July's Reviews - Warning* - Somewhat Sexually Explicit Content

CD Reviews:

Bad Brains – I Against I:
It was nice to re-visit this album. Back in high school (when I got into them) I was always a much bigger fan of their album “Rise,” but having listened to this one again years later I might have to change my opinion. Bad Brains were the greatest post-punk/metal/funk/reggae/soul fusion band…of course who else came close to sounding like them, without being a complete rip-off. They were original and innovative and brought a different flavor to the hardcore scene. Dr. Know is a madman on the guitar and HR vocals are quite out of the ordinary. Really fun disc! Score: 3

Drive By Truckers – A Blessing and A Curse:
Alt-Country - Southern rock with most of the vocals sounding like a cross between Rod Stewart and Don Henley…painful. I know I’ll be seriously outvoted on this one considering most or you have a hard-on for these guys, but a vibrator and some KY couldn’t even get me interested in these guys. Score: 1 (Basically for lyrics and guitar skills)

Joy Zipper – The Heartlight Set:
First off, “Go Tell the World” and “1” are amazing openers. Wow, what great songs. Had the CD continued like those 2 opening tracks this might have been a solid 5 vote from me, but it slowed down a bit. After the first listen I liked it, but was disappointed that the rest of the disc didn’t hold up to those first 2 tracks. However the more I listened to it, the more I realized what a great disc this was from beginning to end. My only real disappointment was learning that the last track wasn’t indeed Dio’s “Holy Diver” because that would have been amazing. Score: 4

Katrina & The Waves:
Being a child of the 80’s, I have to appreciate it. It is full of infectious pop, but to me, a lot of other female fronted 80’s bands did it a little bit better. Perhaps the overkill of “I’m Walking on Sunshine” effected my judgment somewhat, but I’ve heard better. Score: 2.5

Ocean Colour Scene – Greatest Hits:
Having known only a couple songs previously, it was nice to get a little more cultured on the Ocean Colour Scene. There were several songs that I recognized that I didn’t know they did. I thought it was a great collection. There really wasn’t anything I would skip over in future listens. It’ll be great to pull out and listen to once in awhile, but not on a regular basis.

Topic

I could only really think of two bands that went from severe hatred to love. Perhaps as I get older the list will change and grow.

1. The Cure – in 6th grade, one of my best friends got into them and began dressing and looking like Robert Smith…I hated everything I heard. About 4 years later, I ended up LOVING them.

2. Jeff Buckley – A boy I dated in high school played Buckley for me when I was about 15 and I hated every second of it. I was too busy dealing with teen angst and grunge bands that I failed to see the beauty of this man’s music. I got into him 6 months before he died…I regret not getting into him sooner and being able to see him live.

As for bands that I used to love, only one immediately popped in my head. My tastes have changed a lot since high school. (I used to be a huge ska kid and I still enjoy listening to the old stuff, so I can’t list that.) I know my list would be longer but all of my old CDs are boxed up and I can’t really look through them to find more without causing a huge mess.

311 – I loved this band and saw them live many times. Their early albums still holdup a little, but when they tried to get more reggae I lost interest…and then when they did that dreadful cover of The Cure’s “Lovesong” my disinterest grew to hatred.