Placebo's career is a living, breathing example of the power of a niche audience. After making a mild splash in the glam-friendly Brit-pop aftermath -- they ratcheted up the gothic androgyny of Suede, straightening out the guitars while piling up the makeup, vocal tics, and tortured poetry -- the group settled into an appreciative cult that never seemed to penetrate the pop consciousness on either side of the ocean. Battle for the Sun, the band's sixth album and first with drummer Steve Forrest, is given a steel-reinforced production by David Bottrill, a sound that could conceivably be placed on mainstream rock radio if that format still existed, or if it were used as a vehicle for something else than Placebo's music, which remains resolutely pitched toward a niche audience, no matter how many little frills of horns or farting synths grace their guitar grind. Certainly, a good portion of what makes Placebo a cult band is Brian Molko himself, how his strangled vocal affectations and enduring angst speak directly to a small, dedicated batch of listeners while alienating all others, something that Molko, after a decade and a half of semi-stardom, rightly wears as a badge of honor, but the increased care spent on the sound of Battle for the Sun emphasizes how the band's sound -- an extension of '80s growth, right down to its reflected love of '70s Bowie, but never unfriendly to any passing electronic fad -- is never quite hooky, nor does it have a rock kick. Instead, everything about Battle for the Sun -- the thumping rhythms, the subtly churning keyboards, the clanking grind of the digital distortion -- is coloring for the group's disaffected stance, not so much stylish but terminally out of time, alienation preserved in amber for those few who understand.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

The brilliant musician, composer, and guitar virtuoso Eric Johnson comes shining through with a record breathing with aura of romance, sweeping melodicisms, and breathtaking mystical quality. Venus Isle, released by Capitol records gave a genuine and much deserved positive boost to the popularity and image of Johnson. This is certainly is most enduring and captivating work since his grammy nominated gem, Cliffs of Dover. The songs are stringed together perfectly and spontaneously glide in and out of other, and the album as a whole sizzles with musical quality throughout. Venus Isle is a bold, haunting opening track that gracefully flows into the following song, Battle We Have Won. All About You, perhaps the song that most fits the mold as a radio-friendly single, is a romantic song filled with shimmering scale passages and Johnson's signature guitar tone. This song closely reflects through style and grace a reminiscence of Cliffs of Dover. Track four is a captivating arrangement with a tapestry of engaging rhythms and a guitar tone in dedication to the great blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn, in which S.R.V. is appropriately named after. A brilliant composition, it spills out all of Johnson's appreciation and respect for a true musical friend he hopes to keep alive always through song. Stevie's brother, Jimmy Vaughn steps in cordially with a guitar improvisation in love for his brother. The secret of her love is locked away and her smile-Mona Lisa style is the message eloquently put to music in Lonely in the Night, credited to songwriter Vince Mariani. Manhattan really is the most ethereal and dreamy piece of the record. It's atmosphere is so visionary that the listener can genuinely feel the vista of the great island city of New York and it's abundant nightlife. Camel's Night Out sincerely reflects a Mediterranean appearance in percussive rhythm and through it's tonal melodic shifts. Song for Lynette is the most striking and romantic song of it's form, filled with heartwarming piano and a message of hope, a place and a time for everything and everyone, and the excitement of anticipation or accomplishment. It also seems to bring about moods of "even if all is going wrong, and the sky is a rainy gray everyday, just being alive and full of spirit is fulfilling enough." When the Sun Meets the Sky breathes life into the soul with it's chilling, haunting string opening, and then suddenly rolling into a optimistic chorus-filled guitar statement. "It's dark here, if I don't have you around, so I hoped today would lead me kind of your way, and the sun would be shining on my face," charms the listener with the thrilling hopes of a fresh new love. Rounding off this eleven song experience is Pavilion and the Venus Reprise, which puts Johnson's work his future musical ambitions in perspective, perhaps to help his next release build and flow from the gifted work, Venus Isle. Full of dashing guitar virtuosity, orchestral prowess and poems of the romantic, this record is a gratifying listen from beginning to end, even for the not so devoted Eric Johnson fans.© Shawn Haney /TiVo

At first glance, a Finnish heavy metal band named Wintersun, whose album cover shows a fallen warrior lying face down in the snow, might elicit thoughts of simplistic black metal infused with pagan or anti-Christian messages, but it doesn't take long for this eponymous debut to prove that first impressions can be deceiving. In fact, the new project of former Ensiferum and Arthemesia vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jari Mäenpäa merges the hyper-fast precision of Yngwie Malmsteen-like guitar playing (witness the speedy "Beyond the Dark Sun") with the melodic sensibilities of post-Helloween power metal (see the more diverse "Winter Madness") and a homegrown passion for folk-styled songwriting descended straight from trailblazing compatriots Amorphis. If there is any sign of black metal songwriting to be found here, it's in the majestic symphonic backdrops draped all over the ever more ambitious offerings that follow: "Sleeping Stars" flirts with doom via its slow-creeping riffs, "Death and the Healing" alternates clean and rough vocals with a jaw-dropping display of pyrotechnic guitar heroics, and "Beautiful Death" comprises a stunning (if quite morbid) black metal tour de force in terms of both words and musical attack. Curiously, each subsequent track runs longer than the last here -- as if Wintersun is consciously using the song lengths themselves as means of upping the compositional ante. And when they arrive at the ten-minute colossus "Sadness and Hate," which brings the album to a final, fittingly progressive close, one realizes that, amazingly, the ploy works! Therefore, although these unexpected twists and turns can't stop their formula from becoming predictable at times, Wintersun's superb musicianship (props to drum machine man Kai Hahto, as well) helps them win out against their evident influences in the end, making this a recommended release for lovers of relatively accessible extreme metal. © Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo