T.V. Sky
Artist: Young Gods
Community Score: 10.00

In a conscious shift of aesthetics, the very European Gods turned their eyes on America with the band's fourth album, producing its most 'rock' record to date, a consistently strong smash. Opening with "Our House," it all seems (powerful) business as usual - odd sonic loops, rhythm patterns suddenly exploding into mass drum/riff combinations.... Read More

Jungle Queen
Artist: PJ Harvey
In Memory
Artist: Nevermore

Sporting some of singer Warrel Dane's most extreme vocal workouts, In Memory is an impressive musical display of neo-progressive yet heavy melodic metal. With an identical band lineup and producer Neil Kernon returning to helm the console, the results on this follow-up to 1995's eponymous debut are predictably similar. The bombastic medley of... Read More

Sidewinder
Artist: Download
Community Score: 6.00

Companion to Download's second album, The Eyes of Stanley Pain, Sidewinder is its namesake -- a collection of remixes and new material which may not have fit onto the album for various reasons, but still very worthy in their own right. This means that some tracks on this EP, namely "Shemaesin" and "Im5," make for even more challenging listening... Read More

Old Gold: 1989-1991
Artist: The Cows

Serving as both an excellent introduction to the Cows' freaked-out, discordant universe and as a reissue of older, out-of-print album tracks and singles, Old Gold captures this quartet's arc of development from a sloppy, discordant Butthole Surfer-esque punk band to legendary noise rock merchants. Culling tracks from 1989's massively off-kilter... Read More

Stag
Artist: Melvins
Community Score: 8.55

The repeating sitar-into-guitar-chord start of the album makes it clear that Stag isn't going to be quite like anything the Melvins had yet recorded to that point. There's such a strong and audible emphasis on the band really exploring the possibilities of the studio throughout that the effect is breathtaking -- it's a huge, epic sound that's... Read More

Everything I Long For
Artist: Hayden
Community Score: 7.00

Solitary, rootsy post-punk of the best kind, delving into somewhat dark and twisted terrrain, but invested with a lot of passion and unflinching grit. The sparse and haunting arrangements put acoustic guitars at the forefront, but vary the pace with occasional searing licks, eerie solo piano, and harmony vocals. It's one of the relatively few... Read More

311
Artist: 311
Community Score: 7.41

It is the seamless way the songs on the eponymously titled 311 combine the band's influences into a potent blend of rap, funk, and rock that renders this album a cut above those of their competitors. These riff-heavy and radio-ready songs are underscored by a tight drum sound (often with a piccolo snare), the scratching of turntables, and the... Read More

Misery Loves Co.
Artist: Misery Loves Co.
Community Score: 8.00

Recorded by the original duo, with Patrik Wiren on vocals and Örjan Örnkloo handling everything else, Misery Loves Co.'s debut effort is a striking and powerful effort, showing that the Swedes had easily taken the industrial metal promise of bands like late-'80s Ministry and run with it. Indeed, "My Mind Still Speaks" starts the album with some... Read More

Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt
Artist: John Frusciante
Community Score: 6.07

Upon leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1992, guitarist John Frusciante delved into home recording, eventually completing a 12-track album titled Niandra Lades that bore the influence of '60s oddballs like Syd Barrett and Captain Beefheart. Niandra Lades languished on the shelf for a while until it was paired with another 12-track collection... Read More

Frogstomp
Artist: Silverchair
Community Score: 7.38

Silverchair's debut album, Frogstomp, faithfully follows the alternative rock tradition of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, which means that the group of Australian teenagers winds up sounding not like their idols, but like Stone Temple Pilots and Bush. For their age, their instrumental capabilities are quite impressive, as the guitars and vocals growl... Read More

Short Bus
Artist: Filter
Community Score: 6.68
To Bring You My Love
Artist: PJ Harvey
Community Score: 8.29

Following the tour for Rid of Me, Polly Harvey parted ways with Robert Ellis and Stephen Vaughn, leaving her free to expand her music from the bluesy punk that dominated PJ Harvey's first two albums. It also left her free to experiment with her style of songwriting. Where Dry and Rid of Me seemed brutally honest, To Bring You My Love feels... Read More

Eat Shit, You Fucking Redneck
Artist: Pigface

"I saw the best minds of my generation caught up in the virtual reality of living...swaying robotically to non-existent rhythms, flashing memberships at clubs so exclusive nobody belongs." Thus intones neo-beatnik Meg Lee Chin, on "Nutopia," on Pigface's Eat Shit. Cool enough to separate themselves from what's hip, and rocking hard enough to... Read More