Now that my extended abscense shall come to a close, I’d like to announce the unveiling of my new collumn which will explore the top 50 albums released in the last decade. Keep in mind that these are just albums that I’ve experienced a significant amount of time with and in no way reflect the absolute best music of the past decade. I can, however, say that all 50 of these records are worth owning or listening to at the very least.
Tomorrow should kick off the countdown.
We’ll be hosting another great review tomorrow. It’s an album by another band I teased weeks ago. I’ll be reviewing the new album, as with their back catalog to follow in the weeks approaching its street date. What group? Come back tomorrow. 
So I recently found the new Dragonforce Cd. For all of you who aren’t familiar with Dragonforce, they are an ultra fast speed metal band. I guess you could say if Zeppelin played 1,000 times faster and were more obsessed with fantasy then that could get you closer to what Dragonforce is. From the limited listens that I have put into the Cd I can already tell you that it is still once again one of the fastest things that I have ever heard. If you were a fan of any of the other 3 Cd’s then you should be a fan of the new one. The Cd starts with the track “Heroes of Our Time”.
I don’t know what I can really add to the already heaping praise, but I will say that Wall-E is a flat out masterpiece. One of the more poignant sci-fi movies to come out in a long time. And it’s a fucking children’s movie!(?) I don’t want to go into detail on the plot, because this thing is much better going into it without knowing anything. All you need to know is that Wall-E is a robot and he falls in love with another robot, EVE, and that’s where the film truly shines. Read more »
No set up is really necessary here. I’m sure everyone already knows the story of this latest album from trip-hoppers Portishead. The only thing I will say is that it’s been eleven years since their self-titled sophomore effort, and the wait has been well worth it. It’s almost impossible to really go into great depth of each track, as I usually like to do, as it would take me three paragraphs to dissect every one, but instead I’ll highlight a few of my favorites, out of many. Read more »
[rec] is a very interesting film. It’s a spanish language horror film, filmed with handy cam, and takes on the not-zombies genre. I know, it sounds lame/cliche , but it is very well done. In fact, as I sat through it, I was looking for moments that didn’t make any sense, and I can’t really recall any. Quite unheard of. Now, this review may contain some spoilers for those of you who want to go in knowing nothing, like I did, and I highly recommend it. So, skip over the next paragraph if you really want to stay spoiler-free. Read more »
Hey, Coldplay made a pretty damn good album. Wait-what?! Now, don’t get me wrong. I liked the first two records enough. Rush of Blood To the Head didn’t leave my CD player for quite a while the year it came out, but the excremental X&Y left a bad taste in my mouth. God, that was a horrid album. Back on track. Coldplay has found themselves at their ‘experimental’ stage in their career, and damn, it actually works.
The album opens with “Life In Technicolor,” an otherwise useless instrumental lead-in to “Cemeteries of London,” the first hint that this isn’t your atypical Coldplay record. It’s bookend by traditional Coldplay stylings, but the center sets itself apart and offers darker lyrics (well, for Coldplay.) “42,” probably my favorite track on the album, ponders death in its trance-like, Radiohead open, until it unleashes midway through and the band all jams together in a much cheerier finale.
“Yes!” and “Lovers In Japan/Reign of Love,” both offer multipart pieces, but don’t really have a connecting theme to warrant them being slapped together. The first part to “Yes!,” aptly titled “Yes,” is a fun little track with often country tinged strings, but the second half, “Chinese Sleep Chant,” echoes the shoegaze genre. My only question is: why? I had some My Bloody Valentine on my MP3 player at the time and thought it could have been a track I didn’t realize I put on there by them. It’s obviously no where near as awesome as MBV, but it’s definitely a different direction for U2play.
The title track, Ipod commercial fame, brings back the strings, and is easily the most accessible track. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, because it’s not. It’s actually probably my favorite single they’ve put out since “Trouble.” First single, “Violet Hill,” is another interesting song. There’s chugging guitars and a few little solos and deviates from Radioplay’s formula the most.
Now, I didn’t give quite the full, detailed review I had hoped, as I’ve not had much time with the album. This is more of a first impressions list/mini-review. I don’t plan on doing a full review or anything, but I just wanted to make it clear that this is a pretty damn good album, hoping to sway somebody to buy it. It’s definitely different, and is a great addition to your collection. If you have written off Coldplay in the past, at least give them one more shot with this, and you might be surprised at the outcome.
Coldplay Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
7.5/10
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Aaron Garretson
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