Blow Up Hollywood albums
	2006                                                            The Diaries of Private Henry Hill - 7/8    Blow Up Hollywood are an interesting band but are unknown for the most part. From what I can tell it is just one man, Steve Messina, that uses his own technology to craft unique records. I didn't like his previous albums much, even though they showed potential, but on his third record he really come into his own. The concept of this album is that Messina took the actual diaries of a soldier that was killed in the "Iraq Conflict" and made music to all of it; it works extremely well. His voice might be annoying at first, but give it time and it will grow on you (if he recalled anyone, it would be Ed Roland from Collective Soul). The tone of the album is much more tragic than harrowing, giving us an inside look at the mind of a soldier who was not sure why he died for his country. Some songs tie together thematically with similar topics, like "Puppet" and "Salvation". Others tie together by having similar music, like "Shock and Awe" and "Puppet". Many of the songs could stand out apart from the album, "WMD" and "Charge" being the best. Some songs really don't work though - the production is too slick and the vocals sound too contrived on "Shots Fired" and it almost brings the whole album to a halt; its an awful song. Also "Requiem" is the typical B.U.H. instrumental that is present on all his past work, in other words he should have left it behind on this album. Still, most of the album is great, though rather short. It's a complex look into a soldier's existence, and I don't know why it doesn't even get reviewed by most critics of our time. Surely though its conviction and brilliance will last a lot longer than most albums that are around these days. - Trevor e.y. 1.the pledge- gf 2.wmd- 4 3.bombs away- 4 4.charge- 4 5.shock and awe- 3 (two part suite) 6.puppet- 4 (two-part-suite) 7.salvation- 4 8.shots fired- 1 9.requiem- 2 (typical blow up hollywood intrumental) 10.tdk- gf