Hello,
Looking back at 1990, you can clearly see that music was in transition. Hair metal was on it's way out, although I don't think anyone realized it at the time. Grunge was just around the corner, but but very people even knew what that was in 1990. Looking at 1990's Top 100 songs, there's not even a slightest clue that a grunge explosion was on the way. There's literally no 1990 song to indicate grunge was on it's way. Also some of the biggest stars of the 80's like Billy Idol and George Michael were also on the way out. New Wave was pretty much dead. Rap was on it's way in, but was more of a rap/pop hybrid in 1990. Pop music pretty much dominated 1990.
Who were the big winners for music in 1990? They were Janet Jackson, M.C. Hammer, Mariah Carey and the severely under appreciated Taylor Dayne. Phil Collins had a humongous year he finished with 4 songs in the Top 60 for that year. Even the long forgotten After 7 had two hits that year. Diversity was also a big winner that year, music from many genres was on the radio. From pop, rock, the rap/pop hybrid and even more rootsy music. There were also many great one hit wonders that year, many of those songs don't fit comfortably in one specific genre. That's when music is at it's best is when many genres are having big songs. When one genre of music dominates, music can get quite boring.
My favorite Mariah Carey song of all-time. "Vision of Love":
My favorite Phil Collins song of 1990, a song that reminds me way too much of my divorce. Why, because of the line "how many times can I say I'm sorry?". This is "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven":
Of course when you talk about 1990, you can't forget the song that put M.C. Hammer on the map. "U Can't Touch This" surprisingly has 2000 dislikes on Youtube. WTH? This is just a great song and one of the best dance songs ever:
Janet Jackson made an impact in 1990 with "Black Cat":
Whatever happened to Taylor Dayne, she had some of the best songs of the early 1990s. Here are a couple of my favorites:
"I'll Be Your Shelter":
"Love Will Lead You Back":
Who were the biggest losers of 1990? Boy bands had a few hits that year, but were clearly on the way out. Michael Bolton had a big year, but it's clear now how disposable his music was. This horrific piece of pure pop crap might have killed boy bands for this generation. I actually quite like "Hangin' Tough", but this song is shameless. Starting with the words, "This is a very serious message":
Again this is all based on Billboard Top 100 songs for that year, which means there were many great songs that didn't chart. This blog is an inexact science. There's a playlist on Spotify that has 97 of the Top 100 songs for 1990. The three songs not in the Spotify playlist are fairly forgettable. Those three songs are Dino's "Romeo", Tyler Collins "Girls Night Out" and D-Mob (featuring Cathy Dennis) "C'mon Get My Love".
Here are some of the musical highlights of that year:
In 1990 I was working at a grocery store and I had the biggest crush on this red headed hottie. She really liked this Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True", but she couldn't afford to buy it. I recorded a tape (remember those?) of the CD for her. All of Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True" was on that tape. Sadly nothing came of the relationship, we both married other people and I lost track of her long ago. But I still love "Girl You Know It's True".
Yes I know that Milli Vanilli went on to be proved a fraud. It was in November, 1990 that the man with the idea behind Milli Vanilli, Frank Farian, confessed to the sham. Four days later Milli Vanilli's Grammy award was taken away. So yes I know the band was a fraud, however in spite of that there are a lot of great songs from that CD. Although the two faces of Milli Vanilli weren't also the singers, the actual singers were very good.
This is my favorite song of theirs: "Blame It On The Rain":
They also had "All or Nothing" that year:
Some of the many other great songs from 1990. Tom Cruise, yes that Tom Cruise, really rocks this song in "Rock of Ages". This is Jon Bon Jovi's version (filmed in my home state of Utah!):
If you had recently asked me who the Michael with musically the best 1990, I would have said George Michael. However looking back Michael Bolton ruled 1990. However his 3 songs on the Top 100 are completely forgettable, I don't even know if we could consider him a footnote for that year now. George Michael was rapidly fading away, this was one of his last gasps at continuing a successful career. This song't title is also very much a self fulfilling prophecy for his career. This is "Praying For Time":
Another great 80's musician on the way out that year was Billy Idol. He did a decent cover of The Doors "L.A. Woman" and this very sexy song:
This was one of the many great one hit wonders of 1990. I love a great ballad, even a song that I hadn't thought of for years, this is Sweet Sensation's "If Wishes Came True":
I'm pretty sure I had this song on a cassingle. Do you remember those environment killing things? I loved a lot of things about the music at the time, but thank goodness for iTunes and buying a song online. Another great one hit wonder, Maxi Priest's "Close To You":
Another one hit wonder, but a very funky song by Glenn Medeiros (featuring Bobby Brown). This trend of someone rapping over a song sadly continues to this day.
Lisa Stansfield's "Been Around The World":
Faith No More's "Epic", otherwise known as the flopping fish video. The official video is embedded by request. It's a good thing, because I was going to post that video on my blog. I know I would have been able to make millions from it :) In other words: stupid. I remember seeing Faith No More open for Billy Idol. "Epic":
Another amazing song by a one hit wonder, this is Alannah Myles:
A great song to dance to, for those so inclined: Snap's "The Power":
Madonna had "Vogue", one of my favorites of her songs:
Should I be embarrassed that I like this song?: Nelson's "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection":
This is the first time I've seen the actual video available on youtube.com. Jane Child's "I Don't Want To Fall In Love":
Soul || Soul's "Back To Life":
Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison":
Go West's "King of Wishful Thinking":
Pebbles "Giving You The Benefit of The Doubt":
Not a one hit wonder, not only that but one of the greatest songs ever. Although it's one of those late 80's, early 90's bizarre videos. Every time this song comes on Rewind 100.7 I crank the radio. Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence":
I hadn't heard this song for a long time. When I saw the title I thought yeah I remember that song, but it sucks. However when I listened to it again I thought hey that's a pretty good song. Rod Stewart's "Downtown Train":
Paul Young's "Oh Girl":
One of the two "Hold On" songs from that year. This is the better of the two songs, Wilson Phillips:
Here's a song about a girl from Reseda, Tom Petty's "Free Falling":
Hair metal is holding on for it's dear life, here are some of the last popular hair metal songs:
One of my favorite hair metal bands was Skid Row. Yes, I even liked this song:
Poison's "Unskinny Bop":
Possibly not a hair metal band, but did fit in with those bands. Tesla's "Love Song":
Some of the not so good songs from that year.
Can you believe they stretched this song to over 5 minutes?
This song is not as terrible as the above song. Biz Markie's "Just A Friend":
themusicaddict
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Whether art thou Matt Kemp?, Some NBA thoughts
Hello,
If you read my previous post about the music of 1995, you will be glad to know the music of 1990 is significantly better.
I wanted to write this blog for awhile, but something always seemed to interrupt. Besides the seemingly always terrible Cubs, where things haven't gone well in the first year of the Epstein regime, my MLB teams have been playing pretty well. The Dodgers and Matt Kemp both got off to explosive starts. The Dodgers have had the best record in MLB for most of this season. Even when Kemp was out on DL the first time, the Dodgers continued playing well. However now it seems that Kemp came back too early, in only his second game back he tweaked his hamstring again. This time the Dodgers haven't been as fortunate. The Dodgers started playing worse and worse. That culminated in losing 9 of their last 11 games. The nadir of that 11 game stretch was LA being shut out 3 consecutive times by their arch enemy the Giants.
And in the unrelenting schedule of MLB, the Dodgers have games every day over the next 11 days. That's already after having played nine straight days. At 162 games, the MLB regular season is just too long. I know that the greedy owners will never agree to shorten the season because they would lose money. I would be happy with 150 games with more days off built in. I think the game would be better with more rest for the players.
Matt Kemp is still injured and probably won't be back for a few weeks at least. Andre Ethier got hurt yesterday and who knows how long he will be out? Even with Kemp and Ethier the Dodgers have been short at least one more power bat. So without Kemp and Ethier, it's going to be a long stretch. Up to this point the reason for the Dodgers success has been good pitching, Matt Kemp and smoke and mirrors. The last two of those have now been stripped away now.
There was some good news for the Dodgers today, they might sign the Cuban defector Yasiel Puig. He'll probably sign a 7 year- $42 million contract as soon as tomorrow. (Thanks to espn.com.)
From Enrique Rojas' article on espn.com:
"The 21-year-old Puig batted .330 with 17 home runs, 47 RBIs and 78 runs scored in 327 at-bats with the Cienfuegos Elefantes in the 2010-11 Cuban National Series. He averaged .370 in 46 at-bats in the playoffs".
Sources told Rojas that Puig may be able to play as soon as this year. That certainly would fill a need, but realistically what are the chances that he'll really play this year? Even if he does, how effective would he be? Who knows if he'll ever be a difference maker? But I highly doubt he'll be a difference maker this season and maybe not even next season. People are saying that the Dodgers vastly overpaid on this contract, which is the same thing they did on the Andre Ethier's new contract. I appreciate the new Dodgers ownership spending money, it's such a contrast to former owners. However just because they now appear to have the money doesn't mean they should spend it. The fact that the Dodgers probably overpaid two players in the last few weeks is more than a bit concerning.
The obvious solution appears to be why don't the Dodgers just go out and trade for someone? Well it's not that easy. There are players like Alfonso Soriano, Justin Morneau and Vernon Wells available. But they are all very expensive. They might be able to help the Dodgers, but the Dodgers would literally pay for it. Also those three players would probably only be short term solutions. With the Dodgers still a relatively young team, do they really want to burden themselves down with short term solutions? As a Dodgers fan I say "no". Build for the future. It's been nice going on this ride with the Dodgers so far this season, but I don't think anyone really expected it to last. It feels a year or two early for the Dodgers to have a lot of success. I prefer the Dodgers go with the slow and steady wins the race philosophy.
The NBA Draft is tonight. I've been following espn.com all day and there are some intriguing looking moves that are being discussed.
1) The Lakers are shopping Pau Gasol. Reports suggest LA want a draft pick, an established veteran and for the receiving team to pay the nearly $40 for the final two years of Gasol's contract. I love that the Lakers think that would anyone be willing to take this deal. If I was a NBA GM and received this call from the Lakers, I would just hang up the phone. I know there are some bad general managers in the NBA, but agreeing to this deal should get that person fired. Honestly I wouldn't trade Gasol for a 6 pack of very cold Diet Coke.
2) The Lakers are also trying todump trade Ron Artest. Hell, I wouldn't even trade a can of warm Diet Coke for one of the dumbest players in the NBA. Sorry I only want players that would actually help my team!
3) The Mavericks and Clippers are discussing Lamar Odom going to the Clippers. With his lame reality TV show I did wonder how long Lamar was going to last in LA. I think Khloe, and the producers of said crappy reality TV show, want them in LA. I don't think there's any coincidence that Odom going to Dallas didn't work out. Rumors are that the Jazz may jump in this trade and help facilitate Odom to the Clippers. The Jazz have offered to take former Jazzmen Mo Williams to facilitate the deal. I don't know how good of a move that would be for the Jazz. They already have 3 short term solution point guards on the roster, why would they want to add a 4th? That is unless they plan on packing Williams with one of their young bigs and get a long term point guard in return. The Jazz have a lot of potential, but they need a great point guard to get them where they can challenge in the Western Conference. I would love to see the Jazz get Steve Nash and for him to groom a young point guard for the next two or three years.
4) It appears that Houston is trying to acquire enough assets so they can make a run at Dwight Howard. Good luck with that Houston. Do you really want a egotistical, whiny, mercurial player who can't make half of his free throws? If the Rockets make this trade be prepared for a lot of "Houston we have a problem" jokes. Howard certainly won't make anyone miss the man Hakeem Olajuwon. Speaking of Dwight Howard, why doesn't he have his own reality TV show yet. Coming soon: Dwight Kardashian?
One final non-trade thought: With LeBron James finally getting his first NBA Championship, guess who else thinks he'll be getting one soon. That's right, our good old friend Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately for Anthony, there are a few differences. For one, James is an all-around player. In Game 5 of the NBA Finals James had 13 assists, along with many points and rebounds. Anthony is a highly skilled one dimensional player. Anthony is a streak shooter. It's not a coincidence that the Jeremy Lin train crashed once Anthony came back from injury. ( I wouldn't mind Lin ending up in Utah.) Also James has Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade as teammates. Who does Carmelo have, Nomare stupid tweeting Stoudemire, Baron Davis and a bunch of players that no one else wants. In other words Carmelo don't hold your breath until you win a title.
themusicaddict
If you read my previous post about the music of 1995, you will be glad to know the music of 1990 is significantly better.
I wanted to write this blog for awhile, but something always seemed to interrupt. Besides the seemingly always terrible Cubs, where things haven't gone well in the first year of the Epstein regime, my MLB teams have been playing pretty well. The Dodgers and Matt Kemp both got off to explosive starts. The Dodgers have had the best record in MLB for most of this season. Even when Kemp was out on DL the first time, the Dodgers continued playing well. However now it seems that Kemp came back too early, in only his second game back he tweaked his hamstring again. This time the Dodgers haven't been as fortunate. The Dodgers started playing worse and worse. That culminated in losing 9 of their last 11 games. The nadir of that 11 game stretch was LA being shut out 3 consecutive times by their arch enemy the Giants.
And in the unrelenting schedule of MLB, the Dodgers have games every day over the next 11 days. That's already after having played nine straight days. At 162 games, the MLB regular season is just too long. I know that the greedy owners will never agree to shorten the season because they would lose money. I would be happy with 150 games with more days off built in. I think the game would be better with more rest for the players.
Matt Kemp is still injured and probably won't be back for a few weeks at least. Andre Ethier got hurt yesterday and who knows how long he will be out? Even with Kemp and Ethier the Dodgers have been short at least one more power bat. So without Kemp and Ethier, it's going to be a long stretch. Up to this point the reason for the Dodgers success has been good pitching, Matt Kemp and smoke and mirrors. The last two of those have now been stripped away now.
There was some good news for the Dodgers today, they might sign the Cuban defector Yasiel Puig. He'll probably sign a 7 year- $42 million contract as soon as tomorrow. (Thanks to espn.com.)
From Enrique Rojas' article on espn.com:
"The 21-year-old Puig batted .330 with 17 home runs, 47 RBIs and 78 runs scored in 327 at-bats with the Cienfuegos Elefantes in the 2010-11 Cuban National Series. He averaged .370 in 46 at-bats in the playoffs".
Sources told Rojas that Puig may be able to play as soon as this year. That certainly would fill a need, but realistically what are the chances that he'll really play this year? Even if he does, how effective would he be? Who knows if he'll ever be a difference maker? But I highly doubt he'll be a difference maker this season and maybe not even next season. People are saying that the Dodgers vastly overpaid on this contract, which is the same thing they did on the Andre Ethier's new contract. I appreciate the new Dodgers ownership spending money, it's such a contrast to former owners. However just because they now appear to have the money doesn't mean they should spend it. The fact that the Dodgers probably overpaid two players in the last few weeks is more than a bit concerning.
The obvious solution appears to be why don't the Dodgers just go out and trade for someone? Well it's not that easy. There are players like Alfonso Soriano, Justin Morneau and Vernon Wells available. But they are all very expensive. They might be able to help the Dodgers, but the Dodgers would literally pay for it. Also those three players would probably only be short term solutions. With the Dodgers still a relatively young team, do they really want to burden themselves down with short term solutions? As a Dodgers fan I say "no". Build for the future. It's been nice going on this ride with the Dodgers so far this season, but I don't think anyone really expected it to last. It feels a year or two early for the Dodgers to have a lot of success. I prefer the Dodgers go with the slow and steady wins the race philosophy.
The NBA Draft is tonight. I've been following espn.com all day and there are some intriguing looking moves that are being discussed.
1) The Lakers are shopping Pau Gasol. Reports suggest LA want a draft pick, an established veteran and for the receiving team to pay the nearly $40 for the final two years of Gasol's contract. I love that the Lakers think that would anyone be willing to take this deal. If I was a NBA GM and received this call from the Lakers, I would just hang up the phone. I know there are some bad general managers in the NBA, but agreeing to this deal should get that person fired. Honestly I wouldn't trade Gasol for a 6 pack of very cold Diet Coke.
2) The Lakers are also trying to
3) The Mavericks and Clippers are discussing Lamar Odom going to the Clippers. With his lame reality TV show I did wonder how long Lamar was going to last in LA. I think Khloe, and the producers of said crappy reality TV show, want them in LA. I don't think there's any coincidence that Odom going to Dallas didn't work out. Rumors are that the Jazz may jump in this trade and help facilitate Odom to the Clippers. The Jazz have offered to take former Jazzmen Mo Williams to facilitate the deal. I don't know how good of a move that would be for the Jazz. They already have 3 short term solution point guards on the roster, why would they want to add a 4th? That is unless they plan on packing Williams with one of their young bigs and get a long term point guard in return. The Jazz have a lot of potential, but they need a great point guard to get them where they can challenge in the Western Conference. I would love to see the Jazz get Steve Nash and for him to groom a young point guard for the next two or three years.
4) It appears that Houston is trying to acquire enough assets so they can make a run at Dwight Howard. Good luck with that Houston. Do you really want a egotistical, whiny, mercurial player who can't make half of his free throws? If the Rockets make this trade be prepared for a lot of "Houston we have a problem" jokes. Howard certainly won't make anyone miss the man Hakeem Olajuwon. Speaking of Dwight Howard, why doesn't he have his own reality TV show yet. Coming soon: Dwight Kardashian?
One final non-trade thought: With LeBron James finally getting his first NBA Championship, guess who else thinks he'll be getting one soon. That's right, our good old friend Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately for Anthony, there are a few differences. For one, James is an all-around player. In Game 5 of the NBA Finals James had 13 assists, along with many points and rebounds. Anthony is a highly skilled one dimensional player. Anthony is a streak shooter. It's not a coincidence that the Jeremy Lin train crashed once Anthony came back from injury. ( I wouldn't mind Lin ending up in Utah.) Also James has Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade as teammates. Who does Carmelo have, Nomare stupid tweeting Stoudemire, Baron Davis and a bunch of players that no one else wants. In other words Carmelo don't hold your breath until you win a title.
themusicaddict
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
1995: Where Good Music Went To Die
Hello,
To answer your first question: I'm listening to music from 1995 because I watched an episode of the amazing "Cold Case" this past Tuesday night. The cold case they were investigating happened in 1995. For those that don't know, "Cold Case" feature lot of music in their episodes. A few of the songs that were featured I had completely forgotten about. As I listened to a lot of that music on Spotify, I quickly realized how much of it was forgettable. Thanks to the awesome people over at Spotify, I've been listening to one of their playlists of songs from 1995. It features 95 of the Top 100 songs according to Billboard for that year.
I'm taking Spotify's word for these songs being from 1995, I didn't do any research to confirm that. The Tootsee song mentions 1994, but for the most part I think these songs were from 1995.
But after listening to that year's music for about 10 hours, all I can say is 1995 sucked for music. There were a few great songs, many of which I'll be featuring later in this blog. But for the most part there was a lot of crappy music in 1995. I will mention a few examples of the crap music, but won't feature any of those songs on this blog. I don't support sucky music.
One reason for the 1995's bad music year is that rap music continued to move into the mainstream. To be acceptable to the mainstream a lot of the rap music was neutered. Some more hard core rap songs did get through. But for the most part that hard core rap was terrible. The glorious days of 80's rap was left far behind. A lot of the rap music from 1995 featured samples. But what most people call it by it's real name: stealing.
Also there was a lot of imitation going on in 1995, many bad ideas seems to be repeatedly recycled. The thinking seemed to be: If you don't have a good musical idea, just steal one and call it a sample. I don't remember many of these musicians and even less of their songs. Music was both disposable and utterly forgivable in 1995. Listening to my iTunes on random was a marked improvement.
Probably the most egregiously bad rap song is "Tootsee Roll" by 69 Boyz. You might have read where I've talked about lowest common denominator music. "Tootsee Roll" is an ultimate example of that kind of music. The lyrics are stupid, the beat is repetitive and even the name of the band shows the juvenile nature of the creative people behind this band.
Another of 1995's crappy rap music was Notorious BIG's "Big Poppa". Also Shaggy and Rayvon's out and out kifed Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime". I wouldn't even call that a sample. They basically took the original melody and rapped over it a bit and called that a song. Also Method Man and Mary J. Blige's "I'll Be There For You" was not very good. Other lowlights include Luniz's "I Got 5 On It", and the absolutely dreadful "Give It 2 You" by Da Brat (Was the name the Da No Talent already taken?) That song is horrible in every way possible.
I could go on and on with more examples of all the terrible rap music that year, just a couple more examples. 702 and Subway had "This Lil' Game We Play". I'm glad the sandwich making thing worked out for Subway, because his song didn't. Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s name is not only incredibly obnoxious to type, but "Player's Anthem" is as bad as it sounds like it would be. Finally Jodeci's "Freakin You" was another terrible song from that year. At least Skee Lo has a sense of humor on "I Wish", in spite of it being sexist. But like most rap songs from that year one quickly gets tired of them. 2 Pac's "Dear Mama" is at least listenable.
Also the R&B boy band movement was in full effect. This was highlighted by Boys 2 Men. They had a lot of hits, but their music was very disposable. Also Boys 2 Men had a lot of bad imitators. You'd be forgiven if you thought the Jon B song "Someone To Love" was sung by Boys 2 Men. As it was playing that's who I thought was singing the song. There was also the truth in advertising named band Immature and their very bland song "Constantly". There's no surprise Immature faded quickly. It seems the idea was for a Justin Bieber like career. Immature is so dull and talentless, comparatively Bieber is Elvis Presley. I'm not a Bieber hater either. Also Blackstreet's "Before I Let You Go" was another low point for R&B boy bands.
One of the worst bands of that year was the horrific Hootie and the Blowfish. Sample lyric: "I'm such a baby even dolphins make me cry." And Hootie I really don't wanna be with you. I hated that band in 1995 and never really understood why they took off so dramatically. And as with most music from that year, their music hasn't aged well. I don't blame Darius Rucker for leaving them and starting on a solo country music career. I actually like some of his solo music.
And how did Brandy ever become a star? That year she was responsible for some really bad songs. For instance "Baby" and "Brokenhearted". Slightly better but still forgettable were "Best Friend" and "I Wanna Be Down".
And again imitation was a big theme of 1995. Even when there was a good song like All-4-One's "I Can Love You Like That"....:
hh
.... there was a song like like Bryan Adam's extremely sappy "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman"?
Another great song from 1995 was Take That's "Back For Good":
Even classic 80's artists had some of the worst music of their career. As I mentioned with Bryan Adams above. But also Janet Jackson had "You Want This", which on a second listen was better. But why did that song sample the Supremes "Love Child". That sample feels so out of place in "You Want This." But it's nowhere in the same league as "Nasty", "Escapade" or "Control". In '95 Michael Jackson had "Scream", again far off from his "Thriller" peak. Even the consistently good Madonna had a low point with "Secret". The last two songs are decent songs.. A band named 4 P.M. covered a classic 80's song. They did an okay cover of A Taste Of Honey's "Sukiyaki", but again at best only a pale imitation:
Although hair metal, sadly, mostly died out in the early 90's, Firehouse was trying to keep it alive. Instead of keeping it alive, their song from that year might have been the final nail in the hair metal coffin. That song was the incredibly lame "I Live My Life For You". It was a much watered down of their excellent "Love Of A Lifetime". Well at least they imitated themselves.
Above are a few of the relatively few musical highlights from 1995. Some of the other highlights of that year include U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me": (I absolutely love this song.)
Better Than Ezra's "Good":
Thank goodness for Melissa Etheridge for bringing some grit, life experience and taste to 1995. You can tell that Etheridge had lived the lyrics she sang. That gives her music a lot of passion and believability. Thank you Melissa for being one of the lone highlights of 1995. This is her amazing "I'm The Only One":
"Like The Way I Do": (The above song is more well known, but this song kicks some butt too.)
Sophie B. Hawkins "As I Lay Me Down To Sleep":
Jack and the gorgeous Kate in "Roll To Me":
TLC's "Waterfalls":
Seal's "Kiss From A Rose":
1995 was the year for the decent "Colors of the Wind", but I prefer this Vanessa Williams song "The Sweetest Days":
Other good songs of 1995 include "The Real McCoy's "Run Away", The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You" and Natalie Merchant's "Carnival". Her voice is so pretty on that song.
I'm so glad this blog is written, because I'm so tired of listening to the derivative, pale imitation music of that year. I don't know if I will write any more blogs like this. I heard too many songs that I hope to never hear again. I'm going to listen to music from 1990 to see if that was a better year for music. I'm hoping so.
To see Billboard's Top 100 songs of 1995, go here: http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1995.php. Just quickly looking over the songs from 1994, it was a much better year for music. It was so much diverse with many great songs coming from many genres: http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1994.php
themusicaddict
To answer your first question: I'm listening to music from 1995 because I watched an episode of the amazing "Cold Case" this past Tuesday night. The cold case they were investigating happened in 1995. For those that don't know, "Cold Case" feature lot of music in their episodes. A few of the songs that were featured I had completely forgotten about. As I listened to a lot of that music on Spotify, I quickly realized how much of it was forgettable. Thanks to the awesome people over at Spotify, I've been listening to one of their playlists of songs from 1995. It features 95 of the Top 100 songs according to Billboard for that year.
I'm taking Spotify's word for these songs being from 1995, I didn't do any research to confirm that. The Tootsee song mentions 1994, but for the most part I think these songs were from 1995.
But after listening to that year's music for about 10 hours, all I can say is 1995 sucked for music. There were a few great songs, many of which I'll be featuring later in this blog. But for the most part there was a lot of crappy music in 1995. I will mention a few examples of the crap music, but won't feature any of those songs on this blog. I don't support sucky music.
One reason for the 1995's bad music year is that rap music continued to move into the mainstream. To be acceptable to the mainstream a lot of the rap music was neutered. Some more hard core rap songs did get through. But for the most part that hard core rap was terrible. The glorious days of 80's rap was left far behind. A lot of the rap music from 1995 featured samples. But what most people call it by it's real name: stealing.
Also there was a lot of imitation going on in 1995, many bad ideas seems to be repeatedly recycled. The thinking seemed to be: If you don't have a good musical idea, just steal one and call it a sample. I don't remember many of these musicians and even less of their songs. Music was both disposable and utterly forgivable in 1995. Listening to my iTunes on random was a marked improvement.
Probably the most egregiously bad rap song is "Tootsee Roll" by 69 Boyz. You might have read where I've talked about lowest common denominator music. "Tootsee Roll" is an ultimate example of that kind of music. The lyrics are stupid, the beat is repetitive and even the name of the band shows the juvenile nature of the creative people behind this band.
Another of 1995's crappy rap music was Notorious BIG's "Big Poppa". Also Shaggy and Rayvon's out and out kifed Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime". I wouldn't even call that a sample. They basically took the original melody and rapped over it a bit and called that a song. Also Method Man and Mary J. Blige's "I'll Be There For You" was not very good. Other lowlights include Luniz's "I Got 5 On It", and the absolutely dreadful "Give It 2 You" by Da Brat (Was the name the Da No Talent already taken?) That song is horrible in every way possible.
I could go on and on with more examples of all the terrible rap music that year, just a couple more examples. 702 and Subway had "This Lil' Game We Play". I'm glad the sandwich making thing worked out for Subway, because his song didn't. Junior M.A.F.I.A.'s name is not only incredibly obnoxious to type, but "Player's Anthem" is as bad as it sounds like it would be. Finally Jodeci's "Freakin You" was another terrible song from that year. At least Skee Lo has a sense of humor on "I Wish", in spite of it being sexist. But like most rap songs from that year one quickly gets tired of them. 2 Pac's "Dear Mama" is at least listenable.
Also the R&B boy band movement was in full effect. This was highlighted by Boys 2 Men. They had a lot of hits, but their music was very disposable. Also Boys 2 Men had a lot of bad imitators. You'd be forgiven if you thought the Jon B song "Someone To Love" was sung by Boys 2 Men. As it was playing that's who I thought was singing the song. There was also the truth in advertising named band Immature and their very bland song "Constantly". There's no surprise Immature faded quickly. It seems the idea was for a Justin Bieber like career. Immature is so dull and talentless, comparatively Bieber is Elvis Presley. I'm not a Bieber hater either. Also Blackstreet's "Before I Let You Go" was another low point for R&B boy bands.
One of the worst bands of that year was the horrific Hootie and the Blowfish. Sample lyric: "I'm such a baby even dolphins make me cry." And Hootie I really don't wanna be with you. I hated that band in 1995 and never really understood why they took off so dramatically. And as with most music from that year, their music hasn't aged well. I don't blame Darius Rucker for leaving them and starting on a solo country music career. I actually like some of his solo music.
And how did Brandy ever become a star? That year she was responsible for some really bad songs. For instance "Baby" and "Brokenhearted". Slightly better but still forgettable were "Best Friend" and "I Wanna Be Down".
And again imitation was a big theme of 1995. Even when there was a good song like All-4-One's "I Can Love You Like That"....:
hh
.... there was a song like like Bryan Adam's extremely sappy "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman"?
Another great song from 1995 was Take That's "Back For Good":
Even classic 80's artists had some of the worst music of their career. As I mentioned with Bryan Adams above. But also Janet Jackson had "You Want This", which on a second listen was better. But why did that song sample the Supremes "Love Child". That sample feels so out of place in "You Want This." But it's nowhere in the same league as "Nasty", "Escapade" or "Control". In '95 Michael Jackson had "Scream", again far off from his "Thriller" peak. Even the consistently good Madonna had a low point with "Secret". The last two songs are decent songs.. A band named 4 P.M. covered a classic 80's song. They did an okay cover of A Taste Of Honey's "Sukiyaki", but again at best only a pale imitation:
Although hair metal, sadly, mostly died out in the early 90's, Firehouse was trying to keep it alive. Instead of keeping it alive, their song from that year might have been the final nail in the hair metal coffin. That song was the incredibly lame "I Live My Life For You". It was a much watered down of their excellent "Love Of A Lifetime". Well at least they imitated themselves.
Above are a few of the relatively few musical highlights from 1995. Some of the other highlights of that year include U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me": (I absolutely love this song.)
Better Than Ezra's "Good":
Thank goodness for Melissa Etheridge for bringing some grit, life experience and taste to 1995. You can tell that Etheridge had lived the lyrics she sang. That gives her music a lot of passion and believability. Thank you Melissa for being one of the lone highlights of 1995. This is her amazing "I'm The Only One":
"Like The Way I Do": (The above song is more well known, but this song kicks some butt too.)
Sophie B. Hawkins "As I Lay Me Down To Sleep":
Jack and the gorgeous Kate in "Roll To Me":
TLC's "Waterfalls":
Seal's "Kiss From A Rose":
1995 was the year for the decent "Colors of the Wind", but I prefer this Vanessa Williams song "The Sweetest Days":
Other good songs of 1995 include "The Real McCoy's "Run Away", The Pretenders "I'll Stand By You" and Natalie Merchant's "Carnival". Her voice is so pretty on that song.
I'm so glad this blog is written, because I'm so tired of listening to the derivative, pale imitation music of that year. I don't know if I will write any more blogs like this. I heard too many songs that I hope to never hear again. I'm going to listen to music from 1990 to see if that was a better year for music. I'm hoping so.
To see Billboard's Top 100 songs of 1995, go here: http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1995.php. Just quickly looking over the songs from 1994, it was a much better year for music. It was so much diverse with many great songs coming from many genres: http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1994.php
themusicaddict
Monday, June 25, 2012
What I'm Reading Now: "Fatherland", "Outlander" and Gillian Flynn
Hello,
It's been awhile since I've posted about what I'm reading. I used to be so ambitious that I tried to even have my own book club. Unfortunately that required too much effort and time, especially since I'm lazy, so that faded away. However I never stopped reading. After recently getting a Kindle, my reading has increased. I still read old school Kindles, or as some people call them books. I don't have a problem reading on a Kindle, they are extremely user friendly. Turning pages is intuitive and I love how ebooks have a bookmark. And 90% of ebooks are $9.99 or less, plus you can buy many quality books for under $2.00. I absolutely love my Kindle, now if they could only figure out a way to recreate the new book smell. That's only one of the best smells known to man.
I wanted to give a quick update on the books I'm currently reading. I'm not sure whether it's due to my ADHD, but it's rare that I stick with a book straight through to the end. That's even true with books that I'm absolutely loving. It's not that I stop reading the book, at least initially, it's just that I start reading other books. So I'm usually reading 2 or 3 or 4 etc. books at one time. Then with getting a new Kindle, it's only adding to my reading ADHD. There are so many great books so cheap on the Kindle. Plus like regular books, you can check out ebooks from your local library. Although I have to note that the selection of Kindle ebooks at libraries is very limited.
Here's what I'm reading now:
1) Robert Harris's "Fatherland". It's an alternate fictional history, what could have happened if Germany hadn't lost World War 2. In this alternate history, D Day was either a failure or never occurred. That and other Allies failures allowed a Hitler led Germany to remain in power. The novel is based around Gestapo detective Xavier March and his investigation into the death of a prominent party member, Josef Buhler. The setting is 1964 Germany where Hitler is very much alive. Germans are preparing to celebrate his 75th birthday.
Also President Kennedy has agreed to visit Germany in hopes of reaching detente with Nazi Germany. The President Kennedy storyline is intriguing. As you know in actuality President Kennedy died in November, 1963. So who is this President Kennedy? One of the very clever touches in this book. As in actuality there was The Cold War, but in this alternate history it's going on between Germany and the USA. The USSR didn't reach it's place of prominence as they did in reality, Russia is left fighting a guerrilla war against the Germans. (While I'm loving these what if kind of books, I'm so glad this book is a work of fiction. Nazism needed to be stopped and thank goodness D Day was an overwhelming success.)
I've read about 40% so far and there's a good chance that I'll actually finish the book. In fact writing this blog makes me want to continue reading it right now.
"Fatherland" was made into a 1994 HBO movie, it stars Rutger Hauer. I hadn't heard of the movie until I read the "Fatherland" wikipedia.org page. The things you learning reading wikipedia!
2) Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander". I've read about the first 300 pages of this book so far. This is one of those books that I love, but I just get the urge to read something else. "Outlander" is the first book in a 7 book series. This series so far has spun out a play and a graphic novel. "Outlander" tells the story of Claire Randall and her adventures in both 1743 Scotland and 1945 Inverness. You'll have to read the book to understand why. While I'm quite enjoying the adventures of Claire, I'm not a big fan that she has a husband in each era.
3) Then on my Kindle I'm currently reading Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places". It's the story of Libby Day, who is one of two survivors of her family being killed. She's one of two survivors and the only witness. The other survivor, her older brother, is now in prison for killing the rest of their family. Libby was able to live on a life insurance policy comfortably for about 13 years. However she eventually ran out of money. In an act of desperation, because she doesn't want to get a job, and for $700 she agrees to talk to a so-called Kill Group to answer questions about this crime. That's all I've read so far but I'm intrigued by this very interesting premise. This book is full of very bizarre characters. A lot of chills and thrills are on their way I can tell.
Flynn is currently riding the success of her current novel, the much praised "Gone Girl". Amazon.com's books editors have called "Gone Girl" one of their Top 10 books of the year so far. (Thanks ew.com.)
Below is a lovely picture of Miss Flynn.
I have "Gone Girl's" first chapter on my Kindle. Being able to read a first chapter on a Kindle is one of the greatest and worst things about the Kindle. I love being able to read the first chapter of a book. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover is the old saying. However I'm perfectly comfortable judging a book by it's first chapter. If the first chapter doesn't suck me completely into the story, then it's highly likely it's not a book I'm going to enjoy. ("The Hunger Games" being a rare exception to this rule.)
With the Kindle it's so easy to say yes, please download the rest of the book to my Kindle. Although I have learned the hard way if you want a book to go to your Kindle, get it through amazon.com directly. ebooks that I've purchased on my Kindle I've been charged sales tax. However books I bought at amazon.com and then sent to my Kindle, no sales tax has been charged.
I'm not sure when more reading updates will be coming. I just wanted to let you know what books I'm reading. I would highly recommend all three books I've mentioned here. I also have "Gone Girl" on hold at my local library. Seriously I love living in America, the greatest country in the world.
themusicaddict
It's been awhile since I've posted about what I'm reading. I used to be so ambitious that I tried to even have my own book club. Unfortunately that required too much effort and time, especially since I'm lazy, so that faded away. However I never stopped reading. After recently getting a Kindle, my reading has increased. I still read old school Kindles, or as some people call them books. I don't have a problem reading on a Kindle, they are extremely user friendly. Turning pages is intuitive and I love how ebooks have a bookmark. And 90% of ebooks are $9.99 or less, plus you can buy many quality books for under $2.00. I absolutely love my Kindle, now if they could only figure out a way to recreate the new book smell. That's only one of the best smells known to man.
I wanted to give a quick update on the books I'm currently reading. I'm not sure whether it's due to my ADHD, but it's rare that I stick with a book straight through to the end. That's even true with books that I'm absolutely loving. It's not that I stop reading the book, at least initially, it's just that I start reading other books. So I'm usually reading 2 or 3 or 4 etc. books at one time. Then with getting a new Kindle, it's only adding to my reading ADHD. There are so many great books so cheap on the Kindle. Plus like regular books, you can check out ebooks from your local library. Although I have to note that the selection of Kindle ebooks at libraries is very limited.
Here's what I'm reading now:
1) Robert Harris's "Fatherland". It's an alternate fictional history, what could have happened if Germany hadn't lost World War 2. In this alternate history, D Day was either a failure or never occurred. That and other Allies failures allowed a Hitler led Germany to remain in power. The novel is based around Gestapo detective Xavier March and his investigation into the death of a prominent party member, Josef Buhler. The setting is 1964 Germany where Hitler is very much alive. Germans are preparing to celebrate his 75th birthday.
Also President Kennedy has agreed to visit Germany in hopes of reaching detente with Nazi Germany. The President Kennedy storyline is intriguing. As you know in actuality President Kennedy died in November, 1963. So who is this President Kennedy? One of the very clever touches in this book. As in actuality there was The Cold War, but in this alternate history it's going on between Germany and the USA. The USSR didn't reach it's place of prominence as they did in reality, Russia is left fighting a guerrilla war against the Germans. (While I'm loving these what if kind of books, I'm so glad this book is a work of fiction. Nazism needed to be stopped and thank goodness D Day was an overwhelming success.)
I've read about 40% so far and there's a good chance that I'll actually finish the book. In fact writing this blog makes me want to continue reading it right now.
"Fatherland" was made into a 1994 HBO movie, it stars Rutger Hauer. I hadn't heard of the movie until I read the "Fatherland" wikipedia.org page. The things you learning reading wikipedia!
2) Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander". I've read about the first 300 pages of this book so far. This is one of those books that I love, but I just get the urge to read something else. "Outlander" is the first book in a 7 book series. This series so far has spun out a play and a graphic novel. "Outlander" tells the story of Claire Randall and her adventures in both 1743 Scotland and 1945 Inverness. You'll have to read the book to understand why. While I'm quite enjoying the adventures of Claire, I'm not a big fan that she has a husband in each era.
3) Then on my Kindle I'm currently reading Gillian Flynn's "Dark Places". It's the story of Libby Day, who is one of two survivors of her family being killed. She's one of two survivors and the only witness. The other survivor, her older brother, is now in prison for killing the rest of their family. Libby was able to live on a life insurance policy comfortably for about 13 years. However she eventually ran out of money. In an act of desperation, because she doesn't want to get a job, and for $700 she agrees to talk to a so-called Kill Group to answer questions about this crime. That's all I've read so far but I'm intrigued by this very interesting premise. This book is full of very bizarre characters. A lot of chills and thrills are on their way I can tell.
Flynn is currently riding the success of her current novel, the much praised "Gone Girl". Amazon.com's books editors have called "Gone Girl" one of their Top 10 books of the year so far. (Thanks ew.com.)
Below is a lovely picture of Miss Flynn.
I have "Gone Girl's" first chapter on my Kindle. Being able to read a first chapter on a Kindle is one of the greatest and worst things about the Kindle. I love being able to read the first chapter of a book. You shouldn't judge a book by it's cover is the old saying. However I'm perfectly comfortable judging a book by it's first chapter. If the first chapter doesn't suck me completely into the story, then it's highly likely it's not a book I'm going to enjoy. ("The Hunger Games" being a rare exception to this rule.)
With the Kindle it's so easy to say yes, please download the rest of the book to my Kindle. Although I have learned the hard way if you want a book to go to your Kindle, get it through amazon.com directly. ebooks that I've purchased on my Kindle I've been charged sales tax. However books I bought at amazon.com and then sent to my Kindle, no sales tax has been charged.
I'm not sure when more reading updates will be coming. I just wanted to let you know what books I'm reading. I would highly recommend all three books I've mentioned here. I also have "Gone Girl" on hold at my local library. Seriously I love living in America, the greatest country in the world.
themusicaddict
Sunday, June 24, 2012
"Brave": Quick Review
Hello,
My kids are still of the age where they want me to go to the movies with them. So I went and saw "Brave" with my two youngest kids yesterday. It wasn't a movie I wanted to see. I didn't expect much from it and it was about as I had expected. It's a cute movie with some funny parts. But unless you are going to see the movie with your kids, there's no reason for an adult to go see it.
While watching it I thought to myself how many of these princess movies are they going to make? I'm so tired of the concept, when are other people going to feel the same? Although since it pulled in $24.5 million on Friday alone, I'm guessing we'll be seeing a lot more of princesses in the future.
themusicaddict
My kids are still of the age where they want me to go to the movies with them. So I went and saw "Brave" with my two youngest kids yesterday. It wasn't a movie I wanted to see. I didn't expect much from it and it was about as I had expected. It's a cute movie with some funny parts. But unless you are going to see the movie with your kids, there's no reason for an adult to go see it.
While watching it I thought to myself how many of these princess movies are they going to make? I'm so tired of the concept, when are other people going to feel the same? Although since it pulled in $24.5 million on Friday alone, I'm guessing we'll be seeing a lot more of princesses in the future.
themusicaddict
Friday, June 22, 2012
The Heat are NBA Champs
Hello,
In a thoroughly dominating performance last night the Heat won their fourth straight NBA Finals game and are NBA champs. It's both the Heat's and Dwayne Wade's second NBA Championship. How long until Wade is mentioned amongst the all-time NBA great guards? But even more importantly this got the rather large baboon off the back of LeBron James. James finally captured his first NBA style. He played a tremendous game. He made 9 of 19 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line. He also finished with a triple double: 11 points, 13 assists and 26 points. Of those three stats the most amazing is the 13 assists. For a player that is truly a power forward in every sense of the word, 13 assists is amazing.
I cheered for the Heat last playoffs and also this playoffs. I love Dwayne Wade and glad that James finally got his long awaited title. Now of course if the Heat get too successful I'll probably start cheering against them.
Also it's time for all haters to forgive James for the so called The Decision and that over the top press conference introducing Bosh and James joining Wade in Miami. If you don't forgive James for those things it says more about you than it does about him.
The Boston Red Sox go for their sixth straight victory tonight, after winning their fifth straight game in dramatic fashion last night. The Red Sox roller coaster continues their up and down season. For the second straight season they've been devastated by injuries. Although it's good to hear that Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury are going to be back in about a month. Also Josh Beckett should be back soon. It sounds like Kevin Youkilis will be on his way out of Boston. If they can turn that into getting another great starting pitcher that would be great. And when I say great I mean a solid, dependable 15 game winner. They don't need any more Jon Lackey or Daisuke Matsuzaka types.
themusicaddict
In a thoroughly dominating performance last night the Heat won their fourth straight NBA Finals game and are NBA champs. It's both the Heat's and Dwayne Wade's second NBA Championship. How long until Wade is mentioned amongst the all-time NBA great guards? But even more importantly this got the rather large baboon off the back of LeBron James. James finally captured his first NBA style. He played a tremendous game. He made 9 of 19 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free throw line. He also finished with a triple double: 11 points, 13 assists and 26 points. Of those three stats the most amazing is the 13 assists. For a player that is truly a power forward in every sense of the word, 13 assists is amazing.
I cheered for the Heat last playoffs and also this playoffs. I love Dwayne Wade and glad that James finally got his long awaited title. Now of course if the Heat get too successful I'll probably start cheering against them.
Also it's time for all haters to forgive James for the so called The Decision and that over the top press conference introducing Bosh and James joining Wade in Miami. If you don't forgive James for those things it says more about you than it does about him.
The Boston Red Sox go for their sixth straight victory tonight, after winning their fifth straight game in dramatic fashion last night. The Red Sox roller coaster continues their up and down season. For the second straight season they've been devastated by injuries. Although it's good to hear that Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury are going to be back in about a month. Also Josh Beckett should be back soon. It sounds like Kevin Youkilis will be on his way out of Boston. If they can turn that into getting another great starting pitcher that would be great. And when I say great I mean a solid, dependable 15 game winner. They don't need any more Jon Lackey or Daisuke Matsuzaka types.
themusicaddict
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Sports update: BCS Is Finally Likely to Get A College Football Playoffs (Fingers Crossed)
Hello,
I haven't posted about sports lately. Here's just a few random thoughts. I predict that tonight Miami will win Game 5 and the NBA Finals. When the Heat grab the title, will people please lay off LeBron James? With a title he has won everything he can possibly win. He already has won Olympic Gold, 3 MVP's etc. Just enjoy watching one of the transcendent players in NBA history. He's not my favorite player or person but he's a magnificent athlete. Not to mention he's a teammate to the almost equally amazing Dwayne Wade.
But an athlete that we should mock and revile is the Vikings Percy Harvin. I hate these fantastically paid, prima donna athletes. They make millions of dollars playing athletics and they still complain? Percy Harvin, please shut the hell up.
From the bizarre world of the fox guarding the henhouse comes the news that the BCS commissioners have endorsed a 4 team playoff system. The commissioners consensus has to be approved by the BCS presidential oversight committee. (Those last four words are oxymoronic.) They probably will approve, but with the BCS you can't plan for rational thought.
From Ivan Maisel's excellent article on espn.com: (Thoughts in italics are mine.)
"The commissioners -- and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick -- deserve credit for finding that consensus. They rarely agree so readily on anything beyond which five-star resort to hold their meetings. (First of all I'm so tired of Notre Dame getting special treatment just because of their pedigree. The comment about agreeing only on five-star resorts is hilarious and spot on.)
The only reason they are making any concessions now is due to congressional pressure. Don't fool yourself that either common sense, fairness or what college football fans actually want played any part in this change.
Putting the BCS in charge of deciding who plays for the college football national championship is equivalent for greedy CEOs of large companies deciding how much money they make in bonuses. Again Div 1A college football is the only sport that decides their champion not by playoffs. Just think about that for a minute.
Also as Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott, who is symbolic of the stupidity and greed that has kept the BCS in business, admits that many people won't be happy until the playoffs expand to 8 or 16 teams. He's absolutely right. Again it shows that the BCS has too much power as they continue to drag their feet into the 21st century.
I can't help but compare college football's fubar non-playoff system to the most exciting 3 weeks in sports. That's college basketball's March Madness. Although they have made it a bit unwieldy by going to 68 teams, March Madness is a thing of beauty to behold. Especially that first weekend where there's basketball from 10:00am to 10:00pm Thursday through Sunday. Many of these kids are playing their guts out in what for many will be their last shot at glory.
In spite of all the evidence of the gloriousness of March Madness, the BCS has continued dragging their feet. Indeed if the "oversight committee" approves the 4 team playoff, it won't take affect until 2014. (The BCS will make up some lame excuse to justify the delay, but I don't believe a word they say.) They continue to say that they know what they are doing, in spite of overwhelming proof that they don't. The BCS is the Randy Jackson of sports. Personally I'm glad that due to outside pressure, the outmoded BCS is finally being pressured to do the right thing.
themusicaddict.
I haven't posted about sports lately. Here's just a few random thoughts. I predict that tonight Miami will win Game 5 and the NBA Finals. When the Heat grab the title, will people please lay off LeBron James? With a title he has won everything he can possibly win. He already has won Olympic Gold, 3 MVP's etc. Just enjoy watching one of the transcendent players in NBA history. He's not my favorite player or person but he's a magnificent athlete. Not to mention he's a teammate to the almost equally amazing Dwayne Wade.
But an athlete that we should mock and revile is the Vikings Percy Harvin. I hate these fantastically paid, prima donna athletes. They make millions of dollars playing athletics and they still complain? Percy Harvin, please shut the hell up.
From the bizarre world of the fox guarding the henhouse comes the news that the BCS commissioners have endorsed a 4 team playoff system. The commissioners consensus has to be approved by the BCS presidential oversight committee. (Those last four words are oxymoronic.) They probably will approve, but with the BCS you can't plan for rational thought.
From Ivan Maisel's excellent article on espn.com: (Thoughts in italics are mine.)
"The commissioners -- and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick -- deserve credit for finding that consensus. They rarely agree so readily on anything beyond which five-star resort to hold their meetings. (First of all I'm so tired of Notre Dame getting special treatment just because of their pedigree. The comment about agreeing only on five-star resorts is hilarious and spot on.)
The consensus is a tribute to their belief that the BCS had outlived its usefulness. Or it may be a tribute to how the commissioners and Swarbrick tired of defending the BCS against an effective guerrilla media campaign for a playoff. (Maisel is right on again.)
For 14 seasons, the BCS has been as inefficient and unwieldy as the federal tax code. The commissioners concocted a formula of polls and computer ratings to pick the teams and thought no one would notice the lack of transparency. It took them 10 years to get it right, and by the time they did, the opponents had gathered too much momentum to be stopped." (Yes, the only people who have ever benefitted from the BCS is the BCS itself and perhaps the SEC Conference.)
I must have missed something because I've never understood how the BCS got in charge of deciding who plays for the National Championship. Their reign has been known mostly for self serving greed and stupidity. The fact they have ignored the public outcry for a playoff for several years now shows how little they care about the actual sport. The BCS is only in business to make themselves as much money as possible. They've been remarkably successful at that, but have been a complete disaster in finding a true national champion and creating a fair system.The only reason they are making any concessions now is due to congressional pressure. Don't fool yourself that either common sense, fairness or what college football fans actually want played any part in this change.
Putting the BCS in charge of deciding who plays for the college football national championship is equivalent for greedy CEOs of large companies deciding how much money they make in bonuses. Again Div 1A college football is the only sport that decides their champion not by playoffs. Just think about that for a minute.
Also as Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott, who is symbolic of the stupidity and greed that has kept the BCS in business, admits that many people won't be happy until the playoffs expand to 8 or 16 teams. He's absolutely right. Again it shows that the BCS has too much power as they continue to drag their feet into the 21st century.
I can't help but compare college football's fubar non-playoff system to the most exciting 3 weeks in sports. That's college basketball's March Madness. Although they have made it a bit unwieldy by going to 68 teams, March Madness is a thing of beauty to behold. Especially that first weekend where there's basketball from 10:00am to 10:00pm Thursday through Sunday. Many of these kids are playing their guts out in what for many will be their last shot at glory.
In spite of all the evidence of the gloriousness of March Madness, the BCS has continued dragging their feet. Indeed if the "oversight committee" approves the 4 team playoff, it won't take affect until 2014. (The BCS will make up some lame excuse to justify the delay, but I don't believe a word they say.) They continue to say that they know what they are doing, in spite of overwhelming proof that they don't. The BCS is the Randy Jackson of sports. Personally I'm glad that due to outside pressure, the outmoded BCS is finally being pressured to do the right thing.
themusicaddict.
Trish McAleny update
Hello,
Back on March 9th of this year I posted about Trish McAleny, someone I associate with on Facebook. Someone that knows her and has seen her sing posted this comment on my blog:
"I know Trish and if you don't give yourself a chance to hear her you are truly missing out. She can sing as good as any pro and better that quite a number of them. she will blow you away, she is THAT GOOD!"
As you can see from this video, where she's doing everything, she's currently paying her dues. However she stated that we might be getting sick of her soon. She didn't provide any details, but maybe she'll be breaking out a little bit more soon. Here's a couple of videos of her singing. Unfortunately the equipment isn't professional, so we don't get the true measure of her talent.
This is Trish's cover of The Corrs "Breathless":
This is Trish singing Keith Whitley's amazing "When You Say Nothing At All":
Here she is with an actual band, singing Michelle Branch's "All You Wanted":
themusicaddict
Back on March 9th of this year I posted about Trish McAleny, someone I associate with on Facebook. Someone that knows her and has seen her sing posted this comment on my blog:
"I know Trish and if you don't give yourself a chance to hear her you are truly missing out. She can sing as good as any pro and better that quite a number of them. she will blow you away, she is THAT GOOD!"
As you can see from this video, where she's doing everything, she's currently paying her dues. However she stated that we might be getting sick of her soon. She didn't provide any details, but maybe she'll be breaking out a little bit more soon. Here's a couple of videos of her singing. Unfortunately the equipment isn't professional, so we don't get the true measure of her talent.
This is Trish's cover of The Corrs "Breathless":
This is Trish singing Keith Whitley's amazing "When You Say Nothing At All":
Here she is with an actual band, singing Michelle Branch's "All You Wanted":
themusicaddict
More Hair Metal Highlights: Skid Row, Warrant, Night Ranger and Some More Obscure Songs
Hello,
"Rock of Ages" has prompted a hair metal revival, no it's not only me. Rolling Stone Magazine, which is featured prominently, in "Rock of Ages" asked it's readers to vote for the Top Ten Hair Metal songs of all-time. The list is pretty predictable, check it out at rollingstone.com. Below is their top ten hair metal songs, but their website also has interesting snippets about the songs and artists.
10) "Sweet Child O' Mine"- Guns N' Roses
9) "Here I Go Again"- Whitesnake
8) "Nothin' But A Good Time"- Poison
7) "Girls Girls Girls"- Motley Crue
6) "Cherry Pie"- Warrant
5) "Home Sweet Home"- Motley Crue
4) "Welcome To The Jungle"- Guns N' Roses
3) "Paradise City"- Guns N' Roses
2) "Photograph"- Def Leppard
1) "Pour Some Sugar On Me"- Def Leppard
The two biggest surprises for me in that list is that a more obscure song didn't break into the Top Ten. Maybe there's a couple of those in the 11-20 range. I wish Rolling Stone would publish those as well. I'm also surprised that "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" didn't make the Top Ten.
Today I'm going to feature several more great hair metal songs for your pleasure. Some of these are very famous songs. But I also spent the morning doing a little digging trying to find some forgotten songs and artists.
Do you remember Steelheart? Their big song was "I'll Never Let You Go":
I don't remember either the band or the song, but I like "Pissed" by Dangerous Toys:
I vaguely remember Faster Pussycat, but I definitely don't remember "Bathroom Wall":
Y&T's "Summertime Girls". I read the review in the Salt Lake Tribune today about last night's Def Leppard and Poison concert. The reviewer said the music isn't very smart. That's true, but what popular music is? This music wasn't trying for smart it was only trying for fun. Songs like "Summertime Girls" are fun. There might even have been a little dancing going on when it was playing. This is one of my favorite songs of the hair metal era and I even saw Y&T play live back in the day:
Saigon Kick's "What You Say":
Again I don't either remember King Kobra or "Mean Street Machine", but this song rawks:
Pretty Boy Floyd's "Leather Boyz With Electric Toys":
Now a few more from Skid Row, this is "Youth Gone Wild":
Here's one of the better heavy metal ballads, "I Remember You":
Two years after releasing their self-titled CD, Skid Row released "Slave To The Grind". That CD rocked so much harder than their self-titled debut. I remember a reviewer at the time said that it sounded like Skid Row had been eating glass while making this CD. I wouldn't call any song off "Slave To The Grind" hair metal, it's just straight kick butt music. This is the song "Slave To The Grind":
Extreme's "Cupids Dead": (There's not any video with better sound.)
Another great heavy metal ballad, Extreme's "More Than Words":
Here's a few from Warrant. I'm actually quite a big fan of their first CD "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" "Cherry Pie" is way too obvious to include here, I also think that was the beginning of the end for them as major players. "Heaven" is also extremely obvious, but I don't think I'll get sick of "Heaven":
"I Saw Red":
"Down Boys":
"32 Pennies":
This was filmed just a few months before Jani Lane died. This might be my favorite Warrant song. "So Damn Pretty (Should Be Against The Law)":
I wouldn't call Night Ranger a hair metal band. However they were right in that era and they also had some songs that kicked butt. And "Sister Christian" is one of the better songs from that era:
"Secret Of My Success":
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me":
Hmm, I don't remember this song. For some reason Youtube is featuring it prominently on Night Ranger songs. Do you remember "I Did It For Love"?:
themusicaddict
"Rock of Ages" has prompted a hair metal revival, no it's not only me. Rolling Stone Magazine, which is featured prominently, in "Rock of Ages" asked it's readers to vote for the Top Ten Hair Metal songs of all-time. The list is pretty predictable, check it out at rollingstone.com. Below is their top ten hair metal songs, but their website also has interesting snippets about the songs and artists.
10) "Sweet Child O' Mine"- Guns N' Roses
9) "Here I Go Again"- Whitesnake
8) "Nothin' But A Good Time"- Poison
7) "Girls Girls Girls"- Motley Crue
6) "Cherry Pie"- Warrant
5) "Home Sweet Home"- Motley Crue
4) "Welcome To The Jungle"- Guns N' Roses
3) "Paradise City"- Guns N' Roses
2) "Photograph"- Def Leppard
1) "Pour Some Sugar On Me"- Def Leppard
The two biggest surprises for me in that list is that a more obscure song didn't break into the Top Ten. Maybe there's a couple of those in the 11-20 range. I wish Rolling Stone would publish those as well. I'm also surprised that "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" didn't make the Top Ten.
Today I'm going to feature several more great hair metal songs for your pleasure. Some of these are very famous songs. But I also spent the morning doing a little digging trying to find some forgotten songs and artists.
Do you remember Steelheart? Their big song was "I'll Never Let You Go":
I don't remember either the band or the song, but I like "Pissed" by Dangerous Toys:
I vaguely remember Faster Pussycat, but I definitely don't remember "Bathroom Wall":
Y&T's "Summertime Girls". I read the review in the Salt Lake Tribune today about last night's Def Leppard and Poison concert. The reviewer said the music isn't very smart. That's true, but what popular music is? This music wasn't trying for smart it was only trying for fun. Songs like "Summertime Girls" are fun. There might even have been a little dancing going on when it was playing. This is one of my favorite songs of the hair metal era and I even saw Y&T play live back in the day:
Saigon Kick's "What You Say":
Again I don't either remember King Kobra or "Mean Street Machine", but this song rawks:
Pretty Boy Floyd's "Leather Boyz With Electric Toys":
Now a few more from Skid Row, this is "Youth Gone Wild":
Here's one of the better heavy metal ballads, "I Remember You":
Two years after releasing their self-titled CD, Skid Row released "Slave To The Grind". That CD rocked so much harder than their self-titled debut. I remember a reviewer at the time said that it sounded like Skid Row had been eating glass while making this CD. I wouldn't call any song off "Slave To The Grind" hair metal, it's just straight kick butt music. This is the song "Slave To The Grind":
Extreme's "Cupids Dead": (There's not any video with better sound.)
Another great heavy metal ballad, Extreme's "More Than Words":
Here's a few from Warrant. I'm actually quite a big fan of their first CD "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" "Cherry Pie" is way too obvious to include here, I also think that was the beginning of the end for them as major players. "Heaven" is also extremely obvious, but I don't think I'll get sick of "Heaven":
"I Saw Red":
"Down Boys":
"32 Pennies":
This was filmed just a few months before Jani Lane died. This might be my favorite Warrant song. "So Damn Pretty (Should Be Against The Law)":
I wouldn't call Night Ranger a hair metal band. However they were right in that era and they also had some songs that kicked butt. And "Sister Christian" is one of the better songs from that era:
"Secret Of My Success":
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me":
Hmm, I don't remember this song. For some reason Youtube is featuring it prominently on Night Ranger songs. Do you remember "I Did It For Love"?:
themusicaddict
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
More Kick Ass Hair Metal: Motley Crue, Cinderella, Ratt, Quiet Riot
Hello,
This may be my last blog highlighting some of the great hair metal classics over the ages. I'd be remiss if I didn't include Motley Crue. That's one of my favorite band names ever and is so appropriate. Now with the other bands I'm trying to pick some of their great songs, just not the obvious ones. If you are a fan of this era, I highly recommend that you read "The Dirt" by Neil Strauss and the members of the band. Thanks to Strauss's help, this is a highly literate and engaging read. If you want to see into the mind of a heroin addict, read Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries". As you would guess it's very dark.
"Too Young Too Fall In Love":
"Home Sweet Home":
"Dr. Feelgood":
"Don't Go Away Mad, Just Go Away":
"Looks That Kill":
"Saints of Los Angeles":
Here are some other great bands from the hair metal era. Cinderella's "The Last Mile":
"Somebody Save Me":
"Nobody's Fool":
Skid Row "18 and Life":
This is not Beavis and Butthead's favorite band. Winger's "Seventeen":
Did you ever get the feeling that Stephen Pearcy was a bit of a d bag? Their first couple of CDs were both very good. This is "Lay It Down":
"Dangerous But Worth The Risk":
If I remember correctly, this was the first metal band that broke through in the early 80s. It still took a couple of more years before the hair metal phoenoma to fully flower. Sadly Quiet Riot's singer Kevin Dubrow was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment on November 27th, 2007. The two songs they are known for I think are two of the best songs from the hair metal era.
Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)":
"Cum On Feel The Noize":
Twisted Sister (Hard to believe, but now you can buy a CD of Dee Snider singing Broadway songs.)
"I Wanna Rock":
themusicaddict
This may be my last blog highlighting some of the great hair metal classics over the ages. I'd be remiss if I didn't include Motley Crue. That's one of my favorite band names ever and is so appropriate. Now with the other bands I'm trying to pick some of their great songs, just not the obvious ones. If you are a fan of this era, I highly recommend that you read "The Dirt" by Neil Strauss and the members of the band. Thanks to Strauss's help, this is a highly literate and engaging read. If you want to see into the mind of a heroin addict, read Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries". As you would guess it's very dark.
"Too Young Too Fall In Love":
"Home Sweet Home":
"Dr. Feelgood":
"Don't Go Away Mad, Just Go Away":
"Looks That Kill":
"Saints of Los Angeles":
Here are some other great bands from the hair metal era. Cinderella's "The Last Mile":
"Somebody Save Me":
"Nobody's Fool":
Skid Row "18 and Life":
This is not Beavis and Butthead's favorite band. Winger's "Seventeen":
Did you ever get the feeling that Stephen Pearcy was a bit of a d bag? Their first couple of CDs were both very good. This is "Lay It Down":
"Dangerous But Worth The Risk":
If I remember correctly, this was the first metal band that broke through in the early 80s. It still took a couple of more years before the hair metal phoenoma to fully flower. Sadly Quiet Riot's singer Kevin Dubrow was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment on November 27th, 2007. The two songs they are known for I think are two of the best songs from the hair metal era.
Quiet Riot's "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)":
"Cum On Feel The Noize":
Twisted Sister (Hard to believe, but now you can buy a CD of Dee Snider singing Broadway songs.)
"I Wanna Rock":
themusicaddict
Thanks Rewind 100.7, Hair Metal Highlights Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford
Hello,
Most radio stations in the Salt Lake market like to have DJs talk and play too many commercials over playing music. That's pretty much all radio stations in this market. Even sports talk radio stations have an overabundance of commercials. For instance, on ESPN700 yesterday, they had 7 straight minutes of commercials. (Yes, I timed it.) They played actual commercials for 5 minutes then Hans Olsen and Bill Riley talked for two minutes about one of their sponsors. I understand a radio station is in business and their main (only?) purpose is to make money, but don't they realize how 7 minutes of commercials annoys? By the way I only remember one of those sponsors that they talked about.
Thank goodness for Rewind 100.7. Driving to work this morning, they played no commercials and the DJ only talked briefly. They played 6 great songs back to back. This was that great playlist 1) "Man Eater"- Hall & Oates 2) "Le Freak"- Chic 3) "Call Me"- Blondie 4) "Angel"- Aerosmith 5) "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and then closed that run of great songs with 6) Sister Sledge's "We Are Family".
In honor of the triple bill of Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford playing tomorrow night at the Usana Ampitheatre (one of the worst places to see a concert), here's a few selections by each. Two of the best concerts I've seen have been Def Leppard concerts. I saw them on their Hysteria tour and they kicked butt. Then I saw them several years later at the Utah State fairgrounds. I had second row seats and the boys were on their game that night. The band was amazing and Joe Elliot was in great form that night. And again they kicked butt. Here's some of their great hair metal classics:
Let's start off with perhaps the greatest of all the rock bands of this era, Def Leppard. In all due respect to Joe Elliot, if Def Leppard isn't heavy metal then what are they?
"Animal":
"Photograph"
"Foolin":
"Bringin' On The Heartbreak":
Again Poison is another hair metal band that isn't in any danger of Mensa membership. Poison hair metal highlights:
One of my all-time favorite songs and perhaps the greatest rock ballad ever, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn":
"Fallen Angel": (I'm sure that Poison wasn't responsible for any fallen angels.)
"Talk Dirty To Me":
"Nothing But A Good Time":
I do wonder if tomorrow night Lita will sing any Runaways songs? Lita Ford highlights: this first song is easily her most famous song. I love that her voice live is so raspy, there's something very sexy about it.
Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford's "If I Close My Eyes Forever":
Will she sing this Runaway's song? "Cherry Bomb":
themusicaddict
Most radio stations in the Salt Lake market like to have DJs talk and play too many commercials over playing music. That's pretty much all radio stations in this market. Even sports talk radio stations have an overabundance of commercials. For instance, on ESPN700 yesterday, they had 7 straight minutes of commercials. (Yes, I timed it.) They played actual commercials for 5 minutes then Hans Olsen and Bill Riley talked for two minutes about one of their sponsors. I understand a radio station is in business and their main (only?) purpose is to make money, but don't they realize how 7 minutes of commercials annoys? By the way I only remember one of those sponsors that they talked about.
Thank goodness for Rewind 100.7. Driving to work this morning, they played no commercials and the DJ only talked briefly. They played 6 great songs back to back. This was that great playlist 1) "Man Eater"- Hall & Oates 2) "Le Freak"- Chic 3) "Call Me"- Blondie 4) "Angel"- Aerosmith 5) "Good Vibrations" by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch and then closed that run of great songs with 6) Sister Sledge's "We Are Family".
In honor of the triple bill of Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford playing tomorrow night at the Usana Ampitheatre (one of the worst places to see a concert), here's a few selections by each. Two of the best concerts I've seen have been Def Leppard concerts. I saw them on their Hysteria tour and they kicked butt. Then I saw them several years later at the Utah State fairgrounds. I had second row seats and the boys were on their game that night. The band was amazing and Joe Elliot was in great form that night. And again they kicked butt. Here's some of their great hair metal classics:
Let's start off with perhaps the greatest of all the rock bands of this era, Def Leppard. In all due respect to Joe Elliot, if Def Leppard isn't heavy metal then what are they?
"Animal":
"Photograph"
"Foolin":
"Bringin' On The Heartbreak":
Again Poison is another hair metal band that isn't in any danger of Mensa membership. Poison hair metal highlights:
One of my all-time favorite songs and perhaps the greatest rock ballad ever, "Every Rose Has It's Thorn":
"Fallen Angel": (I'm sure that Poison wasn't responsible for any fallen angels.)
"Talk Dirty To Me":
"Nothing But A Good Time":
I do wonder if tomorrow night Lita will sing any Runaways songs? Lita Ford highlights: this first song is easily her most famous song. I love that her voice live is so raspy, there's something very sexy about it.
Ozzy Osbourne and Lita Ford's "If I Close My Eyes Forever":
Will she sing this Runaway's song? "Cherry Bomb":
themusicaddict
More Sleazy Hair Metal Songs: Bang Tango and Great White
Hello,
Here are some more classic hair metal songs and one not so classic hair metal song.
Thanks to Spotify I was able to check out several great hair metal songs, either by genre or by artist. I listened to most of a 3 CD set "This is Hair Metal", it provides a good sample of all songs of that era. It just doesn't focus on the Cinderellas and Poisons, but gives love to more obscure bands. The two bands I've been most surprised that I've liked is Bang Tango and Great White.
I'm going to highlight those two bands in this blog.
I'll start with Bang Tango. They are a band I remember hearing about back in the day, but honestly I couldn't have told you a song they sang. The lead singer, Joe Leste, sounds a lot like a young David Lee Roth. And yes I mean that as a compliment. Leste has a great voice.
This is probably their most famous song, "Someone Like You":
Bang Tango is still around and performing in 2012. However from their live CD "United and Live" and the below video clip they aren't a very dynamic live band. However this is probably my favorite song of theirs, "Dressed Up Vamp":
I love the crowd shots in the above video, do they even know there's a band playing? In the below video is another one of Bang Tango's great songs. I know I just wrote that "Dressed Up Vamp" is probably my favorite Bang Tango song. But when I listened to "Wrap My Wings" again, it kicked my butt. So this might be my favorite Bang Tango song.
But then again I also really like this song, "Attack of Life" (I couldn't find a good version of this song, it sounds much better on record.")
Remember in 2003 when Great White performed at the bar that burned down? With all due respect to all those killed: I remember thinking there were that many people that wanted to see Great White in concert?
From wikipedia.org (RIP):
100 people dying at a concert is just crazy, but it seems it was a perfect storm of conditions. After doing a bit of digging into Great White's catalog, I understand better their appeal now. Great White is best known for this ode to groupies "Once Bitten Twice Shy":
This is also a pretty cool song. But again as with their hair metal brethren, they aren't breaking any new lyrical ground. This is "Rock Me":
And this is another great Great White song, "Save All Your Love":
"Ready For Love". I can't find the Great White version on youtube anywhere, so this is Bad Company's version. (I believe Bad Company did the original.)
Great White does a lot of covers, but they especially love to cover Led Zeppelin. And to be honest if you're going to cover a hard rock band, the mighty Zep is the best band to cover. This is Great White's version of "Babe I'm Gonna To Leave You":
I have to admit that I've never heard this song before. And with only 1,741 views of the video it seems I'm not the only one. I still like this song, this is Union's "Around Again":
themusicaddict
Here are some more classic hair metal songs and one not so classic hair metal song.
Thanks to Spotify I was able to check out several great hair metal songs, either by genre or by artist. I listened to most of a 3 CD set "This is Hair Metal", it provides a good sample of all songs of that era. It just doesn't focus on the Cinderellas and Poisons, but gives love to more obscure bands. The two bands I've been most surprised that I've liked is Bang Tango and Great White.
I'm going to highlight those two bands in this blog.
I'll start with Bang Tango. They are a band I remember hearing about back in the day, but honestly I couldn't have told you a song they sang. The lead singer, Joe Leste, sounds a lot like a young David Lee Roth. And yes I mean that as a compliment. Leste has a great voice.
This is probably their most famous song, "Someone Like You":
Bang Tango is still around and performing in 2012. However from their live CD "United and Live" and the below video clip they aren't a very dynamic live band. However this is probably my favorite song of theirs, "Dressed Up Vamp":
I love the crowd shots in the above video, do they even know there's a band playing? In the below video is another one of Bang Tango's great songs. I know I just wrote that "Dressed Up Vamp" is probably my favorite Bang Tango song. But when I listened to "Wrap My Wings" again, it kicked my butt. So this might be my favorite Bang Tango song.
But then again I also really like this song, "Attack of Life" (I couldn't find a good version of this song, it sounds much better on record.")
Remember in 2003 when Great White performed at the bar that burned down? With all due respect to all those killed: I remember thinking there were that many people that wanted to see Great White in concert?
From wikipedia.org (RIP):
"The Station nightclub fire was the fourth deadliest nightclub fire in American history, killing 100 people. The fire began at 11:07 PM EST, on Thursday, February 20, 2003, at The Station, a glam metal and rock n roll themed nightclub located at 211 Cowesett Avenue in West Warwick, Rhode Island.
The fire was caused by pyrotechnics set off by the tour manager of the evening's headlining band, Great White, which ignited flammable sound insulation foam in the walls and ceilings surrounding the stage. A fast-moving fire engulfed the club in 5½ minutes. Some 230 people were injured and another 132 escaped uninjured. Video footage of the fire shows its initial growth, billowing smoke that quickly made escape impossible, and the exit blockage that further hindered evacuation."
100 people dying at a concert is just crazy, but it seems it was a perfect storm of conditions. After doing a bit of digging into Great White's catalog, I understand better their appeal now. Great White is best known for this ode to groupies "Once Bitten Twice Shy":
This is also a pretty cool song. But again as with their hair metal brethren, they aren't breaking any new lyrical ground. This is "Rock Me":
And this is another great Great White song, "Save All Your Love":
"Ready For Love". I can't find the Great White version on youtube anywhere, so this is Bad Company's version. (I believe Bad Company did the original.)
Great White does a lot of covers, but they especially love to cover Led Zeppelin. And to be honest if you're going to cover a hard rock band, the mighty Zep is the best band to cover. This is Great White's version of "Babe I'm Gonna To Leave You":
I have to admit that I've never heard this song before. And with only 1,741 views of the video it seems I'm not the only one. I still like this song, this is Union's "Around Again":
themusicaddict
Monday, June 18, 2012
"The Killing" finally ends. Hair Metal Mania
Hello,
One of the worst executed ideas ever thought of finally ended yesterday. Due to how stupid, boring and slow moving the first two episodes of Season Two were, I hadn't watched another episode since. That includes the finale last night. The far superior "Falling Skies" was on, as well as the NBA Finals and MLB inter league play between the Cubs and the Red Sox. Then if those shows weren't entertaining enough I could always watch the excellent episodes of "Cold Case" I have on DVR.
After reading ew.com's review of "The Killing" series finale, I'm glad I didn't waste my time watching it. This is a bit of the ew.com article written by Ken Tucker:
"With the same slow raindrop water torture that came to characterize The Killing, the hour continued until we arrived at another twist. Rosie didn’t die at Jamie’s hand. She ran into some woods, Jamie found her, beat her for a while, put her in a car. Then he got Ames to drive out to the forest to tell him he had to help him with this problem — he arrived with his girlfriend, Terry, Rosie’s aunt. While they quarreled over who was going to do what to get rid of Rosie, Terry (Jamie Anne Allman, who ended up giving one of the more effectively varied performances of the series) simply drove the car into the nearby water, drowning poor, screaming Rosie. Terry had no idea it was her niece, she just thought she was taking care of some ugly business, hoping that Ames might still leave his wife for her, even though he was saying he’d changed his mind about that to Jamie."
This is from wikipedia.org: "
Did you read the above paragraph, that's just part of that stupidity that went on in the finale? I predicted Rosie's Dad killed her. No it wasn't him, but it was a relative that killed her. Her aunt Terry drove the car she was tied up into a body of water to get rid of the problem. So unbelievably stupid.
Although I didn't love "Rock of Ages" as much as my peers do, I still love the music from that era. I've been listening to hair metal classics the last couple of days to get the best hair metal playlist possible. Although I will include a few obvious selections, I also tried to dig deep. I wanted a mix of the best songs, not the most famous. Enjoy!
While I mock nearly everyone of these songs, I admit that I probably owned every one of them at some point in my life. I also predict that most of these bands are in the studio right now working on their "comeback" CDs. They only wrote songs about 3 or 4 topics, no one will ever accuse these guys of being members of Mensa. Of course that's not the purpose of these songs. These songs meant to rock, kicks some butt and for people to have fun. While they didn't educate anyone, they certainly created some of the greatest music ever. Here are some of the more obscure bands and songs from the hair metal era.
This is pretty typical lyrical comment for hair metal, especially at the early part of that era. This is Bullet Boys "Smooth Up In Ya":
Again more of the genius songwriting lyrics on this song. A great song, in spite of the relentlessly stupid lyrics. Kingdom Come's "Get It On":
When the hair metal maestros weren't thinking about sex, the other 5% of the time they were thinking about death, suicide or partying. Kix's "Don't Close Your Eyes":
Here's another song about death, this is from Slaughter. This is "Fly To The Angels":
Sticking with the boys from Slaughter. They don't just talk about death, they also talk about partying. Yet another hair metal cliche topic:
More "research" tonight and more songs to come tomorrow.
themusicaddict
One of the worst executed ideas ever thought of finally ended yesterday. Due to how stupid, boring and slow moving the first two episodes of Season Two were, I hadn't watched another episode since. That includes the finale last night. The far superior "Falling Skies" was on, as well as the NBA Finals and MLB inter league play between the Cubs and the Red Sox. Then if those shows weren't entertaining enough I could always watch the excellent episodes of "Cold Case" I have on DVR.
After reading ew.com's review of "The Killing" series finale, I'm glad I didn't waste my time watching it. This is a bit of the ew.com article written by Ken Tucker:
"With the same slow raindrop water torture that came to characterize The Killing, the hour continued until we arrived at another twist. Rosie didn’t die at Jamie’s hand. She ran into some woods, Jamie found her, beat her for a while, put her in a car. Then he got Ames to drive out to the forest to tell him he had to help him with this problem — he arrived with his girlfriend, Terry, Rosie’s aunt. While they quarreled over who was going to do what to get rid of Rosie, Terry (Jamie Anne Allman, who ended up giving one of the more effectively varied performances of the series) simply drove the car into the nearby water, drowning poor, screaming Rosie. Terry had no idea it was her niece, she just thought she was taking care of some ugly business, hoping that Ames might still leave his wife for her, even though he was saying he’d changed his mind about that to Jamie."
This is from wikipedia.org: "
| "Jamie takes Richmond back to the office, where he reveals that Rosie had overheard everything between him, Sheriff Jackson and Michael Ames about planting the Indian bones on the waterfront and that he had discovered her there after Jackson and Ames had left. When Rosie started screaming, Jamie hit her to quiet her and she fell. Thinking he had killed her, Jamie drove her to the woods but Rosie surprised him and ran and he chased her to the lake where she was eventually dumped. Linden and Holder arrive as Jamie takes out Richmond's gun. Holder shoots him dead. Thinking the case is solved, Linden and Holder go to the Larsens and find them gone with Terry packing up the garage. There, Linden connects Terry to the killing through the broken taillight on her car and Terry makes her confession: she had picked Ames up from the ferry and were about to depart for Las Vegas when Ames received a call from a panicked Jamie. Terry drove them to the lake where Jamie and Ames get into a fierce argument about what to do with the body. Terry, not realizing that Rosie was in the trunk and fearing that she could lose Ames, pushes the car into the lake. Terry is arrested and refuses a lawyer. In Jamie's apartment, they find the missing footage from Rosie's camera, another super 8 film called "What I Know", which Linden anonymously sends to the Larsens. It shows Rosie preparing to depart for her journey and she professes her love for her parents and brothers, giving the Larsen family closure. Richmond is elected mayor and decides to leave his wife's death in the past. Linden lets go of the Larsen case." |
Although I didn't love "Rock of Ages" as much as my peers do, I still love the music from that era. I've been listening to hair metal classics the last couple of days to get the best hair metal playlist possible. Although I will include a few obvious selections, I also tried to dig deep. I wanted a mix of the best songs, not the most famous. Enjoy!
While I mock nearly everyone of these songs, I admit that I probably owned every one of them at some point in my life. I also predict that most of these bands are in the studio right now working on their "comeback" CDs. They only wrote songs about 3 or 4 topics, no one will ever accuse these guys of being members of Mensa. Of course that's not the purpose of these songs. These songs meant to rock, kicks some butt and for people to have fun. While they didn't educate anyone, they certainly created some of the greatest music ever. Here are some of the more obscure bands and songs from the hair metal era.
This is pretty typical lyrical comment for hair metal, especially at the early part of that era. This is Bullet Boys "Smooth Up In Ya":
Again more of the genius songwriting lyrics on this song. A great song, in spite of the relentlessly stupid lyrics. Kingdom Come's "Get It On":
When the hair metal maestros weren't thinking about sex, the other 5% of the time they were thinking about death, suicide or partying. Kix's "Don't Close Your Eyes":
Here's another song about death, this is from Slaughter. This is "Fly To The Angels":
Sticking with the boys from Slaughter. They don't just talk about death, they also talk about partying. Yet another hair metal cliche topic:
More "research" tonight and more songs to come tomorrow.
themusicaddict
Sunday, June 17, 2012
"Rock of Ages" Review (Spoiler alert)
Hello,
Happy Father's Day to all. Also with my infrequent blog posts of late I would like to thank all those who displayed their American flags proudly on Flag Day.
Here is the classic Def Leppard song that inspired the movie's title:
I went to see "Rock of Ages" this past Friday morning. Although it was opening day, I was only one of about 10 people in the theatre. I saw one woman with her three teenage kids and I said to her, your kids aren't going to understand this movie. However she said she had raised them right. I wonder what her kids thought after the movie.
I'm not going to lie to you, most of the reason I went to see "Rock of Ages" is nostalgia. I was excited to hear the songs that formed such a big part of my adolescence rocking out again. By my count Def Leppard had three songs in the movie. I do wonder why two of the biggest Sunset Strip bands, Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue, weren't better represented. I only remember "Paradise City" from GN'R and no songs from Motley Crue. Although "Girls Girls Girls" would have been great for the stripper scenes.
The movie, set in 1987, does a good job of clearly showing the seamy underside of late 80's Sunset Strip scene. While this is an era I feel deeply nostalgic for, there's no doubt it was full of the dark side of the human condition. This movie captures that seaminess accurately, especially in Tom Cruise's Axl Rosian character Stacee Jaxx. (Axl Rose if you want to see how many people view you, you should see this movie.) From Cruise's boob grabbing and french kissing ways, he perfectly represents Freud's Id theory with frightening skill. He portrays the self-absorbed, disconnected rock star so well.
Above in the clip we first see Malin Akerman in all her 80's glory playing the very sexy Rolling Stone reporter. I love the name of his first CD was "Stick Meat".
I also have to give Cruise props for his inspired take on "Wanted Dead or Alive". That song sounds fantastic here and captures the essence of his character. Watching this scene you can clearly see that this character had lived this song.
Although the clear star of this movie is all these great rock classics, the camera loves the gorgeous Julianne Hough. She looks fantastic and sounds great. When she's on the screen it was hard for me to take my eyes off of her. Although she was raised LDS, she has clearly stepped away from those values to get her big break. I hope it's worth it for her. In this scene see how much the camera loves Julianne:
Obviously the movie was headed to Hough would be stripping for money. Again we got it and it's not something we needed to see.
Overall this movie was okay, I would have to give it a C grade. I'm not sure if I would recommend this movie or not. The critics have absolutely savaged it while many of my peeps have loved it. Take that how you want. It could have been so much better. The Alec Baldwin-Russell Brand kiss, was that really necessary? One thing that wasn't necessary was the whole Catherine Zeta-Jones/ Brian Cranston scenes. That whole storyline was boring and slowed the movie down every time we had to suffer through those scenes. I understand those scenes are designed to show the hypocrisy behind the late 80's movements that were trying to shut down rock music for teenagers. Obviously they are mocking Tipper Gore's ridiculous PRMC movement. They had their moment, but thankfully faded away to obscurity, where the movement belonged.
In the above scene shows some of the the liberties were taken with these great songs. Where is that excellent solo from "We Built This City"? Why did they take that out? Also some of the songs were edited, I found that disappointing. Although I find it funny that the man, represented by Catherine Zeta-Jones, turns "We're Not Going To Take It" on it's ear. The anthem of disaffected youth everywhere is turned into a call to arms for their elders.
There were so many story lines that felt unnecessary in this movie. Again most of the Malin Akerman scenes felt irrelevant. Other than the fact that's how Stacee Jaxx found out that his manager was ripping him off. That being said I'm glad that Ackerman was cast in this movie. She had that 80's look down cold highlighted by her amazing 80's hair. I loved 80's hair. Akerman simply looks gorgeous here and she rocks those glasses too:
Here's a video, part trailer/ part behind the scenes peak, for "Rock of Ages":
This is Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me". I love the tweaks that were done to this song for "Rock of Ages":
This is the original:
I would so go back to the 80's if I could. I would still want to have the full access to the internet, the ability to see my kids. I would find my own 80's hawt rock chick though.
themusicaddict
Happy Father's Day to all. Also with my infrequent blog posts of late I would like to thank all those who displayed their American flags proudly on Flag Day.
Here is the classic Def Leppard song that inspired the movie's title:
I went to see "Rock of Ages" this past Friday morning. Although it was opening day, I was only one of about 10 people in the theatre. I saw one woman with her three teenage kids and I said to her, your kids aren't going to understand this movie. However she said she had raised them right. I wonder what her kids thought after the movie.
I'm not going to lie to you, most of the reason I went to see "Rock of Ages" is nostalgia. I was excited to hear the songs that formed such a big part of my adolescence rocking out again. By my count Def Leppard had three songs in the movie. I do wonder why two of the biggest Sunset Strip bands, Guns N' Roses and Motley Crue, weren't better represented. I only remember "Paradise City" from GN'R and no songs from Motley Crue. Although "Girls Girls Girls" would have been great for the stripper scenes.
The movie, set in 1987, does a good job of clearly showing the seamy underside of late 80's Sunset Strip scene. While this is an era I feel deeply nostalgic for, there's no doubt it was full of the dark side of the human condition. This movie captures that seaminess accurately, especially in Tom Cruise's Axl Rosian character Stacee Jaxx. (Axl Rose if you want to see how many people view you, you should see this movie.) From Cruise's boob grabbing and french kissing ways, he perfectly represents Freud's Id theory with frightening skill. He portrays the self-absorbed, disconnected rock star so well.
Above in the clip we first see Malin Akerman in all her 80's glory playing the very sexy Rolling Stone reporter. I love the name of his first CD was "Stick Meat".
I also have to give Cruise props for his inspired take on "Wanted Dead or Alive". That song sounds fantastic here and captures the essence of his character. Watching this scene you can clearly see that this character had lived this song.
Although the clear star of this movie is all these great rock classics, the camera loves the gorgeous Julianne Hough. She looks fantastic and sounds great. When she's on the screen it was hard for me to take my eyes off of her. Although she was raised LDS, she has clearly stepped away from those values to get her big break. I hope it's worth it for her. In this scene see how much the camera loves Julianne:
Obviously the movie was headed to Hough would be stripping for money. Again we got it and it's not something we needed to see.
Overall this movie was okay, I would have to give it a C grade. I'm not sure if I would recommend this movie or not. The critics have absolutely savaged it while many of my peeps have loved it. Take that how you want. It could have been so much better. The Alec Baldwin-Russell Brand kiss, was that really necessary? One thing that wasn't necessary was the whole Catherine Zeta-Jones/ Brian Cranston scenes. That whole storyline was boring and slowed the movie down every time we had to suffer through those scenes. I understand those scenes are designed to show the hypocrisy behind the late 80's movements that were trying to shut down rock music for teenagers. Obviously they are mocking Tipper Gore's ridiculous PRMC movement. They had their moment, but thankfully faded away to obscurity, where the movement belonged.
In the above scene shows some of the the liberties were taken with these great songs. Where is that excellent solo from "We Built This City"? Why did they take that out? Also some of the songs were edited, I found that disappointing. Although I find it funny that the man, represented by Catherine Zeta-Jones, turns "We're Not Going To Take It" on it's ear. The anthem of disaffected youth everywhere is turned into a call to arms for their elders.
There were so many story lines that felt unnecessary in this movie. Again most of the Malin Akerman scenes felt irrelevant. Other than the fact that's how Stacee Jaxx found out that his manager was ripping him off. That being said I'm glad that Ackerman was cast in this movie. She had that 80's look down cold highlighted by her amazing 80's hair. I loved 80's hair. Akerman simply looks gorgeous here and she rocks those glasses too:
Here's a video, part trailer/ part behind the scenes peak, for "Rock of Ages":
This is Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me". I love the tweaks that were done to this song for "Rock of Ages":
This is the original:
I would so go back to the 80's if I could. I would still want to have the full access to the internet, the ability to see my kids. I would find my own 80's hawt rock chick though.
themusicaddict
Thursday, June 14, 2012
"Cold Case" vs "The Killing", Great songs
Hello,
Thanks to the great invention called the DVR, I've been able to go back and watch the first six episodes of "Cold Case". It's one of my favorite shows of all-time. I love all the characters especially Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens. But all the main characters are great. I also love the stories and how they were set in many different eras. I didn't start watching the show until the third or fourth season, so many of these episodes are new to me. I enjoy this show so much for the above and many other reasons. Their use of excellent music is great. For instance just in the last couple of episodes I viewed "Cold Case" used excellent music by Air Supply and Bonnie Tyler. The music is great but it also fits in with the story of that specific episode.
One episode they used Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" to show the devastation of a man losing his brother and a detective spiraling out of control. The embedding is disabled by request, here's the link if so interested (of course it helps if you are a fan of the show).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKnuUFwNsQ&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL7F17E0C90C1F707F
Of course "Wish You Were Here" was also written for Syd Barrett, early genius of Pink Floyd. Here's the David Gilmour unplugged version:
In Season 1, Episode 5 "The Runner" they used the great Gladys Knight and the Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia":
They "Cold Case" episode also used some nasty funk to add some authenticity to that early 70's story. That episode is also the first we see of Veena Sud in her work with "Cold Case". She's the writer of "The Runner" episode. It's a very thoughtful, well told story. It has cool plot twists and the viewer really feels for the characters. The ending isn't predictable and one of the characters gets a measure of redemption. In other words many things I like in this great show.
In other words the complete opposite of her craptastic "The Killing". After a strong start that show has completely fallen apart. The only thing I can think is what could've been. As a writer Sud had a true gift, but she's way over her head as a producer.
Speaking of which after too many sidetracks, boring story lines and red herrings this season finally ends Sunday. It was just way too many hours of boring television for such a simple story. The world waits with bated breathe, okay it's more likely the barely over 1 million hanger-ons will finally find out who killed Rosie Larsen. Are you excited, can you survive the waiting? Will I be watching "The Killing" series finale- there's no way this show gets renewed. No, I won't be watching it.
After the terrible first two episodes of this season I stopped watching the show. I haven't watched any more episodes since then. I could care less who killed Rosie Larsen, actually I'm more concerned about someone killing "The Killing". From the early part of the series my opinion is that Rosie's own Dad, Stan, killed her. Thankfully ew.com will break the news so I don't have to watch the finale. You know they won't show who killed Rosie until the very end of that episode.
Again Veena Sud stretched out the thin story way too long, this should have been a 10 episode season or a mini series. I blame Sud for planning so poorly and AMC for actually ordering a second season. AMC should have made Sud show who the killer was at the end of Season One and not allowed any more episodes to be made. Money would have been better spent on finding the next "Mad Men", "The Walking Dead" or "Breaking Bad".
If you wonder if I'm not watching "The Killing" Sunday night, what will I be watching? I'll be watching the first two episodes of Season Two of "Falling Skies". A show that had a much better first season than "The Killing".
For those of you who may have missed Season One, here's a brief recap:
One more quick TV reminder, the excellent "Rizzoli and Isles" is now showing their Season 3. It's on every Tuesday night, this season's second episode was shown two nights ago.
From the wickedly feverish imagination of Roger Waters, this is "Mother" from the movie "The Wall".
I prefer the shorter version though, the 7 minute version is just too stretched out. This is Pink Floyd's original version of "Mother". (Yes, I've been on a bit of Pink Floyd kick lately.)
This is a much more recent song, a very cool song. This is The Mynabirds "Body of Work":
Thanks to my friends at Rewind 100.7 for reminding of this great 80's classic:
I dedicate this song to a special friend, this is The Smoking Popes "Megan":
themusicaddict
Thanks to the great invention called the DVR, I've been able to go back and watch the first six episodes of "Cold Case". It's one of my favorite shows of all-time. I love all the characters especially Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens. But all the main characters are great. I also love the stories and how they were set in many different eras. I didn't start watching the show until the third or fourth season, so many of these episodes are new to me. I enjoy this show so much for the above and many other reasons. Their use of excellent music is great. For instance just in the last couple of episodes I viewed "Cold Case" used excellent music by Air Supply and Bonnie Tyler. The music is great but it also fits in with the story of that specific episode.
One episode they used Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" to show the devastation of a man losing his brother and a detective spiraling out of control. The embedding is disabled by request, here's the link if so interested (of course it helps if you are a fan of the show).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPKnuUFwNsQ&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL7F17E0C90C1F707F
Of course "Wish You Were Here" was also written for Syd Barrett, early genius of Pink Floyd. Here's the David Gilmour unplugged version:
In Season 1, Episode 5 "The Runner" they used the great Gladys Knight and the Pips "Midnight Train To Georgia":
They "Cold Case" episode also used some nasty funk to add some authenticity to that early 70's story. That episode is also the first we see of Veena Sud in her work with "Cold Case". She's the writer of "The Runner" episode. It's a very thoughtful, well told story. It has cool plot twists and the viewer really feels for the characters. The ending isn't predictable and one of the characters gets a measure of redemption. In other words many things I like in this great show.
In other words the complete opposite of her craptastic "The Killing". After a strong start that show has completely fallen apart. The only thing I can think is what could've been. As a writer Sud had a true gift, but she's way over her head as a producer.
Speaking of which after too many sidetracks, boring story lines and red herrings this season finally ends Sunday. It was just way too many hours of boring television for such a simple story. The world waits with bated breathe, okay it's more likely the barely over 1 million hanger-ons will finally find out who killed Rosie Larsen. Are you excited, can you survive the waiting? Will I be watching "The Killing" series finale- there's no way this show gets renewed. No, I won't be watching it.
After the terrible first two episodes of this season I stopped watching the show. I haven't watched any more episodes since then. I could care less who killed Rosie Larsen, actually I'm more concerned about someone killing "The Killing". From the early part of the series my opinion is that Rosie's own Dad, Stan, killed her. Thankfully ew.com will break the news so I don't have to watch the finale. You know they won't show who killed Rosie until the very end of that episode.
Again Veena Sud stretched out the thin story way too long, this should have been a 10 episode season or a mini series. I blame Sud for planning so poorly and AMC for actually ordering a second season. AMC should have made Sud show who the killer was at the end of Season One and not allowed any more episodes to be made. Money would have been better spent on finding the next "Mad Men", "The Walking Dead" or "Breaking Bad".
If you wonder if I'm not watching "The Killing" Sunday night, what will I be watching? I'll be watching the first two episodes of Season Two of "Falling Skies". A show that had a much better first season than "The Killing".
For those of you who may have missed Season One, here's a brief recap:
One more quick TV reminder, the excellent "Rizzoli and Isles" is now showing their Season 3. It's on every Tuesday night, this season's second episode was shown two nights ago.
From the wickedly feverish imagination of Roger Waters, this is "Mother" from the movie "The Wall".
I prefer the shorter version though, the 7 minute version is just too stretched out. This is Pink Floyd's original version of "Mother". (Yes, I've been on a bit of Pink Floyd kick lately.)
This is a much more recent song, a very cool song. This is The Mynabirds "Body of Work":
Thanks to my friends at Rewind 100.7 for reminding of this great 80's classic:
I dedicate this song to a special friend, this is The Smoking Popes "Megan":
themusicaddict
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Brief update, Seether is Sick, Julianne Hough, Emma Stone
Hello,
I'm back briefly. My life has been so crazy lately. It was my birthday weekend this past weekend. I also had my kids plus church related things so that ate up a lot of time.
Saturday night I enjoyed cheering on "my" Heat in their victory over the much loathed Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a great game for the Heat and for Chris Bosh. By both not playing in the first couple of games, but then being able to play Bosh showed how valuable he truly is to the Heat. I'm looking forward to the NBA Finals, it will be a great and hard fought series. Though the Heat are "my" team for this playoffs, I have nothing against the Thunder. I'll be happy to see either team become the NBA champions.
Tonight I'm taking my son and his friend to go meet Seether at Graywhale in Taylorsville. Then I'm taking them to see, big breath, My Darkest Days, Bush, Seether and Nickelback in concert. I've reached that age where I don't usually go to the concerts, but I'm the transportation. I don't ever want to see Nickelback in concert again, they are terrible. I wouldn't mind seeing Seether, they have a lot of great songs. In fact they are going to be the driving music as we drive all over Salt Lake Valley today.
Update: Apparently the singer for Seether, Shaun Morgan, cancelled the appearance because he was sick. And it seems he's still sick? But good news he can still perform tonight.
My son is also going to the Warped Tour on Saturday, I'll be missing that one as well.
For my birthday I received a Kindle and I'm absolutely loving it, more coming later. I'm absolutely enjoying being able to download first chapters/samples from books.
I saw "Prometheus" last week. It was kind of cool and it had many great visuals. It was better than the third "Alien", but worse than the first two. It was much more bizarre than I was expecting it to be. Do I recommend it. Maybe it depends what other movies are out and that you have already seen.
With "Avengers", the amazing "Battleship", the visually cool "Prometheus" this has been a lot better year for movies than last year. And the new Batman movie still hasn't arrived yet. However doesn't the new Spiderman movie look lame? I wish they would give Spiderman a rest. Also no one would ever call Emma Stone, who stars in the latest Spiderman reboot, lame.
The lovely Miss Stone:
Also Friday I plan on going and seeing "Rock of Ages". I've been rocking out to the soundtrack lately. It's very good. I love some of the Glee like mash ups of songs. Julianne Hough looks gorgeous and sounds great in this movie, Tom Cruise not so much.
The lovely Miss Hough:
I love this song: Rebecca Ferguson's "Nothing's Real But Love":
Is this not one of the best examples of a so called ear worm. You know one of those songs that get stuck in your head and it takes days to get rid of it. 102 million people have viewed this highly addictive video:
There may be a subtle change coming to this blog, my brother had a good idea. He suggested instead of posting one big blog that covers everything, maybe I should break the blog into mini-blogs organized by subject. That would be a little more work, but it's an interesting idea.
themusicaddict
I'm back briefly. My life has been so crazy lately. It was my birthday weekend this past weekend. I also had my kids plus church related things so that ate up a lot of time.
Saturday night I enjoyed cheering on "my" Heat in their victory over the much loathed Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. It was a great game for the Heat and for Chris Bosh. By both not playing in the first couple of games, but then being able to play Bosh showed how valuable he truly is to the Heat. I'm looking forward to the NBA Finals, it will be a great and hard fought series. Though the Heat are "my" team for this playoffs, I have nothing against the Thunder. I'll be happy to see either team become the NBA champions.
Tonight I'm taking my son and his friend to go meet Seether at Graywhale in Taylorsville. Then I'm taking them to see, big breath, My Darkest Days, Bush, Seether and Nickelback in concert. I've reached that age where I don't usually go to the concerts, but I'm the transportation. I don't ever want to see Nickelback in concert again, they are terrible. I wouldn't mind seeing Seether, they have a lot of great songs. In fact they are going to be the driving music as we drive all over Salt Lake Valley today.
Update: Apparently the singer for Seether, Shaun Morgan, cancelled the appearance because he was sick. And it seems he's still sick? But good news he can still perform tonight.
My son is also going to the Warped Tour on Saturday, I'll be missing that one as well.
For my birthday I received a Kindle and I'm absolutely loving it, more coming later. I'm absolutely enjoying being able to download first chapters/samples from books.
I saw "Prometheus" last week. It was kind of cool and it had many great visuals. It was better than the third "Alien", but worse than the first two. It was much more bizarre than I was expecting it to be. Do I recommend it. Maybe it depends what other movies are out and that you have already seen.
With "Avengers", the amazing "Battleship", the visually cool "Prometheus" this has been a lot better year for movies than last year. And the new Batman movie still hasn't arrived yet. However doesn't the new Spiderman movie look lame? I wish they would give Spiderman a rest. Also no one would ever call Emma Stone, who stars in the latest Spiderman reboot, lame.
The lovely Miss Stone:
Also Friday I plan on going and seeing "Rock of Ages". I've been rocking out to the soundtrack lately. It's very good. I love some of the Glee like mash ups of songs. Julianne Hough looks gorgeous and sounds great in this movie, Tom Cruise not so much.
The lovely Miss Hough:
I love this song: Rebecca Ferguson's "Nothing's Real But Love":
Is this not one of the best examples of a so called ear worm. You know one of those songs that get stuck in your head and it takes days to get rid of it. 102 million people have viewed this highly addictive video:
There may be a subtle change coming to this blog, my brother had a good idea. He suggested instead of posting one big blog that covers everything, maybe I should break the blog into mini-blogs organized by subject. That would be a little more work, but it's an interesting idea.
themusicaddict
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