Glassjaw Albums (2)
'Worship and Tribute'
Release Date 7/9/2002
Tracks 12
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Glassjaw changes personnel slightly and moves up to major label Warner Bros. Records from Roadrunner for its second album, Worship and Tribute. But the band's musical approach remains the same, which is to say it is a showcase for lead singer and lyricist Daryl Palumbo. Palumbo, like his greatest influence, Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction, wants to use the heavy metal format as a soapbox for his views. While the band tries to work up a head of steam, pummeling and roaring through conventional metal passages, Palumbo interrupts the flow with a series of alternate strategies. "We are the most impassioned ugly people," he declares in "Cosmopolitan Bloodloss," and he justifies that statement in terms not always so articulate in his other lyrics. Disaffected from the complexities of life, he is not so much enraged as bitterly amused, and he responds by repeating puns (e.g., "Denial is a river in Egypt," in "Trailer Park Jesus") or quoting his influences ("Life is such a ball/I run the world from City Hall," sung in "The Gillette Cavalcade of Sports," is a line from Frank Zappa). This is, perhaps, the worship and tribute he has in mind. Musically, the group shows far more versatility than most of its metal peers, perfectly willing to slow the tempo, replicate the sound of a field recording, or let Palumbo pretend to be a sports announcer if he likes. And that helps make them more interesting than their metal peers. Glassjaw can pound it out like the best of them, but the fun comes in never knowing what variation the band will throw in next. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence'
Release Date 1/1/2000
Tracks 12
Label Roadrunner
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Rooted in New York hardcore aesthetic, but not in traditional hardcore per se, Glassjaw falls under a new breed of bands that pay homage to the traditional chant and response of classic NYHC (New York Hardcore) but without the chants, and without the shout-outs. If you think that makes little sense, so does Glassjaw's non-linear music. And even though Glassjaw doesn't look like an aggro rock band, they very much are. At least on paper. Featuring extraordinary ambidextrous drummer Sammy Siegler (of Gorilla Biscuits/CIV fame), Glassjaw has paired up with producer/entrepreneur Ross Robinson (a key catalyst in the reinvention of the aggro rock sound) to take you on a pummeling ride that would make Bad Brains and Quicksand proud. Along with Robinson's unorthodox production, Glassjaw places an inordinate emphasis on Daryl Palumbo's somewhat atonal voice, putting it at the forefront of the album's mix. His intense delivery wraps around the music, giving it an edge that one wouldn't otherwise expect. Intensely dense, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence succeeds on many levels. With Palumbo's ability to completely and unequivocally assault the senses with his voice, the subversive riffs of guitarists Beck and Todd Weinstock take songs like "Pretty Lush" and "When One Eight Becomes Two Zeros" to impressive places. With few choruses to speak of, the band literally piledrives the menacing material into the ground. Much like the Deftones, Glassjaw changes gears when you least expect it. ~ John Franck, All Music Guide
