Cut You with a Linoleum Knife

Been a little while since I've posted here. Sorry about that. Again, things have gotten busy with career stuff.

My review for Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters Colon the Soundtrack can be found [here]. It's a lot of fun.

Let's see what else I have in the recent pile... Shadows Fall's The Threads of Life was underwhelming. I'm a big Shadows Fall fan, and it isn't a bad album by any means, but it didn't grab me the way their last three did. The new Dimmu Borgir, on the other hand, has held up the home listening. Highly recommended. I suppose that's it for now, but I should have some more links and a little reviews for you soon.

Focus Shift

Went to Metal for the Masses last night. It was lots of fun! You can't go, because that was the final night of the tour. Lots of hijinks ensued, mostly aimed at Scar Symmetry and Into Eternity. Scar Symmetry were very impressive, with good stage presence and great songs. The highlight, though, was when Dark Tranquillity's singer appeared onstage between songs dressed as Marilyn Monroe, sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to Scar Symmetry's singer, and presented him with a bottle of some sort of liquor. Then the roadies, dressed as doctors, came onstage during the last song and started removing the drummer's cymbals while he was trying to play. Into Eternity were amazing as always, and had a very interesting backdrop of pornographic magazine pages taped onto their scrims. The roadies also managed to knock over one of the scrims while pretending to feel up the pictures. Pranks aside, Stu Block is still one of the very best front men out there, and the musicianship was phenomenal as always. Dark Tranquillity's set went much more smoothly, and was by far the best show I've ever seen them perform. Great set list (including three brand-new songs from their upcoming album, Fiction), great energy, and a jaw-dropping performance from the entire band. They're the rare band that keeps getting better and better almost 15 years into their career. Even the audience seemed to be there to see Dark Tranquillity, because the crowd thinned out noticeably before the last band. No way The Haunted (or anyone, really) could follow that set, but they were still pretty damn good. Although I'm definitely in the minority, their latest album, The Dead Eye, is my favorite of theirs, so I was pretty happy to see the songs played live. The band was pretty intense, and Peter Dolving is a charismatic front man. Just... unhinged. He went on several odd rants, including one where he exhorted the audience to chant "The clitoris is God." Pretty amazing concert, overall.

Adding to my own personal gratification, they were giving out the issue of Outburn that had my Into Eternity interview. That meant that people were getting my interview signed, and were going to put it on their walls or whatever they do with autographed things. I would have signed it, too! But nobody knew/cared who I was. Of course, I got a copy signed for myself, as a neat keepsake. Makes me feel warm inside.

The Architecture of Loss

Look! Depressing music! New Funeral review is [here].

Apparently, the bassist in that band killed himself, and the guitarist died somehow. So does playing depressing music depress you, or is it the depression that leads to the depressing music? Or is it a vicious cycle? Food for thought. Or not. Up to you, really.

Purple Neon Dream

I'm not dead, I swear! Went on vacation, and then things just caught up on me. I have a couple really good rants brewing, but I need to collect my thoughts before I post them.

For those interested, the new Outburn can be purchased at your local newsstand. Lots of Jeff stuff in there, including a two -page 69 Eyes spread. For those of you who have the magazine, and are wondering what's up with the weird ending of the Megadeth review, I was under the impression that it was 150 word limit as opposed to 200. Oops. Oh well. I'm pretty proud of my work overall in this issue. So far, it looks like I'm going to have at least nine reviews in the next one. Some good stuff. Keep an eye out!

As for stuff available on the inter-web, you can find my Campus Circle live review of Lamb of God [here].

There's also a review of the new Hidden Hand at Transform. You can read that [right here]. Good album. Some of the songs feel incomplete, but there's enough great Wino riffage on it for me to recommend it.

Stay tuned, more stuff coming.

Electric Requiem

Okay, back to the concept album discussion. In college, I took a class on Broadway musicals. In that class, we discussed the purpose of the songs in those musicals. At first glance, it might seem like the songs were used to convey plot. However, in the very best musicals, they are used for the characters to really express their emotions. The plot can be conveyed through the songs, but even then the songs are more about the characters' reactions to the plot. What's important about the songs is that they get across the characters' inner feelings.

For example, look at The Nightmare before Christmas versus Corpse Bride, two musicals that people reading this blog are most likely familiar with. In Nightmare, even the tunes about the story (like "This Is Halloween") contain what the characters think about what is going on, and how they feel about that. In Corpse Bride, the songs are about making a dress or some crap like that, and they just don't work. What does this have to do with concept albums?

Everything. Let's look at Queensryche's Operation: Mind Crime, a classic metal concept album if there ever was one. Just thinking off the top of your head, what are the tracks that you can call up in your head immediately?"Revolution Calling," "Breaking the Silence," "I Don't Believe in Love," and "Eyes of a Stranger." That's what I come up with, at any rate. Why are these the most memorable? Besides the obvious answer of "good songwriting," they represent the emotional peaks of the record. There are, certainly, emotions presence in the other tunes, but a lot of the other songs represent plot delivery, and so they just don't stick in your head. The very same tenets that apply to stage musicals are just as valid for concept albums, if not more so since you don't have the visual aspect to carry you through the boring parts.

Going back to the prompt for this entire mini-essay, Rob Halford has been talking in interviews about how they have a lot of research and material about Nostradamus's life and prophecies. I'm just afraid they're going to concentrate too much on the details, like Therion did on their latest album, Gothic Kabbalah, and not enough on the emotions, which are what most people listen to music for anyway. I don't want to sound, you know, emo, but the neat thing about music is how it can stir up feelings through mere sounds. If I want a story, I'll read a book.

The Foreshadowing Furnace

I'm not sure if this falls more under my personal blog or my music blog, but since it's music related, I'm going to go ahead and post it here. Basically, on Tuesday I attended a listening party at the Key Club downstairs lounge for the new Dimmu Borgir record. The invite alone made me feel like I'm a real music writer! I'm good at self-delusion like that, though. As far as the party itself goes, it was very productive. I met Blasko, who used to play bass for Rob Zombie and now plays for Ozzy Osbourne. For those keeping track, those are two of my favorite artists. He also represents In This Moment, whom I review very positively in the upcoming issue of Outburn. That probably put me on his good side. I asked him about the next Ozzy Osbourne record, and he said that it basically sounds like Black Label Society with Ozzy on vocals. I'm fine with that. I also met Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, the creators of Metalocalypse, one of my current favorite TV shows. Very cool, and very funny, guys. Chatted with Tommy for a while, which ended up being beneficial for my screenwriting career, but that is for another blog. They also had a chocolate fountain there! Good times.

But you want to know about Dimmu Borgir, right? I obviously can't give a very detailed review but my impression was positive. It seems like a good mix between the old kvlt/grim stuff, and the newer overblown symphonic stuff. Less immediately catchy and far more brutal than Death Cult, but it did have pristine production and symphonic elements, for whatever that's worth. Sounded good, overall. More details when I can sit down with the thing.

The Chainsaw Buffet

Lordi review went up today. Really fun stuff, 80s arena metal with a monster theme. Another highly recommended release. (click here for review)

I'm very confused. Several Echoes of Eternity reviews went up this week. No, I'm not confused that they went up. I'm confused at the fact that they were very positive! For those unfamiliar with the band, they sort of sound like what Lacuna Coil would sound like if Lacuna Coil were American, and really boring with no songwriting ability. I saw them live, and reviewed their debut album for the upcoming issue of Outburn, and both experiences were beyond underwhelming. Live, they had no real stage presence or interesting musical dynamics, and were buoyed only by the fact that their singer is quite attractive. On record, the lack of dynamics and riffs and anything really memorable at all presented an even bigger handicap. Maybe their sophomore effort will be better, but they aren't there yet. I know I'm not the only one -- consensus on a critic message board I post on seemed to range from indifference to outright hatred. However, a sampling of the first four online reviews I came across, as you can see above, seem to have been far more impressed by their listening experience. Am I just cynical from hearing tons of bands that sound like that? Is my quality radar that far off? Am I the only one that can see past the hilarious publicity photo of the singer baring her cleavage like it's under inspection or something? Or is this simply a matter of differing tastes? I would say it was the last one, but I generally like that sort of thing! As Dio once said, it's always a mystery. Being fairly confident in my own taste and opinion, I would be remiss if I didn't warn you: it is not a good record. Stay away.

Dominate the Human Strain

Novembers Doom review is up. General gist of it: fantastic death-doom. Highly recommended. (click here for review)

Meanwhile, went to the Lamb of God/Trivium/Machine Head/Gojira tour last night. Gojira were good, although the crappy Wiltern sound sucked out a lot of the nuances, leaving it just sort of a rumbling din. Machine Head were fantastic as usual. No surprise there. Lamb of God still fail to interest me much. I like the idea of the band. I just don't like their music. Good energy, but nothing grabs me.

The really illuminating performance belonged to Trivium. Now, I've seen them live before, touring off their last record. Seeing them play stuff from The Crusade live, though, crystallized my thoughts on the band's new direction: they're basically like a bunch of kids playing "thrash band." They ran around on stage like excited puppies, wanting the audience to love them. The new songs were a lot of fun, retarded lyrics aside (DRAGON!), but it struck me as sort of like going to see an 80s metal cover band. However, after seeing the songs live, I do like the album more now that I've sorted that out for myself. Unless there's someone obvious I'm not thinking of, it seems like they've basically invented pop thrash.

Dead As You Die (REVIEW)

Mendeed - The Dead Live by Love (Nuclear Blast):
Mendeed's first one was a blatant Shadows Fall rip, but their latest is more of the Children of Bodom/Dragonforce speed power-death/Nintendo-Thrash/ADD-overdrive variety. So much so, in fact, that the 99-track copy protection on the promo makes it difficult to tell when one song ends and the next one starts. Pretty well done, though, and they avoid Dragonforce's biggest problem, in that the vocals actually fit with the music by alternating between growling and singing and Mustaine-whining when the tempo calls for it. The band's ambition only occasionally over-extends its reach, so most of the wankery isn't too embarrassing. The songs themselves, however, hew closer to the Dragonforce "wow that was cool and fast and I don't remember a damn bit of it the second it's over" style than the Bodom catchiness-first approach. Mendeed do try for big vocal hooks. The hooks just don't stick. "Gravedigger" probably comes the closest, with its "Reap what you sow!" chant. Not particularly original or memorable, but a very enjoyable listen. Fans of Children of Bodom or Dragonforce should dig this, big surprise. It makes great workout music!

You've Got Another Thing Coming

So, new Judas Priest record is not only a concept album about Nostradamus, it might be a twofer! That pretty much means that that thing is doomed to horrible flaming failure. Very few bands have successfully pulled off concept albums, even fewer double albums. Pink Floyd, who caught the great white whale and made an excellent two-disc concept album, are the obvious exception here, but Pink Floyd understood something that a lot of modern bands just don't: the story is always subordinate to the music. If you have a truly great, fascinating story that you absolutely must tell, and it isn't served best by setting it to music, write a damn novel. Musicians are obviously most comfortable working within the realm of music, so when they have the need to get these epic stories out, they go with a medium that just might not be the correct one for their vision. The Wall works because it's about, you know, a musician, so setting it to music was the right choice. Same with Ziggy Stardust. And, even though those have stories, the stories don't get in the way of the music. You can enjoy the songs individually without ever hearing the entire record. Hell, you can hear the entire album without even knowing that it's supposed to be a concept album. As much as I love Priest, and as great as their individual story songs are, I just don't think they're approaching this concept album with the right attitude. But hey, I would love to be proved wrong.

Tonight We Ride

So, for my first actual post about music, I figured I would tackle the title and address of this blog. Alert Blue Oyster Cult fans will recognize that said labels both come from, well, Blue Oyster Cult. Why the fascination with azure mollusk fanatics? Well, they were one of the first bands that I sort of stumbled upon following the inevitable "wait, Dave Matthews Band and Hootie & The Blowfish sort of suck, I wonder what else is out there" revelation. I mean, besides the obvious stuff like Black Sabbath and Guns and Roses. This was a band that I found myself! Well, I probably found it through hearing the song "Godzilla" in a great music video on the late, lamented TNT show Monster Vision, but you get the idea. That lead me to believe that they were a joke band, but I purchased the excellent two-disc anthology Workshop of the Telescopes on a whim, and loved it. Hell, by this point I've worn out the second disc, the one with all their poppy stuff on it. Basically, what I love about Blue Oyster Cult is that they were probably the smartest 70s hard rock/proto-metal band. Alice Cooper was clever, sure, Black Sabbath were scary, Deep Purple more overdriven, KISS bigger dumber fun, Led Zeppelin just more, but BOC were the most articulate and intelligent lyricists. Plus, they had great tunes and hooks, definitely a bonus. It probably helped that they had music critics and brilliant sci-fi/fantasy author Michael Moorcock writing for them. Unfortunately, they were probably too smart for their own good, to the point of obtuseness. They should have put on makeup and sung about girls instead. Probably would've been much bigger.

Relatively recently, Columbia started re-issuing their albums, so I decided to start with Agents of Fortune, i.e. the one with "Don't Fear the Reaper." I don't have much to say about this record that Chuck Eddy didn't cover in his essential book Stairway to Hell: the 500 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums in the Universe, but I highly recommend it. Spring for the reissue, which has an extremely catchy early version of "Fire of Unknown Origin," and a pre-cowbell, hippie-dippy demo of the megahit mentioned above. The cowbell was, indeed, an excellent choice.

(And please don't leave "More cowbell!" comments. They are neither clever nor funny.)

Music, Music, I Hear Music

So, first post in what's supposed to be my respectable music blog. I have a live journal, but there's a lot of stupid personal stuff on there that nobody cares about. So, I made my way to blogger for my music journaling needs. For those unfamiliar with my (not) vast body of work, I write for Outburn magazine, Transform Online, Metal Eater, Campus Circle and soon Lambgoat. Recently, I've decided to embark on a project to familiarize myself with, for lack of a better phrase, groups that I should be familiar with. One of my friends remarked that my CD collection was embarrassing, and while I wouldn't go that far (if I was reviewing Britpop, I would hang my head in shame, but as far as hard rock/metal goes, it ain't bad at all), it never hurts to expand your horizons. So, I will be reporting on my discoveries here, and talking about music-related stuff that I don't have a forum for elsewhere. I'm sure you're looking forward to it.