This week, I\u2019ve got another four albums for your listening ears. There will be three new albums from the past week (on a monday to monday basis) and one classic album we\u2019re celebrating the anniversary of.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n All Washed Up \u2013 Cheap Trick<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n 6.2\/10<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I actually quite like Cheap Trick. They make about as basic power pop music as you can, but they\u2019re quite good at it and their first three albums have a lot of great tracks. A lot of this love does come from the fact that they are open about their love of and influence from Electric Light Orchestra (my favorite band), but I digress. I didn\u2019t know this until doing research for this review, but Cheap Trick actually has been releasing albums every few years since the late \u201870s, which is very impressive.<\/span><\/p>\n I honestly am not entirely sure what to say about this record! It\u2019s obviously not their most incredible work and it\u2019s not breaking any new ground, musically it\u2019s basically the same AOR they were making in their heyday. The guitars are basic but have a nice tone, riffs aren\u2019t extremely catchy or creative but serve the job well. The drumming, while fine, is mixed pretty poorly and at times it makes them sound like youtube free beats.<\/span><\/p>\n My main critique is that lead singer Rob Zander struggles a lot of the time on the vocals. Don\u2019t get me wrong, he sounds great for 72, tracks like \u201cThe Best Thing\u201d are scarily close to the kind of performance he put on in his prime, the vocals are admittedly pleasant\u2013 but man, so many of the tracks are hard to listen to due to his vocals. The title track \u201cAll Washed Up\u201d and \u201cTwelve Gates\u201d are the worst offenders but there are moments throughout most of the other tracks that have some wince-inducing moments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some tracks feel directionless. \u201cBet It All\u201d is mostly slow and pounding but there\u2019s a tapping guitar solo thrown haphazardly in the middle of the record. Some tracks are pretty repetitive: \u201cBet It All\u201d, \u201cBad Blood\u201d and \u201cDancing With The Band\u201d have almost no variety in their structure\u2013 even the verses and choruses sound too similar.<\/span><\/p>\n This record is not an incredible record by any means, but dammit I have a soft spot for Cheap Trick and their sound. Other than some of the highlight singles I don\u2019t see myself returning to this album over their earlier work, but it\u2019s no doubt impressive they managed to pump out another album at this quality at their age.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Eusexua Afterglow \u2013 FKA Twigs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 5.5\/10<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Well first things first\u2013 I love this album cover. It\u2019s one of my favorites from this past year\u2013 maybe even my favorite of 2025. It\u2019s much better than the original design for the album which was just a blue filter over the \u201cEusexua\u201d cover. Some clarification here is important regarding the album and its naming. Originally it was conceived as a deluxe edition for FKA twig\u2019s record this year \u201cEusexua\u201d but it evolved into its own sequel album. Now, for some reason to promote the release of this album she also released four bonus tracks on the ORIGINAL \u201cEusexua\u201d that AREN\u2019T on this record. Confusing, but it\u2019s her album I suppose.<\/span><\/p>\n Speaking of albums, it\u2019s high time I start talking about it. I\u2019ve never been huge into EDM, if it\u2019s done right I can certainly enjoy it, though I never seek it out unless it\u2019s gaining tons of steam in the community. Well, I listened to \u201cEusexua\u201d when it first came out and it was a perfectly serviceable EDM record. Now, listening to \u201cEusexua Afterglow\u201d it\u2019s a perfectly serviceable albeit a little more forgettable EDM record (afterglow).<\/span><\/p>\n At many times listening through I found myself enjoying this record\u2013 but when I went to look at the tracklist to remember the songs I thought to be standouts, I found myself totally unable to remember anything from this record. \u201cPredictable Girl\u201d seemed to be my favorite, it\u2019s got a creative breakbeat and\u2013 that\u2019s about it actually. I was going to say it\u2019s got a \u201cdanceable\u201d beat but every track on this album does.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many of the tracks are not just empty or forgettable but outright boring. \u201cSushi\u201d and \u201cSlushy\u201d are both empty, tiring pieces of work that go on far too long for how little they implement. It\u2019s not till the very end of \u201cSushi\u201d that anything interesting happens and by the time you\u2019re getting into it\u2013 the song is over and it\u2019s onto the next. Even the PinkPanthress feature is blown on \u201cWild and Alone\u201d a track where PinkPanthress brings none of her signature bouncy energy, it\u2019s like a shell of a track.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s how I feel about most of this album. There\u2019s room for so much more: more interesting synthplay, more creative drum beats, more varied vocal melodies, literally anything that would make me feel something different between tracks. It feels like FKA twigs didn\u2019t want to rename her new album after it grew out of the deluxe version, but also didn\u2019t want to lose the hype from her initial release. The result is a boring, half-baked EDM album that is fine as background music but I\u2019ll never return to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Abditum \u2013 VoidCeremony<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 8\/10<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The past few weeks have been filled with some pretty high profile releases, though at the Blue Banner we always try to feature at least one project from a smaller band. When said high profile artists are giving us diminishing returns (cough cough, FKA twigs), you can always turn to underground grind-death metal for some relief. Thankfully, Californian group VoidCeremony is here with one of the best metal albums I\u2019ve heard in recent years.<\/span><\/p>\n The opening track, \u201cIntro \u2013 Inevitable Entropy\u201d is a fun, dungeon synth track that plays around with old midi sounds and leads you into the dark world they shape in this album. It\u2019s not long before you\u2019re immediately thrown into that classic technical death metal stop-start formula on \u201cVeracious Duality\u201d. The rapid changing of speeds are excellently done and don\u2019t come off sounding unnatural in the slightest. Towards the end of the track lead guitarist Wandering Mind (yes, that\u2019s what he\u2019s credited as) has a gorgeous guitar solo.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Most of the rest of the album is more of the same\u2013 very high quality. Wandering Mind\u2019s vocals are quintessentially done death growls (for those who don\u2019t listen to metal, that\u2019s what you call those guttural, unintelligible warbles in most heavier genres) and are mixed really nicely. The production on the album as a whole is wonderful and is a big problem I have with a lot of modern metal records.<\/span><\/p>\n I am of course biased, but the bass tone is absolutely phenomenal and was the highlight of many of the tracks for me. Bassist The Great Righteous Destroyer stays in the upper octaves. Like on \u201cSilence Which Ceases All Minds\u201d where yes the guitar riffs are incredibly catchy and fun\u2013 but the bass bobbing in and out of the heavier swells of the melody feel both precarious yet perfectly planned. At the end of the day though, it is those high pitched, wailing guitar solos that are the attention grabbers. The one at the end of \u201cFailure of Ancient Wisdoms\u201d particularly amazes me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Metal is not for everyone, death metal is for even less people and technical death metal like this will probably turn away a lot of people initially. However\u2013 for those of you looking to expand your horizons or those of you who love metal, please check this album out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Treasure \u2013 Cocteau Twins\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n 8.7\/10<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Imagine you\u2019re in a giant cave. Sparkling crystal reflections dance across the walls as small cracks of sunlight shine through. There\u2019s a thin layer of water gently flowing across the floor, it\u2019s perfectly transparent yet completely still. It\u2019s dirty yet gorgeous, ethereal yet terrifying\u2013 it is both one thing and its opposite simultaneously. You don\u2019t know why you\u2019re there or what you\u2019re looking for. This album is what you hear.<\/span><\/p>\n While there\u2019s no doubt that the Cocteau Twins record \u201cHeaven or Las Vegas\u201d is a great album, it\u2019s sadly true that because of the immense popularity of that album almost all of their earlier work is overshadowed. It\u2019s a shame, because their early, gothic takes on ethereal wave are some of the most exciting and unique records of all time. This week, we\u2019re looking at \u201cTreasure\u201d , a dark dance with the more cryptic side of dream pop.<\/span><\/p>\n The album has a gorgeous opening \u201cIvo\u201d that immediately flexes their instrumentation muscles, that signature gorgeous dream pop guitar tone dancing atop the aggressive acoustic strumming, all while pounding drums push everything forward. There\u2019s also a bell synth that gives the track an ancient, worldly feeling. It\u2019s like you\u2019re uncovering treasure. The entire album follows these patterns with variations in energy\u2013 never lingering too long on one tempo. Some tracks turn the energy down even further, with \u201cPersephone\u201d going so far as to remove virtually all percussion.<\/span><\/p>\n The variations in synth sounds do so much for the instrumentation. \u201cBeatrix\u201d has this dark, middle-eastern timbre that sounds like echoing strings off temple walls. \u201cPandora (For Cindy)\u201d has bright, sparkly tones that give the air of cascading light through a dark tree canopy or cracks in a cave\u2019s ceiling. \u201cAmelia\u201d turns these spots of brightness up with even more flashes of colorful synth play throughout. The guitar tone typically hovers around the same blend of striking elegance with its clean yet hazy sound. It sometimes goes a bit softer during \u201cPandora (For Cindy)\u201d or a bit harder during \u201cIvo\u201d but it never strays too far from the norm.<\/span><\/p>\n I could probably write the rest of the article on the instrumentation and their various ornaments, guitar riffs and industrial inspired drumming, but it would be ridiculous to write about the Cocteau Twins without mentioning vocalist Elizabth Fraser. Her voice is bright, icy and ethereal. On tracks like \u201cDomino\u201d she can jump between a cascading whisper during the intro to a powerful shout by the end\u2013 and maintains that variation throughout. The darker, grimier music overlaid with her clean and hypnotic vocals creates a juxtaposition that makes the music effortlessly interesting.<\/span><\/p>\n I will never miss an opportunity to shell out for the Cocteau Twins\u2013 their run from 1983-1990 resulted in six albums of incredible quality and a sound that I have not seen well replicated. If there\u2019s one album from this week you listen to, it should be \u201cTreasure\u201d. Maybe find a nice cave to listen to it in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source thebluebanner.net \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week, I\u2019ve got another four albums for your listening ears. There will be three new albums from the past week (on a monday to monday basis) and one classic album we\u2019re celebrating the anniversary of.\u00a0 \u00a0 All Washed Up \u2013 Cheap Trick 6.2\/10 Album Cover by John Johnson I actually quite like Cheap Trick. 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