Search - Coal Chamber :: Giving the Devil His Due

Great but they need some new stuff

Matt | Columbus, OH | 09/20/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With Coal Chamber on hiatus due to what seems to be inner tensions within the band (they're just not the same without Rayna) the band decided to release an album of b-sides, remixes demos and such. Most albums like this tend to just suck because of the fact that alot of bands that do remixes don't change the song at all, they just add slightly different sounds to all of it. All in all as far as the remixes go, they serve their purpose. Now, as for the b-sides and demos (the main reason I bought this album in the first place) are what this cd is all about. From the opening track "Headstones and the Walking Dead" the cd is one helluva ride from there on out. That song in fact was meant to be on the self-titled album but Dez never got around to putting vocals onto it. The majority of the b-sides sound like they were from "Chamber Music" and "Dark Days", which is in my opinion, their best one yet. The original versions of "Pig" and "Not Living" are different that what was on the cds, "Not Living" actually had a tinge of industrial to it by the end and was alot different than what ended up on Chamber Music. The live version of Big Truck is of O.K. quality, but still awesome as hell. Since I love hearing demos. Some of them sound like Mike's snare drum is just him smacking a cow bell. The early versions of "Loco" and the extremely rare "Babbit" are the best on the album. All in all if you're like me and are big on getting demos and remixes, this album is definitely for you. All hardcore Coal Chamber fans MUST have this in their collection! And if you love Coal Chamber you seriously need to check out DevilDriver, Dez's new band.
Peace out and keep rockin'
-matt-"

Does NOT Give Coal Chamber their Dues!

Damian Gunn | I am everywhere | 02/02/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There have been a few B-sides by this band floating around on soundtracks and whatnot and those few B-sides, "BLISTERS" in particular, are worth the purchase of this CD, but if your looking to the rest of the CD for validation you may come up short. The opening track and the only NEW track "HEADSTONES AND THE WALKING DEAD" is a decent track but to know it's the LAST original Coal Chamber song it's kinda a let down. The other B-sides like "WISHES" and "ANXIETY" are good but the real let down is the remixes which, in my opinion are not even remixes...They sound almost identical to the originals. The demo's for songs like "NOT LIVING" and "PIG" as well as "SWAY" and "UNSPOILED" are decent, the best demo cut being "LOCO" which has a lot more crunch to it. All and all it's nice to have the B-sides on one CD rather than spread out over a few soundtracks but if you think about it, the Bride of Chucky soundtrack (which boast the best B-side, BLISTERS) has quite a few other great songs by other kick @$$ bands so all and all that might be a better buy. It's just a little depressing to expect so much and get so little."

Not how chamber should be remembered

Drain | e.p.TX | 01/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"the fact that this is the most likely the last 'original' album by coal chamber is a downer coz this shouldn't be the way to remember them by the releasing of b-sides and whatnot. now, i do like this cd. its actually good to have i guess all of their rare tracks in one place.



but i do take issue with some of this. for example, the first track. if you download it off the official roadrunner records site and just listen to it, you can't really tell what dez is saying. you understand the majority of it, with some parts leaving you scratching your head. its only here while reading the lyrics it gives you an idea that dez's ego is really kicking in and taking multiple potshots at his bandmates (at the time their future was up in the air and no one knew what was what). its disrespectful in a manner to use a coal chamber song as a "f**k you" to the people who made the music. also, its old music with dez's new vocal style...it just doesn't work.



then there the "remixes"...they can hardly be construed as remixes as there is barely anything there that is different. if anything most of the songs have tiny portions that are minutely different with the rest sounding like an album version. if anything, it's almost like a lord-alge remix, barely anything different but requiring a listen to both back to back to hear a difference. but there is a difference that you can hear, but not much. "el cu cuy" is an example of that, it just sounds like the album version with the beginning removed. now, the only one that truly sounds like a remix would be "sway" with guest vocals by jay gordon and ryan shuck of orgy. the "bradley" remix is not that great and i do deduct points coz it's an edit. imagine, an edit on an album with a p.a.



but, the remixes are listenable and good as long as you think of them as alternate versions, not remixes. the original version of "pig" sounds exactly like the album version...its weird. then you got the stuff that were soundtrack exclusives. you have the phenomanal original version of "not living" that was on 'strangeland'. its absolutely great. then theres "blisters" that was on 'bride of chucky'...again another great track.



then there's some unreleased stuff like 'anxiety', 'save yourself' that are pretty good. but i'm confused coz i knew about 'anxiety' since '97 or so before 'chamber music' came out. apparently it was on the loco single, but here in the booklet it says 'dark days outtake'. the live version of 'big truck' is nice but it bothers me that i don't know when it was recorded...but since its the last track before the demos, i imagine it was somewhat recent.



now the demos are not all that spectactular. its hard to listen to them and not draw a comparision to what ended up on the debut. it does make you appreciate the debut just a bit more and how it turned out coz if those songs weren't fine tuned, the demo versions are most likely what we would've had. an example is 'loco'...dez's vocals are no near as good as the debut. in fact, its dez's vocals that no more near as good on any of them...its almost as if getting dumped on the day of recording vocal tracks for the debut did him a favor. the music is great though. the one demo thats truly good is 'babbit'. why? coz we've never heard it before and there is nothing to compare it to. it stands on its own and it is great. in fact, the beginning is pretty good...it's pretty jaw-dropping.



in the end, when its over...its just a sad ending to what was a great band. especially when listening to demos...it's difficult to imagine the band recording them trying to get a record deal ended up going out with a whimper instead a bang. shame."