I'm as skeptical as the next guy when it comes to reviews. Lets face it. All that usually found in reviews is one persons opinion. So I keep that in mind when writing these damn things. I hate reviews myself. We have an idiot who writes the music reviews in our local paper (Orange County Register). I can usually gage how much I will like an album by his reviews, If this putz loves it, I’ll hate it. If he hates it, it kicks ass.  As a musician myself, I know it takes lots of blood sweat and tears to create music. I will try to keep that in mind when reviewing albums.  On the other hand, if I think something is a pile of dog shit I will say so. So there you have it. What follows are my opinions. If you don’t like them, go get your own.
Nuff said - on with the show.

October 1999 - The Good

Feature Review: Neurotica - Living in Dog Years. 
I never heard of these guys before coming to antiMUSIC. That changed real quick. Our managing editor, Keavin, loves to blast Neurotica’s debut album Seed at full volume in the office.  I admit I was hooked from the first note.

Who are these guys and why haven't I heard of them? They are a killer heavy rock band from Florida. They had a lucky break when none other than Brain Johnson of AC/DC discovered them.  Johnson got them a record deal and produced the bands debut. The result “Seed” was critically acclaimed and set Neurotica up as one of the hottest heavy bands of the 90’s. But then bad luck hit, their indy label’s distribution company went under, so just as radio was picking up the single and word was spreading the CD stopped dead in it’s tracks.  That didn’t discourage these guys. They went back into the studio and recorded their follow-up which I am reviewing right here.

Think of how many bands had a kick ass debut album. Only to release a pile of shit for a second record. Good thing for Neurotica that didn’t happen to them. Point of fact, Living in Dog years blows Seed away.  Although Brain Johnson wasn’t on hand this time as producer, this is an album he could be proud of.

Note for note this album rocks, I would go so far as to call it one of the best heavy metal records of the 90’s. The riff heavy tunes and full throttle vocals don’t slow down one bit. From the opening number, Ride of your Life , to the equally aggressive Those Dayz These Dayz, Neurotica has found their niche and have stuck with it. The title track is one of those songs that just gets stuck in your head and won’t go away. Down and dirty guitar riffs by Shawn Bowen and Louis Polito, with an agro rhythm section courtesy of  G.J.Gosman (Drums) and Migwell Przybyl (Bass), topped by theover the top vocals of Kelly Shaefer make Neurotica THE BAND to contend with for the Gold. Not one wasted second can be found here.  If the major labels have any brains we will watch these guys go far. Their days as independents are numbered and rightly so.

Living in Dogs years is in stores this week. Go get your copy today, hell click here to order it online (It's even on sale). Don't trust me? Need some encouragement, download the MP3 for the first single, "Ride of your Life" Check out the rest of the songs in Real Audio at the Neurotica Web site

Did I hype this enough? Seriously this CD kicks! Be the first on your block to discover this band before all the posers jump on the band wagon.

Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning 

This is not another Sound Garden album. You won’t find the Zeppelin/black sabbath riffs here. What you do find is some of Chris Cornell’s finest moments captured on tape. Warning, if you are looking for the heavy stuff you are used to from Chris, better stick to Sound Garden. If your willing to open your mind a little, you might find that there is much more to Chris than “Black Hole Sun”. Indeed, from the first single “ Can’t Change Me” to the sorrowful “Wave Goodbye”, Chris lays it out for all to see. Even if you weren’t a big fan of Sound Garden, Euphoria Morning deserves a listen on its own merits. Simply put this album Rocks!

The Bad
Missing Persons - Remixed hits. 

What happens when you remix bad songs? You get the same bad song in a different order.  ?No surprises here, a bunch of songs that weren’t good enough to make the charts remixed and guess what? They still suck.  Back to the 80’s exile with them,  I say.

The Fugly
Mariah Carey : Heartbreaker 5” Single 
Let's see how can I stretch a single syllable word into twelve?  Enough already.  Like Whitney or any of the copy cats I just cant stand this style of vocals. What happened to melody? You wouldn't catch the temptations over singing everything. Mariah, we already know you can sign, stop trying to prove it!  And by the way you owe the world an apology for that horrid remake of Journey's “Open Arms”.