Metallica

Death Magnetic







On the one hand,Metallica is one of the last great hard rock groups.Born when M-Tv was still young and relevant,they grew to the monster they are despite lack of Tv time.Born in the dying embers of when radio was king,they grew despite no airplay.

For their time,Metallica was a true rock god.Fans a plenty/fame and fortune...sex,drugs and rock & roll.

Then,came their downfall...Napster.

Many fans-myself included-had Metallica on tape,record and cd.But,downloading music was new and exciting and easy.Why get out the old record Lp when you could download it and listen at your leisure?

I mean,yeah,I have Metallica on tape,but to transfer them to my computer/MP-3 player is a pain in the ass.

So...asshole Metallica gets a burr up it's ass and says,"What the fuck?How come we ain't getting our $$$ from this free download shit?"

They changed how we listened to music.Suddenly we became criminals for just downloading a song we already had.In the backlash,cd sales started dropping because what was once tauted as being the next great big thing was exposed as only being the wizard behind the curtain.Cd's were over priced and extremely hard to keep in good playing shape:ie quality sucked.

Now,money hungry-it's all about the $$$ -Metallica was accusing us of ripping 'them' off!Bullshit.As far as I was concerned,Metallica were sucks that sucked the big suckity suck suck...screw them.

I never bought another Metallica cd/download.I turned the channel when they were on the radio.F.U. you greedy bastards.

Forward to now.Some years later.If Metallica is on the radio,I may,or may not change the channel,but it sickens me that I had to download this cd to expound upon it.

As I have paid to download more and more music I have come to realize just how much this format sucks over every other musical format.Music is throw-a-way now-a-days.You 'do' miss sounds in the music.You do miss the treat of liner notes and album art.You begin to accept the mediocrity of it all.Quality Schmality.Average is best.

And that is 'Death Magnetic' in a nutshell.Average disguised as great.I may listen to,'The Unforgiven III' or anything else from this cd on the radio...but no matter how many weeks this cd stays at the top,I know deep within my heart of hearts this cd is just average at best.

C

Young Jeezy

The Recession

Young Jeezy has made the A-typical rap album.This is the album you think about when you think about loud music playing at wild parties.This is the rap cd coming at ya from a low rider.This is the rap blasting from a 'Fast and Furious' Honda Civic that shakes grandpa and Gramma's windows.

This is everything your parent's warned you about.

And I can't decide if that is a good thing or not.

Yeah,the beat and the rap are wound tight.I enjoy each and every track.Young Jeezy is a supreme wordsmith.Yah Da.Yah Da.Yah Da.

But there is nothing new,here.

I have been listening to this cd for a week...and while the album on a whole is extremely enjoyable:while I am listening to it...the whole thing is totally forgotten by me as soon as it is off.It all just seems to blend together.

Due to Hurricane Ike my electricity at home was out for six days,so I only got to listen to,'Recession going ' to and fro' from work;going to the store or on various other driving adventures.Listening to this cd that way reminded me of carpooling back in the day with my old friend Jimmy Gray drinking forty ouncers an jamming to Snoop doin' it Doggy Style.

'Cept it wasn't quite the same.This album was a quandary for me.How could I enjoy something soo soo much while I was listening to it,yet feel soo little about it later on?

Maybe it was the stress of not having lights.Maybe,I just couldn't be totally fair to this great album due to circumstances beyond my control.I don't know.But the only lyrics from this cd I caught myself singing were from the simply put,'Vacation'[I need a va-ca-tion].

That is what I kept telling myself anyway.

But then...why did I find so much more pleasure in the only couple of times of hearing Lil Wayne singing,'Lollipop' on my crank up radio in the candle lit darkness?

I don't know.

And,I suppose,that is the problem.I wanted-nay-needed-more than just the A Typical.I needed new.I needed fresh.And while,'Recession' could be this...it just didn't seem that way.It wasn't comfort food.It seemed more like day old bread.

B+

SLIPKNOT

ALL HOPE IS GONE

ISN'T IT IRONIC THAT THE FACE OF MODERN ROCK IS BY A GROUP THAT HIDES BEHIND MASKS?!?

Anonymous said...
I hate Sliprot.They stole Mushroomhead's karma!

A-

Free Week #9


Dr.Dog: Fate:In my last post,I stated how mimicry can lead to a very good cd.What Dr.Dog does with,'Fate',is go well beyond that to create one of the best albums of the year.

Dr.Dog takes these other influences and paints brushstrokes with them then creates their very own masterpieces.Not only does each song stand alone,but when combined with what comes both before and after it,creates an effect of pure listening pleasure.

The classic-timelessness of 'Fate' gives me the strange feeling that I need to go out and buy the Lp version of this album.Maybe it's because this record has a lost rock and roll feel to it.Styles as diverse as John Lennon and Sufjan Stevens.Rock,Pop,Blues.
Country.And everything in between.This is the way rock albums used to be before everything became minutely categorized and overly analyzed and typecast.Prepackaged and presold bullcrap.

That makes this cd/download that much sweeter.In a time with non fat desserts and low carb candy,'Fate' gives you the real stuff.

Every song is a prime example of what I mean,but let's use,'The Old Days'because it is what's playing while I am writing this.I am reminded of early,'Glass Harp.I am not sure that the members of Dr.Dog even know whom'Glass Harp'are,yet,this song{also with an early ELO edge}fits into that early seventies genre so well,yet seems perfectly set in today's world of indie rock.

The next song,'Army of Ancients'(a Sufjan Stevens brush stroke)fits so well after,'The Old Days'that you just have to smile with it.

You are still smiling when,'The Rabbit,The Bat And The Reindeer',comes on afterwords.

I've got to hear this on vinyl.

If there could be a best song on an album this good,it could be,'The Ark'.Anguish,guitars,and a slice of unrepentant rebellion...yeah,baby.

The next four songs are so diverse-yet complimentary-that the grouping reminds me of listening to an old set of music on a 1970's AOR radio station(I'm talking to you 'M.M.S.').This was back when music on the radio was king...before it was washed,bleached,homogenized and pasteurized by big conglomerates like 'Clear Channel'.


'From'...

'100 Years'...

'Uncovering The Old'...

...are all good,but Dr.Dog proves they can jam on,'The Beach'.

Hell,this album even has a railroad theme to it(as is evident on,'My Friend'/'100 Years'/'Uncovering The Old'/'From'.

This cd has everything a Drew can ask for...now if I can only find it on vinyl...


A+