Naio Ssaion - Out loud

Artist - Naio Ssaion

Album - Out loud

Released - November 25, 2005

Reviewed By - Siddique Humayun

Naio Ssaion formed in 2003 and Out loud is the band's second album. With female vocals and amazing arrangement of Electric Violens in the songs, Naio Ssaion proves to be very original, creative and a talented band. Barbara Jedovnicky provides vocals while Rok Kolar shows his expertise on the Electric Violen, the band features nice riffs and great drumming by guitarits, Tine Cas and Luka Verdnik and drummer Mitja Melansek. The bass is provided by Lenart Jerabek. Though most of it is over-shadowed by the extremely talented violenist, Rok Kolar and the Amy Lee sort of vocals of Barbara Jedovnicky.

Out loud features 13 songs in total with a 2 minute instrumental, "Bow Link in E Minor" which shows Rok Kolar at his best. I came across the band when I heard them cover, Antonio Vivaldi's famous, The Four Seasons. No wonder they have a taste for classical music. The first song of the album is "Static" which pretty much sounds like an Evanescence song minus the Violen. Which gives the song great new heights. The best part about Naio Ssaion I think is their use of an Electric Violen which sounds, to say the least, unique.

"The Mirror" is the second song on the album, which starts of with brilliant arrangement of music and soon the vocals come in - which as usual are one of the major part of the band. Slighty after half the song, it features one of the most beautiful Violen solos on this album. Next in line is "Miss You" which has beautiful lyrics and vocals that are pure ecstasy. Naio Ssaion deals with rather personal issues in their lyrics and at times sound a bit too much "Evanescence" which gets a bit annoying at times.

"Bow Link In E Minor" this is where the band shines, musically. Impressive arrangement of violens with terrific guitaring and nice drumming. "N.ss" follows, and is one of the bands relatively famous tracks.

Out loud features some weak songs - such as, "Shut-up" and "Blah-Blah", which would've been better if they didn't make on the album, after all, 13-songs on one album is a bit too much anyway. On the other hand, the later half of the album gives the band a more of its own sound. And as soon as you reach the final song, "Out of the Great Book of Fairy Tales" you find yourself gripped to the band.

Over-all a very nice album, highly recommended.

Rating - 3.5/5

Tracklisting -

1. Static

2. The Mirror

3. Teen

4. Miss You

5. Bow Link In E Minor

6. N.ss

7. Shut Up

8. Blah-Blah

9. Blind Date

10. Can't You hear

11. At Ease

12. Yours Faithfully

13. Out Of the Great Book of Fairytales

Soundgarden - Superunknown

Artist - Soundgarden
Album - Superunknown
Released - March 8, 1994
Genre - Grunge
Reviewed By - The Starchild

Many expected seminal grunge band Soundgarden (Alongside with Mudhoney) to be the band which will break down the barriers and take Seattle grunge to mainstream, and they always seemed to be on verge of crossing into mainstream, especially with the excellent Badmotorfinger, but Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten managed to beat them to the punch. What Soundgarden, despite of being one of the pioneers of grunge always lacked was a hit single to cross them into mainstream and they finally got it with Superunknown as "Black Hole Sun" and "Spoonman" became huge hits and ultimately crossed them into mainstream.

Superunknown, is a highly ambitious, sprawling epic crossing well over 60 minutes. And the band despite of issuing a series of good, solid records in past, this time outdid themselves as with Superunknown, alongside with their Led Zeppelin and Sabbath-esque brand of music they indulged into psychedelia in full fledge and experimented with pop, thus giving grunge sound a psychedelic-pop touch and pushing their sonic template even furthur. Also their early punk influences are completely kicked out. Soundgarden with this record progressed and turned into what none of their fellow Seattle bands were, which makes this record a standout record in grunge history.

Most of the lyrical content of album deals with depression, death, suicide and has a overall a dark theme from a lyrical standpoint of view. Chris Cornell's fantastic vocals is what leads the songs as songs are built upon them and despite of leading, they jell well with the bands music and don't overshadow stunning display by Thayil/Cameron/Shepherd. Especially the stunning solos by Thayil on tracks like Superunknown and Black Hole Sun etc. are highly memorable. Another interesting song is Spoonman (Which also became a huge hit and got big airplay cause of a creative music video.) featuring a famous street artist from Seattle called "Artis The Spoonman" who provides some unconventional percussion work alongside with Cameron's impressive drumming in song itself.

The band here is like an ever changing creature as they shift in psyche-pop mixed into grunge haze for some tracks while quickly morphs into pretty much a stoner rock outfit on The Melvins-esque track "4th Of July". Whilst Cornell's vocal melodies are instantly recognizable, rest of the band is laid beneath layers and layers of sonic attack by them and the subtlities are revealed upon more and more listens, (E.g. - Drumming on title track, Thayil's guitarwork on lesser famous tracks like Mailman etc. Even today, I find something fresh in every listen of this record.) and the sheer sonic beauty of that is immensly pleasurable. There are couple of cuts which might sound a bit boring but if one takes a look at the ambitious nature of record and the growth that band shows, it's forgivable.

An amazing record which shows Soundgarden at the peak of their creativity and shows the genius of the band. If you thought grunge was all about Nirvana and Pearl Jam, you might want to check out one of the bands which started it all at their finest. Highly recommended listening.

Rating - 5/5

Tracklisting -

1. Let Me Drown
2. My Wave
3. Fell On Black Days
4. Mailman
5. Superunknown
6. Head Down
7. Black Hole Sun
8. Spoonman
9. Limo Wreck
10. The Day I Tried To Live
11. Kickstand
12. Fresh Tendrils
13. 4th Of July
14. Half
15. Like Suicide
16. She Likes Surprises

Incubus - Morning View

Artist – Incubus
Album – Morning View
Released – October 23, 2001
Genre – Alternative/Hard Rock
Reviewed By – Mr. Rastafarian

Morning View was 4th album released by Incubus. I heard the album completely when one day I let the playlist run after "Wish You Were Here (not a Floyd cover), and I was blown away. Especially 11Am. It's one of their mellower albums with a lot more experimentation. People who are used to their new hard rock sound may find this album a little mellow for their tastes, but it's a very good addition to their discography. Very mature song writing make this a very good listen.

The album starts of with "Nice To Know You", a typical 'hard' Incubus song. It moves onto Circles, a similar track and then a gem of a track "Wish You Were Here". "Wish You Were Here" is the typical Incubus masterpiece on albums such as "Glass" on the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and "Drive" on the album Make Yourself.

After Wish You Were Here, the best songs have to be Mexico and 11Am. Then comes Blood on the Ground. A typical Incubus "hard" song, which makes you headbang along. It features some nice effects by DJ Chris Kilmore. Mexico comes after that and is an acoustic song which grips you immediately. Also, 11Am with it's vocal chanting and lyrical theme shows how the band has matured in song writing and as a band. "Warning", "Echo" are very mature sounding tracks, which move slow and steadily, keeping the pace of the album on the low. Then comes "Have You Ever" and "Are You In?" which showcase the ability of bassist Dirk Lance. Then comes "Under My Umbrella" which has to be the darkest Incubus track. It features a dark riff which keeps to it's style with good backup by drummer Jose Pasillas II.

The album ends with Aqueous Transmission. It features relaxing sounds and the Pipa (a traditional Chinese instrument) which would make the listener pee his/her pants in relaxation (as said by Brandon Boyd) :P.

As a whole, this album performs wonderfully, and is in my top-5 alternative rock album lists of all time. A must listen to any Incubus fan and a must listen even if you're not an Incubus fan.

Rating - 4.5/5

1. "Nice to Know You" – 4:45
2. "Circles" – 4:11
3. "Wish You Were Here" – 3:36
4. "Just a Phase" – 5:33
5. "11am" – 4:16
6. "Blood On The Ground" – 4:36
7. "Mexico" – 4:22
8. "Warning!" – 4:42
9. "Echo" – 3:36
10. "Have You Ever" – 3:16
11. "Are You In?" – 4:26
12. "Under My Umbrella" – 3:33
13. "Aqueous Transmission" – 7:46

Nine Inch Nails - With_Teeth

Artist – Nine Inch Nails
Album – with_teeth
Released – May 3 2005
Genre – Alternative/Industrial
Reviewed By – Nigga J

After a gap of six long years, Trent Reznor returned to the studio to record a brand new album. This album came out in 2005 and it sure is one of the band’s best works yet. It is more aggressive than the last two releases and is kind of a more listener friendly brother of the Broken EP.

Trent always was a perfectionist, laboring over his final mixes with a fine-tooth comb, a belabored process that inevitably led to long gaps between albums. This can be seen in his past releases too as there are huge gaps in the middle of each release filled with live albums, remixes, some EPs here and there and collaborations. This time the gap was a long six year one and judging from what the album is, it is pretty much worth it though for someone like Trent, it could have been done in four years time.
with_teeth can be called the most accessible NIN record till date as even though it features its fare share of ear splitting havoc, the sound seems to be a bit more listener friendly and one can actually identify individual instruments. That hardly is a bad thing as this album features one of the catchiest tunes in NIN history.

The album kicks off with All The Love In The World. It’s a song which starts real slow and has got a great menacing buildup and then dumps the tension for bouncing kick drums, some heavy bass and multiple vocal harmonies. Next comes You Know What You Are? It opens with drums which sound somewhat like an attack helicopter doing what it does best and with an electronic synth line. Trent screams with full angst and hatred on this one. It later boils down to a more softer sound with a very catchy synth line before bombing the listener back with Trent screaming “DON’T YOU FUCKING KNOW WHAT YOU ARE?!”
Then is The Collector. One of the darker songs present on the album. It constantly shifts from soft to heavy and is also very melodic indeed. Following it is The Hand That Feeds which perhaps is one of the most well known NIN song after Closer. It can be best described as aggressive disco pop all with rebellious lyrics.

The whole album goes similarly featuring melodies that instantly stick in your head and with a more user friendly sound. Other highlights on the album includes Love Is Not Enough which is a slow but heavy song and aggressive which is perhaps the best on the album, Everyday Is Exactly The Same, a slow and catchy song, Getting Smaller, which barrels along a breakneck pace on a weird bass line until a avalanche of heavy overdriven distorted guitars hit it and Right Where It Belongs, which one will have to listen to understand what makes it so cool. One song you should stay away from is Besides You In Time which is downright boring and annoying but the rest of the album makes up for it.

Unlike older NIN albums, the songs do not have to depend on each other to make more sense here as they can be best described as good friends of each other who do sound cool in a group but also sound good as single songs. They revolve around a bleak concept of waking up from a nightmare and accepting a new reality. Overall, with_teeth is a neat album featuring memorable songs and a more melodic and listener friendly sound. Some more experimentation would have been welcome as it seems like its depending too much on the sound derived from their older stuff, but if you want to get into NIN, this is where you start.

Rating - 4/5

Tracklisting:
1. "All the Love in the World" – 5:14
2. "You Know What You Are?" – 3:41
3. "The Collector" – 3:07
4. "The Hand That Feeds" – 3:31
5. "Love Is Not Enough" – 3:41
6. "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" – 4:54
7. "With Teeth" – 5:37
8. "Only" – 4:22
9. "Getting Smaller" – 3:35
10. "Sunspots" – 4:02
11. "The Line Begins to Blur" – 3:44
12. "Beside You in Time" – 5:24
13. "Right Where It Belongs" – 5:04

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

Artist - Black Sabbath

Album - Heaven and Hell

Released - April 25, 1980

Genre - Heavy Metal

Reviewed By - Mohammad Zubair Ahmad

Dazzling, exceptional, glorious, magnificent - There probably is not enough words to aptly describe the 'comeback' album of heavy metal legends Black Sabbath. The Ozzy era was over - the dark riffs coupled with the haunting lyrics were not coming back again. The characteristic early Sabbath sound was not a novelty any more and a couple of rather weak albums (by Sabbath standards at least) did not seem to evoke the same passions as a Paranoid or Sabotage. But this was exactly were the legendary Tony Iommi played his masterstroke. Getting ex-Rainbow lead vocalist Ronnie James Dio on board was nothing but a piece of tactical acumen with the result visible (and more audible) for decades to come.

RJD's song writing prowess is exemplified in this album more than anywhere else. Not even 'Mob rules' comes within yards of this work. His vocal range and singing abilities on the other hand need no introduction. All in all, the entire combo for this album was the perfect one. In fact it is also one of Bill Ward's better works during his eminent decline. Dio's lyrics focus on magical fantasies with no better example than the first track 'Neon Knights'. Characteristic Iommi riffs, fast and furious with barrels of energy and a medium length staccato solo thrown in-between bring up the perfect combination with Dio's operatic vocals. His 'Circles and rings, Dragons and rings' weave 'a charm and a spell' and can teleport a listener with a vivacious imagination down the rabbit hole into the lands of fantasies. This song is my personal favorite and going by the audience reaction at a recent show where the guys performed this as the encore, it is without a doubt one of their best ever.

Such a huge beginning to the album is certainly hard to follow. A soft intro to 'Children of the Sea' makes the transition soothing. This song again highlights Dio fantastic vocal range as he sings it mainly in a lower key with a decidedly base tone. The set of 'Look Out's at the end make it a joy to sing along for anyone listening. Dio's dedication to the wanton, wicked 'Lady evil' follows, who's a magical but mystical woman while identifying her as the queen of the night. The picture is painted so aptly with each and every stanza in the song and the Iommi solo paints a darker picture, all the while giving you time to contemplate Dio's warning.

The album starts off at a peak and it reaches another peak of stratospheric heights with 'Heaven and Hell'. This song is all Ronnie from start to end. He eclipses even Iommi's solid guitaring completely and one can only remain mesmerized by his abilities as he raises his pitch, lowers it down, starts with a slower tempo and ultimately aggravates, sharpens and escalates before slowing right down once again. A perfect guitar solo seems to raise the pulse rates right near the end. Yet another high point of the album.

The remaining songs in the album are well worth their place too with 'Die Young' as yet another masterpiece. This album incorporates every characteristic of a traditional heavy metal record, and something more. Lyrical brilliance, breathtaking guitar riffs, sparkling bass lines - there could be nothing better to do. People say one can always improve. This album proves it wrong. Perfection is attainable and this is proof of that. A wholesome album which should be a must-have for anyone who considers himself an avid lover of heavy metal.

Rating - 5/5

Tracklisting -

1. "Neon Knights" - 3:49

2. "Children of the Sea" - 5:30

3. "Lady Evil" - 4:22

4. "Heaven and Hell" - 6:56

5. "Wishing Well" - 4:02

6. "Die Young" - 4:41

7. "Walk Away" - 4:21

8. "Lonely Is the Word" - 5:49

All songs written & arranged by Ronnie James Dio / Tony Iommi / Bill Ward / Geezer Butler Lyrics by Ronnie James Dio.

Metallica - Black/Metallica

Artist - Metallica
Album - Black/Metallica
Released - August 12, 1991
Genre - Heavy Metal
Reviewed By - The Starchild

Labelled as a sellout by some while some hail it as a revolutionary album since it took thrash metal (although not as "thrashy" as Metallica's earlier works.) and exposed the genre to mainstream and was one of the few heavy metal albums to take mainstream by storm on such a large scale. Mainstram success had always eluded Metallica though they had plenty of critical acclaim. On this album they took a different approach and leaned towards concise song structures. Also the sound is much "cleaner" and stripped down on this album as Hetfield's vocals are different than they are on previous releases, same goes for rest of the bands sound.

The album opens with the hit single "Enter Sandman" which catapulted Metallica to top of mainstream rock world, and has had a considerable impact on pop culture ever since. Follows up with another solid song "Sad But True". Tracks come and go and it can be seen that this album has a much more introspective feel to it. Be it ever popular "Nothing Else Matters" or "The God That Failed" (A song about Hetfields mother refusing to accept medication for cancer because of her belief that god will cure her.) After painting big picture with previous milestones like Master of Puppets or ...And Justice For All, this time Metallica are looking into themselves and singing about it. "Wherever I May Roam" takes a look at life on road as Hetfield sneers "Nomad, Vagabond Call Me What You Will".

The band closes the album with two quite overlooked songs from their catalogue, "My Friend of Misery" which has a fantastic slow interlude and then an explosive "The Struggle Within". Another amusing fact about this album is, it actually managed to achieve incredible amount of commerical success when almost all of 80's metal acts faded into obscurity in the wake of Nirvana's success. Though not the best album out of Metallica's varied catalogue, this album saw them breaking down from "thrash" sound and experiment with slower and more concise song structures and somewhat hinted what future released like Load/Reload might sound like. Metallica gets points here for doing what most of their contemporaries had avoided, which was getting out of comfort zone.

If you are looking for getting into heavy metal/hard rock, this album is a fantastic place to start and has great replay value. Get your hands on this one now!

Rating - 3.5/5

Tracklisting -

1. Enter Sandman (Kirk Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 5:31
2. Sad But True – 5:24
3. Holier Than Thou" – 3:47
4. The Unforgiven (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 6:26
5. Wherever I May Roam – 6:43
6. Don't Tread on Me – 4:00
7. Through the Never (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:04
8. Nothing Else Matters – 6:28
9. Of Wolf and Man (Hammett, Hetfield, Ulrich) – 4:16
10. The God That Failed – 5:08
11. My Friend of Misery (Hetfield, Jason Newsted, Ulrich) – 6:49
12. The Struggle Within – 3:53

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Album - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Artist - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Release Date - September 24, 1991
Genre - Alternative Rock
Reviewed by - Mr. Rastafarian

One of the first albums I ever bought, was Red Hot Chili Pepper's Blood Sugar Sex Magik and it was a very good investment indeed. I wasn't disappointed by this album one bit. A very fine mixture of rock, alternative, funk and rhyme make this album a must hear for any rock music addict.

There are many themes on this album, some mainly being sexual innuendos and puns used here and there. Some certain songs contain blatant references to sexual acts, for example the lines ""A state of sexual light / Kissing her virginity / My affinity," and "Glorious euphoria / Is my must / Erotic shock / Is a function of lust."" on the title track. The music flows beautifully, containing a lot of experimentation by Flea (the bassist) and John Frusciante (the guitarist). The songs "Suck My Kiss", "If You Have to Ask", "Sir Psycho Sexy", "Give It Away" and "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" all contained various sexual links. Anthony Keidis has kept a very straight style of rapping the lyrics, which gives it a different feel altogether. "Breaking the Girl" is about Keidis's frequent shifting relationships.

The album was recorded at Harry Houdini's living place "The Mansion" which was then converted into a studio for the recording sessions. Each member got a separate room, as they decided to stay there for the time of the recording. Chad Smith, however, convinced that the house was haunted decided to come to each day's recording from elsewhere. Although jams had always been an integral aspect of song creation for the Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar saw songs being created with more structure. All photography, paintings and art direction on Blood Sugar were credited to filmmaker Gus van Sant. The cover of the album features the four band members' faces positioned around a rose. The booklet also contains a collage of photos assembled to showcase the band members' various tattoos, which feature faces of Native American tribal leaders, animals and sea creatures, as well as various symbols and phrases. Photographs of each band member alone, and two photographs of the band as a whole are also included.

The album flows beautifully through the first few songs, going through a rough middle stage, and comes to another full of energy and then going to a bore again. Maybe the part that makes this album bad is the part of putting in too many songs. 17 songs for an LP seems to be a little too much, if not a concept album. Shortening it to 13-14 songs would have been a better choice. The rest of the songs could be given out as bonus b-sides. But then, people have come to like this album as it is and has gone 5 times platinum in the US since its release.

Rating - 4/5

1. "The Power of Equality" – 4:03
2. "If You Have to Ask" – 3:37
3. "Breaking the Girl" – 4:55
4. "Funky Monks" – 5:23
5. "Suck My Kiss" – 3:37
6. "I Could Have Lied" – 4:04
7. "Mellowship Slinky in B Major" – 4:00
8. "The Righteous & the Wicked" – 4:08
9. "Give It Away" – 4:43
10. "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" – 4:31
    
11. "Under The Bridge" – 4:24
12. "Naked in the Rain" – 4:26
13. "Apache Rose Peacock" – 4:42
14. "The Greeting Song" – 3:14
15. "My Lovely Man" – 4:39
16. "Sir Psycho Sexy" – 8:17
17. "They're Red Hot" (Robert Johnson) – 1:11