(NEW RELEASE)

Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III


After completely exhausting Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster's first two albums at the end of 2008, I wanted more. I needed more. Maylene's first two albums could only satisfy my craving for Dallas Taylor and the Gang's southern-fried, story-driven heavy metal for so long. Now that the sounds of Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster's third album have entered my ears multiple times I can confidently say that Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III was worth the wait. Maylene III sees the band making their most solid, accomplished, and downright enjoyable album to date.

With Maylene III, the band breaks out of the shell that they were once confined in. With Dallas Taylor and Roman Havaland being the only original members, you could say that this is a reinvention. As well as Maylene's traditional southern metal, we hear a nice melodic, radio-friendly track called Listen Close, the long-awaited use of banjo and non-gruff vocals from Dallas Taylor on Step Up (I'm On It), and a new lead vocalist on Oh Lonely Grave. Little changes like this help make III special, and not just a repeat of II.

But it's not as if the more traditional Southern Metal songs are just standard Maylene. I mean, they are, but instead of just being scattered, breakdown laden scream-fests, there's hooks galore. The riffs have their own style here, and all songs are memorable. Add that to the fact that all the tracks are perfectly laid out, and you have an album that manages to be good as a whole and on a track-by-track basis.

I love a band that manages to get better with every new release. Compare their rough, unfocused debut to this... the improvement is irrefutable. Maylene finally got it all right. It maintains most of their traditional aspects, but they finally sound like they were destined to sound. Dropping most of the chugga-chugga metalcore elements and embracing melody and instrumental hooks, Maylene sounds extremely comfortable. There really is nothing you can hold against the band now. They're shrugging off their "Lynard Scenerd" roots and becoming the band they were destined to be.

I hope that everyone listens to Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III this year. It's bound to be forgotten because it's not "indie" or even particularly artistic. But sometimes you have to ask yourself why you even listen to music in the first place. I'm at the point where I just don't care. Maylene is rock 'n' roll at its finest. Pause your shitty obscure noise album. Listen to Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III.

88%
Awesome

With Maylene III, the band breaks out of the shell that they were once confined in. With Dallas Taylor and Roman Havaland being the only original members, you could say that this is a reinvention. As well as Maylene's traditional southern metal, we hear a nice melodic, radio-friendly track called Listen Close, the long-awaited use of banjo and non-gruff vocals from Dallas Taylor on Step Up (I'm On It), and a new lead vocalist on Oh Lonely Grave. Little changes like this help make III special, and not just a repeat of II. But it's not as if the more traditional Southern Metal songs are just standard Maylene. I mean, they are, but instead of just being scattered, breakdown laden scream-fests, there's hooks galore. The riffs have their own style here, and all songs are memorable. Add that to the fact that all the tracks are perfectly laid out, and you have an album that manages to be good as a whole and on a track-by-track basis.

Originally Posted by Janszoon What? No. No. No. No no no.

(#2 on the Alfred Top 25)

The Clash "London Calling"


I don't want to review this album.

Why? Because doing so would be redundant. You've heard this album before. I don't need to tell you that all of The Clash's dabbling in other genres worked like a charm. I don't see why I should have to repeat the fact that London Calling is the most groundbreaking album to come out of the UK punk scene. I don't need to remind you that if you haven't heard this album you've been living under a rock since 1979 (or for those born after, your whole life).

It's late. I'm going to bed. Enjoy the album if you haven't already. Ha, what a concept. Not having heard this album.

100%
Perfect

(#1 on the Alfred Top 25)

At The Drive-In "Relationship Of Command*"

*Fearless Records re-release

The Mars Volta are a stunning musical group, and sometimes (most often during the cacophonous ending of "Goliath") I sit back and dream of how awesome it would be if they made a hardcore album. And then I slap myself and remember that they already did that... sort of. What every Mars Volta fan knows is that before our afro-bearing friends Cedric and Omar formed The Mars Volta, they played in the post-hardcore group At The Drive-In, and in 2000, they made the finest album of their careers. Relationship Of Command.

Relationship Of Command embodies every aspect of At The Drive-In's career in one solid, professional, cohesive record. Where their early releases lacked the heaviness and emotion that the band needed to achieve greatness, and In/Casino/Out was missing much of the band's hardcore roots, At The Drive-In perfected their imperfections with this one final album. From its aggressive opening track Arcarsenal to the emotionally-driven, In/Casino/Out-esque Invalid Litter Dept. to its blistering finale Catacombs, Relationship Of Command is a gripping, artistic, thirteen-track long epic. Boasting metaphoric lyrics, unconventional guitar, yet still keeping its punk rock attitude, you won't hear anything else like it.

Some of the best songs on the album are... well... all of them. Every song is noteworthy and great in its own respect. All of them seem to capture imagery through the lyrics as well as the instrumentation. For example, Quarantined paints a picture of a dark, war-torn futuristic city through its depressing, possibly political lyrics, Cedric's emotional vocal performance, and the thick, gloomy instrumentation. Arcarsenal reminds me of a man running through a jungle with its urgent, almost tribal-sounding drumming, rapid pace, and Cedric's near-screaming.

Relationship Of Command was an important album for me. It was one of the first albums which I listened to the entire way through and one of the first albums I fell in love with. It was an important album that directed me away from the pop-rock and scene kid music that I was ignorantly playing all day long. I still love it to this day, and it is probably still my favorite album of all time.

It should be your favorite album too.

100%
Perfect

It be my music and film collection.

Pause your ****ty obscure noise album. Listen to Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster III.

Originally Posted by Sequoioideae Fuck your hashtags, they have no power in this realm.

Originally Posted by FETCHER. I'm awfully sorry I'm not as good at writing pretentious posts as you are.

(Requested by Antonio)

Clutch "From Beale Street To Oblivion"


My first experience with the Maryland-based hard rock group Clutch was their rough, mopey, no frills debut album Transnational Speedway League. I had decided to give the band after Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster singer, Dallas Taylor, recommended them in an interview. Now, jumping ahead to their eighth album, From Beale Street To Oblivion, I see that I picked the wrong album to get into this band... but maybe that was for the better.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how far Clutch had come since their debut album. The change in the vocals, lyrics, and instrumentation is huge. Whereas the debut was a punk-influenced stoner rock album, this is a soulful, bluesy hard rocker, huge emphasis on the blues.

I've always had a thing for blues, and this album does the genre justice by revamping it with some modern heaviness to keep it all fresh. I'm not going to be a pretentious asswipe by pretending like I know the singer's name here, but whatever his mama called him, his voice sounds a million times better than that drugged-up grunt that I was used to hearing before. Not only is it an improvement, but he can sing the blues with the best of 'em.
Of course, instruments are another vital part of blues, and whoever does the guitar sure manages to pull off all my favorite blues-clichés (I mean this in the best way possible).

I got this album because I liked the single Electric Worry, it seemed like a pretty awesome and straightforward heavy blues song. But when I dug through this album and listened to the lyrics, I was amused at some of the things these guys write. When Vegans Attack is a favorite of mine:
Poking fun at underground hardcore, vegans, and everything in between = pure win.

So in conclusion, I won't lie and say that Clutch created what I'd call a masterpiece, but I will say that they pulled off (several?) an infectious, heavy blues record that is worthy of spending some time with. I dig the vocals, I dig the licks, I dig the lyrics, I dig the whole thing, and I'll probably listen to Clutch some more. Thank you to Antonio for bringing your clutch love to this forum, or else I probably never would have revisited them.

78%
Good

Originally Posted by Alfred Rise Against, Mariana's Trench, All American Rejects and 3OH!3 are the favorite musical groups of a girl I know. She's spoiled, she appears to be a little angel with her big bullshit smile and life accomplishments to back it all up when her parents introduce her, but knowing her for years I know that she's a cold, shallow little bitch. She is easily swayed by what she sees on TV. She is given everything she wants, whether it's her wardrobe of bland yet expensive Abercrombie T-Shirts, her cell phone, iPod, all those accessories that her daddy bought her, or all the places she goes (for a shopping spree?). On paper she is the kind of person I should hate, and yet I have found myself having feelings for her. Now you might be wondering, how does this relate to music? Well, as I said before, her favorite bands are Rise Against, Mariana's Trench, All American Rejects, and 3OH!3. On paper, I should hate these bands. They're produced and appeal to a shallow-minded mainstream audience. Yet they produce the kind of hooks that you cannot help but enjoy. On a good day, you'll hear a song on TV or the radio and nod and hum along. On a worse day, you'll despise them, hate their guts. And when I add it all together, weigh all the positives and negatives... I dislike these bands. Such are my feelings towards this girl. For some reason, I've been attracted to her for a couple of years now, despite all the grief I have been put through. Now, after all this time, I don't want this anymore. She's not the kind of person I want. "Hooks" are decieving, substance is needed for truly good music, and truly good people. I know this all sounds ridiculous and juvenile coming from a young teenager, but I don't really care. This is the only way I could relate music, my current emotions, and my even hatred towards society and pop culture. The bottom line is: you can tell a lot about a person by the music they like. punkrockalfred’s Music Profile – Users at Last.fm Form an opinion about me.

Originally Posted by OBEY "Never trust your own eyes, believe what you are told".