Editorial Review

Billy Talent delivers a rock-intensive and at times eclectic disc that highlights the group's inability to write songs that have depth or elements of surprise. True, "In The Fall" has a hook that's as catchy as a soccer anthem and the anti-scenester rant "The Red Flag" proves excitingly attitudinal and carries with it a spot on Clash-meets-Green Day vibe; "Falling Leaves" and "Perfect World" demonstrate the unit's knack for crafting ear-perking opening riffs. But each of those tunes––and virtually all those found on Read more

Reviews (27)

Talent Rocks
I have this CD and it is awesome. First heard "Red Flag" on a video game (Burnout Revenge) and loved it. Bought the CD and now that song is not even in the top 5 on the CD. I like every song on the CD. Can't loose with this one.

A great Cd!!
A friend introduced me to Billy Talent and I loved it right away. This Cd is great, with a lot of gritty punk songs. Some of my favorites are A Devil in a Midnight Mass, Red flag but the whole album is great. Billy Talent is a very talented band and some friends of mine even went to their concert. I personally enjoy it very much and would like to listen to their first debut too. This is a great Cd for pretty much anyone who likes loud music or punk and I would defintely recommend it.

What Have You Become?
A good majority of the people here and elsewhere will have you believe that "II" is a quality extension of Billy Talent's self-titled debut. THAT couldn't be further from the truth. The energy, atmosphere and character of Billy's debut is all but absent on "II", leaving behind and in it's place over-production and spotty songwriting. If the ballad were going out of style, Billy Talent was that first to be notified, with over half of "II" being filled with just that; ballads. Aside from that, "worker bees" is probably the worst song I've ever heard in my entire life.
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Subjects:  1. Canada    2. Emo    3. Pop    4. Post-Hardcore    5. Punk Revival    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

"This is the voice of your conscience, baby..." The recording debut of the Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention is a brilliantly wicked counter-strike to the flower power sensibilities prevalent at the time of it's release in 1966. Arguably rock music's first true "concept album," Zappa's aural collage mashes together chunks of psychedelic guitars, outspoken political commentary, cultural satire, and avant-garde musical sensibilities, and then hides it all under cleverly crafted pop melodies. Not diminished in the slightest by the passage of time, Read more

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (56)

Mothers Always Did Love You Best
Freak Out! - released as a two-album set in 1966, is a lot more than Zappa's debut, it is a profound achievement of modern music that belongs in any collection worthy of the name.Were you to own only one Mothers/Zappa CD - (a mistake) - this would have to be it.Forty years have passed since it was unleashed upon an unsuspecting world and it is every bit as fresh and fascinating today as it was then.
doo wop schlock-hop ditty bop mop top slop shop
Stick Brian Wilson in a muppet sock inside a corpse that's hanging from a bungee cord; let's go talk to the extras and see what jo schmo's got to say about whatever drug is in fashion. Let's all go into the bathroom and finger our chakras. Hold your breath and stare into the mirror, all crisp, tight light and shining nerves, hot breath on your chest, in your cage, lowered down with the sea monsters and washing the car. Blast me into the incorporeal past! Xylophone sticks splintering in my spine, bongos rattling in my gills, cheese trails flying from my dog's jowls in the front-side passenger seat. My skull's frontpiece has daggered split ends and I'm drooling inside my fur suit, bug-eyed for some killer spray and babbling in the beach blanket bingo lingo. Glistery muscles budding from spires of iron, licking the breath off my chest. Weird cyclones blistering from my cheek, making my reflection go watery and steep, flying up out of the sky, a fissure of steam lacing the air. Bumble bee hairnets and bubblewrap nail casings. My throat is a canvas of digestible gases in disrepair, slippery and ripe.

Amazing.
Every single song on this album is amazing. That's all I have to say. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Avant-Garde    2. Comedy Rock    3. Doo Wop    4. Experimental Rock    5. Musique Concrète    6. Pop    7. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    8. Proto-Punk    9. Rock    10. Rock & Roll    11. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (14)

Pepper is like a breath of fresh air ...

Kona Town is a must buy!
This CD is really great to listen too! All the tracks bring you a great sound that will keep you bobbing your head.
It is good ... but nothing great
But it is NOT 311 or sublime, or even Go Jimmy Go. Not even in the same class. The lyrics and music are far more simple, and in spots have an annoying country touch. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Minutemen's Read more

Reviews (109)

Essential album.Lame reissue!
I rank Double Nickels on the Dime in the top ten albums released in the 80's.I am very glad I held onto my vinyl because for reasons I can't fathom, three songs on the original release are not on this reissue, which is why I am not giving it the five stars this album deserves.
Worth so much more than nickels and dimes
If the show Jackass ever did anything worth admiring, it was choosing "Corona" by Minutemen as it's theme. At two and a half minutes, it's one of the longer tracks on this nearly 45 track album. It's also one of the more conventional punk anthem's they've done, considering how far the horizons stretch when it comes to this band and being creative.
Blows away all of today's limp, soggy music!!!!!!
DOUBLE NICKELS ON THE DIME ('84) stuffs 43 short songs on two LP's or one CD.The album meshes quite a variety of musical styles:punk, funk, spoken bits, jazzy instrumentation, folk, and even polka!
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. American Underground    3. Bass    4. College Rock    5. Hardcore Punk    6. Pop    7. Post-Punk    8. Punk    9. Rock    10. United States of America   

Reviews (45)

Hard Driving Rage !
Probably my favorite album from this incredible band. Heck, all of their albums are great, I cannot really think of another band with the consistency as Mike Ness and the boys. What I like so much about this album is how hard it is. This album kicks off with a rockin' # and just keeps driving the pace and sound up up up. Mike Ness, you freaking rule!

The Best Record Ever Made
I've been listening to rock and roll and other popular music since 1963. My tastes run from Hank Williams to Chevelle, from Donovan to Type O Negative, from Dinah Washington to Catherine Wheel. I rarely use words like "the best" because "the best" tends to vary over time and with moods - there is just so much good music out there. This recording, however, over the 10 years since its release, has proven itself over time. Ness and Co. set out with a mission: to make a great "punk rock" album. I don't think they did that at all, this isn't even "punk rock" to my ears. What they made is simply The Greatest Record of All Time. It is flawless in its writing, its performance, and its production. I will be forever grateful to them for making it.

Absolutely gorgeous agony
Being a long time Social D fan, I greatly anticipated the release of White Heat...Mike Ness and co. had gone through some line-up changes and in the process acquired "Master of the Skins" and former Danzig drummer, Chuck Biscuits.This new arrival, while he had never been a core writer or personality in any previous band, made his presence more than known on this cd.The tempo and drumming, put to sadistic use in this collection perfectly matched the atmosphere that Ness created when he wrote the songs.Some may say that this cd is a bit depressing.Those people would be right but Ness's pain, loneliness, and frustration is beautiful to listen to unfold.In point of fact, this cd reminded me of why I love music so much.It allows you to explore the darker side of yourself and not to be afraid of it.Kind of scary, huh?
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Hard Rock    3. Pop    4. Popular Music    5. Punk    6. Rock    7. Rock & Roll   

Reviews (61)

The Best of Flogging Molly
When first listening to this album, many first reactions may be to say that this isn't as good as Swagger or Drunken Lullabies. I thought the same way. But then, after going through the CD several times, I found myself coming back to this one over and over, far beyond Drunken Lullabies. Overall, the intrumentation is phenominal, far beyond the other two albums. The melodies range from soft and soothing (Wanderlust, To Youth) to drunken lullabies style awsome (Tobacco Island, Seven Deadly Sins) to haunting and emotinally chilling (Spoken Wheel, With a Wonder and a Wild Desire). Overall, an intense and amazing album.
Flogging Brilliant!
Wow..this quite unlike anything I have been exposed to in music so far.I love the blending of traditional Irish/Celtic folk instruments and vibe with the attitude and swagger of the modern punk movement.It is somewhat reminiscent of the Pogues at their best but manages to forge its own unique groove.Buy it...play it...love it!

The light of a fading star? NO WAY!
I'll admit right away, I didn't like this album at first. I had to force myself to listen to it. But once I heard it a few times...I fell in love! This CD is amazing. There's a perfect balance of slower songs (Whistles the Wind, Don't Let Me Die Still Wondering) and faster songs (Seven Deadly Sins, Tobacco Island - one of the best on the album). In my opinion, Within a Mile of Home is better than Drunken Lullabies, but both are worth getting (if you liked Drunken Lullabies, you'll like this album). Within a Mile of Home is perfect for doing chores or other things that you really don't feel like doing. It's upbeat and will help you get the job done. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Indie Rock    3. Pop    4. Punk Revival    5. Punk-Pop    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Reviews (21)

Great Album!
This has got to be one of the best albums I've purchased in a while.It is definitely worth every penny, quite refreshing.

When all thats left is the feeling that you've heard this before
Quietdrive 'quietly' flew under my radar for the longest time. I had not even heard of them until last week, when the song "take a drink" caught my attention and got me interested.
Good Pop/Rock record
Good record. But unfortunately the quality of the tracks fades a bit towards the end. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Emo    3. Pop    4. Punk-Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Explicit Lyrics

Reviews (74)

Twee as cluck
Ah, this is a great album. Very feel-good. Contains some of the most rampant catchiness allowed to run around on a disc. Frontman Justin Pierre's voice reminds me of Cedric Bixler on large, large amounts of barbibtuates. His is an extremely pleasant singing voice.
Yes, the album really is this good...
This is one of my all time top 10 cds, along with 'I am the Movie'. Motion City Soundtrack is one of the best bands out there, and i think everyone should at least give them a fair chance.
I Underestimated MCS....
When my sister first started playing this CD in our room every night, it annoyed me. I couldn't stand it. But then, I decided to really listen to it. And I found that I really, really liked the group.
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Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Punk Revival    3. Punk-Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. United States of America   

Reviews (3)

=/
I have to say that the EP was much, much, much better. This cd just doesn't live up to what I thought it would be. There are a few good songs, but overall it's just an okay album.. nothing too amazing sry2say.

Please enter a title for your review
It's ridiculous that any band would even bother recording and releasing such weak bland redundant excuses for songs, but what's especially disconcerting, yet somehow not that surprising, is that it's coming from a band that earlier this year released an ep of perfectly decent alt-rock emo tunes. It's not really even that i'm mourning a lack of talent in the faux-edgy music scene, but just the complete lack of awareness or regard for the difference between a song that has an actual hook, something distinctive in it that makes you want to hear it again, and just rehashing formulas, boring basic rigid commercial conventions without even 1% of variation to make it marginally interesting. These guys wrote 5 decent semi-interesting tunes on the ep, now on the album they just don't care anymore, they're just rewriting other bands songs, following formulas like it's their job, like they never knew the difference between hooks and plodding non-melodies, as if it was just blind luck that they wrote actual songs on the ep.

Absolutely Amazing!
Escape The Fate has a unique sound that rocks. You will not be dissapointed in this CD. They are amazing! Once you hear them you will be a fan for life!
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Subjects:  1. Emo    2. Pop    3. Post-Hardcore    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. United States of America   

Editorial Review

"This is from our hearts" is the impassioned declaration that opens Alexisonfire's third CD Read more

Reviews (8)

With "Crisis," Alexisonfire lights it up again
Alexisonfire moved away from the nearly inaccessible, hardcore noise that dominated their first album, the self-titled "Alexisonfire." Their second album, "Watch Out!" showed maturity if not conformity but nonetheless improvement. "Crisis," the Ontario, Canada quintet's third album, is the pinnacle of their efforts to date--it's a near-perfect album that slips up on a single unnecessary track and doesn't falter at any other point.
New and good sound
This is probably alexisonfire's best album. Everything works and mixes well. All of the Vocalists make their presense heard.
This band gets better after every album
Though I admit to not being a huge fan .It was only till I took the chance and bought this album.Unlike there first two albums ,this have more power and what I like the most....more melotic songs.This album has its heavy powerful songs most fans will like.For new fans like me that need more melotic chorus instead of the screams,its perfect.Good album boys.Like I always sayCanadians do it better. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Post-Hardcore    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

On their 1997 release, Dude Ranch, juvenile hardcore-pop band Blink 182 tickled the funny bone with an assortment of dumb sex jokes, off-color artwork, and between-song skits, including one of a dog drinking from a freshly peed in toilet. So, two years down the road, have the band matured at all? One look at the cover of Read more

Features

• Enhanced
• Explicit Lyrics

Reviews (1210)

Absolute pop-punk classic
1999 was a crazy year. Everyone was getting prepared for Y2K. Everyone was out seeing Star Wars Episode 1, Toy Story 2, and The Sixth Sense. It was a year of popstars (Britney Spears, N*SYNC, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys) and rap-rockers (KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock), but among them came a little punk trio of guys in their mid-20's singing teen anthems along to simple, catchy, energetic music that would inspire hit music for years to come. That band was blink-182, the band that created tons of hits, inspired millions of teens to start bands, and popularized the term "pop-punk", and it all happened with this album.
WOW THEY SUCK
God these poesurs couldn't be anyworse. Whats funny is that travis barker is getting a divorce!! He sucks!!!

Great cd, even though it is old
Just Adam's Song makes this cd worth getting. It is the best song I have ever heard. Besides from it, there are other good ones on the album. All The Small Things was the first blink-182 song I ever heard. I don't understand what it's about, but it is really good. What's My Age Again? has hilarious lyrics, but it is still a great song. blink-182 may be gone, but this cd is still one of the best ones ever. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative/Indie-Rock    3. Bass (Electric)    4. Drums    5. Guitar (Electric)    6. Pop    7. Post-Grunge    8. Punk Revival    9. Punk-Pop    10. Rock    11. Rock/Pop    12. Synthesizer    13. Vocal Harmony    14. Vocals    15. Vocals (Background)   

Editorial Review

For My Chemical Romance's ever-expanding list of fanatics, this double-disc set is better than an XBox 360, MySpace.com, and free internet combined. In terms of content, it handily laps the New Jersey screamo band's only major label release, 2004's Read more

Features

• Explicit Lyrics
• Live

Reviews (30)

A nice addition to the collection
To start, I've read all the reviews, and laugh at the people who say "You can't like this and like that."Guess what, the very fact you're trying to tell people what they can and can't like is stupid.
Your Organic Platonicness?
Life on the Murder Scene gives MCR fans an inside look behind the scenes of a band with a message. It is a nice filler between 3 Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Rise and Fall of...(possibly the title of their new cd), including live performances, misic videos, and the history behind My Chemical Romance, with a little hint at what might be developing...

Amazing!!(3 Sentence review, but still worth writing about!)
I love the live versions of their song.They always bring the song to life.My little sister's in love with "Desert."She thinks it's the best ever. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Emo    3. Music Video    4. Performance    5. Pop    6. Post-Hardcore    7. Punk-Pop    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop   

Features

• Special Edition

Reviews (56)

Absolutely incredible but bizzare album
Of course you can't compare to seeing them live, They are a great live band.But it's an incredible CD, I really liked it = better than their other cds.The lyrics are quite bizzare, and I'm not so sure about the songs, I was troubled by some of the music, and they don't change things up enough, it's a little hard to listen to this for a long time, it gets on my nerves, don't ask me why.They do a better job musically all the way around this time.The art work is super.Don't buy the CD+DVD - the dvd just isn't worth it, and I felt pretty ripped off.It was pretty cheesy if you ask me.My take is tht the music was quite genius in how it was executed, but I found the lyrics troubling, bizzare, and jus plain out didn't make a lot of sense, I read the lyric sheet several times. It didn't flow, where did this stuff come from? I think Underoath is the best band in this space, but they are all sounding ALIKE and I'm getting tired of listening to the same kind of stuff over and over, it's like they all copy each other. This band is the only really original band and the best of the whole hardcore screamo space. But they have a lot to improve on musically and they know it.I know how hard they work, really hard.they need to make the music more musical, even screamo needs to be musical and the screams need to fit.I saw their live performance and it was like they were all doing their own thing and they weren't in sync with each other about what they were going to do.That sense is also on the CD, - now don't blast me, I'm telling what I think.Now, I don't worship the ground they walk on, I worshipJesus, so don't get on me, everybody is so sensitive nowadays.I have a lot of respect for the band.I think they are great. CD is well worth it.

Good, but eh.....
Ok first off this is a great album.
This is an excellent album
After Reading about Underoathn in AP, I became slightly interested in them. Then, at Warped Tour, I saw their live performance. I was extremely impressed by their extraordinary emotional, yet tight live performance.
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Subjects:  1. Christian Metal    2. Pop    3. Post-Hardcore    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Screamo   

Reviews (22)

Underoath Meets Blindside's "Silence"
The first thing I noticed with this album, (other than this being a new album with songs that I'd never heard before) was that it was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge. This means it's going to have amazingly full, booming bass and the effects on instruments and vocals are going to be proper and fit beautifully. What it also means is that it's going to sound like everything else that he's mixed. Note the title of this review. Right at the first song, I thought it sounded precicely like Silence. The general sound of the guitars and drums sounded exactly like Christian and them had never gone out of the studio. This isn't to say that the songs' keys/riffs sound similar, as Underoath still has it when it comes to playing notes. If this is your first Underoath CD and you're expecting more of the same sound on their older albums, you're going to be disappointed. Their other albums don't sound as 'deep' as this does, what with the bass sounding like it's coming from a monster 12' underground.
walking a thin line
Underoath does a great job of sounding like themself and changing the sound on this one. They straddle the line between screamo and metalcore and combine some almost ambient melodic pieces too. This album has that hard to define but known when heard, maturity, on it. They just sound like they did an album they wanted to do. I don't think it's groundbreaking but it is a worthy listen if you like some melody with your growling and breakdowns. Pay attention to the drummer here, he is driving this machine.
I Compare Underoath to AFI
...but not for reasons regarding genre. I compare Underoath with the band AFI (A Fire Inside) because both bands have made drastic changes to their style of music. AFI moving from their california punk roots into a more melodic sound, including the use of synths on their new release, while Underoath (if anyone has their first two albums knows how odd it is to hear Dallas Taylor screaming in a death metal scream about Jesus Christ) has changed from their black metal/hardcore to a more pop-sounding, radio-friendly post-hardcore/screamo style. With a new vocalist, Spencer Chamberlain joining the band after the release of The Changing Of Times where Dallas left the band due to creative differences, they released They're Only Chasing Safety. This album was very radio-friendly and Spencer i think was a great addition to the band. With the release of Define The Great Line, he has proven me right. He was able to be more creative now that he had spent more time with the band and they really did a great job on this. Every song is great, the single Writings On The Walls being one of my favorite. Underoath is evolving and changing this screamo genre for the better. This album gets 4 stars because the album sometimes seems reptitive but it is still a great album. Even though they are a Christian band, they still make great music. When it comes down to it, who really cares what their religion is? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christian Metal    2. Pop    3. Post-Hardcore    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Screamo    7. United States of America   

Editorial Review

For all his tattoos and bulked-up frat-boy persona, singer Bradley Nowell had real soul, which made his fatal heroin overdose even more tragic. There's more to this Long Beach, California, trio's debut, released shortly after Nowell's death in 1996, than white suburban punks imitating Jamaican ska music. The band comes up with great songs, notably the catchy MTV hit "What I Got"; spooky dub-reggae undertones, produced by the Butthole Surfers' Paul Leary, to go with the snappy horns; and surprisingly progressive lyrics that attack sexism and other social ills, especially on "Wrong Way." Like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fishbone, obvious forebears, Sublime become slightly tiresome after 17 songs, but the band is great in short doses. Read more

Features

• Enhanced
• Explicit Lyrics
• Deluxe Edition

Reviews (6)

freakin awesome
i must agree with paulo. knopper or whatever his name is is definatly a idiot. i can never get enough sublime if it be 40oz to freedom,sublime.second hand smoke,robbin the hood, or anything else i missed. now that i think of it there was this one time me and my roommate got all spun out on lsd and listened to 40oz to freedom 5 times in a row. this is definatly a must have along with the 4 disc box set that comes out in nov.

Brad and Sublime: resurrected at last...!
Everybody loves this album; why else would you have clicked on the icon in order to view the product?
Ha I agree w/paulo
That reviewer Steve Kopper is dumb as nails. "For all Brad Nowell's bulked up frat boy persona"...haha what? He probably listens to emo & wears really tight sweaters (wait or is that the 'frat boy' thing to do now? Whatever it's all so confusing) Anyway anyone who knows good music knows Sublime, & if you don't you should. I'm only giving this 4 stars rather than 5 b/c they held out too much on the unreleased tracks, I would have liked there to be more. Still a lot of the tracks particularly on the second disc will probably be new to more casual fans & most people, while the more hardcore are hoping the upcoming box set is released & is mostly new, unheard material. If you don't have the Sublime self-titled I definately recommend this version to the original, I would definately give it a 5 star rating to you if that's your situation. I compared the sound quality of this to the already perfect original & actually they're very similiar if not exactly the same so they didn't go & ruin it w/an overbearing remaster or anything, like corporations sometimes tend to do on these rereleases. Cop it. One Love to Bradley, greatest of all time ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Punk Revival    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Ska-Punk    7. Third Wave Ska Revival   

Features

• Enhanced

Reviews (362)

the used defines the term "screamo"...
i can't believe it's been four years since this album was released. yet, i still listen to this album often today even though i have a 500+ cd library. i really can't describe how much this band and this album means to me. before the used came along i was in the whole "nu metal" stage and that's all i listened to. then i heard the song "a box of sharp objects" and i thought "wow", this is really awesome and different. i then bought the cd and i was amazed at what i had just heard. it was so different from anything i've ever heard and i loved it! the cd was beautiful, full of emotion, yet has lots of passion and angst with the screaming/singing mix. not to mention the passionate, poetic lyrics that really hit home and strike you deep, deep down. it was right at that moment when my taste in music changed. from there, i got into finch, thursday, glassjaw, thrice, coheed and cambria, the early november, taking back sunday, and so on. so i just want to send a thank you out to the used for opening my eyes to this new, different style of music and showing me what "real" music is.
Great Cd, thats all there is to it.
This cd was much better than their second release. This has to be one of my top ten all time favorite cds. every song on the album is awesome and something that you want to sing to for days even after youve heard them. the best song on the cd is Pieces Mended, that song will rock your world. I would love to break every song down for yall and tell you how good each one is but that takes so much time. take it from me and go buy this cd right now, its very very good, and you will remember it forever.

My ears!!!!!!!!!
This band is pretty awful. Their music is unoriginal and their singer sounds like a cat when he sings. It's desguisting. I never want to hear his voice again. It's pretty sad that people call this stuff punk. I'm not someone who worships the name of punk, or who even claims to be punk! But this band certainly isn't punk. The Sex Pistols were punk. The Misfits were punk.