Blog

RawLove's top albums
1. Assemblage 23 - Early, Rare, & Unreleased (1988-1998) (2049) 2. Five Finger Death Punch - The Way Of The Fist (1669) 3. Assemblage 23 - Failure (1501) 4. Assemblage 23 - Defiance (1397) 5. Assemblage 23 - Meta (1389) 6. 36 Crazyfists - Rest Inside the Flames (1304) 7. Assemblage 23 - Addendum (1241) 8. Assemblage 23 - Contempt (1060) 9. Julian Mack / Hiroyuki Namba - Armitage III OST Disk2: Poly-Matrix (Re-Mastered) (997) 10. Ill Niño - Enigma (858) 11. As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us (785) 12. 36 Crazyfists - Bitterness the Star (770) 13. State of Shock - Life, Love & Lies (733) 14. Still Remains - The Serpent (731) 15. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing (728) 16. 36 Crazyfists - A Snow Capped Romance (655) 17. Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin (651) 18. From Autumn to Ashes - Holding a Wolf by the Ears (642) 19. Disturbed - Indestructible (617) 20. The Autumn Offering - Embrace the Gutter (598) 21. Children of Bodom - Are You Dead Yet? (508) 22. 36 Crazyfists - The Tide And Its Takers (508) 23. Avenged Sevenfold - Waking the Fallen (488) 24. Apocalyptica ft. Adam Gontier - Worlds Collide (460) 25. Children of Bodom - Hate Crew Deathroll (441) 26. Bathory - Blood on Ice (414) 27. Assemblage 23 - Storm (410) 28. Behemoth - Demigod (399) 29. In Flames - A Sense of Purpose (372) 30. Assemblage 23 - Ground (328) 31. All That Remains - Behind Silence And Solitude (315) 32. Julian Mack - Armitage III OST Disk1: Dual-Matrix (Re-Mastered) (307) 33. Celldweller - Celldweller (304) 34. Killswitch Engage - The End of Heartache (304) 35. Anorexia Nervosa - Drudenhaus (292) 36. Children of Bodom - Hatebreeder (278) 37. Skillet - Comatose (274) 38. Steve Earle - Copperhead Road (253) 39. Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies (230) 40. The Autumn Offering - Fear Will Cast No Shadow (205) 41. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (203) 42. Blue October - Foiled (192) 43. Drowning Pool - Full Circle (192) 44. Assemblage 23 - Binary (179) 45. 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie (144) 46. Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (139) 47. Kamelot - Ghost Opera (138) 48. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction (131) 49. Dark Tranquillity - Character (122) 50. All That Remains - The Fall of Ideals (120)

My Assemblage 23 collection is getting closer and closer to being complete... yet it most likely never will be.

I have five of five albums: Contempt, Failure, Defiance, Storm, Meta
I have two of two compilations: Addendum and Early, Rare, & Unreleased
I have three of five singles: Ground, Let the Wind Erase Me, Binary

What I need: Document and Disappoint.

Disappoint I can get for $50~ off of Amazon brand new, the only downside is they don't ship to Canada... bummer for me.

Document is out of print and extremely rare. I found four used copies on Amazon for $97.15... quite pricey for a used album... so I'm hesitating on buying one.

I have the digital album of Early, Rare, & Unreleased... bought from the iTunes Store. I found one used copy on Amazon for $99.98!

This could get frustrating. =(

Laurizm's top albums
1. Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel (271) 2. Placebo - Sleeping With Ghosts (145) 3. Assemblage 23 - Ground (126) 4. Lights of Euphoria - Krieg Gegen die Maschinen (117) 5. Placebo - Meds (101) 6. De/Vision - Monosex (89) 7. Elefant - The Black Magic Show (79) 8. Placebo - Acoustic Live (71) 9. Grey Daze - ...No Sun Today (70) 10. Robbie Williams - The Ego Has Landed (62) 11. Combichrist - What The Fuck Is Wrong With You People (62) 12. Alice in Videoland - Maiden Voyage (54) 13. VNV Nation - Matter + Form (52) 14. Theory of a Deadman - Gasoline (50) 15. Robbie Williams - Greatest Hits (47) 16. Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder... (47) 17. Travis - Singles (46) 18. VNV Nation - Futureperfect (46) 19. Fairlight Children - 808 Bit (44) 20. A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms (43) 21. VNV Nation - Judgement (43) 22. LUNA SEA - Luna Sea (42) 23. Pride and Fall - In My Time Of Dying (42) 24. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (42) 25. Imperative Reaction - Eulogy for the Sick Child (42) 26. Incubus - Light Grenades (41) 27. Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (40) 28. Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (40) 29. Garbage - Beautiful Garbage (40) 30. The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot (39) 31. Assemblage 23 - Storm (39) 32. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (39) 33. The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore (39) 34. New Order - Brotherhood (39) 35. Queen - Greatest Hits II (38) 36. Queen - Flash Gordon (37) 37. And One - Bodypop (37) 38. XP8 - Forgive[N] (US Ver.) (37) 39. VNV Nation - Praise the Fallen (36) 40. The Smashing Pumpkins - Machina/The Machines of God (36) 41. Ladytron - Witching Hour (36) 42. Queen - Greatest Hits (36) 43. Robbie Williams - The Love Songs (36) 44. Seether - Disclaimer II (35) 45. Queen + Paul Rodgers - Return Of The Champions (34) 46. Blue October - Consent to Treatment (34) 47. Nachtmahr - Feuer Frei (34) 48. De/Vision - Fairyland? (34) 49. Mesh - The Point at Which It Falls Apart (32) 50. Infected Mushroom - Vicious Delicious (32)

Again, I had nothing more to do. I dont remember where I saw this, but tnx for the idea anyway :3 And tnx to the creator of this script.

Laurizm's top albums
1. De/Vision - 6 Feet Underground (388) 2. Serafin - No Push Collide (356) 3. HYDE - FAITH (352) 4. HYDE - 666 (340) 5. Apoptygma Berzerk - 7 (327) 6. Apoptygma Berzerk - The Apopcalyptic Manifesto (261) 7. Fairlight Children - 808 Bit (260) 8. And One - I.S.T. (253) 9. Apoptygma Berzerk - APBL2000 (248) 10. Sixpence None the Richer - The Best Of (238) 11. Assemblage 23 - Defiance (237) 12. Assemblage 23 - Storm (236) 13. Alice in Videoland - Maiden Voyage (236) 14. Blue October - Consent to Treatment (230) 15. And One - Bodypop (227) 16. Apoptygma Berzerk - Welcome to Earth (217) 17. Blue October - Foiled (213) 18. Apoptygma Berzerk - Soli Deo Gloria (213) 19. ELLEGARDEN - Pepperoni Quattro (179) 20. Gackt - Mars (177) 21. A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (169) 22. Alice in Videoland - Outrageous! (168) 23. Blue October - History for Sale (162) 24. A Perfect Circle - eMOTIVe (159) 25. In Strict Confidence - Where Sun And Moon Unite (155) 26. A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms (154) 27. The Used - In Love and Death (146) 28. Travis - Singles (145) 29. Gackt - MOON (141) 30. AFI - Sing the Sorrow (137) 31. Client - City (136) 32. The Used - The Used (132) 33. The Used - Lies For The Liars (132) 34. Stone Temple Pilots - No. 4 (131) 35. Soda Stereo - Soda Stereo (131) 36. Wolfsheim - Casting Shadows (130) 37. Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning (128) 38. L'Arc~en~Ciel - Ark (121) 39. Soda Stereo - Chau Soda (120) 40. The Cardigans - Life (115) 41. Stone Temple Pilots - Core (115) 42. The Cardigans - Gran Turismo (115) 43. L'Arc~en~Ciel - heavenly (113) 44. Alice in Videoland - Outrageous (112) 45. Bic Runga - Beautiful Collision (112) 46. L'Arc~en~Ciel - Heart (107) 47. 雅-miyavi- - 雅-miyavizm-主義 (106) 48. L'Arc~en~Ciel - True (106) 49. The Cranberries - Bury the Hatchet (103) 50. Client - Client (102)
top albums script

Psychoma2410's top albums
1. Combichrist - Everybody Hates You (471) 2. Panzer AG - This Is My Battlefield (462) 3. Icon of Coil - Machines Are Us (416) 4. Mind.In.A.Box - Lost Alone (333) 5. Icon of Coil - The Soul Is in the Software (239) 6. Velvet Acid Christ - Fun With Knives (231) 7. Icon of Coil - Serenity is the Devil (208) 8. Combichrist - The Joy of Gunz (208) 9. Flesh Field - Strain (200) 10. Frozen Plasma - Artificial (160) 11. Die Sektor - To Be Fed Upon (159) 12. Velvet Acid Christ - Lust For Blood (149) 13. Velvet Acid Christ - Hex Angel (135) 14. Velvet Acid Christ - Twisted Thought Generator (128) 15. Manufactura - Regression (121) 16. Mind.In.A.Box - Certainty (117) 17. Combichrist - Get Your Body Beat (116) 18. Diorama - Pale (109) 19. Diary of Dreams - Psychoma? (103) 20. Velvet Acid Christ - Neuroblastoma (103) 21. A7ie - Distress (103) 22. Assemblage 23 - Defiance (101) 23. Xentrifuge - Light Extinguished (100) 24. Terrorfakt - Teethgrinder (95) 25. Diorama - Amaroid (93) 26. Flint Glass - Nyarlathotep (90) 27. The Birthday Massacre - Violet (85) 28. xotox - Psi (83) 29. Wolfsheim - Casting Shadows (82) 30. Grendel - Soilbleed Redux (79) 31. Velvet Acid Christ - Calling Ov the Dead (78) 32. Diary of Dreams - Freak Perfume (76) 33. Diorama - Her Liquid Arms (71) 34. Diorama - The Art of Creating Confusing Spirits (67) 35. Assemblage 23 - Failure (64) 36. Velvet Acid Christ - Fate (63) 37. Faderhead - FH1 (61) 38. Velvet Acid Christ - Church of Acid (60) 39. Front Line Assembly - Civilization (58) 40. Assemblage 23 - Storm (57) 41. Destroid - Future Prophecies (57) 42. Velvet Acid Christ - Dimension 8 (55) 43. Combichrist - What The Fuck Is Wrong With You People (55) 44. Dracul - Like An Animal (54) 45. De/Vision - 6 Feet Underground (54) 46. Nurzery [Rhymes] - Injections (53) 47. Velvet Acid Christ - Pestilence (52) 48. Cesium:137 - Luminous (51) 49. Front Line Assembly - Artificial Soldier (51) 50. Diary of Dreams - Moments of Bloom (49)
top albums script

My Birthday is Monday and I got some new CDs for my birthday. All were desired and on my Amazon wishlist, but one in particular I am excited about:

Assemblage23 - META
I've listened to the sample tastes on Amazon and liked it and I've really liked all of Tom Shear's other stuff. So far I like it a lot. Storm left me wanting a bit, but Meta so far is very good.

I also received...
AC/DC - Highway to Hell
How can you not love classic AC/DC? Rockin' stuff!

Billy Idol - Greatest Hits
Guilty pleasure time here. I love Billy's style. I'm no where near as cool as him but damn I wish!

So I've been playing the new VNV Nation and the new Assemblage 23 albums non-stop and in the end I don't think the two are comparable enough to have a firm winner. Aesthetically, they are both very well produced and better than the majority of the projects in the scene. Both of these albums solidify the trademark sound of each project while expanding the scope of it. A prime example of this in the new VNV Nation is the track Descent.

Descent is a stylistic blend of Carbon, Strata, and Second Skin (Spoken) with startlingly apocalyptic imagery that describes organized religions effect on the populous. With lines like "These faithful in lines that number thousands / bring perdition throughout the land" and "..in the abandonment of reason / and our delivery into hell" simply work numbers on the listeners mind. The new Assemblage 23 has a new song with a similar theme called Ghosts that while musically is very good, lyrically falls short of the high standard Tom Shear has set with his lyrics.

Ghosts is, in spite of its soggy lyrics, a highlight from the new album, Meta. The bass line is a focal point on the track, and with good reason. It is a good example of the innovative new elements Shear is trying to implement. Another song, Madman's Dream, is a good example of the new music techniques and vocal deliveries Tom is experimenting with. Though the song is very good in the musical sense (Tom adds a bass guitar to his sonic arsenal!), it is perhaps the most blatantly political song Assemblage 23 has ever come out with. Until now, Assemblage 23 had a very nice phenomenological feel about its lyrics, requiring the listener to interpret them as their experiences allowed. This song leaves little room for that. But Meta is not without its inspirational moments.

Sorry, Meta's equivalent to Storm's Ground with a dash of You Haven't Earned It gives warning to those of us out there who love to hate, and take comfort in misery. The line "...if you're not careful the world is going to pass you by" is Tom's honest advice about what bitterness will obtain. All in all, Sorry seems to mainly be just a technical exercise for Shear as it isn't exactly ground breaking in style or poetics. Perhaps the best part in this song is the closing synth solo that sounds like a panning robot voice with a nice filter sweep. VNV Nation is guilty of a very similar offense.

The Farthest Star is probably the most uninspired track on Judgement which actually makes it fit perfectly after the intro. It has virtually everything wrong with it in terms of being a 'new' song. This track sounds like it could have been a b-side from Matter + Form because it is produced in a way that mirrors Arena or Perpetual. Further, not only are the lyrics incredibly hokey, but the delivery makes them all the more difficult to listen to. Lyrically it seems to reinforce Tom Shear's statement that VNV Nation is a closet Christian band and it would be a wise career move to just admit to the fact. I would say shamelessly that it is the worst track on the new album. But 'worst' is a relative term, it is still better than some of the best music ever released by other futurepop artists.

The hands down best two tracks on Judgement as Ronan Harris must have anticipated, are Carry You and Nemesis. They both have the fusion of new and old VNV Nation. When Matter + Form was released, upon hearing it, I was left wondering if that was really it. I was concerned that VNV Nation was losing it, after all Futureperfect also seemed to be a step in an unexpected direction that wasn't received as well as Empires. After Judgement came, it became apparent VNV Nation is shaping new styles that take incubating and a time-span that may stretch across albums in order to deliver very well thought out ideas and sounds. That is not to say that Matter + Form shouldn't be taken seriously, but it can be better respected now that it serves as a marker of the progress VNV Nation has made.

Assemblage 23 has made progress too. It was probably a very good idea for Tom to take a year off in 2005 to produce Linear because the techniques he developed can be heard throughout Meta. The first clear example is in Raw at the very end with the synth that plays after the short break. It is airy and reminiscent of a part in Stealth. Also, as mentioned before, Ghosts has a new kind of style that could probably be attributed to Shear's work on Nerve Filter The most surprising track on the new Assemblage 23 is the song Crush. The sample did not leave much of an impression other than typical A23, but the sample was deceptive. Though they do no sound alike, this song is a lot like the track Apart from Storm, the sample didn't work any magic but the song itself turned out to be very, very good.

Overall, neither is better than the other. Both albums show excellent craftsmanship in terms of production. Both albums are generally thoughtful and well-written but guilty of being lyrically and stylistically stale here and there. The VNV Nation album is a better follow up, however, being that it is better than Matter + Form. Meta, on the other hand, does not seem to quite live up to the standards that were set by Storm but comes close none the less.

Both albums are excellent additions to the bands' respective catalogs and will be celebrated by the industrial/ebm/futurepop community for some time to come.

A comment in my other journal about how awesome Mind.In.A.Box is got me thinking about how much I love the meloncholy sounds of miab.

I must admit that I wasn't jump-up-and-down excited about them after I heard Beyond The World (1m1.mix) on Septic IV but after hanging around the Metropolis Records web site during the promotion of Lost Alone and checking out their official site I was open to the idea of getting their album. I was delayed in buying it though, in June of 2004 when in the Novi Borders I was faced with the dilema of buying either Lost Alone or Moment of Silence even though I had never heard either of them. In the end I chose the Decree album and was very, very, very, very disappointed. I bought it because of Chris Peterson and thought it would sound like the FLAvour of the Weak, Implode, and Epitaph era of Front Line Assembly. So, pissed off I had done such a thing, I went home and downloaded the miab album. It stayed on repeat for the whole week before I could get back down to Novi and purchase a hard copy of it. I loved it, especially the tracks Change, Take My Soul, and Lost Alone 2. I must have listened to that disc over a hundred times between June and August. Then the new Assemblage 23 album Storm came out and I got distracted by that. But then, in February 2005, Dependent Records released Septic V which contained Sun and Storm which easily became my favorite song until the Certainty came out. I remember the first time I heard Certainty (MIAB.Alien.Mix), my mind was blown. Shortly after that, Dreamweb came out and that has probably remained my most played album for the last two years. I hear that they have a new album coming out this year before Dependent closes its doors. I'm very excited.