Evil Urges

A native of Xenia, Ohio, 17-year-old Una Mae Carlisle was performing in Cincinnati when Fats Waller heard her in 1932 and decided to give the young lady a boost into show business. It's not surprising then that she emulated Waller in style and repertoire. Her first recording date as a leader occurred in London on May 20th 1938. Una Mae takes "Don't Try Your Jive on Me" at a faster clip than the famous version by Fats Waller and His Continental Rhythm. Her piano is solid, the band swings and she has a pleasantly smooth voice. These qualities blossom during "I Would Do Anything for You" and especially throughout George Gershwin's "Love Walked In." Leonard Feather, composer of "My Fightin' Gal" and several other abject blues numbers based on unsavory topics, collaborated with Carlisle on "Hangover Blues"…

With almost 13 years and four months between releases – an interminable wait for their devoted legion of fans – enigmatic alt-metal band Tool finally returned at the end of summer 2019 with their long-awaited fifth album, Fear Inoculum. Clocking in at 80 minutes with just seven official tracks, this is less a straightforward rock record and more a mind-bending journey, borrowing a classical approach that trades traditional constructs heard on early radio staples like "Stinkfist" and "Sober" for something akin to movements within a symphony…

XTC almost never wrote a sentimental song– which is strange, when you consider how much of their music deals with nostalgia, home and country, and yearning. Their lyrics are bittersweet and escapist, but even in the lost summers of Skylarking, they cling to some element– biting words, knuckle-cracking hooks, or just a distractingly loud arrangement– that keeps their most heartstring-pulling, young-love-eulogizing songs from drifting away. Which is why their 1999 release Apple Venus Vol. 1 is so much more complicated and concrete than a first impression suggests. That album, plus its 2000 counterpart Wasp Star (Apple Venus Vol. 2), came out after a break of seven years. In that time, Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, and Dave Gregory– who formally left the band before these albums were released– walked out on Virgin, stayed home making demos, and came back with this pair of records on TVT. And five years and no further material later, XTC have packaged them together in the Apple Box, along with lyrics, liner notes, and two demos-and-outtakes albums.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets (2017) {3CD Blackened Recordings Remastered & Expanded Edition BLCKND005R-3 rec 1986}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.31 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 484 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (png) -> 300 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1986, 2017 Blackened Recordings | BLCKND005R-3
Metal / Heavy Metal / Thrash Metal

Even though Master of Puppets didn't take as gigantic a leap forward as Ride the Lightning, it was the band's greatest achievement, hailed as a masterpiece by critics far outside heavy metal's core audience. It was also a substantial hit, reaching the Top 30 and selling three million copies despite absolutely nonexistent airplay. Instead of a radical reinvention, Master of Puppets is a refinement of past innovations. In fact, it's possible to compare Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets song for song and note striking similarities between corresponding track positions on each record (although Lightning's closing instrumental has been bumped up to next-to-last in Master's running order). That hint of conservatism is really the only conceivable flaw here.