I approached this CD with a bit of apprehension, or more so, the feeling that it was just one more task I needed to complete. Of course by admitting this I'm opening myself up for criticism but certainly giving a glimpse into the world of the writer/magazine owner/editor (among the many other hats we wear here at Score! Music). But, show me a music writer and I'll show you someone that, if not at the moment, at least one time in their career, is so tired of reviewing CDs they'd probably rather eat paste. Yet we plug on, hoping that we're going to hear something, anything beyond the mediocre or redundant.

To say that I've really had my fill of the screamy-growly would be an understatement. Many of you have heard me complain about this in previous reviews. While I hate to keep preaching, I can't help but believe that so many of these laryngitic bands could convey so much more if they just knocked it down a peg or two. How many times have you turned on any given music channel (of the rock persuasion) to find a band that sounds like they might be cool. You watch for a few moments as these entertainers inevitably launch into the standard bellowing and howling, grating enough to send all hounds within a two-mile radius nose-first under the nearest soft-thing for cover. Meanwhile you've found yourself with the sudden craving for a throat lozenge. Honestly, I like my music to have substance, meaning (if not meaning, at least be fun and quirky) and to bring some joy to my life. I want my "angry" music to be cathartic, rather than irritating. Is that too much to ask?

Much to my happiness, Adema's Unstable delivered the "I'm feeling pissed off" therapy for which I was seriously in need -- sans squalor. Tunes like "Co-Dependant", "Rip The Heart Out Of Me", "Stand Up" (hitting on the issue of domestic violence), and "Stressin'" deliver straight up aggressive rock without being grating or causing that muscle over my left eye to tick uncontrollably. And that, my friends, is a good thing. In fact I was even able to tolerate "Needles", the only really snarly song of the bunch.

But don't go thinking they're wimpy, oh no! They're certainly tough and fierce enough to keep up with their fellow modern rockers, yet possessing a melodic edge and just a touch of balladeer ("Blame Me", "Promises", "So Fortunate" – which incorporates strings!). Adema has created music that you can sing along to AND rock out with your cock out. You'll be hard pressed to find a better remedy than Unstable.

Pick up Unstable, in stores August 19th. Your therapist will thank you!

www.ademaonline.com