Thrice – Beggars
Quite a transformation from punk-ish metal to more scream-oriented material to this album, which seems more straight ahead rock and roll, with some piano mixed in. It sounds good, but lacks the intense passion of previous efforts. I hear some Soundgarden in places. This might take a while to grow on me.
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
I am an odd Pearl Jam fan – the only album I don’t like of theirs is the debut – “Ten”. Didn’t like it when it came out, still don’t like it now. Their second album however (“Vs.”) was a gem of the decade. Some of the songs on Backspacer sounds like that, and those songs are some of the best I’ve heard from them in a decade. Like Thrice, PJ is putting some piano into this one and I Love it. (related post “Peace, Love, Empathy, Kurt Cobain”)
Muse – The Resistance
Always a little too epic for their own good, they don’t disappoint here. Still worth listening to.
MuteMath – Armistace
I’m loving this. I’ve probably missed out on previous albums so I’ll have to go back and have a listen. It’s not that I haven’t heard of them, just that I’ve tried them before and wasn’t interested. But this sounds great. A mix of drums and programmed beats and interesting arrangements.
Sondre Lerche – Heartbeat Radio
Lerche has been making music for a while but found new popularity when he did the soundtrack for the movie “Dan in Real Life”. He can be musically inventive, and lyrically ingenious, but I’m sad to say there’s not much of either in this album.
