Wedneday 13 is a simply amazing band, yet it's one of those that never gets radio play for some reason. So if you havn't heard of them before, check them out if you are into the horror punk style music, and hell even if you aren't into that style of music, check them out anyways. They put out a lot of great music, and they don't give a shit what the critics think.
Skeletons seems to be Wednesday 13's most experimental album to date. The songs are darker than previous songs produced by the band. Wednesday 13 also mixes in different sounds than they previously have, and it all sounds great. The album cover looks great, and they use the more updated cardboard/plastic cd cast instead of the classic all plastic one with inserts. This isn't my favorite type because you can't realy get the insert signed and framed, but I'll get over it.
Unlike with previous Wednesday 13 albums, they aren't focusing on the horror subjects as much as in the past. About half of the CD is more about horror movies and subjects, while the rest of it is about other stuff. Some people may say that they sold out by moving away from their horror roots somewhat, but the musical style and sound are still just like traditional Wednesday 13, just some of the subject matter of the lyrics have changed somewhat. So I would say they have not sold out at all, just evolved somewhat.
As I said, about half of the CD is covering your normal Wednesday 13 horror style subjects, like "Scream Baby Scream" which is absolute classic Wedenday 13, and it is the perfect song on the CD to kick the album off. Then you have "Gimmie Gimmie Bloodshed" which has a great beat, gear lyrics, and a chorus that will totally get the crowd pumped at a Wednesday 13 show. "From Here to the Hearse" is another of the more horror style songs. "Put Your Death Mask One" is another of the horror songs, but it sounds like it was influenced heavily by Rob Zombie, in fact I am willing to bet that if Rob Zombie had done this song, then it would be all over the airwaves. Like with a lot of the other songs on this CD, this song has an extremely catchy chorus, and it easily gets stuck in your head. "No Rabbit in the Hat" is as classic Wednesday 13 as you can get, and it has one of my favorite lines on the entire CD:
"And I got an addiction to ammunition yeah yeah Well sticks and stones can break your bones But a 12 gauge sawn off Will blow your fucking head off"
This is also my favorite song off of the CD. It's not only great on the CD, but it's one of those that they could easily get the crowd pumped up and going with in concert. "All American Massacre is another of the horror themed songs, and it has a great intro. Listening to the song makes me imagine that this song is describing how the Manson family lived. This is another one of the songs that seems to have some strong Rob Zombie influence in it..
Next we have a couple of other things that the songs seem to focus on. "Not Another Teenage Anthem" may not be a horror song, but the song is awesome. It's more about not a sheep, and how people love to point the finger at the music industry on all of the problems that their kids have. The chorus:
"Quick to point the finger saying who's at fault,
That rock and roll and movies operate our thoughts,
They only reason we do what we do is,
To shove it down the throats of pricks like you"
pretty much summarizes the entire song, and they have a point. Music and lyrics don't make your kids do drugs, kill people or anything else, it's music and that's all.
The final song on the CD is "Dead Carolina". It's a pretty good song, but the subject matter really doesn't fit into any of the other catagories found on the CD. The lyrics have a classic Wednesday 13 sound to it, while the instrument sounds have a slightly more Rob Zombie feel to them.
I've been a fan of this band since I first started listening to them about three years ago, and I think that this is probably their best CD to date, on par with one of the bands their singer is also in, The Murderdolls. Even though this CD came out two years ago, it's been on my Zune ever since I picked it up and I still enjoy listening to it when the songs come up. I highly reccomend picking up this CD if you can find it. And if you can't find it, it should be on iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune, and all of the other sites where you can buy music.
Shane's top picksNo Rabbit in the Hat
Gimmie Gimmie Bloodshet
Not Another Teenage Anthem
Put Your Death Mask on
