Modern Rock Archive
T.V. On The Radio - Wolf Like Me - A+
An original, fun and hip rock song that brings something unique to rock that I've never really heard before. A definite contender for song of the year.
Strata - Cocaine - A
A fun indie dance rock song with a great chorus.
Sum 41 - Underclass Hero - B+
A solid pop punk song, but it leans a little too heavily on previous Sum 41 songs to be truly great.
Test Your Reflex - Pieces Of The Sun - B+
A solid emo song with a good tune and chorus. See, the key here, is DON'T BE SO DAMN WHINY, EMO KIDS!
Bad Religion - Honest Goodbye - B
A little slow for a Bad Religion tune, but it's saved by solid lyrics.
Straylight Run - Soon We'll Be Living In The Future - B
A promising start, but this band seems to have more potential than they're displaying in this particular song.
Taking Back Sunday - My Blue Heaven - B
A decent emo song, but a bit whiny and uneventful.
Cinder Road - Get In Get Out - B-
A Buckcherry-esque metal song that's better than most metal, but not by much.
Rush - Spindrift - B-
It's just about time to hang it up if you actually think a dull song like this is worthy of release as a single.
Tesla - Thank You - C+
A note-for-note remake of the Led Zeppelin classic. I don't encourage that sort of thing. If you're going to cover a song, make it your own or don't bother. By the way, Tesla is still around? Who knew?
Fuel - Wasted Time - C+
At one point Fuel seemed like they might turn a corner and become a decent band. They never did. Instead, they started making generic modern rock music that resembles a cross between Switchfoot and the Goo Goo Dolls.
Diecast - Hourglass - C+
Extremely average metal that's slightly less sludgy than usual.
Astra Heights - Choices - C
Terminally dull Guns N Roses ripoff with lousy emo lyrics.
Silverstein - If You Could See Into My Soul - C-
An emo song with poor lyrics and a singer who insists on singing the chorus as though he were in a death metal band.
Hinder - Homecoming Queen - D
This song has a better hook than most Hinder songs, but the vocal is so ugly and snarly that it literally hurts to listen to it. Fortunately, I won't have to hear it ever again.
Drowning Pool - Soldiers - F
Another unwelcome return to the charts sees Drowning Pool come back to destroy everything that's good and pure about music and life in general. At least the intelligence agencies will have new tunes to use for their cruel and unusual punishment programs.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Battle Of The Bands 2007 - Round 1 - Bracket D - Part 2
#17 Evanescence 2 - #48 Phantom Planet 1 - Evanescence milks their one song sung with 35 slight variations to a first round victory.
#47 Dashboard Confessional 2 - #18 Primus 1 - The biggest upset of the bracket, though one has to really wonder how the hell Primus got ranked so damn high...
#19 Guster 2 - #46 Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards 1 - Guster refused to let the Bastards drag them down.
#20 Norah Jones 2 - #45 TV On The Radio 1 - An absolute travesty caused by name recognition.
#21 Flyleaf 3 - #44 Snoop Dogg 0 - Flyleaf gets the win and should have too, given that Snoop hasn't done much in years.
#22 Jack Johnson 3 - #43 Sheryl Crow 0 - Even the winner is boring as hell. How'd either make it to the second round?
#23 Panic At The Disco 3 - #42 Melissa Etheridge 0 - The gayest act in rock defeats Melissa Etheridge in the first round.
#24 Placebo 2 - #41 Jimmy Eat World 1 - Score one for the more obscure act as the so-mainstream-that-it-hurts Jimmy Eat World comes up short.
#25 The Transplants 2 - #40 Skywynd 1 - The hip-hop infused rock act Transplants defeats the local favorite by a 1 vote margin.
#39 Maroon 5 2 - #26 The Who 1 - The most popular "rock" band at the moment defeats the way-past-their-prime Who.
#27 Dirty Pretty Things 2 - #38 Lily Allen 1 - Two of the hottest and best underground pop rock acts square off and the DPT prevails.
#28 The Gorillaz 2 - #37 Keane 1 - The Gorillaz only need 1 hit per album to take down the successful but unpopular Keane.
#29 Interpol 2 - #36 Ben Harper 1 - Why would Interpol be a 29 seed? Insane...
#30 Seether 2 - #35 Aerosmith 1 - Seether has seen better days but at least those better days occurred within 20 years of today...
#31 Eminem 2 - #34 Aqualung 1 - I'd wager than Ryan can't name a single song by Aqualung, but he still voted for them.
#32 Fall Out Boy 2 - #33 The Used 1 - The most successful of the emo bands barely makes it through as a favorite against one of the more average emo bands.
#47 Dashboard Confessional 2 - #18 Primus 1 - The biggest upset of the bracket, though one has to really wonder how the hell Primus got ranked so damn high...
#19 Guster 2 - #46 Lars Frederiksen And The Bastards 1 - Guster refused to let the Bastards drag them down.
#20 Norah Jones 2 - #45 TV On The Radio 1 - An absolute travesty caused by name recognition.
#21 Flyleaf 3 - #44 Snoop Dogg 0 - Flyleaf gets the win and should have too, given that Snoop hasn't done much in years.
#22 Jack Johnson 3 - #43 Sheryl Crow 0 - Even the winner is boring as hell. How'd either make it to the second round?
#23 Panic At The Disco 3 - #42 Melissa Etheridge 0 - The gayest act in rock defeats Melissa Etheridge in the first round.
#24 Placebo 2 - #41 Jimmy Eat World 1 - Score one for the more obscure act as the so-mainstream-that-it-hurts Jimmy Eat World comes up short.
#25 The Transplants 2 - #40 Skywynd 1 - The hip-hop infused rock act Transplants defeats the local favorite by a 1 vote margin.
#39 Maroon 5 2 - #26 The Who 1 - The most popular "rock" band at the moment defeats the way-past-their-prime Who.
#27 Dirty Pretty Things 2 - #38 Lily Allen 1 - Two of the hottest and best underground pop rock acts square off and the DPT prevails.
#28 The Gorillaz 2 - #37 Keane 1 - The Gorillaz only need 1 hit per album to take down the successful but unpopular Keane.
#29 Interpol 2 - #36 Ben Harper 1 - Why would Interpol be a 29 seed? Insane...
#30 Seether 2 - #35 Aerosmith 1 - Seether has seen better days but at least those better days occurred within 20 years of today...
#31 Eminem 2 - #34 Aqualung 1 - I'd wager than Ryan can't name a single song by Aqualung, but he still voted for them.
#32 Fall Out Boy 2 - #33 The Used 1 - The most successful of the emo bands barely makes it through as a favorite against one of the more average emo bands.
Battle Of The Bands 2007 - Round 1 - Bracket D - Part 1
#1 Beck 3 - #64 Art Brut 0 - The tragically low-seeded Art Brut gets crushed by Beck.
#2 Pearl Jam 3 - #63 Rhett Miller 0 - Miller is too unknown to make it to the second round, especially against one of the all-time greats.
#3 Sparta 3 - #62 DMX 0 - Another rap artist bites the dust, this time against the surprisingly high-seeded Sparta.
#4 Incubus 3 - #61 The Stills 0 - Too obscure by far.
#5 Tenacious D 3 - #60 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 0 - Long as there's a record deal, they'll always kick Clap's ass.
#6 The Strokes 3 - #59 The Hives 0 - The battle of the "The" bands sees the band with lasting power moving on and the one or two hit wonder going home.
#7 R.E.M. 3 - #58 Skindred 0 - Remember Skindred? Reasonably big a few years, but long gone by now? Yeah, they weren't remembered in this tournament either.
#8 The Raconteurs 3 - #57 Kasabian 0 - The Raconteurs are a promising young band and should build on the success of their first album... if Jack White actually wants to make another one now that the Stripes are back.
#9 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 3 - #56 The Offspring 0 - The Offspring are still technically together, which is why they're in this tournament, though they haven't been relevant for years.
#10 Iggy Pop 2 - #55 Pink 1 - The lowest-seeded artist in the bracket to get a vote, Pink loses thanks to the recent Stooges comeback album.
#11 K.T. Tunstall 3 - #54 The Beastie Boys 0 - Maybe this result would have been different if the initial vote had taken place after the release of the Beastie Boys' most recent CD, maybe not.
#12 Velvet Revolver 3 - #53 Robbie Williams 0 - Velvet Revolver is probably ranked too low, but Robbie Williams is no challenge whatsoever.
#13 Oasis 3 - #52 The Stereophonics 0 - Oasis probably had the edge as most have yet to hear of the Stereophonics and probably never will.
#14 The Postal Service 2 - #51 The Cold War Kids 1 - Give this one time and CWK will probably shoot ahead, especially if Ben Hibbard chooses to concentrate on Death Cab in the future.
#15 The Arctic Monkeys 3 - #50 Static-X 0 - Why the hell are the Arctic Monkeys at 15 seed? That's just frickin' silly.
#16 Ozzy Osbourne 3 - #49 Smash Mouth 0 - The Prince of Fucking Darkness advances to the second round this time around against the washed-up Smash Mouth.
#2 Pearl Jam 3 - #63 Rhett Miller 0 - Miller is too unknown to make it to the second round, especially against one of the all-time greats.
#3 Sparta 3 - #62 DMX 0 - Another rap artist bites the dust, this time against the surprisingly high-seeded Sparta.
#4 Incubus 3 - #61 The Stills 0 - Too obscure by far.
#5 Tenacious D 3 - #60 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 0 - Long as there's a record deal, they'll always kick Clap's ass.
#6 The Strokes 3 - #59 The Hives 0 - The battle of the "The" bands sees the band with lasting power moving on and the one or two hit wonder going home.
#7 R.E.M. 3 - #58 Skindred 0 - Remember Skindred? Reasonably big a few years, but long gone by now? Yeah, they weren't remembered in this tournament either.
#8 The Raconteurs 3 - #57 Kasabian 0 - The Raconteurs are a promising young band and should build on the success of their first album... if Jack White actually wants to make another one now that the Stripes are back.
#9 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs 3 - #56 The Offspring 0 - The Offspring are still technically together, which is why they're in this tournament, though they haven't been relevant for years.
#10 Iggy Pop 2 - #55 Pink 1 - The lowest-seeded artist in the bracket to get a vote, Pink loses thanks to the recent Stooges comeback album.
#11 K.T. Tunstall 3 - #54 The Beastie Boys 0 - Maybe this result would have been different if the initial vote had taken place after the release of the Beastie Boys' most recent CD, maybe not.
#12 Velvet Revolver 3 - #53 Robbie Williams 0 - Velvet Revolver is probably ranked too low, but Robbie Williams is no challenge whatsoever.
#13 Oasis 3 - #52 The Stereophonics 0 - Oasis probably had the edge as most have yet to hear of the Stereophonics and probably never will.
#14 The Postal Service 2 - #51 The Cold War Kids 1 - Give this one time and CWK will probably shoot ahead, especially if Ben Hibbard chooses to concentrate on Death Cab in the future.
#15 The Arctic Monkeys 3 - #50 Static-X 0 - Why the hell are the Arctic Monkeys at 15 seed? That's just frickin' silly.
#16 Ozzy Osbourne 3 - #49 Smash Mouth 0 - The Prince of Fucking Darkness advances to the second round this time around against the washed-up Smash Mouth.
Modern Rock Update
Albums:
Ryan Adams debuted at #7 with Easy Tiger.
The Mix-Up by The Beastie Boys debuted at #15.
A new live CD by Pearl Jam entered the charts at #36.
Also debuting this week were the greatest hits album by Social Distortion at #86, Marc Broussard's new CD debuted at #96 and Bad Brains returned to the charts at #100.
Modern:
Linkin Park stayed at #1. 13 weeks now.
Mainstream:
Ozzy stayed at #1 for another week.
Chevelle debuted at #18 with their new single, "I Get It".
Ryan Adams debuted at #7 with Easy Tiger.
The Mix-Up by The Beastie Boys debuted at #15.
A new live CD by Pearl Jam entered the charts at #36.
Also debuting this week were the greatest hits album by Social Distortion at #86, Marc Broussard's new CD debuted at #96 and Bad Brains returned to the charts at #100.
Modern:
Linkin Park stayed at #1. 13 weeks now.
Mainstream:
Ozzy stayed at #1 for another week.
Chevelle debuted at #18 with their new single, "I Get It".
New Releases This Week
DVDs:
None. Seriously. Not a one.
CDs:
Velvet Revolver - Libertad - While I found their first album to be a bit of a disappointment, that's not going to stop me from buying the new CD from the GNR and STP based supergroup.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Probably the slowest week all year.
None. Seriously. Not a one.
CDs:
Velvet Revolver - Libertad - While I found their first album to be a bit of a disappointment, that's not going to stop me from buying the new CD from the GNR and STP based supergroup.
VERDICT - Buy it.
Probably the slowest week all year.
Modern Rock Reviews
Modern Rock Archive
Lily Allen - LDN - A+
A brilliant pop song with sharp lyrics about the ugliness that hides behind the mask of real life. The song also features one hell of a chorus.
Sparta - Taking Back Control - A+
The best political punk band around these days released one of their best singles with "Taking Back Control", the best song Rise Against wishes they had written. I could definitely have seen At The Drive-In releasing this one day if they had stuck together.
Sparta - Erase It Again - A
Imagine a U2 single where the verses sound like post-Achtung U2 but the choruses sound like pre-Achtung U2. This is basically the sound for this song which sees Sparta exploring new musical directions while promptly returning to their roots in time to create a well-balanced song.
Snow Patrol - You're All That I Have - A
The best single off of Snow Patrol's latest song is superior to other singles based on a faster pace and better chorus. This one ranks up there with "Chocolate".
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars - A
The typical sweeping Coldplay-esque single from Snow Patrol. Not as good as "Run", but still pretty good.
Stone Sour - Sillyworld - A-
Stone Sour does their best Pink Floyd meets Slipknot impression and creates an interesting song with something interesting to say.
Albert Hammond, Jr. - In Transit - B+
A solid follow-up single that isn't quite as catchy as the first release.
Snow Patrol - Signal Fire - B+
Another fine example of Snow Patrol doing what they do best, a more radio-friendly version of Coldplay.
Stone Sour - Through Glass - B+
Not bad, but nowhere near the same level of "Bother".
Stereoside - Sinner - B-
It's alright, but not being bad will only get you so far.
Static-X - Destroyer - B-
Decent for a metal song, but all of Static-X's songs are starting to blur together at this point.
Stephen Marley - Hey Baby - C+
It's a sad day in music when the best reggae singer isn't a Marley, but Stephen's music doesn't seem to orbit the same sun as his father's.
Spitalfield - Secrets In Mirrors - C+
Mediocre emo-punk song that doesn't take it up a notch at any point and ends up really boring.
Soulidium - The Light - C
More crappy, sludge metal that sounds like everything else.
Stone Sour - Made Of Scars - C Sludgy, Slipknot-esque metal from Stone Sour, who are capable of much better.
Lily Allen - LDN - A+
A brilliant pop song with sharp lyrics about the ugliness that hides behind the mask of real life. The song also features one hell of a chorus.
Sparta - Taking Back Control - A+
The best political punk band around these days released one of their best singles with "Taking Back Control", the best song Rise Against wishes they had written. I could definitely have seen At The Drive-In releasing this one day if they had stuck together.
Sparta - Erase It Again - A
Imagine a U2 single where the verses sound like post-Achtung U2 but the choruses sound like pre-Achtung U2. This is basically the sound for this song which sees Sparta exploring new musical directions while promptly returning to their roots in time to create a well-balanced song.
Snow Patrol - You're All That I Have - A
The best single off of Snow Patrol's latest song is superior to other singles based on a faster pace and better chorus. This one ranks up there with "Chocolate".
Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars - A
The typical sweeping Coldplay-esque single from Snow Patrol. Not as good as "Run", but still pretty good.
Stone Sour - Sillyworld - A-
Stone Sour does their best Pink Floyd meets Slipknot impression and creates an interesting song with something interesting to say.
Albert Hammond, Jr. - In Transit - B+
A solid follow-up single that isn't quite as catchy as the first release.
Snow Patrol - Signal Fire - B+
Another fine example of Snow Patrol doing what they do best, a more radio-friendly version of Coldplay.
Stone Sour - Through Glass - B+
Not bad, but nowhere near the same level of "Bother".
Stereoside - Sinner - B-
It's alright, but not being bad will only get you so far.
Static-X - Destroyer - B-
Decent for a metal song, but all of Static-X's songs are starting to blur together at this point.
Stephen Marley - Hey Baby - C+
It's a sad day in music when the best reggae singer isn't a Marley, but Stephen's music doesn't seem to orbit the same sun as his father's.
Spitalfield - Secrets In Mirrors - C+
Mediocre emo-punk song that doesn't take it up a notch at any point and ends up really boring.
Soulidium - The Light - C
More crappy, sludge metal that sounds like everything else.
Stone Sour - Made Of Scars - C Sludgy, Slipknot-esque metal from Stone Sour, who are capable of much better.
New Releases
Ratatouille - Pixar has yet to make a film that wasn't at least interesting, and their latest doesn't break with that pattern. It's an excellent and fun film that will probably be a huge hit.
VERDICT - See it ASAP.
Live Free Or Die Hard - The first 2 Die Hard movies were awesome, the third sucked and everyone assumed the series was done at that point. Instead, we have this sequel which arrives 12 years down the road and manages to be a vast improvement on the most recent film. Don't take it too seriously though...
VERDICT - See it.
Transformers - Michael Bay creates another dumb, noisy summer action flick. It's not half bad, but don't think about it too much, that's for sure.
VERDICT - See it when it's convenient.
License To Wed - John Krasinski and Mandy Moore are likable stars, but this looks like it's going to be a typical Robin Williams crapfest.
VERDICT - Rent it.
VERDICT - See it ASAP.
Live Free Or Die Hard - The first 2 Die Hard movies were awesome, the third sucked and everyone assumed the series was done at that point. Instead, we have this sequel which arrives 12 years down the road and manages to be a vast improvement on the most recent film. Don't take it too seriously though...
VERDICT - See it.
Transformers - Michael Bay creates another dumb, noisy summer action flick. It's not half bad, but don't think about it too much, that's for sure.
VERDICT - See it when it's convenient.
License To Wed - John Krasinski and Mandy Moore are likable stars, but this looks like it's going to be a typical Robin Williams crapfest.
VERDICT - Rent it.
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