JLoudon's blog

Mark Lanegan, best known as a founding member of Screaming Trees, was also a member of Queens of the Stone Age for some of their best releases, “Rated R,” “Songs for the Deaf,” and “Lullabies to Paralyze.” Additionally, Lanegan has collaborated with a host of notable artists over the years including Isobel Campbell of Belle and Sebastian, Mad Season, and Melissa Auf der Maur. In short, “Black Pudding” is not Lanegan’s first rodeo; he is a seasoned veteran of the trade, always looking to try something new.

The Modern Rock genre can often be a difficult one to review. There is so much material out there that, eventually, everything starts to sound pretty similar. Sure, some bands are much better at captivating audiences than others, but it takes something truly extraordinary to stand out from the pack.

Getting their start in 1995, Norwegian band Divided Multitude is coming up on twenty years in the music business, but “Feed on Your Misery” represents just their fourth album in that time. With all the pressure surrounding Progressive Metal artists, however, it’s hard to blame them.

Originally called Dogz, Flotsam and Jetsam are probably best known for being the band Jason Newsted helped start before becoming the bassist for Metallica. After an on again, off again relationship with Metal Blade Records over the years, “Ugly Noise” finds the band, once again, with Metal Blade for their eleventh studio album. What’s more exciting for fans of the band, however, is the return of Kelly Smith on drums and Michael Gilbert on guitar. In other words, Flotsam and Jetsam is once again rocking their “Cuatro” lineup.

It has been thirty years since Suicidal Tendencies’ self-titled debut album hit the shelves. At the time, lead singer Mike Muir was an energized, angst-driven twenty year-old churning out some of the best hardcore punk of the time period. Now, at the age of fifty, he’s back with a new Suicidal Tendencies lineup and a brand new material.

Back in the ‘80s, Maxine Petrucci and her sister, Roxy, formed the band Madam X with Bret Kaiser on vocals and Chris Doliber on the bass guitar. After one album, 1984’s “We Reserve the Right,” and a revolving door of replacement vocalists, following the departure of Kaiser, which included Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach, the band eventually threw in the towel. To this day, however, Madam X remains the most notable line of Maxine’s resumé.

Danko Jones, named after the band’s lead singer, has been around for over a decade, but despite their popularity in Europe as well as their native Canada, Danko Jones has failed to make much of a splash in the United States. With quality albums like 2003’s “We Sweat Blood” and 2010’s “Below The Belt” already behind them, it’s somewhat surprising they haven’t caught on in the same way similar bands like Buckcherry and Foo Fighters have, but Jones and his band continue to press onward.

Listen to any of Buckcherry’s previous five studio albums and you get the idea they’ve done their fair share of sinning. That isn’t to say they’re promoting poor behavior, but…ok, maybe a little bit.

Fans of Tool have been anxiously anticipating a new record from the band band since “10,000 Days” was released in 2006. Fans of A Perfect Circle have been waiting even longer. Unfortunately for both groups, however, Maynard James Keenan just keeps having ideas for side projects and is perfectly content to let everyone wait.

Mustasch, a heavy metal band from Sweden, has been around for a long time; too long, in fact, for them to be not be better known in the rest of the world. After seven albums, tours with the likes of Motörhead, three Swedish Grammy nominations and one victory to the tune of “Metal Album of the Year” in 2008, you would think Mustasch would be about as close to a household name around the world as heavy metal bands get these days. However, despite their Scandinavian success, Mustasch have yet to take the world by storm.