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Monday, February 13, 2017
Monday, March 14, 2011
Audiophile Review #1
So, just because I'm kind of the eclectic type anyways, I am going to attempt to play "music critic". Please comment on your opinions!
Review #1
"A Thousand Suns"
Linkin Park
Rating: 9/10 (Excellent, not Classic)
LDS Family Approval Rating: 80% (Generally good, uses a bit of profanity)
So when this album first came out, I had intentions on listening to it, but I first wanted to hear the general opinion of the album. For some, including a member of my Church congregation, the album was described as excellent or near-classic. For others, mostly the disgruntled "Real Linkin Park" fans who hate any deviation to the band's rap-rock sound of old, it was a disgrace. They criticised for the fact of the lack of viable tracks, the general lack of guitar, and the overall "poppiness"of many of the songs. From this mix, I was intrigued to take a listen for myself.
In a general sense, I really think this album is excellent. The album is very consistent in sound, the genres encompassed are diverse, and the lyrics are moving at times. Although excellent, this album is by no means a classic as Dark Side of the Moon or OK Computer. The album starts with a foreboding, drone-like instrumental and leads to the second track, which more-or-less is a sample of Oppenheimer's response to the tests of the Atom Bomb. The first actual track, Burning in the Skies, continues in the sound of the first two tracks, and is a great electronics driven pop song, at times almost even taking some reference to "Everything in It's Right Place" from Radiohead's Kid A. The song that follows is an intro to the next song proper, When They Come For Me. This, one of the two rap songs in the album, is dominated by jungle drums and symphonic samples, ending off in a Israeli chant at the end. Robot Boy comes soon after, and is alright for the concept, but generally not that great of a song. After another Pink Floyd-inspired instrumental (The "Ping" from Echoes is sampled), Waiting for The End comes, a song dominated by Chester but also contains Mike's signature rap skills. The song itself is reggae in feel, with the drums taking center-stage and the bass providing in the groove. Blackout comes after, which is the only "Screamo" song in the album. This song is pretty odd, dominated by NIN-inspired soundscapes, hardly any guitar, and Chester providing nearly all of the vocals. After this, though, comes Wretches and Kings, almost an homage to Chuck D of Public Enemy, especially the song "Bring the Noise". Samples and metal guitars take front center, and be the only song that bears ANY resemblance to old-school Linkin Park. After a sample from Martin Luther King Jr., Iridescent is the next song, which is a slow-moving pop ballad. Fallout then helps introduce The Catalyst, a techno-driven hard rock song that feels to bring the album to a close... that is until The Messenger comes. This song is the weirdest of the album, mostly because it is an acoustic song from Linkin Park... an oddity for sure!
To conclude, this album is pretty good, and should ONLY be listened to as an ALBUM, not a collection of songs. There are so many segues and intros in the album that, even if the singles are of great solitary quality, if you want to appreciate the album you need to listen to the album in full. While a bold move for Linkin Park, it isn't that unique to all of music. In fact, most Progressive Rock bands have done the similar format for years. Will this mean that Linkin Park will turn into a rap-influenced Dream Theater? Who knows, but at this point anything is possible!
Review #1
"A Thousand Suns"
Linkin Park
Rating: 9/10 (Excellent, not Classic)
LDS Family Approval Rating: 80% (Generally good, uses a bit of profanity)
So when this album first came out, I had intentions on listening to it, but I first wanted to hear the general opinion of the album. For some, including a member of my Church congregation, the album was described as excellent or near-classic. For others, mostly the disgruntled "Real Linkin Park" fans who hate any deviation to the band's rap-rock sound of old, it was a disgrace. They criticised for the fact of the lack of viable tracks, the general lack of guitar, and the overall "poppiness"of many of the songs. From this mix, I was intrigued to take a listen for myself.
In a general sense, I really think this album is excellent. The album is very consistent in sound, the genres encompassed are diverse, and the lyrics are moving at times. Although excellent, this album is by no means a classic as Dark Side of the Moon or OK Computer. The album starts with a foreboding, drone-like instrumental and leads to the second track, which more-or-less is a sample of Oppenheimer's response to the tests of the Atom Bomb. The first actual track, Burning in the Skies, continues in the sound of the first two tracks, and is a great electronics driven pop song, at times almost even taking some reference to "Everything in It's Right Place" from Radiohead's Kid A. The song that follows is an intro to the next song proper, When They Come For Me. This, one of the two rap songs in the album, is dominated by jungle drums and symphonic samples, ending off in a Israeli chant at the end. Robot Boy comes soon after, and is alright for the concept, but generally not that great of a song. After another Pink Floyd-inspired instrumental (The "Ping" from Echoes is sampled), Waiting for The End comes, a song dominated by Chester but also contains Mike's signature rap skills. The song itself is reggae in feel, with the drums taking center-stage and the bass providing in the groove. Blackout comes after, which is the only "Screamo" song in the album. This song is pretty odd, dominated by NIN-inspired soundscapes, hardly any guitar, and Chester providing nearly all of the vocals. After this, though, comes Wretches and Kings, almost an homage to Chuck D of Public Enemy, especially the song "Bring the Noise". Samples and metal guitars take front center, and be the only song that bears ANY resemblance to old-school Linkin Park. After a sample from Martin Luther King Jr., Iridescent is the next song, which is a slow-moving pop ballad. Fallout then helps introduce The Catalyst, a techno-driven hard rock song that feels to bring the album to a close... that is until The Messenger comes. This song is the weirdest of the album, mostly because it is an acoustic song from Linkin Park... an oddity for sure!
To conclude, this album is pretty good, and should ONLY be listened to as an ALBUM, not a collection of songs. There are so many segues and intros in the album that, even if the singles are of great solitary quality, if you want to appreciate the album you need to listen to the album in full. While a bold move for Linkin Park, it isn't that unique to all of music. In fact, most Progressive Rock bands have done the similar format for years. Will this mean that Linkin Park will turn into a rap-influenced Dream Theater? Who knows, but at this point anything is possible!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Some People Are Jerks... and Others don't mean to
Well this has been quite the day. After a good deal of ol' fashioned labor, my room mate and I successfully passed our cleaning check, I completed a day of work while having a semi-smile on my face, and I got another paragraph of my first Classical Traditions paper done (two to go, woot!) On the other hand... today was just like any other day:
The first thing I woke up to when I got up this morning was the thought of, "OH CRAP... is it Friday or Saturday?" While I was pretty enthused to officially kick off my weekend, I just realized that my pre-test that I was supposed to take for class on Blackboard was due hours ago when I was fast asleep! "YOU IDIOT!" I thought with rage, "HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT!???" So, to make up for the debt, I posted an angry post on my facebook, got out of my bed, and started working on the responsibilities that I needed to complete for my Cleaning Check...
(Blah, blah, blah... I'll fast-forward my rant being that I told you all the results of that endeavor)
Two o'clock comes and I am at my work waiting for my shift to start and to look at my schedule for the week ahead. "Karla," looking at the page for Thursday with disappointment in my eyes, "Why am I scheduled for Thursday at 4pm... AGAIN?"
"Alright, Eric, I'll cross you off"
(Karla speaks in Spanish to my other manager, Rodolfo)
"Rodolfo will work on Thursday. Now what you need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again is write Tuesdays and Thursdays off."
"But I can work on those days... Only beginning at 7pm."
"Alright, but Brenda is not looking at anything else anymore..."
"Arrrgh... Alright." So I write all of those days off, effectively annihilating any possibility of gaining more hours and losing the 5 hours I was scheduled for next Thursday.
(Fast-Forward again)
So, after I had completed my shift for the evening, I was riding my bike home to my apartment. While riding back, I see a car attempting to cross the street, but failing to do so due to the evening traffic. "Should I hit my brakes to let him go through? Or should I ride through, because the green light won't be on forever!" So, stupidly, I begin to cross the street. For the first few milliseconds, everything appears to be fine. I am on the street, the car hasn't moved, and everything is right with the world. Then, for some odd reason, he begins to turn when I am in front of him! I veer of luckily, with his bumper hitting my wheel so slightly so that there is no damage, but when I see the driver afterwards, he gives me the bird, thus getting my anger boiling again.
So what is the point of days like this? I believe, if you don't look at the awfully crappy conditions with a bit of positive light, you'll be eternally angry. Let's take the bad parts of my day, for instance:
- When I had failed to complete that Pre-Test, while it did cost me some points, it was only worth 4 out of the possible 400 for the class in total this semester. So I really shouldn't fret about 1%.
- While this crappy work situation has been like this for the past three weeks or so, I finally found a way to fix it without talking my parents into giving me a major IOU.
- When I had got into that potential-accident, I survived. My bike survived. Heck, even the guy, who was probably equally as ticked off as I was, is still alive and well tonight
Therefore, blogosphere audience, what should you take from this lesson? Well let's see:
-Every cloud has a silver lining
-There is an opposition in all things (from the BOM... and if you don't know what this acronym stands for, talk to a missionary... Yes, the Mormon missionaries!)
- And so on and so forth... Good night, y'all!
The first thing I woke up to when I got up this morning was the thought of, "OH CRAP... is it Friday or Saturday?" While I was pretty enthused to officially kick off my weekend, I just realized that my pre-test that I was supposed to take for class on Blackboard was due hours ago when I was fast asleep! "YOU IDIOT!" I thought with rage, "HOW COULD YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT!???" So, to make up for the debt, I posted an angry post on my facebook, got out of my bed, and started working on the responsibilities that I needed to complete for my Cleaning Check...
(Blah, blah, blah... I'll fast-forward my rant being that I told you all the results of that endeavor)
Two o'clock comes and I am at my work waiting for my shift to start and to look at my schedule for the week ahead. "Karla," looking at the page for Thursday with disappointment in my eyes, "Why am I scheduled for Thursday at 4pm... AGAIN?"
"Alright, Eric, I'll cross you off"
(Karla speaks in Spanish to my other manager, Rodolfo)
"Rodolfo will work on Thursday. Now what you need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again is write Tuesdays and Thursdays off."
"But I can work on those days... Only beginning at 7pm."
"Alright, but Brenda is not looking at anything else anymore..."
"Arrrgh... Alright." So I write all of those days off, effectively annihilating any possibility of gaining more hours and losing the 5 hours I was scheduled for next Thursday.
(Fast-Forward again)
So, after I had completed my shift for the evening, I was riding my bike home to my apartment. While riding back, I see a car attempting to cross the street, but failing to do so due to the evening traffic. "Should I hit my brakes to let him go through? Or should I ride through, because the green light won't be on forever!" So, stupidly, I begin to cross the street. For the first few milliseconds, everything appears to be fine. I am on the street, the car hasn't moved, and everything is right with the world. Then, for some odd reason, he begins to turn when I am in front of him! I veer of luckily, with his bumper hitting my wheel so slightly so that there is no damage, but when I see the driver afterwards, he gives me the bird, thus getting my anger boiling again.
So what is the point of days like this? I believe, if you don't look at the awfully crappy conditions with a bit of positive light, you'll be eternally angry. Let's take the bad parts of my day, for instance:
- When I had failed to complete that Pre-Test, while it did cost me some points, it was only worth 4 out of the possible 400 for the class in total this semester. So I really shouldn't fret about 1%.
- While this crappy work situation has been like this for the past three weeks or so, I finally found a way to fix it without talking my parents into giving me a major IOU.
- When I had got into that potential-accident, I survived. My bike survived. Heck, even the guy, who was probably equally as ticked off as I was, is still alive and well tonight
Therefore, blogosphere audience, what should you take from this lesson? Well let's see:
-Every cloud has a silver lining
-There is an opposition in all things (from the BOM... and if you don't know what this acronym stands for, talk to a missionary... Yes, the Mormon missionaries!)
- And so on and so forth... Good night, y'all!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
First Blog Post...
Issue #1:
Well, what can I say about my life up to this moment? I could say that I'm seeking for that perfect balance between school and work, but that's not totally it. I could say that I'm single and desperate, but yet at the same time lack the confidence to get myself out of that label. I could even say that I'm a missionary in training while also being wrapped up in classes of archaic meaning, but yet that again cannot put to words how I feel right now. And, while I cannot and do not want to get wrapped up into telling the public about the bothersome life that I often live, I can tell you this: My life is BUSY! I mean, look at the facts: Around a year ago I often found myself napping in Harris' office every morning and skipping classes, but now I get up bright and early to bike on over to Sis. MacFarlane's Larin 102 or Bro. Livingstone's mission prep and make a big fuss when I have to skip class. Maybe the reason is because the college atmosphere, while more laxed than that of the high-school student, is much more intense when you realize that you are on your own, and when you fail or don't do as well in a class that means that you are placed in the responsibility for paying to make it up, not the government. Ehhh... maybe I should stop complaining and finally work on those assignments that are due next week.
Nighty night!
Well, what can I say about my life up to this moment? I could say that I'm seeking for that perfect balance between school and work, but that's not totally it. I could say that I'm single and desperate, but yet at the same time lack the confidence to get myself out of that label. I could even say that I'm a missionary in training while also being wrapped up in classes of archaic meaning, but yet that again cannot put to words how I feel right now. And, while I cannot and do not want to get wrapped up into telling the public about the bothersome life that I often live, I can tell you this: My life is BUSY! I mean, look at the facts: Around a year ago I often found myself napping in Harris' office every morning and skipping classes, but now I get up bright and early to bike on over to Sis. MacFarlane's Larin 102 or Bro. Livingstone's mission prep and make a big fuss when I have to skip class. Maybe the reason is because the college atmosphere, while more laxed than that of the high-school student, is much more intense when you realize that you are on your own, and when you fail or don't do as well in a class that means that you are placed in the responsibility for paying to make it up, not the government. Ehhh... maybe I should stop complaining and finally work on those assignments that are due next week.
Nighty night!
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