8-Album Mind: Shattered Peace

Pantera - Official Live: 101 Proof ♠♠♠♠
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon ♠♠♠♠
Pink Floyd - The Wall ♠♠♠♠♠
Pitbull Daycare - Unclean ♠♠♠

I have been basically sitting on those two Pink Floyd albums for almost 2 years and finally heard them both for the first time ever at, of all places, work. I never was a big Pink Floyd fan, and just having two "legendary" albums sit unlistened for nearly 2 years shows about how much faith I had in the experience. But I must say, I was both pleasantly surprised and mildly disappointed.

"Dark Side of the Moon" has been hailed a classic and, frankly, rightfully so. "Speak/Breath to Me" is actually a new favorite now since it was just so mellow yet dark and heavy. The ending tracks, "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse", are just perfect and ends the album on the perfect note. The album brims with genius escaping and the only thing bogging it is, well, pretentiousness. Whenever you become so hellbent on creating something perfect, you can overkill it and that's basically what happens at times on this disc.

"The Wall" was, of course, absolutely amazing! I had basically heard the album already in 2002 when I saw the film of the same name, and this was, in a sense, a referendum. Being able to just sit back and listen to this entire album. The result was an album about "Pink" (Roger Waters) and his life. The album rocks incredibly hard, is dark at times and all and all comes out to a good release. The album, in this era of CD's, could have actually fit on one disc, but keeping it the 2 discs it was works to it's advantage by giving you a much-needed rest. Their is no real plot, just a loose concept driving the points home, although "The Trial", my favorite track on this album, sums everything up really, really well.

Pitbull Daycare was an OK romp through the industrial-meets-metal-meets-dance hybrid that dominated for a short time at the turn of the century, tossing in a good dose of punk sensibilities and 2 covers (Queen "Sheer Heart Attack" and REM "It's the End of the World"). The last song and cover, "It's the End of the World", actually winds up being the highlight... a little sad since the band does dish out some great tracks, but compared to their 2 incredible covers, they don't shine as much as they should.

Finally, Pantera. Live. Kick-ass! The album is a testament to a live Pantera show, although anyone who saw them will say you can't come close until you've been to the real thing. Album is great, and the adiditon of two new studio tracks, "

8-Album Mind: Stress and Peace

Today's been just an incredibly frustrating and stressful day, and even though I'm going to bed soon, it still isn't over. I just learned that Green Tea, as calming as it's been to me, actually contains 1/3rd the caffeine in coffee. I had about a liter of the stuff... I feel like crap. Lot of other things tying into that, but never mind that.

Today's playlist:

Pantera - The Best of Pantera ♠♠♠♠
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam ♠ SOLD
Pentagram - Day of Reckoning ♠♠♠
Pig Destroyer - Terrifyer ♠♠♠♠
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb ♠♠♠
Pennywise - Land of the Free? ♠♠♠♠
A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms ♠♠♠♠

Pantera's "Best of" basically was why I decided to buy the rest of the Pantera discography, largely because the "Reinventing the Steel" material was so kick-ass! Not much to say... I've had it since it came out and I still haven't seem the damn DVD!

Pearl Jam's self-titled last album was disappointing. I bought it when it came out in 2006, and it's something I've only listened to a few times. I kept it because it sounded like nothing else I owned and I liked it... and now I'm selling it because I realized that, as cohesive as it is, it isn't anything great. "World Wide Suicide" is the only redeeming track on this disc.

Pentagram... man, along with that Pearl Jam disc, I barely listened to this one! I gave it a spin today... won't say I was overly impressed, but yes, it was todays surprise album. The doom-laden guitars that raise a goblet to Black Sabbath actually won me today.

Meanwhile, the death-grindmetal antics of southern metallers Pig Destroyer gave me a double-shot of entertainment. From "Terrifyer's" pure-fucking-grindcore bombardment through 21 tracks, to "Phantom Limbs" more thrash-metal leaning tracks, Pig Destoryer simply kicks ass!!! Checking out Pennywise's "Land of the Free?" finally had that album click; it was recorded and released the summer before 9/11 and it seems that a few bands (like GWAR's "Violence has Arrived" and Powerman 5000 "Anyone for Doomsday?") somehow was able to tune into the mindset of the evil ones who would hurt America.

Finally, my guilty pleasure, A Perfect Circle's "Med De Noms", or "Sea of Names". Most tracks were based on people that James knew, and the standouts are "Rose", Judith" (Ironically, the name of my grandmother and mother, respectively), "Magedlina", and "Thinking of You". Great band, check them out!

That's it for today. Look for more postings and rants tomorrow. Also, the reason I picked the Pearl Jam pick? Check out Eddie Vader wearing a Plasmatics shirt! KICK ASS!!!!

8-Album Mind: Reinventing the Steel

Deicide - Till Death Do Us Part ♠♠♠♠
Pantera - Cowboys from Hell ♠♠♠♠♠
Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power ♠♠♠♠
Pantera - Far Beyond Driven ♠♠♠
Pantera - The Great Southern Trendkill ♠♠♠
Pantera - Reinventing the Steel ♠♠♠♠♠
Pearl Jam - Ten ♠♠♠♠♠

OK, let's get to it! I bought the Deicide album yesterday, and I won't lie, I mainly got it because I didn't want to leave Digital Ferret empty handed when I left yesterday, and because of the Glen Benton for President patch. "Till Death Do us Part" is a great Deicide album; not sure if the claim "heaviest Deicide album ever" is true since this and "Stench of Redemption" are the only two disc I won. It's in part inspired by his recent divorce and the departure of the two brothers who made the band as well, and it is simply incredible!
Pantera... well, what can I say? It's fucking PANTERA!!!!!! No, not PANTERA BREAD, PATERA!!!!!!!!!! Although that "Pantera Bread" video is fucking hilarious!

These albums are classics and aside from the review I wrote on "Cowboys from Hell", there isn't much to say, well, save a few comments. I always thought that "Vulgar Display of Power" was great, but in my eyes, it isn't better than Cowboys from Hell. It's almost like comparing apples and oranges; Cowboys had a sound that mixed thrash with glam, hardcore with power metal, and it was simply an album that was, in the end, the end result of EVERYTHING metal had accomplished in the 80's.

Vulgar Display, on the otherhand, was Pantera taking it to a new level, using their newfound fame, power, and influence to new levels of confidence. It is an incredibly album, one of the angriest things I've ever heard, and its great! The problem is that by half-way through, its just like any tempertantrum of adrenaline rush; it can get old and loose it's luster after a while. Moments keep the disc fresh at times, but when you hit the wall listening to this album, that's it. This disc is like running fullspeed down a crowded street and not caring what happens, but when you hit a wall, well, your done.

Far Beyond Driven has always been the black sheep of the more modern Pantera era, at least, to anyone who knows what they're talking about (sorry if that came off eliteist, but trust me, fans know what I mean). The album debut at #1, went platnium, and shows Pantera trying too damn hard to out-heavy the heaviest album ever. Fuck, it's like fucking Pamela Anderson in 1994 and then trying to fuck someone hotter in 1995; you can get close, but it still ain't no Pam An! Meanwhile, "The Great Southern Trendkill", while better, still lacks the golden touch that Pantera had on earlier albums.

Finally, you have the great "Reinventing the Steel" and to me, this is second only to Cowboys in terms of greatness! Pantera starts out strong with "Hellbound" and never let loose! They took everything that made their last four albums great, got rid of all the filler material, and instead forged, ala the title, Pure Steel. There are very few flaws in this metal blade, and hearing "I Cast A Shadow" is enough to put an exclamation point on their career that many bands to come will have to live in the shadow of.

Lets we forget Pearl Jam in all of this! I'm a fan of the Jam, and Ten is just, quite simply, a legendary album for a good reason. It toned down the more metal aspects, turned up the grunge, wore it's classic rock influences on it's sleave, and resulted in breakthrough hit that still sounds fresh today, even if you have heard "Even Flow" and "Jeremy" a million times already. My favorite tracks? "Why Go" and "Once", tracks that showed not only could they write kick-ass radio-friendly hits that still retained an edge, but that they could write staight-out classics.