Epinions Recent Reviews for Matt_Stein

The shortest review EVER? "One Way Ticket" to sophomore slump.

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 13:21:13 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - ... I could write a 15 paragraph essay on why this album is a gigantic nosedive from their stellar debut... but this is all I need to say. The only memorable moment on this album is the second song's chorus. And that chorus is? "I love...

Green Day takes us to a warm and fuzzy utopia on American Idiot. :)

Thu, 28 Apr 2005 14:06:36 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Now that a certain song named after a certain James Dean photograph has been flooding the airwaves for a good few months now, this new platter from the new millenium's "Those guys used to ROCK in high school, MAAAAN... then they did that...

The U2 Series Vol 2: Pop, or, "The title's SUPPOSED to be ironic, people!"

Tue, 15 Jun 2004 16:20:40 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - 90's U2 has fascinated me infinitley more than their 80's work, quality of compositions aside. This album, released in 1997, fooled everyone, and, as such, nobody was quite ready for it. The album previous, 1993's Zooropa,...

The U2 series, Vol 1: Zooropa, or, Achtung, Teenager!

Mon, 14 Jun 2004 11:25:59 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - I've just decided to take it upon myself to go through each and every album by this here seldom-played indie band, U2, to familiarize you, the Epinions reader, with a fantastic group that seems to have slipped under pop-culture's radar for the...

You're going to die someday. Only Sinatra can make it sound this good.

Fri, 11 Jun 2004 14:03:22 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Astute Epinions fanatics will recall that, quite some time ago, I penned a nice little dissertation on Christina Aguilera's sophomore effort, Stripped. Well, one thing that I didn't mention in that review is that, on that very same day,...

You didn't know Meat Loaf had a new album out, did ya? DID YA??!!

Mon, 7 Jun 2004 12:26:22 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - ... You can thank suddenly ungrateful VH1 for that, after virtually licking Meat Loaf's boots for the better part of a decade, playing his videos, and giving him a Storytellers and a Hard Rock Live special. Nowadays, they're too busy putting...

Missing! One generic rock band. Found!!! Best mainstream album of the year. Story@11.

Sun, 6 Jun 2004 22:39:26 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - For those of you who own this album, raise your hands if you saw this coming. .... didn't think so. For those of you who do NOT own this album, it's time to think "outside the box" and open your mind to the possibility that Matchbox...

I'm baaaack! Time to find out who cares. The Darkness, Steiney-style.

Sun, 6 Jun 2004 16:26:04 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - ... OK, let's see if about two years off has refreshed my writing style any. And what better way to kick off Matt_Stein @ Epinions, mkII, with a band that many, many people are talking about these days... I'm going to skip the history of The...

Sounds of Summer, or, Will Capitol ever get a hits collection RIGHT?

Mon, 16 Jun 2003 16:18:06 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Warning: For a four-star rating, this review will contain a lot of b-tchin' and moanin'. In t...

Adult Child Brian Wilson gives us one last true burst of genius.

Sun, 30 Mar 2003 14:37:12 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - In the year nineteen-hundred and seventy-six;

Things were quite tumultious for America's Band. After their mid-70's Roots-rock movement ultimatley failed, they took a hiatus, whilst Capitol Records issued two compilations of their...

Can't we just listen to the music? Let Go by Avril Lavigne

Fri, 21 Mar 2003 15:39:49 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - I don't know what it is that makes me partial to this quirky canuck, to be honest. So I guess I just won't waste time explaining it... let's get to the album in question, Avril Lavigne's Let Go.

First off, let's drop the pretense...

A surfing album this most definitley is not...

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:08:03 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - 1971 found the Beach Boys in a confused state of disarray. They released a near-perfect return to form with the Sunflower album, yet it absolutely tanked commercially. Sensing a change of direction was needed to become commercially viable,...

When they grew up to be men, the Beach Boys produced some fine, forgotten material...

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:03:41 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Time has not been terribly kind to the Beach Boys in critical eyes. People who are familiar with the Beach Boys usually fall into a couple different camps; the people who consider them a 'surf band' and don't know many songs outside of Barbara...

Xtina gives us a Striptease, but nothing more.

Fri, 13 Dec 2002 15:35:13 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - As someone who has, over the last few months, dogged Christina for her recent career decisions and predicted that her new efforts would be lambasted before I even heard a note, I'm sure some of you were waiting for me to finally give an opinion on...

The Holy Grail of Jim Steinman. Sip, be not afraid.

Sat, 26 Oct 2002 19:00:11 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - I've been waiting since I FIRST JOINED this site to review this; my favorite peice of music ever recorded, the Jim Steinman-penned-and-produced Pandora's Box project. The challenge I face is reviewing this album, that I hold most near and dear...

They're Bouncin' Back Again...

Mon, 21 Oct 2002 12:47:05 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Well, we knew it would happen sooner or later. Bon Jovi has done the almost unthinkable over the last few years by continuously remaining one of the more prominent bands in mainstream music, rendering them the only band from their hair-band heyday to...

Def Leppard-- Before the Hysteria

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 14:29:06 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - The band Def Leppard has been equally famous for their extreme hard luck as they have for their music. In 1983, they fired founding guitarist Pete Willis for alcolholism. The following year, drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in a car accident. 6...

Let's do the time warp again....

Mon, 9 Sep 2002 14:30:58 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Ah, I remember it fondly. The year was 1999. Bon Jovi’s ‘Crush’ was still a year away. Rap rock was vying with Britney Spears for airwave dominance. Except for the tragically now-defunct Buckcherry, no band was doing REAL rock and roll...

Here lies Def Leppard; 1979-2002. R.I.P.

Fri, 6 Sep 2002 13:19:56 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - They could've done it. God knows they've had enough chances. Def Leppard releases 'X' in 2002, and it could've been a triumphant leap back into the mainstream given the modest commercial success/sheer guilty pleasure of their 1999 'comeback' album...

Just when you thought it was safe to wear Spandex again...

Fri, 6 Sep 2002 13:10:20 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Wow. No, seriously, I mean it. Wow. Where the hell did this album come from? The last thing I expected from Poison in the year 2002 was an all new album of original material, especially after the extremely average new material on their...

Discover Leppard's lost bastard-child album, Slang

Tue, 6 Aug 2002 18:57:37 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein -

Most casual fans of 80's music and Def Leppard honestly have no idea this peice of work even exists. In the mid 90's, floundering 80's bands were trying to compete with grunge, and, except for Bon Jovi, failing misreably. Leppard had...

Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss?

Mon, 3 Jun 2002 12:27:58 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - (I know that's a Who reference on a Journey album. Now that that's out of the way...) Journey has been through a rollercoaster of a career. After beginning their days as a middling jazz-fusion band that aspired for greatness but had no idea how to...

Finally, a compilation that lives up to it's name.

Tue, 7 May 2002 13:26:29 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Journey was one of THOSE bands. You know, those bands that will never stop getting radio play, that will always have a few songs played at any event that requires slow dancing, and will always have millions of people who know every word to at least 6...

Here it is, a rare, authentic, actual OBJECTIVE review of this album!

Sun, 21 Apr 2002 19:18:40 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein - Man, does this band ever get a lot of slack or what? Powered by the lead single 'My Sacrifice', released in the late summer, Creed returned to the spotlight with their third album 'Weathered', and made many more fans, and 10 times more enemies, it...

This really is one of the greatest albums ever. Now give me a VH/MH already.

Thu, 18 Apr 2002 17:38:12 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author Matt_Stein -

The Wild, The Innocent, and the E-Street Shuffle is the sophomore effort from Springsteen and upon it's release, it completley dumbfounded everybody. This music was stuff that nobody had seen before, a flawless synthesis of influences and...