Singles Roundup: Metallica, Revolution Saints, Illumishade, & Ad Infinitum

Another week, more new singles. Oh, and one of these might be from the biggest band on the planet, so that's something.

Metallica - Lux Aeterna

Let's preface this by saying I've never been much of a Metallica fan. Even so, this is exactly the kind of song that keeps me from ever being more of a metal fan. The sound is fantastic, and the riffs are good enough. The problem comes when he hit that magic word; songwriting. They use the old standard form of writing where there isn't a real chorus, and instead they just shout the song's title a couple of times. Metal can still have melodies and hooks, but this kind of writing gives that the finger. As a songwriter myself, I hate this, because I know it's the lazy way of doing things. Writing hooks is hard, but I guess when you're at Metallica's level, you don't need to anymore. I would say this is a huge disappointment, but I wasn't expecting anything better.

Revolution Saints - Eagle Flight

If this was presented as a 'band' before, it certainly isn't now. Deen Castronovo remains, but the others are replaced by fellow members of the Frontiers assembly line. They don't say, but I'm assuming the song is written by the factory as well, so the changes don't make much difference at all. The song sounds like standard-fare melodic rock, and it once again fails to capture the charm the band's first album had. Ever since, everything has felt more and more generic, which continues on here. It's not a gripping or memorable song, and really, the biggest takeaway for me is that Deen's voice sounds like it's definitely aging faster than he can churn out records. I'm not impressed by this new incarnation yet.

Illumishade - Elegy

I really liked the music Illumishade had on their debut album, although I did grouse a fair bit about how there wasn't enough of it, and it felt more like a padded-out EP than a true album. When they stick to singles, there's nothing to complain about. Fabienne and her cohorts make beautiful melodic metal with a modern heaviness to it. They're able to put djent-ish riffs and crystalline vocals together in a way not many bands figure out. What I really love is the way the song's tempo slows, rather than go into a breakdown. As someone who have never abided by the click-track is God mentality, hearing the song use tempo as a dynamic is fantastic. I'm definitely down for more of this.

Ad Infinitum - Upside Down/Somewhere Better

The promotional cycle for the band's new record started more than months early, which sounds rather excessive. We've already got a few singles, and the record doesn't come out anytime soon. I'm not sure if anyone can hold my interest that long. Ad Infinitum is in an odd zone. I hear a ton of talent in their ranks, and I do like most of the songs they have delivered. However, I don't find myself ever being drawn to listen to them. I'm not sure exactly why that is, but there's a missing connection between me and them, and I'm afraid these two songs are falling into the same category. I like them, and I enjoy listening to them, but I have had to remind myself to go back to them. I wish that wasn't the case.

Album Review: League Of Distortion - League Of Distortion

I'm not entirely sure what a League Of Distortion is supposed to be. It's an odd phrase, and what it brings to my mind is something akin to second-wave black metal, music awash in so much noise it sounds entirely dedicated to making the listeners uncomfortable at every turn. What I don't expect is an Amaranthe-ian modern metal band that is actually quite slick. The name doesn't seem to fit at all, and it also doesn't roll off the tongue. I know I'm getting into pointless semantics, but they aren't really pointless. A band's name can help or hurt their chances, and my very first impression here is that I wouldn't have even listened to this album, if not for seeing something in the press copy that caught my attention.

This band features the vocal talents of Anna Brunner, who was part of the metal covers band Exit Eden. I enjoyed their symphonic metal take on some pop classics when their album came out, and her name is what convinced me a so-called League Of Distortion was worth listening to.

Anna is clearly the star of this show, with a voice that produces effortless power, as well as a coating of... well, distortion. The grit in her aggressive voice does fit the bill, and it gives the songs enough attitude to sand the polish off some of the production. She also is able to produce that grit in a way that sounds natural and pleasing, unlike at least one more prominent singer I have always been alone in saying sounds entirely fake and strained trying to achieve this same effect.

I mentioned Amaranthe already, but I think the more apt comparison here is actually New Year's Day. Their "Unbreakable" album is very much in the same mold as what League Of Distortion is doing here, from the gritty vocals, to the huge choruses, to the modern riffs and electronic glitches. Thinking about this record more as a super heavy alt-rock record, rather than as the metal album it's presented as, sets a better bar for it to be judged by. The parts of verses that are almost spoken word, or carry rhythmic cadences that are anything but metal, are the biggest hurdle we have to clear.

The band has focused on writing big hooks, and they deliver those. "It Hurts So Good" is utterly fantastic when the chorus comes along, and Anna roars out these melodies like her life depends on it. If you clip out the choruses and just listen to those, League Of Distortion is quite the impressive band.

Unfortunately, there's plenty of rope we have to pull before we get to those bits. The grinding riffs and the verse vocals are often grating, unpleasant, and not worth sitting through if the payoff isn't good enough. That's a tough way to write songs, since when one comes up short, like "I'm A Bitch" does, the end result is a song I would say shouldn't have even been recorded. I truly don't see what is supposed to be appealing about it at all. The riff is boring, and there's practically no melody to the song at all. Other than an attempt to take the word back, there's nothing in the song for any of us. And frankly, Meredith Brooks did it infinitely better twenty-five years ago. We already have the definitive "Bitch" song.

So what that means is we have yet another album that shows tremendous promise, but failed execution. Anna can absolutely be a star vocalist, and there are enough powerful hooks in these songs to make a great record. If they can tighten up the songwriting, and focus on the more musical parts where they excel, League Of Distortion could be something really great. This album, though, is far from that. It doesn't know how to make the heavier and moodier bits work, and with as much of the record that's made up of that sound, recommending the record as a whole is a tall order.

I would certainly recommend "It Hurts So Good" as one of the better songs of the year, but you can wait to see if the next album improves things, otherwise.

The Requirements Of Being A Fan

How much of a band's catalog do you have to like in order to say you're a fan?

I saw a headline recently where a member of Candlemass said, "If you don't like this album, you don't like Candlemass." Aside from the fact it's an entirely disrespectful thing to tell your audience what they should and shouldn't like, it got me thinking about the relationship between people and their favorite music.

I have always considered myself rather fickle when it comes to music, as even my favorite bands and artists have less than perfect catalogs. In fact, only one of them has never put out a full album/EP that has disappointed me, although a member is currently in the process of doing just that. I can look at the music that has meant the most to me, and those same people have put out plenty of records I am not strong enough to force myself to like.

So the question I'm pondering is just how much of a band's career do I need to like?

It's an easy question to answer in the case of a band like Tonic, where I love all four of their records, and at least two of the solo albums therefrom derived. That is nearly everything, so there isn't any doubt to be had.

It's a harder question in the case of a band like Weezer, where I genuinely like the first five albums, and then don't care/hate everything that came after. That percentage grows smaller with every year.

It's a more curious question in the case of a band like Black Sabbath, where I like the era of the band with Ronnie James Dio, but I don't really care about any of the rest of it. I love everything one version did, but that is merely a blip in their lengthy career.

So what I am left to consider is who gets to define what being a fan means, whether it is up to each of us individually to express our affections in our own ways, or if the larger musical culture can write some rough-sketch rules for who does and doesn't get asked into the exclusive club. I get stuck here, because I do believe I should be able to make my own relationship with the music I listen to, but I also worry about including myself in the same breath as the die-hards who believe much more strongly than I do. I know I don't belong, and yet being excluded doesn't feel like the right decision either.

I don't have a real answer to any of this, other than this one; bands should not get to make the decision for us. Candlemass may be saying, in effect, "like it or leave it", but they are in the wrong. There is no such thing as unconditional love, and demanding certain kinds of affection is a hallmark of an abuser. I know they don't intend to be that way, but it is the connotation that comes across from their attitude. If we rephrase it as something more like, 'you don't love me if you don't love me the way I tell you to love me', I think it becomes clearer the way they are trying to manipulate us.

Ultimately, I feel like we should just do whatever feels comfortable for each of us. That might lead to a lot of confusion as our takes clash, but so what? If you're arguing with someone about whether or not they're really a fan of a band, you're losing at life anyway. The whole point of this is to have fun, come together, and listen to music we love.

Stop gatekeeping.

Fifteen Years Later, I'm Finally Able To "Chase This Light"

If I'm being completely honest, the album that defined this year more than any other for me did not come out in 2022. The path from an album to our heart is not always linear. We don't always hear an album when it comes out and immediately find ourselves engrossed in a wonderful new experience. Sometimes, the path an album takes is more circuitous, winding around disappointments and shifting tastes, only reaching the destination when we least expect it. Those experiences are the sorts of things that keep the search alive, because there is something magical about realizing how our orbits can align after such a long time, how the whirling dervish of life and the universe is a blur right up until the moment it isn't.

This year was most defined, for me, by Jimmy Eat World's now fifteen year-old album, "Chase This Light".

After "Bleed American" caught my attention, and "Futures" won me over, I found myself disappointed in "Chase This Light". It was a stark shift from the darkness of "Futures", which is what I wanted more of. I was not in the right frame of mind for a brighter Jimmy Eat World album, and for most of the next fifteen years, I considered it to be one of the most disappointing albums I've ever come across.

This year has been filled with very bi-polar artistic feelings. I have produced some work I am extremely proud of, but the reaction to it has been underwhelming, to say the least. That has brought on a sense of melancholy, where I'm caught between the satisfaction those works have given me as I put them together, and the weight of disappointment that sets in when no one seems to care about any of that.

It is precisely that feeling Jimmy Eat World is able to capture, and during the long stretch when new music seemed to be coming in a trickle, I found myself going back to explore the albums I never gave a chance. With "Futures" now sitting atop my list of all-time favorites, I owed it to myself to see if the band had more to offer than I had always thought. I listened to everything from "Clarity" through "Surviving" again, and with the clouds just the right shade of grey in my head, everything was different.

It was "Dizzy" that hooked me. The line "if you always knew the truth/then the world would spin around you/are you dizzy yet?" caught my ear. It implies the character thinks the world revolves around her, and that thought was the complete opposite of how I felt I was at the nadir of the universe's orbit. It made me wonder, if everyone else thought the world revolved around them, would that explain why I seem so blurry, why I'm so hard to see?

Likewise, the line "I must look like I'm running away/to you at your faster pace" summed up a lot of feelings that were dragged up by life events. I wrote my own song about feeling stuck in place, and it's only as I'm saying this right now I'm realizing where that idea actually came from. That shows how much the album has seeped into my subconscious this year.

But as much as I love the lilting hook of "Always Be", or the power of "Big Casino", this is absolutely an album of mood and feeling, much like "Futures" is. They are different resistances on the dimmer switch, but Jimmy Eat World are masters of making music that sounds like the moment pain is too tired to continue hurting. "Futures" is an instant before that happens, and "Chase This Light" is an instant after. I can see how I needed to realize that before the album could open itself up to me, and I simply wasn't ready for that before now.

One of the beautiful things about music is that it doesn't change, but we do. The music will always be there for us when we are ready to accept it, when its purpose aligns with our needs. It isn't that often I backtrack and find a record from my past that has fallen into the proper context. When it does happen, I'm not questioning what was wrong with me at the time to have missed it. What goes through my mind is gratitude I heard the album at the wrong time, and it still made enough of an impression on me that I remembered it when the time became right.

Gratitude seems like an odd thing to be expressing for an album that lives in a bit of a sad feeling, but that's where I am. "Chase This Light" is the attitude I needed to have this year, and more than anything else I listened to this year, it was the soundtrack to every moment of existential thought. Whether it was doubt, angst, or something even darker, these songs were there to remind me there is a light to chase, if I can just bend my neck enough to look up.

Album Review: Candlemass - Sweet Evil Sun

One of the things I find rather amazing is how we, as a culture, tolerate liars. We seem to now live in a world where a man's word is not his bond, it's just what he says until he needs to say something else. We have fallen so far that there is seemingly no bottom left in the barrel. Ethics is often thought of as not being an absolute thing, but we've gone so far that basic tenets of respect for one another are ridiculed as weakness. Assholes and frauds are rewarded for how ruthlessly they play us for fools, abusing us because we apparently have no will to fight back.

That's a long-winded way of saying I seem to be the only person left in the music world who remembers that Candlemass promised they were retiring, then gave us the finger when they couldn't get other bands going successfully enough to leave this one behind. It isn't any different than what Scorpions did, or what Motley Crue is doing right now. Actually, Motley Crue is even worse, since now they are heading back out on the road not even as the full group people want to see reunited. The point is; we get lied to, and no one ever seems to care.

I've said all this before, but I wanted to say it again, because this second Candlemass album with original singer Johan Lanquist back in the fold raises a question for me; what is the point of showing yourself to be a fraud if the results are so lackluster?

Candlemass has never been a favorite of mine, I'll be honest, but I did enjoy the Robert Lowe years. Those albums found a nice balance of heavy doom, dramatic vocals, and some darn catchy songs. They were able to thread that needle between doom and rock, which is not an easy thing to do.

Unfortunately, something happened afterward, and the previous Candlemass album was so focused on sounding dirty and heavy that the songs were severely lacking. That was never clearer than with "Porcelain Skull", which Avatatium proved was a fantastic track. When Candlemass recorded it, however, it sounded like a demo by comparison. If I can play amateur psychologist, perhaps the band is at that age where they feel they have to prove they are still as heavy and rocking as they ever were. That is a very dangerous mindset.

The good news for Candlemass is they do a better job this time around. They still come across a little too rough-around-the-edges, but the songs hit most of the right notes. There still isn't anything as sweepingly melodic as "Of Stars And Smoke", but only one or two songs on this album drag to the point of being unbearable. That would include "Scandinavian Gods", which was released as a single. When I heard it, I was thinking Candlemass had completely lost the plot, as the song was totally lacking just about anything that made it sound like a song, and not a jam the band came up with in five minutes. As it turns out, they just had terrible, terrible taste in picking out the song that should be used to sell the record.

I actually like "Black Butterfly" a fair amount. That song, along with the title track, are what Candlemass does best. They are heavy, but melodic, and the hints of organ give the sinister vibe without the tracks needing to slow to a crawl. An album full of those type songs would actually be really good.

But now we ask ourselves another question; is this album good enough to atone for Candlemass' sins? No, of course it isn't. They may not be guilty of mortal sins, but they still need to prove to me a good reason why they went back on their word. This record is an improvement over the previous one, but it still isn't good enough to win me back over. And if you think I'm being hard on them, well, maybe I am. But keep this in mind; they chose to say what they said. I presume thought went into their choice, and if so, abandoning it so quickly says something about them. Not me.

"Sweet Evil Sun" is adequate doom, but it certainly isn't worth making a deal with the devil for.

EP Musing: Saint Asonia - Extrovert

Sometimes, it seems like I'm perpetually annoyed. Both as a critic and a philosopher, I find it easy to nit-pick and find flaws in just about everything. They're usually easy enough to ignore, but at a certain point, when everything starts to annoy you, even that fact becomes annoying. And with the music industry in a state where no one knows how to release music, plenty of experiments are being done that wind up annoying me.

Case in point; Saint Asonia. I really liked their last album. For the genre of radio rock, it was excellent stuff, and far exceeded any expectations I might have had. I was just listening to the album a few days ago (as I write this), and it holds up really well. I was a fan.

Earlier this year, they put out an EP I also thought was pretty good. It didn't hit me quite as hard, but they still had good songs I enjoyed a fair amount. I was still on board with them.

Now, they're putting out their second EP of the year. This shouldn't matter, but it does. We're getting one album's worth of songs, but they're split up in two batches. The end result of that is to make things harder for those of us listening. The 'album experience' is gone, because to put the two EPs together into what would have been the album is to alternate between new songs and those we have already experienced. And I know I praised an album just last month that did something similar, but the situation is very different to me, because those were all singles we had been given in doses over the years, and there would have otherwise been no way to have them collected together. With these two EPs being released so close together, the band could have easily put them out as an album.

I will admit this much; not being a follower of the charts, I don't know how successful Saint Asonia was at making any or all of the tracks off "Introvert" into radio hits. This could all be me yelling at clouds if this was a massive success for them, but I can only give my experience with their music. That experience is one of frustration, as my attention has been divided between the two releases, and I tend to give EPs less attention to begin with. The whole thing set up to make me far less engaged with new Saint Asonia music than if they had put all these songs out as an album to begin with.

I also think this strategy didn't work for me, because Saint Asonia is making music by all the blueprints of radio rock. They do it very well, but it isn't a style of music I am energized by, and asking me to get excited about two batches of music that are nearly indistinguishable is asking too much of me. I only have so much energy to go around, and I'm going to struggle to be jazzed about something I've already hear just a few months ago.

With all that being said, "Extrovert" is once again high quality mainstream rock. I definitely enjoy these songs, and when I get around to putting both EPs together to listen to them in my preferred format, I'm sure I will find it a record nearly comparable to "Flawed Design". Saint Asonia is good at this, and I'm never going to take that away from them.

What I will do, though, is be honest about how the only way I was able to find enough to say about them again this soon was to look inside myself, and not in the music.

Live Album Review: Soen - Atlantis

I don't cover live albums very often, because I find them almost too easy. A professional band should be capable when it comes to playing their own songs, so they should be good. A band can pick their best songs and essentially make a live record a 'greatest hits', so they should be good. If there isn't something unique about the presentation, a live album should be almost a gimme. If you don't pull it off, the fault is all on you.

Soen is indeed doing something different with this new live presentation, which is what makes it interesting enough to cover. Performed live in studio, the band is joined by string players to give a classical bent to their songs, amplifying the beautiful and emotional aspects that sometimes can be obscured by the metallic crunch. Also, they provide us both a new song specifically for this record, and a cover of Slipknot's "Snuff", which take this a step beyond a simple rehash of their own best works.

"Antagonist" opens things with the soft sound of strings, which are joined by acoustic guitar. There's a soothing air to the song, and the slower pace draws out the melody and gives more space for Joel's voice to emote. Along with the hints of backing vocals, there is a tenderness to the song you can't hear on the heavier version we already know. The band's equation the last three albums has been clear, and this record tips the scales so we fall into the emotional end of the pool. That highlights what makes Soen special, and turns this concert into a meditation.

Because of the nature of this recording, with no audience and no commentary, it sounds more like a re-interpretive album than a live one. That is the sort of thing I find fascinating, and listening to these songs morph with lighter distortion and strings replacing some of the lead guitars, I am swept up in a feeling of melancholy that feels like a thin blanket as the first crisp night of autumn is upon us.

Music is about connection, or at least that is what I have been in search of in recent times. Music is one of the primal ways we convey our feelings to one another, and there is little more satisfying than finding a song that can amplify what is going on in our heads and hearts. I could talk about the intricacies of these performances, and point out the little differences between them and the previously recorded versions, but that wouldn't tell you what is important about this record.

"Atlantis" is a record of feeling, a collection of songs played in such a manner that they can echo and reverberate within us. Metal is not usually thought of as sad, and seldom is that sadness able to see the refracted light on a tear for the rainbow it contains. Soen is able to do that, and never more so than on this album. By stripping away the metallic heft, the emotional weight of the songs comes through stronger than ever, and that is the key to why Soen has been so great. "Atlantis" will not be for everyone, because of what it asks from us, but for me it's a true joy.

A Social Media Music Challenge

I came across one of those 'social media music challenge' questionaires, and since we're in the quiet time of the year, I figured I might as well answer the questions myself. Some of these things I have either talked about at length before, or will probably talk about in the future, but this will be a nice little summation of a few opinions.

Band I Hate: I could be a pill and say Black Sabbath's Ozzy years, but that almost feels too easy. Also, it feels disingenuous, since they redeemed themselves later on. A band that never impressed me, from beginning to end, is Queensryche. I don't like Geoff Tate's voice, I don't think they've written more than two or three songs in forty years I would want to listen to, and I continue to be annoyed at how they (among other bands) have given us a never-ending discussion about what being 'progressive' actually means, since it now has to be specified 'progressive' or 'Progressive'. Ugh.

Band That's Overrated: Here's where I will put Black Sabbath with Ozzy. I firmly believe they are largely as popular as they still are only on the basis of being the first true metal band. Ozzy's voice is a mysterious thing, as I can't understand why people want to hear it. Their songs often are Ozzy following the riff, which isn't interesting songwriting either. Much of that era sounds to me like music that would get dismissed as good riffs without good songs, if they were to come out today.

Band That's Underrated: The Wallflowers never get talked about, other than to mention "One Headlight". I love that song too, but there is much more to them than their one big hit. Jakob Dylan is perhaps the most interesting lyricist of his generation, and he has surrounded himself with great players who allowed him to update Tom Petty's Americana-style rock for a new generation. They deserved better than to fade from the mainstream so quickly.

Band I Love The Most/Band That Changed My Life: Tonic has been the answer for more than twenty years now. I can't explain why their records spoke to me more than all the others I was listening to around that time. Something about Tonic hit me differently, and now the mix of music and nostalgia is an inertia I can't change. They also changed my life, because it was Tonic's music that convinced me to pick up a guitar and learn to play. Being a musician is a big part of my identity, so I'm not sure who I would be without them.

Band I Can Listen To Over And Over Again: Let's go with an album instead. When I get into the mood to listen to Green Day's "Warning", I find myself listening to it five times within a week. There is something so engaging about their classic power-pop influence I can't flush out of my system. I don't need to ever hear "Dookie". I'm good with "American Idiot" ever once in a great while. "Warning", though, I could have listened to every week for these last twenty years if I didn't make sure to give myself a break.

Band That Made Me Fall In Love With Music: This answer isn't a band, but rather Meat Loaf. I was only the most casual of music fans before "I'd Do Anything For Love" came out (I was a kid, after all), but that song and video caught my attention in a way nothing else had. "Bat Out Of Hell II" was the first album I ever owned, and getting swept up in Jim Steinman's song is something I still experience even now. I don't know if I would have ever fallen in love with music without that experience.

Band That Surprised Me: I could go a couple of different way, but I'm going to choose Soen. Their first album was a write-off for me, since it sounded like a Tool clone. Their second album was also a write-off, since it sounded incredibly dull. Then something happened, and the three albums that have followed each won Album Of The Year from me, and they are my favorite metal records of the last decade. I don't know if any other band has taken that kind of leap, and then maintained it for a stretch. It's a rare thing, and I did not see it coming at all.

Band That's A Guilty Pleasure: The Backstreet Boys greatest hits would qualify. After hearing those songs so many times during their halcyon days, I can't escape my memories of them, and I also can't deny that they're also some really great pop songs. Honestly, I still put them on from time to time, and I enjoy the heck out of it.

Singles Roundup: Creeper, Amorphis, The Nearly Deads, & Guns N Roses

The singles grab-bag is once again full. Let's see what we pull out this week.

Creeper - Ghost Brigade

A new Creeper song was not expected, but is certainly welcome. After the wild shift from album one to album two, this new song sort of bridges the gap. There are chimes and tempo shifts that pull from the "Sex, Death, & The Infinite Void" playbook, while the guitar crunch and straight-ahead hook are right off the "Eternity, In Your Arms" blueprint. In a way, it sums up what Creeper has done before, but I'm not sure what the purpose of doing so is. Is this to prepare us for a third album that will fuse the two sides of their personality, or an album that takes them in yet another completely different direction? They've been good enough to warrant a bit of faith, but I'll be honest and say the parts so far that have stayed with me the most are the punky, "Sing The Sorrow" type songs. This has enough of that to be enjoyable, but I feel like it doesn't commit one way or the other.

Amorphis - The Well

They've done it too. Amorphis is now putting out a 'tour edition' of "Halo", which includes this bonus track. So if you bought the record, and you're a collector who needs everything, it sucks to be you. I hate this trend so much. As for the song, I'm glad they didn't include it on the album. Being a straight-ahead progressive death metal song (ironic, huh?), the song lacks the emotion and melody the clean vocals wring out of every song. This one is more one-note than their usual fare, and it sounds less interesting for it. Amorphis' music is all about the push-and-pull, and this one only pushes me away.

The Nearly Deads - Relentless

The band is back with a new full-length on the way, and this first taste of it shows they haven't lost a step. The string of singles they put out before taking a bit of a break were all excellent, with "Freakshow" being one of my favorite songs of recent years. This track falls in line with that, with a stomping riff that gives TJ plenty of room to build a sticky melody for the chorus. Her voice has an ethereal tone to it that not only stands out from the usual modern rock, but cuts through the guitars to amplify her hooks. It's nice to hear the band back, and it's even better to know we're in store for much more.

Guns N Roses - November Rain (2022 Version)

This song is the "Stairway To Heaven" of my generation (actually, am I old enough to say that?), and now we are getting a new version of the song to showcase what it was always supposed to be. Brand new string arrangements have been recorded and placed into the mix, replacing the samples we have been listening to all these years. It's intended to be a more grand, more lush, experience than ever before. I suppose it is, in a way. There is more room in the mix, and the real strings add more depth. That being said, I don't think the song is really any better for the new accoutrements. There's a slight disconnect between the shimmering strings and Axl's thirty year-old vocal track, and it sounds to my ears like the strings are pushed further back in the mix, which makes all the effort feel like a waste. A pure remix would have sufficed, as there is something to be said about clarity bringing out the best of a dirty rock band.

Album Vs Album: Elvis Costello vs Morrissey

Long-running careers have arcs to them, where an artist's popularity and/or creativity will ebb and flow as their life changes, and as their audience changes in unwanted directions. Remaining both popular and relevant is a Herculean task, one few people have ever been able to pull off over the long haul. Whether it's through a creative dry spell, a new set of societal expectations, or simple fatigue to hearing a particular style, pretty much everyone winds up having a period of their career we view as the dark ages.

That holds true for both Elvis Costello and Morrissey. Both were making classic and important records early in their careers, but by the time the 90s rolled around, neither was enjoying the same critical acclaim or record sales of their heyday. Elvis Costello began experimenting, making records that moved further and further away from his new-wave persona, while Morrissey's whimpering and whining crossed the line from erudite musing to miserable self-pity. The public had grown tired of both men, so the start of a new millennium was the perfect time for a reinvention and return.

"When I Was Cruel": Elvis Costello's first 'rock' record in a decade was not the cynical return-to-form you might expect. Produced on his own, and having finally divorced from one-third of The Attractions for good, experimentation was still the recipe of the day. The music was built from the same components as his classic period, but with drum loops replacing some of Pete Thomas' back-beat, a dirtier sound distorting Steve Nieve's keyboards to the point of break-up, and a new bass player in the mix, this was a very different experience. It was a lo-fi, do-it-yourself approach that stripped away the gloss and pretension, going back to the basics of Elvis' searing voice and stabbing lyrics taking center stage.

Parts of the record can be hard to listen to, when the distortion sounds as if Elvis is screaming right into your year, or when a guitar buzzes as if the speaker under the amp is broken. Listening to "When I Was Cruel (No 2)" drone on as it tells a story that doesn't have the most captivating of characters can be a chore, as is having to sit through two different versions of "Dust". Elvis was filtering his experimentation through the prism of his past, but even as such, parts of the rainbow slipped past us, dissipating into the air, leaving us an incomplete picture.

"You Are The Quarry": Morrissey's return to form was less glamorized. Bringing back the "Attack Records" label from the dustbin of history, Morrissey kept on being Morrissey. Nothing about this record was much different in tone or style from his fallow years, but the sumptuous production this time around gave him a more colorful palate to paint his words atop. With indictments of America, England, and God himself, Morrissey was making clear he hated everyone and everything. That included himself.

The line about the American president never being "black, female, or gay" didn't age well, nor did the cheap heat cracks about Americans being fat and eating cheeseburgers. For a writer who once mused about Keats in his lyrics, Morrissey wasn't giving it his all when it came to the words he was singing. But geniuses don't always need to try to hit upon greatness. When he sings "the world is full of crashing bores, and I must be one, because no one ever turns to me to say 'take me in your arms'", it's such a romantically indulgent way of calling himself a loser. Contrast that with Beck stating it outright, and Morrissey's charms show through.

"I Have Forgiven Jesus" is the highlight of them all, with a lyric that touches on sexuality and identity issues, and how they co-exist with religion. Morrissey was made as he was, an outcast hated for much of his life for something out of his control, but he was made that way by his God, which is a cruel punishment to give someone before they are old enough to sin. Morrissey's forgiveness may nto be genuine, but the questions he grapples with are beyond answers.

Putting the albums head-to-head, the similarity in function, if not form, becomes apparent. Both Elvis and Morrissey were rising from the ashes of their imploded careers, making records that saw them finding their acid tongues and velvety melodies. In addition to their lyrical flourishes, both records have the artist's most compelling songs in ages, from a melodic standpoint. "Dust", "Soul For Hire", and My Little Blue Window" are gems of Elvis' madness cramming more words into a melody than should ever work. "Tart" is one of his most beautiful ballads, a rare point where the breakup in the recording reverberates the passion of the vocal, with beautiful imagery of crushed fruit and worn-out shoes drawing a picture of hopeless frustration. And as low-brow as it might be, the line in "Alibi" where he says, "If I've done something wrong there's no ifs and buts, because I love you just as much as I hate your guts" always cracks a smile.

Morrissey's rise is even more stark. "Irish Blood, English Heart" rides a riff that echoes that heartbeat, before opening into a flood of punk energy decrying the monarchy. "Last Of The Gang" and "All The Lazy Dykes" are the most pop-leaning songs perhaps in all of Morrissey's oeuvre, the former giving us the uncanny feeling of singing an earworm hook about "seeing the sun rise over smashed human bones". It was as if, for both men, they had been saving up their venom and their songs for an entire decade, to unleash them all at once, to remind us they had simply gotten bored with being themselves.

Both records also served as my entry point into their careers. They opened the door to a whole world of past music I previously knew nothing about, as well as a future of music that would prove to be a trial. But I'm not here to talk about Morrissey the person today, which is as much a gift to me as it is to him. I want to think about the music as just the music, at least for now. The memories it's attached to are unfortunate enough.

Rendering a verdict is difficult in this case. Both records showcase the lasting impact lyrics can have, while at the same time providing beautiful and unforgettable songs. They are sharpened blades driven into the side of the mountain as these men were climbing their way back to the top. They wouldn't remain there, but for each of them, they got one last moment of utter brilliance to reflect on.

Winner: "You Are The Quarry", for achieving the monumental task of making me like Morrissey.

Ranking the Dave Matthews Band Albums

There aren't many bands I've been listening to longer than Dave Matthews Band. I was not a day-one convert, seeing as I was still quite young when they first made their way onto the scene. But I was there when "Crash" became a sleeper hit, so we're talking about at least twenty-five years of the band being a part of my life. So which albums have made the longest-lasting impression on me? Let's find out.

1. The Lillywhite Sessions*

I put an asterisk on this one, since it isn't actually an album. I really don't care that much about the technicalities, so I'm counting it. Of all the music Dave has made, none of it speaks to me the same way this collection of songs does. I know it was 'sad bastard' music they thought was too dark and miserable, but that's exactly why I love it. For those times when the world is grey before my eyes, not much else captures the mood like this album. It's a rare magnum opus that doesn't get celebrated, because it is in many ways still shunned.

2. Before These Crowded Streets

I remember buying this as soon as it came out, and I was struck by the weird tangents the band would take. The odd segues, the hypnotic drones, the genre-hopping ecclecticism. This record might not be the revelation it once was to me, but it's a rainbow of ideas that refract to illuminate an interesting journey. "Crush" remains one of my favorite songs, "Halloween" a thrilling blend of raw anger and gorgeous strings, and the second half of the record outweighs the first. I'm amazed by the patience I showed as a youth for this difficult record.

3. Everyday

I know why so many people hate this album. They're not wrong about how wildly different it is. That said, the shorter, more concise, and more electric songs work well for me. I like hearing Dave fully focused for once on writing songs, without the band's immense talent there in the background to bail him out when the composition is a bit weak. Yes, it's DMB gone pop, you could say, but Dave pulled it off far better than I would have thought he could. I think if "So Right" had an extended jam, it could easily have been a highlight on the "Crash" album. I still listen to this one quite often.

4. Away From The World

What I consider the band's 'comeback' after a bit of a lull, this marks the band at their quietest and most introspective. Sure, we get "Belly Belly" as one of the most upbeat, catchiest songs in the catalog, but most of the record is content to brood and smolder. In the quiet, there are lovely little melodies to be found, as Dave's guitar sits more in the forefront than at any time since the debut. I wasn't sure they still had it in them.

5. Under The Table & Dreaming

A classic for a reason. Of course the big hits are great, even if some of the lyrics are truly awful. What makes this record work so well, though, is the sense of atmosphere. There isn't any unnecessary polish thrown on the mix, just the band playing as if you're listening to them in the room. You can't go wrong with "The Best Of What's Around" and "Satellite" as slightly deep cuts.

6. Crash

An album of extremes. This one offers up a couple of the band's greatest songs in "Two Step" and "#41", that alone would make it a winner. "So Much To Say" and "Too Much" are fun, albeit dumb. The good is tempered by the not-so-good, where Dave falls into his penchant for meandering on a slow groove for too long. A few of the longer tracks could easily cut some time, or pump up the melodies. It's a perfect album for a single's band, which DMB never was.

7. Busted Stuff

I like "Busted Stuff", I really do. The problem is that it's mostly a re-hashing of "The Lillywhite Sessions", and I like this version less in every repsect. The extra polish and happier attitude? Not as good as the misery. The new songs? Not as good as "JTR" and "Sweet Up & Down". I could go on, but that makes the point. It's a good album that unfortunately has to live in the shadow of a better version of itself.

8. Big Whiskey & The Groogrux King

This middle era of the band's career is weird. They started trying to rock harder, which was not at all what they were ever good at. This record is still solid. "Shake Me Like A Monkey" is a lot of fun, and "Lyin' In The Hands Of God" is a beautiful song. But then we get unlistenable claptrap like "Alligator Pie", and the record really loses me in the second half. I think they were trying to illustrate the fun of their live show, but it gets lots in the studio sheen.

9. Come Tomorrow

The band's second rather brooding album, age doesn't sound as good this time around as it did on "Away From The World". The songs just sound smaller than they used to in the past, whether that's a function of the writing, or if the band doesn't have the energy anymore in the studio. Regardless, when the most memorable thing about an album is the cover art, we're in for a bit of a disappointment. There is still enough here to make it a devent listen, but it gives me concern about the band's future.

10. Stand Up

The one DMB record I will flat-out call bad. I never have, and never will, quite get what they were doing with this one. To me, this sounds like "Everyday" does to most other people. It sounds contrived, flimsy, and devoid of anything that sounds like DMB. I won't say more, because I've never thought enough about the record to have a deep, philosophical take on why I don't like it.