Customer Reviews

Burning Red

5 star:		(86)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Firstly I'd like to express my dismay at the bad wraps that this album has recieved - generally by close-minded metalheads who are still stuck in the eighties and are afraid of evolution....on to the review.

I believe this album to be one of the most under-rated metal albums of the last 5 years and was (possibly still is) well ahead of it's time. Machine Head went for a really bold and exciting risk by doing this album and have produced something well ahead of it's time. (and yes I have been a fan since Burn My Eyes).

There are less solos on this album than on their previous works but the emphasis with the two guitarists has been placed on complimenting each others works with nuances and swirling background pieces intricate guitar work, but in saying that the heavy crunching guitars are still there making it unmistakibly machine head. Dave McClain does a great job on drums, showing great maturity in his playing with the emphasis less on blast-beats and super-fast drumming but more on off-beats, rolling rhythms and amazing cymbal work - in one word "classy".

Robb's Vocals sound great. He covers a large range of styles and has added some great melodic singing to songs to add some flavor and still retains his best growl which sounds as fat as ever. But all in all a great effort I believe Robb, and the whole band for that matter, have pushed themselves to become better, more versatile musicians.

Ross Robinson did an AMAZING job producing this album. Recorded at Indigo Ranch and using almost totally analog equipment this album sounds like the band is right in the room with you. There are so many layers of sound on each track - The more you listen to it, the more stuff you pick up. I suggest that anybody who owns this album gets a good pair of headphones and listens to this album cracnked through the headphones with the lights out and I guarentee you will gain newfound respect for the way this album has been made. I'd place it in my top 3 produced albums of all time.

Standout songs would have to be "Exhale the Vile", "Five", "The Burning Red", "The Blood, The Sweat...." and "Silver". Though all songs have their place on the album.

When I heard that Machine Head had lost the long time guitarist Logan Mader I knew that they where going to release a cd with a new guitarist, but I wasn't hoping one this good, not one track is bad, the low end on the drums isn't as good as in The More Things Change... but I liked the drums, simply because Dave McClain does some excellent drum arrangements, and the melodic parts on some songs shows that metal isn't just screams, from the intro (Enter the Phoenix) the cd is filled with very good metal, the rap-metal track Desire To Fire is good but I think Machine Head should experiment with other things, still the song is good, Ross Robinson (producer for KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, etc) made some good producing without having MH sounding like any of those bands, The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears is a very good song too, with a very good riff, the cover of message in a bottle is very well done, and the last track, the burning red is very soft and melancholic, a very good album, well worth the money.

People were jumping at the chance to say Machinehead sold out with The Burning Red. This album is so intense, none of the Machinehead energy was left off this album. Even without Logan grinding out the riffs, Robb and the guys make an excellent album. 'Desire to Fire' and 'Nothing Left' grab this album from the beginning, and it doesn't stop until the almost soothing final track. Nothing should stop you from purchasing this CD.

seems like Rob and the boys have done it again, although this time without logan mader, this cd still rocks, i was impressed with the fact that they aren't afraid of getting creative on this cd. i've been a fan since burn my eyes, and the band has kept me impressed with each release. anyway like i was saying this cd is absolutely incredible, albiet different from earlier works it's still damn good, change isnt alway bad as machine head has proven here

How could you possibly like this album after listning to BME and TMTC? What happened to the talent? It deffinately lacks throughout a good 90% of the cd. After listning to songs like Block, how could you put up with the hip hop? It's all about the money now, isn't it?

I find it hard to believe that the same band who put out the heavy metal classic "Burn My Eyes" and the strong follow-up "The More Things Change", would suddenly sink into the nu-metal trash. To be honest, most nu-metal that I actually like, I wouldn't buy a CD from(the nu-metal CDs I do have are from my nu-metal phase). The awesome riffs, the cool solos, the sweet drumming, and a band who had a message about society have been pushed aside here for power chords, rapping, and self loathing lyrics. I gave this 2 stars because I like 2 or 3 songs on here, but one of those 3 songs is a cover. When I saw the music video for "From this Day", it almost made me want to slap Rob in the face. He went from a tall, powerful metalhead to a stupid, trendy, spiky-haired w igger. They would get worse on "Supercharger", but thank god that Machine Head recovered on "Through the Ashes of the Empires". This is not a good place to start for Machine Head at all. Get their first 2 albums and their new one to hear Rob and the gang as a post thrash/groove metal powerhouse, not a nu-metal slump.

I was first introduced to Machine Head by their cover of Black Sabbath's "Hole in the Sky" off the Nativity in Black Vol. 2 tribute album. That track blew me away. They'd taken an already great song and imbued it with a building ferocity and intensity (particularly that last minute or so) I had not expected.

I decided to check out their latest album at that time (The Burning Red) and I was not disapointed. Most of the mp3s I heard were great, most memorably the song "I Defy". So I bought the album.

As the album somewhat deviates from their previous efforts, The Burning Red has been almost universally panned by the die-hard fans, who accuse the band of jumping on the nu-metal bandwagon. I don't consider myself a nu-metal fan, but then I generally think of nu-metal with regards to bands like Deftones, which I'm not really into. It's hard to describe the nu-metal sound, but this just isn't it.

Honestly, I've had a harder time getting into Machine Head's prior albums. They're both good, but they've got a vaguely Pantera-esque sound that doesn't strike the same chord with me. This album sounds to me like a band that's progressing, not selling out. They've learned to write more accessible music with catchier beats and rhythms while maintaining their anger and intensity. The only track I sometimes skip is their cover of Sting's "Message in a Bottle", which is good but starts to feel played after I've heard it a few times. This album is the kind of metal I'd want to make. There's a certain tenacity and build-up behind it all, especially in the verse sections. Vocalist Rob Flynn even breaks out into an angry rap once or twice, but only often enough to be effective and not tiresome. This is not Limp Bizkit.

The Burning Red ranks right up there with some of my favorite crushing metal albums of the 90's like Roots by Sepultura and Demanufacture by Fear Factory. If you ask me, this album is old school.

Machine Head has been a band that has always kept my interest for at least three years. However, "The Burning Red" is an album that you should take warning on. At times, there are some somewhat thrash-reminscent tracks ("The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears"), some ballads ("Silver", "The Burning Red"), and then you have the controversial rapcore track "From This Day", which basically has previous fans turn their heads. The Police cover song, "Message in a Bottle", is a pretty good tune, but it's more ballad-esque and less groove thrash.

My opinion: This album is far from their greatest and will never dethrone "Burn My Eyes", but it has its moments as well. Just stay away from the sloppily put together "Supercharger" and you'll be safe.

This is hands down the best album they have created.....The cover of "Message In A Bottle" is worth buying this cd.....It's perhaps the greatest cover I've ever heard.....Sting himself said it made him tear up when he first heard it in 1999.....So if Sting likes everyone should like.....He also said "This album kicks so much ..."....Well Sting , Your reveiw was good enough for me.......

I really gotta give these guys a better review than I did the first time, cause the more I listen to this cd the better it gets. The sound quality really isn't as good as it was on the other albums, but the performance and intensity is unbeatable. I dont really like the rap parts of Desire to Fire, but not because I hate any of the rap metal stuff, but if you listen to the lyrics of the song and just the song in general, it really doesn't fit the rest of the album at all, its sound kinda corny in a way. The rest of the album is damned good, and even though this is the worst of the three cd's, its still REAL good, and by Machine Head standards, a bad album for them is a great album for almost anyone else. I do recommend it, just listen with open ears, and don't expect a repeat of what you've heard before.