Icky Thump and Era Vulgaris Album Reviews

meebovn

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Apr 17, 2010
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Recently I have purchased two great albums, Icky Thump ( New White Stripes disc) and Era Vulgaris ( New Queens Of The Stone Age disc).

Before putting in Era Vulgaris, I had some high expectations with this cd. Era Vulgaris is their 5th full length album. The inspiration for Era Vulgaris came from the Homme's daily drive through Hollywood and the album's title Era Vulgaris refers to the Latin term for Common Era. The title was chosen by Homme because he thought "it sounds like 'the Vulgar Era'. The single out right now, Sick, Sick, Sick, well I loved that right when I heard it. And I was hoping that the rest of the songs were just as great. I was not dissapointed. I will not go through song by song, but it has the old sound of Queens Of The Stone Age, some new sounds, and GREAT guitars. Lead singer Josh Holmes gets kinda cheeky on the song "Make It Wit Chu", maybe cheeky isn't the right term. Interesting song nonetheless. The cd has 11 tracks and is dark, fast and hard. The thing with their last album was it was very underrated. Many felt the songs were "depressing". I didn't but whatever, this cd is different from their last one Lullabies To Paralyze, I found it to be a bit better. I give it a 4/5 overall, and not a perfect 5/5 only because it loses its steam near the end. Still good tracks though, just not as good as the ones before them.

1. "Turnin' on the Screw" – 5:20
2. "Sick, Sick, Sick" (Homme/Goss/Van Leeuwen/Castillo) – 3:34
3. "I'm Designer" – 4:04
4. "Into the Hollow" – 3:42
5. "Misfit Love" – 5:39
6. "Battery Acid" – 4:06
7."Make It Wit Chu" (Homme/Johannes/Melchiondo) – 4:50
8. "3's & 7's" – 3:34
9. "Suture Up Your Future" – 4:37
10."River in the Road" – 3:19
11. "Run, Pig, Run" – 4:40

Stand out tracks:
Turnin' On The Screw, Sick Sick Sick, Battery Acid, Make It Wit Chu and 3's and 7's.



Now onto the new White Stripes disc, Icky Thump, and their single out right now is the same name of the album, "Icky Thump". This is the White Stripes 6th studio album. I did not purchase their last cd, mainly because I forgot to. But I liked what they did with the guitars and tracks with piano's. This time around on Icky Thump they return to the guitars and sound similar to their very first album, and bring out a kick ass new album. Song 1 Through 13 is great. I can see quite a bit of singles coming off this cd. The sound of this cd is just what you might expect from the White Stripes, but they do throw in some great minor adjustments. Like the song "Conquest", rock song all the way through but with a mexican fiesta like twist. Great combo, and also included on this cd is a song in which I don't know how to classify. It comes across as a ballad, but doesn't have all the elements of a ballad, the song im speaking of is "You Don't Know What Love Is ( You Just Do As Your Told ). Honestly this is a great album and you can see right away the extra time they put into the making of this, three weeks in the studio which is longer than normal believe it or not. Unlike Era Vulgaris, this cd does not lose steam, in some ways it picks up steam. I give it a perfect 5/5, may be the cd of the summer. I just hope this is not the White Stripes last album.

1. "Icky Thump" – 4:17
2. "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)" – 3:54
3. "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues" – 5:28
4. "Conquest" – 2:48 (Corky Robbins)
5. "Bone Broke" – 3:14
6. "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" – 3:05
7. "St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)" – 1:49
8. "Little Cream Soda" – 3:45
9. "Rag and Bone" – 3:48
10. "I'm Slowly Turning into You" – 4:34
11. "A Martyr for My Love for You" – 4:19
12. "Catch Hell Blues" – 4:18
13. "Effect and Cause" – 3:00

Standout Tracks:
Icky Thump, You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told),300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues, Conquest, Rag and Bone, I'm Slowly Turning into You, and Effect and Cause.


I hope this helps with your summer cd shopping and if you are a fan of these guys or even if you've never heard of them before buy the albums and check them out. They are well worth the money.

More cd reviews may follow, but I will review one only, mainy because I don't have the cash for more, and its just all around easier
 
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