Thor: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
CD | MP3
By Patrick Doyle
Buena Vista Records
Release Date: May 3, 2011

One of the things I love most about seeing a movie for the first time is experiencing its music score. I have many favorites but the ones that affect me the most are the great adventure scores, from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s jaunty and propulsive The Adventures of Robin Hood to John Williams’ endlessly hum-worthy Raiders of the Lost Ark. The best of these scores tend to plant themselves deep in my mind and always pipe up at moments when I need those sounds the most and my MP3 player is nowhere to be found. They calm my soul and motivate me to conquer each of life’s challenges, be they minor or potentially life-threatening, with a hearty laugh and my arms jutted forward like I could take off flying at any moment [...]

Soundgarden
Live on I-5
CD | MP3
A&M Records
U.S. Release date: March 22, 2011
UK Release date: March 21, 2011

Soundgarden is a band almost impossible to neatly define. So diverse is the band’s sound that anything they try — be it punk, grunge, rock, acoustic — nothing sounds out of place. Like contemporaries Faith No More, they manage to mix all of these influences together while still possessing an identifiable sound. This keeps their audience guessing, not just from album to album, but from each track to the next.

On new live album, Live on I-5, Soundgarden keeps this excitement going. It was recorded at various U.S. and Canadian venues at the tail end of 1996, just a few months before the band’s eventual break up. Thanks to this, there is a definite sense of anger within the performances, which added to the band’s natural energy and power on stage makes for an intensely frenetic and hugely impressive live album [...]

Whitesnake
Forevermore
Produced by David Coverdale, Doug Aldrich, Michael McIntyre
Frontiers Records
U.S: Release: March 29, 2011 (CD/DVD | CD | MP3)
UK Release: April 18, 2011 (CD | MP3)

In the age of the music video, TV in the late 1980s was swamped with big hair and sexy women; examples of both were provided in ample supply by Whitesnake. The band’s big-haired lead singer, David Coverdale, provided us at the time with some of the best rock songs, sung by one of the greatest ever rock voices and responsible for some of the filthiest lyrics in rock (anyone remember “Slow Poke Music”?), all as his model girlfriend cavorted semi-naked in the videos.

Forevermore is Whitesnake’s 11th studio album and marks a tremendous return to the great songs and songwriting of that time, which got most of us listening in the first place [...]

KISS
Destroyer
UK: CD | MP3
U.S.: CD | MP3
Recorded September 1975 and February 1976
Released March 15, 1976

Say it with me: “You wanted the best, you got the best! The hottest band in the world: KISS!”

Despite being the global phenomenon it is today, only a modest reception greeted KISS’ first three albums on initial release back in the 1970s. While all very good rock albums, it seemed KISS, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed To Kill just couldn’t find a big audience. Between them they had what are now thought of as classic KISS songs such as “Strutter,” “Rock and Roll All Nite,” and “Parasite.” But it was the release of the stunning live album Alive! which turned KISS fever into a full-blown pandemic.

On March 15, 1976, a mere six months after Alive!, the band released its fourth studio album, which was produced by Bob Ezrin. It had rock anthems, ballads, wailing guitars, string sections, thumping drums, and the world’s most iconic musicians. This was to be the album which turned KISS from rock stars into superstars. And its title summed up the band’s intent: Destroyer […]

Metallica
Master Of Puppets
UK
U.S.: CD | MP3
Recorded September – December 1985
Released March 3, 1986

Metallica pierced the ears of metalheads in with their 1983 debut album Kill ‘Em All; a shocking statement of intent with its aggressive, fast onslaught of sonic terror. They hurdled the ‘difficult second album’ phase with ease on the mighty Ride The Lightning, signaling a grander scope of songwriting. These were good albums, full of promising talent that metal listeners hoped would turn into greatness.

When it comes to bands, every so often everything falls perfectly into place. The best of them experience this perfect moment maybe once in their career. That one album where every song is perfectly written, each vocal perfectly pitched with lyrics encompassing and evoking an issue or time. Master Of Puppets was Metallica’s moment.

Released on March 3, 1986, Master of Puppets has never been a ‘grower’ demanding repeated listens nor has it ever been considered a misunderstood work of genius. It is an immediate album. Right from its release it was considered a great metal album and in the proceeding 25 years since its release its reputation has only grown. The songs still hold up as iconic metal tracks, with the title song still being one of the defining anthems of the genre [...]

Motörhead
The World Is Yours
Producer Cameron Webb
Future PLC/Motörhead Music
Release date: January 17 (UK) | February 8 (U.S.) 2011

In 1975 Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister was fired from British space-rock group Hawkwind. He wasted no time in getting back on the music horse and quickly formed a new three-piece band which almost as a direct opposite to Hawkwind was loud, fast, and if it moved in next door to you ‘your lawn would die’. Lemmy continued to play the bass (despite having no experience when he joined Hawkwind four years earlier) and a suitable name was chosen. Sadly Lemmy was persuaded against calling his new band Bastard and changed it to the infinitely superior Motörhead.

An incredible 36 years later Motörhead is still going and continues to record new albums at an admirable rate. The World Is Yours is Motörhead’s 20th studio album and sounds as fresh as the first [...]

Faith No More
Live At The Brixton Academy
UK | U.S.
Recorded April 1990
Released February 4, 1991 (UK)

With the help of MTV and its heavy rotation of the video for “Epic,” Faith No More rose to prominence in the late 1980s. The band’s third album, and first with its new lead singer Mike Patton, Real Thing was an instant classic and made heroes of its makers. Duly, the band took the album on tour into the early nineties and chose one show to record for a live album. February 4th marks the 20th anniversary of the Faith No More album Live At The Brixton Academy. Recorded at the famous venue in London, England, it is Faith No More’s only official live album. And what an album it is.

Lead singer Mike Patton is a brilliant performer. At first he seems as if he is not taking it seriously by putting on silly voices at times, but as always his delivery is stunning. He may throw in a quick riff on New Kids On The Block’s “The Right Stuff” during “We Care A Lot,” but he has a voice very, very few rock/metal performers can match (or whatever the hell genre Faith No More fits into, such is the band’s mixture of influences and styles). On the track “The Real Thing” alone he exhibits such vulnerability, rage, and silliness, and easily switches between every type [...]

Pearl Jam
Live On Ten Legs
Monkeywrench
Released January 17 (UK) January 18
(U.S.: CD | MP3) 2011

I hate Pearl Jam. I’ve spent many hours on my guitar trying to sound as good as Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. I gave up a long time ago trying to play the bass like Jeff Ament and I have as much chance of being a better drummer than Matt Cameron as I have of finding a voice like Eddie Vedder in my armpit. I find them sickeningly good and I can barely stand it.

Of course, I am joking about my ‘hatred’: I adore Pearl Jam. This year Pearl Jam has lined up a list of surprises to coincide with the 20th anniversary of its debut album, Ten. To kick things off comes the release of new live album, Live On Ten Legs. Recorded at various concerts during 2003-2010 and at 18 tracks long it’s a good collection of Pearl Jam songs with at least one track from all of its back catalogue (with the exception of No Code) […]

Adam WarRock
The War For Infinity
Silver Age Records & Marketless Music
Release Date: October 7, 2010

Eugene Ahn, comic book fan and podcast host, has created a hip-hop alter ego named Adam WarRock. On WarRock’s debut album, The War For Infinity, listeners are treated to an “event” comic book story in musical form.

On the first track, “I Am Him,” we are learn the origin story of Adam WarRock. Adam WarRock created a perfect society with his mic, but is shunned by the very people that he was seeking to save. He creates a gauntlet that stores his power and ascends into the clouds and sleeps until he is needed again. That day inevitably arrives, and Adam WarRock awakes again.

WarRock’s saga continues throughout the course of the album, and eventually he meets Demonos on the track “Battle (Intro)”. Demonos and WarRock meet in an arena, complete with cheesy announcer. WarRock also informs Demonos of his power with lines like “Ya’ll must be crazy, thinking you can mess with Adam, man/Thinking I’m a goody two shoes like my name was Adam Ant.” The lyrical and heroic battle continues over the course of the album, especially on the track “Heroes Requiem,” where Demonos vanquishes several well-known super heroes. WarRock and Demonos have their final showdown on the song “Battle (Finale)” and it is an epic contest [...]

Ozzy Osbourne
Scream
Produced by Ozzy Osbourne, Kevin Churko
Epic
Released June 21, 2010

Drug abuse, alcoholism, animal blood, quad bike crashes, his wife — many have tried and some have come incredibly close to handing his (im)mortal soul over to the cold embrace of the grim reaper, but it seems nothing can kill rock super-god, Ozzy Osbourne.

I am a huge fan of Ozzy-era Black Sabbath and listening to those albums inevitably led me to the Ozzy solo albums. When I listen to any new Ozzy album I pretty much know what I’m going to get — a livelier, faster, even lighter sound than his previous band, it’s just whether he can deliver on all that hope I reserve for the original Black Sabbath lead singer. So far he hasn’t let me down and this year the Prince of Darkness released his tenth solo album, Scream [...]

Slash
Slash
Produced by Eric Valentine
Dik Hayd Records
Release date: April 6, 2010

Like it or not, top hat-wearing, chain-smoking, former drug-taking ex-alcoholic but permanent guitar god Slash will always be remembered for and compared to an album he released over 20 years ago with Guns n Roses. Appetite For Destruction is one of the greatest albums of all time. It stills sounds as fresh to me as the first time I heard it, even after many years and hundreds of listens. Since Appetite thrust the sweaty, leather-covered loins of Guns n Roses into public view, Saul ‘Slash’ Hudson has released four more albums with GnR, two with Slash’s Snakepit, two with Velvet Revolver, and now comes album number ten, simply titled: Slash.

The album Slash is guitarist Slash’s first solo album. Complicated sentences aside, this is an album that boasts an array of rock gods who sing, shriek, or play over music written by Slash: Lemmy, Dave Grohl, Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop to name but a few. There are also some not so godlike guests, and one I had never heard of (turns out Adam Levine is the singer of Maroon 5. Thanks Google!) [...]

Creed
Creed Live
DC3 Music Group
Released December 8, 2009

Love them, loathe them, regard them with a shrug of indifference — whatever it is you do when it comes to Creed, it is impossible to deny the credentials of this band. Its first three albums have gone multi-platinum and the latest, Full Circle, is on course to follow suit. Formed in 1995, Creed split in 2004 under a blaze of furious egos. Actually it was more like under a soft blanket of withheld apologies. Which makes this concert and new album a Creed reunion. Now this reformed rock group has released its first DVD, Creed Live.

Creed’s popularity lies almost entirely in North America and during its most successful period earlier this decade they remained relatively unknown elsewhere. My North American friends, I must tell you: the rest of the world was on to something.

I listened to a couple of Creed’s albums not long after they were released but I never really connected with them. Maybe there was too much pain to deal with and at the time of 1999’s Human Clay and 2001’s Weathered, there was a wave of new rock/metal bands that dealt in misery. Even when the lyrics were not dealing with tough emotional issues they still sounded like they were complaining about something. But on listening to these albums I could tell that drummer Scott Phillips and co-songwriters guitarist Mark Tremonti and lead singer Scott Stapp (the band had bass player issues) were obviously capable musicians so maybe with the help of this Creed Live DVD I would finally complete my Creed puzzle [...]

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD
Composer: Randy Newman
Walt Disney Records
Release Date: November 23, 2009

Disney’s The Princess and The Frog is coming out in just a few days…could I be more excited? Not likely, as a new Disney Princess is more exciting here in my house than the impending coming of the world’s most famous jolly old elf. And what better way to await the arrival of Princess Tiana? Listen to the soundtrack of course! It’s filled with music from Disney’s newest animated feature, and is a great way to get to know Princess Tiana and her friends before meeting them in the movie.

A nice feature of this CD is that it not only includes the vocal tracks from the movie, but also the instrumental score. With everything from strings to brass, the score seems to carry you along with Princess Tiana and her friends on their New Orleans adventures. Not having seen the movie yet, I can’t wait to place the tracks with the scenes and see if I’m close in my imagination as to the goings on!

The opening track, “Never Knew I Needed” by Ne-Yo, is sweet and catchy and sure to be a radio hit. While its musical flavor is much more pop/R&B than the rest of the more New Orleans/gospel/blues tracks, it’s still a nice addition to the entire collection. And it follows in the Disney tradition to include a theme song by a current popular artist [...]

‘Cause I Sez So
New York Dolls
Produced by Todd Rundgren
Atco
Rhino
Released May 5, 2009

In 1973 a young band from New York released an album into the world. The cover featured a black and white photograph of a group of men dressed in women’s clothes. In stark contrast to the photo was a line of pink lipstick which spelled out their name: New York Dolls. A band too Punk for Glam Rock and too Glam Rock for Punk.

In 2006 came the release of One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This after a thirty-two year studio album absence (granted there was a break up in that time). This was a new New York Dolls, New York Dolls Part 2, even. A band that had time to reflect on their rock ‘n’ roll lives, who had suffered the heartache of losing loved ones. They were more laid back and David Johansen’s voice had succumbed to years of hard living, becoming a gravelly growl rather than a cocky yell. This was the sound of the New York Dolls growing old gracefully (whoulda thought it?) not re-hashing their best work of thirty years ago in a desperate attempt to re-capture that popularity.

Sylvain Sylvain and David Johansen are the only two surviving original members. There is always a question mark over whether bands should keep the name when so many line up changes have occurred (yes, Axl Rose, i’m looking at you, too). To many, the New York Dolls just isn’t the same band without Johnny Thunders and Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane. Its true, without those guys the band is very different, but there are some similarities…

Préliminaires
Iggy Pop
Produced by Hal Cragin
Astralwerks Records
Release date: June 2, 2009

For over 40 years, James Newell Osterberg, Jr. has shrieked, crowd surfed and wriggled his wiry, leathery torso for our entertainment. His music is often ahead of its time, even providing a catalyst for at least one significant music genre and his influence continues to shape the music of his contemporaries. Iggy Pop has not released a studio album since 2003′s electrifying Skull Ring but now the ‘godfather of punk’ is back with…a jazz album? Quite frankly, Préliminaires is nothing like I expected.

The album opens with a French jazz song from the 1940s. “Les feuilles mortes” sounds like ‘Whats Going On’ by Marvin Gaye over Serge Gainsbourg’s ‘Je t’aime… moi non plus’ with Iggy performing the vocals in spoken French. Unfortunately the language of love sounds a little like the language of the creepy old man as he talks his way through it.

What at first listen sounds like the creepy old man in English, “I Want To Go To The Beach” is actually beautifully melancholic. Iggy sounds great with a big band orchestra which he uses to great effect on the swaggering “King Of The Dogs” and this is one of the best tracks on the album [...]

Green Day — 21st Century Breakdown
CD | MP3
Producer: Butch Vig
Reprise Records
Released May 15, 2009

Five years after the release of American Idiot, Green Day returns with its latest studio album, 21st Century Breakdown.

2004 marked a huge change for Green Day. Four years after their last album, Warning, Billy Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool emerged a different band: black hair-dyed, eye-linered, and tie wearing. This new Green Day put down their bongs, took their hands out of their pants, and sung about politics. This met with a mixed reaction. They lost fans who thought they had sold out with their emo traits. They faced some curious older fans who weren’t sure if they approved or not and most interestingly, they welcomed a new, younger fanbase. I admired Green Day for having the guts to try something so different, even though I was not a fan of American Idiot. My main problem with the album was I felt they had lost their energy which was a major facet of their sound. I know album opener “American Idiot” has pace but I felt it had no soul, I felt the agenda got in the way.

21st Century Breakdown however combines the energy and philosophy with good effect [...]

I wished Metallica would have walked away (or done the decent rock band thing and imploded in a cloud of drugs and lawsuits) after And Justice For All. The Black Album at the most. Since then their output has been pretty awful. Let’s face it: St Anger was a catastrophe. The album was shrouded in turmoil and embarrassment. Welcoming ex-Ozzy bassist Rob Trujillo into a mixture that was ready to explode, the band released St Anger, which displayed their ability to perform generic riffs to a very high standard. Gone was the boundless energy and, most interestingly, guitar solos. The documentary Some Kind Of Monster demonstrated how fragile Metallica had become thanks to, well, almost everything and as such it seemed their creativity and tolerance for each other and love for the music had vanished.

But now five years after their last studio album, Metallica is back to metal up your ass with Death Magnetic. I was very apprehensive about pushing ‘play’ on my CD player when I put this in. But one thought kept pulsing through my head: “It’s Metallica!” Whether I liked it or not, whether I was ready or not, Metallica had returned.

And what a return it is…

In my job, I’m frequently in rental cars, hotels, and airplanes, which gives me some down time to listen to tunes (though because I usually have a metric ton of work to do, I can’t contribute to GoD like I used to). So, when I received the CD of the soundtrack to ost Boys: The Tribe, I felt I could get a few listens as I drove hither, thither, and through yon cornfields.

So on my way to a small Midwestern college through the Illinois farmland, I switched off of Fred 44 on XM and popped in the CD. Frankly, I wasn’t expecting much, since the movie was a rather unauthorized sequel of a movie that I always felt was OK, but not all that and a silver crucifix. Plus, it starred one of the Coreys, a dude that looked like a younger Corey, a generic hot chick, and the half-brother of Kiefer Sutherland. (What? Were Joe Estevez and Robert Z’Dar not available?)

And the first track, a remade of the theme song from the original movie (“Cry Little Sister” by Aiden), solidified my predisposition that this was not going to be a very exciting CD. That song signifies the worst qualities of the current emo/goth/hard rock/whatchamacallit scene that’s been popular since the ’90s, with bombastic choruses that offset ‘gentler’ moments that show they have ‘emotion’ but are too calculating and generic to be sincere. Yick.

However, starting with track two, a classic hard rocker called “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast” by Airborne, things picked up a bit…

Scarlett Johansson‘s first foray into music is through the songs of another artist. In her debut album, Anywhere I lay my head, Johansson decides to go the cover-tune route. With the help of producer Dave Sitek, Johansson brings together nine Tom Waits song and adds in an original song written by herself and Sitek for good measure. The big question though is, with so many actresses out there with albums, does Johansson’s album out shadow the rest?

I think the main question everyone wants answered is can Johansson sing? Well, after listening to the whole album, I can safely say I am still on the fence about that one. You really need to listen carefully to hear it. The whole album, arranged by Sitek, is so instrumentally driven and so electronically enhanced, that at times, Johansson seems to get lost in the shuffle in a number of songs. It feels as if Sitek is trying to mask or make up for Johansson’s shortcomings as a singer…

John Williams composed and conducted the score for this soundtrack from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull film.