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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 11, 2011 13:20:34 GMT -5
I wouldn't doubt it.
I still get thrown off when I hear references to movies they did later. There's the waffles/Coily bit (7 seasons early), the Marooned riffs in Fugitive Alien, The Mole People reference in Wild World of Batwoman.
Or the other way around, when Mike references movies from the Joel era. At least once the bots tell him he shouldn't know those things.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 11, 2011 13:13:16 GMT -5
It's a lot like the sound of one hand clapping...
...DQ right across the face.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 10, 2011 3:30:53 GMT -5
Test for Echo (1996)Three Great Things About This Album (for my RAM chip): 1) The playing is drool-inducing. It's their best instrument work and progressive gymnastics since 1978. 2) Neil took lessons from jazz legend Freddie Gruber, which completely altered his groove, making everything feel looser. (Check out this video for proof. And also to have your frickin' mind blown.) 3) Two of their best songs of the '90s are here, as are two of their best riffs ever. Three Poopie Things About This Album: 1) The songs aren't very good. Many of them stink on ice. The melodies are instantly forgettable. The vocal harmonies are weird. The lyrics tend towards the goofy. 2) When the lyrics aren't goofy, they're really preachy. Neil's always worn his worldview like a billboard, but now he's starting to tackle social issues and religion. There's a fine line between philosophical and pedantic, and he crosses it a lot here. 3) Every song is at least one verse & chorus too long. Long songs work in prog rock when the arrangement shifts around and features interesting and intensity-building movements. Simply repeating another round of Verse-Chorus changes isn't the same thing. I haven't listened intently to Test for Echo in years. When it came out, I remember being very disappointed. I was so put off, I skipped the tour (and I NEVER miss a chance to see Rush live). Every so often, a song from this album would pop up on "shuffle", but I never gave it much thought. Forgettable, I reasoned. Worst album since Caress of Steel, said I. How about some nachos, methinks. This time through, I was taken aback by the musicianship once again, especially after the last 4 albums where the songs came first and the playing second. Here, the playing comes first, and the songs, well... at least the nachos were delicious. The songs: "Test for Echo" starts the album off right. No tricks, no frills. Just guitar, bass, and drums weaving around each other in instrumental acrobatics like only Rush can. That guitar riff is a brain-sticker; it wakes me up in the middle of the night sometimes. "Driven" is the best song of the set, and rivals "Dreamline" as the best song from this era. It's an amazing riff, as good as anything in their career. There's also an off-beat ride cymbal groove and fancy bass line that complement the riff perfectly. The live versions of this feature a brief bass solo that make it even more of a standout track. "Half the World" has that mid-'90s two-chord strummy rock feel. It's got a decent hook, and some nice vocals. It's also a great song if you need to give your social conscience a pep talk and get a refill of white guilt. "The Color of Right". If the last song didn't completely spank you for your selfish ways, try this one: "You're so full of what is right, you can't see what is good." Sorry, Neil, but I don't think a self-righteous lecture is the best way to make a point about self-righteousness. (*says the self-righteous critic*) "Time and Motion" gains major points for being so ding-dang interesting. It sounds a lot like the song "Hemispheres" from 20 years earlier. The progressive elements are most welcome here, as is the marvelously noisy guitar solo. It's too bad the song is missing a chorus and doesn't ever go anywhere. "Totem". Ah, solipsism. You so crazy. Apparently, every religion is suspect because...well, Neil doesn't really say why. But his subjective experience trumps all because it's his. And when his feelings change how the world appears, then it's okay. This song mentions Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, Gaia, Aztecs, Mayans and astrology, so at least he's an equal-opportunity agnostic. On the plus side, the song itself is eminently forgettable. "Dog Years" is dog-awful. It's a rumination about getting older, filled with every terrible canine-related pun and metaphor you can fetch a stick at. A reference to scratching? OH YEAH! Howling at the moon? YOU BET! Dogs having their day? BUT OF COURSE. A pun on the word "bitch"? DON'T YOU KNOW IT! Sheesh. Bottom 3 ever for this one. "Virtuality". What do you get when you mix a testosterone-filled, punch-in-the-face riff with horribly dated lyrics about the internet in 1996? Okay, I'll give you the answer. You get this song. It's simultaneously aggressive and embarrassing. It's aggrerassing. "Resist" sounds like a protest song, but I've never been very clear on what the protest is about. I suppose it's pretty if folky protest songs are your thing. They do this as an "unplugged" number on their tours now. It's just the thing for a bathroom break. "Limbo". Hey, remember when Rush did instrumentals that showcased their skills and were majestic symphonies of complex arrangements? Apparently they don't. Their skills are still there, but this one sounds like they just forgot to record a vocal track. "Carve Away the Stone" isn't nearly as good as the album closers on the last few records. But it is the best song on this album since track 2, so that's something. There's some real nice jamming in the middle, and the chorus has an interesting time signature turn-around. I wasn't expecting this review to be so sarcastic and negative. I really did like the playing here, as well as the return to progressive elements. Maybe I do like this album more than my tone would indicate. But probably not. **
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 9, 2011 11:21:18 GMT -5
And it's not just a show, it's my whole life!
Crow, Servo, and Joike are the only friends I have. I don't have relationships with any real people or emotional maturity, so I'm left to fantasize about scruffy Joel. I also have no other internet interests or know-how, so I can only come here and have my identity confirmed by you insane people who don't acknowledge me as much as you should.
DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME IT'S JUST A SHOW!
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 9, 2011 0:59:03 GMT -5
Wow. Just wow.
I watched it four times in a row. Outstanding.
As for this season, I still haven't made up my mind. I still feel like a Who neophyte. I just got into the show and watched all of the 9th-11th doctors' episodes in the last 6 months or so. I don't have any set expectations of what makes a "good" episode or a "bad" episode. I certainly don't know what makes the longtime fans happy or angry.
As for me...I'm not a fan of the stand-alone eps like the pirate ship or last week's night terrors one-off. I am a sucker for serial storytelling, though, and I think the River/Doctor backwards romance is a very cool trick. Some of the explanations about her upbringing and the answers to the mess of questions are starting to remind me of the final season of the Galactica reboot (that's not good). However, the season finales have all been chock full of payoffs, and so far I've been very surprised and satisfied with how this show solves its plot knots. (Except for the doppleganger Amy bit. That felt like a cheat.)
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 7, 2011 16:34:05 GMT -5
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 6, 2011 18:10:51 GMT -5
[cynic] It's MUCH easier to satirize if they stick to the original. [/cynic] Of course. But they don't completely crap on it, like one might assume. Even in the satire, there's a sense of fair play. I laughed out loud at the introduction of Anathema Device, especially about how she got her name. And how she likes to read about herself.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 6, 2011 17:33:50 GMT -5
Counterparts (1993)Let's see...how many bands sold millions of albums in the '70s, followed up with creative and consistent output in the '80s without selling out, and then had the #2 Billboard album with release number fifteen? Not in the rock & roll hall of fame? Yeah, makes sense to me. Counterparts reunites the band with Peter Collins, their producer from my favorite album of theirs ( Power Windows). This time, he finally (FINALLY) gets the heavy rock sound back into the band. The story goes that in order to appease Alex's demands to get rid of Geddy's keyboards, Collins made Alex get rid of his compressors and chorus pedals first. By the time they started recording, Alex was playing his Gibson straight into a Marshall stack again. In 1993, grunge ruled the world. Everything on rock radio was performed by the Collective Sound Pilots of the Stone Soul Pearl Temple Jam Garden Nightlife Jazz Messengers Orchestra Band. And every other band tried to adapt to the no-frills, low-end, growly rock sound. Counterparts was Rush's attempt, and at the time, it bugged me. I thought it was a cop-out, especially for Neil's drumming. Ever since, I've had a negative opinion about the album. As an added bonus, this is the album where Neil writes about love and relationships almost exclusively. He tried to be nerdy and tie it to Jungian theory about gender roles, but that just makes it more uncomfortable. Boy was I in for a surprise. The songs: "Animate" starts off with a shock-- Neil playing a basic, simple rock rhythm! Also, his drums sound like drums again for the first time in about a decade. This is that Jungian gender roles song, and the lyrics are all about masculinity and femininity. I won't lie, it's a bit weird. But it's so nice to hear heavy rock from these guys again. "Stick it Out" is a great, low-end riff. Alex adds some ugly notes to the chords, which just makes it sound even cooler. The chorus is another fun riff, and the lyrics are a fun goof on the titular phrase about perseverance and every other possible meaning. "Cut to the Chase" Boy, the riffs just keep coming. It's so nice to hear Geddy's bass again. Everything might be straight and simple here, but it sounds so doggone right. Alex's solo on this one is a definite highlight on the album. "Nobody's Hero" is a chipper acoustic ditty about a guy who died from AIDS and a girl who was murdered, and how it seems the world doesn't care. A real pick-me-up. "Between Sun & Moon" is a great song with a truly perplexing chorus. Alex's verse riff is a total Keith Richards knock-off. The lyrics are poetic and enigmatic. But the chorus of "Ahh, yes to yes to ahh to yes, why the sun?" has always left me with a "what the hell?" feeling. At first it's ridiculous. Once you get used to it though, it's a good time. I'm still not sure if it's cool or not, though. "Alien Shore" keeps the album humming along at a brisk pace; it's another uptempo rocker that doesn't disappoint. What we have here is filler that keeps up with the rest of the album. The lyrics are more of the theme that women be different from men. "The Speed of Love" is the weak link, but it doesn't stink. It would have been a decent B-side. Lyrically, it fits the album with it's talk of how love is like fireworks and storms and hearts connecting blahblahblah. It also fits musically, even if it's not altogether impressive. "Double Agent". Did I mention awesome low-end riffs? Geddy does some spoken-word poetry on this (NOT rapping), which is strangely effective. I mean, he's no Henry Rollins, but the riff behind his rapping talking is cool enough to carry him through. "Leave That Thing Alone" is the sequel to "Where's My Thing" from the last album. If that one was Franklin Pierce, then this one is Barry Goldwater. Seriously, if these guys are going to do instrumentals, they should do something especially complicated and impressive. These two entries are repetitive pseudo-funk jams and the boys just sound bored. "Cold Fire" is a very good song. Alex starts with some angry jangly chords, throws in some patented reverb arpeggios, and tops it off with a hot fudge solo. This is also the one song where the relationship lyrics are an asset and not a liability: "I said, "If love has these conditions, I don't understand those songs you love." She said, "This is not a love song. This isn't fantasyland." It's as direct as Neil ever gets, and it holds together well. "Everyday Glory" continues the band's amazing streak of perfect album ending songs. The riff and vibe close out the album perfectly. Lyrically, it's all about how each day is another opportunity to rise from the ashes and blaze new glory. A near-perfect rally song. Every MSTie has an episode or two that they don't like at first, only to go back and watch it a couple of times and realize that their first impression was off. Maybe they're at a different place in life, or in a better mood this time, or whatever, but suddenly "The Dead Talk Back" is a funny episode. That's what Counterparts did to me this time through. I've always considered it to be a subpar effort, but I really enjoyed preparing for this review. Even Mrs. Atari (who hates Rush) commented that she enjoyed listening to it over the weekend with me. It's far better than I remembered. ****
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 6, 2011 11:31:49 GMT -5
Two of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis and Philip Yancey, both talk about Chesterton all the time. So I finally got into some of his stuff. I love the way he and Shaw went after each other.
Back to the book.
I love the conversation at the beginning between Crowley and Aziraphale at the gates of Eden. Giving Adam & Eve the flaming sword out of pity is a great touch.
I really like that skeptics like Gaiman and Pratchett decided to stick to the traditional Bible story as the backdrop, including all of the nuances of the spiritual world and (to use Crowley's least favorite word) "ineffablility". I know they satirize the heck out of it, but I enjoy that they left the basics intact.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 6, 2011 9:30:21 GMT -5
You can imagine where it goes from here.
He fixes the cable?
And The Third Man needs to have a CGI character (a little 8-year-old) who looks at the camera and says his catch-phrase 10 times throughout the movie: "Ich liebe penicillin."
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 5, 2011 15:31:10 GMT -5
Roll the Bones (1991)When I was 16, that album cover was the coolest thing ever. Roll the Bones is Neil's thesis on the meaning of life; the album where he ponders which worldview makes the most sense of love, hope, suffering, and purpose. If you guessed that Neil picks "atheistic humanism", you win the Captain Obvious prize. Fortunately for those who might pick a different worldview (like me), his ruminations are personal and his conclusions respectful. He doesn't get truly antagonistic towards theists until later albums (boy howdy). This album is like a metaphysical MadLibs. Just fill in the blanks with words like "fate", "chance", "faith", "heaven" and "destiny", and you too can be a nerd rock lyricist! The music is two steps ahead of the paper-thin Presto. The songs are half-a-step better. The guitar is almost back in the mix. Alex has some nice solos and Neil's drums sound like Neil's drums again. The overall mix is still drenched in shimmery chorus. The full return to loud, crunchy amps is still an album away, but at least we're getting closer. The songs: "Dreamline" might be the best song of this 4-album cycle. It's a nice pop-rock song built on a light riff from Alex's telecaster. It's all about how we long for limitless adventure despite our limited lifetimes. It's a feel-good winner! "Bravado" is a perfect template for their early '90s sound. What started with a couple songs on Presto is fully realized here: a mid-tempo, plodding, roomy verse building into a majestic-sounding chorus & solo section. It's a good song about taking risks even if there's no payoff: Follow your dreams, keep your pride, find love where you can, and if there's no reward (i.e. afterlife), it's still worth it. Aaaand we have our theme, ladies and gentlemen! "Roll the Bones". On the plus side, Geddy is no longer screeching on these albums. On the other hand, Geddy is rapping on this song...yes....rapping....*cough* Otherwise, it's an okay song, with a funky guitar line & drum groove. Well, as funky as Rush gets. The lyrics? More about how there's no cosmic purpose to anything, so get out there and take your chances. Roll the bones, as it were. "Face Up". FILLER ALERT! This one has a decent drive to it. It's one of the songs that gives the album it's overall sound, but there's nothing remarkable about it. Not bad, but not great. Filler. "Where's My Thing?" is their first instrumental since "YYZ". If "La Villa Strangiato" and "YYZ" are the Jefferson and Lincoln of their instrumentals, then "Where's My Thing" is Rutherford B. Hayes. Okay, that was mean. After all, it's bouncy & funky and is marginally interesting. So maybe it's more of a Franklin Pierce. "The Big Wheel". There's a bit of a Rolling Stones groove on this one. More lyrics about how when Neil was a kid, he believed in things; but now that he's older and wiser he only believes in chance. For some reason, this song always makes me think of The Price is Right. "Heresy" is a good angry song. Neil said, "The deconstruction of the Eastern Bloc made some people happy. It made me mad. For generations, those people had to line up for toilet paper, wear bad suits, drive nasty cars and drink bug spray to get high...and it was all a mistake? A heavy price to pay for somebody else's misguided ideology, it seems to me, and that waste of life must be the ultimate heresy." Of course, a case could be made that those abuses were born from an ideology that was decidedly anti-religious, but that would undermine Neil's worldview, so forget I mentioned it. Still, I find the title "Heresy" to be interesting and a bit ironic. Musically, it's right there with "Bravado" as a pattern for their '90s sound. "Ghost of a Chance" is a purple giraffe: odd, but intriguing. First of all, the lyrics are all about relationships and love. Neil never does that. Secondly, the music is inside out. The verse riff & melody are pretty standard fare that builds each step of the way. Then the chorus hits with a slow, spacey vibe. It's like rocketing through the atmosphere only to emerge in the openness & quietude of outer space. And the guitar solo is one of Alex's all-timers. Hearing them play this live (especially the solo) when I was 16 was a transcendent moment I still remember well 20 years later. (Just don't tell Neil I used the word "transcendent".) "Neurotica" is dull filler. There's a riff in there somewhere, but the song doesn't really go anywhere. "You Bet Your Life" is the summary at the end of the term paper. It might be my favorite song on the album because it's up-tempo and clever. It drives home the point that whatever you choose to believe, you're effectively betting your life. And in true Rush fashion, they also take the air out of the seriousness with a sense of humor by adding musical tastes to the list of what we bet our lives on. "The odds get even". A great album wrap-up. I've focused mainly on the ideology and lyrics of Roll the Bones, but musically, it's not a bad album at all. The mix is getting better, and the playing is starting to get impressive again, even though the songs are still the point. The next two albums have their moments, but this is probably my favorite album from this era of the band. ***1/2
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Post by Mr. Atari on Sept 4, 2011 13:33:51 GMT -5
So my copy has a dedication page "To G.K. Chesterton, who knew what was going on." Has anyone read any Chesterton? I give away copies of his _Orthodoxy_ for Christmas gifts.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 31, 2011 19:41:37 GMT -5
I got dragged to see the last Resident Evil movie and it was the worst movie I've ever seen in the theater. I posted my thoughts the next day, and I stand by that assessment. Schlock? Maybe. But a completely abhorrant movie experience for me.
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 29, 2011 13:49:59 GMT -5
Presto (1989)Good afternoon, sir or madam. Do you like music that is bland and inoffensive? Do you enjoy it when there is no low end in an audio mix such that may inconvenience passersby? Do you prefer songs without any of that pesky syncopation or distracting guitar solos? Do you revel in a mix that's as thin as the layer of film on your mom's tomato soup? Sure, we all do! Sir or madam, I present to you Presto. The perfect album for you and your children/pets. It features static musicianship, no-frills four-on-the-floor drumming, hookless songs, and immediately forgettable non-melodies. If you like strummy 12-string acoustic guitars and tom-toms that sound like tupperware, look no further. Why spend so much of your hard earned cash on Ritalin when you could just listen to Presto? After Hold Your Fire, Rush had completed their third 4-album stretch. It was time to reinvent their sound. Time to do away with the keyboards (mostly) and return to guitar-oriented songwriting. For a given value of "guitar", that is. It took them a while on their fourth cycle of albums to find their edge again. They certainly didn't find it on Presto. There are still at least 2 too many songs here, and the mix is very sad and wimpy. The album feels like it's made up of castoffs from the HYF writing sessions, where the keyboards have been replaced with acoustic guitars. In fact, if it wasn't for the acoustic guitars, I would know Alex was even on this album. Neil's drumming is as uninspired as he ever got, and Geddy's trademark bass lines are missing like Dr. Erhardt. It seems that the boys buried all of their musicianship tricks in the hat in the hopes of pulling out an album of crisp songs. Instead, they got a reject guinea pig-- possibly injected with malaria. And a hell of a lot of treble. Perhaps I'm being unfair. It's not all bad, and the album holds some nostalgic value to me since it was the "new release" right as I was getting into the band in high school. It isn't the worst album they ever did (it's not even the worst album of this cycle), and I do put it in my iPod rotation when I drive to the mountains. So there's that. The songs: "Show Don't Tell" doesn't suck. It's a decent riff and an interesting lyrical take on the "actions speak louder than words" principle. "Chain Lightning" is a highlight on the album, and would have made a good single in 1989. That's not very high praise, by the way. Neil penned some creative lyrics about how shared experiences make life worth living. "The Pass" is a favorite of the band's. It's an anti-suicide song that respects the listener. Musically, it's the template for most of their '90s output. There's a lot of room in the playing (it's not busy), and a sweeping build into an emotional chorus. "War Paint" is the song I always forget about. It's like the Silence in Dr. Who- I know it exists when I'm listening to it, but as soon as it's over, I forget all about it. Musically, it sounds a lot like "The Pass" and half of the songs on their next album. "Scars" is not a good song. It's based on a synth-bass sequencer pattern. Just a tip: When you have the best rock bass player in the world in your band, a bass sequencer is probably a bad idea. Neil has an interesting drum pattern on this one, but it's ground he already covered better on Power Windows. "Presto". Let's just move on, shall we? "Superconductor" is the only song on the album that's musically interesting. It's a fun riff in 7/4. That's about it. "Anagram (for Mongo)" is brilliant. The lyrics are all anagrams, and it still makes a coherent point about fighting evil in our lives. There's a joke from "Blazing Saddles" in the title. Definitely my favorite song on the album, even if the music is a bit dull. "Red Tide" is pretty good. It's a depressing look at how our world is falling apart, but the piano riff is catchy. It would have fit well on Power Windows or Hold Your Fire. "Hand Over Fist" is a strummy number about rock-paper-scissors. Let that sink in for a minute. "Available Light" is a nice closing tune. It's got that "last song before the bar closes" feel. Alex tries out a couple blues licks that make me wish the whole song was bluesier. Not bad at all, this one. Presto vacillates between encouraging and depressing. They were trying to be better songwriters, but I think they sacrificed too much of their talent on this. The late-'80s/early-'90s mix certainly doesn't help. I do enjoy this album, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. When I listen to it with a critical ear, I can't deny that it's one of the lower quality albums in their catalog. **1/2
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Post by Mr. Atari on Aug 29, 2011 12:49:44 GMT -5
So what did you all think of the return episode?
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