There wasn’t much to discuss last week outside of Extreme, so I decided to wait and pair it up with two other capsule reviews for your consumption this week.
Extreme – “Six”
Extreme pulls a David Lynch on their first album in 15 years by lulling the listener into a false sense of security only to betray the heaviness of the first three tracks and detour into some mellower areas that, while melodic, don’t pack quite the same flesh ‘n’ blood punch as the rest. Nuno Bettencourt channels Edward Van Halen in style with some jaw-dropping solos and Gary Cherone sings his ass off, but the lighter moments won’t make me forget “III Sides to Every Story” anytime soon.
Avenged Sevenfold – Life Is But a Dream…
One of my lasting memories of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival is how bored to death guitarist Zacky Vengeance looked during Avenged Sevenfold’s headlining set. The image of his listless demeanor came flooding back as I listened to the band’s latest album this week, because they’ve gone in some directions that I don’t think anyone shopping at Hot Topic back in 2005 would have expected. You’ll hear splashes of Zappa, Stevie Wonder, and Steely Dan if you can stick it out long enough, which should keep Vengeance’s creative thirst quenched for quite some time.
Queens of the Stone Age – “In Times New Roman…”
Pitchfork gave this one a 6.8, but, as Pixies drummer David Lovering once told me, they’re called Pitchfork for a reason. I think it’s more around an 8/10, because Josh Homme unleashes all the anger and frustration he’s built up in the past few years onto one of the heaviest records they’ve ever done. While the early songs hit hard, the second half is where things really begin to stick to your insides.
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