domingo, janeiro 30, 2005

202. Deftones - live

202.Dlive
202.Dlive,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This EP features 6 live tracks and the single for My Own Summer (shove It). Unfortunately the live material doesn't add anything to the songs. Chino's vocals are strained and handicapped. The drums sound like crap, the snare makes a pop sound, and if I had to guess he is playing on a Tama kit (I am full of shit), I have always felt that Tama kits sound like crap live. The band starts to redeem itself with 'Bored', but by then the CD is over.

4.5 out of 10

quarta-feira, janeiro 26, 2005

201. Deftones - white pony

201.Dwhitepony
201.Dwhitepony,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
When the song 'Digital Bath' starts you realize what the Deftones could have been. Could an album be this heavy, and still be layered, textured, loud, lyrically sound and melodic? Well, it can, at times. I would love for the Deftones to veer off into Mogwai territory, or end up in a melodic noise induced drench like some parts of the Cure's Wish. 'Knife prty' adds the haunting female vocal track, reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'gig in the sky', except she sounds like she is being gutted. The album is ambitious and I give the band credit for taking the genre further instead of reducing it to dribble like their peers, but the album just isn't as great as it could have been.

7.5 out of 10

200. Deftones - adrenaline

200.Dadrenaline
200.Dadrenaline,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I like the deftones, though I feel they aren't as good as I'd like them to be, more on that when I talk about White Pony. This is the band's first release I think, and they are a couple notches above of Korn and Limp Bizkit but still not distancing themselves from the pack far enough. 'Bored' is a great track, hinting that these guys have more influences and ambitions than their peers.

6 out of 10

199. White Zombie - la sexorcisto devil music vol.1

199.WZlasexorcistodevilmusicvol.1
199.WZlasexorcistodevilmusicvol.1,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
White Zombie fall into the same category as Static X, except these guys are playing along to old B horror movies, filled with dialogue and screams. It was interesting to hear Thunderkiss 65' being re released during the summer that Siamese Dream came out, that song was popular in Brazil ages before that. Again, difficult to sit through the entire thing.

6 out of 10

198. Static X - wisconsin death trip

198.SXwisconsindeathtrip
198.SXwisconsindeathtrip,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This band sounds like cartoon metal. The sounds they produce are too animated to be taken seriously, and that's what I sort of liked about them. It's just too foreign to be anything but a backdrop to a screwed up imaginary world. It is also too difficult to listen to all the way through.

5 out of 10

197. Incubus - wish you were here

197.Iwishyouwerehere
197.Iwishyouwerehere,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I had the actual album in which this single came from, but got rid of it a while back. I always liked this track, for the cliched sake of just singing wish you were here out loud and not have it be Pink Floyd. There are three singles on this disc, all performed live on September 16th, 2001 in Manhattan.

6 out of 10

196. Incubus - make yourself

196.Imakeyourself
196.Imakeyourself,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This came out when I was back in school for design during my first semester, or at least that's when I first heard it. It was weird to be back in school with kids younger than me, interacting, dressing differently than me. I was only 25 but felt old. I'm not sure if any of them were listening to Incubus but that's what I though they were maybe listening to, a hybrid of rock/electronic/hip-hop far more sophisticated than the 'Judgement Day' soundtrack. And that's where my interest in this band began and ended pretty much. They were an updated version of something I thought was interesting, but never amazing.

6 out of 10

195. Limp bizkit - 3 dollar bill y'all

195.LB3dollarbilly'all
195.LB3dollarbilly'all,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Well I guess you saw this coming. It came from the same place as all the Korn crap came from: Nick. The only remotely interesting moments come from Wes Borland - the balance is boring, repetitive and filled with Durst's angry whiny white boy crap. Not sure what I was thinking, or why I held onto this for sooo long. And 'Faith' makes me want to throw up - I'd rather listen to George Michael's version, in a bathroom with George in L.A.

1.5 out of 10

194. Korn - follow the leader

194.Kfollowtheleader
194.Kfollowtheleader,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
See below. Here the band incorporates a lot more hip hop, or try to incorporate something that sounds like hip hop into their songs – the results are mixed. Wait, this just in: the results are bad.

2 out of 10

193. Korn - life is peachy

193.Klifeispeachy
193.Klifeispeachy,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
okay - I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. I blame Nick, Nick Pisani. I guy I used to work with who loved these guys. We went to Lolapalooza and saw James, Korn, Tricky, Tool and Orbital, and some other bands I can't remember. The show wasn't bad especially for a daytime gig, the band had a lot of energy and the fans were rabid. So I picked this up as a memento. Bad move. They did start the genre but the stuff just isn't that great (also cause the genre sucks), the only decent band out of that whole lot are the Deftones.

2.5 out of 10

segunda-feira, janeiro 24, 2005

192. Guns N' Roses - live era 87-93

192.GNRliveera8793
192.GNRliveera8793,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I really enjoyed this album. I got it through BMG and figured it made sense to do so because I have Appetite on vinyl, Lies on tape and my two UYI's were rotting away, so it was sort of a greatest hits but live - I would always rather get a live album by a band instead of a greatest hits. So this double disc does a pretty good job of covering a lot of the bands songs, I would have preferred some tracks were replaced with others. The major disappointment is that none of the tracks contain their original performance dates or venues, all you are told is that it all occurred between 87' - 93', on earth.

8.5 out of 10

191. Guns N' Roses - use your illusion 2

191.GNRuseyourillusion2
191.GNRuseyourillusion2,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
The blue disc was always 'less worse' than the yellow one. 'Civil war' is a decent enough track, '14 Years' is okay bar rock fodder, 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' is so fucking annoying, 'Estranged' is sort of good in a sort of classic rock way, 'You could be mine' is the only well rounded rock song and there's 'don't cry' again with alternate lyrics, which isn't playing because of cd rot (in the late 80's and early 90's some discs were pressed defectively and end up rotting away over time). So I'm trashing this too.

3.5 out of 10

190. Guns N' Roses - use your illusion 1

190.GNRuseyourillusion1
190.GNRuseyourillusion1,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
The hype surrounding the release of these two albums was amazing, and for good reason, Appetite was and still is a great album. The band had not released a proper follow up in 3 or 4 years and now they were putting out two albums. The first thing I noticed about UYI 1 and 2 was that the majority of songs that weren't penned with or by Izzy really sucked instead of just sucking. I also noticed that the five piece band had become twice as big. The Wing's cover of Live and Let Die isn't bad. The strongest tracks are: 'Don’t Cry', which I will admit I still am a sucker for minus the rooftop, helicopters and stupid ending. 'Double Talkin' Jive', sung and written by Izzy. It's a decent little ditty, the only decent rock song on the album so far, and it's track 9. And, oh, that's it. The rest is mediocre at best. A waste.

2.5 out of 10

quinta-feira, janeiro 20, 2005

189. The Cult - high octane

189.Chighoctane
189.Chighoctane,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I feel bad for having this, it belongs to somebody I never met. I had just graduated and went to the restaurant to say hello since they had a cake for me with some gifts. Patti walks up to me with a Case Logic thing filled with cd's saying her daughter found it. The staff had already gone through it and the only decent thing in there was this. I had 'love', 'electric' and 'sonic temple' on tape, so this was a nice find. Unfortunately the disc focuses too much on their later stuff, which sounds like a doors rip off or bad metal like Faster Pussycat or late INXS. What made the Cult interesting was the juxtaposition of a band that sounded like the Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen and the Bolshoi but with a vocalist who wanted to be an American blues rock singer or Jim Morrison. The majority of that material isn't on here. Anything past 1989 should have stayed off.

6 out of 10

188. Body Count - body count

188.BCbodycount
188.BCbodycount,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Even though Jemima, that's right I said Jemima, got this for me in London it still didn't have the track 'Cop Killer'. When this came out it nothing as heavy or controversial had been released yet. I'm not sure if N.W.A.'s 'Straight outta Compton' had even come out yet. This album is great, a true slice of 'pop culture' life in 92. The album starts off with the siren wielding 'Body Count's in the House' where Ice-T introduces the entire band, and just keeps repeating 'Body Count' and 'BC'. And in true metal fashion the band has a song named after themselves; 'Body Count' and 'Body Count Anthem'. Listening to the album again really puts the 'threat' that this album posed into perspective. It sounds almost comical; the band deals with white girls dating black men, drug addiction, Oprah, an evil dick that doesn't want to sleep alone and how the neighborhood goes to shit when body count moves in. The infamous 'cop killer' track has been replaced with 'Freedom of Speech'. 'Body Count' is a less clever and a more 'dumb' album with some classic moments of punk wedding metal circa 1992.

BC,BC,BC,BC,BC.

7.5 out of 10

quarta-feira, janeiro 19, 2005

187. Suicidal Tendencies - still psycho after all these years

187.STstillpsychoafteralltheseyears
187.STstillpsychoafteralltheseyears,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
The only song I recognize on this disc is 'Institutionalized'; you know the song where he sings about how all he wanted was just one Pepsi. I don't mind that track but the rest is crap, so this is going too.

2.5 out of 10

186. Suicidal Tendencies - lights, camera, revolution

186.STlights,camera,revolution
186.STlights,camera,revolution,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I haven't heard this in ages, since I got it in brazil back in 1990, and never realized how metal this band sounded, not that they weren't metal, but they were supposed to be heavier, the solos are so high and bad, the vocalist even says 'take it away Carlos' before the solo starts. I don't think I’ll be listening to this ever again, plus I have their greatest hits that my old college roommate John, I can't remember his last name, gave me.

2 out of 10

segunda-feira, janeiro 17, 2005

185. Living Colour - vivid

185.LCvivid
185.LCvivid,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This was another discovery I made on one of the videotapes my mom made for me of MTV when she was in the States. I also got to see them live in Brazil, and they were great. The band isn't easy to categorize which is a good thing I suppose, but as their other releases came out I found it more and more difficult to get into the band. I had both Time's Up and the one after that, and ended up trading them in ages ago. Vivid is all over the place, part thrash, funk, pop and soul - at times they mesh really well, and others, well… Cult of Personality is a classic track, Corey's voice is great and Vernon Reid's playing is manic. Still it was quite the accomplishment for when it came out, redefining what a rock band should look and sound like.

7 out of 10

184. Metallica - metallica

184.Mmetallica
184.Mmetallica,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This was the band's 'crossover' hit, which means they recorded a couple of ballads, and really slowed their music down. I remember I had Fred buy this for me when he came to the U.S. to look at high schools since he was leaving Rio, he got me this and the two Use your Illusions back in 91'. Not that the band was amazing before, but on this release they truly lose all the credibility they had. The only tracks I sort of enjoy are Enter Sandman, and Wherever I may Roam. The rest is trash.

3 out of 10

183. Metallica - ...and justice for all

183.Mandjusticeforall
183.Mandjusticeforall,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Okay, this is where this list gets ugly, and this is actually a highlight. The next shelf goes as close to 'new metal' as I ever got, and to an extent it pains me to listen to the stuff, but it should be fun too.

I remember Stephen, my English teacher's son, put this on a tape for me, and I must have listened to it a million times, finally in 1988 understanding what all the fuss about Metallica was. It was later robbed along with my walkman on a bus. As a kid I was insanely into metal, I had hundreds of albums and tapes with everything from Accept to Enuff Z' Nuff. Granted almost all of it is in the garbage but there were some good songs in there. With all that said, despite claims by many as this being a masterpiece, it still is metal and therefore difficult to be taken seriously. I still enjoy Blackened, …And Justice for all and Harvester of Sorrow, but music and my taste have come such a long way since 88.

'to begin whipping dance of the dead, blackened is the end'

7 out of 10

182. Helmet - aftertaste

182.Haftertaste
182.Haftertaste,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Helmet-aftertaste
It's a shame because the cd starts off on the right foot with 'Pure', but throughout the disc all the songs tend to fall flat, no mater how fast or loud they are played. At the time it seemed like a fitting end for the band, just sort of fading out. They of course came back last year, but I have no idea what that sounded like.

6.5 out of 10

181. Helmet - betty

181.Hbetty
181.Hbetty,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Page and co. have released a better album with Betty. The songs are better arranged, more melodic, and better produced. Even Page's vocals are stronger, he yells with a confident anger. They also seem to shed any expectations that fans may have had by adding jazzy intros and outros to a couple of tracks. Good stuff, especially for 1994.

8 out of 10

domingo, janeiro 02, 2005

180. Helmet - meantime

180.Hmeantime
180.Hmeantime,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
At times still repetitive, but definitely fresher. There was a bidding war going on for them and I guess Interscope/Atlantic won and to an extent the band does deliver on the hype. The songs are better developed and Page's vocals are more polished (he still yells, but now with a certain distinguished anger). He also sings about Downtown Julie Brown.

7 out of 10

179. Helmet - strap it on

179.Hstrapiton
179.Hstrapiton,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
It's a shame the production on this disc is so bad - you can tell that the band is tight, but Page's vocals are muddled and the band's beats/riffs sound clumped together instead of crisp. Still there are good moments, but the band doesn't really take you there too often, which was always the problem with this band. They had enough potential and interesting sound to grab you, but still would end up letting you go.

5 out of 10

178. A Perfect Circle - b-sides (bootleg)

I basically collected the songs that I was missing from the other singles and burnt a cd. There are two '3 Libras' mixes - the first, 'feel my ice dub' mix is actually a pretty good re interpretation of the song, the second however 'all main courses remix' falls into the stale, pointless remix category. Then there are three acoustic versions of 'the hallow', '3 Libras' and 'sleeping beauty' all performed in Philly. All are great takes on the originals, performed with a string section making it worthwhile to invest in these singles, although I didn't...

7 out of 10

177. A Perfect Circle - the hallow

177.APCthehallow
177.APCthehallow,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
'The Hallow' is a great song, and the 'constantly consuming remix' of that song is amazing, it is entirely played and sung by Paz - simply great, worth buying for that song alone. There are two other traditional remixes of 'The Hallow' and 'Judith' - neither adds anything to the originals. The cd also includes the great video for Judith.

7.5 out of 10

176. A Perfect Circle - judith

176.APCjudith
176.APCjudith,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Judith is one of the best rock songs ever written, period. Maynard's vocals are amazing, and Billy went instantly from a guitar tech to full on performer. Even the video, shot by Fincher is great - never has a girl wrapping her hair into a bun looked so beautiful - granted shooting it in real time and the bass helped. But this song did make all the rap metal bands look and sound like idiots - not that they didn't already. This single also contains live versions of Magdalena and Brena. Both are faithful to the studio versions and are solid. The real gem lies in Billy's acoustic demo version of Orestes - it is nice to hear a song's origin played by its author, singing and playing.

8.5 out of 10

175. A Perfect Circle - mers de noms

175.APCmersdenoms
175.APCmersdenoms,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I bought this album solely on the 'Judith' video, I remember it was the most commercial album I bought in 2000, I had to go to Best Buy to get it. I never realized how much I liked this album - never did I think I preferred it over anything by Tool, but I sort of do. The songs do at times enter the clichéd 'hard rock' structure but for the most part they are sincere. I was still in design school already working in a studio and planning to move up to NYC. Little did I know about all fury and frustration this city and my life would bring.

'It's not like you killed someone. It's not like you drove a hateful spear into his side. Praise the one who left you broken down and paralyzed. He did it all for you'

9 out of 10

174. Tool - lateralus

174.Tlateralus
174.Tlateralus,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I got this just before I left Florida (I actually bought 20 or so right before I left, so I'll mention that fact again and again). I remember sitting in my car with Chad listening to parts of this and the both of us were not impressed. I guess like many fans I was expecting or hoping for the quick get of Aenima, which to me was a near perfect album, with just one too many slow uninspired moments. I must confess that I never really picked this album up since. Upon this repeat listen I discovered my favourite Tool album. Their sound has developed so much since Aenima – the record has many layers, meshing the band's prog sound with psychedelia - Maynard's vocals are more melodic and it seems like he is finding a middle ground between his APC sound and Tool.

9 out of 10

173. Tool - salival

173.Tsalival
173.Tsalival,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This cd came with the dvd, it's 8 tracks of outtakes and live tracks. The sound quality isn't great but the performances are solid. The band covers Zepplin's 'No Quarter'. Apparently this is out of print - don't go out of your way to get it.

7.5 out of 10

172. Tool - aenima

172.Taenima
172.Taenima,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
From the first seconds of the opening track you are sucked in. This is my favourite album by Tool to date. The songs fully create an ambient prog rock world with haunting and disturbing soundbites. I also saw them play live for this album, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. The album is close to perfect, but ends up becoming too murky and dense for me at least.

'He had alot to say. He had alot of nothing to say. We'll miss him.'

8.5 out of 10

171. Tool - undertow

171.Tundertow
171.Tundertow,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Seeing the video for Sober at 3 in the morning in 1993 was sobering - the song, the video was different from heavy metal, glam metal and pop metal. The album is a major step up from Opiate in that it creates an atmosphere and mood that was lacking in the prior release, the songs don't just play, they live. But to me Tool still hadn't released their best album yet…

7.5 out of 10

170. Tool - opiate

170.Topiate
170.Topiate,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I had read at one point that the band was in some sort of legal dispute with their label and wasn't going to be releasing anything soon, so I went out and picked this up. And it is sort of what I expected, a cruder sounding Tool – Maynard's voice is great but the songs sound too much like math rock, stop, start, stop, start, yell and hit the cymbals. You can tell there is a lot of promise, but the sound isn't quite there yet. Six tracks, two live.

5 out of 10

169. Audioslave - like a stone

169.Alikeastone
169.Alikeastone,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
First off, they have the gayest name. I understand that their first choice, Citizen, was taken - and what, this was number 2? I never got the album, but was curious what two of my favourite bands would sound like together. I saw them live during Lolapalooza and they weren't bad – but they sound like a rip off of both bands, as opposed to something new and original. Contains, three tracks; 'Like a Stone', 'We got the Whip' and 'Gasoline' live from the rooftop of David Letterman. C'mon. Gasoline?

4 out of 10

168. Rage Against the Machine - renegades

168.RATMrenegades
168.RATMrenegades,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
A great farewell, a collection of cover songs produced this time by Rick Rubin. The disc contains tracks by MC5, Afrika Bambaataa, EPMD, and Volume 10 and two hidden live tracks. This particular version comes with a bonus live disc as well, containing 'People of the Sun' and 'No Shelter'. It's nice to hear a band's influences reinterpreted, the live tracks on the bonus cd are solid, I believe they may have been from the same show of the recent live disc.

7.5 out of 10

167. Rage Against the Machine - the battle of los angeles

167.RATMthebattleoflosangeles
167.RATMthebattleoflosangeles,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Tim got his tattoo completed and having sort of followed the progress pictorially I had no idea that he was being basically sleeved on his back and shoulders. I know that has nothing to do with the music but I had to mention it. Again another set produced by Brendan O’Brien, and the band seems to be trying to expand but I find myself not interested, though I love Guerrilla Radio and Sleep Now in the Fire.

'turn that shit up'

7.5 out of 10

166. Rage Against the Machine - the ghost of tom joad

166.RATMtheghostoftomjoad
166.RATMtheghostoftomjoad,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This cd single came with the video for… I can't remember the title, it's in a box with all my other videos. The song is a cover of the Springsteen song. Not a bad song, of course lyrically it is in rage's vein, and the band manages to make the song sound like one of their own. Getting rid of it though because it's on Renegades.

7.5 out 10

165. Rage Against the Machine - evil empire

165.RATMevilempire
165.RATMevilempire,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Chad and I saw them on this tour with Wu-Tang. I sort of prefer this album because the band seems to be branching out slightly from the basic riff they seem to employ, although I do think that the basic beat for 'Bulls on Parade' is very close to 'Killing in the Name Of'. Nonetheless, I was happy that they were still together and putting music out.

8.5 out of 10

164. Rage Against the Machine - rage against the machine

164.RATMrageagainstthemachine
164.RATMrageagainstthemachine,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
The sound this band produced at the time came out of nowhere and was like a sucker punch to your nose, air rushing up to your head trying to figure out who the fuck did this. Of course the album contains a couple of classics but I hate to say that I feel the band loses its focus towards the end of the album - almost stuck in a rhythmical rut. Still though the album is groundbreaking, paving the way to a ton of shit that would come out in the late nineties.

8 out of 10

163. Faith No More - album of the year

163.FNMalbumoftheyear
163.FNMalbumoftheyear,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
A fitting farewell. The album is very eclectic - Mike can sound like a lounge singer one minute, and the vocalist from Venom another. It is a far cry from being the album of the year, but worth for any fan to pick up.

7 out of 10

162. Faith No More - king for a day, fool for a lifetime

162.FNMkingforaday,foolforalifetime
162.FNMkingforaday,foolforalifetime,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I am not sure if the departure of the original guitarist (did he even quit? I am not sure), sort of left the band bland and at other times cleverly generic; listen to 'Evidence', 'Just a Man'. Their interest in Brazil is still alive and well with 'Caralho Voador', which means flying scrotum. Not a step forward, or back really.

6 out of 10

161. Faith No More - songs to make love to

161.FNMsongstomakeloveto
161.FNMsongstomakeloveto,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I think I got this for the Lionel Ritchie cover, who I secretly like, ever since 'Say you, Say me'. 'Easy' does play like Sunday morning. 'Das Schutzenfest' which I have no idea what it means, is sung in German, and is a Polka sounding sort of thing, comedic. 'Midnight Cowboy' is off Angel Dust and is a great cover and instrumental. 'Let's lynch the landlord' was written by Biafra who was the leader of the Dead Kennedy's, no? Anyway, the song is rockabilly like and mmm, okay.

5 out of 10

160. Faith No More - angel dust

160.FNMangeldust
160.FNMangeldust,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I love Angel Dust, you know PCP. I remember in 92' seeing the video for 'midlife crisis', it was on MTV in Brazil, I was at sarah's house, and was incredibly happy with the song. The cd contains a ton of great songs: Midlife Crisis, Land of Sunshine, Smaller and Smaller, Be Aggressive and Crack Hitler (which contains a sample from the flight announcer in Rio's international airport that I would hear all the time). The band comes close to making an amazing album.

'You're perfect yes it's true. But without me, you are only you'

8 out of 10

159. Faith No More - the real thing

159.FNMtherealthing
159.FNMtherealthing,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
This band was ahead of its time. When this album came out Slaughter's 'up all night' was on MTV 24/7. So this was one of those albums that really came out of nowhere and was sort of a preview of the 'new' sound that still lay ahead (alice, Jane's, tool, body count, PJ, RHCP, etc.). This was the first album featuring Mike Patton on vocals for the band, and they combined metalish guitar playing, with keyboards, rapping and r&b back up vocals (amongst other things). The album feels at times like it is all over the place and really is - this makes sense since they were still trying to figure out their sound. Still the album is great, I love 'The real thing', 'underwater love', 'from out of nowhere', and Sabbath's War Pigs cover isn't bad either.

'Touch me from below, I’ll never let you go'

7.5 out of 10

158. Primus - sailing the seas of cheese

158.Psailingtheseasofcheese
158.Psailingtheseasofcheese,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I love this album and I am not sure why. I am not sure why the band's formulaic sound doesn't bore me here. I think in part it's because this was the first Primus album I got and I stopped after this one. I may have had the album after this, Pork Soda, but traded it in at some point. It's funny how a band's subsequent releases can help dilute their other albums. Also I like the little intro asking us to join them in sailing the seas of cheese - not that this is a full blown concept album, but feeling like all the songs are part of some journey helps the record gain legitimacy, whereas Frizzle Fry felt like a collection of songs as opposed to an album. Plus the album is pretty solid throughout.

"tommy the cat is my name and I say unto thee…"

9 out of 10

157. Primus - frizzle fry

157.Pfrizzlefry
157.Pfrizzlefry,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
I got this after 'Sailing the seas' although it came out before. The album is different, especially for a three piece band. But the album seems to not find its overall groove – too many stop, starts, without focusing on the big picture (which I will explain on the next album). Tracks like 'John the Fisherman' and ‘The Toys go Winding Down’, are great and ultimately make the rest of the album sound not as good, but instead repetitive, like the sound of frizzle frying. God I am a bad writer.

4.5 out of 10

156. John Frusciante - to record only water for ten days

156.JFtorecordonlywaterfortendays
156.JFtorecordonlywaterfortendays,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Gone are the loops and vocal effects. The songs on here are more structured and feature John singing without the aid of effects. Again he plays and programs everything. While it does have some interesting/great moments one can't help but wonder what the songs would sound like with a real drummer, vocalist and fleshed out band. But there is no doubt that he lays the groundwork for all that is good that comes out of the Peppers.

6 out of 10

155. John Frusciante - niandra lades & usually just a t-shirt

Niandra lades and usually just a t shirt
This album is both part genius and crap. Very lo fi, just John playing and singing everything. You can hear how much of him is in the Peppers. Some of the arrangements are truly great, much more than someone just sitting around fucking with a four track, but at the same time some songs get lost in looping hell. But it all comes together with song titles like 'your pussy's glued to a building on fire'.

5 out of 10

154. Red Hot Chili Peppers - can't stop

154.RHCPcan'tstop
154.RHCPcan'tstop,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
The extra tracks are again live; 'Right on Time' is from Californication and isn't a bad live version, pretty straight forward. The other 'Nothing to Lose' is really good, and I admit am not sure where it is taken from, it too was written by the band. The song is 13 minutes long and is probably as soulful as Anthony can get vocally without it coming across as comical, the song then veers off into chaos… not really a bad thing.

7 out of 10

153. Red Hot Chili Peppers - by the way #2

153.RHCPbytheway#2
153.RHCPbytheway#2,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
A 12 minute 'Search and Destroy' live track is great, well worth the 99 cents I paid for this at HMV. 'What is Soul' is also live. Both tracks were recorded live at the same city but different nights, but the band was definitely inspired - this track is also solid, thick and fresh.

7 out of 10

152. Red Hot Chili Peppers - by the way #1

152.RHCPbytheway#1
152.RHCPbytheway#1,
originally uploaded by jrd550.
Disc one contains the tracks 'Time' and 'Teenager in Love'. 'Time' is a great song, all of the bands signature elements coming together. 'Teenager in Love' is a cover of an old track (or written by someone else to mimic an old track) in the same vein as pearl Jam's Last Kiss.

6 out of 10