The Police — Zenyatta Mondatta

9/10 If you’re like me, and enjoy the jammy, reggae-injected side of The Police the best, their five-album catalogue peaks right in the middle, at Zenyatta Mondatta. The band is more beholden to Sting’s pop experiments on their latter two albums, but the more free, less polished, trademarked trio-stylings reach their zenith right here–and each

The Police — Reggatta de Blanc

9/10 Now we’re talking. The reason I list The Police among my favorite bands, even if I don’t think they ever nailed a perfect album, is because they’ve written and performed so many musical moments that I’ve wanted to last forever. Regatta de Blanc, the band’s second full-length album, is full of those moments.While their

The Police — Outlandos d’Amour

7/10 If any of the bands I was in in my late teens and early 20’s had put out a low-budget, but professionally recorded debut album, and it was half as good as Outlandos d’Amour, I could die in creative peace. The soon-to-be biggest band in the world (before handing the mantle to U2) comes

N.W.A. Was Wrong About The Police!

My earliest musical memories naturally revolve around whatever vinyl was spinning next to my crib. This can be boiled down to three essential ingredients: Barnes and Barnes “Fish Heads,” Bob Marley’s “Jamming’”/”No Woman No Cry” 45, and the Police’s Ghost In the Machine.While “Fish Heads” planted a love of the bizarre in my consciousness, the

Polaris — Music from The Adventures of Pete and Pete

7/10 The Adventures of Pete and Pete is one of my favorite mid-90’s TV shows, and nostalgia for that flavor of show and general vibe is what generally makes me hate now and think that 22 years ago was way better. Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn’t, but Pete and Pete was a great

Another Review of Some Obscure Thing No One Else Cares About (Rocket: Robot on Wheels for the Nintendo 64)

I just played through and reviewed a really cool, innovative, and extremely underrated Nintendo 64 game called Rocket: Robot on Wheels. If you are interested in an eighteen year old, commercially unsuccessful video game for a video game system that ceased production fifteen years ago, click ahead. No one else will! But wait…if you are

P.O.D. — The Awakening

8/10 Did you know that P.O.D. released a new album in 2015? If my wife wasn’t a P.O.D. fanatic, I’m not sure I would. No one publicized it. All the attention the band received for their 2012 release, Murdered Love, was nowhere to be found. Maybe Sonny should have swore again. Whatever the case for

P.O.D. — SoCal Sessions

8/10 Acoustic albums often come across as non-essential or gimmicks. Jars of Clay, a very good band, released an acoustic album that featured songs from their 20 year back-catalog right about the time that P.O.D. released  SoCal Sessions, their own acoustic collection.  As good as Jars of Clay are, the acoustic versions just came across

P.O.D. — Murdered Love

7/10 After a four-year gap, the longest the band have taken between albums to date, comes P.O.D.’s 2012 album, Murdered Love. It begins with a heavy double-whammy, “Eyez” and “Murdered Love,” the band-exploring some stabby riffs and bludgeoning rhythms, vocalist Sonny Sandoval getting a chance to exercise the nuances of his screams, amid some singing and

P.O.D. — When Angels & Serpents Dance

9/10 Many P.O.D. fans rejoiced when the band made the December 30, 2006 announcement that original guitarist, Marcos Curiel, who had left between the band’s Satellite (2001) and Payable on Death (2003), was returning. Nothing against Jason Truby, who acquitted himself admirably in that position, but it had become apparent that Curiel played the biggest