by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The title isn't really a joke, actually. Machine Head do take some chances on their second album, The More Things Change..., expanding their brutal attack with gothic flourishes and prog rock pretensions without ever abandoning their blistering thrash metal roots. And that's good -- few bands have the appealing, gut-level visceral attack of Machine Head and The More Things Change... proves they are among the more vital metal bands of the latter half of the '90s.