Break The Spell / Daughtry (2011)

1. Renegade

2. Crawling Back to You

3. Outta My Head

4. Start of Something Good

5. Crazy

6. Break the Spell

7. We're Not Gonna Fall

8. Gone Too Soon

9. Losing My Mind

10. Rescue Me

11. Louder Than Ever

12. Spaceship

Time has changed rapidly in the music industry. There are not many people who are willing to pay money for music since they can illegally download them for free. However, whatever the reasons are, it really makes me sad that this album has been the least sold one in Daughtry's catalog because this album is the far best record they have ever made.

I am not a big fan of American Idol at all and had never seen Chris Daughtry in the show. However, I read about him in a music magazine when he debut with his own band. However, I never really listened to his music until the second album. I was stunned by his voice. He was a really singer, a real rock singer. The album contained so many catchy riff with good hook and melody. Then, I also bought the first record. I immediately liked this band even though I don't listen recent bands very much.

Nevertheless, this album is much better than what I expected. Every song has catchy melody and good riffs. Moreover, all of the songs really leverage his voice. His vocal really matches all of the songs. I think this is the result of improvement of songwriting skill of the band. If you bought either their first album or the second one, you would not regret buying this album. If you are interested in Daughtry, I highly recommend to buy this album as the first record to get to know them.

☆☆☆☆☆

Here and Now / Nickelback (2011)

1. This Means War

2. Bottoms Up

3. When We Stand Together

4. Midnight Queen

5. Gotta Get Me Some

6. Lullaby

7. Kiss It Goodbye

8. Trying Not to Love You

9. Holding On to Heaven

10. Everything I Wanna Do

11. Don't Let It End

Their last album was one of the greatest discovery that I did in recent music scene. This band is one of few riff oriented bands. From track 1, they knocked me hard with powerful riffs. I got goose bumps when I heard the intro of the song. This will be another rock anthem at their shows. Their last album had great sound production, but this one had even much stronger sound pressure. The sound attacks you like flooding water. 

Track 2 was released as a rock single, track 3 was a pop single. One thing I like about his band is that they deliver political or social messages in their songs. The album consists of great ballads as well (Tracks 6, 8, 11). Especially, track 6 is an excellent piece! This has the same mood of "Save Me". Like the last album, the sound production is very heavy but does not make you feel the heaviness because every song has good catchy melody. Every song has a good sing-along chorus that would excite audiences. Any song in this album can be a repertory at their shows.

The monster rock band on 21st century has come back stronger than ever. This album will be another milestone for their career. I can feel their great presence as a today's arena rock band from the songs.

☆☆☆☆☆

Th1rt3en / Megadeth (2011)

1. Sudden Death

2. Public Enemy No. 1

3. Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)

4. We the People

5. Guns, Drugs, & Money

6. Never Dead

7. New World Order

8. Fast Lane

9. Black Swan

10. Wrecker

11. Millennium of the Blind

12. Deadly Nightshade

13. 13

Lately, many reunion and comeback tours from 80's have been really thriving. It is very nostalgic for old fans and very fresh for new fans. However, it seems like many bands are not successful to deliver albums that comparable with their golden age. Megadeth is one of few bands that are successful at making great records that stands up to old catalogues from 80's and 90's. Once again, they brought us a great album. This album should be commemorated for the return of David Ellefson and the joining of Chris Broderick. I could tell how great the guitar skill of Chris is by watching live shows. However, he really brought new energy and good melody sense in his guitar play in this album.

I describe that the last album had the same feeling and mood of "Rust In Peace" and "Countdown To Extinction". This time, I would say that they pressed forward with the same musical direction, yet it also has the same catchiness of "Cryptic Writings". "Cryptic Writings" was a great album that catchiness and Megadeth style metal coexisted. Nevertheless, that album did not have strong edge that they had in early career. This album is a mix of all of them. Track 2 is the prime example of it. It has strong edge in sound and riffs and good progression yet very catchy as well. Mustaine's songwriting skill compiled in this song. Track 8 is also another example of it. It has authentic metal essence. It can appeal to any kind of metal fans. The album also has strong Megadeth style metal songs as well such as tracks 1, 3, 6, 8, and 10. I felt the mood of "The World Needs A Hero" from the song, track 13. It is very dramatic and somewhat spooky. He is good at that too.

I think this album really summarizes Megadeth's whole career. They have been making straightforward metal, yet it was also very varied. The amazing thing about this band (or perhaps Dave Mustaine) is that they have been walking the journey of finding their roots yet also extending their music style at the same time. I would say that, for overall quality, the last album was better. Nevertheless, this album is something that leads to the next stage to sublime their music.

☆☆☆☆

Scarlet Love Song -Buddha Mix- / X Japan (2011)

Since X Japan returned to the music scene, they have released three singles. I see some controversy regarding the first two songs going on among fans. I can understand what they are saying. It is obvious that those two songs are very different from the songs from "Vanishing Vision", "Blue Blood", "Jealousy", or "Dahlia". But, it is also true that "Dahlia" was very different from previous albums. I guess fans always tend to create their own image of the band, which I also do to some of the bands that I really like. To me, X Japan always challenged themselves to evolve musically, and "Dahlia" was just a process of evolution. I was happy to hear their new songs, "I.V." and "Jaded". 

So, this is the third one, and this is a ballad song. The reason why this band became so famous in Japan was that the beautiful ballad songs that Yoshiki wrote along heavy fast metal tunes. The first song that really got me to this band was "Forever Love". I just loved the melody of the song. I was talking about the changes that band went through musically. I could find some changes in this song as well such as sampling and rhythm machine. Maybe Yoshiki chose this arrangement so that it would fit in the movie (The title says "Buddha Mix"). However, I could see the unmovable core of Yoshiki's heart in this song. He is still Yoshiki, one of the greatest rock musicians and composers. This is a beautiful ballad that should be added on their catalogue.

☆☆☆☆☆

Amaranthe / Amaranthe (2011)

1. Leave Everything Behind

2. Hunger

3. 1,000,000 Lightyears

4. Automatic

5. My Transition

6. Amaranthine

7. It's All About Me (Rain)

8. Call Out My Name

9. Enter The Maze

10. Director's Cut

11. Act Of Desperation

12. Serendipity

13. Breaking Point

14. A Splinter In My Soul

Nowadays, the mixture of different music is very remarkable. We have seen the evolution of mixture rock/metal music in the last decade in the bands such as Linkin Park, Deftones, Korn, Fear Factory, Shadows Fall, In Flames, and many others. However, this music scene is saturated with many bands that are copying bunch of different band. Many bands are trying to make something unique but not succeeding. 

Nevertheless, this band was very different from those "trying-to-be" bands. I read some reviews in music magazines, and the most of them were very positive and became very curious. One day I found their music videos on YouTube, and they really stood out when I first watched videos of tracks 2 and 6. A band with 3 vocals, heavy guitar, catchy melody, and great hooks... you think there would be many other bands like this, and I am pretty sure there are, but the quality of the songs are much better than many other bands with similar style.

They need some improvement in songwriting and arrangement since some songs sound similar to other songs in the album. Nevertheless, this debut album has amazing quality as a new band in style, songwriting, and music skills. I am truly looking forward to the future of this band.

☆☆☆☆