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.

Album Review: Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory

Oh joy, another band in the rap metal genre. Thankfully Linkin Park is actually a good band that I actually grew up with, unlike P.O.D. who I've already talked about. This album was technically a request, well I say technically since she picked it out for me, so thank you for that.

Hybrid Theory was the band's debut album released in 2000, I have done a whole lot of albums from this decade, damn. It topped the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the second position on the Billboard 200 and four other charts, it also made number 5 on the Canadian Albums and reached its lowest on the French charts reaching number 17.

I really do have to say that the opening tracks are really good, with "Papercut" showing off the good rap part of the band and "One Step Closer" Showing off the Hard Rock aspect of the group. "One Step Closer" was the first single off the album and had some good chart success reaching Number 5 on the Modern Rock Tracks, Number 4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and it even reached Number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Papercut" also had some chart success being the third single from the band, but not a whole lot.

It really does seem to me that Linkin Park put the best stuff on the album as singles, because the other single "Crawling" is also really good, even if it is a bit whiny. Seriously, find anybody who grew up in the 2000s and see if they can recognize "Crawling". The song itself is slower and clearer than most of the album, which is fine as it offers a bit of variety but the other slow songs like "Runaway" are just, meh really.

I think most songs on this album were gave me a "meh" reaction, the only one I didn't really like was "By Myself" and that is mostly because I can't separate that from other rap metal crap, like P.O.D. or and please don't kill me when I say this but... Limp Bizkit. I feel so dirty for typing that.

"In The End" is debatably the best song on the album as it perfectly showcases both Mike Shinoda's talents as a rapper, and Chester Bennington's abilities as a vocalist. It is also the most successful topping the US Alternative Songs Chart and reaching on a whole lot of others which I did not write down in my notes, so here I guess.

It was by the last song that I got tired of this album, so I'm just going to skip it and talk about the previous track "Cure for the Itch" which has an opening that sounds like Daft Punk's rejected album filler scraps, I also feel dirty for typing that Daft Punk had Album Filler.

Overall, I have heard worse and it is clear that Linkin Park put their best songs on the album as singles, but I don't really think this album offers a lot on its own other than the four songs which aren't even my favourite Linkin Park Songs. I do think this album is worth listening to, but if you are expecting a lot of great career defining tracks that helped shape the music industry of the 2000s, well you'll get four of them.

I give it a 6/10.

Album Review: Nickelback - All The Right Reasons

I REGRET NOTHING!

Okay, so Nickelback, often credited as the worst band of all time and to me, they aren't. I'd much rather listen to Nickelback rather than a band like Creed or Chicago or Foreigner. Although this is mostly is due to the fact I grew up with Nickelback and I am Canadian. I think most of the people who like Nickelback are people who grew up with them. Of course, I didn't have a whole lot of control over the music I listened to as it was often either the radio or whatever my Mom or Brother had on CD. So I often did listen to a couple of Nickelback songs from this album.

All The Right Reasons was released on 2005 and had a lot of chart success topping six charts, the US Rock Albums, Hard Rock Albums and Alternative Albums Charts as well as the UK Rock and Metal chart, New Zealand Albums and Canadian Albums Charts and went 2x Platinum in the U.K., 4xPlatinum in New Zealand and Australia, 7x Platinum in Canada and 8x Platinum in the U.S.

I will say that the album does start off strong with the first track "Follow You Home" even if it does sound a bit stalker-y and the following track sounds really similar. Usually I would just skip a couple tracks but the third, fourth and fifth tracks are all songs I have to talk about, not only are they points I need to talk about on the album, but they were all singles, this album had seven singles, and this is an eleven track album. The majority of this album is singles and the first of these is "Photograph".

Now this has been said to be one of the worst songs of all time, being brought up by many music critics like Todd in the Shadows and Rocked Reviews, and honestly I do see why as it is not a good song. Chad Krouger's voice does not work for these kind of softer songs and I did laugh at the beginning. Although, I will say I did actually enjoy the song, probably mostly due to the fact that I do have a soft spot for songs like this, even thought I do have my limits. Also this song was hugely successful topping four separate charts, making top 5 on nine others, top 25 on five other and top 50 on the other five charts it made.

The next two tracks are both an Album low point and an Album Highlight for me respectively, the low point being "Animals" where I really am annoyed at Krouger's voice and the generic riff which I described in my notes as being "Smoke on the Water" meets "Layla". Now the following track "Savin' Me" is more of a favourite of mine due to nostalgia over anything else, it is my favourite song on the album and by Nickelback. The next two tracks aren't really worth talking about, "Far Away" is another slower song that sucks and "Next Contestant" is really rapey and stalkery. "Side of a Bullet" is the other song I really like off this album as it sounds a lot more like hard rock than the rest of the album and is the only song on the album to actually be complimented by Chad Krouger's vocal work.

The eleventh and final track on this album is "Rockstar" and I really have no feelings on this song. I don't like it and I don't hate it. I have no real thoughts on this song, so I guess my thoughts on the album.

Overall, I can't say this is a good album. It has plenty of faults, but I do enjoy listening to a couple of songs. There are a couple of songs I do despise but I think the album has the same amount of Low Points and Highlights, I.E. two. If you like this album, like it and if not feel as you do about it.

For the equal amount of good and bad songs and the decent amount of good and bad, I give this a 5.5/10.

Bad Album Covers - Volume 1

As someone who really loves to collect albums, I find it a treat to see all the incredible album covers there are, from Wish You Were Here to Hybrid Theory to Holy Diver, and hell even some bands I don't like have some pretty decent album covers. However, for every Bat Out of Hell II, there is usually something that is really, really bad. Sometimes they are lazy, bland, uninspired or just plain weird, and other times, they are really, really hilarious. So here is a collection of some pretty bad album covers, and to start things of, let's look at a band I've already discussed on this blog.

Now on the surface, this album cover isn't too bad. It's just the band standing around underneath a bright star. The cover may be generic, but nothing too bad. So then, why is it here? Well, this might not be for the cover itself, but let's take a look at the same cover with inversed colours.

Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing? I seriously can not be the only one who thinks that star now looks like a butthole, I mean, I'm sure it was all coincidence, but the blue sky creates a skin colour and the star's points become defined over the rest of it, and it really looks like that. I really have nothing else to say, aside from the album itself also sucks.

But that was only looking at the album from a certain perspective, I'm mostly looking at album covers that suck when you look at them on their own. So, what else are we to see other than some of the strangest images that bands and artists would have ever thought to be able to sell their albums. Such as in the case of Canadian folk band Moxy Fruvous.

What is even going on here? Is this an album cover or something John Callahan would draw? I mean, the cover is essentially the drawings of a kindergartener with inattentive parents during Woodstock. I really want to know who designed this, and if this was somehow tied to Jian Ghomeshi. Oh yeah, Jian Ghomeshi was a part of this band. I am going to have to review this album someday, aren't I?

Of course a particular brand of normal can be seen a lot with bad album covers or sometimes just plain weird ones, such as with AFI.

Okay, so this album I will review as I do own a copy, but I really want to say that this cover is awful. I don't know what is happening and I don't want to know. Is she spinning the man around? Is she trying to catch him? If so, what is he running from? And for an album called Very Proud of Ya, was this really the best image for that title? I really have nothing this cover blows.

But what about the bizarrely bad? The unnatural oddities? Well, there are a lot of those, but we can't get to them all. Mostly because I do have my limits, so with that said:

What the living Hell is this? The guy playing the piano is normal, it is very common for people with singular instrument talents to be featured on the album cover playing, or at least posing with, their instrument of choice. No, my real questions start with the naked woman on top of the piano. I mean, what!? Who thought of that? Why is that a thing? How did this album not cause any controversy? If it did why didn't I hear about it somewhere online? I tried looking up the name Eddie Mack, but all I found were more images of this album cover, so I think this is the ultimate legacy of the artist, album photographer and woman on the piano. Isn't that depressing?

This album cover is glorious in not only how lame it is, but also in how flat out geeky it is. I mean, they are obviously holding toy laser guns, wearing less than competent costume pieces and uhhh... That is a panty shot. Also, am I reading that right? SIR Adrian Boult? this guy was a sir? Somehow that really makes me lose hope for British knighting.

Aright, one more absurdly bad album cover and I think I saved the best, and most offensive, for last.

I... I have no words. The jokes make themselves. I can show this to some of my friends and they would just say, "Nope! Too easy" and my friends are pun masters, they can really dole out the Pun-ishment. But seriously, this album cover is just bizarre and you would be forgiven for thinking that this was an album from the 1970s or late 60s, but this is a recent album, as in 2013. I feel really bad that I did not ever see this album at my local HMV.

Now heading back to the bad, we have...

Ke$ha pretending to be Lady Gaga? or maybe a Lady Gaga, Katy Perry mesh that was abandoned on a purple planet. Is she on the Planet Namek? What is she wearing, a stained glass dress? I have no words, this album cover is just... just... WHAT!?

Okay, last two, and I think I saved the best for last. These covers don't suck per say, but they are really hilarious I think it would be a tragedy to not include them with this. No they are not good album covers but they are not terrible, and to start this off;

Words fail me. This album screams in the best way it can, gay. There is no other word to describe this, it is actually really amazing. I think the only complaint I have is the guy on the right. Who is that guy? Why does he look like if Tim Burton put Edward Scissorhands in Marty McFly's Jacket? He really looks as if My Chemical Romance and Misfits had a flamboyant gay son. Also, to protect my ass from the approaching French horn of comments, I just want to say I have nothing against being gay, but that doesn't mean when you see something that there is no other word to describe it you can't criticize it, especially if it wasn't intentional.

Now this is an incredible cover. I mean, look at that band, they are all so chiseled and muscular, it makes a pretty boy like Prince turn away in shame. There outfits are like, loincloths and their 80's hair. I can not describe this in any other word but homoerotic. Seriously, they are all sweaty and half-naked and it is just glorious. Let us bask in the glory of this amazingly hilarious cover.

So yeah, those last two weren't too bad, but they were really funny. I was actually laughing when I put the images on here. I'm also quite surprised that these albums didn't cause a whole lot of controversy. I don't think album covers that are controversial are also bad alongside it. I mean, a lot of the time it is just the public overreacting, but every so often...

Yeah....

I'm the Entity of Darkness, and next time will be an album review. This was just a fun distraction for the time being. With any luck I may be able to do this again.

Album Reviews: Boston - Boston

Can I level with you guys? I am not the biggest fan of arena rock. It is a fine genre on its own, and I do know that a lot of it sounds better live, but that isn't why I am not the biggest fan of it. It's almost like Pop Rock with how simple it can be. A good example is Journey, a band I can't really bring myself to listen to more than one or two songs from them. Journey was the group that popularized the four-chord pop song, one of the most annoying and simplest song writing clichés ever. I do like some arena rock, but if you really want to grab my attention you do what Boston does here.

Okay so, starting with something that isn't even a proper part of the album, I love that cover. It isn't in my top ten album covers, but it is still incredible. Like, holy crap, is that an image or is it not? Anyway, this was Boston's debut album and was released in 1976. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200, Number 4 in Germany, number 7 on the Canadian RPM 100 Albums Chart and reached it's lowest at number 26 on the Sweden Top 60 Albums. It has since been certified Diamond in Canada, 17x Platinum in the US and Gold in the UK.

The album kicks off with a good mesh of acoustic guitar and drums in the opening track "More Than a Feeling" which starts off pretty soft, but builds at the chorus and features some awesome guitar work by Tom Scholz. The song itself peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the following track also mixes acoustic guitar with electric guitar and it peaked at number 38 on the Billboard Hot 100.

However, the album really picks up with the third and, in my opinion, best song on the album, "Foreplay/Long Time". It starts with a really nice Keyboard and follows with a sharp electric guitar. The first few minutes are just instrumental and it sounds incredible. Even if the second part of the song wasn't there, it would still be my favourite song on the album. The second part is traditional 70s rock, but the song itself is pretty catchy, but isn't an earworm, which is really good because earworms can be super obnoxious.

"Smokin'" is a song that has a good riff and rhythm, although I do feel like I've heard it before in a different song. it was pretty much this point on the album that I realized that nothing really sounds mismatched or out of place, the album molds with itself perfectly. Also, because I know many of you are going to want me to say it: Here you go. After this song, the album gives us "Hitch a Ride" which has a pretty good opening being very slow, and I also really noticed Sib Hashian's drum work on this track. Aside from that there isn't much to say, it isn't a memorable song, but it isn't terrible.

Brad Delp's vocals did however bring up the seventh track a bit. The instrumentals in "Something About You" are also really good and definitely kick up the album a bit. Although the eighth and final track "Let Me Take You Home Tonight" is pretty, meh. It wasn't a terrible way to end the album, but I feel as though they played their trump card a bit to early. "Foreplay/Long Time" either should've been the last track, or the first. Then again, maybe things would sound out of place, I'm not sure if there is a proper way to solve the issue here, or if it bothers anyone other than myself. Oh and the lyrics also sound very stalker-ish, so there is that.

Overall, I think Boston has earned there place in Rock and Roll history. Sure not every song is perfect, but when there is a high powered song, it really shines. There also aren't very many bad songs, if any at all. So, for this album, I really think that it has earned a full 8/10.

Album Review: Dream Theater - Octavarium

Many of the problems I have had with some of the previous albums were that the songs ran together, the songs weren't distinct enough from each other or that the vocals don't match the music. These will be complaints with albums later, but if you want to know of an album that I think has very few, if any, problems at all, especially those three; I say, look no further.

Octavarium is the eighth studio album by Progressive Metal band Dream Theater and was released in 2005. Also, fun bit of trivia, it was the last album recorded at The Hit Factory, which was a famous recording studio known for albums such as Paul Simon's Graceland and most of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, and was allegedly the studio John Lennon was walking home from the evening he was murdered. The album itself did very well, reaching number 2 on both the Finnish and Italian album charts, number 10 on the Japanese Albums Chart, number 15 on the Canadian Albums Chart and number 36 on the Billboard 200, but reached its lowest on the UK Albums Chart peaking only at number 72.

If you want a perfect way to start your album, take notes on the opening track "The Root of All Evil" which does have a pretty techno opening, but give it time and it will kick in. The guitar work by John Petrucci is just incredible and James LaBrie's vocal work, although a little quiet, is still showcased well in the song. It is then followed by "The Answer Lies Within" which offers a bit of variety, and this is only the second track. It is very calm and soft, but it is still a great song.

It is around the fourth track "I Walk Beside You" that I really start to notice the amazing thing about this album. It isn't that the songs are just incredible, but that no song ever meshes with another. Something similar happened when I was listening to the following track "Panic Attack" when I realized how perfectly suited James LaBrie's voice was to the music Dream Theater made.

But what really makes this album all the most amazing for me are the final two tracks. The first of them being "Sacrificed Sons" which begins with what I guess is terrorist attack reports. It is followed by slow instrumentals and soft vocals, but then transitions really nicely into a harder song, going into a lovely instrumental with good bass work by John Myung. The song itself builds on itself and drops occasionally, but I like when some songs drop, because that often gives the chance to build higher. However, my favourite song on the album was the eighth and final track, the titular track "Octavarium".

Not only is it my favourite song on the album, it is one of my favourite songs period. it is in my top ten and for good reason. The song can be very mind melting, especially towards the beginning with the slow build up of the instruments and a swift kick with an amazing guitar riff. The following acoustics give the listener a breath while the song builds up again with five separate movements, kind of like classical music. Each movement builds upon the last and transitions using instrumentals. The first two movements tell a story while the third is kind of an abstract collection of progressive and classic rock references. The third movement is in my opinion, my favourite of the five movements. Even though the fourth movement has my favourite moment in the song. It's when LaBrie is singing the lines "Trapped inside this octavarium" and there are a lot of little touches and details that really stand out. It is hands down the longest song on the album being exactly 24 minutes in length, but I personally felt as if just a few minutes went by, at the vey least five or six.

I can not stress how much I love this album. So far, it may be my favourite album of all time, and considering that I have Holy Diver, Dark Side of the Moon and Dark Sky Island, that is saying quite a bit, and I barely touched upon some of the other great tings like Mike Portnoy's amazing drumming and Jordan Rudess on the Keyboards. If you haven't heard this album yet, go do it.

For the awesome instrumentals and pure talent of the band members, I give this album a 10/10.

Album Review: Jefferson Airplane - Surrealisitc Pillow

As someone who is a huge fan of the music of the 1960s, I often find it a treat to find albums from that time period in places like the Library or a Thrift Store. To me, the 1960s is probably my second or third favourite decade for music, not only did it give us some of the most iconic bands and songs, but also some of the most important. From the folk scene with Bob Dylan to the slowly emerging Heavy Metal scene with Steppenwolf and Led Zeppelin. The 1960s were a treasure trove of amazing music. Of all the eras of music, my favourite was the Psychedelic era of the 1960s, as some of the sounds were very unique and some of my favourite songs came from that time period, from "Purple Haze" to "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Of course, everybody has their preferences to which bands they like from this era, I love The Jimi Hendrix Experience, but there are people who like Jefferson Airplane, which I do understand.

Surrealistic Pillow was the second studio album from the band and was released in 1967. It is also notable for being the album to introduce the talented Grace Slick on vocals. I can only assume that she is the reason that the album was successful, as it reached Number 3 on the Billboard 200, and that is about it.

The album overall has eleven songs, with one of the most notable being the second track "Somebody to Love". The song is very energetic and really does show off the talent of the band's lead guitarist. The lyrics are pretty basic but the chorus itself is nicely catchy, and the following track "My Best Friend" is lighthearted and soft, it isn't a good song to follow up "Somebody to Love", but it isn't too bad.

Unfortunately, as much as we all like to deny it, Grace Slick is not actually the lead singer of the group for this album, that honour goes to Marty Balin, who showcases his talents in "Today", one of the dullest songs I've ever heard. Seriously, I can barely remember the song and every time I think about it, I always think to The Smashing Pumpkins song of the same name, which might I add is a better song.

That is the main problem with this album, not the weird sounds and stuff, but it is the fact that it introduces Grace Slick, one of the most powerful female singers of the time and the majority of the album is sung with either Marty on his own or with Grace in a duet, in which she doesn't have any chance to shine. Songs like "Comin' Back to Me" and "How Do You Feel" are good examples, as while they may have good instrumentals and such, Marty ruined those songs by making them dull and boring. I'm not saying he is a bad singer, but when we have been introduced to a unique voice on the second track, it kind of makes the other songs duller in comparison.

The ninth and tenth tracks however, bring the album up a lot more than previous tracks. The ninth track "Embryonic Journey" is an instrumental that is nice and relaxing and does show off Jorma Kaukonen's abilities, and is a good example of what I like about instrumental tracks, although it is a bit short. However, what is arguably the most iconic track on the album is the tenth track, "White Rabbit" which is also my favourite song on the album. Not only is it inspired by and references Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Which is one of my favourite books of all time, but it also builds on itself. This is what I love in music, not just that they are good songs, but also that they build on themselves. "White Rabbit" really does showcase why Grace Slick should have been the lead singer on this album instead of Marty Balin.

Overall, the album as a whole was rather disappointing. Anybody going in expecting songs like "White Rabbit" will be severely disappointed. Sure "White rabbit" is an amazing song, but aside from two other songs, the rest of the album is rather dull and boring. I do recommend it to anybody who either likes psychedelic rock or enjoys soft and relaxing music, but I personally had my expectations pushed off a cliff.

For the three goods songs, but the other dull songs, I give it a 6/10.

Album Review: Wolfmother - Victorious

Now for probably the most recent album I have reviewed thus far. Often times I find some really interesting things at places like the Library which is where I got the My Chemical Romance album I reviewed a while back.

The fourth studio album released by Australian hard rock band Wolfmother, Victorious was released on February 19, 2016 and topped the UK Rock and Metal Album Charts and reached number 2 on the US Top Hard Rock Albums, but only reached number 33 on the Canadian Albums Chart and number 71 on the Billboard 200 and reached the lowest on the French Albums Chart at number 129.

The Album opens with a decent song in "The Love that you Give" and then heads into the titular track "Victorious". The first track had some issues with the vocals kind of falling behind the music, but "Victorious" fixes that problem and has some pretty good instrumentals as well. "Victorious" is so far the only song to be released as a single and only peaked at Number 26 on the US Mainstream Rock Charts.

The third track is also a good song, although "Baroness" has some simple lyrics, but the song itself could either be about a one sided love, or more likely a bit of jealousy or disdain. Unfortunately it is followed by so far my least favourite song on the album "Pretty Peggy" which offers a good mix up with the song sounding more folky than hard rock, but the song doesn't work. Not because of the fact that a hard rock band is singing it, but because it sounds more comfortable by a band like The Lumineers or Lukas Graham rather than a hard rock group like Wolfmother.

Honestly, after the fifth track "City Lights" the album kind of starts to blend together for me, sound like one song melts into another. Songs like "Best of a Bad Situation" and "Gypsy Caravan" have similar problems and Andrew's vocals at this point are starting to annoy me.

The final track on this album "Eye of the Beholder" has vocals that sound like they follow the same rhythm as the rest of the album. The album doesn't really separate itself from itself, which I had a problem with P.O.D.'s Satellite.

Overall, I can't really say this is a bad album. My biggest problem is that a lot of the album sounds the same when it comes to the vocals and the rhythm they follow, however the instrumentals are pretty good. Andrew Stockdale's vocals can annoy me, but I think the album really works at it's best in small doses, unless you are a Wolfmother fan.

I give it a 6/10 for the vocals, and the tracks with the exception of a few, being very meh at best.

Album Review: Enya - Dark Sky Island

So with the disappointment that was Satellite I thought I needed something that I actually like, so here is my review of the 2015 release by Irish singer Enya.

Dark Sky Island was released in November and so far has been appearing sporadically on album charts ranking the highest on the Hungarian Albums Chart at number 15 and going as low as number 99 on the Italian Albums Chart, it did however peak at number 6 on the Canadian Charts and number 8 on the Billboard 200, and as of now has only been certified gold in eight countries.

The album is a lot different than the last few albums I reviewed, for one thing this isn't rock, it's more new age Celtic music. Enya's singing voice is beautiful and it is perfectly showcased in the opening track. "The Humming" begins really softly and showcases the singers talents while also letting us know what kind of album this will be, the lyrics are pretty simple but considering the type of music this is, I don't think it really matters.

So far my favourite track off the album is the third track "Even in the Shadows" which has a different pace to other songs and has a piano that adds a really nice touch. Even with the pace change the song still sound very beautiful and so does the following track "The Forge of Angels" which is not in English but still has a very beautiful and even a little haunting with the vocals sounding very much like chanting.

"Echoes in Rain" is my second favourite song off the album and so far is the only song to be released as a single. It sounds much more optimistic or upbeat, and it makes the track stand out. Even though I do love this album, the titular track, as a lot of the tracks, don't really give me a lot to talk about, when my praise can be given to each song, you know you've made a great album, and the reverse is true as well.

If there was any song I am not a huge fan of it would have to be both "Sancta Maria" and the ending track "Diamonds on the Water". "Sancta Maria" has good instrumentals, but it is simply just the title of the song sang for the entirety of the song, and "Diamonds on the Water" Would have been an incredible track, but there is a sound that I found really distracting and I assume that it was supposed to sound like water droplets but again, they just sound distracting.

Now, the Deluxe Edition, which I have, has three bonus tracks, but I'm not judging the Deluxe Edition. So, overall the album is very calm and relaxing, the singing is very beautiful and there really isn't a bad song on the album, even what I considered the "Low Points" are only low points by the rest of the album's standards.

For it's beauty, relaxed tone and for the fact that no two songs actually sounding alike (Ahem P.O.D.) I have to give this album a 9/10, it isn't perfect but very few albums are.

Album Review: P.O.D. - Satellite

Another one of those albums I never really listened to, even though I do own it. P.O.D. is a Christian rap metal band, yes that is a thing. No, I'm not going to say that it sucks because it is Christian, that would be stupid, but the album is not anything worth celebrating either.

Satellite was released on... September 11th 2001? Okay moving on, this was the fourth studio album by the band and peaked at number 4 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, number 16 on the UK Albums Chart and Number 6 on the Billboard 200. It reached the highest on the Top Christian Albums, and reached its lowest on the French Albums Chart only reaching number 50. It went 3xPlatinum in the U.S. and only Platinum in Australia and Canada.

The album does start off promising with "Set it Off" kicking off with a short bit of drumming and instrumentals, the second track is also not bad with a decent chorus. It's the third track, "Boom", that things start to fall, sounding a bit generic and more like Limp Bizkit instead of Linkin Park or Korn.

The only track I actually kind of liked on the album was the fourth track "Youth of the Nation" which starts off slowly and has some good lyrics. Although this was the point where the rapping started to sound very similar to me. The titular track "Satellite" Sounds very much like generic Alternative Metal and makes me wish I was listening to System of a Down instead. and the track "Ridiculous" has a more reggae sound to it than previous tracks, but is also nothing worth talking very much about.

The album also tries to have two instrumentals. I like instrumental tracks or songs that have very long solos, they really show off the skills of the rest of the band, but the two on this album are way to short and didn't build on themselves. "Anything Right" was another song I didn't dislike as it had some interesting verses with slow instrumentals and strings, although what keeps it from being an Album Highlight is the chorus which sounds like the rest of the album.

The album ends with "Portrait", and it is also pretty bad, and that is disappointing because the opening and chorus are not bad, but the rest of the song is just a mess of screaming vocals and generic instruments.

Overall, I say skip this album, if you want to have a good Christian metal band I'd say keep searching. The album meshes with itself, has very few highlights, if any at all and is only good for background noise in my opinion.

I give it a 3/10 as it is simply just generic and forgettable.

Album Review: My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

Okay, this is bound to be interesting. So I often pick up a few music albums from the Library, the most recent of these pick-ups was the 2006 My Chemical Romance Album The Black Parade.
This album topped both the New Zealand RIANZ ALBUMS Chart and the US Rock Albums Chart and reached Number 2 on the Canadian, UK and Billboard 200, ranked number 10 on the Japanese Albums Chart and reached as low as Number 91 on the Belgian Walloon Albums Chart.

My Chemical Romance is one of those bands I've heard about, but never really listened to until recently. The album has thirteen songs and tells the story of the narrator's experiences in death, the afterlife and in reflecting on his own life, although you wouldn't really pick up on it by the songs themselves.

Most of my problems with the album can be seen in the third track "This is How I Disappear" which does start off promising with a good guitar, albeit a bit of a generic riff. The song isn't bad but the drums really do kind of drown the vocals out, and the song is followed by "The Sharpest Lives" Which has one of the most annoying basslines I've ever heard, seriously, if you aren't annoyed by that bassline you clearly have more tolerance for it than I do. "The Sharpest Lives" also doesn't offer anything distinct to the album, it can really mesh with the previous songs. Thankfully the following track is a pretty good highlight.

"Welcome to the Black Parade" starts off slowly giving a nice change of pace to the album, and even though it does shift into a harder rock song pretty much at random, the chorus isn't bad, it's catchy and somewhat upbeat. The song also did really well reaching number 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the US Alternative Songs Chart. The next song "I Don't Love You" also isn't bad, but it didn't hit either the American nor Canadian charts, but the song did however reach Number 3 on the Scottish Singles Chart and Number 13 in the UK Singles Chart.

The Ninth and Tenth tracks are kind of low points for the album. The Ninth track "Mama" sounds very similar to Gogol Bordello's "Start Wearing Purple" and the tenth track "Sleep" is just a flat-out bland song even with the strange recording at the beginning. However both of those are forgiven for the eleventh track, "Teenagers".

This is my favourite song on the album, as the band seemed to have ditched the Emo Rock slow and whiny sound for an Alternative Rock fast and hard sound. It was the only song to really stand out first time I heard the whole album.

Overall, I can not say I enjoyed this album as a whole, many songs run together and the instrumentals often drown out the vocals. Although songs like "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Teenagers" are good songs, the rest of the album is either meh or just plain bad, with my least favourite songs being "The Sharpest Lives" and "Sleep".

Maybe if I was a bigger fan of this kind of rock I would enjoy it more as it does seem to be something only fans of the genre can enjoy, but for now, I think I'll stick with Linkin Park as my go to Whiny rock band.

I give this album a 5/10 for the drowned out vocals and for the meh songs.