Arsis | “Worship Depraved” | 2004 Technical melodeath band Arsis caught the attention of many with its debut record, A Celebration of Guilt. A combination of technical melodic death metal and frontman James Malone’s black metal rasp made them one of few reasons to get excited about American metal – and rightfully so, considering the talent that lies in this record. Its unorthodox (ironic, given the record’s subject matter) nature, both musically and lyrically, gave…
Guns N’ Roses | “There Was A Time” | 2008 Yes, I know how divisive Chinese Demoracy was. Unlike critics who were, let’s say, blinded by the audacity of this monumental clusterfuck, I actually found the album passable. Barely so, but passable nonetheless. In the review, I argued that the one saving grace of Democracy was the collection of slower, epic songs, as the rockers were basically, um, garbage. And of all the….compositions on the…
The Gaslight Anthem | “The ’59 Sound” | 2008 From its Born to Run opening riff to its down-and-out, working man lyrics (including repeated lines), the title track to The Gaslight Anthem’s second outing is the best pure rock song of the Aughts. [Maybe I’m slightly biased. It is, as of the time of this writing, the second-most played song on my last.fm account.] To give you an idea of just how Springsteen-esque this song…
Spoon | “The Underdog” | 2007 Perhaps it isn’t surprising – or, isn’t supposed to be – that the most fun song Spoon released this decade features uplifting Motown-esque horns. The lyrics, too, are notably upbeat with a concise message of not giving up, laying down in the face of difficulty or, most importantly, being (or becoming) social garnish. The song’s lyrics are quotable ad infinitum, whether he’s describing what perfection is to most people…
After having released a free single on iTunes, Them Crooked Vultures have now decided to release the entire album to Youtube for streaming. I can’t recall an artist putting an album stream on Youtube before. Albums have appeared there before, but not legally. It’s usually made available on either MySpace or a webzine, so this is new. I haven’t made it through the entire album yet so I can’t speak as to whether or not…
Jay-Z | “99 Problems” | 2004 The thing about Rick Rubin is that he’s concurrently the most and least talented producer of the Aughts. It’d be fascinating if he weren’t so sought after and considered a sultan of sorts. But since he is, it’s horribly irritating because you never know what the results are gonna be, whether he’s producing an entire album of sparse yet hard-hitting beats, masterminding a phenomenal comeback record, ruining Weezer or…
Them Crooked Vultures have released a new single from their forthcoming self-titled album called “Mind Eraser, No Chaser.” It’s named after the drink, and the song’s lyrics discuss the “dangerous side-effects.” The song’s typical of what’s already been heard from the band: skittery, sideways riffs running rampant, Dave’s kit pounding and Josh’s swagger behind the mic. It’s playful, it’s fun, it’s awesome. But don’t waste any more time reading this. Go get it. [Keep in…
Eminem | “Lose Yourself” | 2002 The best Eminem songs are the ones in which he actually has something to say, and usually it’s either something that will later start a controversy (like “’97 Bonnie & Clyde”) or discuss some controversy to which he’s been connected (like “The Way I Am”). Yet, “Lose Yourself” doesn’t discuss anything in Eminem’s life. Well, not his real life anyway. Instead he opted to first take an omniscient view…
While pondering the best albums of the decade for ZME, it occurred to me that I should also consider discussing the decade’s best songs. I’ve certainly been making a list of the best of the 2000’s in my head for some time now, and I finally have an outlet for those thoughts. That said, I’m not going to bother with an actual ranking of these songs in the coming weeks for three reasons. Primarily, I’m…
Album name: Blue Record Artist name: Baroness Genre: Sludge Metal Released: October 13, 2009 Label: Relapse ZME Rating: 9/10 Website: myspace.com/yourbaroness Red and blue are interesting colors. They are two of the three “addictive primary colors,” the third being green. Red, generally signifying anger in modern culture, is assuredly addictive in American society: road rage, “You lie!,” talk radio, you get it. It would make sense, then, that Savannah quartet Baroness would name an album…
Steve Lampiris