*Review* Artist: Trivium Album: Shogun (Roadrunner)

Rating:*/5

Listening to Trivium, is like reading The First Circle by Alexander Soltzhenitsyn. If you are familiar with this text, then you'll understand why i say this, whether you agree or not is another matter.

Subjecting anyone to listen to Trivium is unspeakable, well that's my opinion anyway. They are a well respected Metal band from Orlando,Florida. They rose to prominence with their Crusade album of a few years ago, being named as a serious successor to the throne of Metal's next best thing since Metallica, understandable in Metal circles given the fact that many facets of their sound are influenced by them. Ultimately this is a tried attempt by anyone to try and live up to the aformentioned powerhouse, and it is sickly in vain as so many tried attempts have failed resulting in many metal bands folding into a sub standard stereotypical sludge infested farce which they will inevitably become.

So again subjecting anyone to Trivium's lastest effort should be said in advance to be a waste of time on anyone's behalf. Well i'm not in the business of judging something before i've listened to it, so the only way we are going to get through is one.

Comparing listening to Trivium, to living in a Gulag Prison is a bit of a stretch you would say. For someone who doesn't like generic hardcore metal bands then it is. But I haven't written them off yet. I was excited to hear about this release because i wanted them to prove me wrong.

Trivium toured and did the big day out 2007, to much acclaim. They also did private shows which big crowds attended. I attended their set at the Perth leg of the festival, and was a little disappointed after all the hype i'd heard surrounding this band. They sounded clogged up with everything that was going with the sound. The arrangements as I expected were busy as, with guitars going a hundred miles an hour, and there was a lot of intesity in the performance and atmosphere. Having said that, if you had someone record the live set from a soundboard you would notice how terrible the band sounded if you heard the audio and had not been there.

So why do i reference the First Circle book? Well, the story entails a bunch of prisoners are captured, and are used to assist in Stalin's regime involving security. The characters are faced with the moral dilemma of contributing to the decay of the Soviet Union and it's people.

It's similar in a way, because by listening to this music you may be contributing to the decline of metal music. I'm doing the same by reviewing it. It wouldn't like to see this band like many others contribute another mediocre entry into the worldof music.It's happened all too many times now, i just hope the genre doesn't implode, and we're left with no outlet for venom in contemporary music.

It does implode upon commencement, and that's probably the best thing about the album, on about the 4th listen by now it's integral appeal will be the emphasis on heavy riffing, and the tight compositional structure of the tracks. This wasn't evident when i saw them live at all, because the sound was too cluttered and busy, and the live interpretations didn't do any favours for the studio takes. Burdened with the fact that they sound a hell of a lot like Metallica, i feel that they've tried to break out of this mould but were unable to, infusing their sound with more modern flourishes doesn't take away how dated the twin guitars sound upon listening to tracks like "Torn Between Scylla And Charybdis", and indeed the bulk of the songs on Shogun.

A different aspect of their songwriting involves more mythical subject matters, so that is something they have incorporated into their sound.

Shogun will please fans, but it's nothing I haven't heard before. Their overbuilt hype has been in vain in many respects, this won't be the decline of civilization but i will force you to question who your next metal heroes will be. Substandard. Sub zero. One star for the cover art. Prisoners of war were lucky Trivium weren't around the time of Stalin's regime.

*Review* Artist: End of Fashion Album: Book of Lies (EMI)

Rating:**1/2 out of 5

The second album from Australian act End of Fashion.

You have to keep in mind that this album is out through EMI/Virgin.Now, this is an important thing to know in accessing how good this album is.

EMI, one of the big "4" in the business, is host to some of the worlds greatest international acts and are in turn an iconic musical institution which produces quality music from around the globe. Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, Coldplay, Pink Floyd,Dean Martin, Sinatra all have had extensive record contracts through this company, most of them released under the capitol label before EMI bought them out. They have a great track record of signing artists with a lot of promise, and subsidiary labels like MUTE,VIRGIN,HARVEST have become important parts of EMI's makeup over the last 20/30 years.

Harvest was an outlet for the more avant garde jazz and prog rock bands in the 70's to release music. Acts such as Soft Machine's Kevin Ayers, pre 1975 Pink Floyd,Kate Bush, The Move etc were prestigiously represented by Harvest Recordings as an outlet for the more left field types of artists at the time.

EMI's list of labels are too many to list here, however they have acquired rights to a lot of labels, whom without their collapse, EMI wouldn't of been able to obtain otherwise.

However, after EMI tried to buy out Warner Music Group in 2006, things started going downhill, and a rebuttle from WMG was to react to the proposition by buying EMI out. In the year of 2007, estimated losses of 260 million pounds was something that was unwelcome news for the company. They eventually had been bought out by Terra Firma Capital Partners on August of 2007, who after the transition cut back over 1500 jobs in the company.

So in having some background on EMI, you have a feeling of how big a concern they are, and that wanting to invest in talent should be a primary concern of theirs. Emerging artists should be progressed and selling records, continually meeting commercial expectations.

I've talked about how an act puts out a superior debut album, and is later plagued by the abscence of good material on the sophomore album. We have to tread carefully when we assess the merit of these such efforts, as our expectations are always high in the anticipation of a release like this.

The self titled debut of 2006 unleashed a polished and tight set full of pop rock hooks to please appetite of any beatles afficianado or someone that way inclined to like vintage pop. End of Fashion were a force to be reckoned with, and did what they do best, with tight catchy immediate hooks with sensitive vocals that compliment the solid songwriting. I was amazed to find such a source of anthemic bliss in the first sitting, and continued to enjoy it with multiple repeated listens.

Book of Lies differs from the debut, the quality of the material is still high but throughout repeated listens it reveals itself more and more. The debut was like a piece of musical cyanide which blows you away on initial exposure to it. Book of Lies is more of like a slow burning candle, it reaches it conclusion in a longer timeframe.

Highlights such as"Biskit", "Exotica" and "Fussy" are enough for this album not to become a pedestrian effort, however this album is by no means any leap forward and I was highly dissapointed with this album. Second album syndrome is rampent nowadays and it's definately disheartening to see such a talented group follow up a stellar debut with a lacklustre sophomore.

*Review* Artist:Cold War Kids" Album:Loyalty to Loyalty (shock)

Rating:**/5
California's Cold War Kids follow up there highly acclaimed debut "Robber and Cowards". Loyalty to Loyalty feels as if you've entered an apocalyptic blue collar wasteland, where treason, poverty and redemption are ever prominent in an everlasting blaze of self destructing, defecating mannerisms, as evident in this set of songs.

How is this different from the debut, well the attitude in the music has changed, we experienced a lot of hurt and regret in the tracks of the debut. The songs came across as characters who have felt betrayed, yet are content to stay true to their sinnister ways. "We Used to Vacation" is about a man who has done irreparable damage to his loving family who look up to him as a provider, even though when he comes home from work he beats the shit out of them in a drunken stupor.

"Hang Me Out To Dry", is about the girlfriend who has taken the fella for granted, and he has been a idiot all along by not identifiying the signs of a cheating lover. He is still yearning for her even though she uses him as a dispoable entity in which she uses for sexual pleasure.

The characters on the sophomore effort, are different however the characters from the first album resurface in a couple of tracks, though not as evidently.

A more weary and suspicious character, appears in this blue collar district, which is the setting for the album.

The tracks are reminiscent of Rain Dogs era Tom Waits, so did the first album for that matter, the desolate losers who are portrayed in the settings, the expositional nature of a redemptive bafoon who is willing to either seek forgiveness for his sins, or is content to wallow in his state of obliviousness for the feelings of hurt he has caused his loved ones.

So if you're lookin for something new, then this isn't the place to go, there aren't many revelations discovered on this set, although the nature of the characters have changed from the last album. Sound wise, their is no new ground covered, but that is not a bad thing though. Cold War Kids have provided enough for any casual listener or fan to be satisfied with, but this is no blinder, rest assure that nothing has really taken my breath away with this one, despite being a good listen. Consistency is taken into consideration with this band, as both of the albums don't contain many weak tracks, maybe more laidback or subdued ones.

Not a classic, but a great listen. The apocalytic blue collar oppression continues in this saga as told by the Cold War Kids.

The Second Efforts Fall Short

With the momentum of a young singer songwriter or group, their best material is often in the earlier part of their careers. It's difficult to actually pinpoint how successful a follow up album can be given the fact that it is subjective opinion. Honestly you could state your claim on an entire nation with a successful chart topping act, and it could last for a couple of months, or a couple of decades.

In the modern age, we have a tendency to consider everything disposable, our jobs, our appliances, our cars. So when record companies can capitalise on a band's success while they are hot on their heels of breakin it, they can destroy their reputations and hopes for the future in the blink of an eye when there sophomore single fails to make the charts. It's disposable talent, and that is the future for our consumerist counter culture of internet celebrities, and myspace bands who are the next big thing. Having not been conditioned to the industry, are enticed into a promiseland of everlasting success and wealth.

When artists have well received debut albums,the follow up is one of the most daunting tasks they encounter in their careers. It mostly comes down to the selection criteria. Consistent material which outshines or builds on the first set of songs, may be enough to eclipse the success of the first album. But the reason why they call it "the difficult second album" is because many artists will fall short of the mark concerning their legitimacy in following up an otherwise stellar debut effort. This is a fact of life for musicians, and they would probably wish they could bypass this obstacle and go straight to the third album.

Classic debut albums have all the bells and whistles, and are never modest in their approach to reaching their audience. A good thing going is best executed right there and then. Momentum can build when you're song writing, and if the hooks keep coming. Then why not, but keep in mind your life will depend on what you do next, and you will not want to be forgotten.

Alanis Morrisette exploded onto the music scene in 1995 with Jagged Little Pill. Although it wasn't the first album she had recorded ( it was actually her third, but first record released internationally). The album met with commerical and critical acclaim upon release, and turned her into an international supserstar.

The bulk of the album contained many chart topping tracks, including "Ironic" "You Outta Know", "Head over Feet" and "Hand In My Pocket."It is the higest selling debut album by a female artist with over 14 million units sold up until september 2008 in the US alone, and over 30 million worldwide.

Morrisette enjoyed considerable success around the world with the album, including Grammy Nominations and world wide tours.

So Morrisette's follow up "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" emerged in November of 1998. Upon release it sold well, and met to generally favourable reviews. However sales declined, and the material wasn't as potent as it's predecessor had been. The reason for this was the material selected for the album. Jagged Little Pill had the urgency and pop sensiblity of a young canadian singer songwriter who had a musical visionary in the partner of Glen Ballard, who co-wrote and did the arrangements for her music.

A more mellower effort, the compositions were more subdued, and not typical of what made her a phenomenon in the first place. Singles packed Jagged Little Pill set with consistency which made it a blockbuster. None of these elements were evident in Fomer Infatuation Junkie, therefore making it a less memorable event in Morrisette's discography.

From 14 million, to 2 in the US marked a significant drop in sales. Her second effort just didn't reach as many people as she would of liked, despite constant radio rotation.

Boston, from Massachusetts exploded into the mid seventies in the same manner. Tom Sholz advertised for players to come join a band, after initially being a keyboard player he converted to guitar to play in Boston which would originally consist of Sholz, vocalist Brad Delp, drummer Jim Masdea, and bassist Barry Gondreau. Their self titled debut album appeared in 1976 when they were signed to CBS subsidiary Epic Records ( who represent the likes of Sly and the Family Stone, and formely Pearl Jam).

It became the highest selling debut album in US history selling over 17 millions albums, it still holds the record to this day. "More Than A Feeling" became a world wide hit, with top 40 hits in "Long Time" and "Piece of Mind".

A couple of years passed, and Tom Sholz planned a follow up with material written over the two year gap between the debut and "Don't Look Back" which appeared in 1978. Don't Look Back sold reasonably well in it's first months with 4 million units in the US sold, however the sales and the critical reception for the album was symbolic of the lacklustre's effort to succeed.

Moderate success followed for Boston in the coming years, but were never able to reach that pinnacle that they did on the first album.

With the evidence provided to suggest that stellar debut albums can overshadow successive efforts, we can't help but expose this when big artists are successful and all the pressure is on them to create history again and again. Many have managed to achieve this, namely U2, Madonna, Minogue,AC/DC, Metallica have managed to have huge fanbases spanning several decades. So for an artist to fall from grace so abruptly, one can suspect the artist of not having the ability to overcome media scrutiny and the high expectations set upon them by their peers and critics. This is true, and while the bands that have defined generations still enjoy mainstream success and their records are considered timeless, there will always be the former superstar who the public had an infatuation with for a split second, then discarded like a butted out cigarette, squashed into the ground, an analogy which could be used for the treatment of pop idols of the contemporary era.

The Strokes were a force to be reckoned with when "Is This It" came in 2001. It topped critics lists and saw emergence of one of the most hyped bands around the Us and Britain. It all went to waste when the sub standard "Room on Fire" was released in 2003.

Guns n Roses enjoyed the multi platinum debut of "Appetite For Destruction" in 1986, but conjured up an effort to cringe at with GNR Lies years later.

The MC5, one of the most notorious bands of the late sixties from Detroit, released the uncompromising, unleashed hell of Kick Out The Jams. An era defining album which saw the roots of what would later become the punk rock movement.

They followed it up with the sterile, glossily produced "Back In The USA", this marked the end of the long reigning Detroit outfit, who many looked up to in the sixties, as giving the middle finger to the establishment.

X-Ray Spex, one of the most infamous bands from the English punk scene, only managed to make "Germ Free Adolescents" in 1978. The all girl punk outfit made one of the most acclaimed albums in music history, and didn't release a follow-up until their reformation in 1991, in which it took another four years to deliver a follow up "Conscious Consumer" which appeared in 1995. It was received poorly and the music press took hardly any notice of it.

We all have thoughts, of what could of been. But when the artists lower themselves to become forgotten relics of the past, or sink to the level of mediocrity, where they are still working but no one really cares anymore, you have to consider that as a part of the nature of music. It was in the moment in which they thrived, and even though many of these artists have been forgotten today, we can at least acknowledge that they were a part of our consciousness for a short amount of time.

*Review* Kings of Leon-Only By The Night (SONY)

Rating: ***

Truly embracing your musical heritage and beginnings is one thing. But branching out and expanding your horizons to the point of alienating fans is another.

I don't believe the Kings of Leon have managed to alienate their audience, in fact over the last two years their fanbase has grown considerably. They are a band who you will consider amongst some of the best the first decade into this century.

Believably, you could claim that they wanted to dazzle fans with unexpected changes in style between albums. This isn't really so, at the core of all this music is the distinctive Caleb Followill at the front of the music, with his distinctive southern swagger.

The initiation of synthesizers on Because of the Times, marked a turning point for their sound and direction. The songwriting on all three of their previous albums was sophisticated and consistent and i believe will continue to be for a long time. With the use of catchy melodies and introducing synths and an arena friendly demanour to the songs, they built on what they already had as reputable back catalogue.

Only By the Night builds on this again. The southern consciousness is ever prominent in all of the songs but the flourishes of synths still make this music accessible to fans fond of the early material of Youth and Young Manhood.

Hightlights include, Closer, Sex on Fire, Cold Desert.

Fans arguably wouldn't be continuing to latch on to this band as one of the most improved and exciting bands of the last 10 years. Other acts, namly The Strokes, had groundbreaking debut efforts but have failed to deliver on successive occassions, slowing down their momentum.

Kings of Leon have that momentum all have been able to continously suprise and delight fans thorughout their last three albums, and the newest is no exception. There's a lot to like here, and it all comes with ease as you would expect from the threesome from Tennesee.

*Review* The Drones-Halivah (ATP)

Rating:****

The Drones are a quartet from Victoria, who specialise in slow building- down beat swamp rock in a sense. Hard to catergorize as a sound, but encompasses a hard hitting element of story telling in their compositions.

Influenced by Neil Young, story telling reminiscent of Tom Waits, it's a hybrid of all kinds of styles with a bluesy guitar sound which meanders off into dissonance heavily similar to sonic youth or bands of that ilk.

They took out the Australian Music Prize in 2006 for their album "Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By". Which generated a lot of rotation amongst triple j with both Tracks, "Sharkfin Blues" and "Baby2".

Gala Mill which was the follow up to Wait Long by the River.. was also nominated for the AMP award.

Now with 2008's Havilah, we have come to expect a standard and mood from the band with each set that they deliver. Gala Mill intiated a clause which must be followed concerning the band's character. It you want to listen to the Drones, start from the beginning, and follow the story straight from the start.

Stories will unfold, and vocalist Gareth Liddiard will take you their with his distinctively Australian rasp, which takes you beyond the sound of the song, and straight to the emotional state of the characters involved in these songs.

Gala Mill, and it's predecessor were at risk of becoming to dissonant for their own in amongst the longer tracks of those albums.

Gala Mill was very dark, although Havilah makes a refreshing change and adds a bit more light and accessibility to their sound.

"Nail it Down", the opener sees an upbeat start, an dynamic time shifts complement the ebb and flow of the song, accompanied by terrific solo work.

"The Drifting Housewife", is a slow building tale of abandonment which self destructs as it finishes.

The First seven tracks of this album, build a lot of momentum, and don't lag behind longer than they have to. That is the biggest strength of the album.

The other three albums had momentary signs of disappearing into their own echo, passages of dissonance which didn't really compliment the compositions that much. This set you can't tire of, because the majority of the first half is so enjoyable, that by the time the slower tracks emerge, you have been escounsed in the mood of the album and you can't wait for the second time around.

That is something which has been missing from the last Drones albums. This time around it is their best effort to date. A well rounded, consistent set of songs in the manner of which they were intended, but infused with an element of lightness which makes it a definite addition to any collection, and anyone who is interested in this band..

You cant help but feel, that a band comes along and they can either build a big reputation and peak early and not follow up on their success. Or upon each release, reveal another side of themselves and accentuate their strengths in a way which makes it exciting and enjoyable for the fans and people who have not heard them before. The Drones are in the later, they keep building as an act, and deserve all the recognition they can get.

Sibling Success for Pop Artists. Should I Carry On OR Should I Put My Tongue in a Deep Fryer?

We can all rest assure that if a pop star these days received some success on the pop charts, then a sibling a few years younger won't be too far away.

Usually it's a sister, because of the history of female pop artists over the last 10 years. Jessica rose to fame with the insipidly delightful Newlyweds program, which gave a lot of viewers violent reactions to the ditzy nasaly blonde, with whom Nick Lachey had to put up with for a few seasons. So long Jessica Simpson.

The newlyweds program revived Simpson's career as it had been a bit stale with short lived hiatus from the pop charts. After the show's huge success worldwide, Simpson enjoyed gaining a lead role in the television to film adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard. An accompanying song from the soundtrack, "these boots are made for walkin" was an ill fated attempt at covering a classic which was otherwise known as an anthem for the empowerment of women. But Simpson uses her sexuality and a lot of soap to communicate to the mass market that she is indeed a sexual object, and she had no intention whatsoever in cleaning the car. Laying all over the dukes car with soap all over her. That's what sells so who am i to argue, it is hot. However a complete insult to the nature of what the song was about.

The original moral of the song was, "im a women, and if you mess with my shit, i'll cut your dick off". Simpson's interpretation of the song was " look at me im all soapy in hot pants laying all over this car, come and get me,because im a extroverted slurry slurry whore who wants to appeal to the masses by objectifying myself to the masses, in order to get to the top of the billboard chart.

Well fair enough, but I digressed anyway. So Jessica enjoys a lot of success and all that. So then her younger sister Ashlee thinks she can do the same, well why the fuck not. Because really you idealise your older sister for being the centre of attention, and you would love to live up to the success of her, and given the fact that the family name is already well known in the industry will give you a head start.

OK, so it should all be set up for ya, if you're not fugly then you'll be fine. it turns out that your not but you couldn't sing a note to save yourself. But that doesn't matter these days, because producers have something called autotune, which means as long as you look alright and you've got a great body, you don't have to sing a note at all you just have to have a little sex appeal, great..

So Ashlee goes on a makes a few hits, so that's okay it's ok to look up to your sister. I mean she's pretty harmless i guess just a ditzy blonde with a hit tv show.

Although another set of sisters, the youngest one out of the two had a lot to contend and live up to. She really had to get out there and make a complete ass of herself...

Yes I'm talkin about Britney's sister, Jamie Lynn Spears.

One of the most talked about pop divas to hit the globe, became a pre adolescent pop mega star, promiscuous sexual media object, to a redneck white trash fried chicken eatin machine with two kids. So poor old Jamie had to do something, she couldn't just sit by and be lame and normal like everyone else in Louisiana. No she got preggas as well..

But I really commend Britney on waiting as long as she did. Because someone who is that successful at that age is bound to do one of three things;

1. Die of a drug overdose
2. End up anexoric or balemic
3. Have a drunken Las Vegas wedding, and have the marriage enulled after 55 hours.

She did the latter, which was embarassing, then after that she got up the duff.

Jamie Lynn thought it might be a good idea to get pregnant at 16. Could of fucked ya life up more, well not really guess she's a white trash mum now getting taken care by a wealthy estate i guess. She will lead a comfortable life, and in the later years she will make b-grade guest appearances on celebrity reality programs such as survivor or dancing with the stars.

But who's to blame, always showbiz parents. You are the worst, someone might as well call child services and get them to take away your kids, your pathetic..

Beauty pageant parents are a joke, parading around their kids like sexual objects at a very young age, condemning them if they don't win, and using the fear not being loved to spark them on.

The spears family aren't guilty of being like that, however after seeing one child follow a downhill spiral, you'd expect them to warn Jamie Lynn of what could possibly happen. From the early days of being in the mickey mouse club, she never had a real childhood, and was pushed and pushed until it became to surreal for her to comprehend..

Micheal Jackson, look at him. He is a grotesque monster now who befriends children, and allegedly does unspeakable things to them which is moraly wrong. From a child star, who had no childhood, performing for everyone was his life. He wanted to come away from that, and come out of himself, so he created an image of himself which was not at all recognizable to his true african american form, he became an insipid fake shell of a ghost, a mutant, which is what he felt like all the time. He wanted to be loved by his parents, not by the public.

Joseph Walter Jackson, (father) created the most hideous figure of the 20th century. That's right worse than Fran Drescher!

His abuse led to his demise in the normal world, he's all fucked up now dangling kids out of windows, completely lost the plot, he should be in some institution..

Anyway, you forge your own destiny. And young stars have to be aware of the history of stardom at a young age which leads to self destruction. If if acknowleged, can well be on their way to led a healthy successful life in showbiz.

The acknowledgment has to be made by family members, especially the parents, for if we can't rely on them to guide these guys and be responsible for guiding them down the right path. Then who can we rely on, certainly not talent agents and managers, they chew you up and spit you out like a piece of broccoli.

So be careful who you look up to. If you're in a famous family, don't be led astray by acts of stupidity by your role models. Because it's almost certain they've caught the hollywood epidemic, they think they're bigger than life at times.. But something has to kill you.

White Noise,Black Bar, Red Eyes, Sore Ears

On the night before anzac day, i went with a few friends to north perth to a club called shape. It was an experimental noise night.

Noise bands i've often been intrigued with. But as im reaching the wise old age of 22, i think im starting to lose my edge. Like im actually feelin like maybe i want to try and restore my hearing for my coming years of concert attending.

Fugazi, Godspeed You black emperor, mogwai, merzbow, that's the stuff i've got into over the past few years. To find some beauty in the dissonance of musicians violating the syntheziers and guitars as if they were pieces of utter shit, resonating what comes out of the speakers as pure irreverant bile spewing out at you. It's very attractive kind of music, you know, like you wonder why freaks like me spend three hours in a dark club listening to this stuff.

Well, this night was over before it begain. Now the first band was good. they played a half hour song, the only line in the song was "i can see the fire, imogen's fine" over and over. so that was the first set, so far so good.

The next band was pretty good, they were hell tight and there scratchy guitars were intact and sounded pretty good.

The headliner was pain, i forgot what they were called, but after 8 beers and hallocinating thinking a was seeing aladdin off in the distance riding the magic carpet on his way to offering me a lift home, i was getting restless, and even having inserted the earplugs that were provided to everyone before they came on, my ears were aching, they went for two hours, and it was PURE NOISE in the sense, now i knew it would be this kind of thing. But it was brutal, and i was hungry, and my foot was sore, i thought i saw a chic over in the corner with a bag which i thought could of had food in it. There might of been a cheese sandwich in there.but i found it wasn't after i stumbled over there and asked her what it was and she said she had her top from work in there.

i couldn't eat that.

anyway i don't know what has happened since then i've gone all soft and shit. i need my hardness back, but avant garde noise has just put me off for a while. I think i might listen to my billy joel albums for a while.

The Renaissance of Old Rockers

You can never get your hey days back it seems, however many attempts older rockers may choose to make.

The tide will turn, we all cant be writing classic material forever. The Stones are winding down, bands of the likes of Duran Duran, Smashing Pumpkins and other gen x participants of the era are making ill fated attempts to capture the immediacy they had in their golden age. It will never happen, and while these guys have made somewhat of a resurgence, they will never match the quality and vibrancy that was once there.

Earlier this year at the V Festival, which went around Australia. When it came to Perth it was an interesting line up, so i was intrigued to see Duran Duran, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Smashing Pumpkins all on the same bill.

All three acts disappointed me. First off The Jesus and Mary Chain.

They were uninspiring, and though the vocal style of Jim Reid has sounded shoegazy, The reason they were an imposing figure in the 80's was because of their ferocious live act. All venom had been drained from them, and they performed as they were on the day. Middle aged has beens. That does sound a little harsh although it is true and anyone witnessing it would have to agree. They sounded like a more sedated version of Ride. Which isn't a good thing.

I was hoping the set would get better, but as the crowd continued to thin out and get pies, I followed suit. 5 songs in and still no convincing. This is from a fan of theirs who owns all of their albums mind you!

So okay that's fine, so what about Duran Duran.

Well not being a fan, coming into the set i wasn't really that excited. However the majority of the set was a cracker. They killed it, with material spanning all their albums so a healthy spread of songs, Rio, Hungry Like a Wolf it was all classic.

While i looked on, i knew the Pumpkins were up next. Now I was hanging out for this like you wouldn't believe. I was enjoying duran duran but a big fan of the pumpkins was waiting.

Duran closed with a song i most despise though. The most dirgy, brain numbing song ever written, Ordinary World, if you know this song you'll know what i'm talkin about.

I was hoping for something upbeat to finish, but no a slow 6 minute ballad to make the wait even more insufferable.

Finally, Pumpkins.

Tonight tonight starts the set, excellent, followed by a few new tracks. Mayonnaise off siamese dream a classic.Now were crankin, but all went wrong about half an hour in.

Corgin plays an unnoticable song that ends up clockin around 12 minutes, then after some 8 minutes of feedback and squealing, we are treating to even more, because then they kick in with United States off Zeitgeist. This ones is about 10 minutes long, and corgan is startin lose the crowd. As some fire works are noticed in the background, apparently a wedding had been held on the other side of the swan river that day.

As corgan shredds while lookin on at the fireworks complimenting the sky, with a vibrant perth city skyline as his backdrop. I start to yawn, and some die hard fans are starting too glare at me as if im supposed to be intrigued by guitar wankery, which ive already established in this blog i don't like.

Anyway, jimmy chamberlain less corgan, does a brief acoustic section of the set, he plays 1979 and that's the way my love is. Great, but then back to more shredding.

a good 45 minutes consisted of a while 3 songs.

We have to realise that a captive audience of a band will always come out to support their once most beloved treasure. Smashing Pumpkins were one of mine. Their music over the 10 years, ive carried with me forver in my mind, and enlightened me and made my life better.

These albums were classic, Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. However energetic Zeitgeist was, it paled in comparison with their classics.

We are in an intimate era of music, a change is occuring, the new guys are taking over. What will the future hold?

DEATH MAGNETIC?

On September 13, Universal Music release Metallica's Death Magnetic. Having preordered it and working in a music store (i'm in Australia) I acquired mine this afternoon.

FUCK.

Okay when you talk about comebacks and shit like that, in the history of contemporary music we are yet to experience what it's like for a premier band of such a calibre like Metallica's, to rise to the occassion when they are faced with such a highly anticipated reception for their lastest work.

But the day has come. And the thing is, it wasn't all to do with their ability as a band to deliver a consistent album. They had the ability to do that already, they never lost that. However many contributing factors made it so that, St Anger became their most maligned album yet amongst fans and critics.

Death Magnetic accentuates the strengths of this group, a 10 track album with focus. Songcraft, classic riffs, consistency. From start to finish a menace to get out of your head, and that's only after listening to it twice. The coffin graphic on the artwork will be irresistable to even casual fans tommorow, and im working so they'll be comin in droves to purchase their copy.

I didn't think that they could recover from the schamoozle that was St. Anger. To mind insipid and unforgiving, was what is was. But nevertheless, you always have interest in what's next for them. They are definately intriguing to say the least. They mean business this time and there are a lot of reasons why you will enjoy this album a lot more than the last. Here's the breakdown..

Producers

St. Anger- Producer (Bob Rock)
(The Black Album) (1991) Load (1996), ReLoad (1997), Garage Inc. (1998) and S&M (1999)

Bob rock has plagued the bands career from the early nineties onwards, Metallica lost some of the credibility they had before Rock started producing them. There was more of an urgency with the albums and contained more edge, instead of pop sensiblity, which was what Rock was trying to inject into the sound at the time.

Fans claim that he should of gotten dumped a few years ago when a petition circulated suggesting this happen. Metallica listened. Evidence of Rock's influence on the productions is evident in the Some Kind of Monster documentary.

Rock was telling them what they wanted hear, which i think is bullshit considering they were in crisis at this point, making an album that was trying to be written as it was made. Hetfield sitting their with his pad, "what rhymes with that, aw that's a good line, I'll write that down. Kirk put a riff over this".

He was saying that it was great, he heard the singles that would be of the album, singing the praises of Hetfield and co. Claiming that Metallica were back. Nonsense talk, and someone should of gone in there and slapped Rock upside the head. You need to tell the band you're producing that there material is shit. That's all Metallica wanted, honesty. Rock was thinking about his paycheck, and so was shrink they hired to help them.

The inner turmoil in the band couldn't of helped the proceedings for St Anger. Nevertheless they were led astray by the all conquering Rock in his attempt to make another Metallica, Metal/Pop crossover blockbuster. It wasn't promising from the start.

So what could Rick Rubin bring to the table? Let's See

Death Magnetic- Producer (Rick Rubin)

1985: Radio – LL Cool J
1986: Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys
1986: Raising Hell – Run-DMC
1986: Reign in Blood – Slayer
1987: Electric – The Cult
1987: Yo! Bum Rush the Show - Public Enemy
1988: Danzig – Danzig
1988: Tougher Than Leather – Run-DMC
1988: South of Heaven – Slayer
1988: Masters of Reality – Masters of Reality
1989: Dice – Andrew Dice Clay
1989: Live Fast, Die Fast – Wolfsbane
1990: Trouble – Trouble
1990: Danzig II: Lucifuge – Danzig
1990: Seasons in the Abyss – Slayer
1991: Nobody Said It Was Easy – The Four Horsemen
1991: Manic Frustration – Trouble
1991: Decade of Aggression – Slayer
1991: Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers
1992: Danzig III: How the Gods Kill – Danzig
1992: King King – The Red Devils
1993: Thrall: Demonsweatlive – Danzig
1993: Wandering Spirit – Mick Jagger
1993: 21st Century Jesus – Messiah
1994: Danzig 4 – Danzig
1994: American Recordings – Johnny Cash
1994: Divine Intervention – Slayer
1994: Wildflowers – Tom Petty
1995: One Hot Minute – Red Hot Chili Peppers
1995: Ballbreaker – AC/DC
1995: God Lives Underwater [EP] – God Lives Underwater
1995: Empty – God Lives Underwater
1996: Songs and Music from "She's the One" – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
1996: Unchained – Johnny Cash
1996: Undisputed Attitude – Slayer
1996: Don't Call me Barry – Hermann and the Hermits
1996: Sutras – Donovan
1998: "Let Me Give the World to You" – The Smashing Pumpkins (an unreleased song)
1998: VH1 Storytellers – Johnny Cash & Willie Nelson
1998: Diabolus in Musica – Slayer
1998: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road – Lucinda Williams (mix only)
1998: System of a Down – System of a Down
1998: Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts – Kula Shaker ("Sound of Drums")
1998: Chef Aid: The South Park Album – South Park
1999: Northern Star – Melanie C ("Suddenly Monday" and "Ga Ga")
1999: Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers
1999: Echo – Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers
1999: Loud Rocks – V/A ("Shame" by System of a Down and Wu-Tang Clan, "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nothing Ta Fuck Wit" Tom Morello, Chad Smith and Wu-Tang Clan)
1999: The Globe Sessions – Sheryl Crow ("Sweet Child O'Mine")
2000: American III: Solitary Man – Johnny Cash
2000: Paloalto – Paloalto
2000: Renegades – Rage Against the Machine
2001: Amethyst Rock Star – Saul Williams
2001: The War of Art – American Head Charge
2001: Breath of the Heart – Krishna Das
2001: The Final Studio Recordings – Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
2001: Toxicity – System of a Down
2002: American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash
2002: By the Way – Red Hot Chili Peppers
2002: Audioslave – Audioslave
2002: Steal This Album! – System of a Down
2003: Results May Vary – Limp Bizkit (with Terry Date and Jordan Schur)
2003: Unearthed – Johnny Cash
2003: Door of Faith – Krishna Das
2003: De-Loused in the Comatorium – The Mars Volta (with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez)
2003: The Black Album – Jay-Z ("99 Problems")
2003: Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium – Rage Against the Machine
2003: Heroes and Villains – Paloalto
2004: Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses) – Slipknot
2004: Armed Love – The (International) Noise Conspiracy
2004: Crunk Juice – Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz ("Stop Fuckin' With Me")
2005: Make Believe – Weezer
2005: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 – Shakira
2005: Oral Fixation Vol. 2 – Shakira
2005: Out of Exile – Audioslave
2005: Mezmerize – System of a Down
2005: Hypnotize – System of a Down
2005: 12 Songs – Neil Diamond
2006: Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
2006: Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks
2006: American V: A Hundred Highways – Johnny Cash
2006: FutureSex/LoveSounds – Justin Timberlake ("(Another Song) All Over Again")
2006: The Saints are Coming – U2 and Green Day (single)
2006: Window in the Skies – U2 (single)
2007: Heroes and Thieves – Vanessa Carlton (with Irv Gotti, 7 Aurelius and Stephan Jenkins)
2007: Luna Halo – Luna Halo
2007: "Better Than I've Ever Been" – Kanye West, Nas, KRS-One (single)
2007: Minutes to Midnight – Linkin Park
2007: Free Life – Dan Wilson
2008: The Cross of My Calling – The (International) Noise Conspiracy
2008: Live from Liverpool - The Gossip
2008: Weezer – Weezer
2008: Home Before Dark – Neil Diamond
2008: Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy - Ours
2008: Seeing Things – Jakob Dylan
2008: Death Magnetic – Metallica

So he didn't play in a shitty band called Payola like Bob rock did, and his cv spans over half the length of this particular blog.

Rubin has brought the business of making Metallica great back. The production is superb and despite the lengthy tracks, there is no excess and you are back in 1986 territory here, no filler whatsoever... NO filler.

A focused album of 10 tracks, just the amount. It feels complete like you coudn't ask for more from this, when it's finnished, mark my word... you'll put it straight back on.

This is an awakening from beyond the grave. The cellar dwellars will come out to play tommorow, heads will be banging, fists will be pumping like you wouldn't believe...

The album of the year.. I'm not taking the piss either

Why Guitar Solos Died and Steve Vai Needs a Straight Jacket

You know the thing about musical indulgence is, the guys who are well and truly absorbed in their own technical prowess, don't realise that their music is at risk of being persecuted for it's tedium and intensely frustrating arrogance.

I think the thing is, we can all appreciate guitar solos here and there, if they have soul and meaning and have a place inside a composition, to add something to a piece is great and great guitarists over the past 60 years have been able to utilize their talents in complimenting their music that's made.

But artists like Steve Vai, Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen etc. Abuse their prowess and put on clinics for everyone. Now don't get me wrong, these guys should be well respected for what they've accomplished with the guitar and they are brilliant technically. But it is not music for people who aren't guitar players! It's as simple as that.

If you go to a concert of any of these guys, you're guranteed of one thing. High velocity riffage and nothing more. I play five million notes a second to impress people and that's the price of admission.

They are very popular amongst musicians circles, and rightly so. They inspire a lot of keen admirers who would kill to play like these guys. What I fear is that they might sink into the same mediocrity as the likes of Vai & Co.

I don't want this to happen, develop songs use space wisely and inspire people. Not make people flabbergasted by utter wankery with solos going on for 18 minutes at a time.

Malmsteen does make me upset inside a little. The quote of "the death of Hendrix was the birth of the guitar for Malmsteen" not quoted correctly, but that makes me sick inside in a way because Hendrix could very well be rolling in his grave at these statements.

He should feel flattered, but the truth is guitarists have modeled themselves on his spirit and claim to have been soo inspired by him, that his spirit lives on in millions of guitar players worldwide today.

The difference with Hendrix, is that he used space. His songs were of beauty and you can't take that away. He did love to show off and there's no doubting that, but he had a great way of perfectly balancing between the song and the solo, it was needed for a song so he would play a solo. Moments of indulgence are evident on live occassions, but the albums were particular tight with the exception of voodoo chile off electric ladyland.

What can anyone do, well I just write opinions on this blog, so anything I say has a right to be critcized well and truly and I accept that. There's nothing that anyone can do. But realise now that the art of the guitar solo in popular forms of music has kind of died a little.

I've got evidence to support this one too!

Metallica St. Anger 2003- SOLOS HELLO (okay Metallica switches to defcon 1 in an attempt to revitalise their career, something they are yet to accomplish but may see in a few days time when Death Magnetic is launched)

Popular music from 1992-present: Solos anyone, grunge died in the ass at that point we were beginning to see the emergence of brit pop in a few years time, and shoegazing bands played one chord through a flanger pedal for five minutes and practiced their affectations for tommorow night.)

TOOL- They are a force to be reckoned with, they use space in their solos which counts and the compositions are spaced out evenly, a lot of soul in their and interesting. After this progressive shift in metal, other bands would approach their sound less riff conscious.

Grindcore and speed metal- After years of bands playing at such high speeds, it became unattractive to play like this after a while they got sick of it.

Bryan Adams-Those emotion drenched solos during the middle of his ballads don't exactly give you hairs on you chest.

With these contributing factors we have to bury the insane guitar solo's and let them resurface every now and then.

Who is to blame for this? Well all the baby boomer generation's brains were dulled a little bit by all the excess of the late 60,s early 70's. So that's really too coincidental for my liking...

The origin of musical excess starts here:


1966- Artist: Cream Album: Fresh Cream
Track: TOAD

The debut album of cream unleashed Ginger Baker's beast toad, in this form it is only five minutes of percussionist wankery. But we all get treated to a delightful to a 16 minute rendition on the live side of 1968's Wheels of fire.

Baker is partly to blame for the intiation of the drum solo in rock music, it would continue to plague all of man kind until punks put all the prog rockers out of business.

1967- Artist: Pink Floyd Album: Piper at the Gates of Dawn

One of the biggest selling bands of all time had a lot of potential even in the beginning, however focus on material and the right combination of experimentation and songcraft would take a few years to master. Their psychedelic debut contains almost all mellow filter music which is quirky and definately intriguing for any floyd fan, however the quality of the material was very low.

1968- Artist: The Beatles Album: Self Titled (The White Album)

I am ironic to criticise this one because it's one of my all time desert islamd discs, however by this Beatles could do no wrong having established themselves and moved with the times. They could and would do anything they wanted musically whatever the consequence and most of the time it payed off.
The White Album is 94 minutes of pure lunacy, and that's why I love it. It jumps around from genre to genre and you're not quite sure what's around the corner.

Revolution 9 was the key to it's eccentricity. A sound collage which was avant garde and inspired that asthetic with a lot of the musicians around at the time.

1970- Artist: The Who Album: Tommy

Well Pete Townsend conceived this rock opera about a deaf dumb and blind boy who becomes a rock star.
And it was mostly filler. That is blasphemous considering that it rocks up on a lot of critics lists..sorry

The Canterbury Scene

Miles Goes Electric

Deep Purple: Three Words "Made in Japan"

NO MORE ORGAN SOLOS PLEASE

So we've firmly established a trend here, and it wasn't only guitars that were excessive, but just the music itself. Prog bands deliver track 1 and track 2. Which turn out to be Side 1 and Side 2 of a record. The main culpirits were ELP,YES,MAGMUM,Soft Machine,Focus, Uriah Heep, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Mike Oldfield.

Listening in between the notes can be important sometimes to, we are always trying to catch up with you Vai. You are crazy and toobad ass for everyone else.

All those notes inside your head would be floating around like that. So if you couldn't play guitar and you were restricted to a straight jacket for let's say 2 months. Would you start having singing lessons?

I had dreamed of Andre Rieu Last Nite! Phil Collins Style

This dream was a little bit messed up. I was on the superstar virgo, and the night was pleasant and everything I was having dinner i guess. There was a stage and I was eating out of all things salmon patties, (i don't know why) anyway i was eating there was wine and stuff.

Other things like people and that weren't a vivid thing in this dream but i could see the stage. Anyway I pianist got up on stage to rapturous applause and started played the intro to a song. It was Miami 2017 by Billy Joel. Now Billy Joel wasn't playing it but I recognised the song because i own his "turnstiles" album.

Now the drums kick in, and my attention focuses towards the drummer. It is none other than Andre "the rooster" Rieu. Sitting there like a motherfucker, beating those things like they were goin out of fashion, and eating up those beats as if they were lamb shanks. It was surreal , it really was?

So led me to wonder about this guy's appeal, in reality that is. He sells millions of cd's and dvd's to bewildered old pensioners who think he is the second coming. Now he is a showman, so that's what it is. The melodies are fantastic and it gets people enthralled in the spectacle of it all. His stage sets are gigantic and there's horses and shit galloping around it's terrific. I mean what more would you want out of a concert.

I tell you what I'd like, a gold plated medallion. That's what I fucking like. $350 dollars to see this toss play the fiddle a little and wink at the old farts in the front with the pacemakers, it's enough to make you yell "GOLDMINE, he is a TOSS BUT I REALLY WISH IT WAS ME".

Well that's enough about that, but i truly feel that he is about as one dimensional as you can get and he hides behind props and smiles, as to not expose his faults and his hidden agenda for world domination.

I work in a music store, and that's all i hear all day, is about how great this jerk is. If he was anywhere near as great as let's say i don't know um

Beethoven
Mozart
Debussy
Vivaldi
Johan Strauss
Igor Stravinsky
Bartok
John Cage
Hank Williams
Paul Robeson
Pete Seeger
Bob Dylan
Dizzy Gillespie
Art Tatum
Miles Davis
John Coltrane
Cecil Taylor
Bud Powell
Paul Mcartney
Jonh Lennon
Pete Townsend
Paul Rodgers
John Mayall
Eric Clapton
Jeff Beck
Joni Mitchell
Odetta
Phil Ochs
Tim Buckley
Black Sabbath
led zeppelin
magmum
pere ubu
the clash
sex pistols
siouxie and the banshees
bauhaus
the fall
ride
opeth
stone roses
morbid angel
daath
my morning jacket
bloc party
who made who
ac/dc
chemical brothers
funkadelic/parilament
grandfunk railroad
radiohead
sonic youth

and finally, Billy joel..

Then I might.. I might consider entertaining the thought of listening to this rubbish. But seeing as i have given you a long listof reasons why i'm holding off on this, i suggest you do the same and look some of these guys up. Because the majority of these acts haven't become successful by being mediocre, they have become successful because they did one thing and one thing very well.

they played music.

The Perth Plague, No One Comes Here!

No one comes here, musical artists always miss out perth. I remember looking out for the Radiohead tour dates a few years ago, and even Adelaide got a birth. Come on, is this some kind of joke. I'm sure that Thom Yorke would of loved hangin out in a few churches when he wasn't playing that gig.

Perth is an infrastructure nightmare. And look at the decisions made by these people, did we need a belltower, no. Do we need 80,000 plus seating for high profile concerts and afl matches, yes. So what gets proposed. a 65,000 oval which will not even be full capacity in 6 years time. It is ridiculous.

WA is wait awhile, and culturally we have a lot to be proud of musically. Being so isolated though means we don't have access to resources or venues for muso's to play at, like the eastern states have. if you are a musician you'll probably find yourself living in Melbourne sooner rather than later, and then when your band is big than they'll claim you as theirs. That's what we do to the kiwis that become big.

Look a this city and what it has to offer, Perth is brilliant, and if you are reading this in another country come and visit. Because you'll see how great it really is, but at the moment you may not be able to see it's full potential just yet.

Avant Jazz

So what does anyone consider jazz these days, because it is a derivative term we use to describe premier acts from the 40's and 50's such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Stan Getz "Bird" amongst others. But when did jazz enthusiasts decide that introducing contemporary instruments into the music would dilute it of it's authenticity. Because to me expression is the key to what we call J***. It is seen as a dirty word by people who play it or listen to it because it has the connotations of pigeon-holing the genre, therefore catergorizing with everything else.

I'll tell you something, dixieland was king, then bigband, then bebop, free/avant garde, fusion/ jazz rock took their place as time went on. And the only way music could get out of the doldrums was to evolve like anything else, it's the circle of life I'm afraid.

People were shocked when musicians, especially african americans were starting to take hold of their publishing rights in jazz, the black musicians suddenly stopped acting the goat up on stage and just played, they stopped announcing songs, didn't say good evening, and demanded more money for packed clubs.

Primarily Miles Davis set the seen for this kind of revolutionary asthetic. he would continue defying the odds in a world where the fans wanted familiarity, but all he wanted to offer them was uncertainty and exploration which isn't a bad thing i guess. You get spoonfed things for a while and you forget about what things you can learn. Jazz as we know could of stayed in this time vortex, if it hadn't of been for the likes of Ornette Coleman, Miles, Coltrane, Chick Corea, John Zorn, Ahmad Jamal, Bird, Dizzy, John Mclaughlin and so forth.

"Guitars! 4/4 time signature, this is not jazz", so it's very irony is that they don't want to pigeon hole jazz but they didn't want to change it either.

It's fair enough that people have tastes ok, so that's fine. I guess that the fusion thing confused a lot of people at the time, notably Bitches Brew by Miles Davis. It was an alien-like sound palette that consisted of lengthy jams interwoven and wailing horn by the man himself. It was tempo stuff though, and suspense building in the extreme, so the elements of a musical composition were still there, it was random noise. But the killer for the purists was that "the melody" was long gone in the record underneath all the disonance. This record is culturally important more than anyone knows.

This record doesn't get made, and the world would be different from what it is today. And that is no exaggeration on my part. it revolutionised fusion music and Miles became the most successful jazz artist of all time, playing to the biggest crowds ever in his career. He was playing festivals now in front of tens of thousands, instead of hundreds inside cramped clubs like uptown's Minton's. It's certified gold, it sparks debate even today, but bitches brew was important.

To use an analogy, The Beatles. Those first albums aren't made, Please Please Me, the world would be different today. The timeless songs are imbeded in the history of our culture over the last century. So Bitches Brew obviously didn't sell anywhere near the amount as the beatles did, but it opened the floodgates and other artists were able to embrace different cultures and rythms to their music it was sublime.

Return to forever, Mahavishnu, National Health, Magmum, Circle, Keith Jarrett, Focus, Soft Machine,Roy Ayers, all these guys much appreciative of the change that had come. Some of them played with Davis' group during his fusion period, and learnt a lot from that time of exploration.

In hindsight, looking back it was alien, melodic lines were thrown out the door at one stage. Some passages of live at the filmore are so dissonant that one has to wonder, what the fuck is going on?
But it's awesome, i've been a fan of avant noise anyway so i'm inclined to like it, but for the howty towty brubeck and hampton fans,well you've got no hope and if you didn't get back then then you won't get it know. This stuff is lengendary but the new generation are discovering the dixieland sound and bebop through the avenue of fusion music, so in a way it's been good for the genre, reconnecting with like minded individuals who are interested in the musical heritage of america.

So what will it be for you, is it sheets of sound? Or flourishes of melody?

Just a word on Music leaks

It seems that anyone has unlimited access to new music even before it has been released to the public using products such as limewire, winmx etc. (i know those applications are old by now but just for example). People wishing to leak new albums should be more than welcome to but in a way it has been killing our once avid record buying culture.



This is nothing new, and im not the first person to bring this up im sure, however there are always two sides, and depending on which way you lean. Whether you approve or disapprove, the digital revolution well entrenched in our multimedia world is ever prominent today.



Metallica will release death magnetic on September 13. Material from this has well been kept under wraps but some of the material has leaked onto the internet prior to the worldwide exposure it will receive on official release day.



Albums for me are an event, I am a record buyer. And there's nothing I find more exciting than waiting for the day I can obtain a copy of the latest album i've been waiting for and anticipating for so long.



Some people couldn't really give a fuck about that. And if it's worth purchasing at full retail, then they'll buy it after they have heard all the mp3 tracks off limewire.



Rightly so, i mean the era of artists producing consistently great material all the way through an album is gone right? Well again that's subjective.



The ipod generation will forever be ensconced in a $1.69 bang for your buck counter culture which diminshes any integrity the art form once had.



But you are always going to have people who are going to buy albums, and respect great singer songwriters and musicians, and people who when asked what their favourite cd is will reply

"VB Slab of Rock Vol 1" or "Now Summer 08". It's crass it really is, those people make me sick to my stomach. I cannot defend these guys watsoever.



Wat are you going to do in 10 years time, you will go into a download store, there will be no covers, no artwork there will lcd displays of album artwork, and the cost of the mp3 format files to download to your thumb drive or mp3 player. You'll pay using an account card with a tab on it, and no money will change hands.



similar to purchasing photos now, no dark rooms anymore, you sit at a kiosk for a half hour select what you want and get them processed automatically. The search for the perfect image and/or shot is lost because jpgs are seen as disposable. Just as mp3's will become, disposable.



Artists will become disposable, youtube five minutes of fame, record deal denying them of any artistic contribution, alcohol abuse and methodone clinics will follow, career over, start again let's find another victim to exploit.



I was pacing up and down the morning Hail To the Thief by Radiohead came out. I couldn't wait, when i bought it i

held that puppy up and claimed it as mine. It's something i can hold, i can't hold mp3's, i can hold my ipod and know the contents in it are music, but that's the difference for me the visual aspect of it.



the certain moments in pop history have been accentuated in our minds by the fact that albums that these artists produced (e.g Beatles, Rolling Stones, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell etc.) had terrific artwork, and was responsible for their longievity and success.



That is in the past, and in the future, say 2036, we will have thumb drives implanted in our brains and we'll be able to access mp3 music whenever we like, as far fetched as you can get.



Digital music samples the nature of the sound, tape and records you can hear the sound as it was captured, with wax it sounds raw and gives the sound an edge that digital otherwise lacks. Some people can appreciate this, but in the contemporary world of the medium, it is all made with protools.



Soulja Boy may not even have to utter an audible word to make a full length album now. And whatever shit he is saying will be autotuned and slated for release the next week. dumb fuck.



"WW na ya boiy an cd an there one good song o it, res r sheeat" sound familiar then you've come across a dumb bastard who knows nothing about music and in that case itunes is ideal because they can just buy the single, and not worry about embarassing themselves at the music store when they ask for the new Kid Rock single, I mean come on!



Tread carefully when it comes to music, I am fairly appreciative and respect anyone's taste whatever it may be, it will not condemn you much if you like something that not everyone agrees with. I can't help but wonder though will people start to believe in the album as art form again?



I think about it all the time, there are a lot of good albums coming out, but i hope that digital music isn't shredding these musical ideas up and providing them for you in an easy-to-consume, readers digest edition so that you can enjoy your musical experience without hearing what the artist really has to say..