After eight years the new Anthrax album hit the streets. I have to admit, the last half decade as an Anthrax fan has been frustrating. We've Com For You All seemed like the break they needed to push forward, and then apparently ditched to do a reunion tour with Joey and John on board. John left the band, and Joey left after the reunion bit. They got a new singer, that immediately upon recording music was gone again, and Joey came back and re-recorded everything. It's been a mess. While I'm a huge fan of the John Bush years, I have to say that Joey sounds awesome on this album. It's everything you want from Anthrax. The rest of my musical selections this week - while good - aren't quite top notch.
New Releases:
Anthrax - Worship Music
Label: Megaforce
Released: 9/13 2011
Genre: Thrash Metal
This is all the best of the early stuff with Joey and the heavy stuff with John rolled into one massive crushing work of pure thrash-metal awesome. Not quite as fast as some of the very early stuff, the group is still in top form and still crushes it out of the park. Joey lost some of the super-high pitched wailing from the 80s, but can still belt it out. This bit of work has launched itself into my top-album tier, nothing on here really misses the mark at all. Though the first couple tracks are a bit of a slow opener compared to the pure monsters on the back end. The Giant and Judas Priest make an awesome pair of songs, In The End I stuck on repeat for a little while, and the first single Fight 'Em 'Til You Can't is a pure thrash powerhouse. They definitely stand back up and demonstrate why Anthrax is one of the Big 4. I'm off to mosh some more.
Adding To the Collection:
16 Volt - American Porn Songs
Label: Metropolis
Released: 2009
Genre: Industrial (Industrial Rock)
I like 16 Volt, they make good music. Especially their early stuff. But this, honestly, is a giant album of filler material. It's not bad, but nothing stands out, another CD to put on the stack of Industrial just in case you need to play a whole bunch for a long time. The only piece that caught my attention was Somebody To Hate, probably because it parodies the classic Somebody To Love song. Other than that, they all sound pretty similar, guitar heavy industrial beats. If you're a 16 Volt fan, pick this up, if you're just a general Industrial fan there's other, better material out there.
MC 900 Ft Jesus (w/ DJ Zero) - Hell With The Lid Off
Label: Nettwerk / I.R.S. Records
Released: 1989
Genre: Hip-Hop
MC 900 Ft. Jesus generally puts out heavily jazz-influenced eletronica, here his team up with DJ Zero puts out something much more hip-hop ariented. More beats that hit a little harder, lyrics that flow more instead of his normal story-style. It's good work, and different from a lot of the offerings out there. It's good, it's fun, it's not entirely catchy. This album managed to sadly show its age, and not well. It's not particularly complex, nor clever. It just is.
The Rough Guide To Brazilian Cafe w/ Bonus Disc (Vicor Ramil & Marcos Suzano)
Label: World Music Network
Released: 2011
Genre: Latin
Ah, latin music. Fun stuff, this whole collection is light, and airy. It is, as the title implies, perfect for sitting around a cafe and drinking coffee (or tea) to, with friends. It just sits happily in the background keeping the good feelings flowing. I really enjoyed this one, more than I normally like the exploration of the Rough Guides series. The guitar work is excellent, the selection fits well together - more so than others in the series where the selection is more about breadth than a continuous listening experience. The bonus CD of Vitor & Marcos is also excellent. like most bonus discs it's a previously released or soon-to-be released album from the hi-lighted group, in this one the guitar of Vitor's playing stands out. It's just excellent. Of all the Rough Guides I've gotten and reviewed so far, this is one of my favorites.
That's the week in music. Coming up is Tori Amos' new album, some gothic-rock, more idustrial and African Guitar. After that I go on vacation so I may be taking a hiatus, or load up lots of new music and have an extra-large post early in October. Or write from the road... who knows! Listen Hard!
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