Test reports

5. CD tests: Alternative Allstars - Rock on! (album) (by Malte Mende)

Don't be confused by the headline: it's not an AMIGA CD-ROM, it's a music CD. Malte Mende asked if he could publish his reviews in AMIGA aktuell. I said yes because I'm cool. Now it's your turn: do you want further music CD tests written by Malte?

»Yup, some of you might still remember the AAs. their 3 videos turn up on MTV occasionally. But they're not widely known... unfortunately, as the allstars are really talented and their music is very versatile. But: and I must repeat but: every song rocks!

Well, maybe not as much as other songs from other bands and partially they sound like pop but they're really good and after a brief period of acclimatization you'll like them. On the album there are no gap fillers between the hits except the last song. Somehow it seems to be endless. There are no absolute highlights as all songs are superb somehow and it seemed interesting to me that all deal with love (well... with what else...) Glimpses of very nice lyrics... Well, if you have some small change left and you desire some good rock music: get it! By the way: on the AA homepage (alternative-allstars.de I believe) songs for download and the complete Supersonic Me video as well. It's worth a visit!

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Surrogat - Rock (album)

There won't be too many people around who know Surrogat so maybe I should describe their music. But how to describe such... exotic music?

One attempt might be: a mixture of Tocotronic, Herbert Groenemeyer and Suicidal Tendencies. Hard to imagine, but Surrogat gats what it takes....

The music is great rock but the lyrics occasionally clip into half sentences or warp into long passages of talk. One song doesn't even have lyrics. But when they use lyrics they're always intelligent and contain a message(TM). You might smile at "Und Uebrigens": the singer tries to persuade himself that he's lucky that his girlfriend has left him but finally he gets real and screams into the microphone: I miss you! Unfortunately, the two released singles are the best songs on the album: "Berlin liebt dich" and "Gib mir alles". And they're mainstream songs. I hate it when that happens. And there's one strange thing which I have to mention: the CD only contains about 30 minutes of music: but hey, you get a nice sticker.

So if you like exotic German rock then you should buy the album. Those with other tastes should at least listen to it. (mmm... yes... how....) Anyway, I'm going to leave it near my CD-Player, borrow it if you feel the need....).

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Farmer Boys - The World is ours (album)

Alright, I didn't catch their first gig, but after zotting the absolutely incredible Depeche Mode cover version "Never let me down again", and the cool corresponding video, I really fell into love with them. When "Here comes the Pain" was released a few weeks ago I was totally stunned. This song is simply brilliant. It rocks and has a cool melody, the vocals get under your skin and even the milkman was whistling it after he caught my endless loop play at extreme volume very early in the morning (I was by then deep into the video - fantastic!) Well, the album is out now: "The world is ours". You might think that the other songs can't compete with such a megasong but you're way wrong. What those five guys from Stuttgart are pumping our way is a top performance. Every song is worth a single and there are no gap fillers. Songs such as "Turn the world to ice", "If you ever leave me standing" or "Farm two thousand" are the best examples of the Farmer Boys style: hard guitars, drums and bass meshing with electronically created sounds to create a memorable melody. Matthias Sayer gives good vocal value to limpid lyrics on love, gene technology and God (don't you wish you could cover that spectrum...) The CD costs about DEM 30,-. You won't regret the indulgence! Anybody who likes rock just a little bit should get this one. It may be the best CD of the year.

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3 Doors Down - The better Life (album)

Everybody knows 3DD. Well, maybe not 3DD themselves but their greatest hit so far: Kryptonite. This has has just rocketed up the US charts from nowhere and been played again and again - and what can you say, it's great.

But, and here comes the problem, if the first single is such a hit everyone's expecting the album to be even better. A band has only two choices: copy the song twelve times and say: "Well, that's our style" or put the effort into creating other songs which are also good but different.

If you like this kind of music then you won't regret buying this CD. Skeptics should dare a test listening although they will only grasp the diversity and the genius after listening to it several times. But then you won't give it away, I promise you. If you're impatient then you should listen to "Loser" and "Be like that".

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MxPx - The ever passing Moment (album)

MxPx have released four albums already but hardly anybody knows them. Their music can be described in two words: Green Day.

MxPx make punk in the well known style of Bad Religion, Millencolin or, as I said, Green Day. They really sound similar and this is probably not coincidence because "The ever passing moment" was produced by the same person that brought you CDs by Green Day, Blink182 and a few others.

But there's one thing absolutely untypical for punk: you could read the lyrics to your grandma without being beaten up. That's astonishing and doesn't fit the common prejudices. Well, why not? Musically nothing has changed. There are the typical guitar-bass-drum formations spoiling our ears with decent sound. All songs are good, you can sum and sing them and you'll like them quickly but some are more than hectic: it's punk. In contrast to other bands MxPx don't linger on the moral stage - you'll have to use a magnifying glass if you want to find the obligatory we-are-what-we-are-song. Fine thing. Instead of that the songs deal with basic themes: responsibility, missed dates, friendship.

Overall the CD is pretty good. Nice songs with a good melody and interesting lyrics. You punk fans are going to reconnect.

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Thanks to Motor Music for providing the CDs.

Malte Mende <MacMende@gmx.de>«