Reviews by runnin262

runnin262 says "Amazing Picture Quality" about Panasonic - PDP-5070HD Television

runnin262 — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:04:01 GMT

I've been waiting for prices to come down on plasmas for a year and I've researched and read reviews from more sites than I can count. By this past June, I narrowed the choices to Pioneer and Panasonic and was leaning toward Pioneer due to reputation, picture quality and aesthetics.

I set up the Panasonic PDP 5070HD, turned it on and was stunned at the picture quality right out of the box without any adjustments. Since I've only had the tv for 2 days now, I haven't had a chance to check out all the features and options, so I'll post later.

I did have to call Pioneer Customer Support (info on their website) for what I thought was a problem. Waited only 8 minutes (which is short in this day and age), and their service rep was very helpful and knowledgeable. He answered my questions in plain english, and as it turned out, my problem wasn't even a problem.

1- Design: monolithic solid black with beautiful glossy finish

2- Picture: very accurate colors, with plenty of adjustment options. Great...

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runnin262 says "Good not great" about Interpol - Our Love to Admire

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:15:15 GMT

Interpol has a good thing going and with their third album, Our Love to Admire, Interpol once again molds and shapes their sound which they crafted on their first album, Turn on the Bright Lights.

This album sounds much different from the last two and I like the growth. However, this effort sometimes comes across as a little over produced in my opinion. They seem to have paid more attention to detail, but in a different way. Each layer of instruments seem to be on their own plane. They don't seem to mesh or blend which is one of the things that Interpol is typically very good at. They used to build rhythms on top of each other, providing the listener with a very rewarding experience.

The drums and bass do not play as big of a part in this album as previous ones with the guitars and vocals in the forefront. The rhythms are noticably simplistic and somewhat boring, especially when the bass and drums are not there to back them up. When it comes down to it, Interpol, is not a guitar driven...

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runnin262 says "Not Hot Fuss but a great sophomore debut" about The Killers - Sam's Town

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:04:48 GMT

The Killers follow up the successful Hot Fuss with their sophomore effort Sam's Town which can be broken in half - good and not so good.

First, the not so good: If the first Killers record teetered on the edge of overproduction, this one goes over the edge hard and fast. It's very slick, and there is little continuity between the songs (in other words, it's not so much an album as a collection of twelve individual tracks). Brandon Flowers' voice, which worked strangely well on their debut, sounds out of place on this one. The arrangements don't mesh well; they try to go in several different (and incompatible) directions within each song. Is it stadium rock, or is it synth rock, or is it some kind of country-rock thing? Apparently they couldn't decide. I get the impression they were trying too hard to make a diverse and epic masterpiece..

The good: I was very afraid that the Killers would turn into a vapidly commercial bubble-gum group, of, say, Daniel Powter caliber. It happens to a lot......

runnin262 says "Nothing new but still solid" about Godsmack - IV

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:56:17 GMT

I am beginning to sense a trend with Godsmack on their latest release IV in that their sound doesn't change at all. None of their albums have a separate theme and thus every song on `IV' sounds like one on `Faceless' or `Awake'. Not saying that every band has to reinvent themselves with each new release but a little variety certainly wouldn't hurt this effort. .

There are a few tracks Ithat really hit home though, including `The Enemy' and `Temptation'. Both serve up high octane adrenaline pumping rock, and I like that. In addition, the melody of `Mama' and the androgynous eerie anticipation in the closer `One Rainy Day', are probably someof the best music Godsmack has ever delivered.

In contrast, I am not a fan of the single `Speak', whick debuted on radio and definitely didn't get me excited. I thought that the idea of `Voodoo Too' was a pointless one, and it should have been avoided...sadly it wasn't.

The CD is far from their best, it's actually their worst if you think about it, but...

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runnin262 says "Way too political" about Disturbed - Ten Thousand Fists

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:50:26 GMT

Disturbeds third release, Ten Thousand Fists is a lot of things, but not nearly as good as their first two albums.

For the most part, they've lost the 'edge' contained in the first album.which was full of energy and non-stop attack. Ten Thousand Fists sounds like they're giving up on using music as a weapon - and are now using it as a soap box, to preach to us about, their politics. While I'm not disagreeing with their message at times, they still come off as griping about politicians and the political environment versus doing what they were meant to do - entertain.

Politics aside, the music just isn't even close to what I've come to expect from Disturbed. Every song sounds like the one before it, both musically & vocally. There's little to no creativeness or independence when it comes to each track as they all run together, like something off a production line - made to be bottled, boxed and shipped, uniformly and compatably.

Disturbed's message was lost somewhere when it was...

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runnin262 says "Worth a listen in this genre" about Cinder - House Full of No Trust

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:36:18 GMT

In 2001, Cinder signed with Geffen and recorded a debut that was never released and subsequently released from their contract. Through the band's own hard work, they built a strong following and have now released House Full of No Trust, a bold new step forward in Cinder's evolution.

Many fans have been following the band strong for the past 4 years in hopes of an album release. So if you were a fan of Soapy Tuna, or a fan of the skull crushing 'Soul Creation' single, or a entirely new fan, with an open mind to this alternative, Fort Myers Florida based band. While 'Soul Creation' is the lead single, there are other excellent listens:

'The Fall', 'Sunday Morning' and 'Brother' are some of my favorites. A few songs don't grab me ('Pet, 'Stupid') the way others do, but the hard rocking riffs and better than average vocals are worth listening to.

My suggestion: go to iTunes and listen to the samples and form your own opinion. This genre isn't for everyone but very likable for those in the...

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runnin262 says "Great vocals with originality" about Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:27:16 GMT

Fair to Midland's "Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True" is a wonderful display of eclectic styles, haunting vocals and clever lyrics. You'll find it has a hard time leaving your music player.

This release is the band's first major label debut with six of the tracks re-released from their previous independent "Inter.Funda.Stifle." With a bigger budget, the band comes across as more polished and definitive.

They handle the heavy tracks like "Dance of the Manatee" with a practiced fury, and lead us into slower-paced yet just as hauntingly powerful tunes, like "Say When". Vocalist, Darroh Sudderth, who shows amazing range, showcases his voice on "The Wolf Descends upon the Spanish Sahara," with his melodic wail sound.

Keyboardist Matt Langley's skilled sounds help give this band what so many others are missing. Cliff Cambell's guitar is nice and varied, and balanced well with Jon Dicken's bass lines that never get boring. Brett Stower's definitely shows off what drums...

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runnin262 says "Guitar work carries the rest" about Avenged Sevenfold - City of Evil

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:42:56 GMT

On Avenged Sevenfold's City of Evil the guitar work redeems most of the flaws, with both guitarists being shred machines, who can outplay most other contemporary metal bands. Their fluid, blistering sweep picking and neo-classical tinged soloing gives Yngwie Malmsteen a run for his money, and their dual-guitar harmonies are nothing short of Iron Maiden-esque. The vocals aren't bad and it seems that with this album, they've paid homage to classic metal by really dedicating time to their instruments, and putting a lot of thought and variety into the music. They aren't terribly original, but are a full-fledged metal band.

Yes, the guys look ridiculous and dress like fools but probably much less ridiculous than most 80's metal bands. They have a good ear for melody and harmony, and can construct some very catchy songs. The guitar work and sense of melodic direction make up for many of the flaws and this band can be taken seriously, if nothing else, for their stellar guitar work.

Definitely...

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runnin262 says "A great side project" about A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:28:24 GMT

A Perfect Circle has grown from what many considered a mere side project for Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan to a musical powerhouse unto itself with Mer de Noms being their best.

"Mer de Noms" is a testament to the fact that A Perfect Circle is serious about what they do. The album is an exercise in moody melodicism, a musical vehicle that occasionally shifts into high gear but complements the bouts of speed with more relaxed, laid-back, and introspective passages.

The opener "The Hollow" is a rather fast-paced number, punctuated by Tim Alexander's driving percussion (official drummer Josh Freese takes control of the set for the remainder of the album) and guitarist Billy Howerdel's tuneful yet almost robotic guitar parts. On the other hand, there are moments like "3 Libras" where the sublime, mellow aspect of the band comes into focus in all its ethereal, string-laden glory (courtesy of Paz and Lucia Lenchantin on violin and viola, respectively). Where the band really shines,...

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runnin262 says "Good - but not Creed" about Alter Bridge - One Day Remains

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:20:24 GMT

Creed was one of the biggest rock bands with their biggest album, WEATHERED, selling over 800,000 copies its first week. Three of the members, guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips team up with Myles Kennedy on Alter Bridge's debut rocker One Day Remains. While trying to copy the Creed sound, they just don't make it without Scott Stapp.

While they have let loose and made a very good rock album that, while derivative and slightly unoriginal, is entertaining all the way through.

"Find The Real" is an excellent rock song, and Mark Tremonti lets himself loose more than he did on any of Creed's albums. His lead on this song is great, very gritty and a great lead-off track. It's a precursor for the sound that dominates much of the rest of the album. "Open Your Eyes" is an anthem that, again, sounds like a Creed song.

Elsewhere, the band explores melodic metal on "Broken Wings", which is probably the most heartfelt song on the album; they get down and...

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runnin262 says "Solid but has it's flaws" about Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 02:06:38 GMT

The Deftones have changed and adapted to the music scene and songs like "Rats! Rats! Rats!" and "Rapture" are an attempt at molding a pop feel in with classic Deftones rock. Saturday Night Wrist works better than I would have thought but would rather they stick to hard rock such as "Around the Fur"

As for other tracks on the album, such as "Cherry Waves," "Xerces," and "Riviere" - they give the CD a more melodic feel, but, at times, get a little slow for my taste."

"Pink Cellphone" is the real killer of the CD and I personally enjoy the last quarter of the CD more than the start. "Combat" and "Kimdracula" are notable for the fact that they sound like old Deftones meeting a new, wonderful mesh of sound.

This album is certainly a Deftones album, yet at the same time sounds nothing like past Deftones works. The lyrics seem a bit dull but overall there are some excellent songs mixed in with some easy listening.

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runnin262 says "Blues-influenced Hard Rock" about Dust for Life - Dust for Life

runnin262 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:29:31 GMT

Dust for Life has taken the best of 70s and 80s hard rock with melodic sensibilities, leaving behind all the corporate trappings and distilled some fantastic blues-influenced hard rock onto their debut CD.

Dust for Life understands the power of dynamic changes in a song and gives the loud stuff to contrast against. Chris Gavin's fantastic vocal style ranges from gut-wrenched hollering to soaring. Jason Hughes is no slave to the gratuitous guitar solos that finally turned me off to glam rock back in 1990, but when he wails he makes it count. He and the solid blues-savvy rhythm section take what might be boring done by a lesser band and demand your attention. David Rhea and Rick Shelton are visceral; they'll get inside you and change your metabolism to match the beat of the song.

Best songs on the album: "Step into the Light," "Lifelike," "Seed," and "The End." Every song, though, has its moments.

Looking forward to great things in the future from Dust for Life.

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runnin262 says "Sevendust takes a step up from Next" about Sevendust - Alpha

runnin262 — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:06:39 GMT

It's been ten years since the release of Sevendust's debut, and five albums later, the band is still running circles around the majority of their peers. While the band's first three albums remain classics, and Seasons was good in its own right, I was somewhat disappointed by the uneven pace of the band's last record, 2005's Next. Fortunately, I think the band has made a comeback with this latest album, Alpha. While the band may be a bit past their Animosity heyday, they manage to prove that they're still capable of rocking out and show no signs of slowing down.

This is the best sound quality Sevendust has had and with Shawn Grove (Collective Soul) and Ted Jensen (Fear Factory, Front Line Assembly, Oomph!) at the helm, this is hardly a surprise.

Opener "Deathstar" sets the bar with its chugging riffs and galloping drum rolls. This is without a doubt one of the heaviest, most aggressive songs the band has written, easily surpassing the likes of "Rumble Fish" and "TOAB." "Clueless" follows,......

runnin262 says "Contemporary with a vintage sound" about Back To Black by Amy Winehouse

runnin262 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:57:56 GMT

Stories of alcohol abuse and irreverence are usually the talk of male recording artists, with Courtney Love being the only exception to the rule. Enter Amy Winehouse, a British songstress who embodies the individualism of Pink, the brash of a younger Madonna, the soul of Erykah Badu, and the spirit of 1960's jazz singers on Back To Black. T

The animated nature of Back To Black is rarely seen these days because there is a certain stigma that goes along with it when it's attached to an entertainer. Nevertheless, Amy Winehouse embraces any comparison the media and listening public has for her. The appeal of the presumptuous "Rehab" sent the song soaring up the charts and feverishly downloaded into MP3 players.

"You Know I'm No Good" is just as assertive, only this time it's Amy giving a fair warning about who she is and you'll ultimately have to deal with it. "Me and Mr. Jones" is filled with humorous (yet adult-natured) quips about a guy that's stood her up for a Slick Rick concert. She even...

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runnin262 says "Definitely not Soundgarden" about Chris Cornell - Carry On

runnin262 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:51:47 GMT

Though unfair to compare any artists albums to their classic work, Carry On wouldn't even stand up to Chris Cornell's worst.

Throughout the long and influential work with Soundgarden, the wonderful Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave, Cornell has always taken fans with him on impressive journeys, and while they weren't always great, they were at least interesting. This album is bland and there is no feeling of the same soul and effort of his previous work. In fact, there's not even a whole lot of interest in this album.

For a man whose pushed the boundaries of musical sounds, with inovative ideas, or even send ups to previous genres, this feels much like a rush job. Maybe Chris regretted waiting so long between his first solo album and Soundgarden's final album, thinking that the wait is what made such an excellent album fail. Could it be that the album was released in less than a year after Audioslave's last album, so his name would be fresh in the public's mind? He is soon to be a rock...

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runnin262 says "Nothing Common Here" about Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulagaris

runnin262 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:43:22 GMT

Era Vulgaris is an excellent new Queens of the Stone age album that is able to maintain a balance between rock's opposite poles--artsy without being pretentious, technically proficient without being mechanical, heavy without being angry.

Queens of the Stone Age delivers more of the narcotizing, classic-minded hard rock that Josh Homme has been delivering since he formed the band. Building on the sounds of the band's previous four albums without cannibalizing them, Era Vulgaris is yet another excellent album in the QOTSA tradition--loosely constructed, wide-ranging, and determinedly rocking, with none of the woe-is-me drivel that weighs down so much of what passes for rock music these days. And as usual, it's littered with the muscular, surging guitars and smart melodies that have become their stock in trade.

This is yet another classic album for blasting in your car with the windows open. Despite their well-documented history of heavy turnover, the band actually sounds as tight as ever...

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runnin262 says "Velvet Revolver takes a step back with Libertad" about Velvet Revolver - Libertad

runnin262 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:29:24 GMT

Velvet Revolver's first release Contraband was a very good album that will never have the longevity of any GnR album but is still very impressive. I was excited about this cauldron of Rock legends from the day I heard 'Set Me Free' a year or so before Contraband was released.

However, this album dissapoints on so many levels...the songs aren't bad as much as they are bland and unmemorable. Where is the exciting ROCK that used to ooze from Slash and Scott Weiland?

1. "Let It Roll" 5/10: Let what roll? The first song was the first sign that the lyrics for the whole album were probably written in about twenty minutes.
2. "She Mine" 3/10: This song is just generally terrible.
3. "Get Out the Door" 6/10: A little bit better.
4. "She Builds Quick Machines" 7/10: This is the first single. It sounds more like a single than anything else on the album.
5. "The Last Fight" 8/10: This song grew on me a bit.
6. "Pills, Demons & Etc." 6/10: For Scott Weiland, probably the most personal song on the album....

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runnin262 says "These Pumpkins aren't smashed" about Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

runnin262 — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:12:13 GMT

Zeitgeist has the characteristics of early Pumpkins - elements that Smashing Pumpkins fans have come to know and love, such as airtight, harmonic guitar melodies, space-track solos, full walls of rich, distorted guitars, and rip-your-throat-out drum tracks.

BUT, Zeitgeist's sound is still different than anything before - definitely not cheesy electro-pop like Zwan. Definitely not an album of plain, filler songs like Machina. Not quiet like Adore.

No, on the contrary, Zeitgeist is an album that will make you think back to Siamese Dream. You won't find a high school anthem song like "Today" on Zeitgeist. Happy-go-lucky Pumpkins, this is not.

INSTEAD, we are treated to a sound that is a reflection of our times - a somewhat off but refined sound - solidifying a common awareness of the possibility of a darker future. Zeitgeist has darker-sounding chromatics, yes, but it is beautifully melodic without 1990's angst or any 2000's pop angry metal like Puddle of Mudd, etc.

Zeitgeist is the sound......

runnin262 says "Not Saliva's Best but solid." about Saliva - Blood Stained Love Story

runnin262 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:56:03 GMT

Every once in a while, a band releases a CD that is great from beginning to end. Saliva did that with "Blood Stained Love Story".

I am not one of these people who expect a band to have a similar sound throughout their careers, to me that shows no artistic venture. So, when any band releases a new CD, I enjoy it for the fact that it is a new production. Whatever it is that they (Saliva) have done in the past will be enjoyed as the separate works of art they have produced for my listening pleasure.

"Blood Stained Love Story" is a balance between the heavy, groove-oriented songs such as 'Ladies & Gentleman,' "King of the Stereo,' and 'Black Sheep' to the more Nickelback'ish, 'Broken Sunday' 'Never Gonna Change,' or 'Going Under.' I personally like a mix between the heavy and the melodic as it shows the range and diversity of the band.

Positives: strong lyrics, healthy balance between heavy and light songs, good production, and GUITAR SOLOS!!! While not sounding dated, they do pay homage to...

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runnin262 says "Great Thhrough and Through" about Black Stone Cherry - Black Stone Cherry

runnin262 — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:47:39 GMT

Black Stone Cherry's self-titled debut is terrific from beginning to end. There's something both new and familiar about their sound with several influences worn on their sleeves while maintaining a great modern edge.

This is an extremely mature sounding debut full of great hooks, melodies and screaming guitars.

Early highlights for me include 'Maybe Someday' and 'Lonely Train' but you could pick this album up at any point and find a killer track.

Production-wise, it's nice and straightforward; you get drums, bass, guitars and vocals - and lots of 'em. It's a great mix with very direct sounds that would be really great live. I hope there's lots more like this coming from Black Stone Cherry - highly recommended.

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