aside from containing Hum's biggest hit: Stars; this album has some of the best songs they ever wrote, like: I Hate It Too & The Pod (with its solo of insane, but somehow controled feedback). this album is a huge influence for me, with the music i make; Hum were the masters of melodic, emo, math metal. Matt's vocals are low pitched & soft (like if he was singing a baby to sleep). the lyrics were about love & death, but used science & math as metaphors to talk about it. the songs on this album are everywhere from: mournful (the very old man), angry (the pod), some what hopeful (i'd like your hair long) & anywhere inbetween. this is real emocore.

this is the first album, by Meshuggah, that i bought. the term "math metal" was invented for Meshuggah, the songs are, for the most part: slow, dark, brutal & very complex. Nothing is the heaviest album that i have ever heard (especially with it's re-release, using 8-string guitars). every fan of metal should own this album.

as far as all of the Pumpkins' guitar-driven albums, this is the best. it has the most songs & all of them are good (to say the least). you have some solo piano, metal, prog-rock, billy's best guitar solos, acoustic ballads & the begining of the electro-goth music that would lead to Adore. MC&tIS is a great overview album for the Pumpkins; their entire body of music can be summed-up on this one album.

first off, the simplicity of the artwork: pink cover, sdre in tiny font, pink back cover, songs in tiny font, white inside cover with a fly, cd white with fly. this has to be my favorite album ever. the sub-genre term "emo" was invented for this band. brad wood's production is simple, clear & haunting. the guitars are harmonic, complex, but not alienating. the bass is melodic & goes with the guitars, instead of against them. jeremy's vocals vary from a melancholic whisper, to whining, screaming & damn-near crying. with some odd time signatures & polymetrics, this is easily the best SDRE album.

when i was getting into music, this was the first album i ever owned. i bought it after seeing the video for "Wish", which, i feel, has messed me up for life; thanks trent. Broken, is dark, brutal, pissed-off, industrial metal (think Ministry on a really bad day). god knows which girl did what to trent, but he is pissed! the guitars are like chainsaws, synths are odd-pitched white noise & the drum machines are like someone kicking-in your skull. then the album can shift to the soft & sad, "help me, i am in hell". i owe a great debt to this genius album.