By Naheil Qudah
Staff Writer
Dear Liam and Noel Gallagher: I know that you both have egos the size of the sun, but your God complex hasn't rendered you completely insusceptible to criticism. So, listen here: man up, quit your whining and stop polluting the music industry with your trivial arguments. What, you can't appreciate the obscene level of fame that your Brit-rock band Oasis has reached without giving in to the need to publicly cry about each other? Fine, but give me your tears so I can sell them on eBay for a hefty sum, you whiny, world-famous girls.
Have you seen these two at it? Liam and Noel (the band's lead singer and guitarist, respectively) are like the poster children for sibling rivalry, save Cain and Abel. I wouldn't be surprised if more ink has been spilled over their constant personal issues and power struggle for leadership of the band than has been over their music. The two had their final family feud last week when Noel quit the band (AGAIN) in the middle of a tour (AGAIN). The public statement that he released on the band's website read that he "simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer".
It's completely understandable for a band's offstage tension to manifest itself in the public scene, and I'm definitely not saying that they should have stuck together forever. Did they make great music? Absolutely, which makes their decision to let talent take backseat to an intense public display of unresolved childhood competition just that much more obnoxious. But once the magic in a band is gone, it's gone. And if the two leaders were really at the end of their ropes, it's likely that whatever music they produced in the future would lack the comfortable passion that everyone bought and loved.
But REALLY, Noel? You simply could not go on for a few more days and avoid disappointing thousands of international fans by holding it together for three more sold-out shows?
A Rolling Stone article stated that they actually broke the news at a concert, where the audience had already gathered. It blows my mind that the musicians would disappoint so many people over a problem within the band, deep-rooted as it may be. Maybe they've forgotten what it feels like to be a fan who has shelled out several paychecks and waited with breath abated for months to hear one of the biggest names in the industry, but it's hard to respect anybody who would make a move like that.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Union Grounds "Unplugged"
By Matt Speanburg
TCU kicks off the school year with yet another unique event, The Union Grounds “Unplugged,” which gives students the opportunity to kick back, drink some coffee, and take a break from their studies to enjoy music from their own classmates. Robin Darcy, a junior graphic design major, opened the event Wednesday night with her unique style, acoustic guitar and soft voice.
Darcy mic checked at 10 p.m. right outside of the Union Grounds Coffee shop, and didn’t stop for a half hour, mixing in her original music with covered songs such as, “Save Tonight”, “Beautiful Soul”, and “Come On Get Higher.” With just an acoustic guitar, a roll-away speaker and a microphone, Darcy entertained a fairly large group (for an opening night) until she ran out of original songs and sheet music. “I’ve been writing and playing guitar since middle school,” said Darcy, “But I’ve never actually performed in front of anyone besides my dad until my senior year of high school.” Darcy has been given the opportunity to record the song “I Love You” in three weeks down in Austin. “It’s a great opportunity for me, and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Darcy said. Apart from singing, Robin is a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and is originally from San Diego, California. To listen or download some of Robin’s music, check out her MySpace page, and look for her on ITunes.
The Union Ground “Unplugged” music event will be held every Wednesday night at 10 pm and will feature a new TCU student every week. Also, Thursday nights at 10 pm, 1873 will be hosting “Open Mic Night” for anyone who wants to come and get up in front of a crowd and entertain. Come out, relax, and get your mind of all of that reading.
TCU kicks off the school year with yet another unique event, The Union Grounds “Unplugged,” which gives students the opportunity to kick back, drink some coffee, and take a break from their studies to enjoy music from their own classmates. Robin Darcy, a junior graphic design major, opened the event Wednesday night with her unique style, acoustic guitar and soft voice.
Darcy mic checked at 10 p.m. right outside of the Union Grounds Coffee shop, and didn’t stop for a half hour, mixing in her original music with covered songs such as, “Save Tonight”, “Beautiful Soul”, and “Come On Get Higher.” With just an acoustic guitar, a roll-away speaker and a microphone, Darcy entertained a fairly large group (for an opening night) until she ran out of original songs and sheet music. “I’ve been writing and playing guitar since middle school,” said Darcy, “But I’ve never actually performed in front of anyone besides my dad until my senior year of high school.” Darcy has been given the opportunity to record the song “I Love You” in three weeks down in Austin. “It’s a great opportunity for me, and we’ll see where it goes from there,” Darcy said. Apart from singing, Robin is a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and is originally from San Diego, California. To listen or download some of Robin’s music, check out her MySpace page, and look for her on ITunes.
The Union Ground “Unplugged” music event will be held every Wednesday night at 10 pm and will feature a new TCU student every week. Also, Thursday nights at 10 pm, 1873 will be hosting “Open Mic Night” for anyone who wants to come and get up in front of a crowd and entertain. Come out, relax, and get your mind of all of that reading.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dethklok and Mastodon Embark on Face-melting Metal Tour
Fake band. Real music.
On the show "Metalocalypse," the band Dethklok enjoys near unanimous support from literally billions of fans eager to give their lives to give a sacrifice at the altar of heavy metal.
On late-night's Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, Dethklok is both a funny satire and a tribute to heavy metal bands with all its cliches still attached.
Now they will be touring again on the heels of their second album, the aptly-named "Dethalbum 2" that releases on September 29th. Song titles include "I Tamper with the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin" and "Laser Cannon Deth Sentence." If you don't know what kind of music they make judging a book by its cover, I will just say that it's "brutal."
In reality, the band is headed up by show creator Brendon Small on guitar with a slew of veteran metal musicians like guitarist Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa) drummer Gene Hoglan (Testament, Opeth) and bassist Bryan Beller (Steve Vai).
Fictional bands who enjoy mainstream success are nothing new. Gorillaz were started as a side project by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and "Tank Girl" cartoonist Jamie Hewlett. Even before them, the Archies (based on the comic "Archie" and all its spinoffs like "Jughead") and Josie and the Pussycats (based on the 1970's Hanna Barbera cartoon) played their infectious bubblegum pop for pre-teens before the Disney Channel made pre-packaged stars out of Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.
And who could forget Alvin and the Chipmunks, the first "virtual band." Even after years of Electro-shock therapy, I cannot.
In addition to being headquarters of Adult Swim, Atlanta, Georgia is also home to Mastodon, the critically acclaimed band that shares the bill with Dethklok.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
"The Soloist" Review
The formula seems perfect: Take a director pedigreed in Oscar-nominated period pieces like "Atonement" and "Pride and Prejudice" and give him two Oscar-nominated performers in Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx for a remarkable true story. Sounds like a surefire candidate for Best Picture right?
Maybe.
Robert Downey Jr. plays LA Times columnist Steve Lopez, a brash constantly put-upon man in a newspaper industry that's axing veteran writers left and right. He finds an idea for a story in Nathaniel Ayers, a disturbed homeless man who also happens to be a musical prodigy playing for passing cars on a busy street.
The problem with the Soloist is that while Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx's performances are great, the film itself seems to be pulled in a lot of different directions. One minute it's an ode to the love of music and the next it's a portrait of a gifted but troubled genius before finally becoming a meditation on the issue of homelessness in America.
Any one of these topics would have worked on their own, but together the film feels cluttered and a little unfocused. It's through no fault of director Joe Wright, whose delicate touches are refreshing in a film that could've just hammered the audience with overwrought symbolism. The screenwriter Susannah Grant had a lot to work with from Lopez' book of the same name and it feels like she tried to hit all of the high notes.
While it's not really important that the film gets an Oscar nod like the rest in Wright's stable, the film has a good message, if only a little messy in getting its point across.
Grade: B+
The Good, the Bad and the Bizarre: Found Footage Festival
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
From cheesy 80's promotional videos for restaurants like Chick Fil A (pictured at right) to 17 sexual harassment training videos pared down to a "Best of" montage of reenactments and a music video made by a couple of wrestlers who call themselves the Fabulous Ones, the Found Footage Festival is a national tour showcasing the weirdest videos scraped off the floors of restaurants and only the highest-quality thrift stores and garage sales.
The videos have a "so bad it's good" quality to them. The washed-out color and VHS quality gives the footage a kind of public-access TV charm. The humor is mostly unintentional like the seriousness and earnestness of sexual harassment reenactments and also there's "Murder She Wrote" star Angela Lansbury in her skivvies.
The minds behind the festival are Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, whose writing credits include the Late Show with David Letterman, reputable stalwarts of internet journalism the Onion and conservative savior The Colbert Report.
With video contributions from David Cross (Mr. Show with Bob and David) and Chris Elliott (Saturday Night Live),
The pair will take their show on the road to Dallas' Lakewood Theater on Friday May 8th at 8 p.m. Tickets are ten bucks and I'm sure it would be worth it just to see the instructional video on how to toilet-train cats (it's funny and informative too!).
For more info, check out the website at www.foundfootagefestival.com
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Valentine's Day in April?
By Naheil Qudah
Staff Reporter
That's correct! But think less roses and greeting cards, and more guts and glory. I'm talking about the four-stint reunion tour that self-proclaimed alternative band My Bloody Valentine kicked off this week after performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California. They showed Texas some love by hitting up Austin Music Hall in the state capital last Tuesday, April 21 before playing the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas the following night.
You know the band's unmistakable sound, but what about their performance?
Reaching their peak in the early 90's, the band is widely attributed as generating and influencing many of the decade's "shoegazing" bands. The genre got its name from the inanimate nature that its musicians took on when performing and the crowd at the My Bloody Valentine concert took on the same look, standing dumbstruck while the band invaded the room with its experimental tunes and unassuming stage presence.
The band was in a similarly trance-like state: they addressed the audience only once, when guitarist Bilinda Butcher coquettishly waved and replied to an overexcited fan, "We love you, too!" At all other times the members were focused solely on producing a cohesive and emotional sound through their instruments and microphones. The show was a bigger tribute to instrumentation than anything else- you could hardly hear the vocals, but you knew something must be coming out of frontman Kevin Shield's and guitarist Belinda Butcher's mouth movements- so listeners who feel the need to connect with a performer through the sound of their voice would likely be left unsatisfied.
But the hard-hitting music! You know you're going to hear something intense when the doormen issue you earplugs upon entry (true story). The sound was wild, tremendous and fierce and the audience stood motionless, allowing it to pulse through them. World's calmest crowd, or the embodiment of ripping reverence? Answer choice B, please.
And the biggest highlight? Just before the concert ended, the sound approached a volume level that at once petrified and delighted the audience. In the middle of their final song, You Made Me Realise, all four members entered a zone of concentration and delivered an explosive sound that literally shook the room, playing an ear-splitting and vocal-free rhythm that stayed steady for the most part but slowly introduced intricate nuances. A wall of feedback. Hypnosis at its finest. The 13 minute auditory stare game left audience members unsure of whether to headbang or shoegaze. Instead, everyone buried their fingers in their ears, squinted their eyes, contorted their faces and moved forward, loose-limbed and slack-jawed.
When the emotional cacophony was over, a cursory glance around the room showed open-mouthed listeners whose shocked and hungry faces were illuminated by uneven strobe lights. Even more impressive was the way that the band picked up where they left off before the sound-off and completed the melodic song without skipping a beat.
Their performance seemed like something from outer space, and the audience member in front of me astutely hypothesized that this must be what it sounds like to be sucked into a black hole. Loud enough to make the earplugs necessary, vicious enough to make your hair and clothes literally vibrate throughout the entire performance.
More than just a concert, seeing My Bloody Valentine live was a full-body audiovisual experience for spectators' minds and senses.
"What the hell just happened?" I wondered out loud after the show.
"I think I saw Jesus!" the guy on my left exclaimed.
If you ever get a chance to see the band live, don't just take the opportunity; take a friend and spread the V-Day love. It will be a greater experience than either of you are possibly able to expect.
Staff Reporter
That's correct! But think less roses and greeting cards, and more guts and glory. I'm talking about the four-stint reunion tour that self-proclaimed alternative band My Bloody Valentine kicked off this week after performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California. They showed Texas some love by hitting up Austin Music Hall in the state capital last Tuesday, April 21 before playing the Palladium Ballroom in Dallas the following night.
You know the band's unmistakable sound, but what about their performance?
Reaching their peak in the early 90's, the band is widely attributed as generating and influencing many of the decade's "shoegazing" bands. The genre got its name from the inanimate nature that its musicians took on when performing and the crowd at the My Bloody Valentine concert took on the same look, standing dumbstruck while the band invaded the room with its experimental tunes and unassuming stage presence.
The band was in a similarly trance-like state: they addressed the audience only once, when guitarist Bilinda Butcher coquettishly waved and replied to an overexcited fan, "We love you, too!" At all other times the members were focused solely on producing a cohesive and emotional sound through their instruments and microphones. The show was a bigger tribute to instrumentation than anything else- you could hardly hear the vocals, but you knew something must be coming out of frontman Kevin Shield's and guitarist Belinda Butcher's mouth movements- so listeners who feel the need to connect with a performer through the sound of their voice would likely be left unsatisfied.
But the hard-hitting music! You know you're going to hear something intense when the doormen issue you earplugs upon entry (true story). The sound was wild, tremendous and fierce and the audience stood motionless, allowing it to pulse through them. World's calmest crowd, or the embodiment of ripping reverence? Answer choice B, please.
And the biggest highlight? Just before the concert ended, the sound approached a volume level that at once petrified and delighted the audience. In the middle of their final song, You Made Me Realise, all four members entered a zone of concentration and delivered an explosive sound that literally shook the room, playing an ear-splitting and vocal-free rhythm that stayed steady for the most part but slowly introduced intricate nuances. A wall of feedback. Hypnosis at its finest. The 13 minute auditory stare game left audience members unsure of whether to headbang or shoegaze. Instead, everyone buried their fingers in their ears, squinted their eyes, contorted their faces and moved forward, loose-limbed and slack-jawed.
When the emotional cacophony was over, a cursory glance around the room showed open-mouthed listeners whose shocked and hungry faces were illuminated by uneven strobe lights. Even more impressive was the way that the band picked up where they left off before the sound-off and completed the melodic song without skipping a beat.
Their performance seemed like something from outer space, and the audience member in front of me astutely hypothesized that this must be what it sounds like to be sucked into a black hole. Loud enough to make the earplugs necessary, vicious enough to make your hair and clothes literally vibrate throughout the entire performance.
More than just a concert, seeing My Bloody Valentine live was a full-body audiovisual experience for spectators' minds and senses.
"What the hell just happened?" I wondered out loud after the show.
"I think I saw Jesus!" the guy on my left exclaimed.
If you ever get a chance to see the band live, don't just take the opportunity; take a friend and spread the V-Day love. It will be a greater experience than either of you are possibly able to expect.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Metal Band Lamb of God Stick To The Formula That Works
Listeners might think Lamb of God is a Christian rock band judging by the name of their band, the biblical tinges in their music and the first track off their newest album "Wrath."
Bu then they would be in for an unpleasant surprise.
The lull is short-lived and the full-blast barrage of “In Your Words” begins. It’s almost as if the band wanted to get some calm guitar passages off their chest before things get heavy and the band doesn’t let up until the end.
The themes of destruction and rebirth are constant. The band even reaches for a political post-9/11 song with the closer "Reclamation" which features lyrics like "Humanity's a failed experiment, walking the path to extinction, spinning it's wheels endlessly. Grease them with oil and uranium."
Kind of a downer, but if you have listened to them before, you should know by now what to expect, which leads to me to my only criticism of the album. Fiercely technical and lean in the fretwork without sounding sterile and robotic, the band doesn’t waste any time in saying what it wants to say and nothing more, nothing less but this virtue also turns out to be the band’s greatest vice.
There’s little filler to be heard and the songs are solid enough to be memorable, but at the same time there’s little room for experimentation. If you like your heavy metal traditional and to the point, you won’t have a problem with it but those expecting the eclectic mix of styles from bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan or Mastodon will look elsewhere.
The band started in 1990 as the instrumental group Burn the Priest. They got a new name, a vocalist and the since the move they have enjoyed mainstream success on their 2004 album “Ashes of the Wake." That album yielded a critical and commercial hit with “Laid to Rest.”
Lamb of God has often seen comparisons with the local and legendary Texas metal band Pantera for their emphasis on rhythm and syncopation of the drums, guitars and bass rather than style points like many metal bands seem to be aiming for nowadays.
All in all, the highlight tracks for me are "In Your Words," "Set to Fail," and "From Everything to Nothing."
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Billy Bob Thornton Gets Thorny (Sorry for the Pun)
Evidently actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton got a little peeved when the host of a Canadian radio show introduced him and his band the Boxmasters by first mentioning that he's an actor.
Thornton argued that it was agreed that the producer of the show was told not to have any references to Thornton's actor past, not that it's shady or anything to be ashamed of. The guy has got
What transpired soon after could be described as a "WTF" moment. Thornton half-responded to questions like his musical influences by bringing up a magazine about "film monsters" and mashed potatoes. The bizarre awkwardness, Thornton's gravelly voice and laconic behavior suggested a cowboy on codeine.
His band's pretty good though.
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/qpodcast_20090408_14110.mp3
Thornton argued that it was agreed that the producer of the show was told not to have any references to Thornton's actor past, not that it's shady or anything to be ashamed of. The guy has got
What transpired soon after could be described as a "WTF" moment. Thornton half-responded to questions like his musical influences by bringing up a magazine about "film monsters" and mashed potatoes. The bizarre awkwardness, Thornton's gravelly voice and laconic behavior suggested a cowboy on codeine.
His band's pretty good though.
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/qpodcast_20090408_14110.mp3
Saturday, March 14, 2009
5 Cover Songs that Will Make You Cringe
By Naheil Qudah
Staff Reporter
Covers can be a wonderful thing. When well-executed, they can make you enjoy a song you never cared for, force you to hear new elements in a song you already loved or introduce you to an excellent band.
But sometimes they are a slow, painful way to rip any semblance of talent and emotion out of great originals. Below is my list of the five worst offenders.
5. American Pie, Madonna (originally by Don McLean)
It’s pretty ironic to hear a bad cover of a song about the decline of good music. The original is rumored to be about the death of Buddy Holly but this version is far too upbeat, making it sound like it was engineered for the dance floor. It has no escalation or emotion- but what it lacks there, it makes up for with too much reverb. It strips away the raw sound in the vocals that made the original song so earnest. Madonna may be talented, but this version has no perspective or sincerity.
4. Under the Bridge, All Saints (originally by the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
This is not just a bad cover, wasting no time damaging this classic Chili Peppers single- it’s a bad song, instrumentally weak and vocally insulting. It immediately attacks the paramount opening riff- arguably the best part of the original- by splicing it and speeding it up unnecessarily. The drum machine just makes it worse. The vocals sound more like girl power than a tribute to loneliness and loss. I can’t imagine how they obtained rights to cover this song.
3. House of the Rising Sun, Muse (traditional folk song, popularized by The Animals)
Muse is one of my favorite bands, so when I heard they had covered this tune I couldn't wait to hear their interpretation. Matthew Bellamy's vocals are strong and expressive as usual, but he went too hard on the vibrato. The effect? It sounds like he’s gasping for air most of the song. The worst part is the amount of distortion and synthesizers that found their way into this track, taking away the simplicity that made House of the Rising Sun such a classic. For a better cover, seek out Frigid Pink’s version.
2. Another Brick in the Wall, Korn (originally by Pink Floyd)
This track is a medley of four Floyd songs: all three parts of Another Brick in the World followed by Goodbye Cruel World. It is the product of the band’s massive struggle between trying to maintaining their sound while trying to keep the hard-hitting punch of the original songs. Floyd fans know that doing these songs consecutively weakens the model of Pink’s gradual growth from the album The Wall. Korn throws their angst in way too early at Part II, replacing the original’s thin use of electric guitar for the melody with heavy distortion and in-your-face downstrums. The instrumentation on this track probably won’t sound bad to fans of this genre, but from a conceptual standpoint it clearly ruins the passive-aggressive sound of a youthful backlash that was present in the original songs.
1. My Generation, Hilary Duff (originally by The Who)
Before you hunt this down on YouTube, decide how hard you want to cry so you can increase your speaker volume accordingly. Decades ago The Who smashed guitars and blew up drums to this song, but this version is an over-produced pop track with cheap techno undertones. In this unfortunate cover, reverb is allowed to run rampant and John Entwistle's epic bass solo is replaced by terrestrial, laser-like sounds. The original song was about refusing to be told what to do and never becoming one of the old disciplinarians who try to contain the youth ("I hope I die before I get old", sings frontman Roger Daltrey). This cover has a lyrical switch that undermined the song's entire message as Duff sings "I hope I don't die before I get old." Given the demographics of Duff’s fanbase, I understand the original lyrics might have upset some parents. The obvious solution would have been to leave this anthem of rebellion to The Who and not to cover it unless you’re absolutely certain you can deliver the angst of downtrodden mods from the 60's.
I’m a big proponent of making a song your own when covering it. It doesn’t have to sound exactly like the original but retaining its message is important, excepting situations where the covering artist is specifically trying to make a point (consider the Dead Kennedys’ version of I Fought the Law, in which front man Jello Biafra changes the lyrics to illustrate how money and social position can override legality). That said, sometimes a cover that sounds radically different from the original works out marvelously. Context and meaning are easily as important as instrumentation and vocals, and damaging only one of these elements will damage the song as a whole. Tying them all together is the foundation of not only a good cover, but a good song.
Staff Reporter
Covers can be a wonderful thing. When well-executed, they can make you enjoy a song you never cared for, force you to hear new elements in a song you already loved or introduce you to an excellent band.
But sometimes they are a slow, painful way to rip any semblance of talent and emotion out of great originals. Below is my list of the five worst offenders.
5. American Pie, Madonna (originally by Don McLean)
It’s pretty ironic to hear a bad cover of a song about the decline of good music. The original is rumored to be about the death of Buddy Holly but this version is far too upbeat, making it sound like it was engineered for the dance floor. It has no escalation or emotion- but what it lacks there, it makes up for with too much reverb. It strips away the raw sound in the vocals that made the original song so earnest. Madonna may be talented, but this version has no perspective or sincerity.
4. Under the Bridge, All Saints (originally by the Red Hot Chili Peppers)
This is not just a bad cover, wasting no time damaging this classic Chili Peppers single- it’s a bad song, instrumentally weak and vocally insulting. It immediately attacks the paramount opening riff- arguably the best part of the original- by splicing it and speeding it up unnecessarily. The drum machine just makes it worse. The vocals sound more like girl power than a tribute to loneliness and loss. I can’t imagine how they obtained rights to cover this song.
3. House of the Rising Sun, Muse (traditional folk song, popularized by The Animals)
Muse is one of my favorite bands, so when I heard they had covered this tune I couldn't wait to hear their interpretation. Matthew Bellamy's vocals are strong and expressive as usual, but he went too hard on the vibrato. The effect? It sounds like he’s gasping for air most of the song. The worst part is the amount of distortion and synthesizers that found their way into this track, taking away the simplicity that made House of the Rising Sun such a classic. For a better cover, seek out Frigid Pink’s version.
2. Another Brick in the Wall, Korn (originally by Pink Floyd)
This track is a medley of four Floyd songs: all three parts of Another Brick in the World followed by Goodbye Cruel World. It is the product of the band’s massive struggle between trying to maintaining their sound while trying to keep the hard-hitting punch of the original songs. Floyd fans know that doing these songs consecutively weakens the model of Pink’s gradual growth from the album The Wall. Korn throws their angst in way too early at Part II, replacing the original’s thin use of electric guitar for the melody with heavy distortion and in-your-face downstrums. The instrumentation on this track probably won’t sound bad to fans of this genre, but from a conceptual standpoint it clearly ruins the passive-aggressive sound of a youthful backlash that was present in the original songs.
1. My Generation, Hilary Duff (originally by The Who)
Before you hunt this down on YouTube, decide how hard you want to cry so you can increase your speaker volume accordingly. Decades ago The Who smashed guitars and blew up drums to this song, but this version is an over-produced pop track with cheap techno undertones. In this unfortunate cover, reverb is allowed to run rampant and John Entwistle's epic bass solo is replaced by terrestrial, laser-like sounds. The original song was about refusing to be told what to do and never becoming one of the old disciplinarians who try to contain the youth ("I hope I die before I get old", sings frontman Roger Daltrey). This cover has a lyrical switch that undermined the song's entire message as Duff sings "I hope I don't die before I get old." Given the demographics of Duff’s fanbase, I understand the original lyrics might have upset some parents. The obvious solution would have been to leave this anthem of rebellion to The Who and not to cover it unless you’re absolutely certain you can deliver the angst of downtrodden mods from the 60's.
I’m a big proponent of making a song your own when covering it. It doesn’t have to sound exactly like the original but retaining its message is important, excepting situations where the covering artist is specifically trying to make a point (consider the Dead Kennedys’ version of I Fought the Law, in which front man Jello Biafra changes the lyrics to illustrate how money and social position can override legality). That said, sometimes a cover that sounds radically different from the original works out marvelously. Context and meaning are easily as important as instrumentation and vocals, and damaging only one of these elements will damage the song as a whole. Tying them all together is the foundation of not only a good cover, but a good song.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Aardvark: Flickerstick's Final Fort Worth Show
By Naheil Qudah
Staff Reporter
Flickerstick, one of Fort Worth’s most famous bands, played their last Panther City show Saturday February 28 after 13 years of playing music.
Menkena, a Dallas acoustic shoegaze band, started off the night with some slow melodies. Their songs were performed well, although first-time listeners who rely on the bassline of a song to add depth and set tone would likely be disappointed. The bassist’s instrumentation seemed redundant in conjunction with the rhythm guitar, although he also provided excellent backup vocals.
Stella Rose, a rock band made up of three TCU alumni, followed Menkena and brought far more passion to the stage. Singer and guitarist Stephen Beatty displayed a powerful and punchy voice, bassist McKenna Madget wasn’t still for a moment and perspiration-soaked drummer Matt Mabe stuck around to punch in the front of his bass drum before strutting off stage. The music was exciting and well-written, although the band’s connection with the audience was weak. There seemed to be a communication barrier between the band and the audience, but that didn’t stop the audience from staying in motion and applauding enthusiastically after each song.
An impatient audience pressed against the stage and waited for the headlining band. Concert-goers shared stories of their first Flickerstick show, telling each other which songs got them through which breakups and which ones made them pick up an instrument. Just as people were getting lost in their nostalgia, the lights dimmed and the band walked on stage.
It was at this point that I noticed several audience members in front of me wearing earplugs, a precaution I later regretted not taking. I was entirely unprepared for the side effects of standing in the second row for two hours of excruciatingly loud and beautifully performed rock music.
Frontman Brandin Lea exhibited extreme talent with his vocals and musical performance. He refrained from playing guitar for the first two tracks, choosing instead to showcase his vocals. His passion for singing brought him to his knees several times and would continue to do so throughout the night. Once he picked up his guitar he played so powerfully that it only took a few songs before he drew blood from his strumming hand.
Lea expressed remorse that his brother and the band’s bassist Fletcher Lea was overseas during the last show. His duties were taken up by Jeremy Hull of local outfit Holy Moly, who gave an excellent performance (particularly considering that he only had one formal rehearsal with the band). Guitarists Tim Locke and Rex Ewing gave solid performances in addition to drummer Todd Harwell.
Brandin Lea became visibly more emotional as the show progressed. In an explosive finish the band left the stage and was immediately attacked by cries for an encore. Lea came out and performed a few solo songs, finally laying still on the stage for a little under a minute. Before exiting, he performed one last song that seemed to be dedicated to the audience. "Thirteen years," he sang into the microphone before walking away.
It was a wonderful show: an emotional and excellent end to a Fort Worth legacy. The lengthy standing ovation made it clear that the band will be greatly missed.
Staff Reporter
Flickerstick, one of Fort Worth’s most famous bands, played their last Panther City show Saturday February 28 after 13 years of playing music.
Menkena, a Dallas acoustic shoegaze band, started off the night with some slow melodies. Their songs were performed well, although first-time listeners who rely on the bassline of a song to add depth and set tone would likely be disappointed. The bassist’s instrumentation seemed redundant in conjunction with the rhythm guitar, although he also provided excellent backup vocals.
Stella Rose, a rock band made up of three TCU alumni, followed Menkena and brought far more passion to the stage. Singer and guitarist Stephen Beatty displayed a powerful and punchy voice, bassist McKenna Madget wasn’t still for a moment and perspiration-soaked drummer Matt Mabe stuck around to punch in the front of his bass drum before strutting off stage. The music was exciting and well-written, although the band’s connection with the audience was weak. There seemed to be a communication barrier between the band and the audience, but that didn’t stop the audience from staying in motion and applauding enthusiastically after each song.
An impatient audience pressed against the stage and waited for the headlining band. Concert-goers shared stories of their first Flickerstick show, telling each other which songs got them through which breakups and which ones made them pick up an instrument. Just as people were getting lost in their nostalgia, the lights dimmed and the band walked on stage.
It was at this point that I noticed several audience members in front of me wearing earplugs, a precaution I later regretted not taking. I was entirely unprepared for the side effects of standing in the second row for two hours of excruciatingly loud and beautifully performed rock music.
Frontman Brandin Lea exhibited extreme talent with his vocals and musical performance. He refrained from playing guitar for the first two tracks, choosing instead to showcase his vocals. His passion for singing brought him to his knees several times and would continue to do so throughout the night. Once he picked up his guitar he played so powerfully that it only took a few songs before he drew blood from his strumming hand.
Lea expressed remorse that his brother and the band’s bassist Fletcher Lea was overseas during the last show. His duties were taken up by Jeremy Hull of local outfit Holy Moly, who gave an excellent performance (particularly considering that he only had one formal rehearsal with the band). Guitarists Tim Locke and Rex Ewing gave solid performances in addition to drummer Todd Harwell.
Brandin Lea became visibly more emotional as the show progressed. In an explosive finish the band left the stage and was immediately attacked by cries for an encore. Lea came out and performed a few solo songs, finally laying still on the stage for a little under a minute. Before exiting, he performed one last song that seemed to be dedicated to the audience. "Thirteen years," he sang into the microphone before walking away.
It was a wonderful show: an emotional and excellent end to a Fort Worth legacy. The lengthy standing ovation made it clear that the band will be greatly missed.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
For Your Consideration: Local Open Mic Nights
By Naheil Qudah
Staff Reporter
Hey, music-loving frogs. Do the city a favor and share your tunes by attending one of the following open mic sessions around town.
SUNDAY:
Where: The Blue Grotto, 517 University Dr. 76107. From campus, take University Dr. north. Find the bar on your right after passing through 7th St. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Scott "Scotty" Vernon.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: Acoustic originals and covers of alternative rock songs. If it's a particularly busy night, there will be a sign-up sheet at the front of the bar; otherwise, find Scotty and let him know you want to play. He and regular Timothy Drennon are always ready to lay some excellent groove on your songs if one of them has a bass guitar handy. 21+
MONDAY:
Where: The Cellar, 2916 W Berry St. Find the bar across from Fuzzy's Tacos.
Hosted by: Ben Napier.
When: Beginning at 10:30 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A host and an audience that is ready to hear anything from cover songs to original compositions to freestyle poetry. Last Monday, a drum set was onstage and available for open collaborations. This just started out just a few weeks ago, so they're ready for you to come out and take the mic. 21+
TUESDAY:
Where: The Blue Grotto, 517 University Dr. 76107. From campus, take University Dr. north. Find the bar on your right after passing through 7th St. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Davis Chapman.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A group that differs greatly from the Sunday crowd. Think more country, less alternative. 21+
WEDNESDAY:
Where: The Fairmount, 600 W. Magnolia Ave. 76104. From campus, take University Dr. north to merge onto W. Rosedale. Take a right at Hemphill St. and a left onto Magnolia Dr. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Davis Chapman.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A tight ship with a sign-up sheet and no more than three songs per musician. There is a lot of country music, but the audience is always willing to hear other genres. The best part about this event is that you have the chance to hear upwards of 20 musicians in one night, and the bar staff is among the friendliest in the area. Get there early so that you can secure a spot and hear some great music. 21+
THURSDAY:
Where: The Ridglea Theater, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd. 76116. From campus, take University Dr. north. Turn left at I-30 West and exit Bryant Irvin Rd. Turn left at the light and find the Ridglea Theater on your right once you get to the light for Camp Bowie Blvd. Estimated time: 9 minutes.
Hosted by: Chris Nolan.
When: Beginning at 8:00 p.m. and running until 12:00 a.m.
What you'll find: This place is set up for independent musicians, acapella singers and full bands. Ask Chris if there are any available spots once you get there, or send a time slot request to the event's MySpace page. It's also a great option for the underage musicians on campus, since the Ridglea is open for all ages. The downer: since an underage crowd doesn't make much money in beverage sales, there's a $3 cover charge. The payoff: it's free to get in if you're playing that night. They've taken a hiatus over the last few months and are coming back with a remodeled lounge this Thursday, Feb. 26.
Every single one of these venues is full of encouraging and friendly audience members because they're out at these open mics specifically to hear new music and have a good time. Getting out and jamming around Funkytown may seem like work, but it's the good kind of working: it's networking. It's a great way to meet other musicians if you're looking to start up a band or have a few good jam sessions.
I want to see more TCU at these events. Represent.
Staff Reporter
Hey, music-loving frogs. Do the city a favor and share your tunes by attending one of the following open mic sessions around town.
SUNDAY:
Where: The Blue Grotto, 517 University Dr. 76107. From campus, take University Dr. north. Find the bar on your right after passing through 7th St. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Scott "Scotty" Vernon.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: Acoustic originals and covers of alternative rock songs. If it's a particularly busy night, there will be a sign-up sheet at the front of the bar; otherwise, find Scotty and let him know you want to play. He and regular Timothy Drennon are always ready to lay some excellent groove on your songs if one of them has a bass guitar handy. 21+
MONDAY:
Where: The Cellar, 2916 W Berry St. Find the bar across from Fuzzy's Tacos.
Hosted by: Ben Napier.
When: Beginning at 10:30 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A host and an audience that is ready to hear anything from cover songs to original compositions to freestyle poetry. Last Monday, a drum set was onstage and available for open collaborations. This just started out just a few weeks ago, so they're ready for you to come out and take the mic. 21+
TUESDAY:
Where: The Blue Grotto, 517 University Dr. 76107. From campus, take University Dr. north. Find the bar on your right after passing through 7th St. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Davis Chapman.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A group that differs greatly from the Sunday crowd. Think more country, less alternative. 21+
WEDNESDAY:
Where: The Fairmount, 600 W. Magnolia Ave. 76104. From campus, take University Dr. north to merge onto W. Rosedale. Take a right at Hemphill St. and a left onto Magnolia Dr. Estimated time: 7 minutes.
Hosted by: Davis Chapman.
When: Beginning at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.
What you'll find: A tight ship with a sign-up sheet and no more than three songs per musician. There is a lot of country music, but the audience is always willing to hear other genres. The best part about this event is that you have the chance to hear upwards of 20 musicians in one night, and the bar staff is among the friendliest in the area. Get there early so that you can secure a spot and hear some great music. 21+
THURSDAY:
Where: The Ridglea Theater, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd. 76116. From campus, take University Dr. north. Turn left at I-30 West and exit Bryant Irvin Rd. Turn left at the light and find the Ridglea Theater on your right once you get to the light for Camp Bowie Blvd. Estimated time: 9 minutes.
Hosted by: Chris Nolan.
When: Beginning at 8:00 p.m. and running until 12:00 a.m.
What you'll find: This place is set up for independent musicians, acapella singers and full bands. Ask Chris if there are any available spots once you get there, or send a time slot request to the event's MySpace page. It's also a great option for the underage musicians on campus, since the Ridglea is open for all ages. The downer: since an underage crowd doesn't make much money in beverage sales, there's a $3 cover charge. The payoff: it's free to get in if you're playing that night. They've taken a hiatus over the last few months and are coming back with a remodeled lounge this Thursday, Feb. 26.
Every single one of these venues is full of encouraging and friendly audience members because they're out at these open mics specifically to hear new music and have a good time. Getting out and jamming around Funkytown may seem like work, but it's the good kind of working: it's networking. It's a great way to meet other musicians if you're looking to start up a band or have a few good jam sessions.
I want to see more TCU at these events. Represent.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Oscar Predictions
I've trimmed the list down to its most basic elements sans the Best Director category for which I am still struggling to decide between David Fincher for "Benjamin Button" and Danny Boyle for "Slumdog."
BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
I've only seen two (Benjamin Button and Slumdog) and I hope that doesn't disqualify me, but "Slumdog Millionaire" won me over.
Whether it's the East meets West vibe in the music, the personal style that some of the handheld camerawork lends it, or most importantly, the connection to the characters that builds over the course of the film, "Slumdog" deserves to be recognized.
With the director Danny Boyle helming the project and Indian co-director Loveleen Tandan, the two take us through India's slums and their poshest suburbs, traveling by train or walking on pipelines. Even at its grittiest, the film never strays too far away from hope, making it both a crowd-pleaser and a critical favorite. These two haven't gone together in an Oscar-nominated film in a while.
BEST ACTOR
Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler"
The rise and fall and rise again of Mickey Rourke mirrors the story of his title character in "The Wrestler."
With films in the 80's like "The Pope of Greenwich Village" and "Barfly," Rourke was a favorite of low budget indies for his tough exterior and his straightforward acting style. Rourke can credit this to his upbringing in boxing, an endeavor he would fall back on in the 90's after a few disappointing films and drug abuse sent his career into turmoil.
His background really paid off in this film, coming off as authentic and shrugging off any notions that director Darren Aronofsky was doing some stunt casting for his role.
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep for "Doubt"
Streep has been reluctant to join the political campaign that is the Oscar nomination press tour. In a move that would make her "Devil Wears Prada" character sneer, she's been refreshingly down to earth about her nomination and past nominations.
All of this aside, her performance as a domineering nun who represents the old guard at a Catholic school truly shines. Set up in the midst of turbulent and changing times of the mid-60's, the film is set up with her on the old-fashioned spectrum and Phillip Seymour Hoffman's troubled priest at the other end. The two clash beautifully.
Streep holds the record for Academy Award acting nominations with a staggering 15 nods. There's a reason why she's an Oscar favorite and this film is proof.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight"
I don't want to seem like I'm jumping on a big bandwagon for Heath Ledger, but his performance as the Joker completely demolished my previous thoughts about the character entirely. I grew up reading DC Comics and as my tastes went from the campy Batman that permeated the movie theaters in the mid-90's with "Batman Forever" to the more complex character studies of "The Long Halloween" and "The Killing Joke" graphic novels.
The change was that I grew up and eventually, so did the Batman movie franchise. Christopher Nolan went from award-winning indies like "Memento" to reboot the series with the origin story "Batman Begins." While that film had its flaws (a lot of villains and a lot of time to devote to Bruce Wayne's roots), his next film used the Joker to amazing effect. Gone is the confusion over who the main antagonist is. Heath Ledger's performance lets you know right away that the man who paints himself in clown makeup and kills people can't be laughed off like Jack Nicholson's version in Tim Burton's "Batman."
The organized chaos of Ledger shows up in even the subtle aspects of the character. The twitches, the way he hunches his back and continually licks his scars.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams for "Doubt"
The underdog candidate in this category is definitely Adams, facing off against the popular Penelope Cruz and the critical favorite Marisa Tomei. Adams had to step up to the plate against heavyweights like this before, especially in the film she's nominated for.
Going toe to toe with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep in this John Patrick Shanley play-turned-film, she proves that she can hold her own as the naive nun Sister James. Due to it originally being a play, "Doubt" really hinged on the acting of its ensemble and by the looks of it with Streep, Hoffman and another supporting actress candidate Viola Davis up for Oscars, they succeeded.
BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
I've only seen two (Benjamin Button and Slumdog) and I hope that doesn't disqualify me, but "Slumdog Millionaire" won me over.
Whether it's the East meets West vibe in the music, the personal style that some of the handheld camerawork lends it, or most importantly, the connection to the characters that builds over the course of the film, "Slumdog" deserves to be recognized.
With the director Danny Boyle helming the project and Indian co-director Loveleen Tandan, the two take us through India's slums and their poshest suburbs, traveling by train or walking on pipelines. Even at its grittiest, the film never strays too far away from hope, making it both a crowd-pleaser and a critical favorite. These two haven't gone together in an Oscar-nominated film in a while.
BEST ACTOR
Mickey Rourke for "The Wrestler"
The rise and fall and rise again of Mickey Rourke mirrors the story of his title character in "The Wrestler."
With films in the 80's like "The Pope of Greenwich Village" and "Barfly," Rourke was a favorite of low budget indies for his tough exterior and his straightforward acting style. Rourke can credit this to his upbringing in boxing, an endeavor he would fall back on in the 90's after a few disappointing films and drug abuse sent his career into turmoil.
His background really paid off in this film, coming off as authentic and shrugging off any notions that director Darren Aronofsky was doing some stunt casting for his role.
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep for "Doubt"
Streep has been reluctant to join the political campaign that is the Oscar nomination press tour. In a move that would make her "Devil Wears Prada" character sneer, she's been refreshingly down to earth about her nomination and past nominations.
All of this aside, her performance as a domineering nun who represents the old guard at a Catholic school truly shines. Set up in the midst of turbulent and changing times of the mid-60's, the film is set up with her on the old-fashioned spectrum and Phillip Seymour Hoffman's troubled priest at the other end. The two clash beautifully.
Streep holds the record for Academy Award acting nominations with a staggering 15 nods. There's a reason why she's an Oscar favorite and this film is proof.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger for "The Dark Knight"
I don't want to seem like I'm jumping on a big bandwagon for Heath Ledger, but his performance as the Joker completely demolished my previous thoughts about the character entirely. I grew up reading DC Comics and as my tastes went from the campy Batman that permeated the movie theaters in the mid-90's with "Batman Forever" to the more complex character studies of "The Long Halloween" and "The Killing Joke" graphic novels.
The change was that I grew up and eventually, so did the Batman movie franchise. Christopher Nolan went from award-winning indies like "Memento" to reboot the series with the origin story "Batman Begins." While that film had its flaws (a lot of villains and a lot of time to devote to Bruce Wayne's roots), his next film used the Joker to amazing effect. Gone is the confusion over who the main antagonist is. Heath Ledger's performance lets you know right away that the man who paints himself in clown makeup and kills people can't be laughed off like Jack Nicholson's version in Tim Burton's "Batman."
The organized chaos of Ledger shows up in even the subtle aspects of the character. The twitches, the way he hunches his back and continually licks his scars.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams for "Doubt"
The underdog candidate in this category is definitely Adams, facing off against the popular Penelope Cruz and the critical favorite Marisa Tomei. Adams had to step up to the plate against heavyweights like this before, especially in the film she's nominated for.
Going toe to toe with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep in this John Patrick Shanley play-turned-film, she proves that she can hold her own as the naive nun Sister James. Due to it originally being a play, "Doubt" really hinged on the acting of its ensemble and by the looks of it with Streep, Hoffman and another supporting actress candidate Viola Davis up for Oscars, they succeeded.
Friday, February 6, 2009
10 Most Divisive Film Directors
1. Michael Bay-Sure, you loved the Transformers movie and the joys of just watching stuff blow up, but that formula runs a little thin after five films.
If you look at his list of summer blockbusters, you can see where the commercial audiences and films critics splinter and split up into camps that either love him for big-budget excess or loathe him for it.
"Armageddon." "Pearl Harbor." "The Island." You can't expect these films to be Shakespeare but one thing is for sure, it seems that for all the money that's put into the special effects, barely any of that can be seen in the quality of the writing.
When someone tells you that they love Michael Bay, you can bet that its said with a knowing smirk or a defensive look, because fanboys and haters alike know the mere mention of his name will spark a debate.
2. Tony Scott-From summer blockbusters like "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder" to the jumpy and erratic "Domino," one thread that runs constant through his film is the emphasis of style.
His recent films haven't always recreated that box office magic. Films like "Revenge," "The Fan" and the Denzel Washington reunion "Deja Vu" received a lukewarm critical and audience response.
Like Bay, Scott has faced the standard blockbuster criticisms that the writing takes a backseat to special effects. This argument kind of falls apart when you're shooting for a 15-28 year old male demographic who mostly likes to see explosions. Don't get me wrong, I like explosions too but the jump cuts, the grainy handheld shots and flashy production either grow on you after seeing them so many times or they just grow tired.
3. Brian De Palma-Even at his best, De Palma's most ardent critics will argue that the director only got famous by stylistically riding Alfred Hitchcock's coattails. Although "Dressed to Kill" is a good film, I can see why hardcore Hitchcock fans cry foul at its "Psycho"-esque storyline.
De Palma did break away from that criticism with one film - the quintessential 80's film about the "me generation" in all its empty decadence with "Scarface." Written by Oliver Stone, who will appear on this list soon enough, it was a box office and critical failure at the time. But since then, the film has since found a second life with a cult following particularly in the hip-hop community.
De Palma made up for that with "The Untouchables," a great film whose stars included Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro. That film earned its Oscar, but
With that said, most of De Palma's subsequent films, from the terrible "Snake Eyes" and "Femme Fatale" to the so-so "Black Dahlia" feel like they suffer from the same symptoms as his early films. Like Scott and Bay, there's a heavy emphasis on style.
4. Oliver Stone-Stone started as a reasonably successful screenwriter, penning films like "Midnight Express" and "Conan the Barbarian" in the late 70's to early 80's.
Stone even won an Oscar for his work on 1986's "Platoon," the semi-autobiographical tale of a green soldier sent into the jungles of Vietnam at the height of the most controversial war. Surprisingly, that movie didn't have the radical political implications of most of his other films.
"JFK" still strikes a chord to this day, but it's no surprise because some of the accusations brought up in the film has inspired so many enemies in the right wing. The film is virtually a molotov cocktail, throwing out connections to the mafia and Cuba. It's also factually inaccurate at several points that have been exhausted on Internet forums everywhere.
I feel like Stone's political leanings have made him more of a divisive figure more than his films. He has reached out an olive branch to Fidel Castro, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Columbia's radical group FARC.
When I saw "W." last year, I walked in thinking I was going to see him drag Bush's name through the mud. While it does point a finger at Bush at several points, it does so in a comedic way lacking any kind of real punch. So conservatives walking in hoping for a heavy-handed liberal treatise and liberals hoping for an indicting case against the Bush administration and the Iraq War both left empty-handed.
"W" was met with indifference at the box office and by critics. Maybe audiences thought they would be walking into a one-sided smear campaign against the 41st president. I saw the film in theaters and what I got ended up making me feel more sorry for the man than anything.
5. Blake Edwards-Edwards is known to most as the man who directed the original "Pink Panther" movies, but Edwards' track record is just as dotted with highs and lows as that series itself.
Edwards stepped into the spotlight with the slapstick Cary Grant film "Operation Petticoat" before the much more mature "Breakfast at Tiffany's." He also directed Dudley Moore in "10," and a lot of his films seem to have their bumbling protagonists but "Pink Panther" has to be the best example.
While "A Shot In the Dark" remains my favorite in the series, the others range from mediocre (Revenge of the Pink Panther) to the downright awful (Trail of the Pink Panther). It seems that Edwards just didn't know when to stop flogging a dead horse. Even after Sellers died, Edwards would go that creative well a few times more for what can easily be seen as a quick cash route.
6. David Lynch-When one looks for some words to describe David Lynch's films, the one that probably comes to mind instantly is "eccentric." Lynch's penchant for the bizarre tends to either turn people off immediately or draw them into a world that's littered with the broken dreams of Hollywood starlets, severed ears and a generous helpings of coffee and cherry pie.
People kind of expect weirdness from him, so much so that when critics talk about Lynch's career, they note the anomalies in it like "The Straight Story" and "The Elephant Man" are the strangest because they don't seem weird at all.
7. Stanley Kubrick-This one may seem like a stretch, but stick with me. Kubrick is one of my favorite filmmakers, but even at his best he can be described as an acquired taste.
Critics love that Kubrick's films take their time, building up characters and tension. The same is true of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, whose films like the original "Solaris" and "Stalker" also have running times that can test a viewer's endurance. Others find Kubrick's films like "2001," "Full Metal Jacket" and even "The Shining" too slow. The lulls in the action, the lack of dialogue in parts and the overall pace of the film turns many people off.
Maybe it's a question of a viewer's patience. Not everyone can stick around for "2001"s two and a half hour running time. Not everyone can watch the violent "A Clockwork Orange" without cringing and inching toward the "stop" button.
Sometimes when I see someone who is new to Kubrick watching one of his films, it's like in "Clockwork Orange" when Alex is being forced to watch propaganda while having his eyelids held open.
8. Kevin Smith - If you have the same kind of humor as Kevin Smith, his films can serve as a good litmus test for a first date. If she laughs a little, watch out. If she laughs alot, you should be fine.
This type of "you get it or you don't" humor definitely divisive. One day I watched "Clerks 2" with a group of friends and we laughed the whole way through. Later that day, my girlfriend had taken me over to see some of their friends and when we suggested "Clerks 2" and started watching it, the look on her friends' faces were like I had just ran over all their dogs.
I seem to remember her saying after her friends took the DVD out of the player mid-way through the film that she remembers it was funnier the first time.
Whether it's the crude humor or the pop-culture monologues, Smith's comedy generally tends to skew towards those with a Y chromosome. Critics point to a lack of diversity among Smith's male characters, arguing that sometimes the rants about Transformers or Star Wars are just Kevin Smith monologues spread out about 6 characters thin.
Honestly, I like Smith's films. "Dogma," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and "Chasing Amy" are all really great movies, but he has had his share of misses like "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and the okay-if-it-wasn't-Kevin-Smith rom-com "Jersey Girl."
I wouldn't recommend "Clerks" to a Smith newbie. That film divides audiences like a hot knife through butter due to a lack of action and a dialogue-driven plot.
The same argument can apply to Judd Apatow's film to a lesser extent. Even "Knocked Up" star Katherine Heigl thought the film was a little sexist, but what else can you expect for a film about men who are learning to grow up?
9 & 10. George Romero and George Lucas - Both of these directors have the distinction of having a split even in the group of their most ardent admirers. Both have pioneered what was previously seen as a cliched niche market, whether it's Romero with the horror film or Lucas with the sci-fi epic. Both elevated their genres to an art form.
But at the same time, both have never really lived down their first accomplishments. Worse, both can be seen as fine with drawing new ideas from their landmark series rater than branching out.
Romero, who started with the classic "Night of the Living Dead" and made a series of it, has fans who respect him for the early "Dead" films. That doesn't necessarily mean they are chomping at the bit to talk about his later films like "Land of the Dead" or last year's "Diary of the Dead."
The same can be said for most directors but with Romero, the divide starts after "Dawn of the Dead." Romero has some good films outside of the series with the underrated "Monkey Shines" and modern vampire story "Martin."
But Romero has faced the same problems another classic horror director John Carpenter has faced. He has directed a landmark film which in Carpenter's case had to be the proto-slasher "Halloween" and has had most of his films compared to that as the standard he is judged upon. Carpenter has had his hits ("Escape From L.A." and "The Thing") and misses ("Escape from New York" and "Ghosts of Mars") but when it comes to discussing him, "Halloween" will never escape him. "Night of the Living Dead" can exist as a blessing or a curse for Romero.
With Lucas, it's safe to say that the "Star Wars" series have become more of a property that fans think they own more than Lucas himself. With the constant re-releasings in theaters and DVD with new additional content of like 3 minutes worth of scenes, the new TV shows like the "Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network, the new videogames, the collector's editions of damn near anything slapped with the "Star Wars" license, the series is a cash cow.
The problem lies in that fans want a steady stream of new content but have unrealistic expectations based on the first trilogy. It's not just their fault. Lucas shares some if not most of the blame as well. A good example can be found when Lucas and Steven Spielberg decided to put Indiana Jones back in the saddle again for a fourth film in the series last year.
The camps were divided just like "Star Wars." One side wants Lucas to stop adding more to series and further tarnishing their childhood and the other wouldn't mind paying the inflated ticket price to see Harrison Ford crack the bullwhip once again. The former has this mindset that the series is bigger than Lucas and that he should look out for the integrity of the films.
But this is Hollywood after all and what primarily divides these directors from the fans who adore them is the opportunity to make money.
If you look at his list of summer blockbusters, you can see where the commercial audiences and films critics splinter and split up into camps that either love him for big-budget excess or loathe him for it.
"Armageddon." "Pearl Harbor." "The Island." You can't expect these films to be Shakespeare but one thing is for sure, it seems that for all the money that's put into the special effects, barely any of that can be seen in the quality of the writing.
When someone tells you that they love Michael Bay, you can bet that its said with a knowing smirk or a defensive look, because fanboys and haters alike know the mere mention of his name will spark a debate.
2. Tony Scott-From summer blockbusters like "Top Gun" and "Days of Thunder" to the jumpy and erratic "Domino," one thread that runs constant through his film is the emphasis of style.
His recent films haven't always recreated that box office magic. Films like "Revenge," "The Fan" and the Denzel Washington reunion "Deja Vu" received a lukewarm critical and audience response.
Like Bay, Scott has faced the standard blockbuster criticisms that the writing takes a backseat to special effects. This argument kind of falls apart when you're shooting for a 15-28 year old male demographic who mostly likes to see explosions. Don't get me wrong, I like explosions too but the jump cuts, the grainy handheld shots and flashy production either grow on you after seeing them so many times or they just grow tired.
3. Brian De Palma-Even at his best, De Palma's most ardent critics will argue that the director only got famous by stylistically riding Alfred Hitchcock's coattails. Although "Dressed to Kill" is a good film, I can see why hardcore Hitchcock fans cry foul at its "Psycho"-esque storyline.
De Palma did break away from that criticism with one film - the quintessential 80's film about the "me generation" in all its empty decadence with "Scarface." Written by Oliver Stone, who will appear on this list soon enough, it was a box office and critical failure at the time. But since then, the film has since found a second life with a cult following particularly in the hip-hop community.
De Palma made up for that with "The Untouchables," a great film whose stars included Kevin Costner, Sean Connery and Robert De Niro. That film earned its Oscar, but
With that said, most of De Palma's subsequent films, from the terrible "Snake Eyes" and "Femme Fatale" to the so-so "Black Dahlia" feel like they suffer from the same symptoms as his early films. Like Scott and Bay, there's a heavy emphasis on style.
4. Oliver Stone-Stone started as a reasonably successful screenwriter, penning films like "Midnight Express" and "Conan the Barbarian" in the late 70's to early 80's.
Stone even won an Oscar for his work on 1986's "Platoon," the semi-autobiographical tale of a green soldier sent into the jungles of Vietnam at the height of the most controversial war. Surprisingly, that movie didn't have the radical political implications of most of his other films.
"JFK" still strikes a chord to this day, but it's no surprise because some of the accusations brought up in the film has inspired so many enemies in the right wing. The film is virtually a molotov cocktail, throwing out connections to the mafia and Cuba. It's also factually inaccurate at several points that have been exhausted on Internet forums everywhere.
I feel like Stone's political leanings have made him more of a divisive figure more than his films. He has reached out an olive branch to Fidel Castro, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Columbia's radical group FARC.
When I saw "W." last year, I walked in thinking I was going to see him drag Bush's name through the mud. While it does point a finger at Bush at several points, it does so in a comedic way lacking any kind of real punch. So conservatives walking in hoping for a heavy-handed liberal treatise and liberals hoping for an indicting case against the Bush administration and the Iraq War both left empty-handed.
"W" was met with indifference at the box office and by critics. Maybe audiences thought they would be walking into a one-sided smear campaign against the 41st president. I saw the film in theaters and what I got ended up making me feel more sorry for the man than anything.
5. Blake Edwards-Edwards is known to most as the man who directed the original "Pink Panther" movies, but Edwards' track record is just as dotted with highs and lows as that series itself.
Edwards stepped into the spotlight with the slapstick Cary Grant film "Operation Petticoat" before the much more mature "Breakfast at Tiffany's." He also directed Dudley Moore in "10," and a lot of his films seem to have their bumbling protagonists but "Pink Panther" has to be the best example.
While "A Shot In the Dark" remains my favorite in the series, the others range from mediocre (Revenge of the Pink Panther) to the downright awful (Trail of the Pink Panther). It seems that Edwards just didn't know when to stop flogging a dead horse. Even after Sellers died, Edwards would go that creative well a few times more for what can easily be seen as a quick cash route.
6. David Lynch-When one looks for some words to describe David Lynch's films, the one that probably comes to mind instantly is "eccentric." Lynch's penchant for the bizarre tends to either turn people off immediately or draw them into a world that's littered with the broken dreams of Hollywood starlets, severed ears and a generous helpings of coffee and cherry pie.
People kind of expect weirdness from him, so much so that when critics talk about Lynch's career, they note the anomalies in it like "The Straight Story" and "The Elephant Man" are the strangest because they don't seem weird at all.
7. Stanley Kubrick-This one may seem like a stretch, but stick with me. Kubrick is one of my favorite filmmakers, but even at his best he can be described as an acquired taste.
Critics love that Kubrick's films take their time, building up characters and tension. The same is true of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, whose films like the original "Solaris" and "Stalker" also have running times that can test a viewer's endurance. Others find Kubrick's films like "2001," "Full Metal Jacket" and even "The Shining" too slow. The lulls in the action, the lack of dialogue in parts and the overall pace of the film turns many people off.
Maybe it's a question of a viewer's patience. Not everyone can stick around for "2001"s two and a half hour running time. Not everyone can watch the violent "A Clockwork Orange" without cringing and inching toward the "stop" button.
Sometimes when I see someone who is new to Kubrick watching one of his films, it's like in "Clockwork Orange" when Alex is being forced to watch propaganda while having his eyelids held open.
8. Kevin Smith - If you have the same kind of humor as Kevin Smith, his films can serve as a good litmus test for a first date. If she laughs a little, watch out. If she laughs alot, you should be fine.
This type of "you get it or you don't" humor definitely divisive. One day I watched "Clerks 2" with a group of friends and we laughed the whole way through. Later that day, my girlfriend had taken me over to see some of their friends and when we suggested "Clerks 2" and started watching it, the look on her friends' faces were like I had just ran over all their dogs.
I seem to remember her saying after her friends took the DVD out of the player mid-way through the film that she remembers it was funnier the first time.
Whether it's the crude humor or the pop-culture monologues, Smith's comedy generally tends to skew towards those with a Y chromosome. Critics point to a lack of diversity among Smith's male characters, arguing that sometimes the rants about Transformers or Star Wars are just Kevin Smith monologues spread out about 6 characters thin.
Honestly, I like Smith's films. "Dogma," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and "Chasing Amy" are all really great movies, but he has had his share of misses like "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and the okay-if-it-wasn't-Kevin-Smith rom-com "Jersey Girl."
I wouldn't recommend "Clerks" to a Smith newbie. That film divides audiences like a hot knife through butter due to a lack of action and a dialogue-driven plot.
The same argument can apply to Judd Apatow's film to a lesser extent. Even "Knocked Up" star Katherine Heigl thought the film was a little sexist, but what else can you expect for a film about men who are learning to grow up?
9 & 10. George Romero and George Lucas - Both of these directors have the distinction of having a split even in the group of their most ardent admirers. Both have pioneered what was previously seen as a cliched niche market, whether it's Romero with the horror film or Lucas with the sci-fi epic. Both elevated their genres to an art form.
But at the same time, both have never really lived down their first accomplishments. Worse, both can be seen as fine with drawing new ideas from their landmark series rater than branching out.
Romero, who started with the classic "Night of the Living Dead" and made a series of it, has fans who respect him for the early "Dead" films. That doesn't necessarily mean they are chomping at the bit to talk about his later films like "Land of the Dead" or last year's "Diary of the Dead."
The same can be said for most directors but with Romero, the divide starts after "Dawn of the Dead." Romero has some good films outside of the series with the underrated "Monkey Shines" and modern vampire story "Martin."
But Romero has faced the same problems another classic horror director John Carpenter has faced. He has directed a landmark film which in Carpenter's case had to be the proto-slasher "Halloween" and has had most of his films compared to that as the standard he is judged upon. Carpenter has had his hits ("Escape From L.A." and "The Thing") and misses ("Escape from New York" and "Ghosts of Mars") but when it comes to discussing him, "Halloween" will never escape him. "Night of the Living Dead" can exist as a blessing or a curse for Romero.
With Lucas, it's safe to say that the "Star Wars" series have become more of a property that fans think they own more than Lucas himself. With the constant re-releasings in theaters and DVD with new additional content of like 3 minutes worth of scenes, the new TV shows like the "Clone Wars" on Cartoon Network, the new videogames, the collector's editions of damn near anything slapped with the "Star Wars" license, the series is a cash cow.
The problem lies in that fans want a steady stream of new content but have unrealistic expectations based on the first trilogy. It's not just their fault. Lucas shares some if not most of the blame as well. A good example can be found when Lucas and Steven Spielberg decided to put Indiana Jones back in the saddle again for a fourth film in the series last year.
The camps were divided just like "Star Wars." One side wants Lucas to stop adding more to series and further tarnishing their childhood and the other wouldn't mind paying the inflated ticket price to see Harrison Ford crack the bullwhip once again. The former has this mindset that the series is bigger than Lucas and that he should look out for the integrity of the films.
But this is Hollywood after all and what primarily divides these directors from the fans who adore them is the opportunity to make money.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Album Review: John Frusciante's The Empyrean
By Naheil Qudah
Reporter
You've heard John Frusciante's guitar work if you've listened to anything the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded from 1989-1992, or after 1998. Yes, he is responsible for the funky guitar stylings on such classics as "Under the Bridge", "Suck My Kiss", "Can't Stop" and "Californication". But in addition to reaching fame with the popular funk-rock band and having an excellent head of hair, Frusciante is a widely respected standalone artist with ten solo albums under his belt. His latest album, The Empyrean, was digitally and physically released worldwide January 20 2009 with the exception of the U.S. where the album was physically released January 27 2009.
Lyrically, the album is a wonder. Frusciante stated on his public blog that The Empyrean [see definition] became a concept album as he wrote it, which means that each song contributes to a theme that the album is meant to embody. His words illustrate a relationship between the everyday and the divine, and the struggle for communication and understanding between the two.
The greatest part of his guitar work has always been that it hits you hard while maintaining a sense of beautiful simplicity. Over the years he's let loose a complicated solo now and again and shown extreme improvisation talent on stage, but on the whole his audible passion and the fitting timing of his notes are what give any track he touches a distinct essence I like to call "The Froosh".
I wish I could say the same about his voice. With the Chili Peppers, his harmonic vocals back front man Anthony Kiedis' aggressive and expressive vocals to produce a calm but powerful energy. On his own, Frusciante can't seem to muster up enough emotion to deliver the punch his lyrics convince me this album was meant to have.
BY THE NUMBERS:
If you're a fan of good rock music, buy it and listen to it with an open mind. Don't expect to encounter the funky tunes you might hear on a Chili Peppers album, and don't wait for the common verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song structure. Do expect well-written songs and the unmistakable sound of The Froosh.
Reporter
You've heard John Frusciante's guitar work if you've listened to anything the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded from 1989-1992, or after 1998. Yes, he is responsible for the funky guitar stylings on such classics as "Under the Bridge", "Suck My Kiss", "Can't Stop" and "Californication". But in addition to reaching fame with the popular funk-rock band and having an excellent head of hair, Frusciante is a widely respected standalone artist with ten solo albums under his belt. His latest album, The Empyrean, was digitally and physically released worldwide January 20 2009 with the exception of the U.S. where the album was physically released January 27 2009.
Lyrically, the album is a wonder. Frusciante stated on his public blog that The Empyrean [see definition] became a concept album as he wrote it, which means that each song contributes to a theme that the album is meant to embody. His words illustrate a relationship between the everyday and the divine, and the struggle for communication and understanding between the two.
The greatest part of his guitar work has always been that it hits you hard while maintaining a sense of beautiful simplicity. Over the years he's let loose a complicated solo now and again and shown extreme improvisation talent on stage, but on the whole his audible passion and the fitting timing of his notes are what give any track he touches a distinct essence I like to call "The Froosh".
I wish I could say the same about his voice. With the Chili Peppers, his harmonic vocals back front man Anthony Kiedis' aggressive and expressive vocals to produce a calm but powerful energy. On his own, Frusciante can't seem to muster up enough emotion to deliver the punch his lyrics convince me this album was meant to have.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- Before The Beginning: The track is musically minimal, with a percussion section that remains steady in the face of chaotic guitar wails. Frusciante plays heavy riffs that accumulate energy and then lightly fade. It's a lengthy intro, but it also prepares you for the ebbs and flows that the following tracks provide.
- Song To The Siren: This is a cover of a 1970 Tim Buckley song of the same name and is the only track on the record that Frusciante didn't write. Frusciante's version is melodic and moving, with the power to reduce his listener to a vulnerable child. However, it also brings forth a grievance that remains present throughout the rest of the album: turn down the reverb/echo effects on your vocals, John!
- Unreachable: After two relatively tame tracks, this is where the album releases the listener into a roller coaster of emotion. It's a move toward momentum and it stays fresh by undergoing three sound changes, from laid-back to psychedelic to rhythmic funk.
- God: What an uplifting sound! It's a calm tune with the distinct sound of fellow Chili Pepper, Flea, playing a mellow line on the bass.
- Dark/Light: Just as you start to think the album is slightly repetitive, a realization half-way through the song leads into a hymn-like choir backed with another appearance by Flea (he appears on four tracks in the album). This second section of the song sounds great, but it lasts too long to be appreciated.
- Heaven: A softer tune with strong character. The final line sung is the first place that I hear any semblance of raw emotion in Frusciante's vocals. They get better from this track on.
- Enough of Me: This song (my favorite track on the album) contains a powerfully discordant guitar solo. The backing instruments in this song elevate toward an explosive ending.
- Central: This is the only track that has considerable vocal energy, and it's not lacking in the department of instrumental energy either. This song gets you bobbing your head in agreement as Frusciante sings about the importance of understanding and appreciating the self. He closes off with another excellent solo.
- One More of Me: What is this deep voice? This is not Frusciante's usual falsetto for sure. In keeping with the theme of the album, it sounds like it is a message coming from a greater place. The orchestra sneaks up on you and delivers an emotional background to Frusciante's steady vocals.
- After the Ending: The sound of drums has been absent in the last two tracks, but this song (and in turn, the album) ends with one solitary beat. It's a powerful way to wrap up the celestial other-worldly sound that carried through from Track 1.
If you're a fan of good rock music, buy it and listen to it with an open mind. Don't expect to encounter the funky tunes you might hear on a Chili Peppers album, and don't wait for the common verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus song structure. Do expect well-written songs and the unmistakable sound of The Froosh.
Top 10 Misunderstood Songs
By Chance Welch
Features Editor
Any type of Top 10 list opens up the floor to debate what deserved to be on the list and what was criminally left on the list but here's my take on some songs that have often been misunderstood or whose meanings are kind of confusing. Feel free to throw up your fists in anger after reading.
10. Semi-Charmed Kind of Life by Third Eye Blind-With its upbeat chorus and catchy hook, it’s hard to believe this song is actually about being hooked on crystal meth. If you read the lyrics without the accompanying music, you get a much darker picture of drug abuse and sex.
“The sky it was gold, it was rose,
I was taking tips of it to my nose,
And I wish I could get back there,
Some place back there,
Smiling in the pictures you would take,
Doing crystal meth,
Will lift you up until you break...” -Semi Charmed Kind of Life
The song I was humming for almost all of 1997 was about crystal meth and having sex. Awesome. It’s amazing how popular that song got. Granted, there was a clean version that got played (okay, overplayed) on the radio, but still.
“Then I bumped again,
And then I bumped again,
I said,
How do I get back there to,
The place where I fell asleep inside you?
How do I get myself back to,
The place where you said...”-Semi Charmed Kind of Life
9. (tie) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles- Here’s one that isn’t about drugs. Yes the initials for the song spell out LSD but in several interviews, Lennon said that the song is based on a drawing his son Julian gave him. Lennon said Julian told him the drawing was based on a classmate named Lucy and described it to him as “Lucy...in the sky with diamonds.”
“Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes...” -Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Martha, My Dear by The Beatles-While the song is said to be about Jane Asher, a longtime muse for writer Paul McCartney, the title itself was inspired by another woman in his life - his sheepdog Martha.
Blackbird by The Beatles-In this McCartney-penned song, would you be surprised to know that the “blackbird” in question is really just slang for “woman?” McCartney has explained that he was inspired to write the song because of all of the racial tension in the United States circa the late 60’s.
“Black bird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see,
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to be free...” -Blackbird
8. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen- When you think of this next song, you probably think of that iconic image of Springsteen in his classic white T-shirt and denim jeans against an American flag backdrop, or maybe you don’t. Nevertheless, you probably thought Springsteen was gung-ho for America, but then you are probably forgetting that part about the Vietnam War.
“I got in a little hometown jam,
And so they put a rifle in my hands,
Sent me off to Vietnam,
To go and kill the yellow man...” -Born in the U.S.A.
Conservative pundits like Bernard Goldberg and columnist George Will praised Springsteen for his sense of patriotism. Even Republican President Ronald Reagan name-dropped him in a stump speech and later asked him to use the song for his 1984 re-election campaign. He was given the cold shoulder by “The Boss.”
“Down in the shadow of the penitentiary,
Out by the gas fires of the refinery,
I’m ten years down the road,
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go...”
Nowhere to go? Bruce say it ain’t so. Uncle Sam is going to be so pissed.
7. Lola by The Kinks-Sometimes looks can be deceiving. Leave it to "Lola" to point this out. It sounds like a sweet and simple enough love song, but did you know it was about a transvestite? It was written by frontman Ray Davies about the band’s manager and his drunken late night dancing with a drag queen.
“Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man,
And so is Lola,
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola,
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola...” -Lola
According to Davies, the manager was too busy dancing to notice the man’s stubble and obviously too drunk to care, he carried on into the night. The rest, as they say, is history. How many times can you say that about a case of mistaken identity like that?
6. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day- In 1997, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing this song played. Weddings, funerals, school dances and graduations, bad karaoke, nowhere was safe.
“Tattoos of memories,
And dead skin on trial,
For what it’s worth,
It was worth all the while,
It’s something unpredictable,
But in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life...”
Singer Billie Joe Armstrong told Guitar Legends Magazine in 2005 that he had written the song following a breakup and said while he didn’t mean to sound bitter he admits the song still comes off that way. Could’ve fooled me.
5. Brick by Ben Folds Five-The somber and cryptic nature of the song has always made me wonder about its meaning. I could tell the narrator and his girlfriend are growing apart, but I couldn’t put a finger on what it was that was driving a wedge between them. On the album “Ben Folds Live,” singer Ben Folds clears the air about its meaning, explaining that in high school he and his girlfriend had to have an abortion.
“They call her name at 7:30,
I pace around the parking lot,
Then I walk down to buy her,
Flowers,
And sell some gifts that I got,
Can’t you see,
It’s not me you’re dying for,
Now she’s feeling more alone,
Than she ever has before...” -Brick
What would add some levity to the very heavy song would be the chorus, which was written by the band’s drummer. Folds admitted in an interview with that he didn’t really know how to write a poppy chorus, but the song would become one of the group’s biggest hits nonetheless.
4. Polly by Nirvana- Cobain seemed to have a flair for writing songs with ambiguous meanings and sometimes unintelligible lyrics. In the 5th grade I bought my first CD, which was “Nevermind” and one of my favorite songs was “Polly.” I would read the lyrics in the liner notes and they would always boggle my mind but that never stopped me from humming it or flat-out singing it along with the rest of the album in my spare time.
“Polly says her back hurts
she’s just as bored as me
She caught me off my guard
It amazes me, the will of instinct...” -Polly
It was only until my freshman year in high school when I discovered the meaning behind it. According to Michael Azzerad’s excellent biography of the band “Come As You Are,” Cobain was inspired by the story of a rape victim who was kidnapped and tortured after attending a punk rock shot but managed to escape by flirting with her captor. In Azzerad’s biography, he explains that he wanted to use the song as a way to support women’s rights and influence other men to do the same.
Essentially, the song is an anti-rape song but there was some terrible misinterpretations of it.
Cobain would later lament in the liner notes to Nirvana’s album of demos and outtakes “Insecticide” that “Last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song ‘Polly.’”
3. The One I Love by R.E.M.- Some listeners seem to think this is a love song, but upon closer investigation, the line “a simple prop to occupy my time” seems to mock the whole idea of love songs or just love in general. Singer Michael Stipe has seen other R.E.M. songs’ meanings get pinned down the wrong way. For example, according to a Stipe interview with Q Magazine, “Losing My Religion” is not about religion at all but rather unrequited love.
“This one goes out to the one I love,
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind,
A simple prop to occupy my time,
This one goes out to the one I love...” -The One I Love
The band’s first hit single in 1987 was misunderstood to a level that had Stipe telling Rolling Stone Magazine in an interview that “It’s probably better that they think it’s just a love song at this point.”
2. Every Breath You Take by The Police- Michael Stipe once compared his misunderstood song “Losing My Religion” to this arena anthem, saying it was “a classic obsession pop song.” That meaning seemed to have been lost on millions of fans who played it for girlfriends, slow danced to it at senior prom or had it on the playlist for their wedding.
“Every move you make,
Every vow you break,
Every smile you fake,
Every claim you stake,
I’ll be watching you...” -Every Breath You Take
The 1983 hit song is much more about “1984” than you might think. Singer Sting said the song is about a controlling figure that sees you at all times a la “Big Brother,” the totalitarian government in Orwell’s classic novel.
1. Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter-Released just a little over a year after Kurt Cobain’s death, this industrial-rock hit led many fans to believe it was written about the iconic Nirvana frontman. In reality, the inspiration for the song is another highly-publicized suicide.
“I wish I would’ve met you,
Now it’s a little late,
What you could’ve taught me,
I could’ve saved some face...” -Hey Man, Nice Shot
R. Budd Dwyer, a successful former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was facing down a career-ending scandal as the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Office. On January 22, 1987, he was suddenly facing down the barrel of a gun in front of newspaper and TV reporters at a press conference. Dwyer had organized the meeting, making a short speech before handing his staffers three envelopes. One was a letter to the new governor of Pennsylvania, one contained an organ donation card and the final one was a letter to his wife.
Dwyer had an envelope of his own, taking out a .357 magnum revolver. His last words before he put the barrel in his mouth were “Please leave the room if this will offend you.” Then he pulled the trigger.
“They think that your early ending,
Was all wrong,
For the most part they were right,
But look how they all got strong,
That’s why I say hey man, nice shot...” -Hey Man, Nice Shot
Filter’s song offended some, prompting the band to make an official statement saying it didn’t glamorize Dwyer’s final act, and asked to respect the family of the late politician. The song is said to be about the determination it takes to make such a bizarre last stand.
Features Editor
Any type of Top 10 list opens up the floor to debate what deserved to be on the list and what was criminally left on the list but here's my take on some songs that have often been misunderstood or whose meanings are kind of confusing. Feel free to throw up your fists in anger after reading.
10. Semi-Charmed Kind of Life by Third Eye Blind-With its upbeat chorus and catchy hook, it’s hard to believe this song is actually about being hooked on crystal meth. If you read the lyrics without the accompanying music, you get a much darker picture of drug abuse and sex.
“The sky it was gold, it was rose,
I was taking tips of it to my nose,
And I wish I could get back there,
Some place back there,
Smiling in the pictures you would take,
Doing crystal meth,
Will lift you up until you break...” -Semi Charmed Kind of Life
The song I was humming for almost all of 1997 was about crystal meth and having sex. Awesome. It’s amazing how popular that song got. Granted, there was a clean version that got played (okay, overplayed) on the radio, but still.
“Then I bumped again,
And then I bumped again,
I said,
How do I get back there to,
The place where I fell asleep inside you?
How do I get myself back to,
The place where you said...”-Semi Charmed Kind of Life
9. (tie) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by The Beatles- Here’s one that isn’t about drugs. Yes the initials for the song spell out LSD but in several interviews, Lennon said that the song is based on a drawing his son Julian gave him. Lennon said Julian told him the drawing was based on a classmate named Lucy and described it to him as “Lucy...in the sky with diamonds.”
“Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes...” -Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
Martha, My Dear by The Beatles-While the song is said to be about Jane Asher, a longtime muse for writer Paul McCartney, the title itself was inspired by another woman in his life - his sheepdog Martha.
Blackbird by The Beatles-In this McCartney-penned song, would you be surprised to know that the “blackbird” in question is really just slang for “woman?” McCartney has explained that he was inspired to write the song because of all of the racial tension in the United States circa the late 60’s.
“Black bird singing in the dead of night,
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see,
All your life,
You were only waiting for this moment to be free...” -Blackbird
8. Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen- When you think of this next song, you probably think of that iconic image of Springsteen in his classic white T-shirt and denim jeans against an American flag backdrop, or maybe you don’t. Nevertheless, you probably thought Springsteen was gung-ho for America, but then you are probably forgetting that part about the Vietnam War.
“I got in a little hometown jam,
And so they put a rifle in my hands,
Sent me off to Vietnam,
To go and kill the yellow man...” -Born in the U.S.A.
Conservative pundits like Bernard Goldberg and columnist George Will praised Springsteen for his sense of patriotism. Even Republican President Ronald Reagan name-dropped him in a stump speech and later asked him to use the song for his 1984 re-election campaign. He was given the cold shoulder by “The Boss.”
“Down in the shadow of the penitentiary,
Out by the gas fires of the refinery,
I’m ten years down the road,
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go...”
Nowhere to go? Bruce say it ain’t so. Uncle Sam is going to be so pissed.
7. Lola by The Kinks-Sometimes looks can be deceiving. Leave it to "Lola" to point this out. It sounds like a sweet and simple enough love song, but did you know it was about a transvestite? It was written by frontman Ray Davies about the band’s manager and his drunken late night dancing with a drag queen.
“Well I’m not the world’s most masculine man,
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man,
And so is Lola,
La-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola,
Lola la-la-la-la Lola la-la-la-la Lola...” -Lola
According to Davies, the manager was too busy dancing to notice the man’s stubble and obviously too drunk to care, he carried on into the night. The rest, as they say, is history. How many times can you say that about a case of mistaken identity like that?
6. Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day- In 1997, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing this song played. Weddings, funerals, school dances and graduations, bad karaoke, nowhere was safe.
“Tattoos of memories,
And dead skin on trial,
For what it’s worth,
It was worth all the while,
It’s something unpredictable,
But in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life...”
Singer Billie Joe Armstrong told Guitar Legends Magazine in 2005 that he had written the song following a breakup and said while he didn’t mean to sound bitter he admits the song still comes off that way. Could’ve fooled me.
5. Brick by Ben Folds Five-The somber and cryptic nature of the song has always made me wonder about its meaning. I could tell the narrator and his girlfriend are growing apart, but I couldn’t put a finger on what it was that was driving a wedge between them. On the album “Ben Folds Live,” singer Ben Folds clears the air about its meaning, explaining that in high school he and his girlfriend had to have an abortion.
“They call her name at 7:30,
I pace around the parking lot,
Then I walk down to buy her,
Flowers,
And sell some gifts that I got,
Can’t you see,
It’s not me you’re dying for,
Now she’s feeling more alone,
Than she ever has before...” -Brick
What would add some levity to the very heavy song would be the chorus, which was written by the band’s drummer. Folds admitted in an interview with that he didn’t really know how to write a poppy chorus, but the song would become one of the group’s biggest hits nonetheless.
4. Polly by Nirvana- Cobain seemed to have a flair for writing songs with ambiguous meanings and sometimes unintelligible lyrics. In the 5th grade I bought my first CD, which was “Nevermind” and one of my favorite songs was “Polly.” I would read the lyrics in the liner notes and they would always boggle my mind but that never stopped me from humming it or flat-out singing it along with the rest of the album in my spare time.
“Polly says her back hurts
she’s just as bored as me
She caught me off my guard
It amazes me, the will of instinct...” -Polly
It was only until my freshman year in high school when I discovered the meaning behind it. According to Michael Azzerad’s excellent biography of the band “Come As You Are,” Cobain was inspired by the story of a rape victim who was kidnapped and tortured after attending a punk rock shot but managed to escape by flirting with her captor. In Azzerad’s biography, he explains that he wanted to use the song as a way to support women’s rights and influence other men to do the same.
Essentially, the song is an anti-rape song but there was some terrible misinterpretations of it.
Cobain would later lament in the liner notes to Nirvana’s album of demos and outtakes “Insecticide” that “Last year, a girl was raped by two wastes of sperm and eggs while they sang the lyrics to our song ‘Polly.’”
3. The One I Love by R.E.M.- Some listeners seem to think this is a love song, but upon closer investigation, the line “a simple prop to occupy my time” seems to mock the whole idea of love songs or just love in general. Singer Michael Stipe has seen other R.E.M. songs’ meanings get pinned down the wrong way. For example, according to a Stipe interview with Q Magazine, “Losing My Religion” is not about religion at all but rather unrequited love.
“This one goes out to the one I love,
This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind,
A simple prop to occupy my time,
This one goes out to the one I love...” -The One I Love
The band’s first hit single in 1987 was misunderstood to a level that had Stipe telling Rolling Stone Magazine in an interview that “It’s probably better that they think it’s just a love song at this point.”
2. Every Breath You Take by The Police- Michael Stipe once compared his misunderstood song “Losing My Religion” to this arena anthem, saying it was “a classic obsession pop song.” That meaning seemed to have been lost on millions of fans who played it for girlfriends, slow danced to it at senior prom or had it on the playlist for their wedding.
“Every move you make,
Every vow you break,
Every smile you fake,
Every claim you stake,
I’ll be watching you...” -Every Breath You Take
The 1983 hit song is much more about “1984” than you might think. Singer Sting said the song is about a controlling figure that sees you at all times a la “Big Brother,” the totalitarian government in Orwell’s classic novel.
1. Hey Man, Nice Shot by Filter-Released just a little over a year after Kurt Cobain’s death, this industrial-rock hit led many fans to believe it was written about the iconic Nirvana frontman. In reality, the inspiration for the song is another highly-publicized suicide.
“I wish I would’ve met you,
Now it’s a little late,
What you could’ve taught me,
I could’ve saved some face...” -Hey Man, Nice Shot
R. Budd Dwyer, a successful former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, was facing down a career-ending scandal as the head of the Pennsylvania Treasury Office. On January 22, 1987, he was suddenly facing down the barrel of a gun in front of newspaper and TV reporters at a press conference. Dwyer had organized the meeting, making a short speech before handing his staffers three envelopes. One was a letter to the new governor of Pennsylvania, one contained an organ donation card and the final one was a letter to his wife.
Dwyer had an envelope of his own, taking out a .357 magnum revolver. His last words before he put the barrel in his mouth were “Please leave the room if this will offend you.” Then he pulled the trigger.
“They think that your early ending,
Was all wrong,
For the most part they were right,
But look how they all got strong,
That’s why I say hey man, nice shot...” -Hey Man, Nice Shot
Filter’s song offended some, prompting the band to make an official statement saying it didn’t glamorize Dwyer’s final act, and asked to respect the family of the late politician. The song is said to be about the determination it takes to make such a bizarre last stand.
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