Review(s): One Fifth, Outburst, Over My Dead Body

One Fifth - Demo/Evergreen Terrace Split Tracks: If I could understand the words, I'd love this band. I like this band. Buy

Outburst - Miles To Go: ...before they're any good. Download / Buy

Over My Dead Body - Sink Or Swim: It's no No Runners EP, but it's a lot better than Rusty Medals And Broken Badges. It's just sad they broke up. Download / Buy

Review(s): New Order, No Denial, No Warning

New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies: Boring without words. Awesome with words. Stream / Download / Buy

No Denial - Soundtrack Of Decline: Every word of every song sounds the same. Download / Buy

No Warning - Ill Blood: Layering a vocalist's own vocals on top of previously recorded vocals has got to be one of the worst ideas in music. Download / Buy

Review(s): Miltown, Molasses x2

Miltown - Miltown: A precursor to Audioslave (not good).

Molasses - Trilogie- Toil & Peaceful Life: S...o.... s....l...o...w.

Molasses - You'll Never Be Well No More: Just as slow as 'Trilogie' but what it gains is texture to the songs, making it far superior, if still slightly unlistenable.

Feature: mp3 Links

Every artist and CD on UponFirstListen will now come with a link to one of the following: a. Legal mp3 downloads b. streaming song clips. All future reviews will come with these links and the archive will be updated (though I anticipate that taking a great deal of time and effort). In the event that I cannot find samples or mp3s of the album in question, I will find a link for the artist. In the event that neither can be found, I'll link you to somwhere you can purchase it (not Amazon, though I may link to them for samples).

Review(s): Loretta Lynn, Mezzanine, Miles Between Us

Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose: A fabulous album, but at times can be bogged down by too much White influence.

Mezzanine - Zimbabwae Mousesmear/Transcending Dada: I didn't even make it through 3 songs before ejecting it.

Miles Between Us - When It Counts: Not as hard as some bands, but hard enough.

Feature: Top '04 Nominees

The following albums were albums that have been released this year and I have either reviewed them or plan to review them before the year is out. After I finish reviewing them, I will compile a Top 10 of '04 list. At the same time I will release the "Reader Top 10 of '04" list. Click here to vote. Please only include albums that have seen a review on this site. If you must choose something not this list, include it as an 11th or 12th option with a review of your own.

90 Day Men - Panda Park
Album Leaf - In A Safe Place
Animal Collective - Sung Tongs
Apostle Of Hustle - Folkloric Feel
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Bjork - Medulla
Bloc Party - Bloc Party EP
Blood For Blood - Serenity
Brian Wilson - SMiLE
Califone - King Heron Blues
Charalambides - Joy Shapes
Circle Takes The Square - As The Roots Undo
Citizens - Are We There Yet?
Clapton, Eric - Me And Mr. Johnson
Cohen, Leonard - Dear Heather
Converge - You Fail Me
Danger Mouse - Grey Album
Delays - Faded Seaside Glamour
DJ Kno: Kno vs Hov - The White Albulum
Dylan, Bob - The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall
Elbow - Cast of Thousands
Elected - Me First
Emperor X - Tectonic Membrane/Thin Strip On An Edgeless Platform
Faithless - No Roots
FC Five - Final Countdown Five
Feist - Let It Die
Fly Pan Am - N'ecoutez Pas
Ben Folds - Super D
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Futureheads - The Futureheads
Garden State OST
Get Up Kids - Guilt Show
Ghost - Hypnotic Underworld
Green Day - American Idiot
Hives - Tyrannosaurus Hives
Hot Water Music - The New What Next
Interpol - Antics
Keane - Hopes And Fears
Killers - Hot Fuss
Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache
Kweli, Talib - Beautiful Struggle
Kweller, Ben - On My Way
Lekman, Jens - When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog
Lerche, Sondre - Two Way Monologue
Liars - They Were Wrong So We Drowned
Lynn, Loretta - Van Lear Rose
Mare - Mare
MC Lars - Laptop EP
MC Lars - Radio Pet Fencing
Music - Welcome To The North
Nirvana - With The Lights Out
pAper chAse - god bless your blAck heArt
pAper chAse - whAt big teeth you hAve
pAper chAse/red worms split
Piebald - All Ears, All Eyes, All The Time
Pixies - Wave Of Mutilation: The Best of the Pixies
Plastic Constellations - Mazatlan
R 'n' R - Infamous and Notorious
Ratatat - Ratatat
Redneck Manifesto - I Am Brazil
Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
Rodriguez-Lopez, Omar - A Manual Dexterity, Soundtrack Volume 1
Saves The Day - Ups and Downs: The Early Recordings
Secret Machines - New Here Is Nowhere
Sex Positions - Sex Positions
Slowdive - Catch The Breeze
Smith, Patti - Trampin'
Sparta - Porcelain
Stevens, Sufjan - Seven Swans
Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
Taking Back Sunday - Where You Want To Be
Thee Silver Mountain Reveries - Pretty Little Lightning Paw
TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Twelve Girls Band - Eastern Energy
Valley of the Giants - Valley of the Giants
Various - Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1
Walking Concert - Run To Be Born
Whole Nine - Take What You Get
Wilco - A Ghost Is Born
Williams, Saul - Saul Williams
Wovenhand - Consider The Birds
Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles

Click here to vote.

Review(s): Leadbelly, Logh x2

Leadbelly - King of the 12-String Guitar: He's no Robert Johnson, but he'll do.

Logh - Everytime A Bell Rings, An Angel Gets His Wings: Painting the picture of a sparse and barren landscape, this album still manages to fill you with hope.

Logh - The Raging Sun: A bit more of a traditional rock outing, but more of the same Lift To Experience meets Slint simplicity.

Review(s): DJ Kno, Lapsus Linguae, Lard

DJ Kno/Kno vs Hov - The White Albulum: Far better than Danger Mouse's fiasco and even better than the original.

Lapsus Linguae - You Got Me Fraiche/Parade! (And That's An Order): I have no idea what I just listened to. I think it sounded like the pAper chAse, but I'm wrong.

Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction/'70s Rock Must Die: It's no Dead Kennedy's but it'll suffice for a fix of Jello Biafra.

Review(s): Killswitch Engage, King Crimson, The Kinks

Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache: Now this can be a genre standard.

King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King: Just about everything I thought I knew about this album was wrong and I enjoyed it immensely, much to my chagrin.

The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks: I just didn't expect the something to be mediocrity.

Review(s): Jack Kerouac, The Killers, Killswitch Engage

Jack Kerouac - Jack Kerouac Collection (3 Disc): Maybe it's because he doesn't rely on sophmoric humor and imagery, but Jack Kerouac will forever be my icon of the Beat Generation, sorry Allen Ginsberg.

The Killers - Hot Fuss: Killer single, shitty album.

Killswitch Engage - KillSwitch Engage/Alive Or Just Breathing: If either of these are genre standards, the whole genre is in trouble.

Review(s): Rickie Lee Jones, Janis Joplin, Keane

Rickie Lee Jones - Evening Of My Best Day: A wonderful mix of jazz, soul, r&b, blues, folk and rock 'n' roll.

Janis Joplin - 18 Essential Songs: I always heard that her emotion didn't carry over on recordings very well. If that's the case I probably would have cried at one of her performances.

Keane - Hopes And Fears: They sound like (insert modern-era Britpop act). In other words, they're good, but not great.

Review(s): Jawbreaker, The Jealous Sound, Jerry Seinfeld

Jawbreaker - 24 Hour Revenge Therapy: A bit more mellow than previous albums, but on the whole is very complete and ejoyable.

The Jealous Sound - Kill Them With Kindness: Good enough live for me to download their album. Good enough album for me to recommend listening to it.

Jerry Seinfeld - I'm Telling You For The Last Time: They'll be lots of smirking, but little laughing and in the end you're better off buying the first 3 seasons on DVD.

Review(s): Interpol, Jawbox, Jawbreaker

Interpol - Antics: I've tasted love's second culinary creation only to find parts of it stale and other parts not sweet enough.

Jawbox - Novelty: Post-punk is post-punk is post-punk. You either like it or you don't. I still don't get it.

Jawbreaker - Unfun: It's like Green Day, but with more talent and insight (American Idiot excluded).

Review(s): Bill Hicks, Hood, Howlin' Wolf

Bill Hicks - Rant In E Minor: There are a few tracks that bog down this comedic collection, but on the whole it's wildly hilarious.

Hood - Cold House: Nearly-engaging electronic music, good overall ambience, very well paced, but it just doesn't do it.

Howlin' Wolf - Howlin' Wolf/Moanin' In The Moonlight: Being a fan of traditional blues, anything that tries to make it something that it isn't gets little recognition, so I'm not recognizing these two albums.

Review(s): Girls Against Boys, Series 7 OST (Girls Against Boys), Heart Attack

Girls Against Boys - Nineties vs Eighties: A little too much drone going on.

Various Artists - Series 7 Soundtrack: All but two tracks are Girls Against Boys, but they seem to have progressed and learned a major chord or two. It's still not good, but at least it's something. The real savior is the cover of Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart.

Heart Attack - Last War 1980-1984: An 80's punk version of The Ramones with just enough Black Flag and political awareness to make it interesting.

Review(s): Girls Against Boys x2, Girls Against Boys vs Guided By Voices

Girls Against Boys - Freak*On*Ica: Too much electronic instrumentation takes away from the momentum they seemed to be building in my 'acceptable' category.

Girls Against Boys - You Can't Fight What You Can't See: A weak first half is not entirely saved by a strong(er) second half.

Various Artists - Girls Against Boys vs Guided By Voices: The Bout of the Century: I don't know about Bout of the Century, but the first half is a little too boring while the second half is more of the same from Guided By Voices.

Review(s): Girls Against Boys x2, Richard Hawley

Girls Against Boys - Cruise Yourself: With each passing track, I find myself enjoying this band more and more.

Girls Against Boys - House Of GVSB: Boredom, or familiarity, sets in as the fourth GVSB album I've listened to in a row. Sadly, I've got 5 more, but those will wait until I forget what they're going to sound like.

Richard Hawley - Late Night Final: If all easy listening was this good, I'd listen to a lot more easy listening.

Review(s): Allen Ginsberg, Girls Against Boys x2

Allen Ginsberg - Holy Soul Jelly Roll: Poems & Songs (4 Disc; Moloch!, Caw! Caw!, Ah!, Ashes and Blues): Some of the legacy of Allen Ginsberg has been diminished, but I attribute it mostly to the poor recording technology of the late '50s and the '60s. When he's got his A game, it's wonderful, but sadly, one can only have an A game for but a fraction.

Girls Against Boys - Tropic Of Scorpio: It's always akward when a band has yet to finalize a direction and a sound for their music. This is no exception.

Girls Against Boys - Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby: It's nice when a band finalizes a direction and a sound for their music. Unless you don't like what they finalized.

Review(s): The Explosion, Forced Reality, Gang Green

The Explosion - The Explosion/Steal This/Sick Of Modern Art: Nothing that quite matches the energy or intensity of their debut, Flash Flash Flash, not that I thought it ever would.

Forced Reality - 13 Years Of Forced Reality/Forced Reality: Maybe it was cool 13 years ago, because it's not now.

Gang Green - Older...Budweiser/Another Case Of Brewtality: What Andrew WK is for partying (on I Get Wet) Gang Green is to alcoholism, though the final track of the first disc may be the best ode to alcoholism ever written or performed.

Review(s): Cave In, Down to Nothing, Bob Dylan

Cave-In - Jupiter/Moons Of Jupiter: Almost enjoyable, but no.

Down To Nothing - Save It For The Birds/Down To Nothing: More of the same hardcore you've undoubtedly heard by now.

Bob Dylan - I Was So Much Younger Then (4 Disc): If the quality was better, it'd be a valuable resource. Because the quality is not good it is important only for it's historical significance. Disc 4, however is a wonderful addition to any fan's library because it showcases early Dylan in a live setting as he manifests his own past to various interviewers.Bob Dylan - I Was So Much Younger Then (4 Disc)