Rammstein

“Riese, Riese” (Republic)

Compare to: In Extremo, KMFDM, Living End

Ever buy an album solely for nostalgia and suddenly feel like a fool when the album exceeds every expectation you set for it and, all in all, is pretty damn good?

If not, then Rammstein’s newest offering, “Riese, Riese” may be the album to do it for you.

Sure, the album is sung almost entirely in German, some of the melodies are cheesy and a few of the guitar riffs are borderline nu-metal, but they can’t disrupt what is truly an honest and exciting record.

“Riese, Riese” is the first new material from the band since 2001’s phenomenal record, “Mutter.” Surprisingly, a nearly four-year hiatus hasn’t slowed the band at all — “Riese, Riese” pretty much picks up where its predecessor left off.

After four studio albums, Rammstein has managed to create a near-perfect balance of heavy guitars and haunting melody that keeps the album diverse and fresh enough to overcome the language barrier.

The most epic moments on the album come when the band fuses the two aspects, a feat it is able to do almost flawlessly.

Despite being an impressive album, “Riese, Riese” will probably be overlooked by mainstream audiences because of the band’s German lyrical delivery. Agreed, English lyrics are nice, but there is something to be said about a band that hasn’t catered to the demands of American listeners like other imports.

One of the album’s most interesting tracks is “Moskau,” a duet between Rammstein’s signature deep-throated German vocals and Russian Viktoria Fresh, who adds an almost pop element to the song and delivers her lyrics in Russian. The song is an unexpected clash that may even leave German fans scratching their heads.

— Dante Sacomani

Skindred

“Babylon” (Lava)

Compare to: Apartment 26, Twelve Tribes, Element Eighty

Skindred is one of the first bands to mix metal and reggae and have a decent sound result.

The most profound thing about Skindred is that vocal tracks are mostly hard-to-understand, rasta-sounding chants.

Even the album cover features stacks of speakers in the colors of the Jamaican flag with the four band members standing among them.

The music is similar to most distorted hard-rock music, only Skindred uses a lot of keyboard, guitar and bass sounds, which make the songs sound like they would be hard to pull off live by only four guys.

The album’s only other mediocre element is tracks that last less than a minute — interludes and an intro attempt to separate sections of the album. The problem is, the music doesn’t switch gears enough to justify these short transitions between songs.

Also, all but one track lasts less than four minutes, and there is really no variation in length between songs except for the last track, an 11-minute epic called “The Beginning of Sorrows.”

Skindred is a Christian-influenced rock band, which may not be evident at first because of the lyrical delivery and how much it sounds like System of a Down, which seems to be against anything having to do with God.

“The Beginning of Sorrows,” however, seems to be based on a passage from the Bible in Matthew 24, and the lyrics throughout tend to be positive in nature.

Although the band doesn’t use biblical passages for every song, they don’t curse at all or make drug or sex references.

Fans of reggae and hard rock will appreciate this band, but metalheads may be alienated by the sampling and the positive lyrical output.

— Dan Hopper

“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Soundtrack” (Interscope)

Compare to: Dr. Dre, Bob Marley, Alice in Chains

The video game “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” is big in every way.

With the series’ massive success, the developers were able to treat gamers to an enjoyable and authentic ride by adding a number of radio stations in each car and motorcycle.

The game takes place in the early ’90s, and the music on the soundtrack complements the time well. It is a smorgasbord of rock, country, hip-hop, soul, R&B and reggae. The soundtrack allows you to relax and listen to songs that helped define the era.

Unless you want to shell out a hefty amount to buy the 8-disc boxed set, you’ll be satisfied with this 2-disc compilation. It’s got plenty of talent lined up — Rage Against the Machine, 2Pac, Cypress Hill and Willie Nelson, among others. It doesn’t have the best tracks from the game included, but what it does have makes a decent mix.

The track listing might seem awkward, as the various genres are mixed together — Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise” is next to Cypress Hill’s “How I Could Just Kill a Man.” But the tracklist balances perfectly because it allows listeners to hear the many voices of the era like they remember it — a little rock, then soul, then rap.

The standout songs are the ones you may not remember.

“Pressure Drop” by The Maytals is a relaxing reggae tune that balances its lighthearted beats with simple, heartbreaking lyrics. Faded rock band Faith No More delivers the best song of its career in “Midlife Crisis.” Its loud guitar riffs and rhyming lyrics perfectly capture the rock scene — when musicians were moving from hair bands to the grunge movement.

As an intended bonus, the producers signed AFI to cover the Nine Inch Nails song “Head Like a Hole” exclusively for this release. If they couldn’t afford the rights to the original, they should have just kept it that way.

The cover is atrocious, sounding little like the original and not fitting in with the sound of the time.

Don’t feel cautious if you haven’t played the game — the soundtrack stands well by itself. Even though the compilation is plagued by a few bad songs, it is, overall, a good soundtrack that captures the time period like few other albums can.

— Keith DuCharme

Mos Def

“The New Danger” (Geffen)

Compare to: Talib Kweli, Nas, Sage Francis

On his long-awaited sophomore release, “The New Danger,” Mos Def continues his reputation as an alluring lyricist, showing that his talents remain polished, even though it has been five years since his last solo release, 1999’s “Black on Both Sides.”

Although he maintains his lyrical mastery, Mos Def also expands his musical horizons to put together an album that is more than mere rap — it is hip-hop, rhythm and blues, soul and, as the third track on the disc states, ghetto rock.

Not all that long ago, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and other bands of the rap-metal genre took a stab at putting a new spin on hip-hop culture, but only succeeded at enthralling Carson Daly’s loyal minions and annoying the rest of America.

But, oh, how the tables have turned. Mos Def has taken that concept and done something none of those other bands could: he made something tolerable, even favorable. On “Freaky Black Greetings,” “Zimzallabim” and “War,” he uses hard guitar riffs, played by his all-black rock band entitled Black Jack Johnson, overlaid with his singing and rapping to create a true rap and rock hybrid that exemplifies more of hip-hop culture than Fred Durst could ever dream of.

Although the rock-inspired tracks are a nice change of pace, they are no match for Def’s flowing verbiage, which is the true pinnacle of the album.

“The New Danger” is immersed in great music, great lyrics and great rhymes; however, sprinkled throughout the album are songs with such a slow pace it makes them difficult to listen to. The album starts off slow, and just as the pace begins to pick up and really sound like a Mos Def album, a slow, blues-infused track interrupts the flow.

Keep listening though, and you’ll be rewarded when Def revisits the old school on “Sunshine” and does an extended version of “Close Edge,” the song he performed as the musical guest on “Chappelle’s Show.”

“The New Danger” doesn’t live up to “Black on Both Sides” or even “Black Star,” Def’s collaboration with Talib Kweli, and is, overall, an acquired taste; virgin Mos Def listeners may enjoy the wide variety of genres on the disc, but veteran fans could find themselves yearning for the old Def.

— Andrew Shafer