Mungojerries Rock Music Reviews
Created | Updated Nov 8, 2004
MUNGOJERRIES ROCK MUSIC REVIEWS
because without reviews how the hell would we know whats good or bad?INTRODUCTION
Hi, welcome to mungojerries very own rock music review page on WOTeva H2G2's first teen magazine, ill keep the introduction short and sweet because no one is gonna read it anyway no one ever reads what i write.
HOW MY REVIEWS WORK
As you may have guessed by the state of this page, i dont know how to use guide ML, so my page aint as flashy as others, but if your on this page, chances are you dont want pretty pictures or links, you want reviews TO THE MOST FACE MELTINGLY COOL ROCK MUSIC OUT THERE TODAY, *ahem* any ways back to how i do things, its a simple alphabet system you want a review on green day you go to g, hell is for heroes? h, marylin manson? m you see? easy, also no star system here, just a quick summing up in three bolded out headings Tracks to check, Best part and Why buy it happy reading, and remember you dont agree with anything mungojerie says? GO TO HE..erm... the bottom of the page and drop me a line.
mungojerrieA.is for...
Alkaline trio
From here to infirmaryAlkaline trio have returned with their third album, full of rip roaring and infectiously depressing dark punk that any self respecting trio fan will recognise at the drop of a wilted black lily. From the opening track private eye you are pulled into the seedy world of booze and lonelyness that is a reccuring theme in most of the songs penned by skiba, "there was no one to kiss and nothing to drink" and "smoked myself stupid and drank my insides raisin dry" are just two examples of the particularly dark lyrics from the first track. As you listen through the rest of the album you realise that private eye wasnt the only "downer" track on the album, near enough (who am i kidding) every track on this album is unsettling in its own way, depressing lyrics wrapped up in a typically upbeat punk riff, which is a break from the norm of blink 182, good charlotte and busted singing about girlfriends breaking up with them, but they got over it and now theyre happy, alkaline trio are the band that didnt get over it, their girlfriend left and it killed them, they are not happy about it and we listen to it now and thank that girlfriend for leaving.
Tracks to check: all of them, but stand out tracks are private eye, stupid kid, trucks and trains and take lots with alcohol.
Best part: the opening riff to trucks and trains.
Why buy it: if you like your punk a bit more slick and realistic this is the album for you and at £5.99 its a massive bargain.
Alkaline trio
Good mourningthe trios follow up to the amazing from here to infirmary is *gasp* even more dark and the lyrics even more, well scarily depressing. at one point on the opening track this could be love skiba sings "i shat the bed and lay there in it thinking of you wide awake for days"hmm hmm icky like this album very nice but icky in parts, while a stunning follow up, with some amazing riffs, and really dar lyrics, this is another case of a band following up a brilliant album with a second rate one..no thats unfair its a very very good album in its own rights (i know my bro prefers it to infirmary) but it just isnt as in your face, when you get to track twelve however you know your listening to the trio blue in the face is the best reason to buy this album while the opening 5 tracks are amazing, the album dips in the middle but then comes back roaringly with blue in the face this was played when matt skiba didnt have a band (due to complications with the bassists family and i forget what happened to the drummer)and... he rather heriocally played every set left in the tour on an accoustic guitar and a bottle of vodka a night, which is where the track comes from, and you can tell, his voice sounds not unlike cobains and the lyrics are tear jerking. an exellent way to end the album (well it would be if it wasnt for the two bonus tracks which are great but after blue in the face you just dont wanna know.
Tracks to check: this could be love and blue in the face are stand out tracks.
Best part:blue in the face
Why buy it:Blue in the face is reason enough to buy the album which retails at £9.99 but its a very good effort even if it is shadowed by its predicessor.
mungojerrie
At the drive-in
Relationship of commandThis is a difficult album no doubt about it, cedric bixler zavalas lyrics are as odd as his name and big hair and conjure up images that must have been what the insides of Dali's brain was like, and omar rodriguez lopez' guitar riffs are just as amusing to listen to shifting pattern from heavy riffs to melodic pieces that would put most chill out artists to shame, the thing about at the drive-in is you just cant listen to the songs one off if you listen to one song you want to listen to the rest of the album, not that youll mind, but most of the tracks will go over many casual listeners heads lyrics such as "dissect a trillion sighs away, will you get this letter? jagged pulp sliced in your veins, i write to remember" from one armed scissor or "im just tired of counting bodys this mausoleums tardy, lets just paint you a pretty face" from invalid letter dept might seem like nonsense sentences but when you listen to them with the rest of the track it comes together and you start to see, not hear what Cedric is singing about, but alas this adventurous nature is lost on many many people even the emo kids that ATDI's music deprives from would rather listen to theyre dumbed down contemparys such as funeral for a friend or finch, which is a big shame. while not the best album ever relationship of command is an amazing experiance that is let down by the fact that now that the band has split up this will be the best album ATDI will release and they will never be able to better it in the same band.
Tracks to check: invalid letter dept one armed scissor and cosmonaught.
best part:the opening riff to invalid letter dept or cosmonaught.
why buy it: its hard to come by so it will cost you about 14 quid to buy but it is well worth it if you into eme and are sick of funeral or finch.
mungojerrie
B.is for...
Bloodhound gang
Hooray for boobiesjimmy pop and co returned after their brilliant one fierce beer coaster with this follow up that is just as good as its predicessor, musically its more tight, lyrically its more funny, and it incorporates some of the best riffs ever thrashed out of a piece of wood with pickups and strings, as samples (metallica's for whom the bell tolls to name one)a problem that arises through listening is the amount of beetween song comedy sketches which do fall flat, and near the end the songs get funnier but less catchy...which is a shame. some songs are destined to upset lyrics such as "a lapdance is always better when the stripper is crying,i said a lapdance is always better when the stripper is crying, i say i find it quite a thrill when she grinds me against her will" or "im white which goes with anything but i can cum in any colour and im looking for the kind of girl that reminds me of my mother, but its hard to find a girl with a viper tatooed on her tooshi and how many girls do you know who can play the harmonica with their pussies" and are not award winning when it comes to the lyrics, but for an hours worth of laughs you cant go far wrong.
Tracks to check: i hope you die and if i were jesus.
Best part: the track labled 10 things to do in new jersey..hilarious
Why buy it:mungojerrie has had this album since it was released (about 1999)and still puts it on for a laugh from time to time, as long as you get the Gangs brand of lewd and crude humour this album should appeal its also only about £6.99 in music zone... result.
mungojerrie
C.is for...
D.is for...
E.is for...
F.is for...
G.is for...
Green day
DookieI think any one who likes punk loves greenday they are the grandfathers of punk as we know it today, billie joe armstrong, mike dirnt, and tré cool broke into the mainstream with this, their first major album, which is nothing short of brilliant. From start to finish youll be bouncing round your bedroom to their infectious brand of three chord punk and after about four listens through you'll be singin' along to your favourite songs which are all about being young and having fun or being young and being bored and most of the songs have a druggy undertone which dont make drugs seem like such a bad thing (mungojerrie does not endorse drug use)from longview a song about masturbation to welcome to paradise a song about the insecurities of leaving home to basket case a song about mistaken identity through drug use, you cant blame them for having many references to marijuana heck the guys had such a love for the weed, they named the band after it. Another thing worth mentioning about greenday is that billie joe is so good at writing chorus's even the songs that are a bit more low key such as SHE have rip roaringly exiting chorus's, this album is worth having even if you dont like green day.
Tracks to check: all of them the last three tracks kinda let it down though.
Best part: leaving the album to run after it has finished to discover the hidden track brilliantly funny!.
Why buy it: if you know who greenday are chances are youve heard this album but if you havent heard of greenday the beginning is the best place to start. Enjoy.oh yeah erm its only £3.99 in music zone, what more could you want?
mungojerrie
Green day
WarningWarning sounds like it was written for an accoustic, which it may well have been, but my god is it good, Greenday have a habit of reinventing themselves if only slightely for each album and since dookie the band have added many a different instrument to their repotiore such as the Harmonica, squeeze box, violin and piano. which are all used in this album to good effect. From Warning admittedly the weakest track on the album we have Blood sex and booze one of the best tracks and it just gets better (imagine Blood sex and booze as one of the best songs on the album and the rest just get better and better, pretty good no?) and billie joes lyrics were on a whole time high at the time and it shows.buy it, love it, and bask in its glory.
Tracks to check: blood sex and booze, church on sunday, jackass
Best part: macys day parade be-a-u-tiful
Why buy it: while not as good as dookie or american idiot its better then nimrod and insomniac nuff said.
mungojerrie
H.is for...
I.is for...
J.is for...
K.is for...
L.is for...
M.is for...
Marilyn manson
Mechanical animalsWell what can i say? ill admit it i aint the biggest manson fan, although i gained respect for the big guy after reading the long hard road out of hell i had heard some albums and...well didnt think that much of them, holywood was...mundane, smells like children a cd full of bad covers of bad songs (bar sweet dreams), and anarchist superstar (or antichrist superstar i think that changes from country to country) was instantly forgettable, so i got mechanical animals and, understandibly put it into the cd player, took a deep breath, pressed play, and gawped, from the opening chords of (great big) white world, heavily distorted bendy guitar notes, i was hooked, it was brilliant, electrical sounds bleeping and blooping outta madonna wayne gacys keyboard, it was what mr warner would have sounded like in the 80's. As the album went on there was some down points dont like the drugs (but the drugs like me) being one of them downers but the self proclaimed god of f**k, brings the album back up with some cracking tracks towards the end, especially the amazing coma white and last day on earth, but the album wont be to many a manson fans tastes if you think mansons at his best in holywood or the golden age of the grotesque then chances are youll find this a bit un-manson like...give it a chance though and youll never go back.
Tracks to check:speed of pain, coma white, last day on earth.
Best part: the opening to great big white world, or all of last day on earth
why buy it:Its brilliant think the 80's and manson and your almost there well worth the 14 quid youll be expected to fork out. really worth it.
mungojerrie
metallica
S and MAh metallica, arguably the best metal band ever, had shouted and riffified the world to deaf for about 16 years before they decided to do something different by adding the san francisco symphony orchestra to there stage show for a few special gigs and an album, and this album i will review for you...now. Metallica never have been my favourite band, while there riffs are good i always thought there recordings were well..powerless, that was untill a friend of mine cajoled me into buying s and m, which changed my views of metallica, although not greatly, enough to class this as one of my most listened to albums, the orchestra adds a whole new demention to the bands sound and *gasp* actually makes the band sound really special, the conductor mike kamen organised the set so that every song fits in perfectly, the 3rd track of the 1st disk is master of puppets, and even though hetfield does something i despise (holding the mic to the crowd for them to sing the chorus) this song is perfectly suited to having an orchestral backing, battery and fuel dont fare so well but are still rousing and, the track made especially for the s and m album four leaf clover is metallicas finest moment, hero of the day is a very good track especially with the orchestra, the fact that the band are supported by a ful orchestra, yet you can still hear every guitar chord, drum beat and bass riff, is quite awe inspiring...moving on to the second disk, full of 'tallicas more comercially sucessfull songs, for whom the bell tollsnothing else mattersOne and enter sandman all perfectly suited to the orchestral backing and i would say all benefit from the added oomph kamens men/women give them, another new track -human doesnt do the job as well as four leaf clover but is still a very enjoyable track.
tracks to check four leaf clover and -human are both special tracks worth checking.
best part the opening to four leaf clover on disk one and for whom the bell tolls on disk two
why buy it at 16 quid a pop i can see what your thinking but for die hard 'tallica fans this is a must have, and for people who dont mind the guys but think they aint as powerfull as they could be this album is a real eye opener
mungojerrie.
N.is for...
O.is for...
OPM
Menace to sobrietyCast your mind back, if you will to 2001, hmmm, now think of something that aurally annoyed you back then, the one thing that made you want to rip all the wannabe's eyes out for wearing the hoodies and singing it out loud because it was hip cool or pop 'n fresh, now altogether i want you to shout out the opening line to this travesty in 3..2..1 "if i die before i wake, at least in heaven i can skate" if this is not the line you shouted out then im happy for you, you were obviously in a cave with your fingers in your ears and missed out on this wonderfully irritating ditty. Well boys and girls i wasnt in that cave and im ashamed to admit it but i bought the album (for my little bro, who was a skateboarder at the time) and i wish i could say it was a good album, i wish heaven is a halfpipe was a one off annoyance, most albums i buy, i buy because while the one single released was bad i have hope that the album that spawned it is...well...good, normally i am right and end up with a brilliant album with only one track i haveta skip, well this time i was wrong, EVERY TRACK ON THIS ALBUM SUCKS its all clichéd, every song is about partying and skateboarding, which whilst normally fun isnt on this album, this band dont know what they want to be hip hop? punk? rock? awe hell lets just mix em together and see what we get...AVOID
Tracks to check: the only track worth checking is....i forget the name i think its track 10.
Best part: the end...im not being cute it really is the end of the album.
Why buy it: your either insane or liked heaven is a halfpipe or both.
P.is for...
Q.is for...
R.is for...
S.is for...
System of a down
system of a downAs most people know system of a down are a bunch of californian guys with armenian origins who are very good at what they do ROCK OUT!! direct, manage, etc etc. system of a down consists of 4 members Serj, daronshavo and john but when they get together and play they are system of a down, not four members of a band named system of a down they are just one entity, which shows on this, their debut album. System of a downis really really really good, if the only work of soad that you have heard is from the more recent toxicity this album will be hard to get into its beautifull in parts vicious in parts and really quite eerie in parts (the backwards calliope music at the beggining of CUBert is very unsettling at first, serj's vocals are...well...schizophrenic leaping from low growls to squeaks fast rapping to slow ballad like crooning there is nothing this man cant do with his voice, the things that daron can do with the guitar is quite frankly amazing, the bass lines are fast and furious and the percussion (well watch some of systems live videos, john has a drum kit that must be 50 pieces big and he manages to leave no section untouched) anyways i must remeber to stop singing this bands praises.this album is amazing from the opening chords of suite pee till the last gut wrenching scream of P.L.U.C.K (politically lying unholy corporate killers) pure brilliance.
Tracks to checkDdevil P.L.U.C.K CUBert DARTS
Best partDARTS high point of the album although the political rant that is P.L.U.C.K is a very close contender.
Why buy itBeacause you owe it to yourself as a music fan to get this gem into your collection.
