The days are long gone when I could look at the back of an album to see what label the artist was on and could tell if I was going to make a good investment in playing a game of musical russian roulette. With some of my favorite labels picking up some pretty terrible acts, it’s rare anymore that I will buy an album without researching a little bit about the band. I remember when Roadrunner Records primarily only picked up metal artists, but now the likes of Collective Soul, Nickelback, and Lynard Skynyrd grace their catalogs. Not to say that genre specific labels picking up different bands is a bad idea, don’t get me wrong, I love Freebird as much as the next person, but I can say that it does diminish the trust I have that I will get something worth listening to. So! On this lovely Tuesday, I have decided to flip through the massive books of cds, rotting a slow death on the shelves above my bed to pick out five cds I bought on a whim.
Mono – Formica Blues
I will admit that I did hear the single off this album, Life In Mono, when it was being played non stop on the radio after being picked up on the soundtrack for Great Expectations. I would have to say that this album ranks probably in the top 10 of my favorite albums. I just can’t get enough of Siobhan’s voice. After telling my networking teacher in high school about my love for them, he suggested I listen to The Cocteau Twins, and thus planted the seed for my love of them as well. Who would know that Siobhan from Mono and Robin from Cocteau would later join forces to create Violet Indiana (which just so happens to be on my last Five By Five!). I suggest you buy this cd sooner than later, and listen to Penguin Freud on repeat.
Bury Your Dead – Self Titled
I didn’t start actually liking this band until they gave their old singer the boot. When I was working at Hot Topic, we had their album, Beauty and the Breakdown on our music player, and I would skip every single song that would play from it. I could not stand Mat Bruso’s voice. Such is the case with many bands for me. Megadeth, Rush, and quite a few others fall into this category. The music is fantastic, the vocals? Well, they just kill it for me. It wasn’t until Bury Your Dead released their self titled album in 2008 that I decided to give them another chance (mostly based on the fact that I liked the album cover art, I am definitely guilty of judging an album by its cover) and to my surprise actually really got into it. Sadly this album is a one trick pony and I don’t care for their newest album, It’s Nothing Personal. I can’t say that it really staked its claim in the metalcore world with measly sales, but it is an album that I will listen to on repeat.
Stick To Your Guns – Comes from the Heart I decided to buy this album after getting my Stick To Your Guns tattoo. My tattoo is of course in no way related to the band, but more so a Nintendo reference. At the time I was heavy into the local hardcore scene and most of the kids would ask me if my tattoo was in tribute to the band, who I had never heard. Comes from the Heart had just dropped and I decided to pick it up, after deciding that because they were on Century Media Records, that it couldn't be that bad. But I also had my qualms about buying an album by a straight edge band, because I usually find most of them too preachy for my liking. I'd say that this album falls pretty middle of the road for me. I like it, but its not something I have on heavy rotation.
The Flys – Holiday Man
This album falls into the classic case of having one good song on it, that usually gets released as the single and the rest of the album is 12 tracks of ear-drum-bursting-pure-unadulterated-shit. I bought this ablum in 1998, in hopes that the entire thing would fall in line with Got You (Where I Want You). Talk about being sorely disappointed about wasting 16 or so dollars. Cut to two years ago when I started converting my nearly 1000 cds to digital and stumbled across this cd. Chalking up my distain to the fact that I hadn’t yet developed the musical taste I have now, I decided to give it another go. Nope. Still. Crap. Don’t even spring for this cd if you see it sitting in the dollar bin at Amoeba, or in a pile of cds at a garage sale. Save your cash and buy a Reese’s. Trust me, you’ll enjoy those four bites longer than you will this cd.
MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
This was one gem that I acquired while working at Hot Topic. I honestly amassed most of my cd collection while working there, between the employee discount, the decent prices, and the occasional rare (not in the actual sense of hard to find physically, but rare in that it was uncommon to find something good in a sea of garbage) find in the cd racks. It was unfortunate that we had such a great music buyer, Jay, who I would have massive conversations over email with about music, yet was most likely forced to buy the crap that the kiddies wanted, couldn’t bring in more amazing bands. Anyways, I digress. MGMT was one I saw and decided to give a go solely based on the fact that I thought the cover looked interesting and I liked the font they used for their name. I can’t say that I really got into them on the first listen but quickly became a staple of my regular rotation in the early part of 2008. It is another album I can throw on and listen to start to finish. But sadly this band is a one hit wonder, and in my opinion, their new album flopped. I think they can be best described as Alternative Rock/Progressive Rock, and I’m sure you would recognize more songs than you think due to their new found radio success and how many commercials and movies have picked up tracks from this album. Listen to Pieces of What and thank me later.
