Wordpress for iPhone was not working for some reason so I finally restored my phone and all is well.
I did end up losing my SMS messages but whatever.
Hopefully I’ll be more incline to blog now that I can do it from wherever I want and whenever I want.
Of course I’ll probably end up with a shit ton of typos thanks to the iPhone keyboard :)
Simply amazing:
Via antikewl.com & Matt Maggard
It’s been far too long since I’ve posted anything here on the ol’ blog…
2 words…
I’m tired.
Monday: Lost Marauders appearance on Hunnypot
Tuesday: Intense evening (don’t ask)
Wednesday: Metallica at The Forum (resulting in whiplash and no voice… well worth it)
Thursday: Marauders gig at the AC Lounge with TAXI
Tonight: Zzzzzzzzzz
It was an exhausting week but a fun one nonetheless. I’m sure you’ll forgive me for making this post short and sweet as I didn’t get home before midnight most nights this week.
G’night.
For those that are interested:
Metallica’s set from Wednesday:
That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
Creeping Death
Harvester of Sorrow
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Damage Inc.Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Encore:
Last Caress / Green Hell
Seek & Destroy
I said to myself “You probably shouldn’t put that glass on the drying rack, so close to the edge”
I ignored myself.
With all that is going on in my life as of late, I just needed to set aside a few minutes to talk about the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic.
It comes out in on the 12th and I was counting down the days until that day when, on Friday, a buddy sent me a link to get the album… illegally, of course.
I was expecting it to be good since the band had fired long-time producer Bob Rock, and hired the only man that would have even the slightest chance to get the band back on track, Mr. Rick Rubin.
Since the first Beastie Boys rap album, I have probably put more money in Rubin’s pocket than any other music producer. The Beasties, The Chili Peppers, Slayer, System of a Down, etc. have all had the honor of having this guy at the helm for the majority, if not all of their albums. And now recently he’s been working with CSN and Brandi Carlile… the guy is all over the place. What’s more is that Sam’s dad Wayne is his chef so I have a direct line to him to let him know what I think of this new offering from Metallica.
So, what do I think?
I think they pulled it of. I’m not the first to say it but… METALLICA IS BACK!!
I’m going to look past the Napster thing and Lars’ uncontrollable narcissism and touch on some of the tracks here:
The first three tracks are pure energy and the best on the album. Tears came to my eyes throughout the first track, “That Was Just Your Life”. It starts out with a Dark Side of the Moon-esque heartbeat and from there enters the classic Metallica intro harkening back to the days of “Ride the Lightening” and “Master of Puppets.” What’s interesting is how you can hear System of a Down-type licks come through in this track. Funny how things come full circle.
Track two “The End of the Line” is more heaviness with one of the most obnoxious intros to a guitar solo I have ever heard. It’s only a split second of feedback but it just bursts in and throws you back 10 feet and takes you on a bone-crushing ride into the depths of insanity. WTF?!?! It’s awesome in the truest sense of the word.
“Broken, Beat & Scarred” is the third track and maybe my favorite next to the first track. It just has a killer main riff that only Metallica could have come up with. Not to mention the sing-a-long part “SHOW… YOUR… SCARS!!!” I can’t wait to belt that out at the concert in December.
Don’t get me wrong, the whole album isn’t perfect. The major single off the album “The Day that Never Comes” is probably the weakest track on the album followed closely by yet another Unforgiven sequel. “The Day…” just feels like it was slapped together using licks and devices from past songs like “One” and “Motorbreath.” At least they steal from themselves. It seriously sounds like a garage jam that got recorded by accident and then never completed… but with really good recording gear.
The ninth track is “Suicide & Redemption” and it’s the token 10 min. instrumental. Well, at least it used to be “token.” I don’t think there’s been a track like that since the “…And Justice for All” album. It’s not that interesting musically. There are a few killer riffs that should be in regular songs but not an instrumental. It just can’t hold a candle to “Orion,” “To Live is To Die,” or “Call of Ktulu.”
What this album is sorely missing compared to “Ride the Lightening” and “Master of Puppets” is more classical music influence. Maybe Cliff Burton was responsible for bringing that stuff into the mix. There are a couple of instances where they touch on some good harmonies but it’s just too few and far in between.
Apart from the tracks, I was really excited to hear Rob Trujillo make his in-studio debut as I thought he was the perfect choice for bassist after Jason Newstead was gone. In the mix that I have he’s barely noticeable. Funny since most Metallica albums are so bass-heavy. Maybe I just got some overly compressed mp3’s and it totally squeezed out the low end. Hope it’s better on the CD. I’m sure it will be.
Shit, gotta get back to work.
Final Word: I FUCKING LOVE THIS ALBUM. Although it has its shortcomings the riffs still get stuck in my head just like they did back in the days of pre-Black Album Metallica.
Although I have this advanced copy, I still plan on buying it. So should you.
Well done guys!
[UPDATE]
After a little more listening and talking with friends who have listened to the album, I’ve decided that Metallica is back for those of us who have been sticking with the band in hopes of them making good music again. It isn’t for those who dropped the band when the Black Album came out. To those guys and gals, this album will sound like Metallica trying hard to sound like… um… well, Metallica.
With that said, I think this is their best album since “…And Justice For All”. All the albums in between this one and Justice just never sounded like Metallica to me. Even the Black Album never really floated my boat as much as Death Magnetic does.
Go checkout episode #68 of The MannersCast!
My good buddy and co-hosts of the show Trent, decided to include Lost Marauders’ “Midnite Son” on the show! You can skip to about 15:30 into the show to hear us but I urge you to listed to the whole thing cause it’s one of my favorite podcasts.
Why is such a hard-rockin’ outlaw band on a show about manners? Cause we’re fucking rebels!! We go against all conventional wisdom!! AND just like the MannersCast guys, we too are on a never-ending quest to take over the world… Mwahahahaha!!! Oh, I also help Trent out with some graphics from time to time so he’s showing some Marauder love.
Enjoy!!
me.com
It’s the rumored new name for Apple’s over-priced .mac service. I pony up the $99 every year to keep my .mac account active, mainly for the photo and video sharing features integrated into the iLife suite of apps. It’s not really worth it but it sure is convenient.
Gruber has been reporting on the new domain and all of the major rumor sites have been speculating major changes to the service.
What I’m hoping for is Apple’s entry into the social networking arena.
I know it sounds crazy to think that Apple would stoop so low as to join the ranks of MySpace but I’ve managed to convince myself that it could be a huge coupe for Apple. Here’s the logic behind my insanity:
It’s easy to publish from iLife. Imagine customizing your me.com page in iWeb instead of ghetto-hacking it like MySpace. Publishing images and videos from iLife are just a 1-click process. How about sending pics (and maybe even video) directly from your iPhone to your me.com page. It would be super easy. Taking it a step further, say you’re watching a podcast on your AppleTV and you want to tell the world about how amazingly awesome it is. A few clicks of the Apple Remote and it’s on your me.com page with the latest episode embedded and ready to watch. The possibilities are limitless.
Factor in the Apple/Google partnership and you’ll see all kinds of embeddable apps integrated into the service.
Some of these ideas are more realistic than others. Heck, you can even do some of them now with a little HTML & CSS knowledge.
So why would Apple want to get into this game? Easy, to sell Macs. We all know how hip and trendy Macs are these days, and their numbers are on an uptrend with no end in sight. If you want to be cool, you’ll have a me.com page. If you want a me.com page, you’ll need a Mac.
But maybe not. I could totally see Apple letting Windows users have access to most of the features mentioned above. They’ll fall in love with them and end up ditching their PC’s and coming over to the light side once they see how much easier it can be on the Mac.
Of course I could be completely off my rocker as usual. I guess we’ll find out in a week… the longest week EVER!
Back on the subject of my friend Art and the Pink Panther…
The man has been busy in my cubicle here at work. It seems that every time a co-worker (a.k.a. friend) comes into my cubicle they always comment on the latest doodle that Art has left behind. Be it another Panther on my white board (there are now 4), a custom illustration just for me, or a post-it note, they just seem to continue to pop up.
I’m not complaining. It’s an honor to have him here on the 6th floor with us. It’ll be sad to see the Panther production team move to their new offices in the near future. I think they’ll be in Woodland Hills so maybe I’ll be able to visit them if they are working weekends since that’s where I live :)
Here’s some pics:
I spent about 3 hours today laughing at this. I kept thinking to myself “Is that what I look like when I’m working?”
Holy crap, that’s some funny stuff.
