Follow sheep and move along/Come on kids let’s sing along/Do you realize what I’m saying?
Recommended download: The inspiration for the title of this column, as well as the origination of the above quote. Wasted Words – Death By Stereo
Let’s see, where to begin. Been a busy couple of weeks for me in the music purchasing department. I picked up Thursday’s War All The Time, which is an excellent album. Be sure to check out Mike’s review of it here. I also purchased Avenged Sevenfold, Waking the Fallen and From Autumn To Ashes, The Fiction We Live. Both of them are awesome albums and are getting plenty of play in my stereo. I decided to check out The Bled, Pass The Flask which is a good album as well. Check out their track Spitshine Sonata for some good, fun hardcore music. I grabbed Matchbook Romance, Stories and Alibis as well. It’s a bit toned down from their EP, but still a great album. Though I had planned to wait and find it used, I picked up Limp Bizkit, Results May Vary. It’s not a bad album, but not a great album either. I grabbed Volume 3 of the Take Action! collection. Six dollars for two discs is a great deal. It’s an even better deal when you get bands like Poison the Well, Thrice, Thursday, Vaux, Avenged Sevenfold, The Ataris, Further Seems Forever, and many more of your favorite punk, emo, and hardcore bands. On top of all that, the money goes for a good cause with 5% of the purchase price going towards The National Hopeline Network which is a suicide help line. Today while I was out, I picked up the new Early November album, The Room Is Too Cold and 2Pac, Nu-Mixx Klazzics. Haven’t listened to The Early November yet, but the 2Pac album leaves a lot to be desired. As the title suggests, it’s a remix album and it consists of 10 tracks from Pac’s Death Row albums. The problem is, the remixes aren’t that great and they sound nothing like anything Pac would’ve done. Of course, his lyrics are there, but the beats aren’t him at all. To be honest though, I wasn’t expecting anything great considering it was released through Death Row Records. All they seem to do is bastardize Pac’s music to make more money off of him. Trying to save a sinking ship I suppose. Still, knowing that ahead of time, I bought it. Afterall, it is 2Pac.
In the DVD department, I’ve purchased four within the past couple weeks. First there’s the Scarface Anniversary edition. This movie is excellent! If you’re into gangster movies at all, and you haven’t seen this, you suck. Badly. I bought Deuces Wild and Ice Age as well. Haven’t got to watch either one, but my two year old really digs Ice Age, so it must be good. I also picked up The Osbournes Season 2. I own the first season on DVD, so I thought what the hell. I get to watch it without the bleeps. On a side note; If you were wondering the same as I was, and I’m sure you were (or weren’t, whatever)..the nickname for Bert of The Used that they bleeped out was “Cauliflower Dick.” Yay.
I watched two new movies the other night. Well, they were new to me anyway;Requiem for a Dream and The Hunted. Most people on this site have seen Requiem, so no need to go much into that one. In fact, I saw it on the recommendations of people from this site. Basically it deals with drug abuse, and is quite disturbing at times. The Hunted features Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. Del Toro plays a military assassin who’s gone crazy and begins killing people outside of his missions. Jones plays the man who trained him and he’s brought in to catch him. While it didn’t exactly live up to my expectations, it was a decent movie. Lots of action and good fight scenes.
You hear about the Florida metal band, Hell On Earth? Me neither, but their latest publicity stunt has sure put their name in the headlines. They were promising to allow a terminally ill fan/friend commit suicide on stage at one of their live shows. Not only that, but they were gonna broadcast it on the Internet. Johnny Law caught wind of it and put a stop to it, apparently. They were still promoting the suicide, although it was to take place at an undisclosed location. First off, publicity stunt or real, this is a dumb ass idea. That’s all I’ve got to really say about that. I think I’ve given these guys too much of my time in just typing this paragraph.
So Tim Armstrong worked with Pink on writing her new album. Good for him. I’m happy for the guy. He deserves to get his name out there and get recognized for what he does. Besides, I really dig that Trouble song. I know the punk police will be out in full force though, so an early middle finger goes out to you assholes who talk shit. He’s planning to work with Gwen Stefani on her solo debut as well. That should keep the busy bodies talking for a while.
Seen the new White Stripes video, The Hardest Button to Button? I’m not crazy about the song itself, but the video is wicked. You have to see it to know what I’m talking about.
So Courtney Love overdosed on narcotics. Does anyone really care anymore? It’s about as meaningless to me as the Ben & J-Lo saga, or who Demi Moore is dating.
That reminds me…what is Americas obsession with the tabloids? Are we natural born nibshits and gossips, or did we have to work hard to perfect it? I couldn’t care less who is dating who, who’s banging who, or who’s cheating on so and so! Get over it and get your own life!
If you live in the Chicago area and play drums or know someone who does, Numb is looking for a new drummer. If you’re interested, head over to their website to find out the details. Numb
Oblique, a local band in my area (Muncie, Indiana), have just recently finished recording some new material. You can stream the new tracks at their website. I recommend the hardcore track, Mason. They’re a great band, so please check them out. Oblique
As some of you may or may not know, there was a tragic accident at a Death By Stereo show where one person died and 5 others were injured. There was also a person stabbed to death at a rap concert featuring Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and others. Why is it no longer safe to go anywhere? Even at a concert where people go to have fun and enjoy some good live music, it’s no longer safe. Promoters overcrowd clubs, making it unsafe for concert goers. For what? To sell more tickets and make more money? Since when is the almighty dollar more important then human life. To the idiots that would murder a guy at a show, or even start a fight, do you enjoy watching concerts? If you do, then stop the bullshit because if it keeps up, there won’t be a venue willing to host the shows. All this bad shit happening will eventually cause people to wash their hands of it and then what? CD’s are good, but live shows are even better. Don’t fuck it up for the rest of us, assholes.
On that note, I’m out. Peace.