The old five-point scale has been retired in favor of just rating stuff 1-10, which allows me a much more nuanced final rating. Still don't take it that seriously. Most of these come from my own collection, so the grades skew rather high. Your results may vary if you send me stuff to review.

Each album is given three Essential tracks, my personal favorites, regardless of how weird and inconsequential they are. The Quintessential pick is the one I think best represents the album as a whole, so you can try one song instead of a whole album of songs. Non-Essential picks range from merely disappointing to outright unlistenable.

Remy Zero

[#] The Golden Hum (2001)

Soars like that Clark guy.

Reviewed August 17, 2026

Best remembered for a big tune used on Smallville, The Golden Hum sees Remy succeed by distilling their dramatic UPNcore rock down to its base elements. Cinjun Tate has a fine wail and the ability to emote the sentimental, and the band wraps his vocals in sweet, swelling, grand pop rock. Lots of songs about memories, people leaving, flashes of light, wings, and being saved over a lot of ringing guitars, grindy riffs, swirling codas, and the occasional hit of sleigh bells. I'd still recommend Villa Elaine as a first hit, but this is the one that seems to work the best for people, the one I got recommended by my high school English teacher, even. When you have tunes this good, I can't much argue.

By this point, Remy were studio craftsmen, and The Golden Hum is polished to a sheen. Every crunching rocker like "Glorious #1" or the killer "Over the Rails and Hollywood High" is expertly paced with ballads that pine and sneer in equal measure ("Bitter", "Perfect Memory"). The best songs, namely the eerily anthemic "Out/In" and, yes, "Save Me", are often a goosebump-inducing mixture of the two. This isn't the most interesting Remy record; it treats "Problem" and "Fair" as the outer edges of the band's sound, ignoring the mystical psychedelia baked into Villa's DNA and the dusty textures caked onto the self-titled. Those songs are fantastic, however, so The Golden Hum sits as a welcome extra helping of red meat to anyone who thrills on their sounds.

(I do have to dock points for the mastering job, unfortunately. I expect brickwall mastering from the kind of music I listen to, but The Golden Hum has this unpleasant crispiness to it that's especially apparent when listening to the drums with headphones. A bit more breathing room and a slightly more natural EQ job would've done wonders. Of course, bands don't master their albums, generally, so I'll blame the label to be nice.)

Essential:	"Glorious #1", "Out/In", "Over the Rails and Hollywood High"
Quintessential:	"Bitter"
Non-Essential:	"Sub Balloon"
Rating: