The Weekly Shuffle

Ok it's that time for me to hit shuffle on the iPod and review the first ten songs that pop up. So let's see what we got ...

"The Zodiac" by Kamelot...A duet with original singer of Savatage. One of my favorites from "Poetry for the Poisoned". Roy Khan stepped up his game for this one. While there's a very conceptual element to the song it doesn't feel like it tries to hard to become a rock opera. Their two voices balances each other out Jon Olivia's preformance on "Gutter Ballet" has long been a favorite of mine and this hardens back to that era. There's also a really spectacular guitar solo.

"Opium" by Dead Can Dance...the metaphor of drugs and freedom here's more reflective than romantic, Brendan Perry sounds amazing his voice so smoothly glides over this and his overall preformance on this really solidified him as one of my favorite singers, when I used to think he sounded like Neil Diamond. There's more depth to his baritone croon. This song would win the goths over for sure, it drips sex like a serpent the same seductive allure drugs have but is sensual with being a love song or coming across like Sade.

"Only girl(In the World) by Xiu Xiu, One of the best covers ever.There is a darkness here that Rhianna can't conceive not matter how many times her ghetto fab boyfriend beats her. The impish "and we can make sandwiches " is a nice touch as it makes fun of the source material at the same time they are really creeping this out . The anthem for stalker queens everywhere.

"Isle of Avalon" by Iron Maiden, the Final Frontier album has held up maybe better than the other post "Fear of the Dark" albums and I think this is one of the stronger songs on the album. The whole groove surrounding the proggy solo section is good jam tht I would have liked to have seen live but when I saw Maiden last year they were recreating the Seventh Son tour which I saw the original version of the in 88 so I was I. The die hard minority that wanted to hear what the new sounded like live because I have already seen them do the trooper . I think Bruce sounds raspy with with age here but otherwise strong and he is never going to be the same age he was when the recorded Peice of Mind so here's what we have to work with.

"Fire on the Mountain" by Vreid, I think for a cross over black metal band they almost sound commercial here. They roughed it up for the newer alway but I can appreciate the thrashy melodic nature of the "V" album. The vocals sound like a less croak ridden Immortal on this one at times and the riffing reminds me of Kreator. In comparison I think the drumming stopped it up on the new album and I think they have gone back into a more Windir direction. This is good for what it is closer to say Enslaved perhaps.

"Big Black Backwards" by Agents of Oblivion, Well the trip from Acid Bath to his current solo career has had so e pretty cool stops along the wat. I think vocally this album outshines his solo work or what he did with Acid Bath and is under rated. He really reaches, I think we hear hints of an Ian Gillian influence here with outro going into rock god screams, his restrained warbling croon is allowed some breathing room. The guitar is very dark and there's something teetering of homo,Ing unhinged haunts the songs.

"Half a Person" by the Smiths. The opening lines of "call me morbid , call me pale, I've spent six years on your trail" might be some of the greatest lyrics ever written and encompass what the myth of Moz is about. The lyrics alone sell the song for me they are just kind of strumming along behind him and it's what makes them work is being I these two different emotional places musically than lyrically and the juxtaposition creates and third dimension of ambiguity.

"Sky Burial" by Inter Arma, I have been meaning to get around to reviewing the album and it's going to happen this week I only have one other review cued up before it then I will dig into this one, it's sludgey and sonic yet has some melody to it and cool space for the guitars to float around. There is a Neurosis vibe to it which might be the firs thing you notice the vocals want to go more black metal but u like the smiths I don't think the music going Ina different place than the vocals creates the same effect.

"My Ass is On Fire" by Mr. Bungle, Interviews with Mike Pattonellude to the fact he prefers to use words that sound cool when sung rather than tell a story or mean something, I'm not sure this was happening when this song was written on their first self titled album. I mean this song is pretty close to perfect , the redundant part is redundant as it was intended but everything else gleams of awesome in any light you set it in. If I were to review the first Mr. bungle album it would be a ten unless I decided to come up with an 11 for ionic albums of this type. The riff when the chorus part comes I is just ripping even though by today's standards none of this is really all that heavy.

"Stripped" by Rammstein, I need to remind myself to go back and delete this one when I'm trying to conserve disk space on this iPod. It's a cover of the Depeche Mode song and I would be better served to have their version on it. Not that I don't like Rammstein, I wold rather here them stick to what they are better at. Do I like Depeche Mode as a band better ... Yes. This is kinda stuck in the nineties where I don't feel Kmfdm are or even Skiing Puppy but they do have some good mindless entertainment going on at times , it's like watching a Nazi circus.