Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole

Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole
Genre: Alternative/Rock
Rating: 8/10

Out of all of Maynard James Keenan's musical projects Puscifer is easily the most experimental and baffling. More famous for his critically acclaimed work with progressive metal outfit Tool and rock group A Perfect Circle Maynard left many of his fanbase scratching their heads in collective confusion when the band released their first album back in 2007. With a new Tool album speculated to be released next year and the reformed A Perfect Circle also doing tours it is a very strange time to release a follow up to 2007's V Is For Vagina regardless of this the album saw general release on 18th October this year. Being the idiotic purist that I am however I ordered it on cd from the bands online store hence the lateness of this review.

Whilst Maynards's other musical projects are easily categorised Puscifer's output is a lot more diverse and free form. The band in Maynard's own words is a revolving door project with multiple contributors and see's him express ideas and songs that wouldn't work within the confines of his other bands. Whilst this ensures the band aren't a carbon copy of his other projects this does unfortunately lead to mixed results and their debut was a strange mix of gimmicky smutty tunes and more serious gothy tinged industrial material. The bands latest album seems to have dropped the smut in favour for a more restrained mix of electronica and rock. The end result is generally more consistent and more enjoyable and makes for a much stronger album. Whilst Conditions Of My Parole sticks to a stricter format and isn't as eclectic in some areas as its predecessor it still has subtle hints of different genres throughout like the use of banjo on opener "Tiny Monsters" which soon fades away behind a wall of synthesizers. Highlights come thick and fast with tracks like "Green Valley" reaching the same transcendal heights of A Perfect Circle with its restrained electronica leading to a powerful chorus. It's not all soft and cuddly however as tracks like "Telling Ghosts" and "Toma" hit the listener hard with fierce synthetic beats and heavier guitar tones. The variety and odd flittering experimental nature ensures the album keeps your attention and with very little to complain about it almost effortlessly trumps Puscifer's first effort.

Overall whilst the "hardcore" Tool or A Perfect Circle fan may scoff at Maynard's Puscifer project Conditions Of My Parole asserts itself as a great addition to Maynards broad catalogue of work. The album is fun, fresh and entertaining and is more consistently pleasing than the projects debut which wasn't awful by any rate anyway. Recommended.

Download: "Tiny Monsters" "Toma"

Bush - The Sea Of Memories

Bush - The Sea Of Memories
Genre: Alternative/Rock
Rating: 3/10

2011 seems to have been the year of rebirths with many defunct bands reforming after long hiatuses. The latest addition to this swell of bands is nineties post grunge band Bush who return this year after a decade of silence with their new album The Sea Of Memories. Bush were formed just after the grunge explosion of the early nineties and unlike many of their peers chose to take on a more standard rock sound. In the gap between 2001's Golden State album not much was heard from the members of Bush apart from frontman Gavin Rossdale (who is essentially more famous for marrying Gwen Stefani than anything else). Rossdale formed Institute a short lived rock band and even tried going solo more recently under his own name both endeavors falling short of the exposure and commercial success of Bush. Now it seems the band have reconvened without their original bassist or guitarist.

The music on display on The Sea Of Memories differs quite a lot from the simplistic primal rock Bush began producing at the start of their career and favours a more mellow tone. Whilst acoustic and piano ballads became more frequent on their later releases The Sea Of Memories is almost entirely composed of soft tracks. The main issue with the record as a whole is the mixing, whilst Rossdales singing is adequate the music in the background is so low down on the mix it's hard to work out what the music is actually doing. If anything The Sea Of Memories owes more to Institutes electronic sound than Bush's straight forward guitar driven rock. Whilst some technical flourishes on some tracks are quite well employed the album from start to finish feels quite tired and sombre. The bands debut Sixteen Stone rippled with energy, Sea Of Memories of however feels like a band playing it so safe that the whole experience is devoid of excitement. Whilst the music shouldn't have to be upbeat or in your face you would assume that after a ten year hiatus when the band agreed to come back they would've done it as a result of having something spectacular. Unfortunately Bush do not and Sea Of Memories is merely a lacklustre collection of crooning dreary ballads. The solitary highlight of the whole album is the single "The Sound Of Winter" which shows some interesting distortion and the same depth as the band's earlier material. Unfortunately the rest of the album is fairly shambolic especially the cringey over the top closer "Be Still My Love" which is so pedestrian and mainstream it could be used as elevator music.

Overall Sea Of Memories is by far Bush's worst album to date. Lacking in imagination and having little impact at all it proves to be nothing more than a collection of indentikit ballads that show no flair or passion that made Bush an interesting band. Whether this reunion is purely a money spinner is debatable whether the album is a worthwhile purchase is less debatable, it just isn't worth buying. A contender for worst album of the year.

Download: "The Sound Of Winter"