8- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 6, 1994 RECORDS Continued from page 5 high powered melodic groove that trades off nicely with a standard Rush verse. If Rush is aiming at a new sound, which may be the case given their recent experiments, then their biggest problem is Lee's distinctive, and some would say, annoying vo- cals. Rush will never sound like a truly rejuvenated band with Lee at the forefront. If you're a real Rush fan, you already have this disc and are prob- ably pretty pleased. "Counterparts" should attract some attention from guitarloving Rush fans who've given up on the band lately due to their over- produced, keyboard-dominated re- leases. For those who've never been fans, don't be persuaded by the mis- leading singles. It's still Rush. - Gianluca Montalti Green Apple Quick Step Wonderful Virus The Medicine Label As far as hard rock from Seattle Rock City goes, Green Apple-Quick Step hasjumped the bandwagon pretty late. Two years after Nirvana enabled record companies to market "alterna- tive" music successfully, two years after Pearl Jam proved this point and even six months after Stone Temple Pilots ripped off Pearl Jam to shoot to superstardom, along comes Grunge Awful Quick Shitwanting a piece of the apple pie. Well, don't let them have any. If no one buys this unorigi- nal waste of studio time, maybe Green Asshole Quiche Seep can crawl back into whatever crevice they came from and reemerge with something a little more creative. The tools are all present. Techni- cally, the band plays extremely well. The riffs are exciting and the harmo- nies created between vocalist Ty Willman and bassist Mariann Braeden are actually quite good. But then Grave Affront Crap Stew goes and brings all the rock clich6s to life. Songs about drugs and booze ("Ludes and Cherrybombs" and "Bottle") are tired, and oooh, can you actually believe they're against polluting the environ- ment ("Dirty Water Ocean")? Imag- ine that! Somebody should tell Gross Apple Quid Spew that "grunge" as a legiti- mate style died when the fashion in- dustry capitalized on "The idea of looking like you don't care" (which is from an actual ad). And speaking of fashion, at the band's opening slot on the recent X appearance at the Blind Pig, you could see that they know fashion! Dressed in flannels, ripped t- shirts, wacky hats, and chains, Gag Apathetic Quit Slop struck all the right poses, played all the right chords, said all the right things, and were still a bore to watch and listen to. Seattle's illegitimate sons (and daughter) have to find some originality to be consid- ered a musical force. - Matt Carlson Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince Code Red Jive/RCA You're not going to like this when you first hear it but you should buy it anyway. The Fresh Prince tries too hard to give the lyrics an updated feel in many instances, and Jazzy Jeff, one of the most underrated musicians on the rap scene, only produces two of the tracks on the album. But on the other hand, the Fresh Prince contin- ues to be creative. "Twinkle Twinkle (I'm Not A Star)," for instance, is corny - but it's good; nearly every track has a strong theme and this album will win you over after a couple spins. Producers like Pete Rock (what a surprise), Dallas Austin and Teddy Riley handle the music and it is al- most too solidly produced - it sparkles with high cost production. However, the album is worth it for "I Wanna Rock." Jazzy Jeff rips up the old "It Takes Two" (yes, Rob Base & E-Z Rock), transforms it (with the style of scratch he gets credit for creating), slows it down and then a live drum set kicks in to the music from Big Daddy Kane's "Smooth Op- erator." It's an incredible DJ song, something unheard of nowadays. All in all, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince continue on the pop tip, but in a qual- ity way which stays true to the game. -- Dustin Howes Various Artists Straight Outta Ireland: Volume II Scotti Bros. A conmpilation of all Irish per- formers, eh? So you're expecting a record full of U2 rip-offs, correct? Well, that's not what you're going to get. Perhaps that's unfortunate be- cause almost anything would make a livelier listen than this. In fact, if it wasn't for the song listings on the back of the CD, you'd swear that every track on this album was re- corded by the same performer. Never has lifeless, bland, formulaic Oop music sounded so ... well ... boring. Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, while trying a bit too hard, are still as creative and unique as ever in their new album, "Code Red." The inclusion of An Emotional Fish and Hothouse Flowers, the two largest name draws on this record, does nothing to make this package any more attractive. An Emotional Fish spend too much time not trying to sound like U2 to explore any worth- while ideas. And Hothouse Flowers play every song so over-the-top that it comes across as pathetically melo- dramatic. It's unlikely that you've heard of any of the other performers on this album before (or will ever again, for that matter). It's quite amazing really how a couple of folk tunes, a hard rock ballad and even a techno track can all come out sounding so alike. But it's done right here on this record. If this is truly the best Ireland has to offer as far as music today, then what a sorry state it is. Hate it or not, U2 is still rock supreme in the land of the leprechaun. - Nima Hodaei Souls of Mischief 93 'til Infinity Jive/RCA After all the hype, including an 800 number, the Souls of Mischief drop correct. Hailing from Oakland, but with a definite east coast flavor in their tracks, they got much jazz and most of all melodic bass lines which move the tracks along just right. They spit good rhymes on the new school tip; obviously thought went into the lyrics, but it's nothing breakthrough in terms of flow (contrived high voices - a la Cypress Hill and over-drama- tizing the rhymes - ala Das EFX). A few tracks really stand out - includ- ing "Live and Let Live," "Never No More" and the title track - making this an incredibly strong first effort. - Dustin Howes Front 242 05:23:09:12 Off Epic Front 242's second release this year finds them breaking the new ground that they had promised but failed to deliver on last spring's "06:22:03:11 Up Evil." In the past, Front 242's albums, while consisting of agressive body music, had a formulaic quality which left them somewhat devoid of sur- prises. "Off," on the other hand, is an- other matter. The album breaks from the formula immediately with the amazing "Animal(Cage/Gate/ Guide)," with its hacked-up female vocals. The minimalist approach to this song, along with the focus on soundscapes and sparse percussion adds up to what might be the most haunting Front 242 song ever. Things get even crazier with "Modern An- gels," an almost hardcore techno-ori- ented composition with some Nine- Inch-Nails-style vocal insanity that literally bursts out of the speakers and takes off at a speed-of-light pace. "Off' also features some much more interesting ambient reworkings of tracks from "Up Evil," as well as two or three versions of some songs from "Off," the best of which are the two "Modern Angels" remixes, which highlight the experimentation that Front 242 hoped for on this record. Other tracks, such as "Serial Killers Don't Kill Their Girlfriend" are much weaker (mainly due to the loud mix- ing of typically campy 242 lyrics), but they still make for a refreshing change. This isn't the same band that brought you "Headhunter" and "Wel- come to Paradise." "Off' gives a strong indication that Front 242 have finally broken away from the trite, overdone world of "industrial dance" and are prepared to move on to a new dimension in electronic music. - -Andy Dolan pudgee, t haphat bastard give 'em the finger Giant Trak masterz (Big Daddy Kane, Chubb Rock) are in the house with serious production skills. The beats and samples are tight, the snare has pop and the bass lines and drum is clear as fine crystal in a bucket of Absopure. The chanting is played out, but doesn't ruin the album. The image is hard but the flow is beyond that. This is good rhyme wrapped in hard- rock marketing. Get the CD or tape and watch for the rising star. - Dustin Howes MICHIGAN RECORD! 1140 South University, Ann Ar (above Good Time Charley's) phone: 663-5800 Store Hours Mon-Sat: 9:00a - 10:00p Sunday: 11:00a - 8:00p Ss aFOR A B YA bor including KILLING IN THE NAME BULLET IN THE HEAD " WAKE UP BOMBTRACK Stop in to USE OUR MULE! An easy-to-use computer that will search out the hardest- to-find music...it's in the House! e PHllAURPHIA cUSK FROM THE MOTION PCTURE SOUNDTRA Featuring songs by Bruce Springsteen, NeilYoung, Peter Gabriel, Sad Spin Doctors, and Indigo Girs. tF" fr' v tI WY I-?" "1J[T a/- .h1r _C' With their new album, "05:23:09:12 Off," Front 242 has proven themselves ready to move on to new dimensions,- I ii XVJI I The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society is pleased to invite all and sundry to our next MASS MEETING for the April 1994 production of Gilbert and Sullivan's most famous and dynamically absurd comic opera - THE MIKADO. II' WtILIJ f or Arts Film, music, theater, f ine arts, f books 'it. - - it ii m.a