SOUND BITES

No one knew when it was released, but Not the Actual Events (the noisy EP surprise-released just before Christmas '16) was more a prologue than a standalone EP; earlier this year, it was announced that Nine Inch Nails were in the process of releasing a trilogy of EPs, and that Add Violence was the second (the third is expected by the end of the year). Naturally, people would be looking at Add Violence as a continuation of Not the Actual Events ' cold, harsh and noisy presentation, especially with that title implying even more brutality. As it turns out, those really weren't the actual events, so to speak; while there are a few parallels thematically, overall this batch of five songs is much less abrasive than its predecessor, as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross allow for more accessibility in the songs. Lead single Less Than , despite a gradual increase in volume and intensity, is as straightforward and chart-ready as NIN's biggest hits. The Lovers features more of

Given enough time, I'm sure I can come up with a pretty extensive list of what I consider to be "great" records. Over my many years of listening, a whole host of albums have earned this distinction from me and, if you've spent any amount of time reading this site's reviews over the past three years and change, you already know how freely I hand out 8s and 9s around here. That being said, though, I think it can be safely assumed that making a great record isn't easy by any stretch. Many bands, even some highly successful ones, have built dedicated followings and massive popularity without releasing even one album I would consider great, while the majority of my favourite bands have managed periodic greatness but aren't exactly renowned for sustaining it. What I've learned in compiling this list is that, as difficult as it is to make a great record, it's even harder to do it twice in a row. This list dares to go one step further, into the very s

When looking for clues as to what brought Stone Sour from the cinematic and intensely creative House of Gold & Bones double album to the riff-infested throwback Hydrograd , one needs look no further than the pair of covers EPs they released in 2015. The ten songs given the Stone Sour treatment put Corey Taylor's love of classic rock, classic metal and classic grunge to tape, and the performances were as faithful as can be expected by anyone who's killed a couple of hours on YouTube watching Taylor do covers live. Those covers were done a little too safely and carefully to make them stand out in any significant way, but they were a suitable initiation for new guitarist Christian Martucci, and the band sounded like they were having a blast going through the classics; that spirit flows through Hydrograd as well, as does the presence of Martucci (in the liner notes nicknamed "Tooch"), with an abundance of guitar solos that hearken back to the glory days of hard r