Tulip
Artist: Steel Pole Bath Tub
Telepathic Last Words
Artist: Course of Empire
Community Score: 9.00

Aside from Queensryche and Rage Against the Machine, there aren't many politically conscious metal bands left nowadays, but Course of Empire may be the leaders of a resurgence. Their latest release, Telepathic Last Words, is a throwback of sorts to past Queensryche classics like Operation Mindcrime and Empire, yet C.O.E. updates the approach and... Read More

Pure Cult: The Best of the Cult (For Rockers, Ravers, Lovers & Sinners)
Artist: The Cult
Community Score: 10.00

Say what you want about the Cult -- a band which will certainly go down as one of the most schizophrenic in rock history -- but singer Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy could sure write a great tune. Just glance at a few titles included on their hard-to-find, but definitely best greatest-hits collection Pure Cult: "Edie (Ciao Baby)," "Love... Read More

Burn My Eyes
Artist: Machine Head
Community Score: 8.70

Released to massive European acclaim, Machine Head's full-length debut, Burn My Eyes, successfully bridges the gap between second-generation Bay Area thrash (Testament, Death Angel, etc.) and the modern-day Pantera school of hard knocks. Produced by underground stalwart Colin Richardson, Burn My Eyes is a bone-shattering exercise in brutality... Read More

Betty
Artist: Helmet
Community Score: 8.36

With the corporate rock cognoscenti frothing at the mouth to sign the next Nirvana, in 1991, a seemingly nerdy band from New York by the name of Helmet were about to set the world on fire -- at least on paper. Seemingly overnight, the Amphetamine Reptile faves had a fat check in their pockets and an astounding major-label debut by the name of... Read More

Troublegum
Artist: Therapy?
Community Score: 8.00

A high watermark of early alternative metal, Troublegum is a spectacular, powerful, clutter-free record. Densely packed at 14 songs in 40 minutes, there's sharpness on every level, demonstrating that the promise evidenced on Nurse was no mirage. Chris Sheldon's job on the boards provides separation among all the instruments, avoiding the mashed... Read More

Jar of Flies
Artist: Alice in Chains
Community Score: 7.90

Written and recorded in about a week, Jar of Flies solidified Alice in Chains' somewhat bizarre pattern of alternating full-length hard rock albums with mostly acoustic, ballad-oriented EPs. That quirk aside, Jar of Flies is a low-key stunner, achingly gorgeous and harrowingly sorrowful all at once. In a way, it's a logical sequel to Dirt --... Read More

Miracle of Sound in Motion
Artist: Steel Pole Bath Tub
Undertow
Artist: Tool
Community Score: 8.19

Just as grunge was reaching its boiling point and radio-friendly punk-pop loomed on the horizon, Tool released Undertow, which firmly reinforced metal's prominence as a musical style -- but, for once, it had something worthwhile to say. At the forefront of Tool's commercial explosion were striking, haunting visuals that complemented the album's... Read More

Urban Discipline
Artist: Biohazard
Community Score: 9.00

Biohazard's Urban Discipline introduced the band's one-of-a-kind, Brooklyn thrash-rap sound to hardcore fans outside the five boroughs. It's an authentic mix of inner-city vocal rhythms with metal's take-no-prisoners attitude, one that granted them international credibility. Urban Discipline is an original hardcore metal-rap album, debuting a... Read More

Superstar Car Wash
Artist: The Goo Goo Dolls
Community Score: 6.83

The hard rock rawness of Buffalo's Goo Goo Dolls makes Superstar Car Wash an album that is high on amicable guitar riffs and attractive hooks, with an edge that never goes away. All the choruses are sandwiched perfectly between the crunching throttle of electric guitar and pleasing rock rhythms, changing pace and style just a notch in each of... Read More

Nurse
Artist: Therapy?
Community Score: 6.70

An expanded recording budget does wonders for Therapy? for their first proper studio record, released by new label A&M. But rather than record with a label-approved producer, the Irish band opted to go with their soundman to provide a grunge tinge to their punishing noise. So the band's fans rested easily knowing that Nurse was more than their... Read More