Homegrown Fantasy - Zion Train

Advantages: Some beautiful songs, great vocals from Bob
Disadvantages: A touch obnoxious and a bit cheesy at times.

..., those who are least able to look beyond the explicitly Jesus-oriented lyrical content. Of that Faith Trilogy, there is a stunning album and a half's worth of material to be wrung. The bulk of it comes from the first, Slow Train Coming. The record opens with the murky bar-room blues of Gotta Serve Somebody (lampooned by John Lernnon shortly before his death in his Serve Yourself), a fairly by-the-numbers affair elevated by a great, growling vocal. As a single, the record proved successful both commercially and critically, earning Bob a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance By A Male, and it since become a regular on post-1980 Greatest Hits compilations. The album's best tracks, though, far outshine it. Precious Angel, I Believe In You, Slow Train and, especially, the beautiful piano ballad closer When He Returns are exceptional... Read review

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Advantages: there are bonus tracks
Disadvantages: none

...Metric is a Canadian New Wave/indie rock band. The band vocalist is Emily Haines who has an unusual, extraordinary voice. "Fantasies" consists of 10 songs: 1. "Help, I'm Alive" 2. "Sick Muse" 3. "Satellite Mind" 4. "Twilight Galaxy" 5. "Gold Guns Girls" 6. "Gimme Sympathy" 7. "Collect Call" 8. "Front Row" 9. "Blindness" 10. "Stadium Love" All songs have a similar sound to them, but you will find that you'll have this album on repeat as Emily's hypnotic voice really captures your attention and makes you pay mroe attention to the lyrics- which are very clever. My personal favourite is "Help I'm Alive", the song is very celever and catchy and has a feel-good feel to it. I also know that Blink 182 bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus is a big fan of Metric and he himself has posted Metric Album demos on his... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average off topic

Advantages: Good heavy stuff, longish songs
Disadvantages: Still a lot of "cheesy" bits, doesnt do it for me

...Dream theatre usually have a typical prog rock style to them, which changes throughout their albums. Train of thought takes a twist by following the newer tighter "californian" nu-metal style, while still retaining areas of the old "cheese". The opening track As I am, is a good pounding track worth a listen as are the rest of the tracks to follow. If you like the super-heavy stuff this album is definately worth a look, if you prefer the old softer stuff from their earlier albums, try to sample this one first, as it may be too heavy or thrashy, it truly is different to their old stuff. Solos have still be retained, of course, and the music is as ultra complex as it ever was, making it impossible to play, and sometimes incredibly hard on the ear (e.g. random western casino music, track 3, endless sacrifice), but if you liek dream... Read review

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