This morning I finally finished out the 30th Anniversary Bad Religion Box Set and converted the last two albums to digital - News Maps Of Hell and The Dissent Of Man; and I found an old Front 242 single hanging out in my vinyl crate.
Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell
Label: Epitaph
Released: 2008
Genre: Punk
New Maps Of Hell was one of those albums I saw come out, but I wasn't really paying attention to Bad Religion at the time, I still hadn't gotten back into them after Process Of Belief. Given the excellence of this album I should have. It's quick, tight, and fast. This is the kind of Bad Religion album I really enjoy, it isn't overly preachy in the message (which is still their standard issue commentary on society). The songs themselves are precise, but not over produced. No one song really sticks out above the others here, though. If I had to pick out a single I don't think I could. Everything is good, just above average in my ear, not an album I'd skip around on. Definitely worth picking up and adding to your punk rock collection. Also, it's catchy, I just bounce right along to the rhythms here.
Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man
Label: Epitaph
Released: 2010
Genre: Punk
This came out at the same time as the 30th Anniversary Box Set, and is exactly when I decided to jump back into picking up Bad Religion albums off the strength of the track Wrong Way Kids. It's an excellent song, but is the best cut on the album. It's not quite the same over-produced mess as Process Of Belief (can you tell, I wasn't particularly thrilled with that album?), but it's also not quite the quick, masterful speed of New Maps Of Hell. They backed off the accelerator just a little, but still produced one good album. The B-Side wasn't nearly as good as the A-Side though, all the really good stuff is on the front half of the album. A good solid release, here's to hoping we get more like this in the future.
Front 242 - Headhunter
Label: Wax Trax!
Released: 1988
Genre: Industrial/EBM
Front 242 are the original EBM group (they even invented the term). And when Headhunter hit American clubs in the late 80s it dropped like a fucking bomb. Everyone, even people who really weren't into the Indutrial scene, loved it. And not some watered down DJ Mix, the original F242 mixes. This single contained the seminal song, plus the B-Side of "Welcome To Paradise" which contained clips from preacher Farrell Griswold, set to a moderately harsh percussion background. Not quite fully danceable as Headhunter, still, a popular track. This one is old school EBM and Industrial from before they introduced guitars into the scene. Both tracks are on Front By Front, as the single here is long out of print, form WaxTrax! before TVT had to step in and buy them up.
Next Sunday is Christmas, though I'll probably be here listening to some records from my collection and getting out a post before family takes over the day. Probably find a few short records to digitize.
Showing posts with label vinyl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vinyl. Show all posts
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Sunday Vinyl - Punk & Dubstep
Sunday morning, spent digitizing some records - another album out of the Bad Religion Box Set and a Dubstep 12" I picked up a while back.
Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction
Label: Epitaph Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Punk
Side A - This side is hit and miss, it feels very generic Bad Religion. But there are some tracks on here that get stuck in the head, the title track, and The Handshake both are excellent songs. Incomplete and Infected can both be left on the table, they just don't excite me much. Side B, now this side is much better I think, faster, a little more punch. Television opens the side up and reminds me immediately of the early 80s Hard Core scene. Marked and Slumber are both great tracks, and you can hear an evolution in the sound of Bad Religion here, they're moving away from the formula a little, expanding the riffs. And the last track 21st Century Digital Boy is awesome, really, could easily fit into a Bad Religion album another half a decade down the line without skipping a beat.
The album is a definite bridge between the 80s and 90s here, as punk rock takes back off in the 90s the next album from these guys is The Grey Race, one of my all time favorite albums out there. They're finally letting the guitars go further out from the basic riffs and rhythms they've been using for a decade or so. Late 90s Bad Religion is one of my preferred eras of listening to that.
Downlink - Biohazard / Vasik - Zombie Apocalypse
Label: Rottun Recordings
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
This split 12" is a 2-track single. Biohazard is a fuzzy, dirty track. Good on the dancefloor, not quite a heavy pounder on the bassline, still it delivers with the drops and grinding bits. At over seven minutes, the opening is a little slow, it doesn't really get started until about a minute fifteen seconds in. Slow, methodical rhythms with synth breaks keep the song from becoming repetitive at least. It also exits slowly with synths repeating the outro until it just stops, not fades. The AA side is Zombie Apocalypse, which opens with the speech from Night Of The Living Dead, then some piano, then a slow dubstep fuzzy beat. This one plods along nicely, just like a zombie apocalypse, chasing you down until you just run out of energy and can't run anymore... scattered with zombie grunts and noises as well, which it could probably do without, but aren't completely out of place. These two are heavy bangers meant to keep a dancefloor at high energy, but they aren't so slow you lose energy, just enough in here to keep the floor going without wearing it out too quickly.
Next week I continue to go through the Bad Religion box set...
Bad Religion - Stranger Than Fiction
Label: Epitaph Records
Released: 1994
Genre: Punk
Side A - This side is hit and miss, it feels very generic Bad Religion. But there are some tracks on here that get stuck in the head, the title track, and The Handshake both are excellent songs. Incomplete and Infected can both be left on the table, they just don't excite me much. Side B, now this side is much better I think, faster, a little more punch. Television opens the side up and reminds me immediately of the early 80s Hard Core scene. Marked and Slumber are both great tracks, and you can hear an evolution in the sound of Bad Religion here, they're moving away from the formula a little, expanding the riffs. And the last track 21st Century Digital Boy is awesome, really, could easily fit into a Bad Religion album another half a decade down the line without skipping a beat.
The album is a definite bridge between the 80s and 90s here, as punk rock takes back off in the 90s the next album from these guys is The Grey Race, one of my all time favorite albums out there. They're finally letting the guitars go further out from the basic riffs and rhythms they've been using for a decade or so. Late 90s Bad Religion is one of my preferred eras of listening to that.
Downlink - Biohazard / Vasik - Zombie Apocalypse
Label: Rottun Recordings
Released: 2011
Genre: Dubstep
This split 12" is a 2-track single. Biohazard is a fuzzy, dirty track. Good on the dancefloor, not quite a heavy pounder on the bassline, still it delivers with the drops and grinding bits. At over seven minutes, the opening is a little slow, it doesn't really get started until about a minute fifteen seconds in. Slow, methodical rhythms with synth breaks keep the song from becoming repetitive at least. It also exits slowly with synths repeating the outro until it just stops, not fades. The AA side is Zombie Apocalypse, which opens with the speech from Night Of The Living Dead, then some piano, then a slow dubstep fuzzy beat. This one plods along nicely, just like a zombie apocalypse, chasing you down until you just run out of energy and can't run anymore... scattered with zombie grunts and noises as well, which it could probably do without, but aren't completely out of place. These two are heavy bangers meant to keep a dancefloor at high energy, but they aren't so slow you lose energy, just enough in here to keep the floor going without wearing it out too quickly.
Next week I continue to go through the Bad Religion box set...
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Sunday Vinyl - Punk Rock
Going to try an experiment, I still buy vinyl, new and old. Sunday mornings is usually a good time to try and convert it to digital for my library, as I almost always have plenty of time to myself.
So - Issue 1: Bad Religion;
Some time ago I picked up the Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set containing all 15 Bad Religion studio albums through "The Dissent Of Man" on red vinyl. It's pretty epic. Slowly I've been taking the albums I don't own on CD and digitizing them. So for the next few Sundays I'll be converting those and taking a listen here - as the process of Vinyl -> Digital is done in real time.
Generator
Label: Epitaph
Released: 1992
Genre: Punk
Out about the time of the early 90s punk revival/explosion deal. Business as usual for Bad Religion though. Side One is a pretty standard mix of social and political commentary, nothing here really stands out as a Great Song, just good solid writing of an expected nature. Side Two is pretty much the same, with the exception of Atomic Garden which stands out a little from the crowd in style and execution. I won't call this a boring album, it's just another face in the masses of punk rock honestly. There are better Bad Religion albums both before and after this one.
What's really missing from this album is the anger, indignation, and sense of injustice. It's there in the lyrics, but not in the execution. It's like they couldn't quite muster up enough energy to really get across the message in the lyrics without sounding detached from it.
Recipe For Hate
Label: Epitaph (on vinyl - Atlantic for CD/Cassette)
Released: 1993
Genre: Punk
Right off the bat this album has more energy than their last. You can tell they haven't quite stopped from the previous effort, building up steam and volume. Side One contains the single track American Jesus, which really does seethe. It's not shouting-angry kind of rage. This is a under-the-skin kind of anger that seeps through. The first four tracks, in fact, are excellent and feel both frustrated, and angry. Side Two, the first track is the other single from this album, slower, still carrying that quiet anger with it. Modern Day Catastrophists is probably my favorite track on this one, faster and leaner.
Overall, good album, This is about the point where Bad Religion really started to get my attention again after some hit or miss releases. They never were shouting-at-the-mic angry in their songs, Greg just isn't that kind of singer, but they do create a feeling of animosity towards things if you stop and listen. Recipe For Hate is the start of the era of Bad Religion I that I really think sees them climb to the top.
Next Weeks Vinyl - more Bad Religion and a Dubstep single I picked up a few months back. Listen Hard.
So - Issue 1: Bad Religion;
Some time ago I picked up the Limited Edition Vinyl Box Set containing all 15 Bad Religion studio albums through "The Dissent Of Man" on red vinyl. It's pretty epic. Slowly I've been taking the albums I don't own on CD and digitizing them. So for the next few Sundays I'll be converting those and taking a listen here - as the process of Vinyl -> Digital is done in real time.
Generator
Label: Epitaph
Released: 1992
Genre: Punk
Out about the time of the early 90s punk revival/explosion deal. Business as usual for Bad Religion though. Side One is a pretty standard mix of social and political commentary, nothing here really stands out as a Great Song, just good solid writing of an expected nature. Side Two is pretty much the same, with the exception of Atomic Garden which stands out a little from the crowd in style and execution. I won't call this a boring album, it's just another face in the masses of punk rock honestly. There are better Bad Religion albums both before and after this one.
What's really missing from this album is the anger, indignation, and sense of injustice. It's there in the lyrics, but not in the execution. It's like they couldn't quite muster up enough energy to really get across the message in the lyrics without sounding detached from it.
Recipe For Hate
Label: Epitaph (on vinyl - Atlantic for CD/Cassette)
Released: 1993
Genre: Punk
Right off the bat this album has more energy than their last. You can tell they haven't quite stopped from the previous effort, building up steam and volume. Side One contains the single track American Jesus, which really does seethe. It's not shouting-angry kind of rage. This is a under-the-skin kind of anger that seeps through. The first four tracks, in fact, are excellent and feel both frustrated, and angry. Side Two, the first track is the other single from this album, slower, still carrying that quiet anger with it. Modern Day Catastrophists is probably my favorite track on this one, faster and leaner.
Overall, good album, This is about the point where Bad Religion really started to get my attention again after some hit or miss releases. They never were shouting-at-the-mic angry in their songs, Greg just isn't that kind of singer, but they do create a feeling of animosity towards things if you stop and listen. Recipe For Hate is the start of the era of Bad Religion I that I really think sees them climb to the top.
Next Weeks Vinyl - more Bad Religion and a Dubstep single I picked up a few months back. Listen Hard.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Vinyl Files
With a newly acquired USB Record Player I can now take my records and put them on iTunes. The first part of this endeavor is my Bad Religion discography, I was gifted their Box Set last fall, which contains all 15 Studio Albums on Vinyl, even the ones that have been (and remain) out of print in any other format.
Since ripping Vinyl is done in real time - you can't just him "Import" and walk away for two minutes, I'll only be importing 1-2 records a week from my collection.
Starting with Bad Religion, going from their opening salvo to their latest endeavor (skipping, naturally, the ones I do own on CD and have already added).
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
Released: 1982
Short, sweet, to the point - right out of the gates Bad Religion joins the ranks of the established American Hardcore scene, and shoots to the top. SoCal punk rock was no holds barred music. Bad Religion came out with smart lyrics, Greg Graffin is also an outstanding vocalist. Everything here is good, and is still available on CD.
With that release, how could hell be any worse indeed?
Into The Unknown
Released: 1983
Well, for starters Bad Religion could immediately abandon hardcore and come out with what is the absolute worst punk rock record ever made. It's not even punk rock. It's an entire album of Flock Of Seagulls B-Sides and Rejected Tracks, that's what it is. Prog-Rock disaster.
Mercifully out of print for 25 years, only available either when you run across one of the original pressings (some 10,000 were made, some of those may even still exist) or through their 30 Years Vinyl Box Set - which is how I ended up with it. The lyrics are Bad Religion smart all the way, cutting and well sung. It's the synthesizer that kills me, really and truly. Just fucking awful.
Luckily, they put out an EP "Back To The Known" soon after going back to punk, and promptly broke up. Until a few more years had passed and they all got back together and put out the album "Suffer" in 1988 - which tore off the listeners face and shoved broken glass into the establishment's eye.
Since ripping Vinyl is done in real time - you can't just him "Import" and walk away for two minutes, I'll only be importing 1-2 records a week from my collection.
Starting with Bad Religion, going from their opening salvo to their latest endeavor (skipping, naturally, the ones I do own on CD and have already added).
How Could Hell Be Any Worse?
Released: 1982
Short, sweet, to the point - right out of the gates Bad Religion joins the ranks of the established American Hardcore scene, and shoots to the top. SoCal punk rock was no holds barred music. Bad Religion came out with smart lyrics, Greg Graffin is also an outstanding vocalist. Everything here is good, and is still available on CD.
With that release, how could hell be any worse indeed?
Into The Unknown
Released: 1983
Well, for starters Bad Religion could immediately abandon hardcore and come out with what is the absolute worst punk rock record ever made. It's not even punk rock. It's an entire album of Flock Of Seagulls B-Sides and Rejected Tracks, that's what it is. Prog-Rock disaster.
Mercifully out of print for 25 years, only available either when you run across one of the original pressings (some 10,000 were made, some of those may even still exist) or through their 30 Years Vinyl Box Set - which is how I ended up with it. The lyrics are Bad Religion smart all the way, cutting and well sung. It's the synthesizer that kills me, really and truly. Just fucking awful.
Luckily, they put out an EP "Back To The Known" soon after going back to punk, and promptly broke up. Until a few more years had passed and they all got back together and put out the album "Suffer" in 1988 - which tore off the listeners face and shoved broken glass into the establishment's eye.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
