What to say about an album that will have already sold two million by the time you read this?

It is not Shake Your Moneymaker II. It is the album they wanted to make in the first place. There are mostly extended jams on blues grooves. I like it. I remember Chris and Rich Robinson on MTV's Rockline sometime last year. I was working in Mazzio's Pizza at the time, watching TV instead of working. I remember Chris was so stoned he could barely speak, and when he did it didn't make any sense.

But when they launched into "Thorn in My Pride." I remember thinking after hearing it, "Damn, this album is going to be good."

Don't overplay this album. There is other stuff college radio should focus on. But it's okay to cure the occasional blues-rock jones.

This got more response from my listeners Monday night than anything else I've played this year. Really amazing. And from talking to a few of the reporters, this is not an uncommon thing.

They do have that Bay-area sound, but this is loads better than the last Metallica (dare I blaspheme? sure.) and the new Testament. One of my listeners put it this way: "It's like Pantera, Metallica, Dark Angel and Sepultura all rolled into one unholy ball-crunching machine!" He really said that. I wrote it down, I was so surprised. I don't usually get such testimonials.

But he's right. And Defiance is even more than that. They aren't some major label-hyped band. Hell, from all appearances, this isn't even Roadracer's top release of the week. But it is far and away the best.

The latest Red Deci-band does not disappoint. As I noted a while back in the advance review, there is at times a rather obvious Jane's influence. It gets a little hairy on "Latest Lover", but for the most part Fat Tuesday heads out into their own sound. Bass-heavy, funky even at times, the one thing that keeps this all together is a heavy emphasis on rhythm.

That's right. If you have a little imagination, you can dance to this. No machines or anything silly like that. Just grooves. Heavy ones, at that. Do the clubs in your town think all alternative music sounds like Nine Inch Nails or Nirvana? Well, help their asses out. I know, there is only so much you can do. But every little bit helps. And I have a few techno-loving friends who would eat this album up whole, even though it sounds nothing like anything else they listen to. It just has those, well, grooves.

Coming in somewhere between the Sabbs and the Chilis. Just further out than either. No Top 40 ballad-izing going on here. Just real rock and roll. Somewhere on a funkier plane.

Like many of the other artists on C/Z, Gnome has a great sense of how to use a guitar. But this is more than just grunge rehash. In fact, it's not that at all. More cool pop music, a la Treepeople or earlier Young Fresh Fellows. This is definitely cool. And catch the C/Z show at NMS: Hammerbox, Treepeople, Porn Orchard, these guys and more!

You folks should be getting this sometime next week. If you don't, call those nice folks at C/Z and ask why.

If you receive the way-cool 10" vinyl picture disc, then you get a work of art, but you miss out on the two extra cd tracks.

Packaged with one of the finer tracks from their OPGU album is another cover of Heart's "Barracuda". Other recent ones to compare this to: Chastain and Angkor Wat (part of whom are now in Skrew). For sheer firepower, I'm sticking with the Angkor Wat version, but the Boyz are much more bass-heavy than any of the others.

While the third cd-track is basically an encore-begging, crowd-stomping thing, the final track kicks my ass into tomorrow. If you go for art, you will miss one cool song. If you still haven't checked out OPGU, then do it today.

The hardcore director at KCOU told me this was not just a great punk album, it was a great metal album as well. I listened to it and must agree.

This is just damn hard. The sound is a little fatter than previous efforts, which helps the metal-thrash comparisons. I don't know why more people haven't picked up on this album.

All of the classic elements of hardcore: aggression, attitude and anti-social lyrics, combined with the heavy production and solos associated with thrash. Tasty.

A long and winding story made short: Daniel House, the big guy at C/Z, loved this band a lot, and managed to gain the rights to these 1986 and 1987 albums.

It's always fascinated me how trios sometimes seem to be more experimental than other set-ups. And these boys are from Texas. While they called it hardcore back then, this stuff would be classified as hard alternative.

But very cool. If you play reissues, or never got the albums from Mordam a few years back, this would make an excellent addition to your format.

I thought the single was pretty good. I compared them to Prince. I knew that was wrong the instant I did it. But I went with it anyway.

While a lot of this is sorta dull, there are moments that remind me of the funk heydays of the seventies. But even more reminds me of over-produced over-hyped projects like Soul II Soul. Sometimes the rhythms get me going, but other times I wonder if a drum machine has been invented that just cranks out random beats, and the band just schlepped lots of instruments over it.

This is rather uneven. I bet you'll find some stuff you like on it. I did. But they'll have to work a little harder to get a more complete piece of work.

It is their best album yet. That said, even with the excellent rhythm work put forth by Steve DiGiogio on bass and Jon Allen on drums, this pales next to labelmates Defiance.

On the other hand, this is a fine piece of work when considered independently of that. It really is too bad Roadracer had to release two fine thrash releases at once.

At times this gets truly inspired, especially in the middle of the album. I really enjoyed listening to it.

I'm sorry. I just finished listening to Defiance for the fourth time in two days, and my senses are a bit distorted. This is good. Play it.

Even the press admits the band will "tramp heavily in the footsteps already paved by the likes of Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson." If you like those guitarists, then you'll like this album.

Commercial fare, non-threatening or offending. Like all guitar "gods", Schultz tends to rely on speed more than content, but then isn't that what all the little headbangers are after?

Sorry to be so rude. This is a decent, (mostly) instrumental, guitar album. I just wish someone would have the balls to walk outside the already paved footsteps.

History.

Not the kind you find in books. Aural (not oral) history. This is a lesson in the roots of Boston hardcore. How is was, and where it was destined to go.

If you have never heard of the band, this is a good primer. It contains many live tracks, but mostly unreleased jams (thrashes?) from various recording sessions. And if these were throwouts...

Yeah, so SSD is legendary in Boston circles. This release should help spread the word nationwide, if it hasn't been already.

This is not just one of those "take the money and run" session rip-off releases. All of these songs stand on their own, and most bands would be incredibly happy to have one on an album. It's in the interests of history...

When the cute sorority girl goes up to the dj and asks for some industrial, she would not expect this. But not only is Therapy? ozone hostile (to borrow a phrase), they have some cool dance beats as well. Yes, moshers and technoids can unite in the love of one band.

Where FLA and NIN have paved the way for stuff like Godflesh's "Slavestate" and all, this really brings it all together, and adds a bit of the alternative rock sound as well. The songs are mellow enough to have real melodies and (yes) real drums at times, this is cool. And it comes at a time when drinking and dancing are good cure-alls for what ails college students most this time of year: papers, finals, and morbid visions of a jobless future (oops, let that one slip in).

Trust me: don't ask if you need Therapy? It's a given that you do.

While the sound is nothing new, Transmetal carouse through the death meirtal genre, at times careening into chaos, other times grinding to a halt.

And there are not too many Mexican bands who can say they've had a record released in the U.S. This was one of those limited releases on GC, so if you want it, you'd better call fast.

Okay, let's do a reality check.

If you did not immediately drop prostrate on the floor and thank the deity of your choice upon receiving this missal, then you can go somewhere and abuse yourself while real people read this.

I am really speechless. This is not technically a DK covers album, but more a celebration of the Dead Kennedys's spirit. And while I came late to the original party (the first time I heard of the band was in the book Wired, written about John Belushi, who loved the song "Too Drunk to Fuck"), I can appreciate this album as much as anyone else.

You say you play metal, not hardcore? Then play tracks from Sepultura, Napalm Death and L7. For those more adventurous, dig the more obscure bands on here. Why play Faith No More when there is a far superior version by the aforementioned band L7 or other great tunes by Kramer, Sister Double Happiness and Les Thugs (yeah!). Not to mention the rest of the AT family and few other friends. Oh, and while the Disposable Heroes song is also on their great new album, you should still check it out.

There is no excuse for missing this album. Get your head out of your ass and play, play, play!

I've loved these guys since their album on Link records of a couple years ago. You may have heard the song "China Wall" somewhere. These are the guys who put that out.

Nice single. The first side showcases a fine Midwestern twist on the Seattle grunge thing, and side two is a rockin' little thing that I blasted over and over. If you never play seven-inchers, give this one a shot!

The word on the boys is that they are indeed moving from Iowa to Seattle and will be recording an album for C/Z in the near future. I couldn't think of anything cooler.

The buzz on this band is incredible. Everybody I know raves whenever the name is mentioned. We somehow got them to play for our Springfest (see related story), and they were rather amazing.

Live, the bass is just incredible. It's more subdued here, but I figure there will be more opportunities on their full-length, which is coming out on Caroline in a few weeks (like the end of May/beginning of June).

If this is just a taste of what will sound like, then a full release will be rather great.