Red Hot Chili Peppers- The Getaway Review-
The is the second album with Josh Klinghoffer as lead guitarist and on the last album I’m with you he was just starting but still John Frusciante was gravely missed. The biggest criticism of the last album was that the guitar was too much in the background which makes sense considering josh was the backup guitarist. Now he has had some time to get used to his role let’s see if more fun catchy guitar solos find there was through. This is also the first album since flea broke his arm and sadly not the first album since Anthony Kiedis decided to grow his mustache. My first hint we were in for a very different Chili Peppers Album should have been Dangermouse Producing and Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s Producer) mixing the album.
Radiohead performing Dani California.
1. The Getaway-Starts much more subtly than any other Chili Peppers album. I glad to see that Josh Klinghoffer is no longer trying to imitate John Frusciante, because it doesn’t work. It’s a lot more modern and sleek guitar lines with a wavy sound to them. Flea contains himself only casually bringing the funk and keeps the subtle low up keep and the song gets into a pretty good groove. The work from Dangermouse and Nigel is immediately noticed in the least funky and opening ever. The modern groove works and I think this is an album highlight.
2. Dark Necessities-is the lead single and again starts causally with piano and bass, but then it brings the funk on a pretty great bass line. However the other main driving instrument is the piano. Anthony does what he’s always done and sings a fun grooving singalong. Again the song does go full funk but goes for a radio rock modern groove and it really works well. The all piano bridge is especially surprising and works. This is really more of a R and B groove but they pull it off and it is another album highlight. The song ends with a pretty great guitar solo that is also very unique.
3. We Turn Red-is one of my favorites as it trades off from a slow Rand B grove in the catchy chorus to the way more funky and bouncy verses. They deal with the transitions well never getting to far out of the new found subtlety that they have worked so well on the album with. I personally think this is another album highlight.
4. The Longest Wave-Is a more straightforward modern groove R&B Song that leads in with a great guitar solo. The best aspect of this song is just how great the chorus sounds in the very new sounds they have brought in this time. It’s a very mellow song ever for R&B standards.
5. Goodbye Angels-is the closest they come to sounding like the old chili peppers as it builds past the groove and into rock territory. The guitar line on this song is the best one on the whole album, and it’s great to see how much different than the usual Chili Peppers line. I think Josh really comes into his own here with the big wavy guitar line and great ending solo. The end of the song alone makes it one of my favorites on here. The bass jams, the guitar rocks and they sounds like something that they have never sounded like before.
6. Sick Love-This song was Co-written for them by none other than Elton John. It’s a full on Reggae groove ballad and I love it. Some people don’t like it because it sounds so different form everything that they have ever done, but I love it for that. You can hear the piano lines that inspired it from Elton. This song is just great, a definite highlight.
7. Go Robot-is one of the most straight up funk intro on the album before adding some synths to bring it back down to a casual groove. This song has some of the weirdest lyrics on the album with Anthony talking about having sex with a robot. I think Anthony needs to stop listening to R Kelly not everything needs to be sexy. The end of the song comes out of nowhere with a futuristic synth wave almost a disco vibe.
8. Feasting on the Flowers-Starting as a more reggae groove and escalates from there to a more rock reggae mix. Again instead of lead with guitar and bass the piano finds its way leading the charge for a while.
9. Detroit-They jump back into a more straight forward rock sound on this one and we even see Anthony rapping a bit as it picks up the pace. The song seems to be fighting the general direction of the album and the style of production Dangemouse has been using on the album. It’s the kind of track that could have been filer on any chili peppers album in the past 20 years.
10. This Ticonderoga-has the loudest start on anything on the album like a guitar explosion, but it is not funky at all. This might be the most straight forward rock song they have ever written, that is until it slows down for an R&B verse.
11. Encore-By sharp contrast to the last album this is the most mellow opening on the album and maybe ever for them. They have had ballads before but this way more Reggae than anything previously written. This ballad is not even close to as good as the ballad Elton wrote here. It seems to just float along almost Radiohead style float. I see you Nigel Goodrich.
12. The Hunter-It I didn’t know this was a Red Hot Chili Peppers song I would never guess that it was. If you replaced Anthony on vocals and added James Mercer this could be a Shins song. It’s a floating ethereal ballad that even has trumpet. It’s about as unchili peppers as you can get.
13. Dreams of a Samurai-The closing song starts with a piano solo lead in before going into an almost free form jazz sounding instrument section. This song is a very odd one for the chili peppers. It almost sounds like they were channeling Pink Floyd when writing this. The lyrics from Anthony are some of the best on the album and Chad Smith is let loose to play straight up jazz. It’s so different and its great. I love this song, an album highlight.
2. Dark Necessities-is the lead single and again starts causally with piano and bass, but then it brings the funk on a pretty great bass line. However the other main driving instrument is the piano. Anthony does what he’s always done and sings a fun grooving singalong. Again the song does go full funk but goes for a radio rock modern groove and it really works well. The all piano bridge is especially surprising and works. This is really more of a R and B groove but they pull it off and it is another album highlight. The song ends with a pretty great guitar solo that is also very unique.
3. We Turn Red-is one of my favorites as it trades off from a slow Rand B grove in the catchy chorus to the way more funky and bouncy verses. They deal with the transitions well never getting to far out of the new found subtlety that they have worked so well on the album with. I personally think this is another album highlight.
4. The Longest Wave-Is a more straightforward modern groove R&B Song that leads in with a great guitar solo. The best aspect of this song is just how great the chorus sounds in the very new sounds they have brought in this time. It’s a very mellow song ever for R&B standards.
5. Goodbye Angels-is the closest they come to sounding like the old chili peppers as it builds past the groove and into rock territory. The guitar line on this song is the best one on the whole album, and it’s great to see how much different than the usual Chili Peppers line. I think Josh really comes into his own here with the big wavy guitar line and great ending solo. The end of the song alone makes it one of my favorites on here. The bass jams, the guitar rocks and they sounds like something that they have never sounded like before.
6. Sick Love-This song was Co-written for them by none other than Elton John. It’s a full on Reggae groove ballad and I love it. Some people don’t like it because it sounds so different form everything that they have ever done, but I love it for that. You can hear the piano lines that inspired it from Elton. This song is just great, a definite highlight.
7. Go Robot-is one of the most straight up funk intro on the album before adding some synths to bring it back down to a casual groove. This song has some of the weirdest lyrics on the album with Anthony talking about having sex with a robot. I think Anthony needs to stop listening to R Kelly not everything needs to be sexy. The end of the song comes out of nowhere with a futuristic synth wave almost a disco vibe.
8. Feasting on the Flowers-Starting as a more reggae groove and escalates from there to a more rock reggae mix. Again instead of lead with guitar and bass the piano finds its way leading the charge for a while.
9. Detroit-They jump back into a more straight forward rock sound on this one and we even see Anthony rapping a bit as it picks up the pace. The song seems to be fighting the general direction of the album and the style of production Dangemouse has been using on the album. It’s the kind of track that could have been filer on any chili peppers album in the past 20 years.
10. This Ticonderoga-has the loudest start on anything on the album like a guitar explosion, but it is not funky at all. This might be the most straight forward rock song they have ever written, that is until it slows down for an R&B verse.
11. Encore-By sharp contrast to the last album this is the most mellow opening on the album and maybe ever for them. They have had ballads before but this way more Reggae than anything previously written. This ballad is not even close to as good as the ballad Elton wrote here. It seems to just float along almost Radiohead style float. I see you Nigel Goodrich.
12. The Hunter-It I didn’t know this was a Red Hot Chili Peppers song I would never guess that it was. If you replaced Anthony on vocals and added James Mercer this could be a Shins song. It’s a floating ethereal ballad that even has trumpet. It’s about as unchili peppers as you can get.
13. Dreams of a Samurai-The closing song starts with a piano solo lead in before going into an almost free form jazz sounding instrument section. This song is a very odd one for the chili peppers. It almost sounds like they were channeling Pink Floyd when writing this. The lyrics from Anthony are some of the best on the album and Chad Smith is let loose to play straight up jazz. It’s so different and its great. I love this song, an album highlight.
Red Hot Chili Peppers perform Under the Bridge.
A lot of people are very unhappy with the severe lack of funk on the album and I get that. You buy a Chili Peppers album, you want funk, but after the loss of Fruscante and the failed attempt to continue that style of play with Josh on I’m With You, I think it was a great choice. They are a different band now and should embrace that instead of trying to be something they can’t be. Bringing Dangermouse and Nigel Godrich to help helm the album was pure genius. They were able to create and maintain a sound so different than anything they have made before. It wasn’t all great and they fall back into some old habits here and that cause a few filler songs like Detroit, Feasting on the Flowers, Go Robot and Encore. This could have been a full new start and a huge breakout come back, a few wrinkles keep it from that, but it is leaps and bounds above the last album I’m With You. They sound the freshest they have since By the Way or Californication. I think one of the most commendable things is how well Josh Klinghoffer has come into his own on this album, he couldn’t break out of the background on the last one, and now he has his own style that works perfectly with the new Chili Peppers Sound. It’s not perfect or amazing, but it’s way better than expected and show a ton of promise for the future.
Here is my video review of Red Hot Chili Peppers The Getaway.
Recommended Songs: The Getaway, Dark Necessities, Sick Love, and Dreams of a Samurai
3.5/5 Stars
Garbage- Strange Little Birds Review-
Garbage is one of those bands from the 90s that even if you don’t know who they are like the Cranberries with Zombie, you probably know some of their songs. They are just ingrained in our brains from this or that. Garbage are back with their first new album since 2011’s disappointing Not Your Kind of People. The band had time to get back to their roots before this with a 20th anniversary tour of their debut album in 2014. What makes Garbage unique is their perfect blend of pop hooks and choruses with a rock sound. On top of that they have always been adopters to the current newer sounds and styles around them blending them with their sound like a 90 music chameleon.
Garbage performs Only Happy When it Rains.
1.Sometimes-Opens ominously and vastly with huge dark synths that come in waves before becoming much sharper and droning in the background while Shirley Manson sings about love and hate and attempting to forgive others and find peace in herself. It’s a dark jagged song about the insecurity inside all of us.
2. Empty-the lead single and stand out album highlight is quick to bring back the sound of Garbage we are all used to. The chorus is huge and what Garbage does best in the pop singalong side of things. The rest of the song is an insanely catchy electro rock tune that soars above the topic of feeling nothing inside after a huge breakup.
3. Blackout-is another personal highlight as Shirley channels her inner witch coven and casts us in a spell with powerful vocal range. The bass here grinds along on a fuzz line and the guitar just floats until the chorus and gets to explode outward as Shirley charms in another huge singalong sections. This is the perfect example of what Garbage do best, the perfect blend of huge pop singalong choruses with grinding dark rock and electronic sounds.
4. If I Lost You- Is a straightforward 90’s electro pop love song. It is not my favorite song on the album but it keeps interest with unique Nine Inch Nails style weird float in sounds an overall great mix. You can thank drummer and producer extraordinaire Butch Vig for that. Again though it does a great job jumping back and forth from floating dream pop chorus lines to ambient elctro verses.
5. Night Drive Loneliness-starts with a great guitar line and moves into a smooth oozing dark regretful love loss. It’s a quiet sensual song about having time to yourself to lament about your past mistakes. Shirley does a great job channeling the painful regrets in her vocals.
6. Even Though Our Love Is Doomed-starts with a great dark bass line and ambient electronic sounds before reaching its full grinding peak when Shirley finds her most intimate feelings of self-hate as the bass just grinds to peak. The chorus reaches pop levels but is much less over the top with the pain of the topic and lets the synths lead the song without going too pop.
7. Magnetized-keeps the grinding bass and guitar sounds but loses the dark feel as it puts the electro rock sound into overdrive and soars. The overall mix of sounds on this song is perfect, never overreaching and still finding new levels of power in new sounds.
8. We Never Tell-starts with a great drum beat from Butch and then lets the electro pop back in. This is one of the more pop sounding songs on the album. It’s the most straight forward elctro pop song on the album. It booms in the chorus but loses the dark grinding guitar and bass that kept the album so grounded and the balance of Garbage’s pop/rock switch off in check. It is probably my least favorite track because of that.
9. So We Can Stay Alive-Forgoes all pop sensibilities and goes full soaring electro rocker and I love it. This song is one of my favorites on the album. They show what can do with full force electronics and loud guitar force. This song is not sad or self-loathing but full on hatred of anyone getting in your way. This could be a muse song if it was Matt Bellamy and not Shirley Manson. This is an definite album highlight for me.
10. Teaching Little Fingers to Play-And now for something completely different, they decide to fully embrace the synth pop ballad on this song. It’s one of the most pop sounding songs on the album and I feel like they lose the rock/pop balance a bit here. It maintains the Garbage sinister pop sound a little better that We Never Tell, but again this track is not my favorite.
11. Amends-is hands down my favorite song on the album and a highlight for anyone who likes Garbage. This song starts slow but powerful as Shirley tries to forgive herself and move past her past transgressions with others and you can hear the emotions build in her voice as the music does. The choruses grow and until they go full force into the loudest most rock section on the whole album.
2. Empty-the lead single and stand out album highlight is quick to bring back the sound of Garbage we are all used to. The chorus is huge and what Garbage does best in the pop singalong side of things. The rest of the song is an insanely catchy electro rock tune that soars above the topic of feeling nothing inside after a huge breakup.
3. Blackout-is another personal highlight as Shirley channels her inner witch coven and casts us in a spell with powerful vocal range. The bass here grinds along on a fuzz line and the guitar just floats until the chorus and gets to explode outward as Shirley charms in another huge singalong sections. This is the perfect example of what Garbage do best, the perfect blend of huge pop singalong choruses with grinding dark rock and electronic sounds.
4. If I Lost You- Is a straightforward 90’s electro pop love song. It is not my favorite song on the album but it keeps interest with unique Nine Inch Nails style weird float in sounds an overall great mix. You can thank drummer and producer extraordinaire Butch Vig for that. Again though it does a great job jumping back and forth from floating dream pop chorus lines to ambient elctro verses.
5. Night Drive Loneliness-starts with a great guitar line and moves into a smooth oozing dark regretful love loss. It’s a quiet sensual song about having time to yourself to lament about your past mistakes. Shirley does a great job channeling the painful regrets in her vocals.
6. Even Though Our Love Is Doomed-starts with a great dark bass line and ambient electronic sounds before reaching its full grinding peak when Shirley finds her most intimate feelings of self-hate as the bass just grinds to peak. The chorus reaches pop levels but is much less over the top with the pain of the topic and lets the synths lead the song without going too pop.
7. Magnetized-keeps the grinding bass and guitar sounds but loses the dark feel as it puts the electro rock sound into overdrive and soars. The overall mix of sounds on this song is perfect, never overreaching and still finding new levels of power in new sounds.
8. We Never Tell-starts with a great drum beat from Butch and then lets the electro pop back in. This is one of the more pop sounding songs on the album. It’s the most straight forward elctro pop song on the album. It booms in the chorus but loses the dark grinding guitar and bass that kept the album so grounded and the balance of Garbage’s pop/rock switch off in check. It is probably my least favorite track because of that.
9. So We Can Stay Alive-Forgoes all pop sensibilities and goes full soaring electro rocker and I love it. This song is one of my favorites on the album. They show what can do with full force electronics and loud guitar force. This song is not sad or self-loathing but full on hatred of anyone getting in your way. This could be a muse song if it was Matt Bellamy and not Shirley Manson. This is an definite album highlight for me.
10. Teaching Little Fingers to Play-And now for something completely different, they decide to fully embrace the synth pop ballad on this song. It’s one of the most pop sounding songs on the album and I feel like they lose the rock/pop balance a bit here. It maintains the Garbage sinister pop sound a little better that We Never Tell, but again this track is not my favorite.
11. Amends-is hands down my favorite song on the album and a highlight for anyone who likes Garbage. This song starts slow but powerful as Shirley tries to forgive herself and move past her past transgressions with others and you can hear the emotions build in her voice as the music does. The choruses grow and until they go full force into the loudest most rock section on the whole album.
Garbage performing I Think I'm Paranoid.
There are a few missteps as they follow two strongly into straight up pop sections but the missteps are few and the writing so strong that they are easy to forgive. This album shines through the powerful and emotional maturity of Shirley Manson’s vocals and lyrics. The overall reinvention is only slight but they adapt well to the 21st century with the great additions of electronic synths and sounds. The album is was more subtle and varied than Not Your Kind of People. Shirley Manson is given great freedom to write the most intimate and personal songs she has written in years. The real reason this might be the best Garbage album since Version 2 is that they stopped trying to adapt and change to find new fans and just created the 21st century version of what the old fans would love. It’s a darker sleeker more mature Garbage that still has no trouble rocking and crafting singalong choruses.
Here is my video review of Garbage's Strange Little Birds.
Recommended Songs: Empty, Blackout, So We Can Stay Alive, and Amends
4/5 Stars
Gojira- Magma Review-
Through the years French metal band Gojira have become one of the greatest metal bands of this generation by creating constantly amazing albums that seem to exceed expectations and each other. Along whit that they put on epic live performances. This is one of those bands that really is all it’s cracked up to be. Most bands release new material and they want you to believe it is the best they have written, and mostly that is false. For Gojira every album makes a case for it being the best they have ever created. They have created a sound and style that is truly all their own. We all have our favorites for them but their discography is one of the few that is truly spotless. It’s been four years since the the last album and the Duplantier brothers have been through a lot with the loss of their mother weighing heavily on their minds when recording this album.
Gojira Live.
1. The Shooting Star-Its clear from the first lyrics that this is a very different album opening than usual from Gojira. The usual explosion and screams are not where they be seen replaced with grinding progressive riffs and a great clean lyric chorus. This song is very hypnotic as they look into themselves at their lives and pain. The clean vocals are not a first, but much more a focal point here as this proves to be the driving point of the albums more emotional, personal, and calm direction. Calm for Gojira is still metal as hell and this song is a great trance like hypnotic progressive song to open the album with. It might be the most accessible song to date for metal nubes.
2. Silvera-Drops the clean lyrics for now with a crunchy line and sweeping guitars lines. The clean vocal chorus is one of most musical catchy lines they have written and becomes a great line to sing along to. The guitar solo mid song is a great driving force. They continue the heavily progressive style from the opener and kick it up a notch. This I a personal favorite and an album highlight.
3. The Cell-The opening line screams with the pain of lose, and drives straight into a huge chugging guitar and drum sections. This song shows off their musical ability as it jumps around in pace, style, and sound in true progressing leaning.
4. Stranded-is the most straightforward metal song I have ever heard from them. It also sounds like newer Mastodon, more chorus heavy progressive style. This song is the most accessible they have ever been for all metal fans, but with a great enough riff and explosive chorus for more seasoned metal and Gojira fans to enjoy. Try as you might this song will get stuck in your head it’s insanely catchy. They only use clean vocals at the end, but even the more scream sections never come close to past albums heaviness. The basic riff makes the song. I think this is an album highlight.
5. Yellow Stone-slows down with an almost doom riff opening. The songs is fun to listen to but really just serves as an intermission point on the album.
6. Magma-is the title track is the meat and potatoes of the album clocking in a more than seven minutes. It starts with clean vocals and very chugging progressive guitar riff. This song sounds the most different from everything else on the album becoming an atmospheric sounding track as they chug along and touch on spirituality in the clean vocals. Don’t worry metal fans in seven minutes it doesn’t forget to bring the metal as the huge riffs drift in and out. This is a masterpiece of a song in every way and a highlight if there ever was one.
7. Pray-If you were worried the forgot bring the heavy riffs they are known for this song should clear that right up. Starting again with a more atmospheric sound before quickly bringing in a grinding guitar line that builds and gets added to through the whole song until it comes to a huge climax when the drums are added in. They stick to mostly clean vocals on this track but approach it in a very dark and heavy way that is complimented the by the huge riffs and pounding drums.
8. Only Pain-a background ghost drum leads into the huge progressive riff on only pain. They make use of a damper distortion sound to let the vocals shine and they unleashing the full guitar sounds. This is another song that you can hear some of the most personal and emotional lyrics they have ever written about the loss of their mom.
9. Low Lands-Is a much slower song like magma before it, but unlike magma this song is more of a groove feel to it than an atmospheric feel. Starting with a quiet distant drumming and then adding the guitar subtlety. The vocals shine here in the most intimate and clean I have ever heard Gojira, almost channeling a Ghost vibe. This sounds so unlike anything Gojira have ever made before and I love the atmospheric groove of it. This is an album highlight to me.
10. Liberation-The album closes things on a much more somber note in a feeling of acceptance of pain and loss with an acoustic guitar lead in. The guitar is joined by a slow quiet bongo. This song sounds like it could be kids around a camp fire instead of one of the world more prominent metal bands. I think that was the point and it adds a lot of power to healing acceptance of the pain on this song. It’s almost like a last send off to their mother.
2. Silvera-Drops the clean lyrics for now with a crunchy line and sweeping guitars lines. The clean vocal chorus is one of most musical catchy lines they have written and becomes a great line to sing along to. The guitar solo mid song is a great driving force. They continue the heavily progressive style from the opener and kick it up a notch. This I a personal favorite and an album highlight.
3. The Cell-The opening line screams with the pain of lose, and drives straight into a huge chugging guitar and drum sections. This song shows off their musical ability as it jumps around in pace, style, and sound in true progressing leaning.
4. Stranded-is the most straightforward metal song I have ever heard from them. It also sounds like newer Mastodon, more chorus heavy progressive style. This song is the most accessible they have ever been for all metal fans, but with a great enough riff and explosive chorus for more seasoned metal and Gojira fans to enjoy. Try as you might this song will get stuck in your head it’s insanely catchy. They only use clean vocals at the end, but even the more scream sections never come close to past albums heaviness. The basic riff makes the song. I think this is an album highlight.
5. Yellow Stone-slows down with an almost doom riff opening. The songs is fun to listen to but really just serves as an intermission point on the album.
6. Magma-is the title track is the meat and potatoes of the album clocking in a more than seven minutes. It starts with clean vocals and very chugging progressive guitar riff. This song sounds the most different from everything else on the album becoming an atmospheric sounding track as they chug along and touch on spirituality in the clean vocals. Don’t worry metal fans in seven minutes it doesn’t forget to bring the metal as the huge riffs drift in and out. This is a masterpiece of a song in every way and a highlight if there ever was one.
7. Pray-If you were worried the forgot bring the heavy riffs they are known for this song should clear that right up. Starting again with a more atmospheric sound before quickly bringing in a grinding guitar line that builds and gets added to through the whole song until it comes to a huge climax when the drums are added in. They stick to mostly clean vocals on this track but approach it in a very dark and heavy way that is complimented the by the huge riffs and pounding drums.
8. Only Pain-a background ghost drum leads into the huge progressive riff on only pain. They make use of a damper distortion sound to let the vocals shine and they unleashing the full guitar sounds. This is another song that you can hear some of the most personal and emotional lyrics they have ever written about the loss of their mom.
9. Low Lands-Is a much slower song like magma before it, but unlike magma this song is more of a groove feel to it than an atmospheric feel. Starting with a quiet distant drumming and then adding the guitar subtlety. The vocals shine here in the most intimate and clean I have ever heard Gojira, almost channeling a Ghost vibe. This sounds so unlike anything Gojira have ever made before and I love the atmospheric groove of it. This is an album highlight to me.
10. Liberation-The album closes things on a much more somber note in a feeling of acceptance of pain and loss with an acoustic guitar lead in. The guitar is joined by a slow quiet bongo. This song sounds like it could be kids around a camp fire instead of one of the world more prominent metal bands. I think that was the point and it adds a lot of power to healing acceptance of the pain on this song. It’s almost like a last send off to their mother.
Gojira Live at Resurrection Fest.
This album is one of the most powerfully emotional albums you will hear this or any year, and it does so by creating the most intimate, accessible, and raw album Gojira have ever made. This album is shorter than the usual, cut down to around 40 minutes as opposed to the last one clocking in over an hour. It was made to be that way, a progressive and sonic journey through many sights and sounds of loss. They have created an album that serves as both a eulogy to their mother and an insight into steps of grief. You could take that much farther and examine where you think each song fits in the 5 steps, but why bother the music speaks for itself. Not all metal fans may love the quieter and cleaner vocal version of Gojira, but skipping it as a fan would do yourself a major disservice. You will never get a better insight into the hearts and minds of a truly great metal band. They evolved here in ways I never expected, and like magma itself create a slower moving but explosively powerful masterpiece.
Here is my video review of Gojira's Magma.
Recommended Songs: Honestly this will be different to everyone.
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