There Is A Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven Lets Keep It A Secret. (Limited Deluxe Edition Box Set with T-Shirt) Review

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(More customer reviews)This album once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I've seen them live and also listened to their previous albums. Before this album I felt there was something missing, it seemed to be just yelling into the microphone and it took me awhile to like it, it seemed almost like an aquired sound. This album I feel their sound has matured and they have balanced between harmonies and screaming. They also stepped it up in certain songs, adding women vocals for a softer tone and a clashing sound. I feel that this is their best album to date and would also encourage you to go see them live because they put on a great show.

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Bring Me The Horizon became a worldwide phenomenon thanks to their success on MySpace and heavy touring that recently included stealing Warped Tour 2010 with their frenzied main stage performance. The UK based band take the unique sound from their last album Suicide Season and push it further in every single way imaginable.
This special edition box set includes the new CD and a high-quality band t-shirt with an exclusive design only available with this package (size: slim-fit medium).
Track listing:
1. Crucify Me
2. Anthem
3. It Never Ends
4. Fuck
5. Don't Go
6. Home Sweet Hole
7. Alligator Blood
8. Visions
9. Blacklist
10. Memorial
11. Blessed With a Curse
12. Fox and the Wolf

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For Aeons Past Review

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(More customer reviews)If I do say so myself...2010 is turning out to be quite a year for metal. Despite a few regrettable tragedies (Dio, Peter Steele), the actual music being released is some of the most exciting since the boom of the summer of 2008. New albums by Dark Tranquillity, Kalmah, and Nevermore, among others, have shown their quality, with many more, including by the likes of Soilwork, Symphony X, and Iron Maiden on the way. And with all these established bands there have also been a few new arrivals, the most promising of which in my book is the Swedish/Finnish supergroup Solution .45. Best known for their lead vocalist, the much revered former Scar Symmetry front man Christian Alvestam, the release of Solution .45s debut has been the subject of much hype for Scar Symmetry fans as well as the melodeath/prog metal communities in general. My expectations were high, and I'm proud to say they were surpassed. For Aeons Past may be the album of 2010.
S.45 is sometimes criticized for being too reminiscent of Scar Symmetry, an understandable criticism considering the connection between the two bands as well as being the most well known and stylistically similar of Alvestams post SS projects. Like Scar Symmetry, this is definitly the "21st Century" model Scandinavian melodeath in the Soilwork tradition - clean and harsh vox mixed, atmospheric keyboards, a neoclassical bend in the guitar playing and an overall epic song construction - all elements one can indeed find in Scar Symmetry. However, upon closer inspection S.45 do set themselves apart. While Scar Symmetry tended be a bit more straightforward, S.45 ventures more obviously into prog metal territory. Shifting time signatures and general more technical arrangements are present. At the same time, like Scar Symmetry, there is an excellent cohesiveness of song that is highly commendable. Perhaps this is the direction people were expecting from Scar Symmetry to follow up Holographic Universe...nonetheless, the album is excellent. And in addition to Christian, all of the members are at the top of their game. The riffs are rock solid, the solos are mindbogglingly technical and beautifully melodic, and the drums are tight and punishing and the bass...is inaudible most of the time, but it is clear that Alvestam put together a worthy group of musicians, none of which I had been aware of before, but are definitely worthy of backing him up in this venture.
As far as the songs go, every single track on "For Aeons Past" is solid and unique in its own right. Its very difficult to pick a favorite, but the absolute highest achievement of the groups potential is unquestionably the 16 minute epic album closer "Clandestinity Now"...like the Symphony X or Edge of Sanity epics, it is a track that despite its length and branches of arrangement remains consistently cohesive and at no point tempts one with the skip button. Every other song on the album is great in its own way though, no doubt. The only complaint I could possibly give the album is that it does get a bit homogeneous at times, but especially considering this is a debut this is a minor cause for concern. Given Alvestams known resistance to touring I'm not getting my hopes up for an American Solution .45 tour, but they definitely have the potential to be metals "next big thing", and they certainly live up to the hype they've generated in the underground. Any fan of forward thinking and innovative metal should not be without "For Aeons Past".

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For Aeons Past , is Sweden s Solution .45 s impressive debut album; a mix of brutal riffs with unparalleled melancholic atmosphere and epic, heavy progressive song structures. Recorded over a grueling three months, For Aeons Past features lyrical contribution and guest vocals from Dark Tranquillity s mainman Mikael Stanne, and stunning artwork from Pär Olofsson (Immortal, Exodus, The Faceless). "For Aeons Past" is an impressive achievement in modern Metal!

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Secret Story 2CD Special Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my first foray into the remastered Geffen Metheny releases. I have heard they sound great and I don't doubt that: the fact is they already sounded great in their initial release. What drew me to this one was the promise of a second disc containing five unreleased songs from the Secret Story sessions. More on that later.
By the mid 80's Metheny felt stifled by ECM's pressure to make albums in one or two days with few or no overdubs and in 1985, left to make studio albums that took advantage of the advanced processing and mixing capablilities of the studio, an approach almost completely contrary to Manfred Eicher's european aseticism. Eicher's aesthetic worked quite well for most of the artists in his catalogue, even some of Metheny's own CDs, (As Fall Wichita Falls comes to mind,), but never seemed to gel for the Metheny Group albums. The Geffen people gave Metheny the time and sophisticated environment he needed to realize his vision. That vision was never more focused than on this side project, Secret Story. This was to be Pat's most personal and ambitious statement of his career.
Even without the extra disc it was a massive epic, clocking in just under the 80 minutes allotted for the CD format. Yet in 78 minutes or so, nearly every human emotion was explored, from the religious ecstasy of Above the Treetops, through the earthy optimism of Cathedral in a Suitcase, the epic transcendance of Finding and Believing, the forlorn longing of Tell Her You Saw Me to the soul searching strings of Antonia. It is a profoundly honest work, sweeping the listener along a journey through youth and innocence, discovery and heartbreak and finally to acceptance and healing. I have always suspected that the subtext of this album was a story of love and loss but with Pat Metheny being the very private person he is, it is likely that story will remain a secret one.
So, the two things most fans will want to know the answers to:
1.How does it sound? Well, it definitely sounds better. Parts are more defined and the bass seems deeper and wider. The overall soundstage seems wider as well. It is a quantitatively better sounding master. I would not say that the difference is startling, but it is quite noticeable.
2. How are the five new tracks? I have only listened to them twice, but my impression is that they are, like many of the tracks on the original, cinematic and evocative. They just didn't make the cut. And while I can understand why these didn't make it to the original SS release due to time considerations, quality etc, I wouldn't exactly dismiss them as throw aways.On the other hand, I would say that they are not essential to the arc of the original Secret Story release, which stands on its own as whole and complete.
The first track features Toots Thielemans and reminds me a bit of the ballad from the original CD, Always and Forever. I would say Always is the superior composition, which I am guessing is why this track didn't make it to the CD, but I like the atmosphere of this piece very much and Pat's guitar solo is quite beautiful. And it's always a treat to hear the one and only Toots. Clocking in at almost 6 minutes, it is the centerpiece of this new material.
The second tune reminds me of the earlier Metheny Group sound with Pedro Aznar. The vocalist is not identified-it might very well be Pedro, probably the most soulful singer the group ever had. If you liked First Circle you will be pleasantly reminded of that high point in the career of the PMG. But don't expect too much-this tune is a relatively simple mood piece that doesn't develop beyond a simple repetitive structure.
The third tune is a short piece scored for harp and strings. Pat doesn't play on this track. It contains more of the somber tone that emerges towards the end of the first disc. A beautiful miniature that fits right in with the Secret Story journey.
The fourth piece, primarlily scored for strings, is written in a modern tonal classical style similar to Gorecki. I just wish it wasn't so short. It would've been nice to hear some development. It ends just as it seems to settle in.
The fifth tune is Metheny at his lightest and silliest. Sporting a jaunty whistle-down-the-street melody, it hints at Pat's affection for Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb and exudes the goofy optimism one associates with a score to a 60's coming of age film or TV theme, all innocence and naivete, yet enchanting nonetheless. Makes you almost wonder if in an alternative reality, Pat might've had a successful career scoring for television.
I wish that all the PMG remasters had these sort of extras. I'd buy them in a heartbeat.
In short: Highly recommended just for the improved sound alone, especially for those who are already fans of this ambitious masterpiece. The bonus tracks are icing on an already sumptuous cake.

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The New York Times called Pat Metheny’s 1992 Grammy Award-winning Secret Story the most sweepingly ambitious album that the jazz guitarist has yet recorded...a nearly 80-minute world-music suite with symphonic underpinnings. If the album functioned then, in the words of critic Stephen Holden, as part travelogue and part soundtrack for a nonexistent film, then this expanded and re-mastered edition can best be described as the director’s cut. Composer and guitarist Metheny revisited and restored five previously unreleased tracks in the studio over the last year, and he’s collected them on a bonus disc. More pastoral in tone than most of the original material on Secret Story and with a decidedly cinematic, orchestral feel these tracks are like the deleted scenes from a deeply evocative yet wordless narrative feature. Back in ’92, Metheny declared that Secret Story was unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s the largest in scope - 80 people were involved in the record - but it's also the most intimate record I’ve done.

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Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 (2CD/1 DVD Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)The long-awaited release of: "Egypt 1978" is over. Was it worth a 30 year wait? For me, yes it was, good or bad this package is an accurate document of a legendary event, The Grateful Dead playing right in front of The Great Pyramid and right next to The Sphinx. The 3 record set was due for release in early 1979, to help pay the 1/2 Million dollars of debt that this vacation cost the band. Jerry Garcia, wasn't happy with the tapes and the plan was canceled.
Over the years many tapes have circulated from audience and soundboard sources. I saw a lavish bootleg CD set at a record collector's show in 1996. This Box contained 8 Cd's, a hardshell book, a poster, stickers, the works. The vendor, wouldn't go under $80.00 for the package, and I passed on the deal. The tapes that I have heard, were high-quality sound and good to not-so-good performances by The Dead.
This set of two CD's {3, if you buy it from The Grateful Dead Website} and a DVD of 13 songs, and a short home movie of band and friends in Cairo, and on The Nile. This is a nice package, of an event of legendary proportions.
30 YEARS OF BAD VIBES:
The band didn't play well in Egypt, The equipment did weird things in the 110 degree heat, No: "Blues For Allah" performed, The amps melted together in the sun, The piano was outta tune, Billy could only drum with one arm, Donna was singing 'Flat' again, No hash was allowed to be smoked on stage, only behind the amps, No: "Dark Star" performed, not enough Stella Beer, after the crew stole all of it, The King's Chamber deep inside the Great Pyramid wasn't successful for use as an echo effect for the concerts, sand in equipment...ETC, ETC, ETC.
THE MUSIC:
After 30 years of rumors like that, you will have to be the judge of this package. The music here isn't better or worse than any other Live Dead CD's available already...It is DIFFERENT from other things, that you have already heard before. And that is the reason that it was released in the first place. The Grateful Dead plays DIFFERENTLY under a full eclipse of the moon next to the massive paws of The Sphinx than it does in Winterland back in San Francisco. Everything that makes this group special IS here, but on: "Rocking The Cradle" the music takes on new shapes and forms, textures and colors are unique to this recording.
"Ollin Arageed" featuring Hamza El Din and the Nubian Youth Choir, melts into a sparkling; "Fire On The Mountain". "New, New Minglewood Blues" features a wonderful solo from Keith on "Outta-Tune" piano, that lays waste to almost every other keyboard player anywhere. "Stella Blue" is a tune, that I have never payed much attention to, here on this CD, it is amazing! Some of this is lackluster, but I have found more GOOD than BAD here. A Grateful Dead Show contains peaks and valleys, there is serious detail to flow and dynamics within every concert, and when that doesn't work out...well, it doesn't work out all the time, such is LIFE.
THE FILMS:
The DVD contains 13 songs from the concerts, and a feature called; "The Vacation Tapes" of band, crew and friends in Cairo and on the Nile. These videos are not shot by a professional film crew and are of homemade quality {jerky camera movement, fuzzy & out-of-focus zoom-ins and outs, cameras way off target.} Had the band produced some video by a professional crew, the results could have been amazing, as is these curios are interesting and show a little insight into the world of The Grateful Dead. The DVD is interesting but not essential.
I Like this Set, and have been playing the CD's, in rotation with other GD music since it arrived at my door. I have less use for the DVD, but I will give it another try a few months down the road. The booklet is fine, and the package with the fold-outs, is nice as well. A book about this entire event is still available, it is entitled: "Truckin' With The Grateful Dead To Egypt" by Robert Nichols. This book was published in 1984 with the band's approval, it is an interesting read, and it includes many photos and graphics that I have never seen anywhere else.
This set of music and visuals is a welcome addition to the growing bulk of live performance work available from The Grateful Dead.
Four Stars !!!


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Grateful Dead, Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a 2 CD/1 DVD set that marks the 30th anniversary of The Dead's historic concerts at Giza, featuring more than three hours of rare and previously unreleased music remastered in HDCD, plus over 100 minutes of extremely rare, previously unseen concert and behind-the-scenes footage.

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Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Review

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(More customer reviews)The cover art is grimy and enigmatic, intimating a sense of violence and aggression. The album's name is bold and maybe somewhat pretentious. What have we here? It seems to be an open invitation for rock critics to assault a haughty progressive rock band. This album seems to fit every critic's definition of "indulgent": a double album, the progressive disposition, and a 42-minute song. And it's Dream Theater.
Direct your derision elsewhere, critics. This may be a strong statement, but I have to venture to say that Dream Theater's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the most dynamic afflatus of progressive music since Yes' Close to the Edge. The band mines a rich vein of influences and amalgamates them into something utterly intense and inventive. The music in this 2CD set possesses the devastating technical chops we expect from the band, this time directed towards a more experimental release than was Scenes from a Memory. At the same time, Six Degrees encapsulates a sense of brutal beauty and depth, with an assertive and clear artistic vision that defies any standard the genre has ever set.
"The Glass Prison" will probably surprise a few people. It opens the album with a metal fury of frightening velocity. No doubt the heaviest thing the band has ever done, it is dark, heavy, punishing, and despairingly intense. Because of its pulverizing heaviness and its lyrics (which deal with fighting alcoholism), comparisons may be drawn to "The Mirror". But this song is far more brutal and poignant (and at 14 minutes, it's twice as long). The song's speed is forcefully carried by Portnoy's alien-hummingbird double-bass, as well as Myung's chiming bass arpeggios. Vocals by both Portnoy and Labrie are fierce, and Petrucci's solo is desperate, shattering, schizophrenic, and shred-intensive.
Petrucci also proves he is adept with the pen as well as the guitar. His lyrics on "The Great Debate" (dealing with stem cell research) are great -- his use of metaphor and cleverly ambiguous phraseology makes him, I think, progressive metal's best lyricist. (Consider the double-meaning of the "turn to the light" lines). The music accompanying his poetry is equally sophisticated. Samples from news broadcasts flesh out the subject matter. This evolves into fiercely heavy grooves, delicious rhythmic phases and accents (at once evoking Tool and Rush), and slaughtering furies of guitar/keyboard leads. A clever mix puts right- and left-wing arguments on the appropriate side in stereo (cool!).
It's been proven that the band is capable of bone-crushing technical wizardry, but they also command restraint and concisely developed melodic progressions. "Disappear" is the album's shortest song, not quite reaching seven minutes. This one is presented with an avant-garde, Radiohead-like production. It is a frigid requiem frail vocals and the sad, seductive susurration of longing melodies, built around gorgeous acoustic guitar and exquisite pianos. Labrie's lyrics and performance are masterful; I believe the fugitive poetry is perhaps attempting to mask emotions the delicate vocals betray.
"Blind Faith" is an outstanding work of songwriting, musicianship, and vocals. It's one of those "perfect songs." The melodies are so liquidy during the verses (with great synth inflections), but it kicks into high gear for an awesome, rocking chorus with a big hook that doesn't let go. There's hooks everywhere, even in the instrumental interlude, which is technical DT at its best. Petrucci plays a simmering, catchy riff which (I think) is on baritone guitar...it's the best! Buy the album to hear this riff. The keyboard/guitar unison part here is the most difficult they've done. Before this, though, Rudess plays an elegant piano solo...he's so talented, and his touch his beautiful.
"Misunderstood" is a very difficult song to classify...it almost passes as a killer rock ballad but it also sports some trippy jamming that reminds me a bit of King Crimson's weirder moments. Petrucci's lyrics about feeling isolated are great in rhythm and metaphors. After the last imploring chorus, the final few minutes of this track are a crazy, dissonant blend of sounds that mess with the head.
A full review should be devoted solely to the phantasmagoric and discursive 42-minute title track on the second disc. "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is the band's exploration of mental illness. Each section is devoted to a different person's struggles, gracefully enriching the lyrics with character-specific leitmotifs. This is possibly the band's finest moment, countervailing thrashy metal riffage ("The Test that Stumped Them All") with more melodic, pop-influenced movements ("Solitary Shell"). Individual sections show more effort and detail than the sum total of entire albums, but Dream Theater manages to keep everything very concise and coherent. "Overture" is an exhilarating prelude, formed by a grandiose orchestral section, heated interplay, and stormy guitars; "Goodnight Kiss" is an achingly sorrowful elegy where Labrie's vocals are at their emotional best (beautiful guitar work too); "Solitary Shell" is a major-key, hook-laden piece that evokes Peter Gabriel, while Labrie's vocals soar on the power chorus; "About to Crash (reprise)" is an awesomely infectious anthemic rock piece. "Six Degrees..." is so intense in music and pathos that it virtually blows me away note after note for 42-minutes, leaving me physically weak at the end. Yes, it is long...but it is not a song (or album, for that matter) of nimiety. I don't think there is one immaterial note or second. Heck, to some Dream Theater fans it might even be considered exiguous -- there is considerable restraint here.
All throughout, Jordan Rudess proves he is the most inventive keyboardist in progressive metal. He goes through so many different patches rather than sticking to the same tired strings, organs, and pianos. No one can compare.
When a band releases an album so adventurous, it's always a risk that they will create something so self-indulgent that no one will enjoy it. Just remember: Whenever a work of art attempts to transcend the boundaries of its style, it'll likely alienate those looking for the same old, same old. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is not for those who just want another good "prog" metal album. It is not for those who want another Images and Words. It is for listeners who want to experience the artistic challenge with the band, to celebrate the meaning of "progressive music." There are those who fear that "progress" makes good songwriting null. Have no worries -- Dream Theater's prime songcraft has been polished to an impossible gleam for this album.
Yet again Dream Theater pushes ahead of the pack in terms of creativity and resourcefulness, without ever losing touch with their ability to communicate their sophisticated music to their audience with emotion and sincerity. The kings of progressive metal yet again prove why they are the genre's best band. This release adds another jewel to Dream Theater's crown.

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Dream Theater's latest 2 CD studio epic, produced bydrummer Mike Portnoy & guitarist John Petrucci. ElektraEntertainment.

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Light Me Up Review

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(More customer reviews)This album has great guitar rifts, catchy melodies, and fantastic vocals. It's gritty, sexy, daring, and unapologetic. Taylor has a great voice that certainly gets a chance to shine here. Every song on the album gets stuck in the head.
If you are interested in good rock music with an in-your-face feel, then this album is a must-own!!

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2010 debut album by this outfit fronted by Gossip Girl star Taylor Momsen.Light Me Up is an unflinchingly honest chronicle of Momsen's experiences, filtered through her unique point of view. ''The record is about life'', she says. ''It covers everything: love, death, and music itself. It's Rock 'n' Roll. It's sex. It's drugs. It's religion. It's politics. Each song tells a story about the trials and tribulations and emotional struggles that I've experienced or observed. It's not a happy pop record, but it's not Satan-worshiping either''. Polydor.

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