The Scrounger's Report

Oct. 07, 1998

Expectations, Fate, and Irony

It seems bizarre how expectations are often left unfulfilled,
while others are surpassed, often randomly.

I got a bunch of CDs in this week (you may remember me drooling
earlier). There were 3 that I had WANTED forever, but now that
I've listened to them, I'm wondering *why* I wanted them...

1. Paradise Lost - S/T. 1989. This is fairly melodic stuff, but
   the timbre of the lead singer's voice sends me into epileptic
   fits every now and then. The best way I can characterize it
   is a "sleaze glam" vocalist trying to do AOR. It doesn't work.
   Overall: 72%.

2. Force 3 - Warrior of Light. 1988. This is one of those "I'll
   keep it cuz it's rare" CDs, but overall I'm unenthused. Fairly
   nondescript Godrock (underproduced, as is most stuff on the
   Pure Metal label). 75%.

3. Brighton Rock - Take a Deep Breath. 1988. Now this one *IS*
   quite good, but I already had a CD-R of it, so I knew what
   to expect (hence its impact is not as visceral as somthing
   that is unexpectedly good). I also have a CD-R of "Love Machine,"
   which I find considerably heavier and not as good. How does
   their 3rd CD compare stylistically? Is it closer to TaDB or
   LM? 88%.

Then there's the following CD, which I pretty much obtained for
"completist" purposes, and it rocks my world! I was not expecting
something this good:

Idle Cure - Inside Out. 1991. After having just found "Tough Love"
(their 1989 release), and having been somewhat disappointed by the
softness of it (don't get me wrong, it's still a good CD), I wasn't
expecting much from this one. Damn, if I wasn't wrong. I'll have
to give all their stuff a re-listen, but I think this is their best
work. Even though it's on Frontline Records, I could "swear" that
John & Dino Elefante had a hand in this; it has their trademark
"sound" to it. Lots of keys, driving vocal harmony choruses (reminds
me a lot of Halo-S/T, Mastedon-LOFCAUDIO, or The Brave-Battle Cries,
only with a lead singer that has a coarser voice). This is easily
one of my best trades/purchases of the year. 93%.

This last one made up for the disappointment of the first two...

-Dan