1. Soundgarden - Superunknown (My Wave)
2. TWRP - Believe In Your Dreams
3. Rise Against - The Sufferer & The Witness
4. Pearl Jam - Ten
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
Mike is another buddy of mine from the streetfighter circles (a pattern is starting to emerge here...)
Mike is also German, but I try not to hold that against him.
We found out last week that he is an expert at spotting ze Germanz, and correctly confirmed I look nothing like a German.
Good call Mike, several bonus points for you on that front.
Mike has been studying his little heart out whilst enjoying the fruits that Ireland has to offer, streetfighter and tennis.
But he also plays guitar, which I found out quite by accident, and was surprised for not apparent good reason.
I haven't asked but it would not surprise me in the slightest if that started with Guitar Hero or Band Camp, or whatever thing those guys play with plastic instruments.
I could be wrong.
But hey, anything that inspires people to pickup real instruments and challenge themselves can't be bad, so hurray for Band Camp.
I'm pretty sure those games didn't inspire Les Claypool to sing, so at least they've got that going for them.
Again there was nothing in particular that stirred me this month, I'm starting to think Jimmy set the bar too high and gave me unrealistic expectiations, and more than a few people may be unhappy with me shitting over their cherished musical memories, but hey, here we are.
To be honest I found this month quite hard to write, as I just don't really feel anything for anything here.
The opposite of love is not hate people, it's indifference.
Soundgarden - Superunknown
There was a little bit of meat to this one, flowed rather well without being too whiney.
On the other hand, on my first listen through the albums, when the list flowed in to Pearl Jam I didn't realise until a few tracks in.
So I guess there's a definite negative there, it kind of sounds like every Seattle grunge act I've heard all the "cool kids" listening to when I was at school.
I was never nuts on Nirvana, Alice in Chains have a few tracks that tickle me, but as far as grunge goes that's usually where I'm at.
Tin Machine is alright, but a little too little too late in the Bowie chronology.
The album flows pretty well, probably everyone has heard Black Hole Sun too many times in their life at this stage, but to be fair I don't feel the need to lobotomize myself now as I once would have upon hearing it.
To be fair it's a solid album, and it has an interesting mix of sound, not everything is in the same tuning, which makes it a good listen.
At the same time, it's still "Soundgarden" all the way through.
I think I could easily say this is the best grunge album I've heard (all two of them in my lifetime!)
Favorite track would be "My Wave", which almost sounds like a Zepplin track to my ears (and by no means a negative thing I assure you)
TWRP - Believe In Your Dreams
Only five tracks on this puppy, giving it an instant plus, and probably the best track from the month is Pale Blue Dot, which I feel has kind of an ELO feel to it.
It lacks all seriousness and doesn't do an insane amount for me, but I can bop along to it without major frustration, so there's that.
I can' explain it, but I feel there's no real soul to it, it's sounds crazy but it feels like fan service music, as opposed to music from the heart.
Like a Marvel movie, it's popcorn. There's nothing deep here, but some nice riffs.
When I started writing this I actually had it at number one, but the more I write I think I may have to demote it.
Technically there's a nice amount going on here, which kind of elevates it in that regard, but none the less it feels lacking in substance.
Rise Against - The Sufferer & The Witness
I like the occasional bit of metal, and as such, this does very little for me.
It feels like pop metal. I'm told it's called "Hardcore", and it falls short of that definition for me.
There's a couple of catchy riffs, but overall it feels like guys who listened to guys who listened to metal, like if Weezer tried their hand at being heavy.
It's like if preachy vegans made metal, or their version of it.
I have no ideas if these guys are hippies or not, all I can see is those guys in "How To Make It In America" being all hipster in their vintage clothes riding bicycles.
There's no meat in this sandwich I guess is how we could put it.
It's a vegatarian metal sandwich.
I can't really decide do I dislike this more or Pearl Jam, but this feels less generic (but more pop), so I guess I'll give this the higher spot.
Pearl Jam - Ten
I honestly don't know what to write here.
It all sounds the same, and doesn't offend me enough to have an opinion either way.
It could be on the in the background and it wouldn't bother me too much if it wasn't too loud.
It feels like generic grunge.
At least Soundgarden had some soul, at least for a grunge record.
This just feels like the same, same vaguely clean grungey chords over and over with a moany singing voice on top of it.
At least Nirvana had a bit of bite, I actually just put it playing as I write this now in the hope of jogging some opinion.
All I'm hearing is "blah blah blah, I'm still alive", followed by one of the most generic guitar solos I can imagine.
Some tracks are slightly less moaney, some are more, none inspire any kind of interest.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood
I can hear in my head just about everyone (I'm counting three people here, so expectations are suitably low I think) who reads this going "WHAT? Stevie Ray Vaughan is LAST???".
Yes, Stevie Ray is last on this list.
Why?
Because, this music grates my ears.
Yes, he is without doubt one of the most talented guitarists of the last few years.
Yes, many took up an axe from his inspiration.
But quite frankly, white man's blues is something I dislike, generally quite intensely.
It's TOO clean a sound, there's no grit or rawness to it.
Technically it's great, but it's a sound that I've heard over and over in the last few years.
All I can hear when this is on is every crappy cover band I've ever heard, doing their version of this kind of blues.
The blues is like metal, I feel there has to be a little grit behind it.
I just don't get any vibe from this, I found it difficult to listen through this album in one sitting.
When you listen to the Rolling Stones and Clapton, they were able to take heavy blues influences and tweak it enough to make it something new.
Stevies just seems to be trying to distill old blues further to make a cleaner sound, wheras that brutality of the blues is what makes it so.
I can't really convey this in words, and it's quite a disapointment as I was really thinking this would be the best album of the month, but in reality it just leaves me cold.
