Announcement

Hey everybody. I'm not sure who reads this, but I have some bittersweet news. As it turns out, in the first piece of good luck I've had in years, The Daily Collegian has announced that I will be the Senior Music Reporter. This is a terrific opportunity for me. However, this blog will probably be the one that suffers the most neglect, followed by sleep and then by social life. As of today, I will be unable to update my blog until my tenure is over because it could be viewed as a conflict of interest. Even so, if you want me to review something, I will definitely take it under consideration as a story idea for the Collegian or something to come back to when I return. Thanks for reading, and I will be sure to return.

The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) - Black Eyed Peas

It's been a while. I would like to think my absence is purely due to work, but that would only be partially true. The other part has to do with reviewing this new album by The Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. I planned on releasing the review a few weeks after the album dropped like with the newest U2 and Dave Matthews albums. However, I didn't have the time to listen to it all the way through until recently, or could even wrap my head it when I did.

So why have I been struggling for months trying to write this review? Well, I can't seem to tell if The Black Eyed Peas even a work of music or not. You mean like ... more than usual? Look, we can argue if Monkey Business had any aesthetic merit until the cows come home. Even so, I think this will put my frustration into words. When Billboard interviewed the band's leader, will.i.am, he said it would be breaking away from the concept of the album. He said to Billboard, "What is an album when you put 12 songs on iTunes and people can pick at it like scabs?" That is why this has been so hard. I mean, is there a point to me writing this? The way this album is constructed, all 14 songs are more or less the same song. They all are about five minutes in length. They all have some kind of moderately cool breakdown (listen to "Imma Be," in which the beat goes from the Kill Bill vol. 1 slow-mo-hallway scene to a jazzy breakdown sounding like A Tribe Called Quest Quest or Illmatic in a matter of seconds). They all have blatantly stupid lyrics, from which I will spare you from reading. They all have techno beats and Fergie singing auto-tune. The only difference is that some of these songs are better than others. How can this be? Just listen to "Boom Boom Pow" after you listen to "Alive." Yes, they are the same song. And yes, "Boom Boom Pow" sounds better for some reason. The parts of the formula above just come together for some songs better than others. The only exception to the rule is the harmonica-dominated "Generation Now," a welcomed change from the monotony of the rest of the album.

But will.i.am. gave us exactly what he promised. If this establishes a trend in the music industry, this will be the E.N.D. of the music album as we know it. We all know since iTunes burst onto the scene that there is very little need to download a whole album rather than just downloading the songs you want. Will.i.am. understands this. He understands that a song like "Ring-A-Ling" could have some appeal in small doses. However, if you listen to it on the album at track No. 8, it becomes so exasperating that you may want to throw your iPod out of the window of your car.

To sum this up, you cannot listen to The E.N.D. all the way through. Your ears will just not allow you to do so. Perhaps the individual parts are greater than the work taken as a whole, but the purpose of this blog is not to review singles. This is not an album; it's a paint by numbers kit ... and the picture doesn't match the one on the box.

1.5/5
For Your Consideration: "Boom Boom Pow," "Imma Be," "Generation Now"
For Next Time: TBA

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band

Remember the days when you and your high school buddies made the annual trip to the Campbells' Field parking lot for the Dave Matthews Band concert? Remember when in the middle of every pilgrimage you got so drunk that you threw up on the walk over to the Tweeter Center? Remember when you saw one of your friends get so drunk that he ran head first into one of those speaker poles, throw up on a couple on a blanket, and then fall down a flight of stairs? Remember when that made you feel a hell of a lot better about your drunken situation? But, do you remember any of the music that night? Probably not. In my experience with the Dave Matthews Band, it's never really been about the music. Instead, it's more about the sheer thrill of what the music represents: getting too drunk and getting away with it. I guess that's one of the reasons why Dave tried to create more diverse, heavier music. If anything, it will help the under-aged shake themselves out of their drunken stupor because they pause to ask themselves if they have stumbled to a Pearl Jam concert by accident.

The simple fact is that Big Whiskey is some of the heaviest stuff DMB has ever produced. One of the causes for this experimentation is the death of beloved saxophone player LeRoi Moore, who died in an ATV accident in June of last year during the pre-production of the album. Moore's sudden death deeply shook the band, who must now carry on without a friend and founding member of the group. Big Whiskey serves in part to pay tribute to this extraordinary musician whose presence was previously felt in nearly every song by DMB so far. In the title, the band immortalizes Moore's "Seussical" nickname, "GrooGrux King." Moore's ghost haunts the listener in the first track, "Grux," an instrumental saxophone solo, as well as in a hidden riff track on loop in "You & Me." For the rest of the album, Moore is replaced by Jeff Coffin. The band also added trumpet player Rashawn Ross and guitarist Tim Reynolds (a frequent collaborator with Matthews) to the its personnel. With the loss of Moore, the band needed to adapt to the strengths of the other musicians. In reality, Reynolds fills the void left by Moore with his electric guitar riffs.

The rest of the album acts as a departure from the conventional acoustic jams, mostly due to a greater influence from Tim Reynolds' expertise on guitar. "Shake Me Like a Monkey" does more than add to Dave Matthews' penchant to use the word "monkey" in his songs (wink wink Dave heads?). It's a refreshing change to the repertoire. Matthews shows the versatility of his voice in "Time Bomb," where critics more credible than myself have compared his voice to that of Eddie Vedder. Seems like an oxymoron, but I guess Dave Matthews can rock after all.

The two singles, "Funny the Way It Is," and "Why I Am," although flawed, have their moments. The music is friendly to the ears, but the lyrics seemed forced. "Funny the Way It Is" seems like it wasn't written by the band at all, but by the new lyricist team of Alanis Morisette and SNL's Debbie Downer. There's nothing like putting contrasting yet equally negative scenarios together to make me try and feel bad to make me laugh hysterically. "Funny the way it is, if you think about it / One kid walks 10 miles to school, another’s dropping out / Funny the way it is, not right or wrong / On a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born." Wah wah ... Moving on. "Why I Am" also suffers from some uninspiring lyrics. This is the song that serves mostly as a direct tribute to Moore, but put together with a misplaced misanthropic commentary on human nature. In the song, humans are merely monkeys that came down from the trees to kill and enslave each other. The transition from denouncing humanity to eulogizing Moore is impossible to follow, so I'll spare you the lyrics.

But if you're looking for the DMB of old, there are plenty of tracks to meet your needs. In fact, one of the best tracks on the album is "You & Me," is a throwback to the pleasing acoustics you've come to know from Dave Matthews. Matthews sings in an inspiring serenade, "You and I, we're not tied to the ground / Not falling but rising like rolling around ... / Our arms wide as the sky / We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world," as Boyd Tinsley's violin strings accompany acoustic guitars. Unfortunately, there are the monotonous songs that fit the past motif. "Spaceman" is a song that just goes nowhere in the style of "Proudest Monkey." True fans of the band would probably enjoy it, but to everyone else, it is predictable and bland. If you're looking for something novel, try listening to "Alligator Pie," the album's banjo track. It's cooler than it sounds, trust me.

For it's faults, particularly in its lyrics, Big Whiskey remains a solid album worth your time. It will be interesting to hear which tracks Dave decides to play on tour and if the kids are going to notice. But this is a major departure for Dave, and you need to decide if you like it or if it's too different for you. So if you plan on going to the concert at the beautiful Camden Waterfront this year, don't get too drunk. You may miss something if you get shitfaced beyond all recognition.

3.5/5
For Your Consideration: "Shake Me Like a Monkey," "Alligator Pie," "You & Me"
For Next Time: The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas

Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear

If you need proof that the influence of indie-rock is growing at an alarming rate, one would only need to look at where Grizzly Bear's third album debuted on The Billboard 200. Although it took a tumble this week, Veckatimest debuted at No. 8, selling over 30,000 copies. That must say a lot about the Brooklyn-based quartet to have climbed to where so many of their contemporaries could not. After hours of musing, I think I might have figured out all the pieces that make this band so unique and interesting to hear. First, the acoustically driven band steers in and out of keys much like Crosby, Stills and Nash. Although the songs on Veckatimest keep their original tone, the key of the songs usually change, almost as if they have multiple bridges or are written in a classical mindset. Second, they are not afraid to be experimental like Radiohead. Grizzly Bear implements dissonance of neoclassical composition in their songs to walk a thin line between sounding aesthetic and nonsensical. In this way, they remind me of Radiohead, whom Grizzly Bear opened for on tour. Third, and most importantly, they hearken back to the harmonizing vocals of The Beach Boys. No one does this anymore, which puts Grizzly Bear in a place of their own. Perhaps this is why they were inspired to name this album after an uninhabited island off the coast of New England coast. Their music goes where no one has been before, at least in a while anyway.

The best track, bar none, is "Two Weeks." It is nothing short of stellar how the band uses their voices to propel the track to another level. One listen will leave a long lasting impression on you. It almost sounds like something lost tapes from Pet Sounds. Another track you should listen to "Ready, Able." It brings to mind a soundtrack from an early 60's movie as its chorus descends gracefully downward. Grizzly Bear seems to be reviving the baroque pop genre, something we haven't seen a lot of since the days of The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" era and, you guessed it, The Beach Boys.

Although it may not be right for everybody, I can't find anything mediocre on this album. Perhaps someone with more mainstream tastes would think is sounds too eclectic or too slow. But, one of Veckatimest's best features is that moves along slowly, giving the music time to breathe for the listener. If this was left unrecognized by the band, then the impact it would leave would be minimal at best. But the mesmerizing, languid effect of the music puts the listener in a peaceful, dreamy mood, making the band once again stand apart. This feeling should definitely place Grizzly Bear into growing circle of popular indie rock bands that have crossed over into the mainstream like Death Cub for Cutie, The Decemberists, and Vampire Weekend. I hope to hear more from them in the future.

4/5
For Your Consideration: "Two Weeks," "Ready, Able"

21st Century Breakdown - Green Day

Although in their late 30's, no one can connect with Generation Y's angst like Green Day. The Bush Administration has left the spirit of the country in shambles and Obama is not (yet, anyway) the Superman who could make things go back to the way they were in the Clinton years. In 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day gets angry and goes on the offensive, attacking the government, the religious right and the sensationalist media en mode de Rock Opera. Now, one may think this all sounds similar to American Idiot, but this new effort is a lot better both lyrically and musically.

There is a reason why critics everywhere are calling Green Day the new Who, Rock Opera's pioneers. Billy Joe Armstrong — the guitarist, lead singer and lyricist of the band — is the turn of the century's Pete Townshend, seamlessly weaving the story of two Detroit kids struggling in the post-Bush era. The teen couple named Christian, a semi-neoconservative churchgoer, and Gloria, an emotionally guarded anarchist, begin to change each other and themselves as the world crumbles around them because of the myopic views of religion, the media and the government. On the album's eponymous track, "21st Century Breakdown," Armstrong sings, "We are the cries of the class of 13 / Born in the era of humility/ We are the desperate in the decline / Raised by the bastards of 1969." I don't know about you, but this is the way I feel as a young American. Suddenly, because of the mistakes of these "old heads," we have to live with the plethora of possibilities that could cause Judgment Day? Now, the quacks claiming Nostradamus prophesied the world's end in three years (around 2012-13) sound more and more convincing.

To add to The Who comparison, the music on Breakdown displays so much more depth and variety than American Idiot. The latter album had only two kinds of songs — hard anthems and soft anthems. However, every song on Breakdown is different and, for the most part, exciting. One song in particular, "Horseshoes and Handgrenades" reminded me a lot of The MC5's "Kick out the Jams." If people doubt that Green Day can rock out anymore, I would suggest that they listen to this track. To add to that, another favorite of mine was "Peacemaker" just because there is no way that the Green Day of 2004 could write this song. It sounds almost like Armstrong's playing a Spanish classical guitar, blending a melody that displays both Southwestern/Mexican and North African/Arabian styles. I think it's symbolic in that both these fundamentalist Christian and Muslim ideologies have the same goal in eradicating the infidels of the opposing faiths. This might be a long shot, but maybe you'll notice it, too, if you listen to it that way. And, thankfully, Mike Dirnt (pop-punk's greatest bassist imo) plays much more of a role than he did in the previous album. And I like the motif of static-radio sound producer Butch Vig put on some tracks. It almost sounds like America's conscience is trying to get through to us in our new technological age we've created for ourselves. In summary, Green Day in Breakdown plays the role of both the angel and devil on our shoulders telling us we should feel ashamed of ourselves for letting this happen, and that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.

So here's the ruling, and it's going to sound strange: I like this album but I don't think I'm going to put it on my iTunes. First, I liked American Idiot when it came out a few years ago, but now I think it's kind of lame. Second, I also am not really a fan of Rock Operas in general. Besides for "Pinball Wizard," Tommy can't really keep my attention. And third, and most importantly, I've accepted that the Green Day of Dookie is gone. It's sad, but they've moved on, I've moved on, and so should you. Green Day is not the same band we grew up with. They're now appealing to kids younger than us ... think emo ... think weird hair. Everybody keeps telling me, "Green Day sucks! I liked them when they put out Dookie." Ok. Remember when most of the people reading this were in Kindergarten when that album came out? I don't even want to go into the years between Insomniac and American Idiot, when the only thing keeping Green Day relevant was the Pop Disaster Tour with Blink-182. This doesn't mean that Breakdown is a bad album. The effort the band put into this album, and the quality of the songs they produced makes this a good effort, if not really good. This certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, and I don't think this is the album we necessarily want for a summer of fun. But I think it urges the American public to examine how much optimism we can afford to feign right now. Although Green Day leaves room for the ubiquitous "hope" in the last track, "See the Light," I think Green Day's true sentiments lie in the rest of the album. As in "American Eulogy," I think the band would rather not "live in the modern world." To reiterate, judge this album on what it was compared to the band's last effort and not on Dookie's standards nearly 15 years old. Are you seriously going to cry over something released when you were under 10 at the time? No. Shut up.

4/5

Relapse - Eminem

It's finally here. It seems like I've been waiting for this forever, but the fifth major album, Relapse, has finally dropped legally despite being leaked a few weeks ago. I don't want to brag, but I must have listened to this about four times in the past 72 hours in order to soak it all in. So far, the critics have not reached a consensus on whether to praise or pan Eminem's latest opus. While Rolling Stone rated it a 4 out of 5 stars, and Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-, PopMatters Webzine only rated it a 3/10. In my opinion, this effort falls in the middle. Eminem proves again he's a fantastic lyricist, Dr. Dre created terrific beats, but there is something that is missing. Something is out of sync. Anyone who has listened to any of Eminem's best albums like The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP or The Eminem Show can tell something makes this album seem sub par.

Let's begin with this crazy new accent Eminem's putting on. On most of the album, Eminem has this really weird delivery. I can not imagine why he would do this other than to piss even more people off except it allows him to rhyme words that wouldn't rhyme otherwise. I guess using an accent with a mid-central vowel sound, Em can rhyme "mom" and "valium" much easier. Well, if I wanted to hear Sean Paul, for example, I would be listening to ... Sean Paul. Hmmmm. No, I haven't hit the nail on the head. It actually sounds more like Sean Paul doing an impression of an Afghan exchange student on St. Patrick's Day. I actually was relieved when Eminem did an impression of Christopher Reeves on "Medicine Ball" and temporarily saved me from this corniness. This new flow is asinine, it's absurd and it's absolutely annoying after 15 minutes straight. Unfortunately, I will tell you that out of 20 tracks, he plays with the accent on half of them — and out of the rest, five of the remaining tracks are skits. Get used to it if you want to listen all the way through the album.

Relapse has several distinctive themes. Eminem verbally abuses Hollywood starlets through Ed-Gein-like murderous fantasies, pokes fun at his past motifs like his mother's abuse, and addresses his struggles to stay clean of drugs and alcohol. These serial killing fantasies border on Silence-of-the-Lambs-esque in how creepy Eminem is willing to sink. Either as a symbolic "relapse" in showing how primitive and inhuman one can become when succumbing to drugs or trying to shock his audience into laughing at things they probably would feel guilty laughing at in retrospect. If you remember "Kim" from the Marshall Mathers LP, this act of degrading and then killing people like Lindsay Lohan is both lighter and darker at the same time. In this way, the first half of the album resembles a campy horror movie. A young boy is abused by his step-father and ignored by his mother who, much like Eminem's public now, sees no need to care about him anymore. Although he wants to avoid taking drugs like his mother, instead he does so and becomes a monster. From "3 a.m.," in which he becomes consumed with blood lust, to "Song & Dance," in which he hunts down and kills young girls, the tone becomes borderline disturbing. If not for the catchy "We Made You" that declares Eminem is just having a laugh, even Charles Manson would think he needs psychiatric attention (maybe he still does).

The album seems to be bipolar in it's tone, much like the personas of the id Slim Shady and the superego Marshall Mathers that combine to create Eminem's personality. Slim Shady elevates his previously sinister acts to a hyperbole. In "Must Be the Ganja," Slim says, "How many people you know can name every serial killer who ever existed in a row, / Put em in chronological order beginning with Jack the Ripper, / Name the time and place from the body the bag the zipper, / Location of the woods where the body was dragged and then dumped, / The trunk that they were stuffed in, the model the make the plate and which model which lake they found her in, /and how they attacked the victim, / Say which murder weapon was used to do what and which one, which knife and which gun, what kid, what wife, and which nun?" (note: The answer to this question is Slim Shady). He elevates the serial killer act even more in "Underground": "Captain of a cult, with an elite following to turn Halloween back into a trick or treat holiday / Have Micheal Myers looking like a liar, swipe his powers / Replace his knife with flowers and a stack of fliers / Hit Jason Voorhees with 40's / Stuck a expository up his ass and made him tell me a story / Gave Hannibal Lecter a fucking nectarine / Sat him in a fucking fruit and vegetable section and gave him a lecture / Walked up elm street with a fucking wifflebat drew / fought Freddy Krueger and Edward Scissor Hands too / Came out with a little scratch, ooh / Looking like a got in a fucking pillow fight with a triple fat goose."

But the Marshall Mathers side comes out, too, in the best tracks pound for pound on the album: "Deja vu" and "Beautiful." In "Deja vu", Mathers struggles to get the monkey off his back and staying sober while trying to raise his two girls: Hailie Jade, his daughter, and Alaina, a niece in his custody. On "Beautiful," Eminem shows how hard it is to remain oneself in the limelight and how he could not have achieved everything he has now without being true to himself.

But, aside from that, this album serves as an experiment into where hip-hop goes even beyond gangsta. It is truly an adventure into the heart of darkness where some of us may not be able to go. It is torturing, shocking, and even tempting. But should this be celebrated? It could be. But that accent, man. Wow. I just cannot get past it. This is a good album for the gym or the car ride, but when you sit down and listen to it, anyone can tell Eminem was putzing around. Have fun, man, but not so much that it makes the product start to suck ass. I want the old Em back for the whole album on the next one, not just for a few songs.

3.5/5

Death Magnetic - Metallica

Note: I know what you're thinking. Another oldie? I know. I'm sorry. I promise I'll get to the relevant stuff in a few days. I have Relapse and I'm waiting for lastfm to put 21st Century Breakdown on their site.

But now I want to talk about the newest from the four horsemen. Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to acknowledge that Metallica has influenced an entire genre of rock music. And, although they were the pioneers, lately their efforts have lacked luster. Any real Metallica fan knows that The Black Album was the beginning of the end. The high-intensity headbanging was scrapped for more commercial appeal. Remember St. Anger? I heard drummer/front man Lars Ulrich just decided to eat a bunch of enchiladas and crap them out on a blank CD for that record. Metallica fans clamored for the band to return to their thrash roots. Thankfully, the band delivered.

I had my doubts when I heard this was going to be the case for Death Magnetic. Like most, I saw a track entitled "The Unforgiven III" and I almost threw my computer across the room. "The Unforgiven II" was sheer stupidity, thought I. Now I have to subject myself to this third piece of trash? A third copy of this insipid song masquerading as an original idea? Assholes! In that moment, I believed those bastards had punk'd me again. Even so, I just closed my eyes and bought it off iTunes (remember, Metallica personally hunts down and breaks the arms of illegal downloaders). Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised that the rumors of a thrash return were true.

The old sound is back. But, the twist that's so interesting is this album's overall tone. Yes, ominous lyrics are abound, but all of them seem to be directed inward. Apparently, singer/guitarist James Hetfield drew a lot of inspiration for his writing from a picture of Layne Staley, the deceased singer for Alice in Chains. Staley, who died in 2002 of a severe drug addiction, was an admirer and later a contemporary of Metallica. This was the source of Hetfield's existential lyrics. For example, "My Apocalypse" seems to be Metallica's answer to the great mystery: "Deadly vision / Prophecy revealed / Death Magnetic / Pulling closer still." Wow. Creepy, huh?

This may not be the feel good album of the year, but the music is great if you're looking for vintage metal at it's finest. There is something for everyone on here. An epic in the style of "... And Jutice for All" appears in "The Day That Never Comes," the "Enter Sandman" stylized-hard-rock jam sounds a lot like "All Nightmare Long," and the "Master of Puppets" thrash-headbanger embodies itself in "Suicide & Redemption." Even poorly entitled "The Unforgiven III" is at least tolerable. It's not the same song repackaged from The Black Album. If it was, I'd be pissed. Still, I will do my part and skip it whenever it comes up on the iPod. We don't want "The Unforgiven IV."

4.5/5