Family Values Tour 2006 cd review

Various Artists
THE FAMILY VALUES TOUR 2006
Firm Music
Korn's been taking out their successful Family Values tour for the last couple of years. Every year the lineup changes with the mainstay being Korn. The 2006 tour also featured the Deftones, Flyleaf, 10 Years, Stone Sour, Dir En Grey, and Deadsy. THE FAMILY VALUES TOUR 2006 cd contains live tracks from all those bands and, if you attended one of the shows, serves as a great way to go back and relive the show.

Korn has 5 tracks on the disc and highlights from those blistering versions (It sounds like they picked songs where they were playing relentlessly) of their songs include the tracks "Shoots and Ladders/Wicked" (which feature Chino Moreno from the Deftones on vocals) and "Freak On a Leash" (which features Corey Taylor from Slipknot and Stonesour on vocals). The Deftones, Stonesour, Flyleaf, Dir En Grey, and 10 years are each represented by 2 tracks. The Deftones are known for their punching style of rocking out and their 2 tracks here "My Own Summer" and "Nosebleed" are a great representation of the band in a live setting. Flyleaf's hit "I'm so Sick" is included here as well as "Pride", which is a cover of the U2 hit and features Richard Patrick from Army of Anyone and Filter on guest vocals. It pretty much stays true to the original version, with a slightly heavier edge to it. One of the two tracks by 10 Years is "Wasteland", which put the band on the charts and brought them to national attention. Dir En Grey is a Japanese band that has a slamming approach to their songs on here and the 2 tracks they have here are a good introduction to the band. Look for their new cd in the next couple of months. The one track on here that I'm glad they put on was Deadsy's acoustic song "Carrying Over". It's the lone track on the disc by Deadsy. Many people don't know about this almost Marilyn Manson-ish looking band and hopefully this will help introduce the band to a new audience. The lead singer goes by the name of Exeter. In reality, the singer is none other than Elijah Blue - the son of Gregg Allman and Cher. Deadsy rocks out and "Carrying Over" isn't a good representation of the bands rocking side, but it's a good song regardless.

As I said earlier, if you attended the show. THE FAMILY VALUES TOUR 2006 cd serves as a great memento of the show. For the sheer value of descovering new talent you can't go wrong either. For big fans of Korn and the other bands involved, this will make a nice little small addition to your catalog of your favorite respective band or bands on the disc. It's definately a release geared towards the fans of these bands.

Cradle of Filth - Thornography cd review

Cradle of Filth
THORNOGRAPHY
Roadrunner Records

One of England's darkest metal exports Cradle of Filth are back with a brilliant new release titled THORNOGRAPHY, which is their follow up to their 2004 grammy nominated release NYMPHETAMINE. NYMPHETAMINE sold 140,000 copies here in the U.S., which is a respectable number. What's more respectable is that the band has been around for 15 years, have released 7 cds in that span, and have never caved in the cravings of acheving greater success through selling out commercially. They have always remained true to their roots and that deserves to be acknowleged.

The songs that make up THORNOGRAPHY will take you on a journey exposing the listener to songs that have a pure traditionally based classical sound (pianos, etc.) to songs that will pummel your ears into submission - in the end creating a soundtrack that would work well within a theater type setting. THORNOGRAPHY is not a concept album, but that's the feeling the songs evoke. The heavier material on the release is done up in breakneck speed and a pulsating sound that features heavy double time bass drum beats and guitars that rip off driving rhythms and blistering lead guitar solos. At times, the guitar harmonies created evoke an Iron Maiden type sound. What's great about THORNOGRAPHY is that the band switches back and forth from being brutally heavy to softening things up with classical orchestra based interludes to break up the mayhem. It all goes down well. Vocally, singer Dani Filth can belt out razor like vocals on the heavy material and back down for a more melodic approach on the soft material.

Essential songs to check out are "Temptation" (which is a cover version of a song originally done by 80's band Heaven 17 and also features female vocals courtesy of Dirty Harry www.dirtyharryrocks.com ), "Dirge Inferno", "Tonight in Flames", and "Lovesick for Mina". "The Byronic Man" also features guest vocals by Ville Valor of H.I.M.). THORNOGRAPHY is a great listen from beginning to end. Cradle of Filth are long overdue for some heavy exposure. So far, outside of hardcore metal fans, the band has gone under the radar of the general music fan. One of their biggest supporters is Bam Margera of the tv shows Jackass and Viva La Bam. He's helped to expose the band to a wider audience and that's helped to raise the profile of the band. Based on the material on THORNOGRAPHY, Cradle of Filth are poised to become one of the top metal bands out there and make their profile a household name in the metal world. Definately snag this one if the material described above sounds like something you would be into. If you're a fan of metal, you owe to yourself to pick up THORNOGRAPHY. This is the real deal and crushes anything put out by bands, who claim they are metal, like Slipknot or Mushroomhead for example.

For more information check out www.cradleoffilth.com and www.roadrunnerrecords.com