Urge Overkill - Rock&Roll Submarine mp3 album

[I first reviewed the album on April 26 after getting the low-bitrate mp3 download of the album, this is an edited review after getting the vinyl LP today]I'd say it was well worth the wait, but 16 YEARS?! Cmon! Anyway, "Rock&Roll Submarine" is just fantastic, and, many listens in, now stands up proudly with any of the best of UO's previous albums. It's intentionally rougher and rawer than "Saturation" and "Exit The Dragon" (though it definitely feels much closer to ETD than it does to any of their other albums). There are bits here and there that seem to intentionally reference previous UO moments, like the breakdown during the song "Rock&Roll Submarine" where a single guitar directly mimics a very similar breakdown from "And You'll Say" on ETD ("What'll keep us alive? What'll keep us high? What'll keep us happy?") but refuses the older song's static purgatory, opting instead for a resolution, this time with Urge asking us: "I know a better way, I got a better way...do I have to spell it out again, this time with attitude?". This highlights the main difference between ETD and R&RS: the former seemed like existential crisis in some ways: drifting, unsure of how to escape; the new album feels more driven, it's moving purposefully in a direction. In 1995, the group were on Geffen and a relatively Big Deal™ — this time, they're below the surface, but rising. Even the cover art of the two albums shows you where they were at during these eras: ETD shows the UO logo motionless, haze drifting around it, leaving it stuck in place, while R&RS shows the group on the move, searching, active, on an unknown mission. R&RS has a different swagger, probably the result of intervening years and of the Kato/King duo making a very conscious decision to *be* what and who they are together: there's now less strutting and projection of confidence and more actual, palpable confidence. Nash and Eddie's showiness has shifted very slightly from style to substance, though UO were always a vastly more substantial band than critics gave them credit for (one critic's two-dimensional mind reduced the band to the term "bubblegum grunge" — really? Solid evidence of having a tin ear, and just one of many examples of critics trying to stuff Urge into a comfortable box.) In the early '90s, it seemed like there was a mad rush to talk about the group's antics, fashion, and attitude — what was forgotten was the incredible ear Nash and Eddie have for chord progressions, riffs, and mood...their sheer bloodyminded rock-n-roll songwriting talent. From the early days of the group up 'til present there's always been a solid sense of distillation in the UO sound, a UO-specific method of juxtaposing subtly melancholic and delicate chords with high-volume riffs and surprising transitions, lyrics and vocal inflections leading the listener's mind to correctly identify each song's intent and to absorb the offered emotional content. Human emotions are an unbelievably wide spectrum; we only have words for a few of 'em. It's an incredibly difficult thing to actually communicate a nuanced emotion to another person, the best venue for it is art, music... And the best groups make music that leads you to feel you're sharing the songwriters' experience of the world. Urge has been good at that since the late '80s, and I submit that "Rock&Roll Submarine" sees them at the height of their abilities. My favorites from the first few listens: "Mason Dixon", "Little Vice, "Quiet Person". My new favorites, after having listened maybe twenty times: "Thought Balloon", "Touched To A Cut", "She's My Ride".