NMC: THE BEST ALBUM EVER (read page 5)

[Patr1ck]

Kings of Leon have grown as artists. Not afraid to try something different and new, and obviously commercial. They will probably do something similar with the success this album has gotten.

Closer is a pretty good song and beat, but it doesn't do well to me slotted as the first song. It sounds like a bouncy hip hop beat. Crawl should have started the album. That 4 note repeated guitar riff that starts around 20 seconds sounds familiar, though. It sounds like it would be a good background music to a prime time drama television show. The beat is awesome to me. I just love the distortion on the bass, it gives it an industrial sound. I don't know if it's the production, or the way the singer sounds, but he doesn't seem to match the style or emotion that the music gives me. With Sex on Fire, the songs have gotten better each time. It's Use somebody has that obvious "this is a single" sound. It's one of the best on the album, but it just sounds like a sad song for some reason.

I am now getting the sense that these guys recorded everything in one day in the same studio. His voice sounds the same on every song, and it just sounds louder than the music. Listen to any other album of Kings of Leon and you will notice the disparity.

On Revelry, the drummer sounds like he is playing a completely different song. It might have been better if the other musicians tried to keep up with what he was doing, or vice versa. 17 has this constant "fill" beat, and the actual beat doesn't start till just before 3 minutes, when the song is actually over. You can sense the album has tailed off from it's better material. Notion strikes me as a similar attempt at a single, but it gets repetitive and is lacking something. 'I want you', we really don't. Be Somebody is a pretty good one. The multiple drum kicks actually work well on this song, even though it has a similar "fill" beat for most of it. The beat at the end of it sounds like it was leading to something great, but just repeats, unfortunately. Cold Desert has a nice slow tune, but once you know it's the last song there is almost no reason to let it play unless you are falling asleep.

This album's strengths overpower it's weaknesses. It was a good experiment. I hope they continue to experiment, but take their time to polish it up some more. I wouldn't put this album in any daily rotation, but it is a good one to put on if you have exhausted most of your favorites and want to change it up a bit.

[J@3]

I like the idea of reviewing your own recommendation, we should stick with that... it's been 7 days (sorry Doobie) the following get one strike (which just means you're still in, but if you don't review whatever's next you'll be out... strikes have to be in a row too, they aren't accumulative over time) De8, Doobie, thierryhenry... Lean gets his second strike so he's out of the club. I should add if it's your turn next and you don't review the album, along with the strike you'll go to the end of the line. I figure that's more fair to everyone else.

ratrac
shadowgrin
De8*
DoobieKnicks*
Jae
Joe`
thierryhenry*
JaoSming
Lamrock
Pdub

So ratrac/Bruno you're up.

[Patr1ck]

Right, I thought we were doing that. That's one reason why I didn't just choose an album that I have and like, but something that I haven't really listened to yet.

[JaoSming]

yea, I reviewed MOP as well

[JaoSming]

Crawl and Sex on Fire from Kings of Leon are coming out for RB next week.

[kibaxx7]

My bad, totally forgot about this! Will pay more attention next time.

[Lamrock]

You may wanna PM ratrac/Bruno...

[Cartar]

Sorry for being late. I haven't been home(and in the internet) for the past 5 days. Had a very bizarre, bad week. Mainly it was due my grandfather's death.

Anyway my recommendation(haven't listened to it myself, I chose this basically because of one track):

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

Here's the playlist: LINK

[Joe']

Oh man, I love you for recommending that. I've listened to that album a billion times but it never gets old, one of the best records in music history. I'll get to the review later.

[Doobie]

Sorry guys my schedule's been kind of hectic. I'll try to be more active in this, getting to Led Zeppelin now that I got 2 hours to breathe.

[Doobie]

Led Zeppilin - Led Zeppilin IV

Just finished the album, and I admit that I am not a fan of old Rock at all. But to the defense of this album, it is very good and impressed me. The album started off very strong with song's like Black Dog and Rock and Roll. The songs really got me hooked and ready for what was to come. But then the album hit a major road bump with song Battle of Evermore. This song was painful to listen to and really really hurt my ears, I can honestly say that in my honest opinion, it was one of the worst songs I've ever heard. No offense to anyone who likes the song though. At that point I thought the album was taking a turn for the worse. then a little song named Stairway To Heaven came up. That song is epic, only way to describe it. Favorite song on the album.

I felt like the rest of the album kind of dragged on a bit. The second half of the album wasn't as good as the 3 songs that I liked from the first half of the album. I kind of like when the Levee Breaks but some of the songs were alright. Solid album and really caught me by surprise. Nice insturmentals and just a smooth ride through out.

8.5/10 Doobie points.

[J@3]

I'll be honest I've never really paid much attention to Led Zeppelin, obviously I always knew who they were but for some reason I was never exposed to them... I'm assuming my parents weren't fans because they are the source of virtually all of my music knowledge prior to 1985. Just looking at the track list though I'm amazed at how many of these songs I know already so I'm pretty keen to give this a listen.

I love the vocals on Black Dog, I'm pretty sure everyone's heard it at some point in their lives. It is (deliberately obviously) pretty stop-start but when it does start it's brilliant. How bad has Wolfmother ripped their sound btw . Rock And Roll is the opposite, it doesn't stop and is a good length too (I think Black Dog runs a bit too long at 5 minutes) even though this was released in 1971 it definitely has a late 50's-60's throwback feel to it. The guitar solo is pretty sweet too. Not a huge fan of the Battle Of Evermore, the guitar is annoying and the vocals just cruise along with no real strength to them. Stairway To Heaven is a brilliant song, it goes forever but when it's this good who cares. So many covers of it are out there and to be honest I don't mind any of them because lyrically it's impressive enough to make it worth listening to.

Misty Mountain Hop is ok, but on this album is a bit of a filler. Nothing to really say about it, the guitars are again repetitive but the singing at least is cool. I think Four Sticks suffers from the lack of audio quality on Youtube, you can barely hear the vocals and I'm not sure it'd really make much of a difference anyway. Going To California is a nice song but a bit slow moving for me, and again repetitive as far as the instrumentals are concerned.. I'm pretty sure I'm only noticing that because the vocals are being drowned out. Not sure if that's how it's supposed to sound or if it's just Youtube. I've heard When The Levee Breaks before, I don't mind it but it doesn't stand out a great deal to me. It also goes for 7 minutes, which isn't as long as Stairway but it doesn't hold my attention like that one does. It gets pretty good from the five minute mark or there abouts but by then I'm already bored with it.

To be honest I was a little bit disappointed, when I saw Black Dog, Stairway and Rock And Roll on the track list I was thinking this would be an album i'd want to download but to be honest all the other songs to me just seemed like filler. The Youtube sound quality also wouldn't have helped it, and I think in 1971 this was probably pretty revolutionary stuff but for now I'd have it as background music but I don't think I could sit around and listen to it for any real length of time.

I'm changing my rating system because I overrated Only By The Night... I'll rate each song individually, then average them and there's a score. Highest score will be 10, if I don't like a song I'll give it a 5 and if it's fucking awful it'll go lower... but most songs won't be rated below 5.

64%

My revised score for Only By The Night is 60%

[Moz]

Am I qualified to join? Miss the days I'm slagging off my brother's folk band

[J@3]

Yeah as long as you're going to participate you can join. Just make sure you read/understand how it works, unlike Lamrock

[Moz]

I'll just have a review comments on the featured album right? Or it's more complicated than that?

[J@3]

Basically just listen to the album that's been recommended, review it, and that's pretty much it... obviously if people wanna discuss it and shit that's cool, but the main thing is that we all review whatever album's been suggested by whoever's turn it was.

[Moz]

Ok... so I'm in do I have to review the current recommendation? Or I'll wait for the next one?

[J@3]

Nah review the current one, we've got like 5 days left before we change again.

[JaoSming]

I was going to protest this album at first, but then I realized that all of you might not listen to this kind of music everyday of every week like I do.

So basically, I love Led Zeppelin, I love this album, I like every song on here including Evermore and Four Sticks even though I dont think they add much to the album.

Just simply bow down to the best rock band ever. Aside from the Beatles, and The Who, and Rush, and the fucking Beach Boys.


5 stairways that bitch bought to heaven, out of 5.

[Moz]

Alright here it goes...

Initially, I'm not into Led Zep back in the day since they're one of those dinosaur bands but then again if you want to improve your guitar playing repertoire you got to have some of the most popular guitar-laden songs. My uncle recommended me to have this album for what he said that it has a lot of those types of songs in it. The initial reaction upon getting it is somewhat skeptical because there's only one song that has the lyrics on the album sleeves (thinking... perhaps this is the only good one in the bunch). But after finishing the album's entirety it was reversed, the only song I didn't like in it is The Battle of Evermore. Black Dog and Rock and Roll got that patented 70’s bluesy guitar riffs with them accompanied by Robert Plant’s genre defining vocals... the formula that this band used to lure the masses. Then came Evermore… Bruce Lee on a yoga class that was it. Not too fond with it which is the complete opposite of the next track. I worship it. Set aside the backmasked, satanic myth, it’s a pure masterpiece punctuated by Jimmy Page’s solo. Misty Mountain Hops vocals is enjoyable, that’s all I can say about it. Four Sticks have that Jimi Hendrix vibe on it (especially in terms of the vocals’ delivery), it’s like they’re doing a cover of a Hendrix song. The next song is the “this is for the ladies” one. Mellow and beautiful, the “Plant is on the shower singing” part is not that bad as a complement to the song. The album closer When The Levee Breaks is a good choice to finish it. It’ll satisfy the cravings of a Progressive Rock fan (they'll be demanding an encore).

The greatest rock record ever? Maybe… but it’s up there.

*********
9/10

[Lamrock]

Here is my review. I put a lot of effort in to it, but I liked the album. Hope its not too long...

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV - 9.3/10

I had never even seen a shooting star before. 25 years of rotations, passes through comets' paths, and travel, and to my memory I had never witnessed burning debris scratch across the night sky. Led Zeppelin were hunched over their instruments. Thom Yorke slowly beat on a grand piano, singing, eyes closed, into his microphone like he was trying to kiss around a big nose. Colin Greenwood tapped patiently on a double bass, waiting for his cue. White pearls of arena light swam over their faces. A lazy disco light spilled artificial constellations inside the aluminum cove of the makeshift stage. The metal skeleton of the stage ate one end of Florence's Piazza Santa Croce, on the steps of the Santa Croce Cathedral. Michelangelo's bones and cobblestone laid beneath. I stared entranced, soaking in Led Zeppelin's new material, chiseling each sound into the best functioning parts of my brain which would be the only sound system for the material for months.

The butterscotch lamps along the walls of the tight city square bled upward into the cobalt sky, which seemed as strikingly artificial and perfect as a wizard's cap. The staccato piano chords ascended repeatedly. "Black eyed angels swam at me," Yorke sang like his dying words. "There was nothing to fear, nothing to hide." The trained critical part of me marked the similarity to Coltrane's "Ole." The human part of me wept in awe.

The Italians surrounding me held their breath in communion (save for the drunken few shouting "Criep!"). Suddenly, a rise of whistles and orgasmic cries swept unfittingly through the crowd. The song, "Egyptian Song," was certainly momentous, but wasn't the response more apt for, well, "Creep?" I looked up. I thought it was fireworks. A teardrop of fire shot from space and disappeared behind the church where the syrupy River Arno crawled. Led Zeppelin had the heavens on their side.

For further testament, Chip Chanko and I both suffered auto-debilitating accidents in the same week, in different parts of the country, while blasting "Airbag" in our respective Japanese imports. For months, I feared playing the song about car crashes in my car, just as I'd feared passing 18- wheelers after nearly being crushed by one in 1990. With good reason, I suspect Led Zeppelin to possess incomprehensible powers. The evidence is only compounded with Led Zeppelin IV-- the rubber match in the band's legacy-- an album which completely obliterates how albums, and Led Zeppelin themselves, will be considered.

Even the heralded Led Zeppelin III has been nudged down one spot in Valhalla. Led Zeppelin IV makes rock and roll childish. Considerations on its merits as "rock" (i.e. its radio fodder potential, its guitar riffs, and its hooks) are pointless. Comparing this to other albums is like comparing an aquarium to blue construction paper. And not because it's jazz or fusion or ambient or electronic. Classifications don't come to mind once deep inside this expansive, hypnotic world. Ransom, the philologist hero of C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet who is kidnapped and taken to another planet, initially finds his scholarship useless in his new surroundings, and just tries to survive the beautiful new world.

This is an emotional, psychological experience. Led Zeppelin IV sounds like a clouded brain trying to recall an alien abduction. It's the sound of a band, and its leader, losing faith in themselves, destroying themselves, and subsequently rebuilding a perfect entity. In other words, Led Zeppelin hated being Led Zeppelin, but ended up with the most ideal, natural Led Zeppelin record yet.

"Everything in Its Right Place" opens like Close Encounters spaceships communicating with pipe organs. As your ears decide whether the tones are coming or going, Thom Yorke's Cuisinarted voice struggles for its tongue. "Everything," Yorke belts in uplifting sighs. The first-person mantra of "There are two colors in my head" is repeated until the line between Yorke's mind and the listener's mind is erased.

Skittering toy boxes open the album's title song, which, like the track "Idioteque," shows a heavy Warp Records influence. The vocoder lullaby lulls you deceivingly before the riotous "National Anthem." Mean, fuzzy bass shapes the spine as unnerving theremin choirs limn. Brash brass bursts from above like Terry Gilliam's animated foot. The horns swarm as Yorke screams, begs, "Turn it off!" It's the album's shrill peak, but just one of the incessant goosebumps raisers.

After the rockets exhaust, Led Zeppelin float in their lone orbit. "How to Disappear Completely" boils down "Let Down" and "Karma Police" to their spectral essence. The string-laden ballad comes closest to bridging Yorke's lyrical sentiment to the instrumental effect. "I float down the Liffey/ I'm not here/ This isn't happening," he sings in his trademark falsetto. The strings melt and weep as the album shifts into its underwater mode. "Treefingers," an ambient soundscape similar in sound and intent to Side B of Bowie and Eno's Low, calms after the record's emotionally strenuous first half.

The primal, brooding guitar attack of "Optimistic" stomps like mating Tyrannosaurs. The lyrics seemingly taunt, "Try the best you can/ Try the best you can," before revealing the more resigned sentiment, "The best you can is good enough." For an album reportedly "lacking" in traditional Led Zeppelin moments, this is the best summation of their former strengths. The track erodes into a light jam before morphing into "In Limbo." "I'm lost at sea," Yorke cries over clean, uneasy arpeggios. The ending flares with tractor beams as Yorke is vacuumed into nothingness. The aforementioned "Idioteque" clicks and thuds like Aphex Twin and Bjork's Homogenic, revealing brilliant new frontiers for the "band." For all the noise to this point, it's uncertain entirely who or what has created the music. There are rarely traditional arrangements in the ambiguous origin. This is part of the unique thrill of experiencing Led Zeppelin IV.

Pulsing organs and a stuttering snare delicately propel "Morning Bell." Yorke's breath can be heard frosting over the rainy, gray jam. Words accumulate and stick in his mouth like eye crust. "Walking walking walking walking," he mumbles while Jonny Greenwood squirts whale-chant feedback from his guitar. The closing "Motion Picture Soundtrack" brings to mind The White Album, as it somehow combines the sentiment of Lennon's LP1 closer-- the ode to his dead mother, "Julia"-- with Ringo and Paul's maudlin, yet sincere LP2 finale, "Goodnight." Pump organ and harp flutter as Yorke condones with affection, "I think you're crazy." To further emphasize your feeling at that moment and the album's overall theme, Yorke bows out with "I will see you in the next life." If you're not already there with him.

The experience and emotions tied to listening to Led Zeppelin IV are like witnessing the stillborn birth of a child while simultaneously having the opportunity to see her play in the afterlife on Imax. It's an album of sparking paradox. It's cacophonous yet tranquil, experimental yet familiar, foreign yet womb-like, spacious yet visceral, textured yet vaporous, awakening yet dreamlike, infinite yet 48 minutes. It will cleanse your brain of those little crustaceans of worries and inferior albums clinging inside the fold of your gray matter. The harrowing sounds hit from unseen angles and emanate with inhuman genesis. When the headphones peel off, and it occurs that six men (Nigel Godrich included) created this, it's clear that Led Zeppelin must be the greatest band alive, if not the best since you know who. Breathing people made this record! And you can't wait to dive back in and try to prove that wrong over and over.

[J@3]

Out of curiosity, Lamrock/Jao and ratrac for that matter since you guys seem to like this album the most so far, what other music do you listen to? To be honest the more I listen to it the less I like it, so unless it's some sort of instrumental appreciation I don't have (since I can't play one) I'm struggling to see how it incites so much emotion in you guys.

[Lamrock]

Read my review, it sort of covers it.

[Patr1ck]

Lamrock, your "review" was written by Brent DiCrescenzo on October 2, 2000 for Radiohead's Kid A.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6656-kid-a/

[Lamrock]

Pssh, maybe loosely inspired by that, but its a pretty big stretch.