Artist: M.O.D.
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release Date: 5/20/03
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Title: The Rebel You Love to Hate Artist: M.O.D. Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 5/20/03 |
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Abyss's Review:
Metal's biggest loudmouth is back! Of course, I'm not sure how many of you out there were breathlessly awaiting this one. To try and review this record as an actual metal album strikes me as impossible. This album strikes me less than a true album than as documented proof that I have actually matured since my mid-teens.
"While this album might have an enjoyable riff or two, it basically hits as a comedy album." You see, I liked MOD in high school, when I listened to USA For MOD - but it had no staying power for me. I don't really look back on it with fond memories... in fact I don't really look back on it at all. Method Of Destruction was always just a condiment for the similar, yet slightly more relevant, Stormtroopers Of Death.
While this album might have an enjoyable riff or two, it basically hits as a comedy album. The music is generally just a set up for its various punch lines which include white suburban rappers ("Wigga"), Islamic fundamentalists ("Ass-Ghanistan"), Rammstein ("De Men of Stein"), and Rage Against the Machine's hypocrisy of liberalism and mass capitalism ("Rage Against the MAC Machine"). Then there's the title track which is story of our anti-hero himself.
First the good: Milano's actually a pretty funny guy. I'd be lying if a smile didn't cross my face every once in awhile while I was listening to "Wigga" ("Pull your pants up! Boy you look stupid!"), but then again making fun of white kids acting all ghetto isn't exactly a difficult thing to do, and I personally laughed harder the first time I saw the video for The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)". Contradictory to the album's title, I can't imagine I'd hate Mr. Milano, he sounds like a fun guy to be around, but that doesn't mean I'd want to listen to his music for any length of time.
"One word review: Why?" Part of my problem with this record is its length. With five of the tracks various edits or "almost live kinda" versions, there simply isn't that much material here. And most of that that is here is making fun of, and therefore ripping off, established music. "Get Ready" is an homage to Kiss, with Milano doing a damn good impression of Gene Simmons by the way, but the song is just a rip off of various classic Kiss riffs and doesn't really go anywhere. And the rest of the material seems stale as well. Making fun of Rage Against the Machine might have been more apropos if they hadn't broken up years ago, and has Rammstein come out with a new album, or has Billy really been thinking about them for five years?
As I said, the songs occasionally have something to offer, but at best Billy's become metal's Weird Al Yankovic, and at worst he's metal's Biz Markie. Or is that the other way around? Eh, who cares? One word review: Why?
Death's Review:
[M.O.D. and Dying Fetus? It must be Sparky Voyles' and Kevin Talley's ex-bands week at Metal Judgment!]
"The Rebel You Love to Hate is pretty fucking hilarious." It's official: Billy Milano has turned M.O.D. ("Method of Destruction") into the Weird Al Yankovic of heavy metal. And the new album, The Rebel You Love to Hate is pretty fucking hilarious. No one escapes unscathed. The album cover is definitely parodic of the old M.S.G. ("Michael Schenker Group") logo. The first track, "Wigga" keeps Milano's trademarked lack of political correctness in full effect. The song is really fucking funny, and totally skewers everyone from Eminem ("all the wiggas in the house say 'sup - 'Sup!' - all the wiggas in the house say 'sup - 'Sup!' - all the wiggas in the house, please stand up, please stand up, please stand up - pull your - pull your pants up!") to Cypress Hill (talking about living large, driving big cars and hanging around with pop stars), and really nails the ludicrous fashion ("pull your hood up, turn your hat crooked, pull your hood up, boy you look stupid!"). Musically, the song is produced in a style that also makes fun of all the rap-rock clichés.
I'm not exactly sure who "The Rebel You Love to Hate" is making fun of (lyrically, it surely refers to Sgt. "D" himself), but it does come off a bit Biohazard-esque. "Makin' Friends is Fun" features more trademarked Milano anti-political correctness in the grand tradition of songs like "Fuck the Middle East". "De Men of Stein" clearly is skewering Rammstein and their ilk (the overlapping vocals on the chorus say "Ramm - stein" when run together if you listen closely). It isn't hard to figure out who "Rage Against the Mac Machine" is making fun of, nor is it hard to figure out that "Get Ready" is making fun of Kiss once you hear the song's sound (think Gene Simmons-fronted Kiss a la "God of Thunder"). This album is just full of dead-on parodies, a shot in the arm that - frankly - I think the metal world needs from time to time. The production and musicianship are solid and the songs are funny. On the first couple of listens, this might even rate four skulls, but this stuff probably will prove to have minimum replay value, and - honestly -- the album feels a little short. I have to say that I've enjoyed this release a lot more than I thought I would, but it needs a few more non-filler tracks.
"I have to say that I've enjoyed this release a lot more than I thought I would, but it needs a few more non-filler tracks."
Hel's Review:
Let's do a quick M.O.D. history, shall we? Many years ago, following the initial demise of S.O.D. (Stormtroopers of Death), Billy Milano created M.O.D. (Method of Destruction) to fill the proverbial void. At the core, M.O.D. has always been all about Mr. Milano, and his band has featured a constant revolving door of members.
"I find the record irritating, and loathe the thought of listening to it even once more." This year marks the release of The Rebel You Love to Hate, a new M.O.D. album that progresses firmly into the realm of sheer humor. Funny metal? Yes, Billy has pulled out all the stops and really thought this one through. Each song has a topic, and the music partnered with the topics are styled to emphasize his "message." You can easily follow the direction of each song to its obvious conclusion. "Wigga" is about nu-metal bands and their white, rappin' frontmen. "Get Ready" = KISS. And so on.
"He wins - I do hate it - but will temper my score by giving full points for successfully executing his vision." So herein lies my problem. While I think the goal of this album is met in an exemplary fashion, with each of the songs portraying its chosen target of satire with amazing accuracy, at the end of the day, I don't like the songs, no matter how well they achieve their intended goals. I find the record irritating, and loathe the thought of listening to it even once more. In fact, complete silence reigns in my office right now, when usually I listen to the subject of review while I write.
The musicianship is well executed. The songwriting is dead on with its intent, and rather brilliant, for what it is. I know there are plenty of people who will enjoy this album fully, and find that it fulfills a void in their lives, or something, but I am simply not one of them. I did not like it, Sam I Am - I do not like Billy Milano's band. But, that's probably why it's entitled, The Rebel You Love to Hate. He wins - I do hate it - but will temper my score by giving full points for successfully executing his vision.
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