum work are only the tip of the iceberg with this track and Dio's vocal performance and the lyrics round off what is easily a heavy metal classic. Even though every now and again we get some unmemorable tracks like "Caught in the Middle" and "Invisible" none of the tracks are really bad, and even the more forgettable tracks are still good to listen too, although probably more on there own rather than with the rest of the album.

Probably my favourite track on the album, "Rainbow in the Dark" adds some real nice synth flare to an already epic track, it's nice hearing some power metal every now and again. The album ends with the ninth track "Shame on the Night" which is one song I always try to play on Halloween.. It has some nice haunting instrumentals, but doesn't stand out as much as something like "Rainbow in the Dark".

Overall, the album is one that no metal fan should pass on, it is a perfect showcase on why Ronnie James Dio is often considered the king of heavy metal, but don't let that make you think the entire album is Dio's work. The instrumentals are solid on every track and Vivian Campbell does amazing work especially. Tracks like "Holy Diver" and "Rainbow in the Dark" are perfect examples of what each separate musician was capable of.

For the incredible talents, the songs that really stand out and the amazing instrumentals, I have to start this year off strong and give this album a full 10/10. I'm the Entity of Darkness, \m/.

Album review: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Well, who would have thought that I could squeeze one last album review in before the year-end? Well, not only did I save the best for last, but I also managed to have a story behind this one. I got to listen to this one on record, yes, I have a record player. The quality has deteriorated a bit, but I still enjoyed the experience.

This album is one of the most popular and famous albums ever, as on it's first released it topped every chart it landed, including, but not limited to, the US Billboard Top LPs, Canadian RPM Top LPs, Norwegian Albums Chart, and the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified 17x Platinum in the UK, 11x Platinum in the US, 8x Platinum in Canada, 4x Platinum in Australia and Gold in Italy, France and Brazil. It also helped popularize plenty of recording techniques and the idea of the concept album.

The album's concept can be discovered quite quickly from the opening track. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is the opening track and it introduces the fictional band known as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This introduces the concept of a simulated live performance, which kind of worked, but we'll get to that one when we get there. Really the album starts with the classic "With a Little Help from My Friends" which is unique because it is the only song on the album (And as far as I know the entire band's discography) with vocals done by Ringo Starr. It's a pretty catchy tune and definitely an album highlight, and the melody will be in my head for a while now too.

Following all of that is my favourite track on the album, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". This is my favourite Beatles Song, as it has a beautiful sound to it, and the imagery in the song is wonderful. I just love the image of a girl with kaleidoscope eyes, and the final verse before the chorus is one of my favourite lyrics in any song, and considering "Time" by Pink Floyd and "Needle and the Damage Done" by Neil Young also have some of my favourite lyrics, that is not a small feat.

"She's Leaving Home" is another good song from the album, this time it tells a bit of a story, and when you analyze it closely, the real tragedy of it shines. Paul does put a bit of emphasis on some words but the chorus makes up for it buy having a vocal harmony between John and Paul and really putting the mood in the foreground. It's a nice and somber song.

Although, there are a few songs on the album that are not as good as the other tracks, "Fixing a Hole" and "Lovely Rita" are not very memorable and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is, although creative for it's time, more middle-of-the-road. "Within You Without You" also falls into this category, although the track is very creative and starts with a beautiful instrumentals, but it also is not very memorable, but it is a very beautiful song so I do recommend it.

Now as I said, the concept of this album was that the band played in a different band as alter egos, and this was like a live performance, well, it does not work very well, as the only indications of that being the opening track and the songs reprise, which is the penultimate track of the album. It basically just says that the "show" is almost over and transitions to the final track "A Day in the Life". Now, "A Day in the Life" has been known as one of the best songs ever, and considering songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody", "The Sound of Silence" and "More Than a Feeling" are also considered some of the best songs ever, that is incredible. But honestly, the song has some impressive moments of instrumentals and some relatable lyrics, so it kind of does deserve the "masterpiece status" it has.

Not only is this one of the best rock and roll albums ever, it's one of the best albums ever, period. It used new and inventive techniques to achieve unique sounds and features some of the best songs from the entire Beatles line up. Not every track hits bulls-eye but I can't think of any real duds, even if I am not a big fan of some songs, that does not make them bad songs. If you can find this album, I recommend it highly, it is one of the best things to come out of the 1960s, honestly, even better than Star Trek.

This has earned a full and honest 10/10. I'm the Entity of Darkness, and happy holidays and a happy New Year too.

Album Review: BABYMETAL - Metal Resistance

See, I said I wanted to squeeze in one more album review before the year ended. I may not be able to do a whole lot of Album review until the Summer season because of school, but I'll try to squeeze as many as I can in, especially with my other blog that I'm doing.

But enough about me, you're here for the album review. Babymetal has gotten a bit of a negative reception amongst fans in the metal community, which is odd considering that they are not the first pop metal band, have anybody heard of Def Leppard? Van Halen? KISS? Of course, the quality of music is subjective, but I honestly don't hate Babymetal, the music is fun and upbeat, and a large contrast to the muddy and often depressing metal scene. I know that "Megitsune" is not on the same level as something like "Hypnotize", but I don't think it really wants to be. Although I will be honest, I had no idea what to think when I rented the album, I mean some of the tracks had cool names, but I did not think that ANY modern band would be able to make a full album of good songs. Honestly, I liked this, not as much as I like something like Toxicity, but I like it enough.

The album is only the second studio recording from the band, released on April 1st worldwide. It has twelve songs total, and it was a pretty big chart success, topping the US World Albums Chart, and reaching number 2 in Japan, and on the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart and the US Hard Rock Albums Chart. It only got to 39 on the Billboard 200, 74 on the Canadian albums, and it reached it's lowest on the Belgian Album Chart reaching only to 113. Consequence of Sound also ranked it as the 31st best album of 2016, and considering the only other full album I've heard this year was Wolfmother's Victorious, I cant really say that is too far a rank.

The album itself starts off beautifully with "Road of Resistance" which I may do an Ace Audio on for my other blog. The opening riff just kicks all kinds of ass and the vocal work is also really solid. It's kind of like the opening to an anime, not one like Death Note, but something like Bleach or One Piece. I think that a couple members from DragonForce, Herman Li and Sam Totman, did some guitar work on this track, and it really does sound like Power Metal. Really, the song is just amazing, and a great way to kick off the album. It also ranked 22 on the US Billboard Digital Songs Chart, so it did pretty well over in the States.

"KARATE" is the other single from the album, and it is not as good as the first. The opening sounds like Korn, and then it suddenly shifts into something that sounds like Godsmack. The song itself does not sound too bad, outside of a vocal bit at the beginning. There are quite a few good things about this song, but honestly there are some things that aren't so good. It was successful though, reaching number 17 on the Japan Hot 100, and Number 2 on the World Digital Songs Chart, so maybe it did something right.

The band does not hide it's pop... ness? Whatever, they aren't afraid to go more pop than metal, which shows in songs like "Amore" which is nothing special, and "YAVA!" which also sounds like an anime intro to some cheap anime about cybernetic knights, you know kind of like this. Although being honest, it does make me feel glad that it does not sound like this. On these same lines, "Meta Taro" is one of the album weak points, it has a catchy marching tune, and some decent vocal work, but honestly, it gets really repetitive and kind of annoying.

"From Duck Till Dawn" is also more pop than metal, but it actually sounds good. It is a much softer song, offering a nice change of pace for the album. There is a strange dubstep breakdown near the middle, but it is not very long. Then there are more meh songs like "Sis. Anger" Which reminded me of Metallica at the beginning, and "Tales of Destinies" which is just alright. The tenth track is good though, "No rain, No Rainbow" kind of reminds me of "The Sound of Silence" how it begins with one instrument and then adds more as it goes on. It's another really soft song, and it does sound like a song that would close off an episode of Sword Art Online, but it is still a nice song.

The album ends with an English version of "THE ONE" which I can only assume is for the British and American markets. The opening guitar on this one is also pretty damn good, but that is about all the praise I can really give this one. It sounds like a dub intro for Naruto, especially with corny lyrics like "This is Our Song/This is our Dream", but overall it is not too bad.

The album as a whole is mixed. On one hand, the instrumentals are awesome, and whoever does the drums deserves special praise, and the songs that were good, were really good. I can't say there was any song I really hated, and if I had to say anything bad about this album it would be that most songs are just meh. But honestly, the good stuff is just really good, I'm glad I heard this one, and if anybody is a fan of Pop Metal, I do recommend this one.

I give it a 7.5 out of 10. I'm the Entity of Darkness and follow me on my other blog if you want. Link is here: http://auditoryabominations.blogspot.ca/

Bad Album Covers Volume 2

Yeah, it has been a while hasn't it? Yeah, I have been wanting to do more album reviews, but unfortunately I have not decided on an album to do. To get back into the swing, I decided to do another bad album covers collection, and oh boy have I found some really bad ones this time. So with out further ado, let us begin with our round of ten other, really bad album covers, starting with:

A guitar-boner...

I um, I surprisingly have very little to say about this one, I think the image really just speaks for itself. I can not imagine how awkward that would make sex for this guy, but uh, other than that I think the jokes write themselves, you just got to say them.

Now this is another one that really speaks for itself, I mean, Nicolas Cage, Rob Halford and 80s James Hetfield, doing an impression KISS members? That is just something you must see to believe. I also love the all solid colour background, because an actual background would cost way to much. But do you want to know the weirdest part of it? This band is still around, yeah, if you can read the band name, which is in a font that wants to be grindcore, but still wants to be somewhat legible, the band name is Knorkator, and they are a comedic heavy metal band. Really, with an album cover this hilarious, it would be a shame not to check these guys out.

No, your eyes do not deceive you, Pat Boone, the 50s lounge-jazz singer, did a heavy metal cover album, and this should be the first sign that it is gonna be a mess. Pat Boone here does not look like a metal legend, even with his leather and necklace, and that twinkle in his eye does not help. He looks kind of like the father of the Fonz, which I don't know if that is a good thing or not.

Uhh... Yeah, this one is also a thing. After that Boned album cover, this seems even more confusing. At least with that one it was the head of the guitar, and not the bodies, and it was his genitalia, these are turning into his arms. In fact, the dissolve effect is not even a good effect at all. I could do better dissolve effects than that. Also, Ted, please never wear nothing but a loin cloth ever again, you did not look sexy in the 1980s, and again with the solid colour background, although, this time it does match your face. If you get any angrier, you may disappear.

Sweet nightmares, a porcelain doll doing a mic drop, I think. The microphone is obviously attached to the doll, so it's about as convincing as a CGI effect in a mockbuster. Also, why is this a good album cover? Even if we are guessing this is from the era before The Twilight Zone, which I doubt, the doll's dead eyes are still horrifying, they stare into your soul, and when you least expect it, she pounces on you while you sleep, stealing your soul through your very eyes, watching you suffer and die in your very bed, where you thought you were safe, but all of that I can forgive. What I can not forgive is the amount of pastel pink this doll is wearing, I mean, seriously, my eyes.

Usually Queen has some pretty good album covers, nothing amazing but nothing to bad. News of the world is probably their best, but this is without a doubt their most bland. I think they got the covers for this and Made in Heaven mixed up, as this is just all the members of the band mushed together like a monster with four faces, and their hairstyles don't even match, except for Freddie's and Brian's at the end their, they match too well.

GAH, NO I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS ALBUM COVER!

What submissive, BDSM thing is this? Scorpions, is there something you want to say? Considering this and your album cover to Virgin Killer, I think you are in the lead for having some of the worst album covers of all time. I feel as though that... wait, where are the woman's eyes? The sclera is all there but there is no iris nor pupil, that is even creepier than the doll. You know, this just seems like the beginning to the worst pornographic film ever.

For some reason, awkwardly sexual is the theme of this collection, maybe I should have brought the Wasnatch and Eddie Mack covers here instead of my first collection. Other than the, really unfortunate title, this one is just bland, except for the fact that she looks as though she is biting the tip of the flute, I did not mean it like that, get your mind out of the gutter. 

And finally, to cap this collection of bad album covers off, we have this PlayStation game cover, apparently there was an Iron Maiden game, wait, there wasn't? This is a real album cover? Why did they have to give these models lifeless CGI looks? Even if this was the era before digital textures, was it too difficult to have real people? The reaper in the center looks out of place, as if he is hand drawn, but everyone else looks as though Toy Story ate the Money For Nothing music video and barfed up Drake of the 99 Dragons. You know what this actually reminds me off? It reminds me of the video game cover of Snow White and the 7 Clever Boys for the PlayStation 2. You do realize that you don't have to make your album covers look like a bad Xbox game, right guys?

Well, that caps off this collection, hopefully I'll have a few more album reviews by the year's end. I've mostly been doing song reviews if you want to keep up with those the link is right here. Honestly, this was fun, hopefully I can do this again soon.

Album Review: Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

Been a bit hasn't it? Well, I decided that, because Album reviews were pretty exhausting, and since I have school coming up I would also take a look at songs I don't like in my newest blog Auditory Abominations which has two posts up already. I also thought I needed a break from Album reviews for a bit because, I think you can get the feeling in the previous review that I didn't really want to review it. It was chosen for me by a friend and I honestly felt as though it was my weakest review of an album. So I decided to swing back around for another album review, because of reasons I really don't want to talk about right now (Here is the reason if you must know), so I thought I'd look at one of my favourite albums of all time. Yes, this one is up there with Octavarium and Holy Diver as one of my favourites and there is good reason, and of course you have read the title, so I'm going to review Pink Floyd's 1973 release Dark Side of the Moon.

The album was the eighth studio album by the Progressive Rock band and has become one of their most well known alongside The Wall and Wish You Were Here. It topped the Austrian, Canadian, New Zealand and Billboard 200 Album Charts and has been re-released several times, I believe the copy I own is the 2011 remaster, and it sounds amazing. It ben certified 16x Platinum in new Zealand, 15x Platinum in the US, 14x Platinum in both Australia and the UK and 2x Diamond in Canada.

The album may start with an instrumental, but it really begins with "Breathe (In The Air)" which is a really calm and mellow song that quickly sets the tone of the album, as it isn't going to be really rock guitar heavy, although the occasional rock guitar solo does appear. It's followed by the instrumental "On The Run" which is probably the weakest song on the album as it really exists to transition to the next track "Time", although it really has a nice sound to it, kind of reminding me of Daft Punk's "Contact".

Thankfully The next couple of tracks are really amazing, starting with the aforementioned "Time", which does start with obnoxious clocks and bells but give it a chance and you will find a really poignant song about the passing of time, and some of the lyrics, really hit home. I'm sure everyone has or will have the feeling that something that happened a while ago happened only Yesterday, just like me and Graduating. The next song "The Great Gig in the Sky" is not only one of my favourite instrumental tracks on any album, it's probably my favourite track on the album. The female vocals give the song quite a bit of power, like a punch to the gut. I also love how it builds on itself and then dies down towards the end, giving the listeners some time to breathe before the next song, which is no doubt the most iconic.

"Money" was the first single released off the album and it is most likely Pink Floyd's most well known song, followed closely by "Comfortably Numb" and "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2". It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and for really good reason. The song has a memorable groove and some easy to remember lyrics, after all the song is about greed. "Us and Them" was the other single off the album, and it is another highlight off the album, and it is one of the most creative, taking a lot of jazz influence and having Saxophone solos and a much louder chorus to the verses, which really gives the song a very nice feeling.

The album ends with the tracks "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse". Both are calming tracks, despite the formers subject matter. "Eclipse" has some more power than "Brain Damage", but doesn't really have the lyrics that "Brain Damage" has. I do say, that "Eclipse" is the best way this album could end and "Brain Damage" is another good highlight off the album.

Overall, I love this album. I think the only thing that comes close to it with how perfect the album is has got to be Dream Theater's Octavarium. If you've only heard the track "Money" off the album than you really need to hear the whole thing, as it really is an experience you don't want to give up. It has more than earned a full score from me, 10/10.