First verdict from today's couple of new releases:
Within Temptation: Hydra - 70% - maybe 75% if I was watching Sharon sing them
I think 70% is probably generous (on a scale where 70% is still very good) - as a comparison I rated The Unforgiven 93%. So it's not bad , just not in the same ballpark as The Unforgiven. To be honest if someone told me that this album was full of leftovers from the prior album I'd have no trouble believing it. There's little magic in the songs and Zook was being kind when he said the albums "sounds like ass". It sounds like ass through a muffler.
The only songs I would be coming back to regularly are the opener Let It Burn - mostly for Sharon's vocal performance rather than it being a wonderful song - and the closer , the ballad The Whole World is Watching. Next best would be the guest spots from Howard Jones (who sounds a bit like Barlow in places) and Tarja ...............didn't see the need for the rapper at all and the rest I found to be very forgettable.
It seems it's not the norm these days to put out albums that have their own "personality"/sound but this really does sound like a poor version of the last album. After I've listened to this wall of mud , chugga chugga stuff I really feel the need to listen to a disc containing a riff with some imagination.....even something that could be called a riff. And how bands can put out stuff that sounds like this , especially when they've released good stuff prior , is beyond me ........unless they really want this sound and then that's even more baffling.
So - solid album and not much more. Sorry if the above doesn't read well - all typed in a rush while working.