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RSSShotgun CD Reviews #23654187
Sorry, kids. This is one of those long-ass shotgun reviews that you all hate. It spans two weeks, seven genres, and sixteen CD’s. I should’ve broken it up, but I just needed to put it to bed and move on.
The Little Willies - Self-titled (country): A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned how lame I felt while buying this CD, but no CD in this buy has spent more time in my CD player. I might not be a huge fan of the adult contemporary stylings of Norah Jones, there is just something perfect about her harmonizing on an old-time country album. There are tracks that border on adult contemporary, and a couple that sound like they was stolen directly out of the Eagle’s song book, but most are harmonizing old-timey country that makes me tap my foot and smile. I really think this album is worth a look. A-
Johnny Cash & June Cater - 16 Biggest Hits (country): I blame this purchase entirely on Reese Witherspoon. In “Walk the Line,” she did a better job singing June Carter’s parts than June Carter, and it somehow put me on a country kick. I really enjoy Cash, but June Carter is just not a very good singer. I think I got this one for $8, and it shows it. Despite having 16 tracks, including “Jackson,” “It Ain’t me Babe,” and “Long Legged Guitar Pickin’ Man,” which I can (and did) listen to a hundred times in a row without issue, only about half of the remaining tracks could be considered worth listening to, and a few are just awful. When it’s good it’s great, but when it’s bad it’s terrible. C+
God Forbid - Gone Forever (metal): I had heard samples of God Forbid a few months back, but had never picked up one of their albums because they were always priced well above my general $10 price limit. When I happened to see it under $10, I figured that it was worth taking a shot on. Unlike other $10 lottery ticket CD’s that I’ve bought, this one actually exceeded the expectation created by the samples. There is a lot of screaming. Sometimes, I don’t know how many people are screaming or what the hell they’re even yelling about. All I hear is solid juggida juggida metal rhythmically driving its point home with the aid of a lot of palm mutes and double bass. Because the lyrics are so laughably dark as to appeal only to teenagers in giant black pants, the actual singing of lyrics that I can understand is kept to a bare minimum. Despite the expectedly juvenile lyrics, this is a solid album. If I had to put God Forbid in the context of other bands, it’s in the Shadows Fall/ Killswitch Engage/ Hatebreed arena of metal. B+
As I Lay Dying - Shadows Are Security (metal): I had heard a few As I Lay Dying songs online, but like God Forbid, I had never seen any of their CD’s for less than $10. This weekend, I happened to find this one for $9.99 at Target and figured that I’d take the chance on it. Of the whole batch of CDs, I’d say that this is one that I’m most comfortable throwing in for the ride to work. It’s a melodic metal scream fest punctuated with pounding double bass. Once and a while, the tracks venture into singing, but it wasn’t very often and it seemed to be more of an accent than something that detracted from the metal. The CD seems like a less polished or complex Shadow’s Fall, but it’s in the same arena. It should be noted that when I got the CD home and #1GF! read the band name she looked at me with genuine concern and said, “Awww. That sounds so sad.” B
Various Artists - Blue Break Beats Vol. 1 (jazz): When I saw this album in the jazz section, I stood there confused turning it over in my hands. It was an anomoly. Was it a jazz CD or was it a Break Beat CD (Break beats are slices of a song that a DJ would build a song around)? I had no idea, but it was worth $10 to find out. And man, was it worth it. This is all jazz, but it is some of the funkiest jazz from the blue note label. I can’t help nodding along and feeling good when it’s on. A
Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris (jazz): Kenny Clarke and (the Amazing) Bud Powell back up Dexter Gordon so I figured that this was a good bet. This is really smooth, accessible jazz. There’s no insane wailing; just a smooth flow that makes me want to put on a suit and light the cigarette of a woman wearing a large hat in an underground bar. I think this actually had the most play of the jazz CDs this round. B+
Astrud Gilberto - Finest Hour (jazz): Astrud Gilberto was made famous by lending her vocals to Stan Getz’s “The Girl from Ipanema” and classic albums like Walter Wanderly’s “Samba Swing.” Gilberto lacks any kind of range, but her voice is so unique and soothing, I don’t seem to mind. The production on the tracks ranges from “Everybody samba!” to “Gee, Jan, rollerskating was a swell idea!” Depending on my mood, this can perfectly color my outlook on life, or numb me into a coma. B
Wayne Shorter - Ju Ju (jazz): I have one other album by Shorter (”Speak No Evil”) and I think this purchase confirmed that he’s on the periphery of my jazz tastes. This album is either dischordant enough to get on my nerves, or so together that it just doesn’t make much of an impression. Because it’s supposed to be a classic piece of jazz, I really think that I’m missing something when the best that I can say is that I don’t mind the album as a whole, but I haven’t really warned up to it. C
Thelonious Monk - Monk’s Music (jazz): Monk is one of my favorites, and I took a chance on this album because it was on sale and it had Art Blakey on drums. For some reason, I didn’t even notice that Coleman Hawkins AND John Coltrane play tenor sax on the CD until 3 minutes into track 2 when someone yells, “Coltrane!” in the background. Given that there have been a billion reviews of this album over the last 49 years, there is no need for me to add to the pile. It’s classic Monk. B+
The Hellacopters - Rock & Roll is Dead (rock): The Hellacopter’s album, “High Fidelity” is one of my favorite sing-along southern rock styled classics, despite the fact that the band are about ten times further removed from the South than I am in my New England sea side town. Like the Haunted, The Hellacopters are from Sweden. When I came across this album sitting in a bin for $10, I rolled the dice. Because “High Fidelity” was such a driving album from end to end, it was more than a little disappointing to get five tracks into this album before hitting anything with even a little bit of teeth. And even though the pace had finally picked up, the song just wasn’t that good. From there the album turned into something that Jackson Browne or the Allman Brothers would’ve released toward the end of their careers in the mid to late 80’s. It’s well put together, I suppose, but it’s just not my style. I wanted to like this album, but it’s only hope now is that my tastes go bland enough to suit it as I get older. Maybe I should try listening to it in twenty years over a nice cup of tapioca. C-
Clutch - Transnational Speedway League (rock): This is the 6th Clutch album added to my CD shelves, and I’d like to say that I bought it because I’m a die-hard fan, but it actually bribed its way in by being on sale for $8. This is actually Clutch’s first album, so it’s a pretty rough approximation of what Clutch has evolved into over the past 13 years. This wouldn’t be something that I’d recommend as a first Clutch album (see Clutch, Elephant Riders, Pure Rock Fury, or Robot Hive), but it does have something for Clutch fans or those who enjoy an early 90’s underground rock sound that is somewhat similar in nature to early Soundgarden. (I’m not really comfortable with the comparison, but hey, no one’s reading this crap anyway). C+
Kid Koala - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (dj): I have a tough time describing this album. I don’t love it, but I respect it. It’s doesn’t have beats that speak to my feet, or crazy cuts that wind up my brain, but the style is so non-traditional that I have trouble figuring out if it’s pure genius or raw amateur. In either case, it’s uniqueness is derived from being more tonally than beat driven, which is the opposite of what I have come to expect from a DJ album. Normally, the beat is the backbone and the tones color the beat. With this CD, the samples seem to be at the forefront, with the beat pushed into background almost as an afterthought. I suppose this album moves my brain more than my soul, but I find it difficult to argue with an album that includes a sample of someone giving instructions on how to beat a level in Pac-Man. B
Kid Koala - Some of My Best Friends Are DJs (dj): Like I said in my review above, Kid Koala operates differently than most dj’s. He’s more tonal than beat driven, so his compositions can lack structure. This album actually crosses the line into sounding more like a bored teenager trying to showcase a bunch of samples than a professional dj trying to build songs. It’s slightly interesting, but I just didn’t go for it. C-
X-ecutioners - Built From Scratch (dj): If a single dj is good, then 4 dj’s must be quadraphonicallly good, right? Right. This is what a dj album should be. It’s 20 tracks long, full of skilled scratching and solid beats that are only punctuated by those dumb skits that seem to be required in hiphop albums these days. It’s solid enough that I didn’t have to think about whether I liked it. I just did. B+
Various - Chef Aid: The South Park Album (comedy): I found out a couple of things about this disc after I got it out of the store. First, it smells like it’s been stored in a cardboard box under a flea market table for the last six months. Oddly, with the amount of time I’ve spent digging for records in my life, I don’t find the smell wholly unpleasant. Second, it’s the clean version of the album, so they do that crappy blank space or reverse masking in the places where the swears should be. Normally, this would annoy the crap out of me, but most of the songs that I wanted on the disc, such as “Love Gravy” (performed by Ike Turner, Rick James, bitch), “Chocolate Salty Balls,” “Simultaneous,” “No Substitute” (about Kathy Lee), and Cartman’s rendition of “Come Sail Away” don’t have swears on them, anyway. And for $3, the thing was a steal. B+
![Various - Rockin' 70's [BOX SET]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00019JRIG.01._TZZZZZZZ_PB_PU_PU-5_.jpg "Various - Rockin' 70's [BOX SET]")
Various - Rockin’ 70’s [BOX SET] (classic rock): I always feel that buying classic rock is a waste of money because I’ve owned enough classic rock records and tapes over the years that I just shouldn’t have to buy them again. But, hell, man, this was 3 discs and 40 tracks worth of classic rock for $9.99. It does suffer from enough of the typical bad track bloat that plagues various artist discs that it probably could’ve been knocked down to a 2 disc set without much of a problem, but even then it would’ve still been a pretty good deal. And if you love cowbell, this motherfucker is dripping with it. The only thing that I can’t really understand is why Judas Priest was included. I just don’t see them as classic rock. For a track listing, click the album cover. To pick it up, head to Target. B
April 7th, 2006 at 5:54 pm
Now I suggest you go out and purchase yourself an Assjack CD followed directly by Hank’s “Straight To Hell” and then play them simultaneously on two CD players just so you can hear both sides of his split personality at the same time! Or listen separately as I have done and completely enjoy both in their different splendors. I haven’t led you astray yet with a recommendation have I ???
April 7th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
I already have Outlaw Risin’ and both Superjoint Ritual (which is Hank and Phil Anselmo from Pantera) CDs, so I can already have samples of the two sides, but do you think that “Straight to Hell” or Assjack top them? If you’re willing to commit to it, then I’ll check them out. You could end up cutting a perfect recommendation record in half, though…
April 8th, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Check you e-mail…two Hank’s from Straight To Hell and Assjack is very thrashy, gutteral metal-speed moshpit stage divin’ shit.