“A Thousand Suns”, by Linkin Park (Warner Bros.)

Linkin Park disappear further into the musical wilderness…

Well, it’s official: I have officially lost interest in the music Linkin Park produce. A Thousand Suns features not a single song that remains with you once it’s finished, and not a single hook that lodges itself in your brain. Each of the 15 tracks on here (which still, as a whole, only last 47mins) is over-loaded with samples and characterised by forgettable musicianship.

In case you think I’m just being a “hater” of a successful band, I should point out that both Hybrid Theory and Meteora are two of my favourite albums ever. I have no problem with bands being experimental, or trying new things. A Thousand Suns is a strange progression from Minutes to Midnight, which saw the band forsake originality to produce an album of mediocre, repetitive and short songs aimed at eliciting a two-to-three minute response from what were, for all intents-and-purposes, merely a single hook repeated a few times. But, at least on this album there were still songs. The only one that stuck out for me, unsurprisingly, was “What I’ve Done”, which adhered to the ‘classic’ Linkin Park-style. Every other song, as mentioned, was a single hook, repeated. [It’s doubly annoying that I paid for the special edition of MtM, which was expensive and not at all worth the money.]

On A Thousand Sons, the band has effectively disappeared. I don’t remember noticing any guitar riffs, or memorable drumming. The sheer number of samples was irritating and the only thing that stuck with me. A band that built their career on writing singles (the last one to please was “New Divide”, which featured on the Transformers II soundtrack, which bears no resemblance to the ‘music’ on this new record).

I am so disappointed by this album, that I’m angry rather than upset. I do not think this album is any good, and the music has zero redeeming features, overlaid with an air of pretentiousness that is simply off-putting.

I’m going to go listen to Hybrid Theory and Meteora, and remember a time when this band was leading the new wave of melodic-yet-heavy rock music.

“R’n’f’n’R”, by Slash & Friends

The new, highly-anticipated solo album from former Guns ‘n’ Roses guitarist

In all honesty, this album is fantastic. The sound is huge and varied. Each track has a guest singer, all ranging in quality and fame. Some of these songs are, of course, better than others, but stand-out tracks for me include “Watch This”, “Ghost”, “Back From Cali”, “Promise”, “Gotten”, “I Hold On” and “Starlight”. Particularly good tracks were ones where I hadn’t anticipated liking it so much: Ozzy’s track, “Crucify” is superb; Miles Kennedy continues to show why he’s one of the most under-appreciated vocal talents in rock on his two songs “Back From Cali” and “Starlight”; Kid Rock surprises on “I Hold On”, offering a slow-burning rock song; Ian Astbury is also on top form on “Ghost”, which reminded me of The Cult’s Beyond Good And Evil album.

To truly appreciate the quality of this album, however, you need to listen to it. So, thanks for Slash’s website, here’s a special player for the album:

Favourite Song of the Moment

Demon Hunter’s “Collapsing” (feat. Bjorn from Soilwork)

Three Days Grace: “Life Starts Now”

Frikkin’ Awesome Return of Under-rated Hard Rockers

I must make a confession to start: I absolutely love this band, so any review is automatically somewhat suspect. That being said, I shall try to be objective.

The band’s sound has a certain energy to it that is highly infectious. With each new album, they are honing their craft closer to perfection. Their eponymous first album had a couple of good songs, while the sophomore release, 2006’s One-X, had some truly awesome tracks like “Animal I Have Become” and “Riot” to name but two, cementing the band in the echelons of true players in the harder end of the radio-rock spectrum.

Life Starts Now grows on this progression, offering even more catchy tunes. Each song on this album is worthy of attention and repeat listens. The structures are clearly more designed for radio (“World So Cold” and “Someone Who Cares”, for example, are quite repetitive), but the songs do not suffer from this at all. Linkin Park’s recent output has suffered, as they now produce pretty uninspiring pop-rock/-metal that is simplistic and forgettable. Three Days Grace have at least managed to retain some of their edge and gruffness, while also enhancing their hooks and accessibility. The choruses are still huge, the vocals still arresting and varied, and the musicianship is confident and immediate.

Few albums have lived up to my expectations in the past couple of years, but it is safe to say that Life Starts Now has affirmed my confidence in Three Days Grace. They should have a long and successful career ahead of them. Songs such as “Break” (the lead single) and “Bitter Taste” are immediate singles, and if they don’t have you at least nodding your head along, then chances are you’re dead inside.

Highly recommended.

For Fans of: Shinedown, Soil, Drowning Pool, Sick Puppies, Finger Eleven

Vertical Horizon: “Burning The Days”

Long-delayed return of soft rockers

Vertical Horizon first attracted my attention with their 2000 release, Everything You Want. It was melodic, well-written and pretty uplifting soft rock music. Their follow-up album, Go, didn’t really register at all. Burning The Days takes more queues from the softer side of this already soft band, mixing the competent melodies with catchy tunes. The only problem is that they aren’t quite as uplifting as they used to be. The songs are good, but they come across a little more shoe-gazing that I would have liked from this band.

If you want something to chill out to, or to listen to with a girlfriend who’s scared of anything even remotely heavy or ‘hard’, then Burning The Days should fill the role.

For Fans of: Vonray, Our Lady Peace, Matchbox Twenty

Creed: “Full Circle” (Wind-Up)

The Mega-Selling Grunge Outfit of the 1990s Returns!

I was originally quite sceptical about this album. I always liked Creed (Human Clay, despite it being ‘uncool’, is one of my favourite albums of that period and this genre), so I was interested to see how they might fare after some time apart and with mended fences.

Scott Stapp’s solo album was… disappointing to say the least. The other members of Creed went off, along with Myles Kennedy (formerly of The Mayfield Four) to form the heavier, but still melodic and grungy Alter Bridge.

Full Circle opens with “Overcome” – a heavier take on the classic Creed sound, which serves as a suckerpunch for those who had forgotten what Creed’s original appeal was. “Bread of Shame” and “A Thousand Faces” follow this up with two more toned-down songs, each acting like a step down in intensity. This wasn’t entirely welcome, but the songs are very good, exhibiting some more interesting song structures (still straightforward, but not the standard Creed template that had become well-trodden by 2001’s Weathered). Thankfully, as became clear over the course of the rest of the album, the histrionics have disappeared, and Stapp seems to have got his ego mostly in check. Good for him. Mark Tremonti’s guitar playing is exceptional throughout, and it seems that he’s been able to bring over some solos from his Alter Bridge days, again making the album stand out from Creed’s previous output.

Overall, this is a welcome return from a band everyone loved to deride and hate. Just like Nickelback, who continue to produce songs that appeal to a broad demographic (aging music fans who came of age during the grunge years, for example), Creed’s place in the music world is assured. If you like your grunge straightforward and competently composed and performed, then Full Circle is an album that should appeal.

For Fans of: Alter Bridge, Nickelback, Pearl Jam, Breaking Benjamin, Cavo, Breaking Point, Big Dismal, Bush (not the presidents), Day of Fire, Red

Dead By Sunrise: “Out Of Ashes” (Warner Bros.)

‘Solo’ album from Linkin Park’s frontman and members of Orgy

Just as Minutes To Midnight wasn’t the Linkin Park album I had hoped for, Out Of Ashes was not the album I hoped it would be. Chester Bennington has one of the most versatile and powerful voices in rock today (perhaps ever?), and on this album and Linkin Park’s recent output it feels like he’s just churning out songs that lack the punch and impact of his earlier material. The power evident on Linkin Park’s 2001 debut, Hybrid Theory, and their sophomore release, Meteora (2003) is completely absent on this album. Yes, Chester’s vocals are still melodic and catchy, but there’s no bite, and little on here that really stands out.

The music, provided by Ryan Schuck and Amir Derakh, formerly (?) of Orgy, is ok, but again nothing special.

This promised to be so much more, but ended up falling a little flat. Well-produced and –performed flatness, but certainly flat nonetheless.

“Picture Perfect”, by Soil

An unexpected, superb album

I must say that I wasn’t as keen on the new incarnation of Soil after Ryan McCoombs gave up vocal duties (though, Drowning Pool didn’t improve a whole deal when they hired him, either).

Picture Perfect, then, was a wholly unexpected, brilliant hard rock album. True Self was disappointing, because it seemed that the band were trying really hard to carve themselves a whole new identity – which, in itself, is fair enough, because of the importance of frontmen/-women.

With this album, however, the band has found a happy middle-ground. Bringing back the more grungy elements of the Scars (2002) Redefine (2004) era, enhancing the gruff melodicism with new singer, AJ Cavalier’s different range.

“Tear It Down”, “Picture Perfect”, “Every Moment”, “Falter”, and “Lesser Man” are perfect exemplars of the band’s new sound, and it’s one that doesn’t change much throughout the album. Once again they sound unique, and the album is all the better for it. There are some more diverse elements and influences at play, which makes the album interesting throughout and ensures the listener doesn’t just think they’ve listened to one long song.

Overall, this is an excellent, grungy hard rock album. If anyone lost interest after Redefine, then Picture Perfect should hook you right back into the band’s orbit.

Excellent, and highly recommended.

“Amanethes”, by Tiamat (Century Media)

The latest gothic metal masterpiece from Sweden

Just a quick review of this, as it’s been out for a while. Tiamat write and produce some of the best heavy, gothic music available today. On Amanethes, their long-awaited ninth album, they blend together their earlier, gruffer sound with that of their previous two albums, Judas Christ (2002) and Prey (2003). From the moment “The Temple of the Crescent Moon” kicks off, you know you’re in for something special.

The mix of heavy, dark and melodic elements proves to be excellent, offering songs for most tastes in gothic and metal. Certain songs (e.g. “Until the Hellhounds Sleep Again”) nod more towards their later work, while others (e.g. “Raining Dead Angels”) have more in common with their earlier, heavier work. Johan Edlund’s vocals are more varied on Amanethes, re-introducing the harsher style of the band’s earlier work, alongside his superb ‘clean’ vocals.

The pace of the music is pretty varied, though predominantly unhurried. “Will They Come?”, for example, has a slow, funereal melody, reminiscent of much of the Judas Christ album.

I find myself preferring Judas Christ and Prey, though I admit this might have more to do with familiarity, rather than Amanethes being of lower quality. After five years, those two albums have become very familiar. No doubt, given time, I will come to like Amanethes as much.

Overall, this is a very welcome return for Tiamat, one of the most underrated metal bands working today. Anyone with a taste for dark, gothic, gruffly melodic music should own (at least) Tiamat’s three latest albums.

Discography: Sumerian Cry (1990), The Astral Sleep (1991), Clouds (1992), Wildhoney (1994), A Deeper Kind of Slumber (1997), Skeleton Skeletron (1999), Judas Christ (2002) and Prey (2003)

For Fans of: Moonspell, Sentenced, Fall of the Leafe, Poisonblack, Samael, My Dying Bride, Type O Negative