A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular
Artist: Hooverphonic
Community Score: 7.91

The Belgian trio Hooverphonic haphazardly tinkers around with ambient pop on its debut album, A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular. Overall, it's a decent derivation of post-grunge and a healthy sampling of rising trip-hop and ambient electronica during the mid-'90s, so perhaps it's all right for the album itself to experience floppy production.... Read More

Hellbilly Deluxe
Artist: Rob Zombie
Community Score: 8.10

Just as White Zombie was on the verge of becoming the most popular metal band in the land, Rob Zombie decided he was an auteur. Stopping short of breaking up the band, Zombie set out to make sure everyone know that he was the main force in the band, as if there were any doubt in the first place. He did extracurricular animation, managed a... Read More

Split Personalities
Artist: 12 Rods

12 Rods debut full-length is charged with a clever, infectious post new wave pop/rock from beginning to end. Ryan Olcott and co. are great songwriters; their songs are never stagnant, and, despite the album's title, they don't change up unnecessarily in awkward places. Olcott's peculiarly round voice and gorgeous guitar sound, coupled with Ev's... Read More

Scraps at Midnight
Artist: Mark Lanegan

With the Screaming Trees, Mark Lanegan is part of a dysfunctional family that can only pull its act together once in a while. As he's struggling to make the group work, he's taken away from his solo career, which has proven to be far more consistent than his band's. Scraps at Midnight, Lanegan's third solo effort (one arrives every four years or... Read More

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

A-Sides
Artist: Soundgarden
Community Score: 7.66

For an act that was one of the definitive album artists of the late '80s and '90s, Soundgarden was a surprisingly effective singles band. Their singles effectively conveyed all of their best ideas, from their sludgy early Sub Pop recordings to the elaborate, post-metal psychedelia of their last two albums, Superunknown and Down on the Upside.... Read More

The Action Is Go
Artist: Fu Manchu
Community Score: 10.00

Not that it's unique, yet even with half the band changed from the last time around, the twin-riff action that kicks off "Evil Eye," and The Action Is Go! as a whole, sounds like nobody else but Fu Manchu, somehow. Punk energy, classic rock drive, psychedelic crunch, and heavy-ass grind all at once -- really, is anything more needed? From there... Read More

Galore
Artist: The Cure
Community Score: 7.28

It's ironic that the Cure, a band whose albums have always seemed like definitive artistic statements, were at their best as a singles band. On the group's singles, Robert Smith's ideas reached their full potential, since they captured not only the group's off-kilter pop sense, but also the haunting melancholy and wacky humor that interlaced... Read More

Black Light Syndrome
Artist: Bozzio Levin Stevens

This power trio has famous roots, and they've brought it all together masterfully. First cut "The Sun Road" starts off like a tune off of David Gilmour's first solo album and then vanishes into a driving, power-chorded surge of soulful rock. Next, "Dark Corners" is a massive rocker that pulls you under its powerful whirlpool of guitar/bass/drum... Read More

In a Doghouse
Artist: Throwing Muses
Community Score: 7.00

Throwing Muses' classic first album was never released in the U.S., nor was their follow-up EP, Chains Changed. For well over a decade, the two records were only available as imports through 4AD, which meant that Throwing Muses, one of the most influential and individual albums of late-'80s alternative rock, was very hard for anyone outside of... Read More