Prolonging the Magic--Cake.
4 out of 5
Great grooves, Great instrumentation, and John learned how to write.

Is This Desire?--PJ Harvey.
4 out of 5
A reformed "big guitar" diva, turned Electronic diva. This rating has nothing to do with the fact that I want to nail her. This is a GREAT sex record.

How Does Your Garden Grow?--Better Than Ezra.
4 out of 5
Pretty creative stuff from the "Kings" of New Orleans. They also seemed to have listened to OK Computer.

Celebrity Skin--Hole.
3 out of 5
I originally was going to give this album of the year. I then put the CD case (and Courtney's new boobs) out of sight, and listened to the record. Billy Corgan has helped her write better pop songs, but not THAT much.

You've Come A Long Way Baby--Fatboy Slim.
2.5 out of 5
He's got potential, but it's not close to being a complete record.

Follow The Leader--KORN.
4 out of 5
Truly impressive effort from the hip-hop friendly version of Rage. Great guest spots. Great energy. Great diversity of sounds.

Without You I'm Nothing--Placebo.
3.5 out of 5
A wonderfully rich textured record. Exceptional vocals. "Burger Queen" is one of the better songs of the year. Kind of "glammy" and very personal and erotic lyrical content.

Death Of A Minor TV Celebrity--The Candyskins.
1 out of 5
One of the major disappointments of the year.

Decksanddrumsandrockandroll--The Propellerheads.
2.5 out of 5
Interesting high energy electronica. "Bang On" was a surprise fusion of "organic" instruments and those of the silicon variety. Still though, like "the Fatboy", an awful lot of self-indulgent crap to wade through. Not a bad record to veg to, but nothing compelling aside from "Spybreak" and "Bang On."

Yield--Pearl Jam.
2 out of 5
eh...a couple of good songs that Page and Plant wrote 20 years ago (See below). Eddie et al need to get out more often and quit listening to so much Phish.

Visual Audio Sensory Theater--VAST.
3.5 out of 5
For only being a one person band, this album rips. A very creative record. This is one of the futures of music. One guy and an ADAT(okay Trent did it too, but he was ripping off Al in the first place). Very honest, and not that self-indulgent. A very "big" sound. The only down spot is that after awhile, the organ effects start elliciting a sound reminiscent of old Yes. I eagerly await a sophomore effort.

Obsolete--Fear Factory.
4.25 out of 5
Pantera meets Rammstein. Guitarist Dino Cezares has been all over the place performing on a variety of electronic records. He brought some of that savvy back to his original band. Vocal dynamics are pretty impressive, as is song structure. Still, the songs tend to drag before developing, and most have droning intros that do nothing for the song except make you want to fast forward to the next track. The record does hit, and is the hardest industrial record I picked up this year.

Gearwhore--Gearwhore.
2.5 out of 5
Pretty interesting record. Another one-man band, this one of the "techno" variety. Having said that, the reader must also understand that Gearwhore are not limited to that label, and in fact show some adept inter-genre composition. I bought the record because the name sounded interesting, and there was absolutely nothing else in the store that sounded fun. I was surprised.

Godsmack--Godsmack.
1 out of 5
If you like Alice In Chains, buy this record. If not, the sound is redundant, and cliche in a 14 year-old way. Production values are marginal (it sounds flat) and song composition is underdeveloped.

Led Zeppelin II--Led Zeppelin.
4 out of 5
Eh. What can you say...pretty much a classic. In late 1999, I'd rather hear this on the radio, than a bunch of lame-ass imposters. Not that i'm really into Zep, but a lot of their more friendly songs are on this. I went to see Train, and they covered Ramble On, which was the only song they performed that I liked. So I bought this. I lost much "indie-cred", but it's still a good record to veg out to.

KMFDM--KMFDM.
2.5 out of 5
Truth be told, this is a techno album, and not very imaginative. It's still better than much of the E-crap out on the airwaves, but I expect much from one of forefathers of the Industrial/Electronic movement. Only one real accesible song Megalomaniac. Could have been a better record, but was mixed down with way too much emphasis on the disco beat, and not enough guitar (which are buried on most every track).

MTV's AMP 2--Various Artists.
2.5 out of 5
Not bad for a compilation, but following the onslaught of signing of most of the Electronic artists in '97, the talent pool which is left is thin. First releases of The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim, and Battle Flag by Pigeonhead with the Lo Fidelity All Stars. Also includes Bang On by the Propellerheads and several interesting re-mixes. I'd buy this instead of the albums by the artists, because in most cases they suck. I liked the first AMP compilation better, but now that the Electronic scene is morphing with the hip-hop scene (with all of its own cliches) a lot of the material on this disc is pretty cliche.

UrbalBeats2--Various Artists.
3 out of 5
Not bad. This collection of Electronic re-mixes is pretty interesting and if you're into the scene, I'd say to buy this. There are two discs, the first of which has 16 tracks which for the most part are pretty cool. The second disc is a medley of 9 old school classics which have been morphed into a continuous mix. If you don't dig the "E-thang", then save your money.

Guity 'Til Proven Innocent--The Specials.
2 out of 5
I expected a lot from this record. I figured that with the ska revival, the masters would prove their skill. They did, but moved forward very little from where they left off with More Specials in 1982.

Slave Unit--Slave Unit.
2.5 out of 5
Pretty cool industrial record. One great hit, and several other good dance tunes. Thick guitar tones, good rhythms, vocals a little muddy--even for industrial.

Diatribe--Diatribe.
2 out of 5
Not bad. Kind of a Stabbing Westward vibe, but a little bit harder. A couple of decent songs. Took me a couple of listens to get into it. Not that hard, but a consistent groove.

My Dog Writes Better Than You
Take Me Back To The Pompous Bastard...NOW!!!

Hey Baldy...You're...You're...You're Not Good
Take Me Back To The Truth