Hardcore

LISTENING TO MY ALBUMS FROM 1994

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I’ve been listening to all the albums that I own. I am currently making my way through years ending in 4.

These were originally posted on Mastodon, so one big post. I’ll post when I listen from now on.

August 12

Pale Saints – Slow Buildings
Their last album and without Ian Masters so a kind of different band. All being said may be my favorite or theirs.

Page & Plant – No Quarter
The second best MTV Unplugged (UnLedded) album. A fun surprise at the time.

Nova Mob – Nova Mob
Second album by the Grant Hart lead band. Not as good as The Last Days of Pompeii, but worth your time.

Nirvana – MTV Unplugged In New York
The best MTV Unplugged album.

NineI nch Nails – The Downward Spiral
Everything NIN is about is in the first three releases. They get repetitious for me after this.

New Raidant Storm King – August Revital
Sonic Youth worship, it’s OK. The next album “Hurricane Necklace” is the one you want to check out.

New Order – (The Best of) New Order
I’m more a Joy Division guy. Thus the best of.

Mercyland – Spillage
David Barbe better know as the basist for Sugar. A few stand out tracks.

August 11

Polvo – Celebrate the New Dark Age
Warped, psychedelic noise rock from Chapel Hill, NC.

Pitchblende – Au Jus
If a Discord band turned into a noise band. Yes they are from Washington DC. No they’re not on Discord.

Penance – Parallel Corners
The lone outlier. Traditional doom from former Dream Death members.

Panel Donor – s/t
Lawrence KS has their own special kind of noise. I put out a split with this band. Another band from Lawrence to check out is Zoom.

August 10

Queensryche – Promise Land
Their last good album. Less of a clinical production here.

Pure Joy – Unsung
Rusty Willoughby of Flop, Fastback, Llama. This is more straightforward 90s power-pop.

Punchdrunk – From Dad
Milwaukee ex-pats. Melodic angular indie rock. The Replacements meet Jawbox?

Portishead – Dummy
Sour Times is an all time favorite. Friends at the time gave me the business for liking this. Not sure what their problem was.

August 9

Sebadoh – Bakesale
Easily their best, rivals Dino Jr. None of that fucking around noise crap and ditched the lo-fi.

Samiam – Clumsy
Melodic Post-Hardcore? I won’t call them the e-word. Their best.

Rodan – Rusty
Slint meets Shellac. Prime Touch & Go.

REM – Monster
Peter Buck overdosing on a tremolo pedal. This is a boring album. The most popular R.E.M. is the worst.

August 5

Solitude Aeturnus – Through the Darkest Hour
Doom in the Dio Sabbath fashion.

Smashing Pumpkins – Pisces Iscariot
Odds and Ends. I only need their first two.

Silkworm – Libertine
Noisy 90s Guitar indie rock. The smarmy, slacker kind. I want to like it. I don’t.

Shudder To Think – Pony Express Record
The question is can you deal with the vocals? When I’m in the mood. Outside the first album this may be their best.

AUGUST 4

Versus – The Stars are Insane
I keep this for the song Blade of Grass, the rest isn’t so good. Quieter end of the loud quiet indie rock of the time kind of like a twee Seam or Codeine.

The Veldt – Afrodisiac
What if you crossed Shoegaze with R&B?

Various Artist – Working Holiday
Simple Machines Comp of singles and live tracks.

Various Artists – If I Were a Carpenter
The 90s loved its tribute albums. Saved by Sonic Youth’s “Superstar” which is one of my favorite covers ever.

Thirty Ought Six – Bosozoku
Cross between Fugazi and Tad, throw in a little Sunny Day Real Estate.

Superchunk – Foolish
Breakup Superchunk isn’t for me. They righted the ship on “Here’s Where the Strings Come In”.

Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary
Say what you’d like it’s not emo. Grunge arena rock? Sure.

Sugar – File Under Easy Listening
The least of the Sugar releases. No one wanted to hear anyone but Bob sing.

Steel Pole Bath Tub – Some Cocktail Suggestions
Albini recording doesn’t do it, go listen to the Miracle of Sound in Motion instead.

Soundgarden – Superunknown
This album is way too long and way too normal, all the edges are buffed off. 4th of July is great though.

Sonic Youth – Experimental Jetset and No Star
Good not great.

AUGUST 1

Wool – Box Set
This is pretty much Scream doing grunge/stoner rock)

Weezer – Blue Album
Guessing you know this one.

Wannadies – Be a Girl
Swedish Weezer?

VerucaSalt – American Thighs
Chicago Weezer?

LISTENING TO MY ALBUMS FROM 1994

ALBUM ANNIVERSARIES FOR JULY 21

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Albums released on July 21st that are in my collection.

Black Sabbath – Master of Reality (1972)
This is the first Sabbath record I bought. I wanted Paranoid but it was sold out. My 9 year old brain was not prepared, this was my favorite for a while, until I got Sabotage.

Rezillios – Can’t Stand the Rezillios (1978)
The Scottish version of the Dickies or are the the Dickies the US version of the Rezillios? The Rezillios were first, they’re both great.

Loudness – Devil Soldier (1982)
The pre-US major label Loudness is a completely different thing. Sure some of the old sound pops up especially on “Lightning Strikes / Shadows of War”. A bit more progressive in the playing and some song structures, t’s definitely more adventurous, I’m sure their A&R person told them to streamline it for the US.

Circle Jerks – Golden Shower of Hits (1983)
The first three Circle Jerks are the best, this would be second best after Group Sex. Never as good as Keith Morris’ time in Black Flag.

Guns ‘n Roses – Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Lots of baggage here. I can’t listen to this anymore do to its omnipresence. I was in from the “Live like a Suicide” EP and for the year before Appetite blew up. Aerosmith now sucked and Guns was here to take their place. Then it was everywhere and all the other shit happened.

Solitude Aeturnus – Beyond The Crimson Hnrizon (1992)
Not fully realized yet a damn good doom album. In the line of slower Dio Sabbath.

Devin Townsend – Beyond The Crimson Hnrizon (1992)
Im not quite sure I like this or any Devin Townsend for that matter. It’s very dreamlike and washes over you and is pretty one dimentional. I think I don’t like his production style.

Voivod – Morgoth Tales (2023)
An unecessary rerecording of their own songs. The good stuff is the Die Kreuzen and Public Image Ltd. covers.
Edit: The Die Kreuzen cover of “Man in the Trees” is not on this its only on “Lean into It: A Tribute to Die Kreuzen” on Erosion Records.

ALBUM ANNIVERSARIES FOR JULY 21

Man vs Machine No. 3

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Still looking for an image.

Every week Apple Music makes a New Music Mix for users. I will make off the cuff “reviews” of the songs the algorithm “thinks” I will like. I can manipulate this list much easier than the friends list by what I listen to. That being said it loves feeding me Black and Death Metal which for the most part isn’t my thing.

The Damned “Making Time” if I didn’t know this was the Damned I’d never guess. Listened to 1 minute and 8 seconds.

Civic “Cosmic Astronaut “ Not the Aussie punk band. Apple you need to fix the multiple bands with the same name problem. Listened 8 seconds.

Landowner “Slippery Abyss” Jangly guitars with talk singing, a painful combo when the song is so bad. Listened to 31 seconds.

Hey Colossus “Runaway Heart” I think this is supposed to be weird, it’s boring. Listened to all of it waiting for something to happen.

A Place to Bury Strangers “Acid Rain” Ultra distorted guitars almost to being painful. Ethereal vocals. Not sure what I think. Listened to all of it.

Megadeth “Another Bad Day” Lifeless. Listened to 1 minute.

Lubomyr Melnyk “Windmills, Pt. 1” Dark, creepy almost ambient piano. Eventually gets into his more Philip Glass type music. Listened to it all.

Black Swan “When the Cold Wind Blow” Starts off and I’m excited for some noisy rock, then it becomes dull power metal. Listened to 1 minute 18 seconds.

Joe Hoekstra’s 13 “Lifeline” Wow sterile unimaginative pop metal in 2026. This is paste. Listened to 50 seconds.

Necofier “Servents of Darkness, Guide My Way III” You know you’re in trouble when you’re on the second sequel of a song. Generic Black Metal. Listened 1 minute and 31 seconds.

Possession “The Black Chappel” Out of all the music I play, I listen to Immortal once and it’s like here’s a lot boring of Black Metal . 1 minute 2 seconds.

Final Gasp “No Hand to Lead” Someone likes Lane Staley. 34 seconds.

Psycroptic “Failing” Music is as bad as the band name. Enough with the metal. 22 seconds.

The Silver “Memorias” Melodeath Black metal. Kinda prog. It’s shit. 53 seconds.

At the Gates “The Fever Mask” It’s good but do you really need more than Slaughter of the Soul? Listened to all of it.

Harrowed “The Haunter” Maybe there should be some kind of license needed to have a metal band. 1 minute 10 seconds.

Suplecs “Pentacle Star” i think this is supposed to be Stoner Rock, whatever it is it’s bad. Listened to 1 minute and 12 seconds.

Chuck Treese Rachel Anne “Our Town (Eye Can Tell)” How this was recommend to me and what did I listen to trigger it is a mystery. Listened to all of it to see if it was anything but vocals and breathing, it wasn’t.

Good Riddence “There’s Still Tonight” Great I listen to hardcore punk and it thinks I want this crap. 58 seconds.

Social Distortion “Born to Kill” Still mining the “I work on my car/motorcycle 50+ punks”. 33 seconds.

Stereolab “Cloud Land” never been much for them. A bit too twee. I kind of like this. Listened to it all.

ADULT. “No One is Coming” Shit, two in a row I enjoy. Noisy Electronic/Industrial with Lene Lovich like vocals. Listened to it all.

Nick Plunti “Bruises and Bandages” The dreaded singer songwriter, who is good at neither. 12 seconds.

Dada Laida “The Beyond” Because you can play guitar technically doesn’t mean you play it well. 44 seconds.

Angel Du$t “Downfall” What did I do to deserve this? 37 seconds.

Man vs Machine No. 3

Hate Your Friends No. 12

fistfulofdave
Fistful of Dave Hate Your Friends

A belated return

Every week Apple Music makes a Friends Mix. I will make off the cuff “reviews” of the songs in this list. As Apple Music likes to put the same bands on the list often, so I will skip some of the tracks.

Rat Boys “Light Night Mountains All That” Spinanes or Julianna Hatfield like indie rock thats as boring as either of them. Listened to a minute and 23 seconds.

Mission of Burma “Progress” Uh oh is this going to be a week where I like more than I hate. Listened to all of it.

Come “In / Out” Another quality 90’s indie rock jam. Some nice guitar work here. Listened to all of it.

Grifters “Re-Entry Blues” Never cared for the sleepy bluesy indie rock of the Grifters. Listened 1 minute.

Heroic Doses “Crystals” Weird I don’t remember liking this. Some cool guitar bits. Probably, like most instrumental bands, could use a singer. Gets a bit repetitive as it goes along. Listened to it all.

Cows “A Gift Called Life” Chaotic noise rock. Leaves me wanting some kind of hook, Listened to 56 seconds.

Moving Targets “Faith” Husker Du, well Bob Mould at least, clone. I dig it. Listened to all of it.

Versus “8-9” “Blade of Grass” is their best song, go listen to that. Listened to 34 seconds.

The Replacements “Go” The first two Replacements releases are the best. Yeah, they are. Listened to all of it.

The Judybats “Saturday” Harmless indie pop. Boring. 30 seconds.

Smoking Popes “Just Broke Up” Top notch pop-punk, not your jock/frat boy pop-punk. Listened to it all.

Loop “Afterglow” Noisy, Shoegazey, Spacey genius. Listened to it all.

Abrasive Wheels “Danger, Danger” Luckily not about the shitty pop-metal band. Punk, its ok. Listened to all of it.

All Systems Go “Running Blind” Doughboys, Big Drill Car team up. It’s decent not close to either former bands best. Listened to it all.

SNFU “The Quest for Fun” While not their best its closest to top tier SNFU. Easily one of the greatest live bands. Listened to all of it.

Descendents “Hurtin’ Crue” An alright faux-metal song, they have much better. Listened it all.

Dag Nasty “One to Two” Essential melodic hardcore. Too much love flowing this week. Listened to it all.

All “Birds” If it’s not on Allroy Sez or Allroy for Prez… I don’t care. Listened to 54 seconds.

Alligator Gun “Evergreen Lawns” Milwaukee’s (Wisconsin’s) pop-punk kings. Do it. Listened to it all.

Spiritualized “Come Together” I really want to like them but it never clicks. The gospel-ish chorus, no thanks. Listened to a minute and 12 seconds.

XTC “Limelight” I should like them, they annoy the shit out of me. Listened to 27 seconds.

Bauhaus “Silent Hedges” Fucking great, the gloomy masters. Listened to it all.

Hum “Isle of the Cheetah” Yeah I call them metal but a mutation and combination that is dreamy and heavy. Deftones owe them some cash. Listened all of it.

Built to Spill “Happiness” This is way to hard when I like most of the songs. Not the best from this album, a bit too on the bluesy tip. Listened all of it.

Hate Your Friends No. 12

Hate Your Friends No. 9

fistfulofdave,
Fistful of Dave Hate Your Friends

I’ve changes this up a bit. I’ve moved to using two weeks of my Friends Mix to get a better list, removing the artist that appear every week. Also makes it a bit easier to keep up with.

Every week Apple Music makes a Friends Mix. Each week I will make off the cuff “reviews” of the songs in this list. As Apple Music likes to put the same bands on the list often, so I will skip some of the tracks.

Wiper “Over the Edge” Early Wipers is essential punk, that doesn’t really sound like anyone else. Listened to it all.

Chavez “Pentagram Ring” 90s rock, somewhere between noise rock and classic rock. Could use more hooks. Listened to it all.

Sebadoh “Hoppin’ Up and Down” One of the not so great songs on III. Listened to it all.

Brainiac “Flash Ram” Robot rock, just listen to Brainiac. Listened to it all.

Jesus Lizard “Puss” Never did much for me, this is apparently still true. Listened to it all.

Cola “Tracing Hallmarks” Sounds kind of like Silkworm meets Spoon. It’s pleasant enough but nothing that ropes me in. Listened to 1:29.

Upright Forms “Heaven Knows” Upbeat pretty good 90s indie punk. Listened to all of it.

Avail “On the Nod” 90s punk/hardcore. It’s fine. Listened to it all.

Samiam “Clean” If you don’t know take melodic West Coast punk/hardcore and mash it with DC melodic punk/hardcore. I prefer “Billy” and “ Listened to all of it.

Screeching Weasel “Someplace Else” Yeah Ben Weasel, all I can think of the “punk king” wearing a Celtic Frost shirt. I do like the second two records, this being one. Listened to it all.

Suicidal Tendencies “Institutionalized” I never need to hear this again. Listen to the rest of the record instead. 28 seconds.

D.O.A. “The Prisoner” Early D.O.A. Is great. Stay away from that later stuff. Listened to it all.

Gray Matter “Thog” 90s Discord, slower melodic and great songs. Weird fucking cover art. Listened to it all.

SNFU “The Devil’s Voice” If you like 80s hardcore and don’t like the first two SNFU albums there is something wrong with you. Listened to it all.

Voxtrot “Fast Asleep” Always thought this was post punk. guess not, jangly indie rock. Listened to a minute and five seconds.

The Allman Brothers Band “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More” Time has not softened my disdain for this hippy jam bullshit. 30 seconds.

Built to Spill “Dystopian Dream Girl” What’s not to love, if Dino Jr was from the Pacific Northwest. Listened to it all.

Die Kreuzen “Among the Ruins” The greatest band from Wisconsin. They go more Killing Joke/Bauhaus here. Listened to it all.

Mudhoney “Running Loaded” I really want to love Mudhoney, then I go listen to Green River instead. Listened to it all.

Jawbox “Green Glass” DC goes to the majors. All of Jawbox’s albums are great. A streamlined Fugazi? Listened to it all.

Girls Against Boys “Cruise Your New Baby Fly Self” Slowly warming up to this after 30 years. Listened to it all.

Treepeople “Clouds and Faces” What Doug Marstch did before Built to Spill, more punk and out of control. All of it is worth your time. Listened to it all.

Jawbreaker “Shield Your Eyes” Still a pass. 32 seconds.

Big Boys “We Got Soul” I’d really like to say I like them. Annoying funk punk. 57 seconds.

Shiner “Cake” A band you might think I’d like. Nope. 52 seconds.

Silkworm “Grotto of Miracles” Why does everyone like this boring, morose shit? 33 seconds.

Amebix “Arise!” Kind of like an AnarchoPunk Venom. Their comeback album “Sonic Mass” is what to listen to though. Listened to it all.

Articles of Faith “Buried Alive” Best hardcore band out of Chicago, ferocious and melodic. Listened to it all.

Dag Nasty “Values Here” Kings of melodic hardcore, first two albums are essential. Listened to it all.

Big Drill Car “Freedom of Choice” A big yawn of a cover, listened to “Album/CD/Cassette Type Thing” instead. 41 seconds.

Finom “Hungry” Pleasant 90 type indie rock with a motorik beat. Listened to all of it.

Kim Deal “Coast” Embarrassingly bad, stop the horns for the love of all that is good. 33 seconds.

This is Lorelei “Perfect Hand” It’s so easy to make awful electronic music. 23 seconds.

Soul Asylum “Beggars and Choosers” One of my favorite albums. So great before “Runaway Train. Listened to all of it.

Julian Cope “My Nation Underground” Where’s that skip button, shitty white guy funk. 13 seconds.

Hate Your Friends No. 9