Beck - Guero (2005)

Beck (born Bek David Campbell), is an Alternive Rock/Anti-Folk musician from Los Angeles, California. He first began his career in 1988 and has been active ever since. He is best known for his songs "Loser", "E-Pro", and "Girl" among other songs. He currently is focusing on his side project called "Record Club". He is currently signed to Interscope Records.

Beck's 2005 album "Guero" was his ninth full-length release overall. The album debut at #2 on the U.S. Billboard 200, and at #15 on the UK charts. "E-Pro" was Beck's first #1 hit since his song "Loser. The album contains 13 tracks (up to 20 if you get the special edition ones) and consists of "E-Pro", "Qué Onda Guero", "Girl", "Missing", "Black Tambourine", "Earthquake Weather", "Hell Yes", "Broken Drum", "Scarecrow", "Go it Alone", "Farewell Ride", "Rental Car", and "Emergency Exit". The version that I am reviewing today is the UK release and contained the bonus tracks "Send a Message to Her", and "Chain Reaction". The album also had collaborations with The Beastie Boys and Jack White. The album has a much more mellow feel than any of the albums that I've reviewed. It's the type of album which you would listen to after a long and tiring day just to feel good. The only problem I had with the album was one of the bonus tracks (yes, only one problem). The song "Chain Reaction" felt as though it didn't belong on the album. All of the other songs are calm, relaxing, and soothing to a point, whereas "Chain Reaction" is fast, hyper, and just unpleasant on the ears (mostly a fast guitar riff with Beck shouting CHAIN REACTION!!!!). Other than the one track, it's a great album.

Overall, it's an album that you should at least rent or borrow from a friend. If you're into Radiohead, The Flaming Lips, The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Eels, Blur, Ween, Soul Coughlin, or Gorillaz, then you should be listening to Beck. The album was released on March 29, 2005 and is available on iTunes and Amazon.

Overall Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0

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Beck's Website

Electric Six - Fire (2003)

Well that took a while to get back on track, been busy for the past week filming, so I bring you an epic review today. For those of you who don't know Electric Six (and if you don't then shame on you), they are a 6 piece Alternative Rock band from Detroit, Michigan. They formed in 1996 as The Wildbunch and currently consist of Dick Valentine (Vocals, real name is Tyler Spencer, only original member of the group), The Colonel (Guitar, real name is Zach Shipps), Johnny Na$hinal (Guitar, real name is John Nash), Smorgasbord! (Bass, real name is Keith Thompson), Tait Nucleus? (Keyboards, real name is Christopher Tait), and Percussion World (Drums, real name is Mike Alonso). They are currently signed to XL Recordings, WEA, and Metropolis Records.

Electric Six's debut album was 2003's Fire. The album #5 on the U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums, #38 on the U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums, and #7 on the UK Albums Chart. The album contains 13 tracks that include "Dance Commander", "Electric Demons in Love", "Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother)", "Danger! High Voltage", "She's White", "I Invented the Night", "Improper Dancing", "Gay Bar", "Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor)", "Getting Into the Jam", "Vengeance and Fashion", "I'm the Bomb", and "Synthesizer". The album released three singles, those being Danger! High Voltage, Gay Bar, and Dance Commander. This album is sex for your ears. Every song is extremely well written, catchy, and memorable. Almost everyone has heard either of the three singles from this album. Dick Valentine soars as a vocalist and moves you through his lyrics. There have even been rumors that the song "Danger! High Voltage" had Jack White of the White Stripes as a guest vocalist. The album officially credits John S. O'Leary as the guest vocalist for the song, former Guitarist Surge Joebot (Joe Frezza) has confirmed this, while Dick Valentine has, in a radio interview, confirmed that it was Jack White.

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Overall, this album rocked from start to finish. This is where I'd give you other bands that sound like them to give you a feel for this, but you should have this album already. It was released on May 20, 2003 and is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 6.0 out of 5.0, yeah, it's that good

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Electric Six's Website

Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing (1998)

And so we do another non-metal album. For those of you who haven't heard of Placebo, they are a 3 piece Alternative Rock band from London, England. They currently consist of Brian Molko (Vocals & Guitar), Stefan Olsdal (Guitar & Bass), and Steve Forrest (Drums). They are currently signed to PIAS and Vagrant Records, and formed in 1994. Stefan Olsdal is openly gay, and Brian Molko is openly bisexual and has a sort of androgynous image, but that shouldn't effect the music for you. Now for the review.

Without You I'm Nothing is Placebo's second album (the first being their 1996 self-titled debut album), had a slightly different line-up from their current one, in that Steven Hewitt was the drummer for this album. The album consists of 12 tracks which include "Pure Morning", "Brick Shithouse", "You Don't Care About Us", "Ask For Answers", "Without You I'm Nothing", "Allergic (To Thoughts of Mother Earth)", "The Crawl", "Every You Every Me", "My Sweet Prince", "Summer's Gone", "Scared of Girls", and "Burger Queen" (which contains the hidden track "Evil Dildo"). With this album, you can just put it on and relax. It's got a calm vibe to it, even though some of the songs have a bit more kick to them. It has a rock tone to most of the album with a couple of slow songs here and there. The album's longest song "Burger Queen" is 22:39 long and has almost 8 minutes of dead air in the song before the hidden track kicks in. They could have just saved the time and cut it into two tracks instead of having the listener wait all that time. Also with Burger Queen, it starts off really mellow and relaxing, and then when the hidden track starts, it's fast paced and hyper sounding, which kind of threw me off guard. I'm normally a fan of geting caught off guard with albums, but this wasn't one of those times, mainly because of the drawn out waiting. So in a sense, the only flaw to the album is the track Burger Queen, where the rest of the album is extremely well done. "Pure Morning" was the first single from the album, they made a video for it as well (depicting someone about to jump off a building while people gather around to see if they will jump). Also. if you've ever seen the movie "Cruel Intentions" then you'll know the track "Every You Every Me" as it was the opening track in the movie.

Overall, the album flowed very well, with the only hiccup being at the very end of it. You should get this album if you're into A Perfect Circle, Muse, Silversun Pickups, Blur, Radiohead, or Keane. The album was released on October 12, 1998 and is available on amazon and itunes.

Overall Rating: 4.7 out of 5

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Placebo's Website

The Birthday Massacre - Violet (2005)

This shall be one of those times where I don't review a Metal album, but something that's good nonetheless. For those of you who haven't heard of The Birthday Massacre, they are a 6 piece Goth Rock/Synthrock/Alternative Rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They used to be called Imagica, and got the name from a Clive Barker novel. They formed in 1999, have 3 albums, 1 live album, 2 ep's, and are in the works of their fourth album. They are currently signed to Metropolis Records. They consist of Chibi (Vocals), Rainbow (Guitar, Programming, & Vocals), Michael Falcore (Guitar & Programming), O.E. (Bass & Vocals), Owen (Keyboards), and Rhim (Drums). And now for the review.

Violet is The Birthday Massacre's second album (Nothing and Nowhere being their first release). It was originally released as an EP in 2004, but was re-worked, had tracks added, and was re-released in 2005 as a full length album. The album consits of 13 tracks (originally it had 9 on the EP), which are "Prologue", "Lovers End", "Happy Birthday", "Horror Show", "Violet", "Red", "Play Dead", "Blue", "Video Kid", "The Dream", "Black", "Holiday", and "Nevermind". The album was recorded with their current line-up, but without Owen, and O.E. (the original bassist, J. Aslan, played on this album). This album has a sort of mellow feeling when you listen to it. It's one of those albums you can kick back, put it on, and relax. It does have it's heavy moments though, mainly in the first single released from the album "Blue". You've probably seen the video on YouTube, and if not, click here to watch it. It's got a killer guitar riff that's simple yet profound, and the keyboards throw it over the top. Even Chibi, who normally sings in the higher tones, gets into the lower darker parts of the song, and she even growls the vocals at some points. The album, in my opinion, is one of the best (if not the best) album that the group has put out.

Overall, the album just kicked ass, sure it's Goth Rock and has Keyboards in it, but that just adds to the overall tone of the album. If you're into bands like Mindless Self Indulgence, VNV Nation, Jack off Jill, Zeromancer, Collide, Ayria, Cruxshadows, or Deadstar Assembly, then you'll want to pick this album up, it was released on August 9, 2005 and is on itunes and amazon.

Overall Rating: 4.6 out of 5

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The Birthday Massacre's Website