Rocket From The Crypt - Group Sounds (2001)

The 2001 instalment from Rocket From The Crypt offers little deviation in their sound from most previous releases but thats actualy a plus, i wouldn't want RFTC to ever have an album with a different style. The reason for listening to them is for their fast punk rock rythem sections, twangy riffs and ofcourse their unique ability to mix trumpet and saxophone with great skill into the songs.

It's hard to pick a highlight from the album simply because most of the songs are equally brilliant but my favorite tracks have to be "Venom Venom" which has a heavy bass line throughout the song and this track has possibly the best use of trumpet on the album as it sounds similar to the sound i would imagine hearing at a mexican standoff. The track "S.O.S." has the best quatar riff in the album and even though this is a rather fast song in places it is one of the slowest in the release, "Ghost Shark", another slow song offers a more subtle side to Rocket with some very good use of piano.

Rating: 9/10

1. Straight American Slave - 1:56
2. Carne Voodoo - 1:52
3. White belt - 2:42
4. Out of Control - 1:56
5. Return of the Liar - 2:01
6. Heart of a Rat - 2:57
7. Venom Venom - 3:18
8. Savoir Faire - 1:54
9. S.O.S. - 3:08
10. Dead Seeds - 3:41
11. This Bad Check is Gonna Stick - 2:25
12. Spitting - 2:04
13. Ghost Shark - 5:33
14. Chariots of Fire - 2:39
15. I Won't Stare - 2:53
16. Alone - 2:27

The Mekons - Journey to the End of the Night (2000)

Since the release of their debut album "The Quality of Mercy is Not Stmen" the Mekons started to change their sound and mellowed out from the post-punk appeal they had. Their sound for many years since that has been that of alternative country sound. With the 2000 effort "Journey to the End of Night" they build on this sound with mixing a more reggae sound into the music similar to that of "Sandinista!" by the Clash.

The genius of the album though is how they manage to blend the two genres of music together, in the track "Tina" they mix in a pure country riff on what seems to be a banjo with an electric guitar reggae rythem section. As an album this is more peaceful and pleasant to listen to and at the same time very catchy, "Last Weeks of the War" and "Last Night on Earth" are another couple of standout tracks from a band that never seems to run out of ideas and that are massively underated in the music industry.

Rating: 8/10

1. Myth - 3:52
2. Out in the Night - 3:31
3. Last Weeks of the War - 2:59
4. City og London - 4:02
5. Tina - 3:56
6. The Flood - 4:51
7. Cast No Shadows - 3:03
8. Ordinary Night - 3:19
9. Powers & Horror - 2:42
10. Neglect - 4:02
11. Something to be Scared of - 2:38
12. Last Night on Earth - 3:42
13. ... And Heracles Smiled - 0:42

The Stranglers - Suite XVI (2006)

There first album without Paul Roberts on lead vocals since he joined the band in 1990 sees the Stranglers move back to a more original sound that we used to here in their first 3 albums. Despite not having a lead vocalist selected, Baz Warne their new guitarist since John Ellis left in 2000 fills in perfectly on the vocals along with J.J.Burnel.

The songs have lots of their classic style keyboard with the return of the distortion to Burnel’s bass lines; unfortunately they are not as prominent as they once were probably due to the increase in recording quality in the 21st century which pushes them more to the back of the song. Even saying that there is a song called “Summat Outanowt” which is all based round the bass line and is probably the closest you will get to the original sound. The album is full of some of the best songs the Stranglers have ever written and certainly their best post Cornwell album to date. “Spectre of Love” is defiantly one of the best songs of the decade for me and that is no exaggeration, it’s simply a great song that will keep you entertained for hours along with “Unbroken”, “She’s Slipping Away” and “See Me Coming”.

Rating: 10/10

1. Unbroken - 3:47
2. Spectre Of Love - 3:34
3. She's Slipping Away - 3:29
4. Summat Outanowt - 2:14
5. Anything Can Happen - 3:54
6. See Me Coming - 3:56
7. Bless You (Save You, Spare You, Damn You) - 5:35
8. Soldier's Diary - 2:19
9. Barbara (Shangri-La) - 3:44
10. I Hate You - 2:58
11. Relentless - 5:02

Section 25 - Part-Primitiv (2007)

Section 25 were a Post-Punk band formed in 1977. They were signed to the infamous Factory Records and released 3 studio albums on the label before disbanding. The band reformed in 2001 and in 2007 they released their come back album Part-primitiv. The album starts and ends with the "Winterland" which shows the continuation of their experimentation in techno and electronic themes. The album as a whole shows of their Post-Punk routes with heavy bass lines, twangy guitars and vocals that don't quite fit to the rythem of the song. The best examples of this is in the songs "Can't Let Go", "She's So Pretty" and arguably the best song of the album "Roma". Section 25 have definatly managed to pull of their come back with this album.

Rating: 8/10

1. Winterland - 3:54
2. Can't Let Go - 5:07
3. Poppy Fields - 4:07
4. She's So Pretty - 3:40
5. Dream - 4:14
6. Power Base - 4:17
7. Roma - 3:20
8. Better Make Your Mind Up - 4:04
9. Gene - 3:09
10. Cry - 3:13
11. Ludus Cantus - 2:17
12. Nick - 3:07
13. Winterland II - 4:08

Christian Death - The Iron Mask (1992)

In 1992 Rozz Williams reformed Christian Death with Eva O. who he was also in the collaboration The Shadow Project with Rozz. The album consists of eight reworkings of tracks that feature on previous Christian Death albums. The question is weather the tracks should have been rerecorded or not. The tracks seem to lack the organ style keyboards that were in the original songs and in some places the guitars seem heavier than in the original songs, this could be to compensate for the missing keyboards. Another thought on the album is that was this LP motivated by money, This is basicaly the same band as The Shadow Project labeled Christian Death. The positive points however of this record are that Eva O.'s backing vocals fit perfectly with Rozz Williams voice and make his singing alot stronger and that Christian Death only made limited albums with Rozz Williams because of his departure from the band in 1985, it is always nice to see more material featuring him.

Rating: 6/10

1. Spiritual Cramp - 2:16
2. Sleepwalk - 5:10
3. Skeleton Kiss - 2:40
4. Figurative Theatre - 2:45
5. Desperate Hell - 3:43
6. Death Wish - 2:03
7. Luxury Of Tears - 5:47
8. Cervix Couch - 5:32
9. Skeleton Kiss (Death Mix) - 4:50
10. Down In The Park (Live) - 3:40

dEUS - Vantage Point (2008)

dEUS are a Belgian rock band that have been releasing albums since 1994 while being fronted by Tom Barman. The line up still contains Mauro Pawlowski from their previous album who is know for being a key member in the formation of Belgian contemporary music and is the lead singer of The Evil Superstars. The latest dEUS album Vantage Point continues where their last studio album Pocket Revolution left of in that they are continuing with a more softer aproach to their music. Alot of songs are still upbeat like "Oh Your God", "Favorite Games", "The Architect" and "Is A Robot" which offer some style from their early years. With each listen to the songs the guitar riffs become more attractive espcially in the title track "When She Comes Down".

Rating: 6/10

1. When She Comes Down - 5:06
2. Oh Your God - 3:52
3. Eternal Woman - 4:22
4. Favorite Game - 4:11
5. Slow - 6:09
6. The Architect - 3:57
7. Is A Robot - 4:58
8. Smokers Reflect - 4:27
9. The Vanishing Of Maria Schneid - 4:44
10. Popular Culture - 4:56

Peter Murphy - Dust (2002)

Peter Murphy used a dark and gothic rock sound with an eastern influence on his 1995 album Cascade. Along with his song "Surrendered" on his 1997 EP Recall, Peter decided to build on this sound. Dust was released in 2002 and is his first solo album for 7 years, the album starts with possibly its greatest song "Things To Remember" Which uses the albums greatest asset in the form of Classic Music. Peter's vocals flurish in the eastern enviroment as his deep vocals sound reminiscent of a "medieval" feature film. In the song "Just For Love" the voilins seem to be the linch pin of the shortest track on the album which still stands at 6:38 but even with the songs beeing so long the creativity still keeps coming. The album finishes on reworkings of the tracks "My Last Two Weeks" and "Subway". The reworkings actualy seem to be superior in their new form as they are so much more complex and seem to fit prefrectly into the Eastern sound, most probably why they were selected.

Rating: 7/10

1. Things To Remember - 7:45
2. Fare Sparkle Or Goldern Dust - 8:24
3. No Home Without It's Sire - 6:47
4. Just For Love - 6:38
5. Girlchild Aglow - 7:19
6. Your Face - 9:00
7. Jungle Haze - 7:40
8. My Last Two Weeks - 7:05
9. Subway (Epilogue) - 7:36