rock musika

Genre:
Rock
Styles:
Altenative Pop/Rock
Grunge
Post-Grunge
Aussie Rock

Album Review:

Silverchair were slaves to their influences on their debut Frogstomp, but on their second album Freak Show, they're beginning to show signs of developing their own style. While they may still concentrate too heavily on Pearl Jam and Nirvana, they're beginning to fuse the elements together in a more interesting way and are writing stronger hooks. Freak Show still has its share of mediocre moments, and Daniel Johns should try to sing instead of scream, but the album shows potential that Frogstomp never did.

Tracklist:
01. Slave
02. Freak
03. Abuse Me
04. Lie to Me
05. No Association
06. Cemetery
07. The Door
08. Pop Song For Us Rejects
09. Learn to Hate
10. Petrol & Chlorine
11. Roses
12. Nobody Came
13. The Closing

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Genre:
Rock
Styles:
Altenative Pop/Rock
Grunge
Post-Grunge
Aussie Rock

Album Review:

Silverchair's third full-length release is a confusing affair that reveals a band more talented than their critics realized and more confused than their fans could tolerate. The Australian trio never made any secret of their respect for Nirvana, and on Neon Ballroom Silverchair does one of the best impersonations of their Seattle counterparts on record. It would be easy to convince any Kurt Cobain fan that "Spawn Again" and "Dearest Helpless" are actually In Utero outtakes, and quite good ones at that! When the weepy ballads, like the Goo Goo Dolls-esque "Miss You Love," pull Neon Ballroom into an overtly radio-friendly direction, all the promise of a gritty grunge tribute fades, and Silverchair appears to be serving two masters. The resultingly incongruent musical textures stifled Neon Ballroom and assured a certain amount of fan disenchantment despite the minor airplay success of "Ana's Song (Open Fire)." There are still enough nice moments on this CD to recommend it to even casual fans of the Aussie outfit. Those who had enough of Silverchair when modern rock radio played their mid-'90s hits to death need not concern themselves with this mixed effort.

Tracklist:
01. Emotion Sickness
02. Anthem For the Year 2000
03. Ana's Song (Open Fire)
04. Spawn Again
05. Miss You Love
06. Dearest Helpless
07. Do You Feel the Same
08. Black Tangled Heart
09. Point of View
10. Satin Sheets
11. Paint Pastel Princess
12. Steam Will Rise

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Genre:
Rock
Styles:
Altenative Pop/Rock
Post Grunge

Album Review:

One of the few true shocks in life is when a young band with a seemingly short shelf life manages to somehow keep it together and continually improve. Take Silverchair, whose plodding angst anthems were the subject of much ridicule during their initial splash. But they somehow kept going and kept improving, and Diorama is the sound of a band finally growing into their own skin. The songs have a sense of space and tunefulness that was always missing from their previous efforts, and the production (by David Bottrill) brings to mind everything from the charging anthems of Big Country to U2's first experiments with Brian Eno. Singer Daniel Johns steps into the forefront here, showcasing his rich voice and shockingly catchy tunes with a gusto missing from their earlier albums. His efforts recall deceased singer/songwriter Josh Clayton-Felt, utilizing a similar vocal approach and writing the same sort of psychedelic soul on tracks like "Tuna in the Brine." A song like "World Upon Your Shoulders" could have never been possible before, but in one song they take the washed-out symphonies of Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips and the delicate falsetto pop of Jeff Buckley and combine them into a digestible pop nugget. Although the song may not be as brilliant as the artists they reference, their simple willingness to even attempt that sort of song shows a remarkable maturity. The awesome guitar work from Johns also shows growth, as the songs often drift into Edge-like noodling that compliments his voice much more than the chugging riffs of their first few albums. "Without You"'s Goo Goo Dolls-lite is an unwelcome twist, taking their newfound sense of melody and giving it a blustery chorus that robs the track of its power. The thick "One Way Mule" is another minor disappointment, reverting back to their grunge sound for a song that has little of the intelligence and beauty of the rest of the album. But mostly this is a wonderful surprise from a band thought to have been finished in the late '90s. Being hesitant to give this a chance is perfectly understandable, but Silverchair has grown up and put together a fine mix of pop and rock on Diorama.

Tracklist:
01. Across the Night
02. The Greatest View
03. Without You
04. World Upon Your Shoulders
05. One Way Mule
06. Tuna in the Brine
07. Too Much of Not Enough
08. Luv Your Life
09. The Lever
10. My Favourite Thing
11. After All These Years

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