album review: 'beyond the red mirror' by blind guardian

I've said before that it's hard to talk about legends, especially as a critic and especially when you know these bands had a seminal impact on shaping their genre. But do you want to know what's even harder? Talking critically about musical acts that were so formative to my musical evolution that I couldn't imagine being a music critic without hearing this band, who I first discovered online in the mid-2000s on clunky fantasy fansites as making music to a favourite novel series I was reading at the time. At the time I was a teenager absorbed in the Dragonlance series of novels, and I discovered that at the time, two metal bands actually wrote songs surrounding some of the characters from those stories. I'll talk about the second band in a month or two, but the first... Now keep in mind at this point I pretty much only listened to pop, hip-hop, and country, with limited exposure to rock and pretty much no metal. And I had never gone through an 'angry white boy' phase, I had no reason to listen to nu-metal or metalcore or even much punk, but I was curious.

The song was called 'The Soulforged', the album was A Night At The Opera, and the band was Blind Guardian. It might have taken three or four listens, but I was hooked - and from there, I started listening to power metal and symphonic metal. The folk tinges pushed towards fantasy-themed acts like Blackmore's Night which led me to Deep Purple and hard rock and blues, and the explosive, fast-paced chugging riffs pushed me towards the greats of thrash metal and punk. The rest is history, but I can say this definitively - if it wasn't for Blind Guardian, I probably wouldn't have this channel today. 

And thus revisiting the band is a little daunting for me, half because of their reputation and half because I know so much of their music by heart. Hailing from Germany, they started out as a speed metal band in the mid-80s before transitioning into a more epic, fantasy-inspired scope with Tales From The Twilight World in 1990. Plenty of fans hail the Tolkien-inspired Nightfall In Middle-Earth as their seminal work from the 90s, but for me it's always been Imaginations From The Other Side - the perfect blend of their speed metal roots and the folk-inspired power metal they would evolve into, and a damn classic, at least for me. And that evolution reached its apex with 2002's A Night At The Opera, a title that matched the overblown Queen-like bombast of its sound that features some of my favourite Blind Guardian songs like 'The Soulforged', 'Battlefield', 'Sadly Sings Destiny', and of course the gargantuan fourteen minute 'And Then There Was Silence'. But the record really is indulgent, and a lot more uneven than one might expect. It was enough that their drummer Thomas Staunch left the band, dissatisfied by the change in direction for the band.

And by all reckoning, he might have spoken too soon, because Blind Guardian changed again in 2006 with A Twist In The Myth, with less over-the-top bombast and more for a straightforward, hard-hitting thrash feel. And not only was the production stronger, the drumming of Frederik Ehmke was more intricate, varied, and wasn't as reliant on triggers for drum fills, which I definitely preferred. It didn't always hit the high points of A Night At The Opera, but I'd argue it was more consistent and a lot tighter. Unfortunately, that didn't really carry over into their 2010 album At The Edge Of Time, which... yeah, it wasn't bad, but that tightness wasn't there, which meant the album had a lot of pomp and bombast, but not quite the great songs to really stick the landing for me.

But now, five years later, Blind Guardian are back, with Beyond The Red Mirror, an album that was being hailed as a sequel to Imaginations From The Other Side, my favourite Blind Guardian record. And let's be honest, it's been twenty years from that album, and if you're planning to make a sequel to one of the best power metal albums ever made, you had better do it justice? I have to admit, I was worried - did Blind Guardian pull it off?

video review: 'all hands' by doomtree

Damn, that took a lot of work, but oh wow it was worth it. The streak of great albums continues!

And next up, it should be an easy slam dunk, the newest record from Blind Guardian, so stay tuned!

album review: 'all hands' by doomtree

So let me pose to you all a question: how easy should art be to consume?

Because as a critic who covers so many genres of music - especially pop music - it gets to be an interesting conversation when you ask this question. On the one hand, you'll find plenty of critics, scholars, or people looking to challenge themselves who seek out all sorts of challenging or draining art that can push the mind or body. On the other hand, you'll find all sorts of art that's not designed to challenge at all - whether by catering or pandering to its audience or by tapping into specific pleasure centers, it goes down easy. 

Now let's pose the hard question: what is better? Well, it's a loaded question, especially when you bring artistic intent into the mix. On the one hand, art that is experimental or thought-provoking is often hailed for pushing those boundaries, disparaging more commercial products. And yet as I've said in the past, there's craftsmanship in populism - sure, there might be a formula to commercially accessible art, but creating something truly special in that vein, or wrapping challenging subject matter in an easy-to-swallow package, that's much more difficult. 

But let's ask a different question: what makes art - in this case music - difficult to consume? Well, you get your power electronics or certain subgenres of metal that are actively abrasive, but then you get bands like Swans, who put together two-and-a-half hour albums with thirty four minute songs - sure, it's a tough sound to get used to, but what's really daunting about such an album is the length.

And then you get an act like the Minnesota hip-hop collective Doomtree, a group that's not daunting because of length, but because of sheer density. Five rappers known for aggressively cerebral lyrics that recall beat poetry interwoven with hard-edged social commentary, set against production that's explosive and rough, Doomtree records can be exhausting to take in and fully comprehend - and unsurprisingly, this album has been one of my most anticipated of 2015. I originally got into Doomtree through one of their members - Dessa, who I'd easily put down as one of my favourite female MCs ever - and the group won me over fast. I wouldn't say they've made a perfect record yet - some of the more experimental production choices haven't always worked and the politically-minded lyrics can occasionally venture into conspiracy theory nonsense - but both their self-titled debut and No Kings had some fantastic cuts on them that are rewarding both on an intellectual and visceral level. So you can bet I was absolutely psyched for their newest album All Hands - did we finally get that classic?

video review: 'no cities to love' by sleater-kinney

And that should - mostly - catch me up on my backlog. Now for that Doomtree record I've been anticipating for months - stay tuned!

album review: 'no cities to love' by sleater-kinney

Let's talk a little bit about comebacks.

Now if you're familiar with sites like Buzzfeed at all - and if you're online, you've probably been linked to one of their advertisements disguised as a list masquerading as legitimate content at some point - you're probably aware that there's a certain market for nostalgic material. To be fair this is nothing new - artists have always had a fondness for looking back and improving or innovating upon the material of those that came before, or at the very least subverting or satirizing it - but the rise of the Internet and nerd culture means that it's much easier to wring something out of that market. And given we're currently riding something of a 90s-nostalgia wave in indie music - most of which was also influenced by the 70s which in turn was influenced by the 50s and all of it is partially driven by whatever's in the underground but that's besides the point - we've seen a slew of artists that were prominent in the 90s make something of a comeback in the past couple of years across a number of genres. 

But even as it can be an easy paycheck for the artist, I'm always a little wary about comebacks driven off of nostalgia, especially in this vein. For one, it's rare that an artist will pick up where they left off in terms of their sound or aim to experiment further - after all, that'll push that treasured fanbase away unless you can guarantee success. So often times you get artists that stick pretty close to their comfort zone with their comebacks - which is fine, you can give the fans what they want - but it's rarely all that challenging or interesting or potent.

But even with that qualification, I have to admit to having high hopes here. I've talked a little about Sleater-Kinney when I reviewed the debut album from Ex Hex called Rips late last year, but that was more of a Mary Timony project. Sleater-Kinney is more of the brain-child of Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker, who along with drummer Janet Weiss managed to craft several great punk and art rock records across the 90s and early 2000s before going on hiatus. And while I won't subscribe to the hyperbole of a site like Vox saying that 'Sleater-Kinney is the last great rock band' or some clickbait headline like that, I will say that with records like All Hands On The Bad One, Dig Me Out, One Beat, and The Woods that they've made some stellar, insightful, incredibly well-written records that I really enjoy.

Yet even with that, at the back of my mind, I was uneasy about this. It wasn't just that Sleater-Kinney had a passionate fanbase that would buy that comeback album in a heartbeat, but Carrie Brownstein could easily use her cult comedy TV show Portlandia for free marketing - in other words, it was something of a guaranteed investment, and given that I wasn't expecting off-beat experimentation to follow from The Woods, they could easily make this just pure fanservice. But even with that, I'm still a fan of Sleater-Kinney, so I made sure to give No Cities To Love plenty of listens - how is it?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 7, 2015

And there we go. Lot of upload problems getting this online - which is odd, considering the editing went so quickly, but eh, it happens.

Okay, next up is Sleater-Kinney and Doomtree, stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - february 7, 2015

So, I'm assuming by now, if you watch this show or not, you might have heard that the Twilight-fanfiction turned trashy BDSM romance novel is being converted into a film. One plagued with bad buzz because the leads apparently have no chemistry and they needed an R-rating simply because of all of the cheap mid-90s softcore they needed to fill the running time and take away from the awful, awful plot? Trust me, I'm going to see Fifty Shades of Grey and give it the due thrashing it deserves, but until then we have the soundtrack - and the songs that won't stop rising on the charts. I have to say, America, you seemed to take my assertion that the public had taste like a challenge, because from the looks of things, we had a rough week.

video review: 'b4.da.$$' by joey bada$$

Goddamn, I'm so glad I took some extra time to really take this album in and get it, because if I had reviewed it after the shitty day I had yesterday, I would have been a lot less kind. Either way, damn good record, definitely check this out.

Next up, Billboard BREAKDOWN, then some Sleater-Kinney and Doomtree - let's see if we can keep this streak of great albums going, so stay tuned!

album review: 'b4.da.$$' by joey bada$$

Of the many, many album requests that I get every day, this is probably the most requested album thus far in 2015 - for a rapper who landed on the XXL Freshmen list but had no major airplay singles and was actually preferring to stay independent than sign to a major label. A new rapper erupting out of Brooklyn, affiliated with Big K.R.I.T. and Mick Jenkins with critically acclaimed mixtapes and a visceral sound and flow that definitely grabbed attention.

Yep, it's time to talk about Joey Bada$$, affiliated with Pro Era, who erupted into the game around 2012 with his hit mixtape 1999 that drew a lot of attention from hip-hop heads and critics and started getting him major hype. As it was for me, Joey Bada$$ always struck me a very good rapper with a lot of talent and definitely a strong technical lyricist, but I was waiting for him to put together a more cohesive project that rose beyond his old school boom-bap flavour. Because sure, I definitely preferred that more lyrical focus that he took in terms of technical craft, but I wanted to see what was it that separated him from his influences. He followed 1999 with the even more slick and melodic Summer Knights, and sure, it was enjoyable, but there was a certain lack of immediacy and punch to it that meant it wasn't a tape I was inclined to revisit. Definitely not bad and I appreciated Joey Bada$$' increased maturity, but after his explosive presence on Mick Jenkins' The Water[s] mixtape last year, I knew I wanted to see Joey Bada$$ bring the same fire to a project of his own. So I took the time to check out his debut album B4.DA.$$ - how is it?

video review: 'tetsuo & youth' by lupe fiasco

Man, it's nice to see Lupe Fiasco back on his game. Great album, really enjoyed it.

Next up, Joey Bada$$ - stay tuned!

album review: 'tetsuo & youth' by lupe fiasco

To say I have a complicated opinion on Lupe Fiasco would probably be understating it.

See, unlike most people, I didn't get into him from his first Food & Liquor album or The Cool. Nope, the very first project of his I heard was Lasers - and sure, it was definitely poppy and it hasn't aged well at all and it definitely feels overly simplified in comparison to those earlier albums, but I stand by the controversial opinion that for what Lasers is - a pop-flavoured rap record designed for the radio with only the slightest hint of controversy in its politics - it kind of works and I sure as hell find it to be an easier listen than the preachy, overwrought and yet underwhelming Food & Liquor 2: The Great American Rap Album Part 1. 

But yeah, going back to revisit Lupe Fiasco's career, I've found an artist that I like but don't quite love. Don't get me wrong, as a lyricist he's frequently strong and his production is always at least interesting even if it doesn't always work - but when it comes to his content... well, do you know that guy in college who's definitely smart and can grasp certain topics well, but never really takes the next step to go deeper into something really poignant or chooses to go for broad appeal that might be popular until the second someone calls him on it? Lupe Fiasco tends to fall into that category for me - a rapper who frequently gets damn close to something almost transcendent but more often than not doesn't take that extra step or, even worse, gets embroiled in conspiracy theory bullshit or broad controversial statements that make him look so much less intelligent or insightful than he actually is. Which is a shame, because when he stays away from that and goes deeper he can make fantastic music unlike anyone else, and songs like 'Kick Push' prove it. It circles back to my hard rules for art and politics, which really can be applied to any art looking to push a message: good framing, populism, and nuance. And while Lupe Fiasco tends to nail the first, he can stumble on the second and trip up on the last. And what this tends to mean is that his records while maintaining a thematic throughline I can respect, they often feel inconsistent, the amazing highs only highlighting the painful lows.

So I'll admit to being very skeptical with his upcoming album Tetsuo & Youth. Not only had it been delayed a worrying number of times, I was not impressed at all with the majority of Lupe's output that he had been dropping throughout 2014. And sure, I had heard he was going back to his roots with this record and that it was his best work since The Cool - and believe me, I wanted to get hyped for a new Lupe Fiasco album again... but I'll be honest, I had low expectations for this record. What did we get?

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 31, 2015 (VIDEO)

Overall, a pretty solid week - happy I was able to get this out before the convention kicked into high gear.

Okay, time to enjoy myself and maybe catch an album - or four - in between. Stay tuned!

billboard BREAKDOWN - hot 100 - january 31, 2015

So this was a pretty simple week on the Billboard Hot 100 - in that there were movements and changes that you could easily predict. And yet it was almost a deceptive week on the charts, where it might seem a lot happened - we even got a new song debuting in the top ten, and trust me, we'll get to it - but it's not exactly disruptive to the status quo, and if anything, its success is all the more predictable.

video review: 'viet cong' by viet cong

Well, that'll probably be it for album reviews until after MAGFest, but I think I might just have time to get one more Billboard BREAKDOWN in... stay tuned!

album review: 'viet cong' by viet cong

So I've talked before about how various musicians in indie rock have a reputation for having multiple projects running simultaneously in order to try out different styles and sounds or simply find the one that manages to catch fire. The funny thing is that in the age of the Internet, acts can very quickly build an underground cult following, and with sites like Pitchfork covering many of these projects, it means that critical acclaim can befall an act without sales or additional popularity coming along. And if the artists want to move along and try new things, it can mean they leave their fanbases hungry for more and following after whatever these artists try to assemble next.

And the more I started digging into Canadian indie rock group Viet Cong, the more I expected that some of the hype surrounding this band was coming from this phenomenon. Two members of the group, drummer Michael Wallace and bassist Matthew Flegel were previously from the critically acclaimed art rock group Women, who briefly made a splash in the late 2000s with two pretty damn great records before breaking up midtour, which took a jangly lo-fi yet exceptionally melodic and hook-driven sound and paired it with skeletal production that drew comparisons to a darker, more stripped-down Beach Boys or especially The Velvet Underground. As such, I could definitely see the interest now being taken in Viet Cong - even though that band was advertising their sound as having a much stronger post-punk influence. But hell, I like post-punk, so I made sure to give Viet Cong's self-titled debut a couple deep listens - what did we get here?

video review: 'alexander the great iii' by brazy da bo$$

Honestly, I was hoping for a little more with this release, but I'll take what I can get. Either way, I'm probably going to handle Viet Cong next and save the massive wave of hip-hop (and Sleater-Kinney) for next week after MAGFest. Either way, stay tuned!

album review: 'alexander the great III' by brazy da bo$$

So here's a funny story - last year, I was approached by an indie rapper from Maryland asking whether I'd want to cover his upcoming album to be released in January. Now for me, I get a lot of requests to cover indie MCs looking for more coverage, but this looked on first impression to be more than just your standard free mixtape rapper. For one, he looked to have been around for a bit, with a few established albums he had sold from iTunes and a slew of mixtapes, all of which he apparently produced and mixed himself. That did get me intrigued - could we have another Logic or Big K.R.I.T. coming up, this guy could be something interesting. Not only that, he conducted himself with a degree of professionalism I definitely appreciated and wasn't simply spamming me. And I figured, 'Well, if he's wack, it's the middle of January, what the hell else am I supposed to cover around this time of the year?' Granted, that sort of logic got me to cover Rae Sremmurd, but a quick listen through a few tracks did show he was nowhere near that bad, so I added Brazy Da Bo$$ to my schedule.

Fast forward to now, and said schedule is groaning under the weight of plenty of other albums that people have been eagerly anticipating like Joey Bada$$ and Lupe Fiasco and Sleater-Kinney and Viet Cong - and yet I'm taking the time to review an MC that doesn't have huge buzz or critical acclaim behind him? Well, for me it's a matter of pride to honor my commitments - and a need to get through some larger discographies on my schedule - and I did promise to review it, so after getting confirmation from the artist that he did indeed want me to cover it with my normal vitriol, I gave the new album from Brazy da Bo$$ a couple listens - did we find something good here?

video review: 'uptown special' by mark ronson

Wish I did like this album a bit more, but it definitely was a lot of fun. Make sure to check it out.

Next up, I settle an old request. Probably won't get a ton of hits from it, but I am a man of my word here. Stay tuned!

album review: 'uptown special' by mark ronson

So, by now you've all heard 'Uptown Funk' if you live anywhere close to a radio, and for most, I reckon it hasn't quite worn out its welcome yet. I mean, a funk track with a ton of energy from one of the more talented pop performers in the industry right now, what's not to like?

Yeah, I've already talked plenty about this song on Billboard BREAKDOWN, but I knew at some point I had to get deeper and go beyond the hit to see if the backing producer Mark Ronson might have some staying power. Now to some extent I already knew this was the case going in - this is Mark Ronson's fourth record over the course of a decade, he's been around for a while now. His debut album Here Comes The Fuzz came out in 2003, where he managed to wrangle collaborations not just from Ghostface Killa, Sean Paul, and the late Nate Dogg, but also Daniel Merriweather and Rivers Cuomo. It also had more of an alternative hip-hop focus, which he abandoned for his 2007 album Version for a slicker, funkier sound. Like his previous album, the reviews were mixed, mostly noting the guest-overloaded covers often lacked restraint and didn't show off the best of his talent. Undaunted, Mark Ronson kept working, accruing acclaim as a producer thanks to working with Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, and Adele, and making a slightly more diverse album with Record Collection in 2010. Sure, it was still swollen with name guest stars, but to be fair he's a producer putting out albums - you kind of expect it.

As such, I wasn't sure what to expect for the newest album from Mark Ronson. I mean, 'Uptown Funk' is a great song, but how much of it is because of Bruno Mars and how much of it is Mark Ronson? And some of the other guest stars did raise eyebrows? Stevie Wonder? Jeff Bhasker? Keyone Starr? Mystikal, the semi-deranged rapper from the early 2000s that sounded a little like Ole Dirty Bastard and got the prison term that R.Kelly should have gotten? Well, at least it was going to be interesting, so I gave it a couple listens - how did it turn out?

video review: 'american beauty/american psycho' by fall out boy

Man, I wish I liked this album more than I did. Hope to God that it grows on me throughout the year, but overall, I doubt it.

Okay, Mark Ronson, and then another crazy week. Stay tuned!