{"id":302,"date":"2010-06-10T06:55:14","date_gmt":"2010-06-10T13:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/?p=302"},"modified":"2011-01-23T06:59:20","modified_gmt":"2011-01-23T13:59:20","slug":"number-of-the-blog-reviews-the-art-of-malice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/06\/10\/number-of-the-blog-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","title":{"rendered":"Number of the Blog reviews The Art of Malice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fucking Metal Album Reviews: John 5 \u2013 The Art Of Malice:<\/strong> fucking-metal-album-reviews-john-5-the-art-of-malice\/<\/a><\/p>\n

June 4th, 2010. By\u00a0groverXIII<\/strong><\/p>\n

John 5 is, for the uninitiated, best known for his guitarwork with Marilyn Manson and, more recently, Rob Zombie. Those two names might be enough to make you skeptical when I tell you that the man is an absurdly talented guitarist with a number of impressive solo albums under his belt. However, I assure you that this is indeed the case.\u00a0The Art Of Malice<\/em> brings this total to five, not counting an additional remix album; like his previous solo albums,\u00a0The Art Of Malice<\/em> features instrumental, guitar-driven tracks mixing metal and bluegrass in varying measures.<\/p>\n

The album art may be enough to turn your stomach; between the loud colors, odd makeup, and questionable clothing choice, it\u2019s fair to say that this is a pretty unappealing introduction to Senor Cinco\u2019s music. However, I urge you to resist the temptation to judge this particular book by its cover. Once you dive in, you may be surprised at what you find.<\/p>\n

The album starts off with a blast with \u2018The Nightmare Unravels\u2019, as atmospheric guitar sounds give way to an explosive riff and lightning-fast soloing. This track truly exhibits what John 5 does best, pairing lead pyrotechnics with catchy melodies. \u2018The Art Of Malice\u2019 is a shorter track of bluegrass picking, another of John 5\u2032s calling cards, and features no additional instruments beyond the guitar. As the album continues on, the tracks almost seem to be divided between heavy and mellow, occasionally crossing paths as some bluegrass picking finds its way into the heavier tracks, but the album almost seems to alternate between the two styles.<\/p>\n

There are some curveballs in here, though; \u2018Ya Dig\u2019 features a fast, heavy vibe and a guest bass performance from Billy Sheehan. \u2018Can I Live Again\u2019 is a slow, mournful tune, full of sadness and emotion. And \u2018Fractured Mirror\u2019 is a version of the Ace Frehley song, which would explain why it feels out of place. Still, all of these tracks are oozing with 5\u2032s style; most of these cuts wouldn\u2019t be out of place on his earlier stuff.<\/p>\n

And in the end, that\u2019s the part that trips me up somewhat. Perhaps it\u2019s because of my level of familiarity with his older albums, but there something about\u00a0The Art Of Malice<\/em> that feels a bit stale. The heavier songs don\u2019t seem to grab me quite the way that his previous work has, and it seems as though there are less heavy songs on this album than usual. I\u2019ve always felt that the heavy stuff was his bread and butter, with occasional bluegrass interludes, and it feels as though the slower moments here start to disrupt the flow of the album a bit.<\/p>\n

Still,\u00a0The Art Of Malice<\/em> is a really good album, packed to the gills with flashy guitar playing and catchy melodies. The slower moments are more than made up for by the stronger parts of the album, and as a whole the album is a worthy entry into John 5\u2032s solo catalog. It\u2019s certainly better than the last couple of Rob Zombie albums.<\/p>\n

My score:\u00a04.5 out of 6<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The album starts off with a blast with \u2018The Nightmare Unravels\u2019, as atmospheric guitar sounds give way to an explosive riff and lightning-fast soloing. This track truly exhibits what John 5 does best, pairing lead pyrotechnics with catchy melodies. \u2018The Art Of Malice\u2019 is a shorter track of bluegrass picking, another of John 5\u2032s calling cards, and features no additional instruments beyond the guitar. As the album continues on, the tracks almost seem to be divided between heavy and mellow, occasionally crossing paths as some bluegrass picking finds its way into the heavier tracks, but the album almost seems to alternate between the two styles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,621,20],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-john-5","tag-review","tag-the-art-of-malice","tw-post-no-content"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1qFj4-4S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":307,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/05\/15\/mind-over-metal-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":0},"title":"Mind Over Metal reviews The Art of Malice","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"May 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"ohn 5 is an artist determined to flourish in the music world. By continuously challenging himself, he has shared the stage with musicians as disparate as Marilyn Manson and k.d. lang. On The Art of Malice, his signature sound (by way of Fender Telecaster) becomes all the more recognizable.","rel":"","context":"In "Review"","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/05\/11\/hall-of-the-mountain-king-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":1},"title":"Hall of the Mountain King Reviews The Art of Malice","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"May 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s almost insane how quickly this record goes from crushingly heavy to groove to twang, yet somehow it all flows. \u201cThe Art of Malice\u201d proves John 5 to be as much a shredder as any of the guys that came out of the style\u2019s 1980s heyday, but also a bit\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Review"","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":304,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/04\/20\/backstageaxxess-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":2},"title":"BackstageAxxess reviews The Art of Malice","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"April 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The next track, \"J.W.\" has a Junior Brown-esque rockabilly feel to it. That rockabilly flavor comes back later on \"Steel Guitar Rag\" with hints of Stephen Foster's bluegrass classic 'Oh! Suzanna' at the beginning of the track. \"Wayne County Killer\" brings back the hard rockin' riffs and is followed up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Review"","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":310,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/07\/15\/life-music-media-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":3},"title":"Life Music Media reviews The Art of Malice","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"July 15, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Art of Malice is a dynamic record that peaks and troughs well throughout its 12 tracks. Just as you get comfy immersing yourself within the drama of slower tracks like \u2018Can I live Again\u2019 and the tension of \u2018Fractured Mirror\u2019, you\u2019re beaten over the head by thrashy outbursts and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Review"","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":105,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2010\/04\/30\/theywillrockyou-reviews-the-art-of-malice\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":4},"title":"Theywillrockyou reviews The Art of Malice","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"April 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The guitar world is cluttered with players that can play a million notes a minute. John 5 established that he can hold his own with them a long time ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Review"","block_context":{"text":"Review","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":588,"url":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/2011\/03\/15\/learn-to-play-with-john-5-via-allaxess-com\/","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":5},"title":"Learn to play with John 5 via Allaxess.com","author":"Dillon - Team John 5","date":"March 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"John 5 \u201cThe Art Of Malice\u201d Chicken Pickin Lesson Now Available!","rel":"","context":"In "Interview"","block_context":{"text":"Interview","link":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/category\/interview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/John-5-150x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/john-5.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}