You're 5 CD's Away From Enlightenment

Back to back posts, awfully prolific of me isn't it? Steve's got a lot to answer for, its all his fault, first, throwing down the survey gauntlet, and then, having the audacity to writing a top 5 list that I feel compelled to copy. He's writing me a one way ticket to carpal tunnel syndrome. Before my limp, weak wrists give out, here's my list of cd's that everyone should at least listen to, I'm not advocating you buy them, but you might just learn something.

1. Glassjaw - Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
This album makes me feel uncomfortable. The complete schizophrenic nature of the songs puts you in a very unhappy place, a place that you're glad Daryl Palumbo is in, and you aren't. One minute crooning, the next whipped into a pure visceral rage, struggling to somehow spit the vitriol out faster, as it overflows from somewhere deep and dark inside. Using his craft as his catharsis, Palumbo runs the gamut of topics, many recognizable: Rejection, Love, Hate, Breaking Up. Some, new and novel: His battle with Crohn's Disease. Stand out tracks include the four minute assault on an ex love titled "Lovebites and Razorlines" with a snarling, scorned "Who you fucking now?" which is then replaced with Daryl's whirling dirvish vocal stylings, which, suddenly make way for actual singing, something that when this album was released, was near absent in most "heavy" albums. No rapping, no nonsense, just a ferocity and calculation lead by the vocals and followed by the instruments. Now, I admit, this isn't for everyone, you have to make an emotional investment in it, but if you do, the pay off is amazing. Take the ride.
Skip To: Pretty Lust, Love Bites & Razorlines, Her Middle Name Was Boom

2. Portishead - Roseland NYC
As a rule, live albums are usually poor. An exercise in the lead singers ego, the same songs, played the same way, sounding slighty tinny, with the word "fuck" and "motherfuckers" thrown in for good measure, this album is very different. Portishead don't make songs as much as they create soundscapes - layer upon layer of textured beats, with Beth's unmistakeable voice on top. Up until this point all of Portishead's work had been created in a hermetically sealed environment, where nothing is left to chance, tech-heads pawing over minutiae. Deciding to tour with full orchestral accompaniment, is a big fucking deal. It could have gone either way, but this calculated risk paid off in spades, the orchestra is subtle, yet powerful, adding new dimensions to old favorites. Beth's voice holds up in the live concert setting, sounding just as smokey and soulful as ever. The version of Sour Times on this release is reason enough to buy this album, it takes the brooding angst of the original and turns it into a proper rocker. Fantastic. Fall into this one, and when you emerge a few days later, thank me.
Skip To: Sour Times, Glory Box, Mysterions

3. My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
I'll admit that I'm biased, this band are my current flavor of the month. I feel as though they are on the cusp of greatness, they're single is getting regular play on MTV and popular rock radio, but as with any band, you have to go beyond the singles to get a real taste. I'm Not Okay (I Promise) is a good track, the rest of the album is genius, I love it. The lead singer, Gerard Way, is going to go super nova pretty soon - one review called him the personification of Anne Rice's Lestat, I don't actually know what that means, but I saw Interview with a Vampire, and that guy was a bad ass motherfucker. The songs are Tim Burton dark, angsty and so very clever. You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison might be the best song title ever, and the song rocks, I mean ROCKS. Jump on the bandwagon before its full of kids, buy this album, crank it up, and feel your head involuntarily bob. These songs get under your skin, stick in your head, and infect you. I hope they never find a cure.
Skip to: Give 'Em Hell Kid, You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison, Thank You For The Venom.

4. Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
There's something about adrogynes that excites me. Not sexually, I don't think, but the bands I like seem to all be led by a lady-boy, and Brian Molko is a prime example of this. He may be the biggest Nancy in rock music, but there's something infinitely appealing about him. His whiney voice twisting its way around simple, child like rhymes, tackling heavy subjects such as homosexuality, drug abuse, suicide, isolation, depression, the whole gamut. Placebo are a band of extremes, and on this release, they show perfectly the dichotomy. One the one hand, the rocking, fast paced, razor sharp tracks like Scared of Girls and Every You, Every Me (Cruel Intentions - a mainstream hit, YES!) are a full on assault. While the slower, more melodic tracks, such as My Sweet Prince and the title track smother you like a pillow in a dodgy nursing home. The lyrics aren't Shakespeare, but they're catchy, hook laden and heavy on chorus. This band will never take over the world, but they're just gay enough to make it interesting.
Skip to: Without You I'm Nothing, Scared of Girls, Every You, Every Me

5. Marilyn Manson - Lest We Forget
How could I not mention The Man Himself, it would be like Steve neglecting to mention Pearl Jam or Bruce Springsteen. Running the risk of sounding gushy, no other artist has affected my life, and wardrobe, the way Marilyn Manson has. Anytime an artist puts out a greatest hits package, its usually singles, and this one is no exception - pretty much every song is a single . Thankfully, Manson's singles usually kick ass. The Beautiful People, Sweet Dreams, The Dope Show, they're all here and accounted for. I'd never suggest a random, Manson album to anyone, its a very niche market, we're over here, with the self mutilators, journal keepers, and pre teen goths. But this one is easily accessible to everyone. The songs rock, and what's more important than that? If you're more interested in the image, or some of the ideas that go along with the songs, buy the respective albums. But if you just want to throw on a corset, tear up some fishnets, and throw your horns up to one of musics greatest icons and showmen, give this a listen.
Skip to: Personal Jesus, The Reflecting God, (s)AINT

This no longer looks like back to back posts, as it was intended. This post took a little longer to write than I thought it would, stupid life getting in the way. If you do give any of this stuff a listen, or if you do own it, let me know what you think - cause I love shooting the shit about this kind of thing.