This is not an industrial CD. This is not a rock CD. This is not a pop CD. Those who would hate TDS do so because they listen to it expecting it to sound like something else. Read the reviews, either it's someone complaining that they only liked "Closer" and the rest sucked, or that NIN pales compared to "other" industrial groups.

If ever a CD could be considered an audio suicide note, this may very well be it. The lyrics are not always the most creative, but they will hit you harder than any others. I believe the strongest segment of the CD lies in three songs: Ruiner, The Becoming, and I Do Not Want This. These songs so fiercely cast the world away and place Trent deep in his mind that I found it actually difficult to listen to them at certain times.

Unlike so many other groups of ANY genre, Trent has no problem with using absolutely everything at his disposal to create a sound he wants. He won't limit himself to slow bass grooves, chorused pianos, or a distorted guitar when the mood calls for it. And therein lies the greatest strength of the CD as a whole: not only do the words perfectly capture his emotion, but the sounds as well. The blistering noise while he screams "Don't you tell me how I feel", the quiet vulnerability of the final notes of Hurt (I personally think the Quiet version is better, the final chords here are a little too harsh), every note and every sound is specificall engineered to put across EXACTLY the emotion Trent wants.

I believe "Closer" to be the dividing point of the CD. Those who prefer the more "predictable" songs will most likely listen to the first half only. From "Ruiner" onward, the CD takes on the tone of someone whose mind is falling apart, until the title track. "Hurt" itself is an epilogue to the story.

The other beautiful part of TDS is that unlike most "angst-rock" groups, Trent's anger is just as directed toward himself as the rest of the world, if not more so. As said, "Closer" is a confession to weakness, not a random misogynist club song. Read the lyrics. Much of the hatred felt here is toward the self, which is probably why it resonates so deeply with so many. And more so than that, it sounds genuine. Few artists create music that sounds like it was made with little concern for the fans and record sales, and when a CD sells this many copies it may be hard to believe that this could apply, but it does. Even fans of Burn and PHM found this to be a shock.

A masterpiece, and a story. Listen without any preconceived notions of what NIN is and you'll find yourself enthralled. 10/10

Okay, big words time:

THIS CD IS NOT INTENDED TO BE A RAP CD PER SE. ANYONE BUYING THIS FOR LYRICAL CONTENT IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED, THAT'S LIKE BUYING A TECHNO CD AND COMPLAINING ABOUT A LACK OF DEEP POETRY.

Anyway, I absolutely love this CD. I know I said lyricism isn't the focal point (and it isn't), but occasionally a great verse gets dropped, such as Krayzie's in "I Don't Give a..." which might be the sickest verse I've heard thus far.

That said, this is a CD for getting pumped up and getting as amped as possible. It's mostly about the energy behind the music, and there's more in this CD than in any other. Incidentally, you'll need some serious subwoofers to get the most out of many of the tracks, like "Push that N|gga, Push that Hoe" and the impossibly low "Get Low".

Definitely get this CD. Unless you're one of those rap fans who think rap's only function is to deeply discuss the problems of the world.

Anyone who rates this negatively has obviously never listened to it in a car with a good system. Every single song on here will have you thumpin' like crazy. Hahn in particular slams like crazy.

Aside from that, the sound of the Twins is just fresh as all hell. I've heard just about everything, and this is one of the damn best CDs I've heard in years. Original, great sound, slams from start to finish.

Buy it, period. And if your car doesn't have a system, buy one just for this CD.

This is actually the first Cradle CD I have purchased, having downloaded most everything else from various file sharing programs. I wasn't disappointed at all.

First off, Cradle of Filth isn't a band you can just pick up, listen to, and appreciate. The first time you listen to Lord Abortion, Malice Through the Looking Glass, or any of the other tracks, the first reaction will be either disgust or to laugh at how ridiculous it may sound. However, if you listen to the CDs through once or twice, you will start to notice the beautiful nuances that make this band phenomenal. The progression in Saffron's Curse, the wonderful bridge in Lord Abortion, same with From the Cradle fo Enslave, everything is a masterpiece.

Having said that, I must say that I find myself listening to Disc One more than Two, and I am a bit miffed that "Cthulu Dawn" was neglected, being a fantastically brutal song off of Midian, which is also their crowning acheivement in my eyes.

Best Songs: Saffron's Curse, Lord Abortion, Her Ghost in the Fog

Overall: 10/10

It's almost impossible to review the MM LP without relating it to its predecessor, so I'll start out with that. The reason the Slim Shady LP was amazing was because there was an air about it that felt like it was a struggle between Marshall Mathers and the insane Slim Shady, on tracks like Guilty Conscience and Role Model you could hear Slim taking over, but in spots of My Fault and Brain Damage there were glimmers of the more sane and ridiculed Marshall. The two entities battling each other gave the album depth and a feeling of chaos, making it fascinating to listen to.

Here, Em has gone further towards the Slim Shady side, but rather than keeping him a deranged character, he's melded him with Marshall into just another hatemonger, albeit one with amazing rhyming skills. The album doesn't manage to portray the tension between Marshall and Slim that the original did, and because of this the tracks sound confused at best. Em has lost the loose feeling of rhymes that made him unique, on The Way I Am and Real Slim Shady his rhymes fall perfectly on the beat. The only song that sounds like the old CD is Stan. But that song, while haunting and well done, shatters the ideas of Slim being out of control, showing that Em is acutely aware of what he's doing, writing yet another song to make sure everyone know that it's all a joke, yet songs like Criminal seem to function only to make fun of gays.... It almost sounds like he's having a tough time putting together the deep songs of the SS LP and is resorting to filling up his CDs with good beats but flat, dare I say, plots to his songs. The CDs are stories, at least the first was. This is just a collection of songs. I can only hope that the Eminem Show goes back to the old style, but I doubt it.

This book is the one that got me hooked on the series. I read it first because I didn't know the published order and noticed all the other books referred to Martin, and figured this was a good place to start. And it indeed was.

I found this to be the most dramatic of the series (Yes, I have read them all), and best written. I won't summarize the plot, just rather cast my opinion of it. I felt more tension reading this novel than I did any other in the series, and I suppose that is just due to its plot and setting, feeling a lot more tense than others, a darker light shines on this book. In many of the other novels the main settings (there are usually two or three) involve a home for the good guys. Not here, the main setting being Marshank, which makes much of the action much more gripping. I personally couldn't put the book down, and make sure to read through it around once a month.

This is a great musical, and accordingly a great movie. I thought the cast as a whole was great, Steve Martin and Rick Moranis especially. The songs were all done extremely well (except for Somewhere that's Green, in my opinion. Just took too long). The songs Dentist and Skid Row were done particularly well.

I was however, disappointed that the songs that were taken out, were taken out. Now (It's Just the Gas) and Mushnik and Son are my favorites from the show, and it's sad that they weren't included.

I will admit, I've never been a fan of death metal, black metal, prog metal, any of that sort of thing. Indeed I've strayed closer to the likes of Tool, Nine Inch Nails, VAST, and more musically challenging bands. Something drew me to Opeth (the cover art, believe it or not), and I decided to check them out.

It was definitely worth it.

No, I haven't been a fan of Opeth's since they started, but that doesn't mean I can't tell good music from bad. I listened to some of their older work after discovering Blackwater Park, but I'm sorry, this is simply superior to any of it. The melancholy vocals and acoustics are beautiful, and at times even work with the death metal vocals, which I am usually turned off by. Here I find myself listening to it for hours on end. Not many CDs are over an hour long with only 8 songs, yet these 8+ minute opus-like songs are incredible, and worth every minute.

My choice songs: The Drapery Falls, Dirge for November