I couldn't stand it any longer...

I couldn't stand not to be listed on The Life And Times left hand column. So, here goes at getting back to blogging. Buckle up.

Good cover

Here's a pretty good Sum 41 cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Blinkerton

This is a refreshing juxtaposition, or however you spell that, to the current failure that is Hurley. I just pray that this tour gets enough steam behind it and that kids and Weezer alike wake up, see that the first two albums are the Weezer that people appreciate far more than the current band. Whatever you do, support this tour and let Weezer know to get back to its roots!

Hurley Review

Besides the fact that the cover is dumb, I currently type with headphones on during my first listen of Weezer's new album "Hurley." My review will be forthcoming, but here's a good one from Alternative Press.

The fact that I can get up off the couch and break my blog fast during the listen should tell you a little something about the quality of this much too recent release after Raditude and the Red Album.

I'll complain off the top about a lack of liner notes, lyrics, or really any additional artwork. A blind 6th grade art student could have designed the visual aspect of this album.

This is more like it

Let's hope that the market does have enough interest to make this happen, and that the ICT makes it to the tour.

MTV Shows

Off the Deep End

It's possible that Weezer has gone completely off the deep end. The new album out September 14 is titled "Hurley," and this is the cover art. Read about it on Spinner.com here.
No this isn't a joke to make fun of fans of Lost, this is the actual cover art of the album. Sigh. Just when the Red Album was about to bring Weezer back in a rock and roll way, out comes Raditude and now Hurley. Three albums in three years feels pretty forced to me, and the quality is slipping. I understand being a professional musician and riding the wave of commercial success, but it just isn't Weezer as it should be. I've heard artists and bands before express their disdain for fans who expect them to always sound like their first album and that artists music style changes and progresses and I get that. But hip hop collaborations, bouncy bubblegum songs, and now a characterized actor on the front of your album? C'mon Weezer please come back to me. An indie record released on Epitaph records waxes more of art, and hippie feel, and a more abstract type idea, not a close up of an actor that will forever be remembered as the fat guy on Lost. Granted if I were Jorge Garcia I'd want to stay as popular as possible now, because I'm faced with a drowning career.

Now the music.....just isn't something I can see myself listening to and going "wow Weezer is really putting out some good new material." Here's the first single "Memories" off of the album "Hurley" out September 14. I'm resisting the Hurl and Hurley play on words.

What Sucks, and What to Check Out II

What Sucks: There's a lot of this spoken word, synth, hip-hop white rapping type dance music out there. Where is the content and how long will it last? Non-existent and not long respectively. 3OH!3 is annoying enough that they have an exclamation point in their name, but the music is a lot of rhymes people have heard before and a lot of "ooooooo" to fill up the space. Even when they do a song with Ke$ha, another symbol in name annoyer, they have to mention whiskey, which should cue anyone in to Ke$ha's song noting brushing her teeth with a bottle of jack. The originality is about as relevant as denim. The video also tries way to hard to make the song sound high energy with the neon colors and the quick camera shots. Gag.



What to Check Out: Band of Horses is a band with some good grooves and an older sounding sound. Think America plugged in, and new and relevant. The guys play instruments and are pretty laid back. Plus they have the ability to play a song live on TV a la Letterman and have it sound flawless, and also play it without drums and have it sound just as good. That's right, two videos. Also, The Funeral is a good but older song.