Some of my favorite Devo songs come from this album, such as Freedom of Choice and Planet Earth. However, it also has a lot of generic synth-fodder within as well. I'm puzzled that Whip It gained as much publicity as it did, while tracks like Freedom of Choice lay dorment.

I'd reccomend it, but my good opinion of this album is hinged mostly on the handful of tracks that I really enjoy.

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that over a third of this album lies in the last track. Which is fine, because I really like the last track.

Even though I like the noise-jam-sessions that appear once or twice on the album, the other tracks seem to lack a certain something. When listening to the Locust, I need to feel like the music is kicking me in the nuts.

Well, this album just doesn't kick me the nuts.

Contrary to popular belief, Conor Oberst is not Jesus. This is a good album, but most people really go overboard when reviewing stuff by Bright Eyes.

Some of the tracks sound somewhat upbeat, original, and just plain awesome. Some of the tracks end up sounding the same, blurring together, and putting me to sleep. Fortunately, there seems to be enough of the former to more than make up for the latter.

This is profoundly awesome. It's not that incredibly well done, it's not that innovative, and it's really not that funny. However, the fact that somebody actually made something like this is wonderful.

Basically, imagine a Devo album that's spinning at roughly four times the speed it should. Then, throw in lyrics about Tomb Raider, snack foods, and Super Mario Bros. Add awesome as needed thoughout.

That's this album.

This has a few stand-out tracks like those by Horse the Band, Ballistic Missle, and Justin Bailey. For most part, however, it's a huge pile of generic hardcore.

If you want to hear a lot of bands that all have the same generic sound, I highly reccomend this collection. Otherwise, just buy Horse the Band's album. You know, because everyone needs to have Cutsman on CD.

The recording quality is awful. Awful, awful, awful. So, it's really hard for me to judge the quality of the music on this disc. Maybe these guys are good, but they come off sounding like hammered shit on this album. I like the general sound of quite a few of the songs, actually, but the recording quality still ruins it.

The factitiously hatefuly lyrics and the sense of humor thoughout, however, still shine though. The quality of the album improves profoundly if you read the huge booklet that comes with it.

Remember when pop-punk wasn't so horrible that it made you want to kill the bands, kill the fans, kill the guys running the record labels, and kill whatever diety or scientific principle you believe originally enabled people to hear sounds?

Well, this Moral Crux album is a fine example of that time. They played a wider variety of songs than most bands in the genre nowadays, most notably. There's some traditional stuff, a little much more melodic stuff, a track or two that borders on skate punk, and a dub. Every modern style of pop-punk is on this ONE album.

They're also lyrically competant, something that genre has definitely lost.

Instrumentally, this is slightly experimental rock. Imagine straight-up rock music with a little bit of weirdness thrown into the mix every song or two. It takes time, but it should grow on you.

Lyrically, it's emo. I mean, it's EMO. This is so incredibly emo that kids were still crying about the stuff on this album a decade after it was made. However, the lyrics actually work.

The lyrics are typically more metaphorical and deeper than what most bands suceed at creating, and this band existed before that sort of thing was status-quo. What they do, both lyrically and instrumentally, they do well.

If I was a bigger fan of what they did, this album might have warranted five stars.

This is what Jesse Michaels has been doing these days. I wouldn't consider it to be on par with Operation Ivy, because it seems like he's trying just a little bit too hard, but it's still very good stuff.

Guitar ska with the occaisonal synthesizer or organ breaking in on one or two songs, and solid lyrics and improved vocal abilities on Jesse's part. However, it lacks that special something that Operation Ivy possessed.

This also has a lot of energy and lot of happiness in it, judging from the sound of it. Assuming you're not one of those sad fucks who wears lots of black stuff from Hot Topic and too much make-up, this is a good thing.

For once, I actually enjoyed hearing somebody sing about his or her life and relationships. The more personal songs like "The Fine Art of Falling" on this album actually have lyrical value. It's emo that doesn't pretain to bad break-ups and equally lame topics...so maybe it isn't really emo.

The more social and politic songs seemed well informed and well presented, which is again more than I can say for most bands. The lyrics to all of the songs are great, and the style in which the vocals are done really enhances them.

The instrumental side is just a bit dull, though. It's good, but nothing earth-shattering.