Engine

Nice review of Death From Above..
I cringed a little bit at reading about the high school music politics but the part about the girl certainly resonated. I owe a lot of my own valuable high school music ventures to that sort of thing.
Also, I pretty much agree with your take on the album. I never ever listen to it anymore because it's just not worth it as an album but there are definitely some good songs. This album and that one album by the Rapture, and a !!! album were my only real attempts at 'dance punk' which got really dull really quickly for me.

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LoathsomePete

Yes I know I know, liking music just to please someone can be pretty lame, especially if you try to become an 'overnight fan' like what I did, but she was damn hot! I also agree that it's a shame that the album breaks down after a few listens, but I think what prompted its inclusion on this list was sheer nostalgia. Sure some of the songs are bad, but the memories attached to the album are still as clear as ever, and that can really bring up one's opinion of something when memories are attached.

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ian_donavan

lovin this thread so far. got me listening to autolux, the flaming lips (who i've refused to listen to for ages now), neurosis , and dan le sac. keep it up. i'm checking out every band you put up.

LoathsomePete

Thank you.

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LoathsomePete

Rap rock. Nu metal. Metalcore. These labels almost always create a feeling of disgust for most people and for good reason too because the music is nearly always shit. That said, there always a right way and wrong way to approach those hybrid sounds and Rehab are one of those rare bands that can blend elements of southern rock with hip hop coupled with thought-provoking lyrics about the horrors of substance abuse, the monotony of suburban life and small towns, and finally hitting rock bottom.

It's been two years since I first got this album and I am still shocked at how much I can still relate to the album. Many of the themes found throughout the album seemed to reflect various elements of my life in 2008. The 7th track, "Bottles & Cans", in particular really reminds of my first month in my last apartment, returning empty cans for cigarette and ramen noodle money, too embarrassed to ask my family for help. Bits of pieces of the lyrics also stand out as examples of my past, one in particular "Guess I should have stayed in college/ No I was too cool for that" which pretty much sums up myself at aged 19; high school education, stable job, but absolutely no future in sight. So it's a very personal album, and of course that can distort one's opinion of something when nostalgia is involved.

Well here's looking at it from an objective standpoint.

From an melodic viewpoint, the album succeeds in creating a diverse sound, ranging from acoustics, bluesy rock, hard southern rock, to a heavy electronic influence in some songs. The band make a good job at feeling important, not allowing samples, scrapes, or the electronic influences overtake the importance of a nice guitar hook and bass line. Some of the songs seem overly simplistic, however for a band like this, the message is far more important than how it's delivered, and in that aspect Rehab pass with flying colors.

Which takes me to the lyrics. As I said earlier the album is far more diverse than their debut album Southern Discomfort which was exclusively about rehabilitation, addiction, and everything in between. Graffiti the World still deals with those subject matters (they band is called Rehab), however it expands beyond just those subjects to encompass the effects of globalization, growing up in small towns, and the monotony of suburban life. The 4th track "Red Water", in particular tells the story of a man who seems to have everything anyone could want, manicured lawn, trophy wife, nice car, etc. who commits suicide on a beautiful day. The story is told from the point of view of the next door neighbor, a young boy envious of this life and trying to make sense of how someone could throw away such a 'perfect' life. The song is quite haunting in how beautiful it sounds, yet how dark the subject matter is and it forces you to think about what is really important in life, inner peace, or superficial things.

The follow up titular track "Graffiti the World" is easily the best written song on the album, detailing the effects of globalization on the world and comparing it to graffiti on a brick wall. The hook is quite an interesting thought: Graffiti the land with skyscrapers/Graffiti the sky with airplanes and satellites /Graffiti the minds of children with your man-made laws /Graffiti the world, I saw the writing on the wall" and ending the song with: Sorta morbid ain't it this picture that I just painted/ It's an epiphany I had/ I realized just how tainted our thinking really is/ While in New York when I saw a teenager being arrested for taggin a fuckin wall." While some of the lyrics are a little hard to swallow and a little skewed, it is easily not the kind of song you'd expect to hear from a band that falls under the rap/rock moniker.

The two biggest complaints I've heard about the band is Danny Boone's vocals, however they don't annoy me at all so it's more of a personal thing than general complaint. The second biggest criticism is that their lyrics can be a little too preachy, which even I'll admit is true. However after spending as much time in rehab as the members of the band have, I don't see it as that much of a stretch. Take them for what they're worth, but listen carefully, and interpret them in your own way.

Honestly I don't know why more people don't enjoy this album, I think it's a brilliant piece of work that has some painfully truthful songs that hit pretty close to home for me. Not the band for everyone, but if you've struggled (or struggle) with some kind of addiction, this is an album I would highly suggest listening to it, you might just be able to relate to it more than others.

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LoathsomePete

Seriously... nothing?

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ian_donavan

sorry i haven't been able to give it a proper listen yet so i thought i should wait before posting my oppinion. if you're craving responses though i'm game. never heard of this band before but the genre isn't really my cup of tea. i gave a few of the songs random listens and none of it really stuck out to me so far. 'graffiti the world' is a good song worthy of the itunes. i try not to judge bands because my oppinion of them changes so often but i'm thinking right now this one just hasn't caught my interest. *shrugs*

LoathsomePete

I have an admiration for ambition, and I don't think I've ever heard such an ambitious debut album in my entire life. It is a double disc album where the listener is suppose to listen to both discs simultaneously. If you only use CD's then you're probably shit out of luck unless you have a few stereos kicking around, so digital is the way to go for this album. The reason playing both discs simultaneously is because when played together, they create an incredibly dense and atmospheric sound that is only sampled when listening to just one disc. One disc contains the actual melodic sounds of the band while the other disc is mostly ambient white noise with a few hooks here and there, but add them together and you get one of the most impressive debuts I have ever heard.

Besides ambition, the band seems like a scrappy bunch of underdogs who show commitment to the music and not the image. Looking at pictures of the band they look more like a bunch of laborers than a metal band, which hints at a certain nostalgia going back to the '60's and '70's when metal was a working class genre. The rejection of what I'll call "the metal attire" is quite refreshing and it's something I notice with a lot of post-metal bands. While I'll never stop wearing my many many metal t-shirts, sometimes it is nice to just go out in a pair of cargo pants and t-shirt without becoming a walking billboard, advertising your commitment to a band.

Musically the band is incredibly deep, with heavy, sludgy, thick layers of sound, each contributing to a final product that is pure aural ecstasy. It definitely can be a bit brash to inexperienced metal listeners because of Michael Armine's harsh guttural vocals that are more reminiscent of hardcore punk than metal. The production is very reminiscent of '70's Pink Floyd and some of the techniques used for shoegaze. While I cannot guarantee that all shoegaze fans will like this, they will definitely be able to appreciate the complexities that go into create such a multi-layered and atmospheric sound.

As far as the lyrics are concerned, I have not delved too deeply into it because I become so entranced by the music that the barked vocals of Armine become lost in the onslaught of guitar, bass, and drums. I have read that the band has a fascination with space and astronomy, which would make sense. The Galilean Satellites refers to the moons of Jupiter, even going so far as to name the song "Europa" after the smallest moon in the Galilean Satellites. The second disc with all the ambient sounds are all named after stars in different constellations. Again, the fascination with space creates all kinds of parallels between the progressive rock acts of the '60's and '70's, with the influences being quite easy to spot.

The Galilean Satellites is an amazing and ambitious first project for a band that will almost surely reach a level of fame on par with bands like Neurosis or ISIS. In only 7 years they have released three studio albums, an EP, and at least one split EP with another band, and show no signs of stopping or slowing down in the imminent future. Their music is definitely the kind of music you have to invest your time in and headphones are a must to fully experience what they have to offer. If so inclined shrooms are a great way to enhance the experience, but do so with caution.

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Dayvan Cowboy

SPIDERLAND!
great album. it influenced two of my favorite genres.

LoathsomePete

The '90's will best be remembered for grunge, Rodney King, the dot com boom, and Napster. Sadly, Morphine will live on in the memories of the fans, finding new fans every year, but never receiving the praise and attention the band truly deserved. Overshadowed by mainstream releases like Siamese Dreams and In Utero, the album failed to garnish the same sales as the more popular releases in '93, yet it did capture a small, but loyal fanbase.

One of the best things about Morphine is just how unique they are. They get lumped in with all the other alternative rock bands of the '90's, yet their music was largely bass and horn driven. Not exactly the type of music you would expect to hear from an alternative rock band. Even then their music is incredibly varied, some songs have more of a jazz influence and others have a real driven feeling behind it, with the horns taking place of where the guitar should be, thus giving it that "rock" sound.

I've found the best way to listen to the album is at night, with dimmed lights, and with nothing else distracting you from the music. It really is one of the albums that is relaxing, yet still captivating enough to demand your full attention. Whether it's Mark Sandman (RIP) loose bass playing and melancholic vocals, Dana Colley's ripping horn parts, or Jerome Deupree's reliable drumming, the album has something for anyone interested in unique music.

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101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too