Citizen - Everybody Is Going To Heaven - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

It will forever remain a mystery why the mighty original Van Halen line-up never released a live recording, especially because they were one of the better live hard rock bands to hit the stage. The first official live Van Halen recording was the 1993 two-CD set, LIVE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, which collected 24 tracks from various tours with singer Sammy Hagar (spanning 1986-92). David Lee Roth-era songs are kept to a bare minimum, and almost the entire FOR UNLAWFUL CARNAL KNOWLEDGE featured. Such later-Van Halen favorites as InchPoundcakeInch, InchWhy Can't This Be LoveInch, InchRight NowInch, InchWhen It's LoveInch, and InchBest of Both WorldsInch are featured. Also included is a cover of the Who's InchWon't Get Fooled AgainInch, Hagar's solo composition InchOne Way to RockInch, and the Roth-standards InchPanamaInch, InchAin't Talkin' Bout LoveInch, InchYou Really Got MeInch, and InchJumpInch.

For their third album As You Please, Citizen is looking inward. Pairing up again with longtime producer Will Yip, the band presents twelve songs that fuse aspects of their entire catalog into one neoteric whole. While the cathartic melancholy of their debut Youth and the jarring intensity of 2015's Everybody is Going to Heaven are both present, the most welcome addition to Citizen's arsenal on As You Please is the range of auxiliary instrumentation and sonic experimentation on the album. This is most notable on InchIn the Middle of it All,Inch where vocalist Mat Kerekes is sampled singing the song title in a modulated, haunting chorus that echoes throughout the song. The addition of organs and unconventional drum effects on songs like InchYou Are A StarInch and InchMedicineInch create shifting emphases on tension and frailty, while the huge choruses of songs like opener InchJetInch and InchI Forgive No OneInch are reminders that while Citizen dove headfirst into uncharted territory with their new album, the band is still as good as ever at writing emotionally-charged anthems. As You Please presents Citizen's vision at the most focused it has ever been - it is delicately crafted to provoke at every moment.

2018 . Helltown, the third album by Electric Citizen, is, in many ways, a homecoming. While the title may seem fittingly metal (if not exceedingly so), it actually has real relevance. Helltown, while also multidimensional, is named after the Cincinnati, OH, neighborhood in which the band lives, practices, and where the album was written, recorded and mixed. Now known more prosaically as Northside, Helltown earned it's name in the 1800s due to it's reputation for rowdy taverns frequented by the neighborhood of factory workers and immigrants. Inasmuch as this album is an ode to the band's home and it's buried past, it also represents a return to the grittier sound of their 2014 debut, Sateen. Furthermore, it marks the return of original bassist Nick Vogelpohl, who rejoins vocalist Laura Dolan, guitarist Ross Dolan and drummer Nate Wagner. It's a fun, tough, dirty rock 'n' roll album.