CD Reviews

CD Reviews (28)

Inside the latest releases from your favorite music groups.

Thursday, 29 April 2010 22:19

Plead the Fifth - Taproot goes back to their roots

Written by Carl Burke

Working on their fifth album, Plead the Fifth, Taproot has returned to their roots. Bringing their baritone guitars back from the dead, they return playing them with the pride and giddiness of a kid in a candy store. Listeners will feel their enthusiasm and every bit of the emotion that is poured in this album.

Taproot brings powerful vocals with the perfect accompaniment. “Now Rise” is a great opener. Taproot starts this roller coaster of an album with a dive down into insanity. Vocalist Stephen Richards introduces the album with a yell that is as intense as the opening guitar chord; strap in and get ready for the ride.

Taproot knows how to emphasize their major strength: the vocals of Stephen Richards. Richards continues to be a great voice for a band whose musical talent is not on par to their vocal talent. With that being said, guitarist Michael DeWolf, bassist Phil Lipscomb and drummer Nick Fredell played extremely well on this album. They accompany Richards both appropriately and effectively.

Tracks like “Stolage” and “Words Don’t Mean a Thing” will have you pumping your fists and wanting to drive your car faster. Taproot creates a satisfying, adrenaline-filled experience. While this album is not album of the year, it is a reminder of what makes Taproot the band they are today.

Plead the Fifth hits stores on May 11th. For more information, check out www.victoryrecords.com.

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Tuesday, 09 March 2010 23:58

Joel Styzans CD Review; Relax Your Ears

Written by Roger Reis

Once in a great while the planets align, the moon will eclipse, and a great album will be released. Musical masterpieces are few and far between in all genres of music. Joel Styzens has released a jazz album called Relax Your Ears that is mellow, relaxing, and an absolute delight to listen to.

The entire compilation is instrumentals performances by stringed instruments. Joel Styzens is surrounded by musicians of a very high caliber. Cellist Katinka Kliejn is featured on the CD from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her involvement with this music is a very sweet collaboration.

The opening song “A Sharp” has a mild contrast between acoustic guitar and cello which has a feeling that this musical piece is from the heavens. There is a crispy sound on the acoustic strings as the fingers of a master caress the steel in a beautiful graceful way. Accompaniment by the cello is dark smooth and gently pampers your ears.

“As You Are” has a nice mellow shuffle that is snappy and bouncy. Evenly flowed chord strums on the acoustic are blended nicely within the song as it is interwoven with other strings. This is a very nice ditty to kick back and get lost in the moment.

“For You” opens up with bongos evolving into a nice jazzy piece. Slow single chord strums from the guitar come in and start working their way into your musical soul. Nothing more can be said about the song other than WOW!!

All the songs within this album are wonderful to hear. Songs like “Lifeline” which opens up with harmonics being played on the acoustic guitar and “Unaware” with its haunting cello. The songs blend together and paint a relaxing scene of musical notes within your mind as they rise and fall within the musical patterns. Songs like this are referred to as ‘onion songs’ meaning they are so beautiful they make you cry.

Turn the lights low, take a deep breath, and listen to the beautiful music that has been created. Close your eyes and open your ears while becoming one with the instrumental interludes that have been composed for your listening pleasure by Joel Styzens. Doctor’s should be prescribing this album to help lower blood pressure instead of medicines. The soothing music that can be heard will easily drop your blood pressure ten points on both numbers. Relax your ears and enjoy.

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Thursday, 18 February 2010 01:15

Retribution Gospel Choir 2 - CD Review

Written by Roger Reis

Duluth is the home base of the group Retribution Gospel Choir (RGC). The band in no way should ever be confused with gospel music, but they are producing music. They have released a CD called 2 and it has some interesting pieces within the compilation.

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Friday, 05 February 2010 04:57

Slayer Gets Bloody With New Album

Written by Michael Connor

SlayerWORLDPAINTEDBLOOD I can picture myself in Best Buy as a teenager seeing World Painted Blood and thinking “Oh, I've heard of this Slayer band. Let's give it a whirl.” I'd probably really enjoy it. But that's not what happened. Instead, I was a teenager at Best Buy and bought Diabolus In Musica. I didn't think it was horrible, but I didn't listen to it often either. I would mostly just shuffle between the four fastest songs on the album.