But, then again, this is all context and that’s not what you hear when you’re listening to an album. Maybe the most obvious change you detect in Screamworks is that Ville’s vocals are not as “by-numbers” as before. There’s really an impression that he improvized a lot while recording his parts. It does get a bit overcrowded at times, like with Heartkiller or Ode to Solitude. On the other hand, this new method of more complex choruses hits home, Dying Song being the first to come to mind. And while we are on the subject of vocals, it’s hard not to notice this new energy that fills the album, which is probably the one with the most vocals (and no, I’m not counting screams).

            This energy goes along with the music, the upbeat, fast tones making Screamworks perfect material for live shows. Hopefully, they’ll open their future gigs with In Venere Veritas, because this is one perfect opener. Like St. Valentine and Shatter Me with Hope could also join that group. Add Love, the Hardest Way and you’ll have the HIM-est songs on the record. And then, there are the gems: In the Arms of Rain combines a lot of elements and influences, being the very definition of upbeat melancholy. Plus, its ending, with all the synth strings and “It’s the end of the road” line, is by far the best moment on Screamworks. The last track, The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness, the strangest HIM track to date, might or might not be the promise of radical changes in the future, but it is one wonderful experiment and an inspired way to end a record so that you’ll need to listen again right away. And it’s quite a surprise to have a HIM song reminding me of Vangelis. Katherine Weel is the catchiest tune and it would be a pity not to be released as a single, though references to a gun felatio might get the boys in trouble with some parents.

             Speaking of lyrics, Screamworks might just be Ville Valo’s best work yet. Each song contains haunting imagery and fresh takes on his favourite subjects of love and death. And life, this time. Acoustic Funeral‘s ”We’re dancing with tags on our toes” is just a brilliant way to claim one’s mortality, while still celebrating life. The metaphors used in Katherine Wheel offer yet another way to stress the bittersweet of l’amour, just like In Venere Veritas (extra kudos for having a chorus in Latin, not many go there). Still, I think Scared to Death remains the ultimate highlight of the record, maybe musically too, not just lyrically. “I’ll kiss that smile off your face” is just one those lines, that would have made movie history… if they were in a movie. It reminds us of 80′s hair metal, not as an emulation, but more as a tribute to a time when rock bands were ‘allowed’ to sing about love. “I’m not afraid to say ‘I Love You’” might as well be HIM’s ars poetica, since they had the guts to play romantic metal in a time when nobody else did it, influencing more bands than rock critics want to attribute to an act that’s still alive and going strong. 

Out of the Ashes

First of all, there is the rock out side, the fast and the heavy, stylized punkish tunes that rely on riff energy and Benington’s screamer abilities. Debut single, Crawl Back In, with its feel good beer party riff, is pretty much what I mean. The grunge-inspired lyrics of inner pain, self-loathing and confusion spawn a bit of an oxymoron in here, because you don’t really see drunk crowds shouting “Dont wanna loose my innocence”. Just as energetic, we can name Inside of Me and Condemned, both of which have that action flick vibe, suitable for the scene where the hero decides to take his ruthless revenge on those who wronged him: “Come on beat me, I’m not a man, Condemned”. The highlight of this punk aesthetics is the less than three minutes long, My Suffering, which has catchy melodic vocals on its otherwise dirty chorus. Chester’s pop voice and rock voice meet up on this one.

And speaking of his pop voice, what would a rock album be without its ballads… Out of the Ashes‘ strongest points are the softer tunes and from these, I have to go with Into You and Give Me Your Name as the best. Second single Let Down doesn’t… let down, either. Tracks like these have that classic value, that I was talking about earlier, while still benefiting from modern producing and interestingly manipulated guitars. Keyboards, synths and programming are also used to great effect (there are moments when Give Me Your Name will remind you of Angelo Badalamenti’s Twin Peaks) , though they never overshadow the guitar work.

There is also an anthemic side to Out of the Ashes, but, if you know your Chester Benington by now, you’ll guess that these are no ordinary anthems. For example, opener Fire, though sounding very stellar, is actually about death: “When I look to the stars I know just were you are, Your looking down upon me”. The last track, In the Darkness, sounds just as grand, but this time the dramatic overtones are in tune with the lyrics: ”I want to cut through my skin, And pull you within”. The rock craftsmanship is definitely there with Dead by Sunrise and it should be, because these guys are no rookies. Hopefully, we’ll hear a follow-up to Out of the Ashes sometime, because this is one side-project that…

CRAWL BACK IN LET DOWN ALBUM MAKING OF

The Resistance is the way an album should be: it’s an evolution of a sound, which means it’s something new but coming from the same seed as the previous Muse albums. From all the new tracks, Unnatural Selection is probably the Musest of them all and the rockiest of them all, reminding us of Hyper Music or Stockholm Syndrome, but, hey, we all know that Chris Wolstenholme is an avid (short-haired) headbanger in live performances. He needed some soundtrack for that. Also, MK Ultra is a very nice piece of urgent rock, based on a typical Muse riff. If you liked Map of the Problematique you’ll go for this one, too. In fact, the entire album has enough Muse in it to satisfy the fans, whether it is the Starlight-like catchy piano hook from Resistance, the Supermassive Black Hole-like temperate beat of Undisclosed Desires or the ever present loud, but melancholic vocals of Matt Bellamy. Of course.

But for every Muse-like element present in the tracklisting, there is also something new, an influence or a direction. I mean, you can almost swear they hired Freddy Mercury to do backing vocals on United States of Eurasia and the Queen wind doesn’t stop here, considering some of the guitar work on Unnatural Selection or the solo from Guiding Light. And speaking of this anthemic track, which at parts sounds like a traditional tune from some Northern Sicily Grape Festival, you can’t help noticing some U2 delays and echoes on those guitars, very appropriate, considering the two bands are touring together, as we speak (23 September – 14 October, 2009). Beyond the obvious prog rock extremes, one can call this Muse’s most classical and symphonic album. Previous dabbles in this field take full form here, especially in the three-piece Exogenesis.

The first part, Overture remains a highlight of the album, being, one could say, the climax of what Muse have been working towards with tracks like Space Dementia, Sing for Absolution or Blackout. The Hans Zimmer-esque build-up, the atmospheric production on the less than intelligible vocals and the waves of emotions the track rides really make Exogenesis: Overture, (maybe just) for me, lovemaking music, like Sade or Barry White is for others… But, despite the buzz created by this massive Exogenesis (all of it), the ‘real jewel of the album’ title must go to Undisclosed Desires. A perfect synth-pop-rock song, this is definitely single material on an otherwise experimental album. It might not fit perfectly with epics like Uprising or Resistance or pretty much everything else (it’s one of the few songs where the characters are not “you and I” and “THEM”), but it will surely claim its place among Muse’s greatest hits. It does fit with its overall romantic theme, the ‘resistence’ from the title of the album being love itself. In fact, the entire thing could make a great soundtrack for some SF romance set in a futuristic version of the 1930′s… Just in case Terry Gilliam is reading…

In their desire to do something crazy and extreme, The Black Eyed Peas got caught in that trap visited by many artists who were looking for a big change, even though this change was not a natural one. You can force change, but if it doesn’t come as a revelation, it might sound just like that: forced. And many of the tracks from The E.N.D. have this feature.

Does overproduced mean anything to you? That would be the main problem with this album, visible even from the first single, Boom Boom Pow, which still managed to grab top spots on several charts and to help the album get there, too. The excess of Mr.Roboto voices and intentionally unprofessional chops does become tiresome in tracks like Rock That Body, Ring a Ling or Imma Be, the most disappointing thing on the whole album (it sounds like Beyonce’s Upgrade U, which can’t be good). The virus synthy take on 80′s soul funk does give a special flavour to some of the songs (Rockin to the Beat or Alive) and provides plenty of originality.

Still, the real savior of The E.N.D. is the third track, Meet Me Halfway, which, if released properly as a single, with a video and all (not just through iTunes), could become a real classic of the band, right there alongside Shut Up and Where Is The love?. It’s the place where genuine good songwriting meets the electro-dance production which trademarks The E.N.D., another good example being the second single, I Gotta Feeling, already a hit.

You shouldn’t let this review worry you, though, The Black Eyed Peas latest album does come together as a whole and will provide plenty of soundtrack to crazy happy dance nights and in this respect, they succeeded. It’s just that it will be difficult to always be drunk and dancing when we will listen to this album. There are so many who require the same.

From these, the stand-out is JLTF (not to be confused with JLTF-1), which in some ways sounds like a slow-motion Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad, and this, too, would make wonders on an indie movie set in a small town, where it always rains. You could include on the same movie Walk With Me and Wait for Me (on the end titles !). Moby himself makes only one vocal appearance on Mistake, which shows some resemblance with Slipping Away or Where You End from Hotel. As for his previous album, Last Night, this one could pass for a reaction to that. If that was the crazy Saturday night out, this one is the Sunday coffee at noon. Alone. Watching the rain falling on your window and making the world seem black and white. But in a good way.

There a few moody instrumentals, that are either too short or too weird to deserve their own titles (Stock Radio or JLTF-1). There is the already-overestimated-because-of-its-David Lynch-video Shot in the Back of the Head and the rather predictable Pale Horses. But you also get an instant classic like the brilliantly-titled A Seated Night, which has a Sunday Mass feel to it. It’s built on a sampled choral bit and then synths and synths and synth are added, with a minimal beat in the background. It sounds like Massive Attack doing a Christmas carol. But in a good way. Opener Division will make you wonder “for what movie did John Barry composed this?”, while Scream Pilots will take you back to 80′s or rather early 70′s new age, like Vangelis or Mike Oldfield.

If you weren’t just dying to dance on new tunes by Moby, you will not be disappointed by Wait for Me, especially if you listen to it when you are in the mood for such stuff. It’s that kind of album. If you feel depressed and want to listen to something that will cheer you up, don’t choose this. But if you want to add depth to that depression and make it an existential crisis (you know you sometimes want exactly that !), Wait for Me will do the trick. But in a good way.

Placebo pleasing the crowd

For an EU capital, Bucharest is not the most tourist-oriented of cities. Finding Romexpo was quite an adventure and then finding the venue within Romexpo was quite a mini-adventure. The biggest procentege of the crowd waiting at the gates was pretty much what you would call standard Placebo fans: girls ranging from 14 to 18, wearing black and goth make-up, but looking very happy and excited. Of course, by the time access was allowed, a more “square”-looking audience started to show up. There was a bit of a delay, a bit of waiting in the sun, but there always is. While Expatriate’s crew were making final preparations, a DJ entertained the in-coming people with some well-suited indie classics.

Steve Forrest enjoying Expatriate's show

Placebo took the stage as the sun was setting and, no hello’s, no how are you’s, kicked off with perfect opener Kitty Litter. Setlist-wise, it was a standard non-festival Placebo date, circa summer of 2009. Still, for such a madding crowd, it could have just as well been an acoustic cover session of Barbra Streisand’s hits, the fans were that pleased to see their idols. Ashtray Heart was next and only after that, Molko greeted the public and announced that they will be playing a few songs from their new album. Battle for the Sun, despite its many lyrics, was well-known by the audience. All tracks were, new or old. At the end of the title track, before Molko moaned acapella “I will battle for the sun”, he took a break and demanded more and more noise from the audience. Some decibels records in human shouting must have been broken that night, because the sound was deafening, almost in a scary way. Molko’s big smile to his guitar-master, when changing instruments for the next song, prooved that the facts immediately sank in: Placebo is owning this crowd. Bands always talk about the exchange of energy in concerts. Sunday night, in Bucharest, this phenomenon was as visible as it can be. All rock’n'roll moves and postures were checked by the frontman, with his Fenders finding themselves between his legs on several occasions. Drummer Steve Forrest “broke” concert rules and catapulted his sticks into the sea of raised hands, after finishing certain songs, not just at the end of the show.

Brian Molko is glad to be smoking on stage

There were also some funny moments. Stefan Olsdal had some difficulties with the beginning of Speak in Tongues, fixed after changing “weapons”. Molko ironically commented: “Sometimes, guitars play all the wrong notes”. When presenting the band, he named Olsdal “the queen of Sweden” and Olsdal responded by calling Molko his “drama queen”. Towards the end of Black Eyed, the frontman signaled the need of cancer-stick to one of his tech-guys. Of course, a rain of cigarette packs, coming from the public, landed on stage (accompanied at one point by a bra, that is now probably a part of Placebo’s Tour Treasure… Chest). He lighted before Happy You’re Gone saying: “It’s fantastic to be in a country where you can smoke on stage. Where we come from, in the UK, they’re slowly taking away every piece of freedom we have left. So, it’s great to be amongst you filling our lungs together”. This might NOT make a good anti-smoking add. After Song to Say Goodbye, Placebo said good night, but it was obvious that this is not the end. The first encore was Infra-Red and Sleeping with Ghost‘s hit, The Bitter End. They closed the night with the classic Taste in Men, sounding more massive than ever. The band left the stage in an impressive roar of admiration from the mesmerized crowd. Steve Forrest left with his own little piece of “treasure”: a pair of pants, thrown on stage by some really desperate-to-be-remembered fan.

Brian Molko meeting some of his fans

Steve Forrest giving autographs

The night wasn’t over quite yet. A group of fans situated in the left side of the stage spotted Placebo’s backstage lodgings and cheered them out of there for an impromptu autograph session. This clearly wasn’t any promo duty for them, just a way of saying “thank you” in a more upfront personal way. Brian Molko was smiling all throughout the signing, but Steve Forrest seemed to be really having the time of his life. He was hugged and kissed and patted on the back and made pictures with anyone asking. He even graduated magna cum laude from the rock’n'roll stardom baptism of giving an autograph on a lady’s chest. Live ”sidekicks” Fiona Brice, Nick Gavrilovich and veteran Billy Lloyd joined the fun, as well as the members of Expatriate. Placebo’s longtime manager, Alex Weston, was also there overseeing the interactions and making sure everybody got their autograph. It was the perfect ending of a perfect night. After such a mind-blowing response, there is no doubt that Placebo will return to Romania. If not in the following two years, they will surely make a stop when promoting their now-unborn future album.

Well, it is pretty much official: Manic Street Preachers have done it again. Journal for Plague Lovers, their latest album, is neither a comeback, nor a return to early days, despite the several connections between this album and The Holy Bible (1994). It is just perfect. It is true, is less piano, strings and synth than Lifeblood (2004), but the exquisite riffs at the core of their latest effort show that they are more sure of themselves than they have ever been. They are an electric guitar band and Send Away the Tigers (2007) gave them just the right push to embrace that identity.

Still, fans of Lifeblood and This is My Truth Tell Me Yours, there are no reasons to worry. Tracks like This Joke Sport Severed, Doors Closing Slowly and Facing Page: Top Left offer plenty of melancholic moments. We can also include here the closing number, William’s Last Words, with vocals by Nicky Wire. Considering the beauty of older B-side Dying Breeds, the return is more than welcomed. Hopefully, this direction will be further investigated.

But, let’s go back to the heavy stuff. Jackie Collins Existensial Question Time is the first single and its sing-along main riff will surely earn spots in “best riff” tops in the years to follow. There is some britpop urgency in tracks like All is Vanity or the title track, but Me and Stephen Hawking or Pretension/Repulsion are pure Manics. More than of The Holy Bible, some of these songs remind us of Generation Terrorists (1992), the band’s date of birth.

The real highlights of the album, if we can really be so heartless as to choose, are Virginia State Epileptic Colony and Marlon JD. The first has it all: it’s schizo-weird in subtle places, then it goes all nostagia on us in the chorus and all of is placed on a splash filled beat by Sean Moore. Marlon JD is one of few Manics songs to be written just by Nicky Wire and it prooves once more that he’s been learning all those years assisting James Dean Bradfield. Marlon JD, the only song on the album to be “helped” by a drum machine, is pure energy. As you might have guessed, it is about Marlon Brando, who makes a “guest appearence” on the track. The JD might be James Dean, but we’ll never know… It’s quite the paradox, that a song written by Wire holds some of Bradfield’s most powerful vocals. Those people who think shouting is not real music, should give Marlon JD a listen. It’s punk for intellectuals.

No, don’t worry, I will not end my review without saying a few words about the lyrics. They are authored by Manics’ guardian angel, Richey Edwards. You will remember them. Some of you will get tatoos of them, others will fill their school desks with them. It is the lyrics that are a nod to the past, because they have that unmistakable filthy intellectual ramblings nature that spawned lines like “He’s a boy, you want a girl so tear off his cock Tie his hair in bunches, fuck him, call him Rita if you want” from the classic Yes.

We can only wonder (and worry) how will the Manics be able to top this one ? Or is this going to be that one perfect album, after which they will disband, the masterpiece they were dreaming of when they started ?