It's their best record. Not sorry. Revenge, I Wanted To Tell Her, Say You're Sorry and Should Have Known Better are the best of the bunch. Excellent new wave synth pop. Thoroughly enjoy not being able to get my head around the beat displacement/melody rhythm of What He Say. Some incredible pronunciation all over this album. I'm as surprised as anyone that I can't get into the later heavier stuff they're known for even though I've tried several times... Maybe ... read more

Even though the 90s were my formative years, my decade, my music, Alice In Chains still somehow managed to pass me by. I knew and liked the singles but somehow found them a bit passe or "of the time" already or something... like a cliche even while it was still happening. I have no idea why though - they're incredible! At least I get to enjoy discovering them now later in life.

This is the one for me. Their best. Dam That River absolutely slaps. Down In A Hole is beautiful ... read more

Even though the 90s were my formative years, my decade, my music, Alice In Chains still somehow managed to pass me by. I knew and liked the singles but somehow found them a bit passe or "of the time" or something... like a cliche even when it was happening. I have no idea why though - they're incredible! At least I get to enjoy discovering them now later in life.

As debuts go this is pretty sweet though for me not as strong as Dirt, their masterpiece. We Die Young, Man In A ... read more

Punkiest I've heard these fuckers. Love it!

Maybe it's just cos I'm deep into my black metal phase atm but I had a lot of fun with this.

I don't think this is a particularly good album. There's nothing really new or even exceptional about the music they've made or the things they're saying here. It's probably not going to warrant many re-listens. That being said, I'm never gonna have a bad time with dark, gothy, electo-tinged alt-rock songs so I can't hate on it too much. Comfortable, inoffensive background music. Which is a shame to say about anything Maynard is involved in considering what ... read more

Disappointed to see the continuing nosedive of terrible album cover art (which began on Better Nature) right down to the font - where have I seen that before?! GoT? LotR? Euw!

Opener New Wave seemed to aurally embody its title with a clear MBV warble as its centrepiece but though the band’s precise and exacting deliveries work wonders for their pop rock masterpieces, it doesn't work here. The production is too clean and on the nose.

At first I was thrilled (Physically?) by the ... read more

Nothing ground-breaking or out of the ordinary for Omri - just consistently good-quality ambient electronic sound. This time "inspired by the Cosmos Eurorack module from Black Noise Modular" apparently. Lovely stuff.

Maybe not as abrasive as Putrefaction in Progress but a fun time nonetheless.

Way bigger Julie Christmas fan than Cult of Luna so her part in this record is a big draw for me. That being said the music overall is pretty great. Some huge banging riffs and some lovely atmospheric passages (though I mostly dislike the COL male vocals). I like the grand scale of it too - definitely makes it feel like a cohesive journey. Whilst not life changing, certainly a successful epic with some truly great moments. Bonus track Beyond The Redshift > Approaching Transition IMO.

Psycho Killer, SPQR, Lick or Sum, Some Things Last A Long Time and Triple Sun were my favourite tracks here. As usual with Xiu Xiu there's usually a load I love and a load I hate. I'm the only person I know that prefers the original Psycho Killer to the Stop Making Sense version too. Also Sharon Van Etten's Some Things Last A Long Time will never be beaten. Will need to check out some of the origs I didn't know tho.

Strange relationship with this record. It's great but I'm not sure I get the sacred reverence others have for it. Have really tried many times. And can kinda see that it definitely has it's own special thing going on. Just never quite lands for me. Maybe one day...