I just found out that Dead Kennedys reformed without Jello on vocals in 2001 and have been touring. It's no surprise there's no Jello, what with the whole Giger poster lawsuit, etc, but… Dead Kennedys? Can they seriously go by that name without Jello Biafra?

Honestly, there are some bands that can go on without a member and then there are some that just couldn't be the same if one were missing. I think the Dead Kennedys simply can't be the Dead Kennedys without Jello. I haven't heard them now, but this is just my personal feeling. Perhaps if…

Originally posted on January 12, 2005 in my old music review blog.

Moonspell - http://www.moonspell.com
Thragedium - http://www.thragedium.cjb.net
The Temple - http://thetemple.com.pt

I was first introduced to Moonspell by Lonewolf, who owns a couple of their CDs including Wolfheart. He played it for me and I fell instantly in love with the heavy, gothic metal sounds that were blasting from his trucks speakers.

The album starts out with a very somber and mellow intro with just a clean, chorused guitar and some synth strings. Then suddenly it kicks in with this full, hard-hitting sound of metal with some excellent…

Originally posted on December 24, 2004 in my old music reviews blog.

Artist: Youth of Britain
Album: Welcome to Britain EP

http://www.youthofbritain.com

I wish I had an actual album to review, but alas I'm piss poor and have only three reduced-quality mp3s downloaded from their site. They don't have a full-length album out yet but you can purchase a nice little three-song EP of the songs available for download on their site which also includes the video for The Guvnor by Joel Veitch and Rob Manuel (of Rathergood.com fame).

Their sound can be summarized as a sort of British techno-industrial-punk.…

Originally posted on December 24, 2004 in my old music review blog.

Artist: Dark Minions
Album: Self Titled

Let me first state that it is kickass that there's finally a good local band producing some quality metal! Most bands around here or that come here to play local venues are either crappy bar bands or Phish/Grateful Dead/Dave Matthews Band wanna-be-bands. Not these guys. And they're so much better than Shades of Grey/Black Eyed Susan ever were.

These guys have some incredible potential. The first thing they have going for them is that they are…

Originally posted on October 13, 2004 in my old music review blog.

Artist: Brian Wilson
Album: SMiLE

http://www.brianwilson.com

What a phenomenal album! I'm probably going to write a bunch of stuff you could easily read on Amazon but there are several points with which I have to agree.

Back when Brian Wilson was first starting the SMiLE project, many people compared it with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in it's brilliance, innovation and spectacle. I can certainly hear the basis for that comparison in this release 37 years in the making. It is also a just comparison. Much like…

Originally posted on October 8, 2004 in my old music review blog.

The past couple days I've been listening to Waiting For The Punchline, the last studio album released by Extreme before they disbanded. This is still my second favorite Extreme album. Listening to it had me reflecting on my thoughts and feelings regarding Extreme. Man was I ever surprised to find, after a Google search, that they released yet another new album six years ago that I had missed and will be reuniting for a one-time performance celebrating Greg Hill's 15th anniversary at WAAF! I'm thrilled! I've got…

Originally posted on October 1, 2004 in my old music review blog.

Artist: ViV

http://www.vivtheband.com

Last night I stayed after the PSU Homecoming events to watch the band ViV from San Francisco. What an incredible show! Their sound was this eclectic, atmospheric mixture of pop-rock, ambient, psychadelia and art-of-noise which was overall very pleasing to the ears without being sappy. The lead guitarist was not only a great emotinal guitarist but a very accomplished (we're talking near virtuoso) violinist. The electric violin leads through effects were very sweet. And oh the feeling! It was also refreshing to hear real talent…

Originally posted on September 3, 2004 in my old music review blog.

Artist: Quick Fix
Album: The Push

What an incredible album! It had the kind of raw energy for which punk used to be known. Their sound at times gave me thoughts of a polished Dead Kennedys. At times their sound was more refined, reminding me of the simpler side of Dream Theater (perhaps circa Falling Into Infinity). The vocal harmonies were lush and wonderful. The lyrics were top notch. Very deep and at times thinly veiled political jabs. Gotta love it! The only thing that stuck…

Originally posted on September 3, 2004 in my old music review blog.

Artist: Chauncey
Album: Chauncey

http://www.chaunceymusic.com

Another quality album. At times it was quite surreal. I don't quite know how to explain the sound, which is a good thing. I am rather fond of bands that defy categorization. Music is music, and Chauncey is good music. The album also made excellent use of dynamics. Airplane was a nice little acoustic number to end the album. It was very reminiscent of something that might have appeared on Let It Be.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Recommended Tracks: You,…

I was just looking through my journal and noticed that all my posts to date have been music memes of one sort or another. For this post I'd like to do something different. I want to write about some of the albums I feel really had a serious impact on my life. Some that I really identify with. Here goes:

Dark Side of the Moon
I remember this album when it was still recent. I can't say new because we were both born the same year. But when I was just a wee one my Dad used to crank this…