Customer Reviews

Love Is the New Hate

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a Shihad fan lost in the wilderness; I really could not get into The General Electric or Pacifier. I didn't have high expectations for this album, bought it out of habit mostly, expecting to play it a couple of songs, dig a few, and then shelve it. Boy was I pleasantly surprised. This album rocks, it's uncompromising, relentless, and great. Ironically this work which was written for one audience only: Shihad, is much more accessible, listenable too, and enjoyable than their radio focused forays. I had lost faith in music from this centuary however this CD has changed that. All is forgiven boys.

This songs for this cd were written after the band got shafted by America. The songs are primarily based on their experiences in America and the world in general. In my view, someone who doesnt like the cd can piss off. The band did this for themselves, not for the record company, not for the fans and certainly not to make any money. So before you slam it, think of who its meant for.

The songs on this disc are top notch Shihad. The song Big Future has a certain My Mind's Sedate feel to it. Empty Shell is reminicent of You Again or even The General Electric in its monster riff. The boys show thier softer side with songs like None Of The Above (written for a friend of the band's who died) and Saddest song in the World. The album closes on the song Guts and the Glory, one that sounds so much like a Dave Dobbyn song that I suspect he couldve help written it (but he didnt). All in all I'd put this album 3rd behind Killjoy and The General Electric.

Well done boys, you can be proud of this one.

This is alright, but they need to change their name back to Pacifier and bust out some more hard rockin grunge songs like Semi-Normal, Something's Wrong, Bullitproof, etc... This is basically Pacifier without all the catchy hooks and flare...somewhat mediocre night in terms of music and vocals.

After the ill-fated "Pacifier" stage, Shihad have changed their name back to (duh) Shihad. And I wouldn't want it any other way. This album is somewhat deeper than some of the others. There are the hard rockers (Shot in the Head which has a killer video, All the Young Facists, another great vid) and some more laid back tunes a la The Saddest Song in the World. All songs are excellent, and I couldn't pick just one. A must-have for any hard-rock fan, and definetely one for the New Zealanders.

Shihad's last album was their attempt to break the American market - overproduced, radiofriendly, and an ultimate failure.

Fortunately they've learned from the experience, and Love is the New Hate is Shihad rediscovering their brilliance. This album rocks. Very hard. An album of no compromises. Very little in the way of radio friendly material here - metal, metal and more metal (and the occasional metal ballad). With twelve songs crammed into 38 minutes, this is a lean, taut album.

In fact it sounds a lot like their masterwork, Killjoy, but in my opionion it's not as good for one main reason - the sound's not as heavy. There is some excellent guitar work here, sharp and aggressive, but it's like the amps are only at ninety percent capacity or something. It's a small complaint. Love is the New Hate is Shihad rocking the way a band like Ash can only dream of.

Every song on this album is jawesome. From the opening song ("None of the Above"), a tribute to their deceased friend Marty Emond (who was also a great artist) to the final song ("Guts and the Glory"); just......... excellent. Heavy enough for the headbangers, yet pop enough for the newbies (such as myself; before this, I didn't have any Shihad albums). Much better than the album they recorded as 'Pacifier' (what a ****ing cop-out).

PS. If you say 'could of' instead of 'could have', then your opinion is null and void.

For those of you who are not Shihad fans, then you've caught them on a great return to form, and for those of you who are, then you will totally agree!
This is their 6th album of a long and turbulent career. It's got a little bit of influence from all their previous 5 albums and it also brings a new sense of emotion to the plate.
Firstly, it rocks! They're pissed off at their US label experience and they're pissed off at all the non-believers who took jibes at them while they did it. Now their turning them back into believers song by song.
Opening track is a thoughtful live demo recording of them in a wee NZ town called Ngamatea. Then on with the heavy stuff. 'Alive' and 'All the Young Fascists' are great first singles off this album and they bristle with the live/raw emotion that Shihad are best known for producing. Big ballads like 'Saddest song in the World' and 'Stop' take time to show the bands softer, more eloquent side (they've always had a song on every album that does this)
Fav songs: All the Young Fascists, Saddest song in the world, Shot in the Head, None of the above.
Only down-side: the deliberate 'live' production, it would be cooler if they'd slicked it up a little, but it's what the band wanted, so tough.
GET THIS RECORD! Do yourself a favour and listen to it and you won't be disappointed. Then when you're convinced, check out the back catalogue i.e. Killjoy, then you will really know how much this band deserves the reputation they've built down under!

So the last guy reviewed this - and I'm assuming he wasn't being sarcastic - but he suggested that Shihad should "change their name back to Pacifier" and this album is "basically Pacifier without all the catchy hooks" and some other stuff. Dude - that's precisely why Shihad is BETTER than Pacifier was. It's just amusing that after all the BS that NZ/AUS fans put Shihad thru for changing their name and sound to Pacifier, that when they go back to their roots, US fans like this guy (all 12 of them!) are now going to give them grief.

Anyway, this is my favourite Shihad album in a while. I think it stands up their with The General Electric and actually I think I like it better. I'm gonna go home and listen to this tonight now!

Unfortunatly this band "Shihad" are way to busy trying to be their "Killjoy" album again, copying it and trying to repeat themselves.
Its a shame, cause they could of really made a great album, but this just is'nt the Shihad that made them what they really are.

Get Churn, Killjoy, Shihad, The general electric.

10 years ago, this band recorded one of the best albums of all time "Killjoy" The songs, the sound, the energy was all fresh. Nothing sounded quite like Shihad during this period. 10 years on & all I am hearing is disjointed, mediocre, average songs, with average guitars, average boring drums... average production sound with very little punch or originality and less than average lyrics with singing that sounds like..well... I've heard cats F%#ck with more harmony than what I'm hearing on this album. If Toogood is going to sing like this, then his vocals should be buried in the Mix, not right up in your face like they are. I used to love this band, though lately, I'm becoming very dissapointed with the direction of their music. It didn't bother me with the name change, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THE MUSIC & HOW GOOD IT SOUNDS, NOT TRIVIAL UNIMPORTANT CRAP LIKE "OH NO, WE LOST SOME FANS BECAUSE WE CHANGED OUR NAME !!? " "Fans" are generally kids who don't know any better & judge you on that. If that is what bothers you Shihad, maybe you should have called yourselves something like BeTallica. Maybe next album hey will be a good one hey ?? Please ! :)