Dead Hills [EP]

1. Dead Hills

2. Dead Hills 2

3. Rotten Tropics

Dead Hills,Wolf Eyes,Troubleman Unlimited,Electronic,Experimental,Industrial,Noise,Pop,Rock

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Average customer rating: Not My Style Rockin' Western Collection Hard to Find Great Western Themes Western Music A great follow-up

Way Out West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection, Vol. 2 Manufacturer: Silva America ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Newman | Newman, Alfred | ( N ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Rossini | Rossini, Gioacchino | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music Orchestral Pop | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Television Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Wild West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection Songs Of The West, Vol. 4: Movie & Television Themes From Alamo to El Dorado, Vol. 2 The Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection The Greatest Western Movie Themes ASIN: B000060PBU Release Date: 2002-03-26

Tracks:

1. The Hallejuah Trail-Overture
2. The Alamo-The Green Leaves Of Summer
3. The Alamo-Davy Crocket
4. The Big Country-The Welcoming/Finale
5. The Big Valley-Main Theme
6. Blazing Saddles-Blazing Saddles
7. Bonaza-Main Theme
8. Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid-raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
9. The Comancheros-McBain/Main Title
10. Duel In The Sun-Main Title/The Legend/Orizaba
11. A Fistfull Of Dynamite-Duck You Sucker
12. For A Few Dollars More-Main Theme
13. Friendly Persuasion-Thee I Love
14. Giant-Main Theme
15. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-Main Theme
16. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly-The Ecstasy Of Gold
17. Gunfight At The O.K. Corral-Suite
18. Hang 'Em High-Main Theme
19. The Hanging Tree-Main Title

Tracks:

1. High Caparral-Main Theme
2. How The West Was Won-Prelude/The Land
3. High Noon-Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin'
4. The Jayhawkers-The Lynching/Two Brothers/The Hayhawkers
5. The Lone Ranger-William Tell Overture: Finale
6. Nevada Smith-Main Title
7. Old Gringo-Main Themes
8. Once Upon A Time In The West-Man With The Harmonica
9. One Eyed Jacks-Main Title
10. The Proud Rebel-Main Titles
11. The Quick And The Dead-End Titles
12. Quigley Down Under-End Titles
13. Rio Bravo-Rio Bravo/De Guella
14. The Scalphunters-Main Title
15. Shane-Main Theme: The Call Of The Farwaway Hills
16. The Shootist-Main Title
17. The Unforgiven-The Need For Love
18. Viva Zapata-Gathering Forces
19. The Virginian-Main Theme

Customer Reviews:

Not My Style.......2007-05-11

This CD has a lot of good songs on it, but it just too bland for our taste. We prefer Western music to sound as though genuine cowboys are singing it - not a fancy chorus!

Rockin' Western Collection.......2006-08-28

For anyone who likes movie/tv music from westerns should purchase this CD. What a wonderful collection of both film and tv with great renditions of each piece. I'm about to purchase Vol. 1 to complete my collection.

Hard to Find Great Western Themes .......2006-03-16

This CD has a number of great western themes that are not in some of the standard lists. For example it includes "The Hallejuah Trail", "Blazing Saddles", and "Giant". This CD also has what I consider the true theme of "The Comancheros". I have been disappointed with some other CDs I have purchased listing "The Comancheros" which had a song rather than this theme. Many of the tracks on this two disk CD go beyond the main theme music and are actually suites. The "Big Country" and "How the West Was Won" are just a couple of examples. It may be a little more expense than some CDs, but not bad for a two disk set. I am really happy with my purchase.

Western Music.......2005-07-29

I enjoy this CD. It has many familiar melodies. Good background for reading, nice to listen while driving. It is also the only CD I've ever found that has the great theme from the movie "Giant."

A great follow-up.......2003-08-29

This is the second collection by SilvaScreen, who are also responsible for "The Wild West: The Essential Western Film Music Collection" (see my review). And it's just as good as the first. There are themes in here that everyone will recognize ("Bonanza," "A Fistful of Dollars"), themes that may not be so familiar ("Duel in the Sun," "The Hanging Tree," the lively "Blazing Saddles"), and even themes you may not associate with Westerns at all ("The Friendly Persuasion"). And no duplication either: when this disc includes a piece from one of the same sources covered in its predecessor, it's a different piece. One great treat: the full lyrics to "Gunfight at OK Corral," which I've never heard outside the soundtrack of the movie itself. The arrangement from "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" includes not only the familiar song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" but an overview of the music--seguing almost seamlessly into Bernstein's magnificent "The Comancheros," a rare find indeed. An expensive item, but if you love Western film music, well worth it.

Average customer rating: Great Movies have Great Soundtracks! Only Disc 1 Is Worth Anything More of a propaganda CD Great selection of Film Hits! Older recordings, main themes only

Paramount 90th Anniversary Collection: Scores Various Artists Manufacturer: Sony ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Television Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Star Trek | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music Soundtracks | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music Similar Items: Varese Sarabande 25th Anniversary Celebration Simply the Best Movie Themes Hollywood's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 The Essential Elmer Bernstein Film Music Collection The Incredible Film Music Box ASIN: B000068TN9 Release Date: 2002-07-02

Tracks:

1. Saving Private Ryan 'Hymn To The Fallen' - John Williams
2. Double Indemnity 'Prelude' - Miklos Rozsa
3. The Lost Weekend 'Finale' - Miklos Rozsa
4. The Heiress 'Departure/Morris Suggests Love/The Proposal/Finale' - Aaron Copland
5. Sunset Boulevard 'Prelude' - Franz Waxman
6. The Ten Commandments 'Prelude' - Elmer Bernstein
7. Breakfast At Tiffany's 'Moon River' - Henry Mancini
8. Hatari! 'Baby Elephant Walk' - Henry Mancini
9. Rosemary's Baby 'Main Title (Vocal)' - Christopher Komeda
10. Romeo & Juliet 'Love Theme From Romeo & Juliet' - Nino Rota
11. Once Upon A Time In The West 'Once Upon A Time In The West' - Ennio Morricone
12. Love Story 'Theme From Love Story' - Francis Lai
13. The Godfather 'Main Title (The Godfather Waltz)' - Nino Rota
14. The Godfather 'Love Theme From The Godfather' - Nino Rota
15. Chinatown 'Love Theme From Chinatown (Main Title) - Jerry Goldsmith
16. The Godfather - Part II 'End Title' - Nino Rota
17. Star Trek: The Motion Picture 'End Title' - Jerry Goldsmith
18. Raiders Of The Lost Ark 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark' - John Williams
19. Terms Of Endearment 'Theme From Terms Of Endearment' - Michael Gore
20. Flashdance 'Love Theme From Flashdance' - Giorgio Moroder
21. Beverly Hills Cop 'Axel F' - Harold Faltermeyer

Tracks:

1. Witness 'Building The Barn' - Maurice Jarre
2. Children Of A Lesser God 'Main Title' - Michael Convertino
3. The Untouchables 'The Strength Of The Righteous (Main Title)' - Ennio Morricone
4. Fatal Attraction 'Fatal Attraction' - Maurice Jarre
5. The Addams Family 'Main Title' - Marc Shaiman
6. Dead Again 'Winter 1948' - Patrick Doyle
7. Indecent Proposal 'Flashback & Photos' - John Barry
8. The Firm 'How Could You Lose Me?-End Title' - Dave Grusin
9. Clear And Present Danger 'Main Title/A Clear And Present Danger' - James Horner
10. Braveheart 'For The Love Of A Princess' - James Horner
11. Primal Fear 'Courtroom Montage' - James Newton Howard
12. Mission: Impossible 'Zoom B' - Danny Elfman
13. Star Trek: First Contact 'End Credits' - Jerry Goldsmith
14. Titanic 'Hard To Starboard' - James Horner
15. The Rugrats Movie 'Baby Shower Happenings' - Mark Mothersbaugh
16. The Talented Mr. Ripley 'Italia' - Gabriel Yared
17. Rules Of Engagement 'Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful)' - Mark Isham
18. Mission: Impossible 2 'The Bait' - Hans Zimmer
19. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 'Main Titles' - Graeme Revell
20. Vanilla Sky 'To The Roof' - Nancy Wilson
21. The Sum Of All Fears 'The Mission' - Jerry Goldsmith
22. Forest Gump 'I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump' - Alan Silvestri

Amazon.com

Granddaddy of the Hollywood studios, Paramount Pictures is rightfully proud of its century of contributions to both American cinema and the art of film scoring. But the first disc of this 43-track double-CD anthology merely hints at the studio's musical peaks, blithely skipping through its first seven decades in just 17 tracks. Indeed, the package as a whole seems more interested in marketing its post-'70s catalog of hits and blockbusters than it does in paying real homage to history and roots. Even rarities like Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend are served up via modern budget-line rerecordings, as is Ennio Morricone's epochal Once upon a Time in the West). Contemporary recordings of Aaron Copland's rare score to The Heiress and Franz Waxman's great Sunset Blvd. fare better, but soundtrack fans may miss the originals. The studio's rich pop-crossover successes in the '60s are documented via Breakfast at Tiffany's "Moon River" and excerpts from Romeo and Juliet and Love Story, while successful franchises like Star Trek and Raiders also get their due. Too often the '90s-focused second disc only underscores some uncomfortable trends in contemporary scoring--orchestral nervous tics punctuated by booming crescendos, treacly piano Muzak--and makes one wonder if the music of The Rugrats Movie and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are really film music milestones. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Great Movies have Great Soundtracks!.......2007-05-10

If you love movies and movie music, you can't go wrong with this two cd Paramount Anniversary set.

Only Disc 1 Is Worth Anything.......2006-07-19

Normally I have a lot to say in my reviews, but not this time. The main problem with this collection is that all the most memorable film scores are just on one disc, with the second used mostly to play out stuff from the last ten years that, really, musically isn't very memorable and only includes three pieces anyone will recognize just because, like the movies they come from, they're based on old TV shows - The Addams Family, Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible.

And that brings up another problem. With all due respect to the late Jerry Goldsmith, who has provided some truly great classic movie scores, was it REALLY necessary to include TWO versions of the SAME Star Trek march in this collection? This seems evocative of the milk-it-for-all-its-worth attitude Paramount has had lately toward its now-tarnished crown-jewel franchise. Where's James Horner's theme music from Star Trek II and III? If they're gonna put Star Trek on here twice, they should have provided a little diversity. It wouldn't have taken much, I'm sure.

I'm sure that Paramount's had other films with far more memorable music (even Harold Faltermeyer's Top Gun Anthem could have helped on Disc 2). This just seems like a lazy attempt at something that really could have been great.

More of a propaganda CD.......2002-10-30

There are some really great songs on this 2 CD set. However, those really great songs seem to be lightly interspersed amongst a large number of forgettable songs whose main purpose seems to be to remind you of those movies you enjoy(ed) so much.

It seems a little odd to me that out of 90 years of film making the most memorable scores have been largely released within the last few years. I was pleased to find themes from the Godfather, Indiana Jones and Witness. I was perplexed with the inclusion of songs from Rugrats, both Mission Impossible movies (one would have been more than enough) and Tomb Raider (memorable???).

This is my own personal bias, but I do prefer movie soundtracks that evoke a feeling of excitement. With this collection I just couldn't get excited. I kept finding myself being let down by songs that didn't in some way complement the preceeding song.

There are certainly some great tracks here, but overall I was disappointed. My advise would be to look elsewhere.

Great selection of Film Hits!.......2002-09-25

This one was a pleasant surprise! I thought- how could any CD that had "Baby Elephant Walk" be all that good? This one is. Lots of great scores- classics and a few hidden treasures. After hearing the beautiful title score for "Children of a Lesser God", I had to buy the entire soundtrack - very soothing. There are a few that may seem too overplayed ("Love Story", "Raiders of the Lost Ark",), but most are a welcome addition to any compilation. Try NOT loving "Building the Barn" from "Witness" or the "Hymn to the Fallen" from "Saving Private Ryan". Hours of great listening.

Older recordings, main themes only.......2002-08-27

This is a great album concept, but I really wish Paramount had re-recorded these scores as they deserve to be heard. The tracks range from 1944 to the present, and the older recordings sound just like the cleaned-up older recordings that they are.

I would also personally have enjoyed more "secondary" music themes (otherwise it becomes like reading book summaries that always only quote the opening paragraph), and I could easily have done without the "pop" tunes (like Baby Elephant Walk and the Rugrats theme). In fact, it would have been very nice to listen to an album comprised of tracks chosen for their strong musical value rather than apparently for their box office and/or hit song popularity. But, to be fair, that may be precisely what draws some people to this CD set.

Film score music constitutes the single most significant body of classical music of our time. I hope some of these tracks will entice listeners to buy entire soundtracks and listen to some of these works as a whole.

Average customer rating: Debut Album Gets A Sister

Howls from the Hills Dead Meadow Manufacturer: Xemu Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Dead Meadow Baby 81 Got Live If You Want It Grinderman Magic Potion ASIN: B000N3SSHG Release Date: 2007-04-17

Tracks:

1. Drifting Down Streams
2. Dusty Nothing
3. Jusiamere Farm
4. The White Worm
5. The One I Don't Know
6. Everything's Goin' On
7. One And Old
8. The Breeze Always Blows

Customer Reviews:

Debut Album Gets A Sister.......2007-04-23

HOWLS FROM THE HILLS is Dead Meadow's sophomore effort and the second installment of Xemu Records three-part series to re-release the band's earliest outputs. After word-of-mouth got out from 2005's FEATHERS release and pheonominal live shows, original pressings of DM's first two albums skyrockected in price, leaving only the most hardcore of fans to spend approximately $80-100 for a copy.

Recording for HOWLS started just a half year later in a supposedly haunted Indiana barn soon after Dead Meadow's debut was dropped. The overall music for both of these albums are the most related out of the band's four studio releases by being honed in that distinctive dirty Beatles-meets-Sabbath artistry that DM is continuously perfecting.

Singer/guitarist Jason Simon fingers some incredible solos comming off of some great ideas (some original, some borrowed) from like-minded debut. "The White Worm" is absolutley turned on it's head by Simon's guitar right at the 4:46 marker while underscored with a pulsating fuzz bassline. The eight minute "Drifting Downstream" is Dead Meadow's strongest album opener to date, starting with a three minute slow fade-in of meterless primal drumming and wah-washed guitar licks that eventaully cycle into unison and drive the song to a straight forward conclusion. The instrumentaion is sidetracked for "The One I Don't Know" by including congas, sitar and sleigh bells to great psych folk effect. "One And Old" dabbles in Toni Iommi doom and gloom. The rest of HOWLS is rounded up with four minute rockers, one of which "Everything's Going On" is later reprised and extended on 2003's SHIVERING KING album but at a much slower and ambient pace.

Currently DM has broken into significant buzz status amongst under-the-radar appreciation. Thier live shows are comprised almost exclusively with newer material but the sound resembles that of the beginning; the first two sister albums.

Average customer rating: Scary music, but still music What is Dada? Intense Excellent album by Wolf Eyes slasher score to suburban decay

Dead Hills Wolf Eyes Manufacturer: Troubleman Unlimited ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | New Age | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Alt Industrial | Industrial | Goth & Industrial | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Noise | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Similar Items: Slicer Dread ASIN: B00006NSG8 Release Date: 2002-11-19

Tracks:

1. Dead Hills
2. Dead Hills 2
3. Rotten Tropics

Customer Reviews:

Scary music, but still music.......2007-01-12

Noise puts alot of people off with its blatant abrasiveness and discordance, and in many cases rightfully so. But Wolf Eyes are in a league above the vast majority of their peers in Noise, and Dead Hills exemplifies that. The eponymous track begins with a lone repeating electronic rythem, invoking desolation and lonliness. But by the time the track has ended the listener has been subjigated to brutal and terrifying screams, peircing feedback, and then lead back again to the original lonliness. Wolf Eyes aims to scare, to jolt, to spark adrenaline and in those aims they succeed in spades. Normally I'm not really into Noise, and while Wolf Eyes may collect dust for long periods on my playlist I will inevetibly return when I need to "shake things up". It is my sincere beleif that anyone can appreciate GOOD Noise, and Wolf Eyes is certainly that. If you have ever enjoyed the shocking feedback at the end of a beautiful Hendrix solo or Velvet Underground pop song, or the scariness of Black Sabbath or Nine Inch Nails, Wolf Eyes could be the next step.

What is Dada?.......2006-06-23

According to its proponents, Dada was not art -- it was "anti-art". For everything that art stood for, Dada was to represent the opposite. Where art was concerned with aesthetics, Dada ignored aesthetics. If art were to have at least an implicit or latent message, Dada strove to have no meaning -- interpretation of Dada is dependent entirely on the viewer. If art is to appeal to sensibilities, Dada is to offend. It is perhaps then ironic that Dada became an influential movement in modern art. Dada became a commentary on order and the carnage they believed it reaped. Through this rejection of traditional culture and aesthetics they hoped to destroy traditional culture and aesthetics.

According to Tristan Tzara, "God and my toothbrush are Dada, and New Yorkers can be Dada too, if they are not already." A reviewer from the American Art News stated that "The Dada philosophy is the sickest, most paralyzing and most destructive thing that has ever originated from the brain of man." Art historians have described Dada as being "in reaction to what many of the artists saw as nothing more than an insane spectacle of collective homicide." Years later, Dada artists described the movement as "a phenomenon bursting forth in the midst of the post-war economic and moral crisis, a savior, a monster, which would lay waste to everything in its path. [It was] a systematic work of destruction and demoralization...In the end it became nothing but an act of sacrilege." Dada was "a revolt against a world that was capable of unspeakable horrors." Reason and logic had led people into the horrors of war; the only route to salvation was to reject logic and embrace anarchy and the irrational.

wikipedia.

Intense.......2006-06-19

This stuff reminds me a bit of early Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten and Black Flag when they were at their most experimental and psychotic. Which are ALL great things. There are VERY few bands around right now that can truely terrify and blow people's minds....and the Wolf Eyes are one of them.

Excellent album by Wolf Eyes.......2005-12-31

Wolf Eyes whom hail from the suburbs of Michigan, have little to do with the current noise scene in New York (i.e. Mouthus, Sightings, Gang Gang Dance, Excepter, Animal Collective, & Black Dice), but they are constantly added onto that group. Indeed, whereas many of the aforementioned bands have delved deeper into musical structure, Wolf Eyes have maintained an extremely complex textural noise with the absolute minimum in musical structure. Indeed, even after they signed to subpop they didn't seem to want to reach out to a wider audience with conventional harmonies or songs they opted instead for noises with repetitive drones and harsh erratic beats. This, to me, is the quintessential Wolf Eyes album. Their best. The title is very accurate as to what the album sounds like. It is deep with a wild atmosphere, electrical bleeps creating a black swamp of noise. This could easily be the soundtrack to a horror movie. This is the sound of the biblical fog that god sent down to kill the firstborns of egypt in the old testament. A strange creeping quiet forest created with buggy equipment and buggy recording programs. Nate Young (Wolf Eye's tentative leader) once said that they make "drastic music for drastic times" and they truly do they also create tour de forces of noise, I recommend this to anyone with a taste for abstract grotesqueries of the audible kind. If you should have the chance to see Wolf Eyes in concert, I recommend that you do as it is rare for them to perform outside of Michigan and their shows are just as scary and artful as their noise.

slasher score to suburban decay .......2004-07-25

this is a more atmospheric wolf eyes release and not representative of the wall-of-noise update of the throbbing gristle aesthetic which has come to define their sound. despite this, dead hills (the title track, which is easily the highlight)manages to startle just as their more visceral work and has become adapted by millions of teens as an anthem which reflects the decay surrounding them and the anguish overcoming them. it is the "smells like teen spirit" of our generation.

Average customer rating:

Tribute to Bauhaus (featuring: Electric Hellfire Club, The Shroud, Ex-Voto, Faith And The Muse, Fahrenheit 451 With Eva O, Klick, Black Atmosphere, Two Witches (feat. Shade Factory), This Ascension, Ikon, Wreckage, Eleven Shadows, Blade Fetish) Bela Lugosi's Dead-The Electric Hellfire Club , The Passion Of Lovers-The Shroud , Slice Of Life-Ex-Voto , Hollow Hills-Faith And The Muse , The Three Shadows (Part II)-Fahrenheit 451 With Eva O , Dark Entries-Kill Switch... Klick / Muscle In Plastic-Black Atmosphere , King Volcano-Two Witches (feat. Shade Factory) / In The Flat Field-This Ascension , She's In Parties-Ikon / Largartija Nick-Wreckage , Terror Couple Kill Colonel-Eleven Shadows , and All We Ever Wanted Was Everything-Blade Fetish ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000OU7THS

Average customer rating: Sophomore effort but no slump here Through the mist Drifting Down Streams Even better than self-titled Not as amazing as the debut, but still good.

Howls from the Hills Dead Meadow Manufacturer: Tolotta ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music Neo-Psychedelia | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Similar Items: Dead Meadow ASIN: B00005QXEW Release Date: 2001-10-23

Tracks:

1. Drifting Down Streams
2. Dusty Nothing
3. Jusiamere Farm
4. The White Worm
5. The One I Don't Know
6. Everything's Goin' On
7. One And Old
8. The Breeze Always Blows

Customer Reviews:

Sophomore effort but no slump here.......2006-08-18

After their eponymous, and now equally as scarce as this, record, DM returns with a bit brighter sound. This reminds me a lot of Led Zep III. Not in the sound but in the attitude--a band stretching out past the heavier delivery to find melody and tension and release in softer textures. This is a strong album, and although many of its best songs (as from their debut) can be found on the live "Got Live" CD that follows, their studio versions work well.

What jumps out for me most is the improved vocals; much less wavering and much more confident. It may simply be the mix, and I sense some improvement's definitely occurred in the production and maybe the time spent in the studio for take 2. But, this is --perhaps just through more experience playing together--a selection of tracks with greater range in style and moods. I'd only purchase this, considering the difficulty now obtaining HFTH, after the later CDs have been collected and approved by you.

This is not where I started with the band, but if you're a committed fan, then it's certainly worth it for completists. Otherwise, the live album will probably work just fine. (I worked back from Feathers to Shivering King, made sure I liked the band, then went to find the live and then these early and rare first two records. An effort I'd do for few bands, I assure you.)

Through the mist.......2006-02-17

For the first two minutes of Howls from the Hills you'll think you made a horrible mistake and somehow purchased a CD by some guitar-driven ambient group, as opener "Drifting Down Streams" opens with subtle feedback drones.

Then the drums kick in, Jason Simon wriggles an instantly-classic guitar riff from the haze and Dead Meadow is off again on its second album.

"Drifting Down Streams" sounds just like you think it would, lumbering through the forest alongside a babbling river like some long-lost sloth species thought to be extinct.

"Dusty Nothing" removes the layers of dust from a forgotten Led Zeppelin toss-off and gallops along behind a riff the Black Keys wish they had already written.

Where on its self-titled debut Dead Meadow sounded embryonic, here the band emerges fully formed and stamped as one of the best blues-based rock bands currently performing on earth.

The breakdown on "Jusiamere Farm" will stick with you for years and start 'sending shivers down your spine.' "The White Worm" is simply classic; when Simon bends the strings in the pre-chorus, you'll wish your CD player could repeat those three seconds for about three weeks.

"Everything's Going On" is a sped-up rollicking romp, as compared to the sprawling dirge on 'Shivering King and Others'; "The One I Don't Know" begins DM's daliance with spare acoustic arrangements; "One and Old" howls like the winds surrounding a silver-lined ink-black cloud that portends and impending blizzard, or the apocalypse; "The Breeze Always Blows" is indeed breezy and wouldn't sound out of place in a southern-blues best-of collection.

Simply put, there are no letdowns on this album. If you're in the mood for sprawling, primal, blues-based pentatonic rock, you've come to the right place. The Howls will overcome you.

Drifting Down Streams.......2005-06-23

This stuff is indeed a real treat...the kind of sounds that wonderfully accompany a lazy, green, summer day.
Or under a starry night sky while camping.
Very fuzzy, stripped/slowed down, heavy blues psychedelia.
This, their sophomore effort, is considered leaning a bit too much in the metal/stoner rock direction by some, with an occasional lurch and nod to Sleep, but that of course secures it as my favorite Dead Meadow record:)
It's very heavy without sounding broodish and menacing all the time.
Overall, "Howls" is definitely their heaviest material, but anything these guys do is well worth the listen.

Even better than self-titled.......2005-05-27

This is possibly Dead Meadow's best effort. Every track on here is worth the price of the album. 'Drifting down Streams' starts it out with a long eerie droning that pitches back and forth like a howling wind, then thunders into some amazing percussion and a bluesy wah-ed out riff, which only leads into another brilliant swirling guitar part, along with a meandering bass line- basically forming an overall heavy weather pattern of serious rock that lasts something like 4 short minutes. This song just sets you up for 'Dusty Nothing', which very likely features the best guitar riff ever, along with some really fun falsetto vocals at the end. Every tune here has a similar outstanding quality, all the way up to the last track, 'Breeze always Blows' which just kicks ass. This band is awesome.

Not as amazing as the debut, but still good........2005-04-27

Dead Meadow is a band I can just pop in and be amazied by their psychadelic brilliance. Their music makes me feel that I'm in another world, or just floating in the clouds. They are heavy and light at the same time.

While Howls From The Hills is not as shockingly good as the debut, it's by no means bad. For starters, the songs "Drifting Down Streams" and "Dusty Nothing" have a acid-drenched Zeppelin groove to them. And there are a few more experimental tunes this time, such as the sitar-folk of "The One I Don't know," and the 70's doom of "One and Old." But there are a few moments that aren't as inspired as "Greensky Greenlake" and "Sleepy Silver Door." "Jusiamere Farm" is kinda dull sounding, and "The White Worm" has a first half that is just plain boring. It picks up later though.

All in all, you could call it a sophomore slump, but it's by no means horrible. Start with the debut though.

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4. Full Moon Story
5. Ghost Riders [Live]
6. Guitar Music for Small Rooms, Vol. 1
7. Guitar Music for Small Rooms, Vol. 2
8. Heart of Perfect Wisdom
9. Heart & Soul
10. Here to Stay [Import]

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