School starts on August 27th. (Tomorrow) I've had such great fun this summer. For posterity, I'm simply going ot list the larger things I discovered that made me happy:
-Kevin Smith's films, which I started watching one night after playing Zombie Master. It was the movie Clerks.
-I discovered Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Weezer, and bought a bunch of awesome CDs.
-Started a music blog and shared my reviews and opinions with others
-Got a little better at guitar
-Got past my prior regrets and started to feel better about myself
-All the fun times staying up till sunrise watching movies
-Staying up all night talking to friends on AIM, playing video games, etc
-Got into bootleg collecting (I'm almost crying now, lol. Gonna miss this summer.)
-All the crazy people, maps, people, and insanity courtesy of the Zombie Master forum goers and the TDR Gaming server
-Passed summer school for Biology
It's been a great summer. I'm getting ready to go into my Junior year of High School, and at 15! I'm really going to miss all the great times these past few months and all the discoveries I made, the feeling of finding new, intriguing things is better than anything.
Goodbye, summer 2008.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
"No Code" review
A Welcome change for Pearl Jam - 4 Stars
Tracklist:
1. Sometimes
2. Hail, Hail
3. Who You Are
4. In My Tree
5. Smile
6. Off He Goes
7. Habit
8. Red Mosquito
9. Lukin
10. Present Tense
11. Mankind
12. I'm Open
13. Around the Bend
With 1996's "No Code", Pearl Jam began to shift away from the limelight and dove deep into themselves to produce a record that is both diverse and entertaining.
"Sometimes" begins the album, a track that is moody, and somewhat somber, exploring religious themes about the creation of man and man's struggle through life while remaining concise.
The next track, "Hail, Hail" picks up the pace, with a dirty, fuzzed out riff and a good bass line. The song manages to take the somewhat depressing lyrics about a relationship gone wrong while staying fast paced, and as the song goes on some hope manages to seep in.
The next two songs, "Who You Are" and "In My Tree" pick up in "Sometimes" place after the frenetic "Hail, Hail", with rolling, almost tribal drum beats carried by Jeff Ament's bass and Eddie's voice.
"Smile" has a riff with a similar dirty quality to it, and relatively simplistic lyrics. The harmonica interspersed throughout adds another dimension to the trudging rocker, making it one of the more standout tracks.
"Off He Goes" is one of my favorites from the album. The lyrics set a narrative over a slow acoustic guitar, telling the story of a friend that sets off on a trip brought on by what could be strains in his personal life ("Know a man...his face seems pulled and tense.../
Like he's riding on a motorbike... in the strongest winds"), and as doubts creep into the narrator's mind about this friend's return, he unexpectedly shows up again, seemingly the same person. However, he is soon off again, and the song ends on a note similar to how it started.
"Habit" has a garage rock/grunge-type riff to it, with muddled and often hard-to-understand vocals from Vedder. It seems to explore the drug use of someone close, how it's wrong for them but yet they're still sucked in and on the way to self-destruction. However, the two breakdowns Both crammed into a 3:36 song), coupled with the guitar solo (Which is pretty impressive) fading out right as it gets some good momentum behind it, put the track lower than it deserves to be.
"Red Mosquito" has something closer to a country rock vibe going for it, with interesting vocal melodies. It's got a good flow and progression to it, and is one of the better tracks off the album.
However, the next song takes a turn for the more abrasive side of Pearl Jam. "Lukin" is a 1 minute long song, with a simple three-chord riff and screechy vocals from Vedder, describing his own fallacies and a stalker that might or might not be out to kill him.
"Present Tense" is a slow and introspective number, which also happened to put me in a much better mindset after some personal issues that had plagued me. The atmospheric guitar work during the verses highlight the lyrics and message without getting in the way, but I'll leave that message for you to discover yourself. It's worth it.
"Mankind" is something that is either enjoyable or unenjoyable in my opinion, with little to no middle ground. Rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard employs the mic on this song, who also wrote the lyrics for the song. What's being conveyed is a man that is watching mankind obsess over the little things, while he sits back and wonders why. Again, you either like it or you don't.
"I'm Open" begins and ends with spoken word poetry from Vedder, which is interesting to listen but may end up leaving the impression of him being pretentious and rambling. For those who can appreciate the song, though, it's an interesting piece of music that deserves a bit more praise.
"Around The Bend" finishes the album, a number mostly carried by the bass and drums. The vocals are soothing and relaxing, and listening to it right now in my tired state is actually wearing me down further! The story behind it is that Vedder wrote it as a lullaby for one of the member's kids, and that quality leaves it's fingerprints through the whole song, both in lyrics and instrumentation. It's good to listen to when you want to get away from everything, if only for four minutes, because of it's optimistic and calming lyrics.
Overall, Pearl Jam took a big chance with this album. It is markedly a much slower tempo than their previous albums, and marked the point in the band's history when they shifted to a less commercial and more mature entity. Of course the album was greeted with less-than-stellar sales, but it was well worth it in my mind.
Tracklist:
1. Sometimes
2. Hail, Hail
3. Who You Are
4. In My Tree
5. Smile
6. Off He Goes
7. Habit
8. Red Mosquito
9. Lukin
10. Present Tense
11. Mankind
12. I'm Open
13. Around the Bend
With 1996's "No Code", Pearl Jam began to shift away from the limelight and dove deep into themselves to produce a record that is both diverse and entertaining.
"Sometimes" begins the album, a track that is moody, and somewhat somber, exploring religious themes about the creation of man and man's struggle through life while remaining concise.
The next track, "Hail, Hail" picks up the pace, with a dirty, fuzzed out riff and a good bass line. The song manages to take the somewhat depressing lyrics about a relationship gone wrong while staying fast paced, and as the song goes on some hope manages to seep in.
The next two songs, "Who You Are" and "In My Tree" pick up in "Sometimes" place after the frenetic "Hail, Hail", with rolling, almost tribal drum beats carried by Jeff Ament's bass and Eddie's voice.
"Smile" has a riff with a similar dirty quality to it, and relatively simplistic lyrics. The harmonica interspersed throughout adds another dimension to the trudging rocker, making it one of the more standout tracks.
"Off He Goes" is one of my favorites from the album. The lyrics set a narrative over a slow acoustic guitar, telling the story of a friend that sets off on a trip brought on by what could be strains in his personal life ("Know a man...his face seems pulled and tense.../
Like he's riding on a motorbike... in the strongest winds"), and as doubts creep into the narrator's mind about this friend's return, he unexpectedly shows up again, seemingly the same person. However, he is soon off again, and the song ends on a note similar to how it started.
"Habit" has a garage rock/grunge-type riff to it, with muddled and often hard-to-understand vocals from Vedder. It seems to explore the drug use of someone close, how it's wrong for them but yet they're still sucked in and on the way to self-destruction. However, the two breakdowns Both crammed into a 3:36 song), coupled with the guitar solo (Which is pretty impressive) fading out right as it gets some good momentum behind it, put the track lower than it deserves to be.
"Red Mosquito" has something closer to a country rock vibe going for it, with interesting vocal melodies. It's got a good flow and progression to it, and is one of the better tracks off the album.
However, the next song takes a turn for the more abrasive side of Pearl Jam. "Lukin" is a 1 minute long song, with a simple three-chord riff and screechy vocals from Vedder, describing his own fallacies and a stalker that might or might not be out to kill him.
"Present Tense" is a slow and introspective number, which also happened to put me in a much better mindset after some personal issues that had plagued me. The atmospheric guitar work during the verses highlight the lyrics and message without getting in the way, but I'll leave that message for you to discover yourself. It's worth it.
"Mankind" is something that is either enjoyable or unenjoyable in my opinion, with little to no middle ground. Rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard employs the mic on this song, who also wrote the lyrics for the song. What's being conveyed is a man that is watching mankind obsess over the little things, while he sits back and wonders why. Again, you either like it or you don't.
"I'm Open" begins and ends with spoken word poetry from Vedder, which is interesting to listen but may end up leaving the impression of him being pretentious and rambling. For those who can appreciate the song, though, it's an interesting piece of music that deserves a bit more praise.
"Around The Bend" finishes the album, a number mostly carried by the bass and drums. The vocals are soothing and relaxing, and listening to it right now in my tired state is actually wearing me down further! The story behind it is that Vedder wrote it as a lullaby for one of the member's kids, and that quality leaves it's fingerprints through the whole song, both in lyrics and instrumentation. It's good to listen to when you want to get away from everything, if only for four minutes, because of it's optimistic and calming lyrics.
Overall, Pearl Jam took a big chance with this album. It is markedly a much slower tempo than their previous albums, and marked the point in the band's history when they shifted to a less commercial and more mature entity. Of course the album was greeted with less-than-stellar sales, but it was well worth it in my mind.
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