CD of the month (January 2006): Crimson by Alkaline Trio

A triumphant return by the Trio. Their last disc, Good Mourning was a tale of two cities. The first half of the disc was great, the second half was OK at best. With Crimson, the classic Trio sound is still there but the songs on this album are stronger and more even throughout the disc. Every song is very good here, you won't find reason to skip any. Their lyrics are still as ghoulish as ever, with visions of drowning, murder and suicide playing key roles. The production on the CD is crisp and clean and the band sounds more polished than ever. This disc certainly picks up where the first half of Good Mourning left off. This band deserves more recognition than they get, especially when there are bands out there that are nowhere near as good getting tons of airplay. Crimson drips a pool of ****1/2 out of *****.