Новый альбом американской индастиал рок-группы.
I've loved Filter since "Short Bus" was released back in 1995. Every album is a little different, from industrial-grunge to industrial-rock, with some alt rock and nu-metal thrown in for good measure along the way. With the exception of "Anthems for the Damned" (which just felt incomplete) and the last few songs from "The Sun Comes Out Tonight" I've thoroughly enjoyed every album Richard Patrick and his shifting cast of support characters have put out, so it is no small praise when I say "Crazy Eyes" may be his finest work.
Every track is a gem, from the hard-edged old-school industrial hammer of "Mother E" to the pulsing bass and sing-along chorus of "Nothing In My Hands". "Pride Flag" keeps things moving at a rippling pace with grinding audio quality and some excellent production work, and then things shift with "The City of Blinding Riots", a dance-along club-like track that would be a welcome addition to any Goth night set list. "Take Me to Heaven" is the most radio-friendly song on the album but no weaker for it, with multiple layers of rich noise and Patrick's signature quality vocals. "Welcome to the Suck" is one of the few slow tracks on the album, deep and resonant and atmospheric, and "Head of Fire" is a surprisingly powerful tune with some of the best bass work I've heard in years. "Tremors" is another head-bashing mosh tune, but it just sets the stage for the genius that is "Kid Blue From the Short Bus", a hard-rock punk-inspired track that's impossible not to get sucked into, with a wonderful scream-along melody and an entire catalog of amazing rock-and-roll noise (the break between the two halves of the song is, simply put, classic). "Your Bullets" is another quality industrial-rock tune and one of the most sweeping songs on the album, and while that would have been an excellent finale things continue on with the brilliant instrumental "Under the Tongue" and a haunting reprise of "Head of Fire".
There are few albums I feel deserve multiple consecutive listenings, but "Crazy Eyes" is undoubtedly one of them. The no-holds bar style and inherent anger in the tracks is reminiscent of "Short Bus", but Patrick's latest effort is so much more: a nuanced, hard-core, fully realized masterpiece of true alternative music. This album is so good I want to buy it again.
