Van Hagar - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)

Besides Van Halen III this is probably my least favorite by them in my opinion. They seemed to drop the partying gimmick and leaned more into like the Bon Jovi status. It was there ninth record and Sammy's third with them at this point. I prefer David Lee Roth not because of his looks haha but, he just had it for being what the crowds wanted back then minus the band I hear are real dicks. For some reason it does remind me of 1984 for some reason. I think it's harder than the previous Hagar albums 5150 and OU812 but I wouldn't chose this one over the other two. You can also tell by the initials of the album's nickname it's pretty obvious. I'm glad they took a step back in the ballads I just hate ballads only some can truly move me. My friend Dan and I were discussing the new Black Label Society album that just came out and I told him I thought there were too many ballads. He was like does that make the album bad which he's always kind of moody with me but, I just told him I prefer the heavy material Zakk Wylde does which I just was trying to point out that four ballads was too much for a record. So yes, the only thing that this album had going for it was that they tried to get back to being harder. They did the best job I guess they could've because it still debuted at number one. Songs to check out "Right Now", "Poundcake" and I couldn't decide my third favorite it's either "Top of the World" or "Runaround".

1. "Poundcake" – 5:22
2. "Judgement Day" – 4:41
3. "Spanked" – 4:53
4. "Runaround" – 4:21
5. "Pleasure Dome" – 6:57
6. "In 'n' Out" – 6:05
7. "Man on a Mission" – 5:04
8. "The Dream Is Over" – 4:00
9. "Right Now" – 5:21
10. "316" – 1:29
11. "Top of the World" – 3:55

Mr. Bungle - Mr. Bungle (1991)

Another Mike Patton fronted bands that are weird as hell in his first band Mr. Bungle. Man he's had a lot of success with not just Faith no More but, Tomahawk, Lovage, Fantomas and Peeping Tom. I think Mr. Bungle is most famous for mocking the Red Hot Chili Peppers than anything else they've ever done. Mr. Bungle is very up and down moody. Some people don't like Mr. Bungle but, I'm willing to assure to you that they don't get Mr. Bungle either. They're over the top and weren't meant to have any top ten singles it's just a bunch of guys from Eureka who probably had nothing better to do such as make ridiculous music as I can relate as I was raised up in Mendocino County. They could sound like jazz and then sound like a circus act it's pretty weird stuff. This is a very good experimental album probably one of the better I own at the moment. I can say if you've never heard them you'll either think it's genius or you'll think it's the worst music you've ever heard. Songs to check out "Squeeze Me Macaroni", "Carousel" and "The Girls of Porn".

1. "Quote Unquote (Travolta)" – 6:56
2. "Slowly Growing Deaf" – 6:59
3. "Squeeze Me Macaroni" – 5:38
4. "Carousel" – 5:13
5. "Egg" – 10:38
6. "Stubb (a Dub)" – 7:19
7. "My Ass Is on Fire" – 7:47
8. "The Girls of Porn" – 6:42
9. "Love Is a Fist" – 6:01
10. "Dead Goon" – 10:02

Prong - Rude Awakening (1996)

The sixth Prong album is where I kind of get confused. They sounded more industrial and electronic with Rude Awakening. They still have crunchy riffs but this one is odd for me compared to the earlier ones which I cherish. I always struggled to identify this record and maybe at this time the musical differences within the band were changing because I thought they sounded just fine with there alternative groove metal sounding vibe. If you're a fan of industrial you'll without a doubt think it's genius. This was there last studio record they would come out with till almost a decade later with Scorpio Rising in 2004 which I thought it was a lot better than the reviews I read about online. It's widely known that this album did not sell which led to the demise of them for a couple years with Tommy Victor playing in Danzig and Ted Parsons and Paul Raven played for Godflesh after Prong. I really wanted to see them live when they came by the bay area opening up for Fear Factory but, no one wanted to go. Hopefully they'll write another album and come back!! Songs to check out "Controller", "Rude Awakening" and "Close the Door".

1. "Controller" – 3:39
2. "Caprice" – 2:47
3. "Rude Awakening" – 4:18
4. "Unfortunately" – 3:08
5. "Face Value" – 4:09
6. "Avenue of the Finest" – 3:37
7. "Slicing" – 3:29
8. "Without Hope" – 3:13
9. "Mansruin" – 3:29
10. "Innocence Gone" – 3:11
11. "Dark Signs" – 3:22
12. "Close the Door" – 4:05
13. "Proud Division" – 5:46

Sevendust - Seasons (2003)

The fourth Sevendust record is angry and in your face. This was my intro album to them with there single "Enemy" I remember watching that music video back in the day. I thought they were pretty cool but never got super into them. They're pretty fierce for a band that gets played on hard rock stations. I think they are classified as alternative metal or nu-metal. That genre nu-metal might scare some people but, Seasons is good enough to be accepted from the rock community fans. From what I know about there earlier stuff Seasons had more of complexity and variety of music. One could diss them by saying the tracks could be a bit generic but, Seasons kicks ass. You always have to be a little cautious getting any new albums these days cause it seems like corporate are controlling musical influence to a degree which makes everything sound the same. Songs to check out "Enemy", "Face to Face" and "Broken Down".


1. "Disease" 3:34
2. "Enemy" 3:03
3. "Seasons" 3:32
4. "Broken Down" 3:23
5. "Separate" 3:42
6. "Honesty" 3:30
7. "Skeleton Song" 4:22
8. "Disgrace" 3:58
9. "Burned Out" 3:52
10. "Suffocate" 3:22
11. "Gone" 3:43
12. "Face to Face" 3:55

R.E.M. - Monster (1994)

This is by far my most favorite R.E.M. record. It sounds almost too distorted and loud compared to all there other releases. I was literally raised on them as they were one of my dad's favorite bands as I have memories of being a young kid in the passenger seat listening to all there stuff from Automatic for the People, New Adventures of Hi-Fi, Up, Out of Time and the one that stuck with me the most Monster. It was them at there highest as they debuted at number one and Rolling Stone Magazine declared them the best band in 1995 in an back issue. I hear hints of seventies rock when I listen to it. I think vocalist Michael Stipe is super creative lyrically and has unique views of identity and reality from his perspective. I think I can relate to him myself since he had the same problems I have like insecurity, shyness and lack of direction. It's intellectually very high and I'm sure I'm going to get panned for putting them over on my site but, the songs have great textures where you can just get zoned out by the music. Regardless if it's alternative I still can see something past the music and I'm sure if you give it a chance you'll enjoy it because it's R.E.M. at there hardest. Songs to check out "Circus Envy", "You" and "Bang and Blame".

1. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" – 4:00
2. "Crush with Eyeliner" – 4:39
3. "King of Comedy" – 3:40
4. "I Don't Sleep, I Dream" – 3:27
5. "Star 69" – 3:07
6. "Strange Currencies" – 3:52
7. "Tongue" – 4:13
8. "Bang and Blame" – 5:30
9. "I Took Your Name" – 4:02
10. "Let Me In" – 3:28
11. "Circus Envy" – 4:15
12. "You" – 4:54

Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (1994)

One of my favorite albums from the nineties from first track to last this is a classic. It has the perfect mix of loud guitar and melody. Alike a lot of Stone Temple Pilots, I've been listening to them forever it seems and I could never get sick of them. My dad and I argue when comparing what was better Core or Purple and to my belief it is Purple because strictly the singles were better. "Sex Type Thing" is an amazing track from Core but, I'm pretty sure "Interstate Love Song" is the best song of the nineties and second most popular only behind Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit". The album itself debuted at #1 on the billboards and was hitting the airwaves and music television massively. I think it's one of there most diverse releases they've done and every song has great choruses too. This is true 90's arena rock here. Songs to check out "Silvergun Superman", "Big Empty" and "Meatplow".


1. "Meatplow" 3:37
2. "Vasoline" 2:56
3. "Lounge Fly" 5:18
4. "Interstate Love Song" 3:14
5. "Still Remains" 3:33
6. "Pretty Penny" 3:42
7. "Silvergun Superman" 5:16
8. "Big Empty" 4:54
9. "Unglued" 2:35
10. "Army Ants" 3:46
11. "Kitchenware & Candybars" 8:07

Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)

As much as I hate Axl Pose, if they combined the best songs from the first two Use Your Illusions this would've been possibly the biggest rock album ever. It would've been a cluster of rock hits that it's the same thing Metallica would later do with Load and Reload was that the quality of songs they produced were too good and massive to be just put on one. They probably both did the split for the money but, there's no denying who was on top unless you're a Metallica fan like me haha..Around the time of the recording former Guns n' Roses was drummer had been fired for abusing drugs (like all of them weren't)and hired Matt Sorrum from The Cult. I think a big reason why the albums did good on the charts and sold well was because there seems to be a lot of music videos they did if I'm right. I'm sure that's all they were showing on MTV with the epic story triology they tried to show via the music videos which I think was out of order because it went "November Rain" then "Don't Cry" and lastly "Estranged". I don't know if I prefer part one or two. I think I prefer part one because of the awesome music video "November Rain". That was like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" of hard rock music being that it was over freaking eight minutes. Songs to check out "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", "You Could be Mine" and "Estranged".

1. "Civil War" 7:43
2. "14 Years" 4:21
3. "Yesterdays" 3:16
4. "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Bob Dylan cover) 5:36
5. "Get in the Ring" 5:41
6. "Shotgun Blues" 3:23
7. "Breakdown" 7:05
8. "Pretty Tied Up" 4:48
9. "Locomotive" 8:42
10. "So Fine" 4:06
11. "Estranged" 9:23
12. "You Could Be Mine" 5:44
13. "Don't Cry" 4:44
14. "My World" 1:24