Melissa Auf der Maur
Auf Der Maur
(Capitol)
As a reviewer, it always makes life a little easier if you can point to parts of a record under discussion and equate them with parts of another record. It is not particularly inspired but, as long as the reader knows the music referred to, it gets the message across concisely.
With Melissa Auf der Maur it is not that simple. The ex-Hole, Smashing Pumpkins bassist lives in the same city - artistically speaking - as Evanescence and My Ruin, but Ms der Maur definitely has her own postcode.
With guest appearances by Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha, Hole's Eric Erlandson, Rocket From The Crypt's Atom Willard and Queens of the Stoneage mainmen Nick Oliveri and Josh Homme, this record was always going to rock. But it is a fresh approach that sets it apart.