GHOSTFACE KILLAH- IRONMAN

I'm feeling lazy today so I'm going to review the album that's been in my car for the past week. Ghostface was quick to join in on the flurry of Wu-related solo LP's released following their debut LP. This album reveals itself, especially with years of listening, to be the most straight-forward, as opposed to RZA's Gravediggaz or Meth's very dark LP Tical, of that first wave of Wu-releases. Moving on... The Wu really had something magical going on from 93-96 and if you enjoy 90's rap, especially that of the 'fuck-you-I'm-better-than-you-so-is-my-crew-and-don't-even-try-to-front-because-we-will-out-cool-you-or-actually-kill-you' variety, then this is a must!

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RAZOR- VIOLENT RESTITUTION

Given that death-metal was already alive and well in 1988, this will seem very tame to some of you. However, this is about as raw and evil as thrash gets. Razor were from a shithole town in Ontario, never got any of the attention or praise of other thrash bands, put out as many great albums as Metallica, Slayer and Testament and more than Exodus, Anthrax or Megadeth. A shame really. This is as good as Reign in Blood, The Legacy, Peace Sells and better than Bonded by Blood. I'm not just saying that. This is a truly amazing and oft-ignored band.

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MIDDLE CLASS- OUT OF VOGUE

blah, blah, blah. hardcore. 1978. no shit? yup, 1978. its not that amazing but there a million KBD-loving assholes who will tell you otherwise. If you like hardcore then definitely check this out. Has a weird vibe. Kind of like they had no idea what they were doing. First song is pretty cool

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SLAYER- HAUNTING THE CHAPEL

Slayer are a band that people like to talk about, but I don't think many of those people actually listen to anything other than Reign in Blood or whatever songs of theirs have made their way onto guitar-hero. So here's one of their best. This should erase any doubts you might have had as to why people love this band so much.

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R.E.M- RECKONING

R.E.M. are a band that kind of shot their indie-rock-godfathers status in the foot by becoming mega-platinum rock stars in the 90's, which is really unfortunate. They were one of the token indie bands of the 80's that refused to do anything they didn't want to do and made four absolutely flawless albums before making it big and making some slightly less than flawless albums. Too bad

This, their second album, is my favourite. Its just a very somber, guitar-driven pop album with very strong 60's influences but it never loses its very modern feeling due to the songwriting and vocals. Its a really unique record and once I gave it a few listens, I was a fan for life. The first track is amazing

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PSYCHED TO DIE- STERILE WALLS

I like hardcore just as much as the next guy who likes hardcore but these days its hard to distinguish a lot of current bands from one-another and for me, it feels like the great ones are few and far between. Thankfully there are blogs that do so for us and MRR usually doesn't waste their time covering bands that aren't worth hearing. One band that came to my attention about a year ago, via that fine rag, is Psyched to Die.

Basically this is straight-up Angry Samoans worship. Guitars just barely pushed into overdrive, songs with choruses that you can sing and its all pretty catchy. If you like songs about hating society but also want them to get caught in your head, this is good.

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THE GORIES- HOUSEROCKIN'

The Gories emerged from the mean streets of Detroit in the late 80's and released some of the most badass garage-rock records this side of the late 60's. Warbly, minimal, catchy and hair-raising. All the qualities of genre classics by The Sonics and The Wailers. Mick Collins would go on to form The Dirtbombs, but really, this is where its at. No garage band will ever be this good again.

p.s. If you're thinking of starting a garage-rock band, don't.

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MAYYORS- DEADS

Mayyors. These guys were very angry, very weird and very... Mayyors? This EP came out in a very limited edition with handmade covers that had actual muddy-bootprints all over them! They also sell for ludicrous amounts of money on ebay. Cool stuff though. Reverb-drenched vocals, Guitars that sound like synthesizers that have been left out in the sun and an absolute beast of a drummer. Too bad they called it quits.

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STONED

Linked HERE is a documentary that was brought to my attention today. A pretty recent documentary on the American doom/stoner-metal underground from the 70's onward. Lots of great interviews, archival footage and, oh yeah! GREAT music!

GENTLEMAN JESSE & HIS MEN- S/T

The best way I can describe this record is to paraphrase the way it was reviewed in an MRR year-end list.

'So many other power-pop records that came out this year were phenomenal but this record edges them out for one simple reason. it actually sounds like a power-pop record from the 70's'.

It doesn't sound modern at all. Great songwriting, great Elvis Costello vocals and perfect guitar-tone. Music to woo by

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