Advantages: it's ok... kinda.
Disadvantages: mark BLOODY knopfler

...as everyone immersed in bob knows, this is the first album in his "born again christian" trilogy. as everyone also knows, a new direction is hardly a surprise for bob... it's just that this album isn't really that good. the lyrics are insipid, barely an iota of a smidgen of a patch on previous masterworks. even the one lyric i like, "man gave names to all the animals" is a trifle silly. now, i can imagine how people liked this album... but it's not going to be liked for the same reasons that his previous, and some subsequent, albums are. it was apparently (wasn't around myself) hailed as a brilliant album in the press... (they always have been a bit thick haven't they). in the past most of dylan's weaker lyrics seem to have been accompanied by fairly acceptable music to hum along to as you completely ignore what turgid bollocks bob... Read review

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Advantages: Inventive, wonderful and diverse
Disadvantages: There will be those who prefer 'Absolution'

...and musical masterwork continues into the infectious 'Supermassive Black Hole' and 'Map of the Problematique', when the true ingenuity and diversity of Muse is revealed in 'Soldier's Poem' and the ability of their frontman to move effortlessly to hard, distorted, apocalyptic electronica, to heart-rendering, soft piano. Other stand out tracks include the new single 'Invincible' and the amazingly original 'Knights of Cydonia', which casts black holes of frenzied moshing everywhere it is played. Fists in the air! No one's Going To Take Me Alive! One or two hits here, though brilliant, are overshadowed by the enormity of 'Starlight' and 'Knights of Cydonia', namely 'Hoodoo' and 'Exo-Politics'. But really,everything here is out of this world. The big question is, can this album compare to their earlier works? Does 'Black Holes... Read review

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Advantages: Too many to list. Consistence and passion.
Disadvantages: Not enough recognition. Particularly in the UK

...of Europe than their mother country. But I have a good feeling about what I've heard about the new album. My personal highlights... and there are many, but I've painstakinly reduced the list.... Album - Wayward Sons of mother earth. Track - Cradle will fall. Comment - Classic thrash metal. Attention grabbing opening riff. Album - Oui Avant guard a chance. Track - Constance eternal and Postcards from planet earth. Comments - Probally my favoirite single album. A great mix of the heavier side and acoustic masterworks. Album - The answer Machine? Track - Isle of Jura Comment - The best chorus ever! Sing it till your blue in the face! Album - Vintage Wine Track - No strings attached. Comment - A brilliant song on an outstanding album. A band of many talents. They are passionate about their craft, thats what keeps them going all... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic writing
Disadvantages: None

...in touch with reality. The book is a classic - Bob's gradual disintegration is handled incredibly subtly and slowly until it accelerates drastically when it becomes clear what's happening to him. The adventures of the four drug users are brilliant. Luckman, Freck, Barris and Arctor make their confused way through life and there's a huge amount of wit in their stoned conversations. But each of these comic scenes is undercut with a certain menace thanks to Jim Barris. Undeniably the villain of the piece, the reader never quite knows what Barris is up to, but he radiates a certain calculating malevolence even through his absurdly pompous speeches. Whether they're making home made cocaine or trying to work out where the 'missing' gears of a ten speed bike have gone, Barris smirks his way through with hidden menace. There's also the almost... Read review

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Advantages: Some brilliant moments.
Disadvantages: Half-baked. Lacking.

...Triad is actually a remix of a piece featured in Squarepusher's 1998 masterwork, Music is Rotten One Note. It ends the album on a good impression. All in all, Maximum Priest is a fair release from Squarepusher, featuring some brilliant material, as well as some rather bland stuff too. 50 % good, 50 % crap - I still recommend it, though. * (Written by myself - no violation, no lifting, no breach of copyright)... Read review

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Advantages: Unique, Disturbing, Abrasive, Intelligent, Technical
Disadvantages: None

...Aaron's follow-up to Songs About My Cats. Doll Doll Doll is the third album that Venetian Snares released in 2001. Considering his Printf album under the Isolate Records label, this is the man's fourth album. Songs About My Cats was a 14-track masterwork and the artist's first John Cage-esque exploration in sound. You could say that Doll Doll Doll fits somewhere in between the best moments of Making Orange Things (Planet Mu, 2001) and Songs About My Cats, while exhibiting some new ideas. D.D.D is an uncompromising serving of gabber / breakcore. Do not let that "genre tag" fool you; this album is extremely good. If you are familiar with Venetian Snares, you will know what I mean. If not, simply put: V. Snares is not your average electronica. Aaron Funk is one the most important voices on the experimental electronica scene. D... Read review

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Advantages: Great story, great characters, great PERIOD!
Disadvantages: a bit over-descriptive

...For some reason, even after reading this book, my brain still translates “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” to mean 20000 leagues DOWN instead of a DISTANCE. What’s wrong with me? Anyway, this book was a treasure. Jules Verne, the grandfather of science fiction, again shows that his is much more than a scientific mind. Verne is a grand storyteller, and this novel is his masterwork. Our heroes, Professor Arronax, his faithful compatriot Conseil, and the salty sailor Ned Land find themselves together in a hunt for a giant, mysterious undersea creature which has been causing havoc among shipping lines as well as towns along the coastline. Setting out to sea on top-of-the-line sailing vessel, the three men and the crew encounter the creature, only to have it sink their ship like so many others. However, as you probably know... Read review

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Advantages: A great read - good character, extremely inventive plot, superb ending
Disadvantages: None that I can think of

...I picked this one up as part of the SF Masterworks series, and I'm ever so glad I did. I'd vaguely heard of the book before that point, and knew that it had been made into a film (The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston, trivia fans). The basic story is that, well, all those fairytales you've ever heard about vampires? Well, they're not fairytales at all.... A plague of vampirism has descended upon mankind, and it's not looking good. The main character is one Robert Neville, who's trapped in his house - he's the last human around, and he's had to convert his house into a fortress to survive. By day, he wanders the city, staking any vampire whose lair he can find; by night, he's trapped in his house, surrounded by hordes of the undead, trying to tempt him out. It's a fantastic story (good enough that I've been reading the rest... Read review

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Advantages: Unique. Various styles. Incredible use of sound.
Disadvantages: Track nbr. 8

...Muddlin Gear was released in 2000 under Warp Records and Spymania, following Jamie Lidell's first Ep, Freakin' the Frame (1997). If you are familiar with Jamie's most recent release, Multiply (Warp Records, 2005), then you might be in for a shock with Muddlin' Gear. Simply put, Multiply is pop music; Muddlin' Gear is experimental music. Another way of putting would be: Multiply is an in-your-face, clichéd, pretentious and predictable work; Muddlin' Gear is a unique, untried, and fried-jazz fest, capricious and inspired, a true masterwork. Muddlin' Gear contains 12 tracks, totalling at 53 minutes approx. The Entroscooper, the opening track, sounds like digital disintegration played in an emptied subway. This sets the tone for the whole album. Said Dram Scram has a punk attitude, industrial rock feel to it. It spins strange distorted... Read review

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Advantages: Superb, exceptional film making.
Disadvantages: Not for those of a delicate disposition.

.... This varies from old vintage clips to horrifying split second shots of corpses, gore and parts of the killers tormented pasts. The montage is deeply unsettling and instantly becomes something more than simply another stupid Hollywood serial killer movie. The performances are deliberately over the top in an almost pantomime way which heightens the horror by presenting it as comedy. In particular Tommy Lee Jones is brilliant as the emotional prison warden who swears and screams as he is frustrated during the last half-hour. All the supporting cast are well chosen with Rodney Dangerfield as Mallorys father being hideously repulsive, abusing and bullying her. The scene where we meet her family is played out as a fifties style comedy in a genius piece of writing that has canned laughter as though a studio audience were enjoying the abuse... Read review

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