Modern Rock Monday

2007 Modern Rock Review Archive

Mastodon - Colony Of Birchmen - A-
If not for Tool or Wolfmother, Mastodon would be the hottest name in metal at the moment. This song is the best new metal song to be released as a single since "The Pot".

Green Day - Working Class Hero - A-
I've heard three versions of this song and this is the weakest (behind John Lennon and Ozzy Osbourne), but it's still an excellent song and a great performance.

Mando Diao - Long Before Rock N Roll - B+
A solid song that borrows too heavily from Franz Ferdinand and the Libertines to get an "A".

Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder - B
More pleasant but unremarkable music from Maroon 5. This one isn't up to the standards set on their previous album, but it's still alright.

Madina Lake - House Of Cards - B
The vocals are a bit too screamed for my tastes, but it's a well-structured song with a good chorus.

Lostprophets - The New Transmission - B
Credit where it's due, this is easily the best Lostprophets song I've ever heard. It would be an average song for Fall Out Boy or a disappointment for Rancid or Green Day, but still, it's easily my favorite from this improving band.

Jesse Malin - Don't Let Them Take You Down (Beautiful Day) - B
A solid pop-rock song with a bit more oomph than the usual John Mayer, Jack Johnson type song.

Kittie - Funeral For Yesterday - B-
This song is a very toned down Kittie compared to previous efforts. The music is lighter and you can understand what the singer says. These are not good things. Now they kinda sound like Evanescence. Please go back to real metal soon.

Linkin Park - What I've Done - B-
I'm not particularly happy to see Linkin Park back again, but at least they sound better this time around. I think it's mostly because they benched that screeching idiot who's ruined most of their first two albums. That's not to say this song is particularly good, mind you, but at least it's pleasant.

Lacuna Coil - Within Me - B-
A perfectly good Evanescence song. Wait, this isn't Evanescence? Dammit, why does everything sound like Evanescene these days? Get your own sound, kids, THEN start a band, ok?

Mickey Avalon - Jane Fonda - C-
A clumsy white hip-hop song that reminds me of slowed-down version of that awful Crazytown song. Ugh.

Korn - Politics - C-
Yeah, could we not talk about this song either? Talking about politics is probably more interesting by far.

Hopesfall - Magnetic North - D+
This can't possibly be a single can it? There's virtually nothing that happens in this song.

Marilyn Manson - Heart Shaped Glasses (When The Heart Guides The Hand) - F
Normally I'm the one in the conversation defending Manson's music, but what the fuck is this? It's a completely different sound for Marilyn and it REALLY SUCKS. I mean A LOT. The story of the song is lame, the style is pathetic and it's one of the worst songs I've heard in the past few years not to be produced by the usual suspects (Nickelback, Godsmack, Three Days Grace). Know when to hang it up.

Korn - Freak On A Leash (Unplugged) - F
No, no, no, no, no! What the fuck were you thinking, making an unplugged Korn album? The band is best known for it's heavy sound and swirling guitar. All this song reveals is Johnathan Davis' complete inability to sing and many of this song's lyrical weaknesses. Did you think bringing in Amy Lee would make the song sound better? Now it sounds like one of her dreary songs! Congrats on killing the memory of one of your best songs, Korn.