This album was my entry into crowbars discography - super solid atmospheric songs all the way through, great production for a sludge album. (See also: Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form)

Definitely worth a listen if you have listened to DOWN and want to see what Kirk brings to that group.

Not many reviews up this - via Metal Archives

…this is the best album Crowbar had done up to this point. As I’ve stated many times before, its definitely heavier, possibly more riff oriented than before, and definitely fleshing out new ideas. I can’t really say this beats out “Sonic Excess…” or “Lifesblood for the Downtrodden” because I havn’t heard those albums in their entirety, but it comes close from what I have heard of them.

Any fan of Crowbar definitely needs to pick this up, while it also makes a good first for the curious listener. Its not quite as accessible as the self-titled was, but its better in most respects. I’d also branch out and say its worthy of checking out for doom fans who don’t mind the sludge variant, nor the lack of complex structures and virtuoso shredding. If its an attempt at something better, I would have to say it succeeded and surpassed expectations of a Crowbar release.

I haven’t thought about Helmet for a long while, but was recently listening to the Lamb of God covers album, which had an (average) In the Meantime cover. Which made me want to give this a thrash.

Solid all the way though with a good mix of soft and snarling. Followed up by another couple of good albums before they split up for the rest of the 90s.

Deadendfollies classic album review

*…I’m sure a lot of you didn’t know or had forgotten about Meantime. It’s one of these records that left a blueprint on an entire era, but that was more appreciated by other musicians than it was by audiences. At least from a legacy standpoint. Others came after Helmet and performed more commercial variations on their sound, which eventually lead way to Korn and nu metal. But Meantime will live forever in the hearts of guitar music enthusiasts for its crushing riffs and explosive, never ending anger. *

I don’t tend to delve into Machine Head too much, but after picking up a copy of The Blackening the other week I pulled this one out of the collection.

Great album with a lot of punch that doesnt outstay its welcome - definitely sounds like a 90s release but that isn’t detrimental in any way.

From the Kerrang retrospective

As has been said (many times), it was, and is, a remarkable work. Opening with the now legendary Davidian, which took its inspiration from the Waco Siege of '93 that left 71 people dead after the FBI stormed the compound of the Branch Davidians religious sect, it took the heaviest elements of thrash, groove metal, punk rock, and even industrial metal, and added a very short fuse, with truly explosive results. Tackling everything from religious corruption – Death Church – to the LA riots of 1992 – Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies – and personal demons – The Rage To Overcome, it had an air of barely suppressed violence throughout that made off-the-leash songs like Blood For Blood and Block seem all the more ferocious.

Literally pulled this one out of the collection today. This has to be the most singular chillout album in the collection. Good to come back to on the odd occasion.

Via Stereogum

Air were more thoughtful and tasteful and better, and Moon Safari still has the pure, woozy beauty that entranced so many of us 20 years ago. And yet it sounds hopelessly tied to its moment — an nostalgic object fated to become an object of nostalgia itself.

This is a short, punchy live album by the band Ministry containing only 6 live tracks, but there’s a ton of energy in the performances.

I haven’t seen the video that goes with in by all accounts it looks cheesy as hell. The music is pretty poppy and catchy not aggressive and changes pace, throughout - starting with the faster The Missing before slowing down for the classic So What.

Very much a product of its time. I’m not a ministry fan and haven’t heard any of their albums so not able to say where it fits in their discography, but for me I can put this on when in the mood and enjoy the hell out of it.

From the prongs.org review

Overall, this was a live release, so all songs sound like they were remade, and again, the tracks sound like they stick true to mostly guitars and drums. The versions here are way more aggressive to their album versions and is possibly the most exciting and most intense Ministry release. Without a doubt, this is a must have for any Ministry fan, or someone who wants that “rock-feel” in a live release. All in all, very deadly.

Not quite sure what to class the album as in terms of genre. It’s no longer drone along the lines of Earth2 but is still very slow tempo music that is quite happy to take its time. A good album to throw on and be transported somewhere else, and my favourite of the Earth albums I’ve heard so far.

Bandcamp Link

From the lastrites review

Bees Made Honey is a suitable soundtrack for anything that involves road-tripping into open spaces and big skies, and it’s clear proof that Earth plans to continue challenging the borders they’re largely responsible for building, which is a great, great thing.

Of the Sunn O))) albums I’ve managed to hear this is the one where I think they expand their sound in an interesting direction, will all four tracks being thoroughly engaging.

Monoliths & Dimensions on Bandcamp

Via Drowned In Sound

It pains me to even have to say this but this isn’t going to be for everyone. For the internet-damaged and terminally short of attention to the myopically conservative, to those who choose music merely as a lifestyle accessory, this album will upset, confuse or bore. For anyone interested in music that works both as art and an intensely new exciting experience - this is easily the best album that has come out this year.

The first Steven Wilson produced album is my pick for the classic Opeth album, expanding the template set on Still Life.

From Angrymetalguy

Blackwater Park, however, is so silky smooth. It glides from one moment, one idea, to the next like quicksilver, without ever sacrificing the heaviness that made Oldpeth so special. Åkerfeldt’s vocals feel more polished than ever, with both his reedy cleans and death metal roars bursting with power and emotion, while the riffs and leads laid down by him and Peter Lindgren, together with the huge bass performance from Martin Mendez, gives the whole record a gorgeous, rich texture.

High energy teen punk album, that set the template for 90s punk-rock. Tricky album to recommend this one, as sonically it hasnt aged and sounds great and songs are really catchy but some of the lyrics havent aged well at all.

To the bands credit, they dont perform’songs I’m not a punk with the original lyrics.

This review on punknews pretty much sums up my thoughts.

I first got this album when I was 16 and absolutely loved it. It’s a fast and furious mix between pop-punk and hardcore that’s just dripping with teenage angst and which set the blueprint for a lot of bands to come. Blink-182 have basically spent their first fie albums trying to recreate Milo Goes to College.

But as I listen to it now in my 30’s I start to realize that this is one of the most offensive albums I’ve ever heard, and not in a Sex Pistols sense of challenging the morals of the powerful, but in a Ricky Gervais way of punching down on a lot of marginalized groups. Besides “I’m Not a Loser” being wildly homophobic, “Catalina” is one of the most misogynistic punk songs ever written, “Kabuki Girl” is shockingly racist, “Hope” is basically a proto-incel anthem, and “Bikeage” is unnecessarily mean and slut-shaming towards the song’s subject.

But it remains one of my all-time favorite albums, and of course I have to remind myself that it was written by a bunch of teenagers in 1982 who probably don’t feel the same way about a lot of things today in 2019 as they did back in 1982.