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It’s been a long time guys. The rock/rap/nu-metal/pop/whatever (and UK!) band Lostprophets are back after a few years and a disappointing album. James Oliver, the band’s live keyboardist, stated that this new album, titled The Betrayed, had “the bite that Start Something (their second album, it was the heaviest of the three) had, with the song-ability of Liberation Transmission (their third album, which was very poppy and disappointing) but personality of Thefakesoundofprogress (their first album, which was an odd mix of metal, rock, and nu-metal… which turned out amazing).” Any Lostprophets fan would be excited as all hell for this album then! That just described awesomeness! Hell, I actually had hope that they would be able to redeem themselves. Now, notice how earlier I said that they are back. I really… REALLY wanted to say “and better than ever” but that, sadly, is just not the case.

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You read that, right? A widget was just released that gives you a bunch of cool and EXCLUSIVE videos and more about the making of “III” by Canada’s favorite punk band, Billy Talent. But you were here for the prizes right? Well, if you click that “Fan My Band” button, you can get points to rack up. First you have to make your own widget using the link from this widget, but then you can get clicking and have others click your link. The more points you get, the higher the level you get, THE MORE STUFF YOU WIN! The top prize is a chance to meet the band backstage at one of their shows. HOW COOL IS THAT?! So get clicking!

——–> THA WIDGET IS HERE! <——-

Ladies and Gentlemen, Eminem has returned! Along with Slim Shady. Yeah… the Slim Shady that shot himself at the end of “Encore”. I don’t know how! Oh, and Marshall Mathers is tagging along too! Yes, all three of Mr. Mathers’ alter egos is coming along for the ride on “Relapse”, Eminem’s first studio album in 4 long years.
Why was he gone so long? Anyone’s guess. But I think it has something to do with the murder of his best friend, Proof, his relapse into prescription pills after getting out of rehab, and overdosing and almost dying. I am just spit balling here, but it is a valid reason.

So, after four long years, is the mighty Em able to return to the rap game with the same fire as before? Click read more to see if he did.

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This is the new video for Eminem’s brand new song “3 A.M.” This is the uncensored version and even though it is not at all heavy on language… it is pretty violent for a music video. I would not suggest letting your kids watch this. There is some dismemberment and a whole lotta blood. But it gets even crazier…

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The time has finally come. The Lonely Island, AKA The Dudes, AKA Andy Samburg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, has released their debut album, entitled Incredibad. It not only has your favorite SNL Digital Short songs, like “Lazy Sunday” and “Dick In A Box”, it has original songs… which are just as good as the other songs. Let’s start… shall we?

The album starts with the hard-hitting song “Who Said We’re Wack?”, a song about The Dudes trying to figure out who said they were wack. It feels like a gangster rap song… hard-hitting, catchy, and makes you feel like you want to make a mosh pit… somewhat. The simplistic lyrics actually work to the advantage of the song and it clearly deserved the opening spot. It does end somewhat abruptly, but then it leads to the first song with a guest… which is a recurring theme.

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Well… on Paramore.net… they asked fans to review the new live album. So I did. Now I am posting my review here… I got the deluxe edition… so you get to hear about all the extra stuff… ENJOY!

DVD:

Awesome. The performance was great. It was recorded in my hometown… so that is some extra awesome points right there. The power the band gave was awesome. They were very energetic and it made it a pleasure to watch. Not once was I wanting it to just be over. Though… some of the visual effects I could of gone without. Most of the time they were cool… sometimes they just got in the way of the show. The documentary was both informative and funny. It is interlaced with the performance very well and it always leaves you wanting more. The special features on the Deluxe Edition… to tell you the truth… were kinda a disappointment. The extra director’s cut footage was kinda smaller then I thought and most of it was just parts in the regular documentary that was elongated to show you all of it… not saying that’s a bad thing… I just thought that maybe… MAYBE there could of been a BIT more… just a TINY bit. But what they had there was awesome. The photo gallery was pretty cool. There were some real nice pictures there set to some real good music. Now… the thing that disappointed me the most out of all the extra stuff… not saying it was bad… it was awesome… was the music video for “Let The Flames Begin”. That is pretty much my favorite Paramore song and I thought it would be really cool to see a music video for it. Then I saw it and realized it was basically what I just finished watching. The live performance of this song was amazing… don’t get me wrong… but I was just kinda expecting more. The thing that bugged me the most about it is how there was almost a time machine effect in it. In one clip… you would see Hayley get down on her knees for the outro… but then the next clip… you will see the same thing happen again… just at a different angle. Now… that is just me being completely honest. Overall though… it was freaking awesome.

CD:

Also awesome. The quality was real good for a live album and all the intros and outros added to the songs live just SCREAMED for a live CD to come out… and it is awesome to be able to have those extra tid-bits of awesomeness in a CD form so you can have it at awesome quality and officially.

Packaging:

When I looked at the case for the Deluxe Edition… right off the bat… I knew it was something special. I pulled out the art book and looked through it… it was awesome. The pictures in there were either artistic… cool… or just plain funny. It looked just like the tour program so you don’t really feel like you were missing out on anything if you got this. The special long case for the CD and DVD really helps keep them safe and non-wiggly. Though… it sometimes is a pain to get the disks out and put them back in without having to worry a bit about scratching them. The laminate was a nice touch… really makes you feel special… but it could of had a better holder. With my OCD… I always have to keep things from CDs where they were… slipcases… extra stuff… pretty much anything. Every time I opened the CD case… or even took it out from the slip case… the laminate would just fall out. But… still… it was some awesome extra stuff.

So all in all… it was awesome. Totally worth the $35. It is/was limited to 5,000 copies… so if you hurry up… you may still be able to grab the deluxe edition. Yeah… I just checked… the deluxe edition is sadly sold out. BUT: the regular edition is selling at Target for $15. It just has the CD and DVD in a regular CD/DVD case. It does come with a regular booklet… but not with the art book.. photo gallery/director’s cut footage/”Let The Flames Begin” music video extras on the DVD… the fake backstage pass… or the special longer packaging.

Well… Linkin Park has a new live album coming out called “Road to Revolution” which was filmed at Miltion Keynes in the good ‘ol UK during their Projekt Revolution tour (Which was awesome. I went… blew me away.). This was the only stop where they had Jay-Z preform with them, so it was a special night indeed. They have been promoting this album by releasing some of the performances on Youtube. The latest one in them preforming “Breaking The Habit” and it is at the bottom of this news story. The album comes out November 25th. It comes with a CD of the live recordings and a DVD of the performance.

Here we have them preforming “Breaking The Habit”, just click on the picture:

I know I have been only reviewing Nine Inch Nails albums, but I only have two more. This one then “The Fragile.” I just HAD to review this one, though.

“The Downward Spiral” is not for the faint of heart. It’s Nine Inch Nails’ first concept album (All albums have concepts, but when an album follows a story in order through the songs, that is called a concept album.) and it is pretty bleak.

We start out with “Mr. Self Destruct”, which is a song about a man telling someone else that he is everything that person is and how he controls that person. The drums are way too fast for me to hope to play, and the guitar is distorted, yet not in the song much. It starts out with a sample from the movie “THX 1138″ and is played while it gradually speeds up until it is about the same speed as the drums, then the drums come and take the sample’s place. It is very crazy until the bridge, when it slows down a crap load and is almost calming, but before you get settled, BAM! The hard drums and Trent’s screaming comes back. It has about a 45 outro that all it is is static and guitar harmonics. Then it ends for a quick second and we hear Trent saying the famous lines: “Hey Pig.” THAT is how you know we have reached the song “Piggy.”

This is a landmark in NIN history as it is the only song to have Trent playing drums (the frantic drumming over the regular drumming at the end of the song.) It is very basic, just the drums and Trent, then the guitar comes in, then the tambourine, and the… the organ?  Well, it is one of the first songs to have Trent saying the even MORE famous lines: “Nothing Can Stop Me Now.” It actually very calming until the crazy drumming comes in. It’s funny because the drums do not fit in with the rest of the song, but they oddly do. Then we have the very old sounding piano type thing playing the even MORE MORE famous “Downward Spiral Motif,” which are those little notes they repeat throughout the album.

Then we come to “Heresy”, which is apparently about a man using religion as a excuse for all the bad things he has done. This is one of my favorite songs on the albums because it is such a hard song and this is one of the first songs that shows how when other artists may HINT at things, Trent comes out and says it to your face. This was a infamous song because in the chorus, Trent screams “YOUR GOD IS DEAD,” but for only 2 out of the around 5-6 times he says something like that, he says THAT. He would usually scream “GOD IS DEAD” instead of “YOUR GOD IS DEAD!” It ends somewhat abruptly, then leads into what I think is my favorite song off the album… no, I don’t think this is it, but I freaking LOVE this song.

“March of the Pigs” is a hard hitting song that only lets up at the end of the chorus, where it changes to just a piano and Trent. This is one of the only songs that, along with starting a riot, makes me want to punch a baby. You will air drum or drum with your fingers or your pens on your desk for DAYS after hearing this song. I am always THIS close to jumping out of my chair and moshing with myself when I hear this song. It is pretty short and ends pretty fast, but then we get to the most famous NIN song ever released.

The second your hear the first two notes, those first two heart-beat like noises, you know you are now listening to the ever so famous “Closer”. This is the ultimate head bobbing and foot tapping song. Every time you hear it, you can’t help it, you just bob your head and tap your feet, like the sound is infecting your brain and telling you to do things. The synth is awesomely awesome and Trent’s lyrics are actually haunting instead of stalker-ish. It’s just how he says the lines against the backdrop the music paints, it leaves you with a song that will never leave your mind after you hear it for the first time. Then we get to the ending keyboard solo, which ends abruptly to lead into one of the songs tied for my favorite song on this album.

“Ruiner” is pretty meaningful song. It is talking about how this man is blaming someone else for all the f-ups in his life and he is wondering how that person did it. The beginning blends in PERFECTLY with the ending of “Closer” and it starts fast and is concise. It gets the message across (even if you can’t hear him over the synth) and it gets it across in a such a way that makes you feel like this man REALLY is starting to lose everything. He keeps saying this other person had to do this or that, didn’t they, and he wonders how this person, who was equal to him, became so much stronger and made his journey so much longer. At the end, it calms down for a bit, but gets right back to the hard hitting drums and the man is telling this other person how they didn’t hurt him and how nothing can stop him now. Once again, ends all of a sudden when Trent says “Nothing can stop-” and leads into another one of my favorite songs.

“The Becoming” is a very synth heavy song. It is about a man who loses himself to his inner demons and almost becomes a machine. To convey that, almost all the instruments are synth and it is VERY mechanical. The lyrics show the final push that really sends this man over the edge, falling down the downward spiral. It calms down during the bridge, with just an acoustic guitar, a distorted voice, and then Trent comes in whispering. This is one of the only times he uses a name, in this case, the name he says in the bridge is Annie while saying, “Annie, hold a little tighter.” Then the synth slams you in the face again, with the final lyrics “It won’t give up, it wants me dead, and goddamn this voice inside my head” until slowing back down into the same guitar from the bridge. Then this odd static fades in and it leads us into the the next level of the downward spiral.

“I Do Not Want This” is pretty basic, but pretty basically awesome. The drums are sampled (or at least it sounds like it) and the guitar is VERY VERY VERY hard and distorted. The piano plays a haunting tune that fits in PERFECTLY. The man is now saying he doesn’t want what he has right now. He hates what he has, but at the same time, he is realizing that what he doesn’t want is all he has left. Then he starts SCREAMING at someone telling them not to tell him how he feels. The ending is very synthy and machine-like. Then we have Trent saying how he wants to do all these things so he can do something that matters. It ends, then we jump into the most violent and hard rock song NIN has ever made.

“Big Man With a Gun” is the point of no return for this man. He goes crazy with anger, telling a man how he can kill him with his gun just for fun. He is saying how he can do all these things to scare this man and to bring his own self up from the ground… but fails very miserably in the process. At the end he is screaming about him and his gun, like it is his only friend. All of these things are shown VERY well through the music, as the guitar is playing nothing but power cords, the drums are getting wailed on, and the synth is ear-bleedingly loud. The song end the most abruptly then any other song and this time, it has a very good reason.

“A Warm Place” is an instrumental. It is a tear-jerker also. You may think, “Dude, it’s just a song.” But you have to see it as part of a story. It has this really sad melody played on a acoustic guitar and the synth is very well done. What it means in the story is the man all of a sudden realizes what he has done and what he is doing. He is thinking back, and he just can’t believe what he has done. He wants to take it all back, but it is too late. Then an odd straw sound starts playing…

…which leads into “Eraser”. It is basically an instrumental also, but Trent comes in at about the last minute and a half. The drums are very overpowering and there is this odd bee like sound. This synth comes in that sounds like an out of tune bass and then an actual guitar comes in playing these really high notes. Then another guitar comes in, playing many dead notes and a few high notes. The first guitar gets an echo effect, then Trent comes in. The lyrics are basically a list. He at first lists how he need this other person to a very calm background… then he lists what he thinks need to happen to him to a very not calm background, with the last lines being “Kill Me” repeated over and over.

Then we get to “Reptile”. The song is about how this love of his is his savor, and yet the person which made him need the saving in the first place. This song real shows the industrial side of NIN with it being all synth in the verses and all synth and one guitar in the chorus. The problem is that it is about 2 minutes too long, and you kinda just want it to be over with. After we get past the movie sample and the outro, we reach the bottom.

“The Downward Spiral” is not the last song, but it is the end of the story. It starts with a odd machine like noise, then we get those famous notes that were played at the end of “Closer” and in many other songs on an acoustic guitar. That stretches out for a bit until it picks up a bit and the acoustic guitar plays something different. Then we get to a part with a heavy but very muffled guitar, hard but very muffled drums, and Trent’s muffled screaming. Over this, we have Trent whispering the final lines of the story of a man who tried to tear away everything just to see what would happen, but ends up in the worst position he could be.

“Hurt” is the final song on the 14 track story known as “The Downward Spiral”. Many people see this song in many different ways. Some people see it as the man starting over again in another life, some see it as a suicide note he left behind. It basically says how he tried to throw everything away after he realized what he become, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t go back to normal. He realizes he became something he never wanted to become, but how he must now live with it. The song is very basic, most of it is just Trent and an acoustic guitar. The choruses add a bit more, until the end when it gets so loud you have to cover your ears. It never really ends, almost like Trent kept it open for the listener to imagine what happens after.

Overall: 5/5. This album tells a story in such an amazing way that you feel bad for this person who doesn’t even live. The songs are so diverse and the story is so amazing that it is almost listening to an audiobook with music. This is an epic told the best way. Here, you can hear how this man is feeling, not read how he is. How mad his is, and just how far he will go to see one tiny thing.

First, I know this is very late, but we just got the website up and running. So live with it. Now, on to the review.

“The Slip” is Nine Inch Nails’ 8th studio album and is also “Halo 27.” It’s called Halo 27 because (for all the people who don’t know) NIN labels everything they release, albums, singles, EPs, DVDs, EVERYTHING with a Halo number. The process of this album’s release was like this:

1: Trent Reznor posted the words “Two Weeks” on NIN’s website. Many people thought this meant another album because this was the same thing Trent did two weeks before the release of “Ghosts I-IV,” but many thought it was something else because Trent is infamous for taking up to 4 years to complete one album and “Ghosts I-IV” was released only 2 months earlier.

2: A bit later, the single “Discipline” was released to radio and on NIN’s website as a free download. The album was labeled as “?” and the extra comments said “Go to NIN.com on May 5th.”

3: May 5th finally came. A message written by Trent Reznor was put up. It said this: “thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me”. Alongside this message was a download link to download NIN’s new album, “The Slip”, for free. It was released as MP3’s from the site, or FLAC, Apple Lossless, 24-bit, 96 kHz FLAC or WAV files from official torrents. I jumped on that like a monkey jumping for another branch.

Now, for the review:

Track One - 999,999: The intro track to “The Slip.” A very calm song with Trent saying “How did I slip into?” at the end. A very nice build up, and gives the beginning of 1,000,000 just that much more punch. 4/5

Track Two - 1,000,000: The first track with vocals and I have never heard a song that made me want to go and start a riot more. It comes in fast and hard and never stops one bit. It’s like a full-out nuclear attack on your ears. The drums are instantly recognizable and one of the, if not THE, most important parts of the song. Trent’s constant yelling (like he always does) just adds that much more punch and the ever so distorted guitar sounds like someone injected an ounce of musical static into the mixture, but, as always, it works perfectly. 5/5

Track Three - Letting You: From one riot-inducing song to another, Letting You sounds like NIN + extra distortion. Trent’s yelling during the chorus and his middle ground between yelling and singing in the verses make it feel like a whole marching army is singing.  The drums are amazing, especially during the chorus, and the guitar is pushed to the limit with tons of different effects used and insanely fast playing. If you didn’t get up and punch someone in the face because of 1,000,000, this will be your saving grace. 5/5

Track Four - Discipline: Now, this is where we start to settle down. This is the album’s first, and as of right now, only single and it doesn’t have nearly as much punch as the last two tracks. Now, I’m not saying it’s a BAD song, it’s good. I just don’t seem to like it as much as the other tracks on the album. Trent’s “OoohoohoohOOHH”ing actually works well and the drums, as simple as they are, are still awesome. The guitar isn’t pushed to it’s limits at all, but it still provides a nice backing. The piano is almost haunting and adds that final touch. But all in all, I’m not THAT big of a fan of the lyrics. It sounds like they were trying to make “Closer Jr.” 3/5

Track Five - Echoplex: Now, this is one of my favorite songs on this album, and it is well deserving of that title. True, it’s a hell of a lot calmer then the past few songs, even Discipline, but the simplicity really contributes to the feeling that Trent is alone, as he sings. The guitar is very cool, very much during the bridge. The drums are samples this time but still are really cool. The piano is very chilling and adds a creepy undertone to the song. The last lines leave the song with bringing that creepy undertone up from under the song and bring it to view. 5/5

Track Six - Head Down: Now we get back to the riot-causing songs. The verse is nothing but distortion. The guitar is distorted. The drums even sound a bit distorted. Trent’s yelling comes back to say hello during the verses but during the chorus, it changes places with his singing voice. The chorus is A LOT calmer then the rest of the song and is actually kinda calming. The piano really helps bring the calming effect and the softness of the guitar is calming also. It feels like a relay race between the fast, jock type guy and the slow, fat nerd. But in a good way. 5/5

Track Seven - Lights In The Sky: This song actually creeps me out. All it is is Trent and a Piano. Nothing more. That’s it. The verse is very calming and the chorus is just downright haunting. Trent’s heartfelt lyrics add to the creepy effect so much and almost gives you goosebumps. It may be the shortest song on the album (apart from 999,999), but it is the album’s somewhat hidden gem. 5/5

Track Eight - Corona Radiata: Before the review, Corona Radiata is a part of your brain. It’s an actual body part. That’s what the name means.

So, many people call this song a waste of time or just a space filler. I think this is a very well placed space filler. The seven minutes and thirty-four seconds of almost nothing has such a calming effect, it’s scary. I mean, after listening to 1,000,000, Letting You, and Head Down, you listen to this and your will be one of the most calm people in the world. The nothing eventually builds up to a nice ending, but it is really nothing but a space holder. But it’s a GOOD space holder. 3/5

Track Nine - The Four of Us are Dying: Another instrumental, but not as calm as the last one. It is like a mix of Rock and Trance music. They have the Trance like synth, but they have the Rock like guitar to not steer TOO far away from rock. Overall, it’s ok. 3/5

Track Ten - Demon Seed: The last one. The big closing BANG. And, yes, this album does go out with one hell of a bang. This 5 minute outro to “The Slip” has the drums at their most beatish (I make words up, ok?) and the guitar is calm and yet un-calm at the same time and the piano adds a awesome, yet hard to notice backup for everything else. About 3 minutes in, the s**t hits the fan and everything blows up. Trent starts yelling, the guitar goes crazy and it is just awesome. Then we have a bit of a calm part, then we get our heads slammed into the wall of epic. Trent’s voice gets the effect of echo, the guitar is funky and it’s counterpart is distorted, the drums is still beatish, and Trent adds his signature haunting voice at the end. 5/5

Overall: 5/5. I love Nine Inch Nails. I know I labeled almost everything a 5/5, but to me, this album is just plain epic. It’s a distorted-though, synthed-up, screamed-out masterpiece.

A bit more info:

On July 22, “The Slip” was released as a Limited Edition CD/DVD combo. Only 250,000 were made and I have number 6,806. “The Slip” is available as the Limited Edition CD/DVD combo which includes:

CD with all 10 tracks

DVD with live rehearsals of 1,000,000, Letting You, Discipline, Echoplex, and Head Down.

A 24 page booklet.

One of 3 (Not sure if correct number) Sticker packs (depending on country)

All in a six-panel Digipack.

It was also released as a 180 gram gatefold vinyl LP with a 24 page booklet and the Limited Edition CD/DVD version should be at your local music store, they didn’t run out JUST yet.

“The Slip” is available for Free Download at http://theslip.nin.com.

Ok, I like to review things as soon as possible, but then if I do, I like to re-review that thing because if something is new and awesome, you get over excited and focus on the good and forget the bad. That was the case when I reviewed “RIOT!” by Paramore. So, here ya go! It’s a day later and I have had the album sink in. Re-review!

In no way is this a bad album, but it is also not the best album I have heard. That is a tie between “Hybrid Theory” and “The Fragile.” The thing is, this is a very good album, but it does have it’s cons.

A few songs feel out of place, and the flow is almost a bit choppy. A few songs are just not as good as the others, with my least favorite song on the album being “Hallelujah.” Let’s also face this, the lead singer is very good, but she is NOT the best lead singer ever. I kinda made it sound like she was and she is not, but still very good.

Most of the time they pull off the type of song well. But some of the softer songs on the album are kinda… what’s the word? They are… poor. They are fine, but I have heard many better songs.

Also, one of the most famous songs from the album, Crushcrushcrush, is very overrated. The chorus is awesome, but the rest of the song is pretty “meh.” And I also fail to see how the “They tapped you mouth…” part has anything to do with the rest of the song.

So, I still suggest that you pick this album up, but just know you probably won’t like all the songs, or you may not like any song. Some of the songs kinda have to grow on you. But I still think you should pick up this album.

Best Songs Redux:

Let The Flames Begin
Misery Business
Fences
Born For This