While I never thought of Jello as being influenced by Willie Nelson, the comparisons here sound pretty clear to me. The A-side is a reworking of the old Carter Family tune "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (which is a hymn now in a few denominations, I think). I don't know who thought of it, but this is really fucking funny.

If you thought this little bit of blasphemy would tick off Grandma, pop open that 7" sleeve and check out the handy items detailed within. Oh my. It's enough to think Pat Robertson founded a college to pick up coeds.
As for the flip, Jello, Mojo and company take on Jurassic Park, with mixed results.

I would sneak in to the Opry to catch this act. I wonder what ol' Hank Snow would think of it, though.

Highly technical playing, soaring scale runs and, unfortunately, predictable chord changes. I know this guy has talent, he wields it like a big stick. Now he has to prove to me he can write the interesting song, which is pretty tough for solo guitar stuff.

Not quite there yet. There are flashes of inspiration here and there, but certainly not a coherent vision of uniqueness. Oh well. That's what time is for.

Yeah, there are semblances to other NC pop acts like Superchunk and Polvo, but this is a little heavier than those folk usually get.

A nifty trick of addictive rhythms with the occasional guitar buzz attack at the chorus, so you know to bang your heads at the right time, I suppose.

I must admit I thought this approach was cool when I heard Poster Children for the first time, but it's starting to wear on me. To these guys's credit, however, they wrote two good songs and present them rather nicely on this cool slab.

Combining that odd psychedelic scream movement and the post-punk riffola that bands like Girls Against Boys make so attractive, Capsize 7 are awful accomplished for such a release as this. A good granola fix.

R.E.X. has just secured R.E.D. distribution, and this is a release to celebrate that, and to tempt your ears for what's coming soon.

The first, eponymous, Circle of Dust album is being re-recorded and will be released next summer or so. The second album, which was originally released as Brainchild, will now be acknowledged as a Circle of Dust project and re-issued in February.

As most of you missed out on these guys the first time around, this is strong industrial music. I thought the first album was more experimental and the second more plain heavy, but you be the judge. Be prepared to be awestruck.

There are few absolute truths in this life, but one of them is never miss a Dash Rip Rock show. If you haven't been following this admonishment, then get with the program.

This is their first release for Doctor Dream (they were most recently on Mammoth), but they share the one characteristic I've heard from DD artists: good songwriting.

Whether the inflection is C&W, punk or just plain pop, DRR tear through the patterns to create a whole new suit. And this is no exception to their career so far.

Some bands are best described as bar bands. The kind of band that plays music you think you've heard before, but in fact the music is so infectious you just don't realize it's original. When you're sloshing around in front of the stage with a beautiful girl, and the bands seems to read your mind and play a song like "True Drunk Love".

That's why you never miss a Dash Rip Rock show.

One of Roadrunner's most heralded recent signings (at least by their mention), this one satisfies at first listen.

Sprawling guitars spew whirling riffs into the atmosphere, and Alice Cohen belts out a nice melodic vocal line.

Nothing amazing, but fairly solid sounding, and with a decent ear as to the commercial side of things to boot. The full album should be a winner.

What can you expect from a disc whose liners list a "studio whore" and from a label (Ever Rat) that is dedicating its latest releases to G.G. Allin.

This effort from the leader of the Mentors is just another chapter in that book. It's kinda funny, but the misogyny gets a little heavy at times.

As for the music, it's oddly exactly what you'd expect for such lyrical content: down and dirty riffage that goes on and on, much like porno soundtracks.

I can honestly say I haven't heard anything like this in a long time. It's pretty hard to disgust me, but this stuff comes close at times. Entertaining as a joke, but I have the feeling these folks are serious.

Okay, this is what you might call my guilty pleasure. I loved the first Gamma Ray album, as I had been a fairly serious Helloween fan (at least in the early days). The second was merely mediocre, and I despaired.

A lot of what that second album missed was the combination of speed and melody. It was slower and a little cheesy. Well, this may be a little on the Velveeta side, but the speed is back and I'm climbing on for the ride.

Judging by the state of the liners (horrible layout, you can't even read them) and the general timing of this release, it seems this disc is being dumped out with no hope of success.

It doesn't have to be that way. I know a lot of you have a penchant for mid-eighties euro-metal (i.e. Maiden, Judas Priest, etc.) when it was good. This keeps that tradition alive and smoking. I would love to see a tour with these guys and Iced Earth. Wouldn't that be great?

Recorded at AmRep studios, and you can tell why: this is heavier than, well, I promised no more scatological references this year, so I'll refrain. It's just real heavy.

Actually, I have to give the name some credit. If you can imagine God getting Babe the Blue Ox out of the stable and plowing the Missouri and the Mississippi and the Grand Canyon, then you get the idea.

Nothing subtle or refined. Just bass and guitar crashing on your head from all directions. The production is a little fuzzy, but it fits the music perfectly. Play until your synapses snap and your sinuses bleed.

A solo guitar artist who seems more intent on the artist part than the guitar part. Pretty cool idea.

Goldie doesn't mind getting heavy, even if it involves simple lines. Sure, he flashes his talent here and there, but such beasts are best left tied up to be used only when the heavy artillery is called for.

Former Dokken-ite Jeff Pilson lends his voice to a few tracks, and as the music doesn't require a Pavarotti, he is capable. The lyrics are pretty cheesy, though, and the effect is that of a heavier Yngwie.

When it's just Goldie by himself, the music is pretty decent and Goldie has a knack of cranking out just the emotion necessary.

Many folks other than me have referred to ITN as purveyors of "filmic" music. In every other review I have seen of this album, I have noticed the phrase "and so the natural progression has been continued..." into making music for a movie.

And they all laud this stuff, as if it now that Dead Can Dance have a big "hit" (isn't that a spooky thought), it should be okay for other folks of a similar ilk to compromise and put out a commercial product.

This is pretty decent music for a movie (it certainly beats The Bodyguard or anything like that, of course), but ITN had increasingly become interested in rhythms. Not necessarily dance beats, but just the interpolation of military snare work and other ideas. And then the music encompassed everything.

None of that here. It's brooding stuff that would probably make me really paranoid if I tripped, but since I don't it just sort of depresses me. I just wish they were going in an innovative direction. This seems all muddled in a trendy pond. Bummer.

I've been wanting to hear more Loudblast since their few tracks on Century Media's first U.S. release, the In the Eyes of Death compilation. And now, almost three years later, here they show up on Futurist. Well, at least it's here.

No liners provided, so I'll have to wing some of this. This is rather tightly produced, with some interesting sound effects wandering in and out. These tend to fill out the sound as opposed to distracting the listener, though, so I have to give them the thumbs up.

Top-notch song writing, too. While I keep thinking this must be awful commercial, when I try to analyze the lines and riffs, I see traditional death metal, with little classic rock pollution.

A master stroke. Sheer genius. I've been waiting for a band to show me how death metal can progress without being tamed. This is not grindcore, but it is fairly aggressive death metal, and it sounds sublime.

More guitar hero solo work from one of the more talented axe-men around. With his last effort, I thought he was trying to get away from the highly technical and into more heart-felt works.

There are fewer runs up and down the scales, and those that exist are at least not terribly show-offy, but this has the sound of a Joe Satriani record. Which is to say, almost artificial.

Then there's the one song on the album that features Branford Marsalis and some other horns. This is still a fairly commercial piece, but it is just the slightest bit less glitzy than the rest.

I liked the direction of his last album. This is okay, but I was hoping for more.

My second review of a NC-based 7", and this one sounds nothing like most bands in the area.

Discordant screaming and really loose chord structures are the main feature, but the real star is this sludgy, chunk-ola guitar sound that reminds me a lot of Killdozer's finer moments.

This is not music to fuck to. It is not music to dance to. It is not music to sit back and appreciate. This is the official soundtrack for Serial Killer for the Practicing Psychopath magazine. Well, it would be, anyway.

Not that this is so weird or anything. The Melts just come off as really mean. Symphonies of disgust.

You might remember these guys for "88 Lines About 44 Women", which even I'd heard of. I like the bit of trivia about Jello Biafra being their roadie back when they started in Boulder (Colorado).

Well steeped in the school of the Talking Heads and other American "New Wave" artists (back at the old KCOU we called this stuff retro; don`t ask why), the Nails had more of a rock take on things, and very few of the songs here really reflect an early eighties way of thinking.

Most of the songs here are about religion, but not in the positive way certain people might like. They question faith, which is about the only thing I can see holding religion anywhere together.

I'm not sure how old all of these recordings are, but they keep well. This is a fine collection of what used to be called alternative music before Seattle came along. One listen should get you addicted.

While Sleep may be the S.F. band who has immersed themselves in the Sabbath mystique, Neurosis has proven it can start with Sabbath and move eons further.

This is not radio-friendly music, the songs are long, and to get a real sense of the whole, you have to pay attention. God, not focus on a song for six or seven minutes (or more)!

The production here is immaculate, and the use of samples at times helps to bring about a slightly industrial feel. You can feel the pain pulsating from this record.

Absolutely must listening; if you don't play this, then you are giving your listeners short shrift and assuming they are morons. All the reports I received for this are high in the charts. But don't play it because you are following the trendy thing to do. Play it because you have found a spot in your soul that recognizes genius.

The first solo release from one of the least-recognized members of the Louisville music scene, O'Bannon has a pleasant, rootsy take on this thing we call rock and roll.

Actually, it reminds me a bit of the band where he now plays guitar, Eleventh Dream Day. More acoustic, but almost as drivingly psychotic. He doesn't see things the way a normal person might. But then, after listening to this disc, even you might start to question your own normalcy.

The things that really distinguishes O'Bannon from a lot of rootsy, alternative types (many in the Louisville area) are his lyrics. They just cut through everything we in the real world take for granted. Like Dylan once said, "If you have nothing, then you have nothing to lose." Or that's how I remember it, anyway. O'Bannon's soul streams through every work, and he gives us something to lose.

Where another Southern rock band like the Black Crowes took the old masters and then spun away, eventually to even disavow the influence, the Outlaws embrace every last trace of goodwill people feel for the Allman Brother, Skynyrd and all that.

And they fail to leave a real trace of what the Outlaws are about. While I happen to think of Skynyrd as mostly tripe, at least they had a knack for the hook. This is just running down a long hill, and not stopping to pick the four leaf clover that distinguishes you from the rest.

Very poorly mastered disc. The sound drop-off was almost as bad as Poster Children's Twin/Tone disc (and that sucked!).

An attempt to mix funk and hard core, with fuzzy results. Some of that has to be the mastering, some is the production. But the fact of the matter is, there are a lot of bands out there trying to sound like this.

Sure, it's heavier than most of them, but I'm not about to vouch for quality. Of course, the sound seemed to improve as the album progressed (that, or I got used to it), and it sorta grew on me. Not enough to infect, but it does seem a little more interesting after extended listening.

Featuring ex-members of (ex-groups) the Hard Corps and Scatterbrain, so you can guess what it sounds like. It sure is oddly underproduced for the resources and experience these guys have.

Thing is, the lean grooves are rather attractive. Less bombast, and more focus on the lyrics, which are occasionally puerile but mostly socially conscious and reasonable commentary on the sad state of life these days. Sure to be picked up soon.

Nice, winding, guitar-driven tunes that end up screaming at you. Gets a little too Skin Yard-y for me at times.

Then again, they do this stuff fairly well, and they do have their own flair for the material. It gets heavier than SY at times, and at times it's mellower. Yes, we have to the "D" word: diversity.

That's the reason I can get into this. Third Stone is not afraid to try stuff on and see if it takes. Most of the time it does, but even when it doesn't, it's not too bad.

Using the simple, buzzsaw approach that Metallica started years ago (Helmet? Pantera? Just imitators.), Unsound have a solidly produced that has much commercial potential. It seems every label is signing a band that sounds like this.

Which is good for the bands, I guess, but I look for more original content. This features good, solid playing and writing. But it just doesn't break away from the pack.

While most industrial bands stick to a few tried and true rhythms and basic song structures, a few dare to experiment.

Until a couple of years ago, this was, in actuality, an experimental genre. Now that NIN has sold untold millions and Jourgensen is a Seventeen pin-up, I guess it's finally time to get back to the underground.

Just remarkable texture to the songs here. Much like P.E.'s Fear of a Black Planet, there are about ten levels in each song. Layer upon layer of samples and instruments combine into an almost symphonic orgy of sound.

It's heavy; it's dance music; it's sheer pleasure. You can bathe in this untold times, and it will never get old. Like a favorite movie, you will discover a new feature with every play. How many times can you identify the "Don't worry-be happy" sample in Fear? I'm up to 133. Such devotion will certainly be rewarded on this disc as well.

VOID manages to bridge the gap between the grind and death metal without compromising either. They do stick to the grind side of things, I suppose, but this is a pretty cool sound to get.

A lot of it has to do with Pat Wombacher's stunning drum technique. Yes, I know any drummer can go fast, but he interpolates some great rhythms into his double-pumping bass drum work.

One song is a reworking of a John Donne poem, and they also cover a Green River song (the obligatory Sab, too, but I'll forgive).

Where have these guys been? Oregon is the appropriate answer, I guess. These guys are the American death metal discovery of 1993, even if most of you won't start playing it until 1994. Do not let this one slip through your fingers.

A band that almost didn't exist. And doesn't any more. Jeff Pilson, ex of Dokken and now with MSG and Freakshow, leads a bunch of guys who are now playing elsewhere in a last stab at glam.

They mean well. Many of the lyrics have something to do with racial harmony and general peace, love and happiness. Idealistic, but it sounds kinda silly considering the commercial nature of the music.

They cycle through all the necessary glam moods, from anthemic hard rocker to anthemic 12-string straight rocker to anthemic 12-string ballad rocker. I think you get the idea. There is a reason not many folks are into this music anymore. It is far too pretentious to take seriously. These guys should try the "new directions" they espouse on the album.

Thanks to Miller and his Mountain of work, Leslie West has been pretty busy. He played on a few tracks on Billy Joel's new album (returning the favor with "New York State of Mind" on this disc) and, well, you seem to see and hear him everywhere.

Of course he can still handle a guitar very nicely, and his voice is a pleasant, bluesy kind of rough. His choice of songs to cover is rather odd, except for Hendrix's "Red House", which I think almost everyone has done. He, of course, manages as well if not better than any of the other pretenders.

This heavy blues-rock is really not my bag, but West almost makes me really like it. It's fairly commercial and all, but thoroughly enjoyable.

I almost saw these guys; unfortunately, in my moving haze last summer, I confused September with October. I can't believe I did that.

The 7" was the salad, now here's the meal. A lot of you have picked up on the Neurosis, and that's cool. But there is no good reason to overlook this album just because you're playing another AT release.

While the hard-core roots still show, Zeni Geva has progressed from the "get together and play loud" stage. They seem to have picked up a little from the Chicago HC scene, lending to a Jesus Lizard-Season to Risk feel about some of the songs. Not a bad thing in the slightest.

But ZG has a lot more going for it. Steve Albini has captured a very live feel (something he is pretty good at), and it gives this album a real spark. Something about being on the outside looking in; Zeni Geva has taken many stateside conventions and molded them into a new crunchy meal. A very satisfying one.