Slipknot: Hollywood Palladium 10/29/09

The very thought of seeing Slipknot at the Palladium made me jump in the air. Having seen them throughout the years from small clubs to large arenas its always great to see a band that has achieved that level of success come back to where it all began. And everyone in attendance whether it was their first time or 8Th (like mine) was there with such anticipation you could feel it in the air.

First up was Vision Of Disorder. The New York based hardcore band is back taking names and kicking ass. Many believe they are pioneers of the "metalcore" sound. Playing such classics as D.T.O., Viola, Landslide, What You Are, and Jada Bloom, those who knew them sang loud and proud (Myself being one of them). Their addition to the show was great and provided a great warm up soundtrack before Slipknot.

Slipknot took the stage with the opening sequence of their self titled debut and continued to the onslaught of the first 4 songs from that record. The crowd went nuts and the floor opened up. One thing is for sure Corey Taylor is a great front man who knows how to get what he wants from a crowd. They played a few new tracks which translated rather well live. Duality from their third album "Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses" was the highlight of the night, sparking the crowd into a loud sing along and an eruption of excitement. The first song of their encore was an interesting choice. "Snuff" the slowest song they have ever wrote from their new album "All Hope Is Gone." While it's a great song I'm not sure I would have picked that to come back to the stage with. Though they did redeem themselves with "Surfacing" with the crowd singing the famous lines "Fuck it all. Fuck this world. Fuck all the things that you stand for. Don't belong. Don't exist. Don't give a shit. Don't ever judge me." In fact I think the crowd was louder than the band at that point. "Spit It Out" closed out the evening with all 1500+ people on their knees ready to jump the fuck up. All in all it was a great show. A great opening band and the chance to see Slipknot in a small spot. 

Slipknot Set List:

1) 74261700027

2) Sic

3) Eyeless

4) Wait and Bleed

5) Get This

6) Before I Forget

7) Sulfur

8) Disasterpiece

9) Dead Memories

10) The Blister Exists

11) Vermillion

12) Psychosocial

13) Duality

14) People = Shit

15) Snuff

16) Surfacing

17) Spit It Out

Mudvayne: Heard It All Before (single) & Beautiful and Strange (single)

The thought of a new Mudvayne always sounds great. The only problem is that with the last 2 records they have really fallen short and left many (including myself) rather disappointed. The band had said earlier last year that they recorded 2 albums. The first release "The New Game" fell flat with the exception of a couple songs. They did say though that the other album they recorded was much heavier and back to where they left off on their second album. Well in the past couple months Mudvayne has released a couple songs from their upcoming Self Titled album, and from the 2 songs they've released it kills. 

Beautiful and Strange the first song they put out starts with a machine gun riff that gets your head bobbing. The rhythm section of the drummer and bass player is tighter than it has been in quite some time. Vocally it's not too complex but Chad Gray has always written honestly (in this band as opposed to his work in Hellyeah). This song is a nice introduction back to where they should have been years ago.

http://www.myspace.com/mudvayne

Heard It All Before is what you expect from Mudvayne. It's an unrelenting assault on your ears, in a good way. This song puts a smile on my face. The guitar churns metal on this song, even including a pretty sic guitar solo. The bass as always is ripe and shines with the explosive drums. The vocals and melody make this song a sure mosh pit anthem for them. What a great song.

http://www.metalsucks.net/2009/10/30/think-youve-heard-it-all-before-from-mudvayne-think-again/

With these 2 new songs it seems like Mudvayne is back on track and ready to kick ass again. While they were trying to evolve and become better songwriters it seems they sacrificed what made them so good in the first place. Welcome back!!!!

Them Crooked Vultures: New Fang (single)

At first thought on paper, the combination of Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) is a dream lineup. The term "supergroup" comes to mind. Well today is the day their first single New Fang is released and... it's pretty damn good. Very Rock N' Roll. It combines the best elements of all 3 of these guys. Dave is back behind the kit and hitting hard with smooth grooves. John is on bass and his licks are so in sync with Dave it's almost as though they have the same rhythmic mentality. Josh's guitar rings through with clear brightness while remaining dirty and raw. His vocals and the melody that follows really make you want to sing along and jump up and down. One can only hope the rest of the album is as good as this song. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7_vH3H8LPI

Overall Rating: 9/10

Rammstein: Holy Schizer!!!

After a 4 year absence from the masses, Rammstein have returned with an album that is unrelenting and chock full of everything that makes them fire on all cylinders. Never one to compromise their art for the sake of selling records, these maniacal Germans have released their best material since Mutter (which in my opinion is their best album) in 2002. Lead single Pussy is a prime example. Though some might perceive it as a joke the music in the song is classic Rammstein. The video that accompanies it is one of the most creative videos that has been released in quite some time. While it's basically a porn video, it sure it great. The first track on the album Rammlied kicks it off and the rest of the songs follow the unrelenting suit. Track 4 Haifisch and track 5 B******** seem like they have taken a lesson from Sweden and their melodic death metal scene and boy is it tasty. The recording and production on this record is bombastic and makes you feel every note and drum beat. The vocals (all in German as usual) stand out on this album more than their last as it seems the time off made Til's voice better. A lot of metal bands today try to make "raw" recordings but fall short due to the digital age and ability to perfect everything. Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da sticks to Rammstein's classic sound and doesn't stop. There is a Deluxe edition that has 5 bonus tracks that are more like Sehnsucht their breakthrough album which featured Du Hast. There have been a ton of great releases this past year from Mastodon, Gallows, Isis and many others, and this belongs on the list as well. This album is wonderful and was well worth the wait!!! Welcome back guys!!!!!!

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

Welcome...

Welcome to Sights & Sounds. The home of the most celebrated music of yesterday and today. 

What will be included:

Album Reviews- of the newest releases and of the albums you've loved over the years

Show Reviews- of the latest tour and one off shows. Including pictures and possible live audio (when possible)

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Brian