These guys excel at the complex, pummeling Eighties-metal moves that first came into circulation when they were in diapers. "Critical Acclaim" is a barnburner built around a half-dozen or so rather dope riffs. Problem is, there's not much else here beyond the deft instrumental assault: The tunes — or at least whatever M. Shadows feels like bellowing — sound like the kind of lame, nu-metal angst-mongering that dominated the radio in the late Nineties.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.