ibiiaaymecmapicyceuis vsoisacneds Aanealissusiandisiaiytsonn a significance—tight up there with Pet Exile on Main St. and Nevermind. tone, Spin, Blender, Vibe, The Village Voice, laced Let #t Be on their “Best Albums of ou ask the average person on the street, probably won't have even heard of it, let bf course, on what street you’re on. For eets, chances are the average pedestrian was The Replacements’ last album on sed Tim on Sire Records. Following the Stinson called it a day and the band was the release of their next album, 1987’s neapolis resident, Slim Dunlap, joined ent,’ and the band went on to release use the hackneyed cliché, but this album marked a real “departure” for The Replacements—its polish compro- mised the band’s raw appeal and did little to capitalize on the suc- cess glimpsed by their earlier efforts. At this point, Westerberg began expressing his desire to pursue a solo career. Apparently, however, the folks at Sire Records weren't really interested in the singer’s desires, and instead 1990 saw the release of The Replacements’ album A// Shook Down. After recording the album, drummer Chris Mars split, and in 1991 The Replacements played their final show together as a band. But it’s okay, wipe that tear from your eye, young music lover—all is not lost. The Kings are dead; long live the King! Since the collapse of The Replacements, Westerberg has released a veritable ignant, and timeless classic tracks. The Suicaine Gratifaction, Stereo, Come Feel Me ‘olker, have contained countless moments as deserving of your allegiance as any er created. Just try and listen to Swicaine without crying, I dare you. today, 2005, when Westerberg will be ommodore Ballroom on Feb 17. Now, can go to that show with your head held bdge that when some hipster type con- ler or not you understood the Big Star oul’s “Alex Chilton”—you can look that oodshot eyes and say, “Alex Chilton” is Dont Tell a Soul. And that, my friends, is about. FEBRUARY 16/2005 ADVANCED CALCULUS TO THE POWER OF METAL HEAVY METAL'S DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN SATCHY BUT COMPLICATED Kevin Gillich, The Link (Concordia University) MONTREAL (CUP)—Some bands just seem to be bigger than the genres of music in which they ate classified. They seem to be, at the very least, known by name in several dif- ferent scenes. Dillinger Escape Plan is one such band. In 1999, Dillinger Escape Plan made a huge impact when they released their debut album, Ca/culating Infinity. Their hardcore/heavy-metal/free-jazz fusion struck a chord with music fans who took notice of their complex structuring and their mathematical and unconventional time signa- tures. After five very busy years, the follow up album, Mass Machine, was finally released. “We were looking for something, I guess in a sense, familiar things juxtaposed in strange new ways,” said bassist Liam Wilson, discussing the inspiration behind the name of the new album, as well as the cover art. “The whole amal- gam of man and machine and how we’ve co-evolved.” On the topic of evolution, long-time fans of the band will notice that Dillinger’s sound has undergone some changes. The music on Miss Machine—while still as com- plex as advanced calculus—is more upbeat and, dare it be said, catchy this time around. This was very much an inten- tional act; the band didn’t want to be expected to play a specific formula of sound or write a specific type of album. In this respect, they were influenced very much by bands like Fish Bone and Led Zeppelin. “They kinda tried a bunch of different things,” said Wilson. “They were obviously better known for certain things and they had their strong points, but they weren’t afraid to take a risk and be human and try to get some kind of selfish development out of it as musicians or as people. We wanted to kind of associate more with that tradition of album making. “We wanted to have something where we didn’t get pigeonholed,” Wilson continued, “like a Slayer or maybe even a Converge, where their fans would not really know what to do if they were to change their style too much. We wanted to make sure we set something up where in the Taree! PL = = = 4 S = = 4 a “w 4 i. future we never really have to feel like we can’t experiment or that our fans aren’t going to be open to that.” While figuring out how to keep their fans surprised, the band also had to deal with several hardships, including the loss of vocalist Dimitri Minakakis. There was a long peri- od where the band was afraid they wouldn’t find what they were looking for, and would end up settling. “We were getting a lot of auditions, via the Internet, that were just horrid. They were just atrocious examples of everything we weren’t looking for,” recalled Wilson. Dillinger finally found exactly what they wanted in their current vocalist Greg Puciato. Some critics have accused Puciato of being a Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More) copycat, backing the accusation with the Patton- fronted EP that was released between the two albums. Wilson, however, feels that Puciato has his own style, but that the two vocalists do share some traits. “We wanted somebody who was going to be as versatile of a vocalist. Somebody who was going to be as versatile and as confident with his instrument or his part of the writing process,” Wilson said. In some respects, Dillinger doesn’t want the constant comparisons, and Wilson feels that it is “hard to do what we do, especially since we have openly invited the comparison. We are sort of inextricably intertwined with Mike Patton now.” Miss Machine is tarning out to be just as much a success as Calculating Infinity was. With only two full-length albums and two EPs to their credit, they are still hailed as one of the most important and influential bands in heavy metal today. While this was not their original intent, it has become something towards which they have strived. For Wilson, it also fills him with a sense of confidence in the path he has chosen. “T can go to bed at night” he says, “knowing that tomorrow I can get up and keep working on this thing that is actually worthwhile.” www.theotherpress.ca | 13