Saturday, July 03, 2004
High School Reunion
Earlier this week, I went to my local record store and purchased the Cure (The Cure) and Ministry (Houses Of The Molé). Both of these bands were in heavy rotation in high school and I thought it would be cool to see what the old guys were up to. Well, after a week of catching up with the guys, it turns out they're just old.
On the Cure's newest, there are some standout moments, but they are few and far between. Robert howls and squeals more than he has in a long time, and I am happy about that, but he also seems to be repeating past lyric ideas, especially when it comes to running out of ideas or throwing in the towel. The album was recorded live in the studio, so it has a bit more energy to it, but there isn't really much to make any song stand out. It doesn't help that they haven't filled their lead guitar position lately, making for a lot of rhythm guitar but none of the leads or solos that I am so fond of. I never thought I'd say it, but the single "The End Of The World" may be the best track on this one.
I wrote off Ministry back in the mid-nineties but decided to give this new album a try after reading reviews about how political and anti-Bush it was. This album finds Al Jourgensen (vocals and guitar) and Mike Scaccia (guitar) to be the only members to survive the nineties (co-founder and bassist Paul Barker even left the band). It would seem that Paul Barker was responsible for the samples (I heard quite a few recycled samples from the Psalm 69 album) and the slower, more interesting numbers. The music on this album is sadly bland; it is speed metal played by a bunch of fifty year old junkies. The guitars are always chugging along as fast as they can go with a big guitar solo always near. There are no bass grooves at all to keep it interesting. To be honest, the guitar riffs aren't even that interesting. And as far as political lyrics, this is about as good as it gets:
Sounds like some of my high school buddies grew with me while others just stayed the same and got old.
On the Cure's newest, there are some standout moments, but they are few and far between. Robert howls and squeals more than he has in a long time, and I am happy about that, but he also seems to be repeating past lyric ideas, especially when it comes to running out of ideas or throwing in the towel. The album was recorded live in the studio, so it has a bit more energy to it, but there isn't really much to make any song stand out. It doesn't help that they haven't filled their lead guitar position lately, making for a lot of rhythm guitar but none of the leads or solos that I am so fond of. I never thought I'd say it, but the single "The End Of The World" may be the best track on this one.
I wrote off Ministry back in the mid-nineties but decided to give this new album a try after reading reviews about how political and anti-Bush it was. This album finds Al Jourgensen (vocals and guitar) and Mike Scaccia (guitar) to be the only members to survive the nineties (co-founder and bassist Paul Barker even left the band). It would seem that Paul Barker was responsible for the samples (I heard quite a few recycled samples from the Psalm 69 album) and the slower, more interesting numbers. The music on this album is sadly bland; it is speed metal played by a bunch of fifty year old junkies. The guitars are always chugging along as fast as they can go with a big guitar solo always near. There are no bass grooves at all to keep it interesting. To be honest, the guitar riffs aren't even that interesting. And as far as political lyrics, this is about as good as it gets:
"Ask me why you're feeling screwed
And I'll give you the answer
There's a Colon, Dick & Bush
Justa hammerin' away"
Sounds like some of my high school buddies grew with me while others just stayed the same and got old.
