A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the black vinyl 30th Anniversary reissue of Alice In Chains’ Jar Of Flies EP. After seeing the multitude of “deluxe” variants of Alice In Chains’ Jar Of Flies EP that have been released in celebration of its thirtieth anniversary (on multi-colored vinyl, on vinyl with little replica houseflies pressed into it and so on), it’s refreshing to see the record reappear remastered and reissued on the most apt color vinyl possible: on...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the One More Time… LP by Blink-182. It would be easy to find a cynical angle to approach the existence and sound of One More Time…, Blink-182’s ninth studio album and first to feature singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge since 2015. Did DeLonge’s return have something to do with singer/bassist Mark Hoppus’ cancer diagnosis in 2021? Was it because everyone in the band had discovered the sting of post-Blink projects not performing as well...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Judas Priest’s Invincible Shield 2LP. In the fifty-five years since their foundation, Judas Priest has seen no small number of changes to their form and style while still remaining an inimitable mainstay of the metal community. The band has never been afraid to re-evaluate their sound and style as they go, and that fact is very clear on Priest’s nineteenth album, Invincible Shield. Now, on one hand, that Invincible Shield is being...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Kane Brown’s Ordinary Man 2LP. It doesn’t take long, after one begins listening to Kane Brown’s Different Man LP, to realize that the artist is most definitely onto something here that might end up changing everything – if it has a chance. True, country music has been surrounding and absorbing every other type of music with which it comes into contact over the last twenty-five years or so (thanks in no small...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Bruce Springsteen’s Covers Volume 1 – Only The Strong Survive 2LP. As open as Bruce Springsteen’s fans have become to the singer’s experimentations and his desire to push boundaries as the tape rolls in the studio, that doesn’t mean the singer’s fans are incapable of being apprehensive when they hear how far from the norm The Boss has strayed “this time,” in advance of hearing the results. Certainly, when word got out...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Humble Quest LP by Maren Morris. It’s funny how, as good as each of the eleven songs on Maren Morris’ Humble Quest are, trying to pin down their appeal will probably take listeners a minute. For example, when “Circles Around This Town” opens the A-side of the album, listeners will be able to appreciate the “hard work will pay off” root which informs the song as well as the pop-country heart...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Patient Number 9 2LP by Ozzy Osbourne. With the last good Ozzy Osbourne album having been released over twenty years ago now (2001’s Down To Earth was respectable – 2010’s Scream was both an earnest and mawkish expression of Ozzy’s strengths as it tried to update its styling for a new, digital generation which fell flat and 2020’s Ordinary Man saw the singer shaking off a lot of rust but still...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Monsters LP by Tom Odell. When it comes to Tom Odell’s fourth album, Monsters, it’s very likely that listeners will find themselves wondering if context does indeed inform musical creation, to a degree. The reason for that is simple: as soon as a stylus sinks into the A-side of Monsters and “Numb” opens it, an image of Ed Kowalczyk (the once-and-again singer of York, PA’s Live – for the unfamiliar) in...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme 12” EP by Mobley. Such events are undeniably rare in any language, but Mobley’s Young & Dying in the Occident Supreme is possessed of an imagination and design that is simply unheard of. The record goes out of its way to present listeners with a series of ideas which do not correlate; the A-side features six fantastic and undeniably unique pop songs while the...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into PWR/UP by AC/DC. For basically the last thirty-eight years, AC/DC has tried a few different things and taken a few different turns to try and grow up (or age up? Or act their age?) with limited success at most. Every time the band has tried to move forward from the callous one-liners and double entendres that first helped to make them famous (Flick Of The Switch was the first occasion), AC/DC has...