Category: reviews

audio review : The BDP Album ( album ) … KRS-One

audio review : The BDP Album ( album ) ... KRS-One

The title makes no sense. Even if it were Another BDP Album, that wouldn’t be the case unless it’s down to just KRS-One and Kenny Parker. Still why not credit BDP as the artist and give it a different title? BDP albums were KRS-One’s anyway. The difference now is that, while his rap skills are, his albums are no longer “fresh”… for 2012, 2011 or any year within the past decade or so. This, basically a Kenny Parker mixtape of KRS-One demo songs, is easily one of his worst.

my rating : 2 of 5

2012

video review : Kill Bill [ Volume 2 ]

video review : Kill Bill [ Volume 2 ]

This second half of Bill Kill focuses less on action and more on plot, which, unlike sword-slicing the story in two, wasn’t a bad idea on the part of Quentin Tarantino. His knack for dialogue has a chance to bare its face as there’s more talking here than violent combat shots.

The character conversations and monologues, sometimes spoken directly to the audience, help fill in the many plot holes and gives the story, which has to do with revenge, some purpose. Still it never comes close to becoming the masterpiece it was apparently meant to be.

my rating : 3 of 5

2004

video review : Kill Bill [ Volume 1 ]

video review : Kill Bill [ Volume 1 ]

Style over substance is the rule in this first half of Kill Bill. It’s a tale of revenge inspired by old kung fu and samurai war flicks in which characters engaged in carefully choreographed fist/sword fights.

The movie is a thrill during those gory action scenes, which are enhanced with over-the-top effects. Swords “whoosh” to caricatural levels as the lost of body parts sends blood splattering everywhere.

The plot, on the other hand, leaves much to be desired, which can’t be too surprising when a story reaches its halfway point and stops. Bill doesn’t even get a chance to show his face, let alone get killed.

my rating : 3 of 5

2003

video review : Kill Bill [ Volume 2 ]

Tony’s Crispy Crust Pizza

Tony's Crispy Crust

The crust of this pizza isn’t that crispy, but it’s crispier than most pizzas you get from a restaurant; the kind served hot and ready to eat. It’s also thinner and less impressive looking, especially when you leave it in the oven for a few minutes too long, which makes it appear dryer/tougher than it is.

It tastes good though. In fact, I’d say it’s about as good and tasty as most pizzas I’ve had minus the texture and bite of, say, a Little Caesars or Domino’s. I’d rather have a slice from one of those places any day, but, between the grocery store freezer and your home’s oven, this Tony guy is hard to beat.

my rating : 4 of 5

video review : Live At Webster Hall ( concert ) … Paul Simon

video review : Live At Webster Hall ( concert ) ... Paul Simon

Not a whole lot of people were lucky enough to attend a Paul Simon concert on the “Evening” of June 6, 2011. The legend performed in New York City on the main stage of Manhattan’s Webster Hall for about 1400 fans; the culmination of a two-month tour to promote his album, So Beautiful Or So What. The rest of us have to settle for this concert video, a PBS exclusive.

It’s his first solo release since You’re The One from ten years ago and it was worth the wait, especially considering the fact that his band, a collection of top instrumentalists, includes most of the same faces. There’s Mark Stewart, Tony Cedras and a seemingly more subdued Vincent Nguini. They’re getting older; Paul Simon himself is 70; but they don’t miss a beat.

The Beautiful album, Simon’s worst, offers one decent song. The rest are duds compared to the older stuff, the newest of which stops at Rhythm Of The Saints as if You’re The One and Surprise never happened. When an artist who’s spent decades in the pop music world performs a handful of songs though, albums are going to be ignored and Simon isn’t one for medleys.

His songs are less about catchy hooks and more about overall structure, so they’re performed from beginning to end, sometimes with a few minor revisions or jam-time extensions to keep them fresh. Paul Simon is like a chef, so when he talks about making a chicken “gumbo” with “cayenne” pepper, his words aren’t to be taken literally. They’re meant to be taken metaphorically.

Poetry, in the form of song lyrics, is what Paul Simon does best. Even if the new songs don’t make you clap your hands or make you dance like Kodachrome, Mother And Child Reunion or this surprisingly fun version of That Was Your Mother; I never really liked the original version; you’re still left pondering what he has to say and how he chooses to say it.

my rating : 4 of 5

2011

audio review : Live At The Olympia ( album ) … REM

audio review : Live At The Olympia ( album ) ... REM

It’s REM, one of the most popular rock bands in the world, at The Olympia in Dublin, but they insist it’s “not a show”. What they mean is that it’s not an official concert. It is a show. That’s evident by the way Michael Stipe addresses the crowd; a selection of people with “impeccable” tastes. It’s a rehearsal show; a 2007 practice performance of songs from Accelerate and the tour that would presumably follow.

Fans of Around The Sun and Reveal might be disappointed with this album. The setlist, a special selection of the songs they performed, spends most of its time on the old stuff. There are six songs from Reckoning, for example, and five from Fables Of The Reconstruction, but none from Up, probably my favorite REM album. How cool it would have been to hear Sad Professor raw, unpolished and Jacknifed.

That’s a relatively minor complaint though. My major one is the talking the band does during some of the breaks, specifically the one that ruins the album’s conceptual flow; Stipe mentioning to his very appreciative audience that it’s the band’s “fifth” of five nights before magically going back in time to perform songs from the previous nights. With just that, this comes across as a random compilation rather than a proper set.

My favorite song here is Until The Day Is Done, which, like other Accelerators, had yet to been released. It sounds a lot like the album version though, unlike Disguised, which is a demo version of Supernatural Superserious. Other highlights include On The Fly; its absence from the Accelerate album baffles me; and Pretty Persuasion. I like the way Michael Stipe says the word “confusion” on that one.

my rating : 3 of 5

2009

audio review : Hell [ The Sequel ] ( album ) … Bad Meets Evil

Hell [ The Sequel ] ( album ) ... Bad Meets Evil

Eminem and Royce Da 5-9, collectively known as Bad Meets Evil based on their duet from The Slim Shady LP, should’ve made an album in 1999. Back then they were not only the best two rappers ever to emerge from the underground but nearly word-perfect to the point of lyrical flawlessness. Listen to the Bad Meets Evil song or Scary Movie and tell me what rappers were better than those two.

There’s a song on this CD, the title of which follows in the footsteps of that aforementioned Shady LP duet, Eminem haphazardly refers to as the “sequel” to Scary Movie, but that’s lyrical blasphemy. No verse on this album even comes close. As far as skills go, both rappers are mere shadows of their former selves, especially Eminem. He went from being then considerably better than Royce to now about equal.

They are still two of the best rappers in the game though and there are a few truly impressive bars sprinkled about here and there. Eminem’s David Carradine Die Hard rhyme scheme sounds almost like vintage Eminem and Royce’s “ass/bathroom” line is pretty funny. In fact, that first song, entitled Welcome 2 Hell, is one of the best, along with the ones with the best hooks; namely Lighters and A Kiss.

Eminem’s singing on A Kiss, which comes with a minor yet surprising technical flaw; it sounds a little muffled, perhaps because it was mixed with a little too much bass; is what makes the song good. The sample of a girl’s voice saying she wants a kiss adds to the concept. Lighters, as soon as it begins with Bruno Mars singing the chorus, sounds like it belongs on a different album, but it’s a nice song.

The Reunion is also notable. Not for its chorus, which is middling on the quality scale, but for the fact that Eminem makes a decent attempt to restrain the Recovery vocal delivery I hoped he’d stop using by now. The rappers also give the tiring speed-rapping a break. The concept of the song is sloppy; romantic heartbreak doesn’t really go well with their reunion story; but it’s okay enough.

The album, which, at nine full-length songs, is no more of an EP than Michael Jackson’s Thriller, though it’s being officially promoted as one, ends with a Slaughterhouse song. Though Royce Da 5-9 should’ve come on directly after Eminem instead of after Crooked I; the album has a few sequencing flaws; I guess that’s appropriate assuming the next Shady Records release is a Slaughterhouse album.

my rating : 3 of 5

2011

video review : Fair Game

video review : Fair Game

This movie, based on a memoir by former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, seems to have its political views in the right place. It’s not afraid to portray the US government as the corrupt organization it often is. The main focus goes back to the weeks, months and years after “9-11” and the questionable war that started as a result.

The plot, about Valerie’s sudden termination from the CIA; the result of her ambassador husband publicly denying that Saddam Hussein is using “yellowcake” to make weapons; doesn’t really untangle itself until about the half-way point. From there, this Fair Game is two people versus the government in what is ultimately anything but.

my rating : 3 of 5

2010

audio review : Fine Young Cannibals ( album ) … Fine Young Cannibals

audio review : Fine Young Cannibals ( album ) ... Fine Young Cannibals

Roland Gift may have one of the gayest singing voices you’ll ever hear, but that’s part of what makes his band standout. Their album loses some of its flavor during the second half, but most of these songs are Fine indeed. Favorites include Johnny Come Home, Blue if you’re fortunate enough to comes across the original (unrevamped) version and the Broadway-worthy Like A Stranger.

my rating : 4 of 5

1985

audio review : Dance Into The Light ( album ) … Phil Collins

audio review : Dance Into The Light ( album ) ... Phil Collins

“No drum machine on this one,” Phil Collins announces in the liner notes as if that’s something to be excited about. For those who scoffed at the thought of an acclaimed drummer using computer drums for much of his music, it may be, but I generally prefer drum machines over live drums if only because they don’t succumb to human imperfection.

Percussion is a side note here though. The most obvious change is the sound of the songs themselves. Upbeat world music sways rhythmically in bright contrast to the dark melodic tones of the previous album, Both Sides, which is arguably his best solo set thus far. This new one isn’t quite as good. There are, however, plenty of good songs on it.

There’s a delightful fan dedication entitled Wear My Hat, which, thanks to its Mbaqanga-inspired polyrhythms, will be compared to Paul Simon’s Graceland. It’s In Your Eyes captures the sweet sound of 1960s romance while a remake of Bob Dylan’s Times Are A-Changin shows that both remakes and bagpipes can work well thing if done right.

my rating : 4 of 5

1996

video review : The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

video review : The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Five people on their way to a summer rock concert almost runs over a girl walking down the middle of the road. Tires squeal and dust flies as their truck barely misses her bony frame, but she just keeps walking like nothing happened with a look of total despair. Most people would probably count their lucky stars and keep going. This compassionate gang, headed by a girl named Erin, offers her a ride home. It’s a mistake that signals the beginning of the worst day of their lives.

Flash forward to Erin, who’s stunningly sexy even with snot dripping from her nose, being chased thru the woods by a masked maniac with a roaring chainsaw and you realize how not-that-scary other horror movie villains are. Freddy looks scary but talks too much. Jason doesn’t talk but doesn’t run. Leatherface comes at full-speed, doesn’t utter an intelligible word and wants to saw off your limbs to lock your bloody torso in his parent’s basement like a slab of hog meat.

my rating : 4 of 5

2003

video review : The Texas Chainsaw Massacre [ The Beginning ]

audio review : We Can’t Dance ( album ) … Genesis

audio review : We Can't Dance ( album ) ... Genesis

It’s quite alright that Phil Collins and his unsung band members Can’t Dance. They make music and they do it well. They also do it without relying on the conceptual comforts of traditional romance, which can’t be said for most artists of the pop-rock genre. There is one such song on this set; a tranquil ballad entitled Hold On My Heart; and there are hints of allure splattered about, but the compassion of Genesis goes deeper than that.

No Son Of Mine is about a broken father and son relationship. Dreaming While You Sleep deals with the psychological woes of hit-and-run road accidents. Way Of The World anthems global peace. By the time you reach the beauty of Fading Lights, you’ve realized you’ve been taken on an epic journey. If there’s an epic flaw, it’s that the majestic melodies of Phil’s verses often outshine his choruses when it should be the other way around.

my rating : 4 of 5

1991