The Album Review Club - Week #144 - (page 1893) - XO - Elliot Smith

Listening right now. I like Killing in the Name of....so, does that mean i like the other songs on here? They're pretty much the same thing, aren't they? I've heard Bullet in the Head before too. I like it. Good production and a great bass.
They were angry young men, weren't they? haha. Or, they SOUNDED like angry young men. Must have been hard being brought up on the LA coast! ...and none of them were young! Top guitar riff on Know Your Enemy....and that's all that counts. I'm pretty sure I'd like this a lot more if I was more familiar with it back in the day. Fcking hell!! Is that Kashmir? No...but it's good. Hard music and lyrics. I think my son likes these.
6/10
 
This is another album I have that I'd not heard for years and I loved it when it first came out.

In the early 90s there was a little scene which grew around mixing rock and metal riffs and rap beats. Other than RATM there was Anthrax covering Bring The Noise with Public Enemy, the Judgement Night soundtrack which mixed bands like Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill amongst others. For a while it seemed like this style would take off, but it didn't. RATM were the best band out of that era.

Listening to the album again was great. The guitar work is groundbreaking as it sounds like he is "scratching it" and I can't think of anyone before him who did that. The vocals, especially on Killing In The Name are genuinely angry and this band are clearly railing against social injustice. Bullet In The Head, Bombtrack, Take the power back are all great songs.

The riffs throughout the album are great, this could easily have been a rock or metal album. The guitar work is superb and the production makes it sound like you're watching them live and up close. The lyrics are clever in parts and the whole sound works perfectly.

If course, Killing In The Name is the form. When he snarls "F**k you I won't do what you tell me" he means it. It's one of the best rock songs of all time. Or rap songs, I don't know!

I don't think it's dated too badly at all and overall it was a good listen.

8/10.
 
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I first saw them on The Word and they whipped the crowd into a rebellious frenzy; it was pure magic. The album is pretty much the same: raw power, biting lyrics, angst-ridden delivery, and powerful playing. The guitarist has gone on to greatness and all the groundbreaking evidence is here. The production is crisp and clean and lets the power of the band shine through. 8/10.
 
GoatersLeftShin said:
This is another album I have that I'd not heard for years and I loved it when it first came out.

In the early 90s there was a little scene which grew around mixing rock and metal riffs and rap beats. Other than RATM there was Anthrax covering Bring The Noise with Public Enemy, the Judgement Night soundtrack which mixed bands like Pearl Jam and Cypress Hill amongst others. For a while it seemed like this style would take off, but it didn't. RATM were the best band out of that era.

Listening to the album again was great. The guitar work is groundbreaking as it sounds like he is "scratching it" and I can't think of anyone before him who did that. The vocals, especially on Killing In The Name are genuinely angry and this band are clearly railing against social injustice. Bullet In The Head, Bombtrack, Take the power back are all great songs.

The riffs throughout the album are great, this could easily have been a rock or metal album. The guitar work is superb and the production makes it sound like you're watching them live and up close. The lyrics are clever in parts and the whole sound works perfectly.

If course, Killing In The Name is the form. When he snarls "F**k you I won't do what you tell me" he means it. It's one of the best rock songs of all time. Or rap songs, I don't know!

I don't think it's dated too badly at all and overall it was a good listen.

8/10.
Click to expand...
Great write up.......
 
Firstly thanks Rob and others, this thread has definitely taken me out of my
comfort zone you’ve had me listening to Classical , Led Zep , Kate Bush and others I’d rarely listen to at all and now this.

ive heard of RATM mainly through BS collaboration with Tom Morello though I’d never listened to any of their work.
First hearing sounds like an angry and serious Beastie Boys but that’s mainly down to the delivery of the vocalis.The band sound excellent musically and the Kashmir rip off made the track sound familiar.
However it does sound very samey and after a few listens starts to grate.
I might play the odd song again but definitely not the whole album.

6/10
 
Firstly.. what a album to run too! Really got the mojo working.
some absolute belters on here and maintains the energy level all the way through without getting boring although lyrically found it repetitive- pretty sure they could have swapped any lyrics with any of the tracks and it would have worked - just chuck in ‘yehhhh’ ‘ooohh (as if you’ve been punched)
‘Come on ! And ‘motherfuuuucker’ !
I stand by the Pantera connection, certainly end of some of these tracks when it’s pure shouting.
That aside , good to hear this again, loved the riffs and the energy and overall enjoyed.

7/10
 
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Struggling to get time on my own to belt this out.
Started it yesterday morning and got two different reactions from the missus and my 19yo son.
Missus: You’re listening to very heavy stuff there.

Answer: Yes I am.

Son: Since when did you start listening to RATM.

Answer: since this morning.

Bearing in mind that last week I was listening to classical and also a lot of Lisa Hannigan and various other 90’s Irish bands and what I was reared on in the 70’s was as far from whatever this category of music is called as you can get.
Well what was I expecting then?

RATM aren’t completely new to me. I had seen The Word performance or perhaps it was Jools Holland, can’t really remember. But I do remember it really struck me for the sheer energy.

So could I take a full album of this?

Well I haven’t heard it all the way through yet but I have absolutely loved what I’ve heard so far.
Yes, he shouts a lot.
Yes, it could be accused of repetition.
But, No, I don’t get any Pantera similarities at all, thankfully.

There is some terrific guitar work going on in each track and as others have pointed out the drum and bass are really tight.

Did they rip off Kashmir? No I Don think so. They intentionally tip their hat to it in my opinion.
And am I the only one that hears Yes’s Steve Howe also honoured in the 4th track, Settle For Nothing.
It’s there in the guitar interlude and I was wracking my brain as to what album it is from.

I’m definitely putting this on again and hopefully will get time to blast it on my own all the way through.
But it has surprised me. I like it. Not sure it would be for every mood. But it’s definitely one I’ll have in the locker for the right moment.

I generally listen to calmer music these days and I never really was a particularly angry young man anyway, but I do love the genuine passion of any genre of music that has a cause and rallies against injustice.
I’d put them in a similar vein to The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, another band out of my normal niches of comfort, that I came to late.
But I would actually give RATM more creedance, or credit, for both lyrics and the feeling that they actually believe what they are preaching.

If I don’t get to play it all before voting is completed, put me down for a 7/10,
But my temptation is to give it an 8. I’ll try to give it a go tomorrow but I’m not sure I’ll get the time.
 
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