TheRetroCritic

Anyone who knows me knows I have worshipped Metric since their kickass breakout album Old World Underground (Where Are You Now?) .   Their unique blend of punk rock attitude and electro pop acting like a kind of best-of-music-I-like for me. Since that album, a few others followed, all good, so I had high hopes for Synthetica . The result? Well it is indeed good, about as strong as Grow Up And Blow Away  I would say. It opens with the very Metric "Artificial Nocturne" which never fully takes off the way "Help, I'm Alive" did, for example, but which nonetheless lures you hypnotically into the album. It has a great build-up. "Youth Without Youth" is next and adds a bit of Black Keys-style blues to the mix. Again, it doesn't have that extra level to it but it's still a cool tune. "Speed The Collapse" brings with it a darker tone and is all the better for it. One of the best songs on the album, definitely. The following song

Well, The Offspring's long-awaited new album Days Go By is out and, having grown up listening to the band (among others), I thought I'd give this one a listen and *gasp* a review. Days Go By is a mixed bag to say the least. On the one hand you've got those decent new Offspring tunes which, though hardly groundbreaking, are always fun. " The Future Is Now" kicks off the album on a high note, " Secrets From The Underground" follows and, as familiar as it sounds, it's still energetic and enjoyable enough to justify its existence. Then we get title song " Days Go By" , a remarkably dull effort. I can never seem to listen to it all the way through. It's not "terrible" I guess, the chorus is fine at least, but it never takes off. I just couldn't get interested in it at all. Thinking about it, this one would work on a Green Day album with Billy Joe Armstrong's voice more suited to this type of tune. " Turning I

There was a time when this Prince soundtrack just wasn't for me. It was just so distracting, so 80's and so not in line with anything else in the movie which went for more of a 1940's film noir-style vibe. I actually used to count it as one of the film's (very few) shortcomings. Listening back to it now though, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It's a guilty pleasure, for sure, but there's just something irresistible about a "funky" Batman soundtrack. Prince opens the album with " The Future" , a song you hear roughly in the background during the opening scene of the film where that family is wandering the streets of Gotham. It doesn't build up to anything particularly memorable but it's fine. Things get good with the second track though, " Electric Chair" sounding like a cross between Stevie Wonder and... AC/DC, as Prince gets to rock-scream a bit near the end of it. Gotta love the rock-screamin&#

You ever wonder what would happen if the Guns N Roses , Duran Duran and The Sex Pistols all got together somehow and made an album? Well, why wonder when you can HEAR? Boys and girls, I give you: Neurotic Outsiders. A supergroup formed back in 1995 made up of Steve Jones (Sex Pistols), Matt Sorum (Guns N Roses), Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses) and John Taylor (Duran Duran). I’ll let the awesomeness sink in. The band only really made the one album (with an EP the following year), a self-titled release which I recall owning back in the day. I loved it but being French the lyrics were lost on me, which was a bit awkward since songs like Nasty Ho were pretty graphic throughout. “Oh nasty ho…” You know, for kids! Regardless, it was great. But how does it stand up today? Well, lets just say it more than lives up to the term “supergroup”. Vocally, Steve Jones may not be Axl Rose but he fits in perfectly in this punk/grunge/metal hybrid and although the prospect of the band being led

No less than 5 years after their last release, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are back this month with a new album, I’m With You , which should no doubt satisfy hungry fans.  But how does the album fare minus long-time guitarist John Frusciante, who officially left the band back in 2009? Throughout the years, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have undergone changes and reinventions aplenty whilst always keeping their own brand of funky rock perfectly intact. The biggest switch came in 1999 with the release of hit album Californication which showed the band in a darker, more melancholic light. This meant the usual anarchic fast-paced funkiness increasingly gave way to an altogether more atmospheric and melodic approach. This was clearly the beginning of a new era for the band. The next album, By The Way , really made the most of Frusciante’s creativity and excelled especially with some of the best, most nostalgic ballads the band ever attempted. The album showed real heart and maturity but it wa