Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar

I've said it before: Manson is generally better when he's not trying to be the boogie man. So, I've not much of a proponent of Antichrist Superstar, which unabashedly baits for controversy with its title and music. At seventeen songs, it's way too long. Every song seems to be built around the same 90s industrial grind, but it lacks Nine Inch Nails' taste for atmosphere while turning the theatrics up to 11. The big hit, "The Beautiful People," is the best thing on here. The strangest thing is that, for an album that's almost entirely driven by aggressive guitars, nothing sounds as heavy as it should, which lessens the impact. Manson got better over his next few releases.

Metallica - Metallica (The Black Album)

Probably realizing that "faster and more complex!" as a mission statement for every album is a cul-de-sac, Metallica chose to slow things down significantly for their self-titled album. It has more of their biggest hits than any of their other albums, with "Enter Sandman," "Sad But True," "The Unforgiven," "Nothing Else Matters" peppered throughout the tracklist. It also has some duds, though: "Holier Than Though" is a bit on the nose, and "Don't Tread On Me" is more slogan than song. It's not that the hits are the only good things on here ("My Friend of Misery" is excellent), but here's my theory: by scaling down their sound, Metallica made shorter songs. So, to fill up an album, they had to make more songs. So more of their songs felt forgettable. So the overall quality of Metallica dipped.

Morrissey - Years of Refusal

In this decade, Morrissey's settled into a relatively predictable pattern. His solo albums build on his considerable strengths: a deep and affecting baritone, a wit for poignant lyrics, and, above all, a taste for the theatrical (which generally translates to gloriously overblown hooks). Years of Refusal closes Morrissey's decade in the same way, generally favoring his harder guitar approach and layering some light strings ("That's How People Grow Up") and new elements (Latin-sounding horns on "When Last I Spoke to Carol") over that. Highlights: "That's How People Grow Up," "Throwing My Arms Around Paris," "Something is Squeezing My Skull," "It's Not Your Birthday Anymore." He's still got a knack for being a compelling sad sack, and he never dips into the bluntness of its predecessor (2006's Ringleader of the Tormenters). In short, this one's a winner.

Taking a break...

Will be taking a break from blogging for awhile... Just tired of keeping track of things this way.

Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan

This is my favorite acoustic Dylan album. Focusing less explicitly on politics compared to its predecessor, he's at a new songwriting peak here. Songs like "To Ramona" and "My Back Pages" are slow ballads rich with lyrical detail."All I Really Want to Do" is a playful ditty that reverses romantic pop songs, and "Motorpsycho Nightmare" is a hilarious, surreal talking blues song. Much like the early Beatles albums, Dylan's early period sometimes gets relatively (stress: relatively) overlooked compared to the years after he went electric, but he had the presence and gravitas as a songwriter and especially as a vocalist to pull off an album alone. if there's one criticism I have, it's that "Chimes of Freedom" always sounded a bit like a re-write of "The Times They Are A-Changin'." But overall, this is one of the definitive Dylan albums, right down to many of the songs eventually turning up in cover versions by The Byrds.

Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell

An overblown, amazing classic. Meat Loaf has a voice big enough to carry these songs convincingly, whether they're power ballads ("Two Out of Three Ain't Bad") or rocking odes to teenage sexuality ("Paradise By the Dashboard Light"). Everything here works precisely because it's so big and dumb. Take the title track, for instance. At the six minute mark, there's a false fade-out that leaves me thinking "I could go for more of this song" - but AH! There's another three whole minutes of rocking out. And like I said, it's all grandiose moments in the teenage identity - those moments when the big dumb this shit is the most important stuff in the world.

Angie Aparo - Out of the Everywhere

Angie Aparo, Atlanta-based singer-songwriter, has a deeply compelling voice. It soars at the high notes instead pf pinching. His songwriting isn't memorable lyrically, but the album is deeply affecting for his vocals, which stand out. The settings are basically unadorned, acoustic guitar and singer-style. He doesn't quite have the gift for hooks that eventually would get him noticed by Faith Hill, but this is probably the best distillation of his talents in his discography.