Review: Paul Oakenfold – "Bunkka"

Paul Oakenfold has been a world known DJ for over 15 years. He has spent his career mixing other people�s songs into grade A mix CDs that are sought after by many walks of life. His newest CD, however, is something a little different. Something new from Oakenfold. His new CD, Bunkka, (Maverick) is the first CD he has ever released made entirely of his own music.
The 11-song album is not mixed, like Oakenfold�s normal class of music, but instead contains an eclectic bunch of songs ranging from rap to early 90�s-esque soft rock, and everything in between. It has something to appeal to almost any taste in music.
Bunkka starts with a song that Oakenfold would have been most likely to spin when he was mixing in Ibiza, Spain- Acid Techno. The vocals of �Ready, Steady, Go� are done by Asher D. That song is followed by a much more ambient-sounding �Southern Sun,� vocals by Carla Werner. The relaxed, laid-back style of this song seems like something the Eurhythmics would have done alongside �Sweet Dreams.� �Southern Sun� is followed by a somewhat faster �Time of Your Life� (vocals Perry Farrell.) This song has a significantly faster bpm, or beats per minute, but still manages to maintain a strong hold on the ambience left behind by the last song. After �Hypnotised� (vocals Tiff Lacey) comes �Zoo York,� which some may recognize as the main background tune to Requiem for a Dream.
Skipping ahead a few songs, we come upon �Starry-eyed Surprise,� which is my personal favorite song on the album. It has a clubby funk to it, and vocals by Shifty Shellshock. It also happens to be the first single off the album, and has been a hit on a variety of formats of radio. Adult contemporary, modern hits, dance, etc, all took an interest in this up-beat song impossible not to move to.
Immediately after �Starry Eyed Surprise� is �Get �Em Up,� vocals by Ice Cube. This may be the bridging of the gap in the album. With a rapper such as this one behind a DJ as talented as Oakenfold, a union of genres attract even more people to this CD, and open others up to genres previously judged.
Next is �Motion� and the final song of the album is �The Harder They Come� with vocals by Nelly Furtado and Tricky. This song makes a great end to an already great CD. It�s calming enough to provide a conclusion, but not so that interest is lost. It keeps your attention while tapering the CD off.
I give this album a 4 out of 5 stars- well done, a great first LP for Oakenfold, but with only 11 songs, the end seems to come too soon. Currently, Oakenfold is not touring, although another worldwide tour is expected by mid to late summer.

Review: Dope – "Felons and Revolutionaries"

Dope, a five piece metal group, released this, their first album, in 1999. Metal fans are going to be pleased, I’m sure. Edsel Dope screams his lungs out and sounds great doing it, the guitars are wicked, and the bass on some of the songs is fantastic. Crank “Debonaire” or “Sick” with the bass up and you’ll see what I mean. Although a lot of the songs deal with the same subjects(violence, relationships, drugs, and combinations of the aforementioned three), they are all distinctly different.
Every album has its great tracks and “Felons and Revolutionaries” is no different. The singles, “Debonaire” and “Everything Sucks” are both powerhouses in their own right, but there are several other gems. “Kimberly’s Ghost”, “One Fix”, “Pig Societyl”, and “You Spin Me Right Round” – a wicked Dead or Alive cover that proves that pop music can be salvaged – are among said gems.
“Everything Sucks”, which was released as a single, is about coming to terms with not really caring about the people you’re around. “I never cared that much/And I never kept in touch/But most of all what really sucks/Is everything and all of us” is the chorus of the song, and very fitting. The verses comprise a pair of situations in which plastic friendships are common. People telling you about their friends that you don’t know or care about, and saying that you’ll be back to visit just as soon as you can with no intention of doing so. The guitars on “Everything Sucks” are insane. If you listen closely, you can discern several smaller riffs played in the background the main parts of the song.
“Sick” is an excellent pissed off track. A bad day in heavy metal form, the anger builds over a pulsing bassline that explodes into a violent crescendo with the chorus, “Bang, bang, bang, in your head fucker/Bang, bang, bang, and your dead fucker”.

“Debonaire”, also released as a single, has a hate the rich attitude about it. The verses satirize your average millionaires, listing various things that they might find essential to life, but that most are just fine without. Diamond rings, limousines, top hats, designer names, and “bonny dames without a brain” are among the things that Edsel mentions. This is the most recognizable track on the album.
“You Spin Me Right Round” is a cover of the 80’s track by Dead or Alive. The poppy strains of the original are replaced with the hard driving riffs found elsewhere on the CD, and Edsel Dope’s voice is a helluva lot more appealing than the original singer’s(I don’t have a clue what his name is). I must tip my hat to Mr. Dope for taking an alright-at-best song and reworking it into a fantastic track. As a side note, it gets even better if you turn up the bass.
Special mention must go to the hidden track, “Fuck the Police”, due to the fact that on the back of the disc, as well as on the track listing on the disc itself, it is left out. On the listing it skips from track 7 to 9, since I don’t think any police officers would take kindly to seeing a disc with that track on it sold in stores. It’s really too bad though, because musically this song is on par with the rest of the album, but doesn’t even get mentioned. A shame, really.
“Felons and Revolutionaries” is an adrenaline driving metal disc that lives up to, and exceeds, my expectations. A round of applause to the boys in Dope for an excellent first outing.
Walrus gives “Felons and Revolutionaries” a 3.5/5.

Review: Chevelle – Wonder What's Next

Chevelle hits the mainstream with their second big release entitled “Wonder What’s Next”. Brothers Pete, Joe and Sam Loeffler offer up an excellent follow-up to their 1999 release entitled “Point #1”. The trio of brothers hail from Chicago, Ill and take after their family name, by which they are also mechanics and musicians. As of now the band is on Epic and has been on Epic since they entered rock music’s scene back in ’99. So far, Chevelle has released only “Point #1” but we can expect greater things from this band, as their two hits “The Red” and “Send the Pain Below” are ripping up radio stations across America. As of recently, “Wonder What’s Next” was just deemed Gold and has peaked at # 14 on the Billboard.

The first track is entitled “Family System”. This song is absolutely rocking. It starts off with a few simple strums of guitars, then explodes into the song. The vocals and sound make this song one of the highlights of the cd. Inspiration for “The Red” was quite obvious after seeing an interview with the band(extra features on cd). They came up with the idea, after having all this pent up anger and eventually making a fictional character that gets so anger ridden that he sees red. My personal favorite is “Comfortable Liar” and “Send the Pain Below”, both melodic songs, but then Joe’s vocals kick in and rip the song in two. As of now, I think the choices in released songs have been wise and I personally wouldn’t want to see another song get released.

In closing, the cd on a whole is very good and should platinum with the growing success of “The Red” and the newly released “Send the Pain Below”. The cd really shows how anger can build up in certain people and in just one instant be released onto everyone. My rating gives it three stars. The cd is a hard rocking, anger releasing and melodic combo. As of now, Chevelle are on tour in Europe supporting Audioslave and eventually will be touring once again here in the US on Disturbed’s Music As A Weapon tour.

Review: Thursday – Five Stories Falling EP

Thursday comes out with another amazing cd, this one entitled Five Stories Falling. Thursday is a five peiece set from New Brunswick, New Jersey. The members of the band are Geoff Rickly on vocals, Tom Keely and Steve Pedulla on guitars, Tim Payne on bass and Tucker Rule on drums. Thursday originated in 1998 and had known each other for years and finally formed in ’98. Thursday were first part of New York’s own Eyeball Records where their first cd Waiting, came out in 1999. Then came the big break through, Full Collapse came out in 2001 and includes both “Understanding in a Car Crash” and “Cross Out the Eyes” off Victory Records.

This five song cd includes four live tracks and the ever rare “Jet Black New Year”. The cd contains “Autobiography of A Nation”, “Understanding in A Car Crash”, “Standing on the Edge of Summer” and “Paris in Flames” as live tracks. The main focus of the cd is “Jet Black New Year”, the brand new song. So far no video plans are in the works for any of the songs off Five Stories Falling. Personally, I’d like to see “Jet Black New Year” on the radio, “Cross out the Eyes” and “Understanding in a Car Crash” are just too old and Thursday need a new song to keep the people satisfied.

In closing, I feel this cd should get 2 3/4 stars. The recording quality isn’t that bad, but the screaming of back up lead singer can get quite irritating. Thursday’s live show is amazing, but this recording takes away from their overall presence and sound. “Jet Black New Year” really shows how Thursday are good recorded in the studio. As of now Thursday are back in the studio writing for another LP and follow-up to Full Collapse.

This cd was recorded on this past year’s Vans Warped Tour @ Randall’s Island in New York City(I think) .

Grand Opening

Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to formally welcome each and everyone of you to BaloolaPalooza.com. As you all may have or may not have been aware of, the forums have been open since my birthday, on October the 26th, 2002. So, without further a dui, I have been waiting to say this … FINALLY, BALOOLAPALOOZA HAS COME TO YOUR COMPUTER!!!
Ok, I know I’m not the Rock, but it’s cool just to say this. BP.com is your number one source for entertainment. We plan on making this one of the most free-spirited, most fun, funkiest, and coolest places around. We plan on starting of slowly with just music news because music is one big industry to cover. If we get more popularity and more of a staff, then phase two of our plan will kick in, which will be introducing video games, and then movies, and so forth.
The BaloolaPalooza Mission is quite simple … the point of this existence is to make a fun environment where individuals such as you reading this can learn more about the bands you like, what’s going on in the music scene, and how you can support your favorite musicians. This experience is about helping out artists succeed in their dream of being stars and at the same hand, help you, the individual reading this, be more experienced in what’s going on out there.
This place has started out of just a community of friends, talking about the most influence in their lives … music. Look at us now … we’ve grown into a full operating site.
To any band supporter, to any aspiring guitarist, to any idealist, heck, to any groupie … basically, what I am saying is this. To any music fan out there that never felt like they could be apart of a site and make a damn impact, I’m giving you the chance to make an impact of your own. Join me … join J … join the BaloolaPalooza Family. If you want to write, we’ll give you the outlet, just put the plug in. If you want to interact, we got the message board where you can voice your mind. We have a message board and everyone is a friendly person, just looking to have a good time. I just want you all to realize … this community, this place rather is made up of music lovers like you and I. We are the people that go to the concerts, the people that visit artist’s websites, and the people who aspire to learn what’s out there. This is all about people. If you find something out, please tell us. If you wanna join us, please ask us. If you wanna help us out in anyway you can, please help us. If there is something you would like to say or do, then voice it. That means anyone, meaning any music fan reading this right now, all the way to the artist. Please, join BaloolaPalooza and please, help us make an impact.
-Bear Frazer
Co-Owner of BaloolaPalooza.com