Sell Out Records - A Music Review Blog

2011, what a year. This release came out in October of 2011 and it was the fifth record from the band Jane’s Addiction. I have been a fan of the band since I first saw Perry Farrell in “Been Caught Stealing” and of course my affinity for Porno For Pyros is also well documented in my blogs. This record came out swinging with a whole new attempt at capturing the magic of the band’s earlier material, without sacrificing too much. Was it really worth it? Did the guys really come through on this one, or was it another miss in a long line of bad rock records that came out in the 2000s? The Heavy Bass Lines Makes The Great Escape Amazing “The Great Escape” shows Jane’s Addiction’s prowess for song writing . The music is well produced, and what I find to be absolutely astonishing is the bass work. Dave Sitek’s bass guitar playing on this record is not to be missed. If you’re a bass guitar fan, then you have to listen to this record a lot. It’s fascinating how the record pulls through ...

A lot of people have talked about Christian music as a terrible thing. Lots of bands put together alternative rock and tagged a label of “alternative” onto it, and ended up creating subpar musical landscapes. Then there are bands that put together truly good albums but were plagued by the label. Falling Up released “Dawn Escapes” after putting out what I felt was an ok effort. Their previous record was muddied by sounds that seemed to be trying to be Linkin Park mixed with other Nu Metal bands but without the power. The record had some ok tracks, but it wasn’t until their second release that the band was able to create something grand, at least in my opinion. It didn’t start with the first track on “Dawn Escapes” however, as they seemed to be resting on their laurels. However, as the album progressed, holy crap, the band found a creative niche that was overlooked by music fans left, right, and in the middle. The piano entrance of “Exhibition” is your first signal that the band m...

In June 1996 the band Stavesacre released an album that would become one of the most eclectic , strong, and impressive records of all time. I’m not alone in saying this. The Los Angeles Times would write of the band summing up the one line that I tell a lot of people about, “The Best Band No One’s Ever Heard Of”. It’s so true, and the guys in Stavesacre know this all too well. For all the work and incredible elements that they pushed through in their careers, they never got the mainstream success that they should’ve received. In fact, it was on “Friction” that comparisons to Tool started, and you know what? Tool should’ve had these guys open up for them, as they would have been huge! “Friction” starts powerfully with the track “Threshold”. This guitar and bass heavy track is precisely the same style that Tool and other prog-metal bands were putting out in the mid and late 1990s. From the opening track, you are taken on a progressive metal and hard rock ride that you cannot mirror a...

I know it’s my job to compare musical acts and try to paint a picture as to what they are doing so that you can go and buy the record and check them out, but every now and again artists are beyond just one genre and above any simple terminology. It’s paying disservice for me to call the latest release from 2KX anything other than a masterpiece. Fronted by Lisa LaRue, this is a release of progressive rock and is like nothing I’ve heard in a long time. Yes, there are other prog rock bands out there, but this release is a cataclysmic exemplification of art, and not just music. With the release of “Sussuration”, you get elements of every type of musical genre, but it’s like a work of art, seamless in the integral elements that make this worth picking up. I was floored by the pieces, and really found myself in awe at the precision at which every element comes together. It’s like a giant jigsaw puzzle, and once you hear the record, you understand the pieces fit to make sure that this makes...