Let me start this by saying that I love music, and lots of different varieties of music. Now, with that said, I have not really been one to public endorses or denounce music, and I don’t plan on starting that now. However, I do plan on sharing my opinions on certain albums, etc. (I mean, it’s really easy to be a critic because you can hate everything and people think you’re doing your job!)
I’m about eight or nine months late on a review of this, but I just picked up Fall Out Boys most recent album Folie à Deux. For my self-disclosure, I am a Fall Out Boy fan. I don’t own t-shirts or anything, but I do like their music. I’ve been listen to the albums now for a while, and I have to say, that the band has made a major leap into adulthood in this album.
Up until this point, they have had the typical emo song themes: I love you, I miss you, you did me wrong, I won’t tell people you’re cheating with me. In this album, you run across songs with much more substance. Take She’s My Winonaas an example. This is a great example of how having children impacts your life and your music. It’s a definite change in Pete Wentz’s lyrics, and the change doesn’t stop there.
The song 20 Dollar Nose Bleedincludes references to the war in Iraq and the Bush administrations declaration of winning the war. (Again, for the record, I’m not a political blog.) Or that the song Head First into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet makes reference to woman cheating on both her husband and a new lover. So, listeners are exposed to a more grown up Fall Out Boy, that’s willing to tackle different topics. Oh, and did I mention that Elvis Costello shows up on the album?
As you can tell from the song titles, that some things don’t change. They still continue to have “clever” (and I do use that loosely) song titles, but I don’t begrudge them for that. The reality is that Pete Wentz, bassist, frontman, and lyricist for the group, has lyrics that I would imagine he thinks is much more clever than they really are. But, hey, don’t we all know someone like that. (In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m like that on this blog.)
The bottom line of the album is that it hooks you in from start to finish with solid rock songs that give enough depth and substance to have some kind of meaning. If you’re a current FoB fan, you’ll have no problem listening to this album. If you’re not currently a fan, I would recommend picking it up. It’s probably their most complete album to date.
Since it’s the summer blockbuster movie time, I thought I would roll out a new ongoing topic. What could it be you ask, dear reader? Well, if you’ve read the title you already know, but it is movies I’d like to see a sequel to.
The first installment is a mash-up of Mel Gibson movies. That’s right, we’re going to bring the past, “present”, and future Mel Gibson to wok together. It would start after Thunderdome, Mad Max would be help to lead a group of people on a new exodus. The only problem is that there is a time traveling villain. That is working against them, and their are only two names that come to mind for help: Mel Gibson and Mel Gibson.
That’s right, William Wallace, from Braveheart, and Benjamin Martin, from The Patriot. They would come and help save the day. These two, essentially the same, characters would be the extra help needed to defeat the new villian, who could be played by Bootsy Collins.
Now, I know my part in the movie world. The specifics would be set by some big name writer/producer/director. (Perhaps Mel Gibson, but now I’m just floating names.) I would hands down be the first person in line for it, and the movies would hands down be the greatest sequel ever.
So, until next time, dear reader, keep those sequels in mind. Who knows when the next great idea will strike.
Fear not, dear reader, I am back, and this time I promise it will stick. What can I say, it’s summer, and a young man’s thoughts turn to vacation. This, of course, leads to broken schedules and routines. Trust me, I’ve been struggling to get back into mine for about the past three weeks.
I have had the luxury of heading to the beach with the family, having a week with out the children, and all of the time right before and after. Now, you wouldn’t think that it would really make that big on an impact, but let me tell you it does.
The first thing that happened on vacation was that we threw just about every routine we had out the window. No, I’m not talking about our family unicycle act. (I’ll let that sink in for a moment…) I’m talking about the kids bed times, meal schedules, work routines, and all of that jazz. For me, dear reader, it went even one step further and included blogging.
You never think about how long it took you to get into them, but getting out of routine can take just a few days. I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I have twins, and when they were young, we lived and died by a schedule. We knew when it was time to eat, sleep, and poop. Hey, with two kids at once, you have to make sure you know these things.
Now, I’m in the post-post-vacation glow, and I’m still having trouble falling into the old routines. Of course, it doesn’t help that I’m married to a teacher who really loses her patterns over the summer. Still, I write this now, I’m trying to convince myself to go to bed.
My wife and I were having a conversation on different musicians of the past decade or so, and we kept coming back to one name: John Mayer. (I, of course, realize that you have already read the title of the post, and knew which way this was going to go. Hey, it’s poetic licence.) It is important to know that neither one of us felt John Mayer is the most influential artist over the past decade. In fact, he was one of those guys that the more we thought about it, the more interesting he was.
Over the past couple of years, Mayer has put out pop-rockish and blues rock songs. Don’t act like you haven’t heard any of his songs. I know you have, and you’re probably singing one to yourself right now. There have been a couple that have been pretty forgettable, but others have exposed a great number of pop fans to some basic blues. The thing I love about John Mayer is that he does it with a nod and a wink, never taking himself too seriously. Don’t believe me? Then click on this video. (Don’t worry, you only need to watch the first 3 or 4 minutes to see the part I’m talking about.)
The fact that he’s talking to fans is awesome. Just check out his Twitter feed and see the random thoughts, it’s hysterical.
So, you’ve got this jester pop/blues rocker who plays blues guitar, but what do the “guitar guys” think about him? The amazing thing, is that they love him. If you caught the Grammy nomination program from late 2008, you saw John Mayer and B. B. King play together. It was amazing to see him play along side a guitar great. This is an amazing thing to that the pop/blues rock and guitar greats come together.
I would have to argue that he has made an impact on this decades music. It may not be the greatest of all change, but it’s definitely there. I ask you, dear reader, how many other people could get 13 year olds to listen to blues guitar? The answer is simple: John Mayer.
Alright, so I realize that my recent post about iPods/iTunes changing music might make me sounds like a techno-phob, but I promise I’m not. I mean, I’m not an early adopter, but it’s mostly because I can’t afford most of the price tags associated with the new technology. However, I am back to talk about a new technological trap in music. I like to call is the 30 second trap.
I’m talking about the 30 second clip of a song given to a potential music buyer. You have 30 seconds to decide whether or not that song is worth downloading. It may even be that you have 4 and 1/2 minutes of music to decide you want to buy an entire album (assume 15 songs to an album, which is probably a little high). Now, it’s important to say that it’s not the first 30 seconds of the song. Often times, it is just a random clip. Being the music student that I am, it is like the old needle drop quizzes done with records.
This is a small sample of music to make a decision. The following are a couple of examples of how the 30 seconds could be misleading about a song:
Hey Jude: Start the song at the 4:00 minute mark. (It is a really long song after all.) Here are the following lyrics: (Random whoas, wows, etc.; Na, na, na, na-na-na-na), Jude, Jude, Jude, Jude (Na, na, na, na-na-na-na); You know you can make it… Not exactly the greatest selling point of the song, but I should remind you that this song was the longest number 1 single on the chart for the Beatles. This is a song that is loved by millions, but if you were to sell it off of the wrong thirty seconds, less people would have heard it.
Piano Man: This is a beloved song for lots of people. If you don’t believe me, than just go to a piano bar. I promise you’ll hear that song at least three times. Just start the song at the beginning: Piano and harmonica. That’s about it. Now, if you didn’t know anything about the song. You might say, “hey, it’s an instrumental. You know, if it were guitar and harmonica I might give it a chance.” Just imagine what you would be missing out on.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: I don’t even have to pick a specific time with this one. Just pick thirty seconds of any where in the massive drum solo during this 17 minute long song. By passing by, you’d miss a major classic rock song.
Now, the can also go the other way. Imagine if a terrible song has 30 seconds of being pretty good? We’ve been watching ad companies come up with 30 seconds of infectious music for years. Just look at the Free Credit Report guys. What level of surprise would you have for thinking you got this great song, and it’s only 30 seconds of greatness. It would be a sad day indeed.
I don’t have an answer, but just a warning. Don’t be caught in the 30 second trap. Do your research, see if there’s a full version on youtube, but just make sure you know the song. Those are steps that you can take to make sure you are downloading on quality music.
Until next time, dear reader, stay out of the 30 second traps.
Let me start this post, dear reader, by saying that in some way, shape, or form, we are all geeks. Don’t try to pass off that you were one of the popular kids in school, or you were just a normal person. If you give either one of those answers one of the two following (and possibly both) must be true:
You’re a liar.
You live a terribly boring life.
That’s right, we all fall on the geek spectrum. The question of course is how much so, and how much do we show in public. Remember, it’s cool to be into music, but you’re a geek when you are completely obsessed with it. Lots of people are into movies, but when you compare them too much, you’re a geek. Now, I’m just getting off track…
The interesting thing is to watch the public view of geeks and their culture. Obviously, there are lots of sub-layers to geek culture, but I believe there are a few over arching truths:
It is a compendium, and different geeks are at different levels. Chances are, the higher you are on the socially acceptable levels the more happy you are that another lower group exists.
There is music that is tailored to geek culture, and trust me, it’s not necessarily the main stream crews that you’re thinking about (i.e. They Might Be Giants and Weezer). I’m talking about groups like the Minibosses or Hill Side of the Darkest Thickets.
Most geeks have a society friendly side, and then the side they show with other geeks in their cohort on the compendium.
In the media, we’re seeing the “beautiful geek” as a cliche now. This is the character that is only slightly less beautiful from their lead counter part, but they are obviously a geek. Perhaps it’s their glasses that give them away, or there expansive knowledge of a certain topic (a la Jamie Kennedy’s character in Scream). It has become a glam version of geek culture, but it’s not that at all.
The reality is that geek culture sprung out of the basements of parents houses. It was from listening to too much music or watching too many movies or reading too many books. There was definitely a not hanging out in the parking lots on the main drag involved. (If you grew up and/or lived in a small town, you know exactly what I’m talking about.)
So, I plan on celebrating geek culture with a couple of posts of the next few weeks. My question to you, dear reader, is this: What areas of geek culture need celebrating?
Have you ever read about/watched a character that was out to seek revenge that so resonated with you that you wanted to join them? Their anger was righteous, and the quest justified. I’m sure we’ve all head the character has inspired us to want to take up arms and go seek revenge for the injustice that has been done.
Sure you have. Don’t act like you haven’t. We love those characters, and see bits of ourselves in them. We’ve all wanted to be Peter from Office Space, or perhaps have felt a little closer to Milton. Having a terrible set of circumstances and getting warn down by the grind.
I was watching Wanted the other day, and it hit me just how much I like the “revenge” scene that’s done over the last 20 minutes. When hold the transformation of Wesley, the main character, from the whining snot who is a nobody to the righteous revenge filled killing machine at tye end, you see two drastically different people. One who is chained down by the monotony of their daily life, and the other taking control of it.
So, I love the revenge scene at the end. I don’t want to get into specifics about the film (in case you haven’t seen it), but you’re happy to take the ride with the character. Personally, I relate to Wesley because it’s the eternal quest to discover who you are, only to be found that along the way there were those that were lying and using you.
Now, here is my warning. Don’t read into this. I am not wanting revenge or wanting to do wrong by someone. Instead, I am talking about a fictitious character that I can identify with their struggle. There is some element to their story that touches who I am. So, don’t watch one of these movies and decide to go into work and shot the place up. I mean, really, that’s not cool.
Still, I think that people can identify with characters. So, dear reader, my question to you is this: what ficitional character can you relate to their revenge? Is it in a movie? A book? A television show? What speaks to you?
So, I haven’t talked about music in a long time, and I think that should be remedied (hmm, yeah, for what is aligning me, you see). Well, I’m back to asking the questions of readers, and this one (if you’ve read the subject) should be no surprise:
What’s the greatest band of all time?
Now, let’s set up a couple of guidelines/rules, and here they are:
Let’s say that the answer cannot be the Beatles. I say that because a.) it’s true and b.) I want people to be creative and think. Also, this is my blog, and I set the rules…
The band can be from any genre.
Give an explanation why they are the GoaT. The band may not have the respect that they deserve. So, it’s alright if it is not an “obvious” answer.
List your answer and explaination in the comment section and be prepared to defend your answer.
I’m racking my brain, because of course, the GoaT band is the Beatles. So, having them off the board is a challenge.
I’m narrowing it down to three bands: The Black Crowes, Nirvana, and The Police. Of course, I’m going into the rock genre because that’s my cup of tea. I’m going to spend the next day or so crafting my answer from one of those three bands. I think you’ll be surprised by my choice, but I want to have hard facts.
So, dear reader, give your answers. Throw into the mix, and have some fun. Check back in a day or two and see what my own answer is. Oh yeah, if anyone answers Abba, I might have to contact the authorities in your area.
So, another exciting evening at home watching movies. I was rewatching a movie with my wife (mostly because summer television stinks). We were flipping through the book of DVDs, negotiating which one we would watch. It was at that time, I went to my “go to” movie, and put it in the player.
It hit me in that moment, that I had a “go to” movie. You know the type I’m talking about. It’s the one that when you don’t know what else to watch that you watch. It’s a boring afternoon movie, or a late night movie. You’re always happy to see it, and it may not even be the best movie of all time.
Now, in grad school, I had a roommate who he and I would watch the Matrix every chance we got. I know what you’re saying, but that was a great movie. Having it in “go to” status meant that we knew exactly what we would watch in a crunch.
My current one has been the “it” movie for a while now. So much so that my brother and I think of it as a “Christmas” movie. Why you ask, dear reader? Well, that should tell you how many times we’ve watched it together on Christmas Eve. For my family, it’s a movie that everyone likes. One that even if you don’t really want to watch it, you’re completely into it after five minutes.
So, all of this build up for my “go to” movie. What is it you ask? Tombstone. You can love or hate it, but it’s definitely the best movie about Wyatt Earp that came out that year. It’s a movie that I know I like, and don’t have to give a second thought.
So, dear reader, my question for you is: what is your “go to” movie?
Somewhere along the way, I got on a list to do movie surveys. I still haven’t decided whether or not this is a good or bad thing, but I still do it when they call. That’s just how much I love movies, that I’m willing to answer these random questions about them.
The calls are pretty simple. There are about a thousand movies that they ask me about. It’s always things like: have you seen this movie, who you see it, what are your friends saying about them, have you seen an ad. This list goes on and on, and they’ve even asked me about the names of films. Do you think a film with this plot would be better if it was name X or name Y.?
I can hear you ask, dear reader, “why in the world would he do something like that?” Well, the answer is simple: they say my input helps impact the movies that are released in my area. That’s right, in theory, I can decide the movies that people “want” to see.
I consider this my public service, because I obviously have opinions on them. If I can keep one single bad movie from being released in my area, I can help protect peoples hard earned money. I mean, who wants to pay so much to see a horrible film. It’s my part to help protect the economy.
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