6: Dropkick Murphys "The Gang's All Here" ★★★
Aside from the uptempo, get-yourself-ready-for-a-good-time music, the vocals set the mood for this album. Well, I say vocals. There isn't singing, per se. Rather, the vocal cords only transmit the sound that was first conjured from the bronchi and stomach contractions which results in a guttural explosion. As expected, listening to this record will lead to tachycardia and spastic limb movement. Both of which are widely accepted as perfectly normal reactions. One could either listen to this album as an eye-opener or a catalyst to start off the weekend. Other noteworthy aspects of The Gang's All Here are the 'Murphys' take on a horse-riding, cattle-driving Western song as well as "Amazing Grace" being played on bagpipes and a little more rockin' than how the song is traditionally heard or performed. Had it not been for ending the record with answering machine messages, I would have rated this album a little higher.
7: Queen "Hot Space" ★★1/2
Kicking off the Hot Space is a song that almost sounds like a parody or educational song similar to something on "Sesame Street". For my taste, the whole feel of the album as a little too post-dico / pre-pop sounding for me. Two songs really stand apart and everyone should have them in their collection. The first song being "Under Pressure". It's just a classic. It's been covered and sampled, stolen and tweaked. Also, David Bowie sings on it. (The importance of that being everyone should have known Freddy was a dandy man. There really shouldn't have been any surprise about that.) Lastly, every single person - especially every male above the age of consent - should have "Body Language" in their music library. Why? Just listen to it and feel the groove and then you'll know.
8: Saul Williams "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!" ★1/2
I'll just use my notes, verbatim:
Kicks off with a vox mash-up of Reznor & Busta Rhymes. Not having listend to Saul, I didn't know what to expect. This wouldn't have been my 1st guess. Turns out, Trent's not only on the album, he produced it. Simply put, it's a NIN record with guest mail vox. Finally, deep into the album, something different emerges: A san-Reznor track! This change doesn't last though.
9: Anvil "Metal on Metal" ★★★★
The title track is a fairly hefty tune. Buttressing up against that, is the following track, "Mothra". A silly title, but the speed, timing, and complexity is more than serious enough to make up for the song's title. While there are obvious nods to the previous two decades of rock 'n' roll clearly ringing throughout the record, pulling from influences such as Zep, BOC, Cream, Sabbath, and the like, Anvil has morphed their musical heritage into something of their own. Even more impressive is Anvil's influence that bleeds into early thrash bands like Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica and even in more modern bands such as Coheed and Cambria. My ears immediately perked up when "Scenery" started playing. Why? Well, it is dangerously close to being a near copy of another metal song from a much more well known band. But, I'll let you decide that for yourself.
10: Eminem "Recovery" ★★
With lyrics such as "Blows, b-b-blows, o-o-ows" being bad enough on its own, not to mention the boy band-ish sound and delivery, Recovery isn't very promising from the start. The next two tracks are supporting Kanye West and are very self-serving. But, by song four, Mr. Mathers, the way we're used to him being, is back. Em' gets angry, poetic, and clever with his lyrics as opposed to the three impotent songs previous. In the songs that follow, there is a unique volume tweak, some Kanye, Bone Thugs N Harmony, and LL Cool J influences. There's even a Haddaway throw-back. Durring "No Love", some sleepy sounding, dopey faux-thug dominates the vocals. He, who ever he may be, shows off his lyrical prowess by tossing in the obligatory "ugh" a few time over the course of the song. But, by the end of the record, Eminem finally gives us what we all want: songs with some balls behind it rather than the neutered crap that came in the earlier tracks.