Music Review: CD picks for the holiday rush 

Christmas season is upon us, and with it, the usual stressful trappings that the holidays come with: traffic, crowded malls and the incessant number of Christmas songs-–both good and bad–that are blasted in malls and radios everywhere. 

 

While carols always help to set up the festive mood of the season, it can get unnerving if it’s the eighth time you’ve heard “Christmas In Our Hearts” in the past hour.

Here are a few recent releases that you can pick up (or in one case, avoid completely) for a respite from the saccharine holiday cheer.

Soundgarden 

King Animal

Seven Four/Universal Records

Many Soundgarden fans were waiting expectantly for a new Soundgarden album ever since they reunited a few years back. That’s until the release of “Live to Rise” the first new song they released for "The Avengers" this summer.

The song’s clinically sterile production was not something one would expect from the band that many people consider as the quintessential grunge band. Thankfully, "King Animal" is nothing like that and though it lacks the menacingly grimy snarl of their pre-"Superunknown" material, it's still a pretty solid effort. One that's arguably even more cohesive than "Down on the Upside", an album that clearly showed a band that was no longer on the same page.

 

"Been Away Too Long" is the Soundgarden single that the fans actually deserve: a song that both lyrically and musically acknowledges the band's past while moving forward at the same time. Another standout is "Non-State Actor" with its frantic slithering Ben Sheppard written riff. "Bones of Birds" sounds like it could have been a single from Cornell's first solo album, "Euphoria Morning" while “By Crooked Steps” is reminiscent of the quirky odd time signatures of songs like "Spoonman" but with a more modern, loopier twist.

It wouldn't be a Soundgarden album though if it didn't have any new tricks. ''Halfway There" is surprisingly hopeful, a mood not often associated with Soundgarden songs, while "Rowing" sounds like a ritual chant anchored to a hypnotic bass lick.

"King Animal" is Soundgarden with nothing left to prove. With their legacy firmly entrenched in rock history, they were able to do what they do best: write anthemic anthems that are still able to challenge the lister.

Green Day 

¡Dos!

Reprise Records

Earlier this year, Green Day front man Billy Joe Armstrong declared that the band was at a creative peak and that they were going to come up with three albums before the year ended.

Entitled "¡Uno!", "¡Dos!" and "¡Tré!", these albums were supposed to depart from the overwrought epics that the band churned out during the past decade. "¡Uno!" was the band's attempt to re-embrace the power pop songs that helped them bring back punk in the '90s.

Though very successful in their duplication of their former sound, one can't help but feel like it was a contrived effort. It's difficult to be credibly angry about the same things you were angry about 15 years ago. Especially when you’ve made millions of dollars since then.

 

This theme continues on "¡Dos!", though instead of aping their younger selves, they instead try their hand at simulating garage rock. Once again, Green Day do a pretty good job at it. With songs that draw equally from '60s garage rock, '70s era proto punk to the genre's revival in the early aughts, Green Day makes it looks so easy that it seems like they can do this in their sleep.

Therein lies the problem. Just like the past release, this album almost sounds like a songwriting exercise. None of these songs are bad by any stretch but it doesn't sound authentic at all. "Lazy Bones" is a decent song but it was already written by The Strokes sometime in the last decade. Same thing goes for ''Amy", a decent stripped down ballad that would be great if it didn't sound so much like The Zombies.

Undoubtedly, these releases prove that Green Day have mastered the art of crafting great pop songs. This is something that we already knew though and unfortunately, all these songs were already done better by people who actually meant it.

 

Kylie Minogue 

The Abbey Road Sessions

Parlophone/ Polyeast Phils.

For the 25th anniversary of the release of her first single "Locomotion", Kylie Minogue decided to record some of her most iconic songs at London studio Abbey Road, probably the most legendary recording studio in the world.

Armed with her band and an orchestra, Minogue and her producers reworked her past hits. Though the orchestral album is a departure from her usual dance tunes, the arrangements showcase her voice probably more than any time in the past. This is easily her strongest vocal performance in a very long time.

 

One of the more interesting tracks in the album is the reworked version of "Confide in Me" which turns into a haunting, almost sinister track. Speaking of sinister, fellow Australian Nick Cave again makes an appearance on an even more stripped down version of "Where the Wild Roses Grow". "Can't Get You Out of my Head" retains its uptempo beat but morphs into a completely different creature with strings taking the place of the song’s original synths.

The orchestral arrangements don't suit all of her songs well though. Her '80s bubblegum anthem "Lucky" turns into a slow dragging piece that doesn't go anywhere. In general though, the album breathes new life into her songs and can be appreciated by even non-diehard Kylie fans.--KDM, GMA News

All photos sourced from Wikipedia.