Paradox UK/Sanity Assassins - Paradox UK/Sanity Assassins

Advantages: Everything about it
Disadvantages: none

...is difficult to sum up, there is definitely elements of late sixties drug fuelled psychedelia, the ethereal sound of Waterfall could be mistaken for a speeded up version of an early Pink Floyd track of the Syd Barrett era. Many of the songs have this swirling fluid quality more akin to the sound of the late 60's than the contemporary sound of band like the 'Happy Mondays'. At the same time the use of the powerful guitar riffs has a direct connection to the earlier 80's Manchester bands especially 'The Smiths'. In delivery and attitude the legacy of the punk and new wave bands is ever-present. The track 'Elizabeth My Dear' is about the assassination of the queen! (Where have we heard that sentiment before.) It has become a truism to say that nothing is new in music and 'new' music can only be talked about by paradoxically comparing it to what went... Read review

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Advantages: Dark and raw sound.
Disadvantages: Not the classic iron Maiden sound, less epic.

...to the raw, punky style pioneered on their first two albums. "Run Silent Run Deep" is the best song on the album, with brilliantly written lyrics, a killer riff and Bruce Dickinson’s amazing, powerful vocals. The solo is great, and the dual guitar attack works well at combining musicianship with power. "The Assassin" has a wonderful chorus which makes good use of backing vocals to add some depth to the song, and Bruce Dickinson shows his range to good effect by alternating between his clean singing style, and the air-raid wail that made him famous. "Bring your daughter..." is a fantastic song, though possibly a little bit too long. Nevertheless, the verses are very mellow and contrast nicely with the moral majority baiting chorus. Radio one refused to play this song even after it got to number one in the UK charts! All in all, a fine, though... Read review

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Advantages: Meant Converge toured the UK again
Disadvantages: Commercial success may be the beginning of the end

...Once again Jacob Bannon, the vocals for converge, is completely miserable and wants to express these feelings with his pretty original raw angry screams and very poetic lyirics. JAcob Bannon is an artis in its true sense, both lyrically and graphically which is obvious in the crazily dark imagery of the album art and also on the site (www.convergecult.com). Musically this album seems to ahave regressed from its predesessor 'Jane Doe' but ios also a progression like some kind of crazy paradox. I've always wanted to put the word 'paradox' into a sentence makes me feel like a phicisist/english scholar. Musically the members have also brought in more original material and continue to push themselves. sweet baby jesus the drumming is outstanding and very predominant in the mix.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful