Album review - Inhaler by Tad

Tad was a grunge band from Seattle formed in 1988, despite the fact they were one of the first bands to sign to Sub Pop, they were the last notable local band to get a major label signing. They never became famous. After this album, their major label debut, they were dropped due to a controversial promo poster. After 1 more album that received negative reviews, they broke up in 1998 after several years of not being signed to a label. This album however, is apparently their best. It's also one of the heaviest grunge albums ever made. To me, this album almost defines grunge. Regardless of the hype surrounding the term, this album is grunge. It's heavy, distorted, it's got that dirty guitar sound to it. I also like the drumming, they seem to have a good drummer, he uses double bass occasionally too. Tad Doyle isn't really a good singer objectively, but he works well here. I think he also plays guitar. The album opens with "Grease Box", possibly the best song on the album, and in fact, one of my favorite songs. It opens with a great bass line that grooves. In fact, one time a few months ago it started playing in my head and I had no idea where it came from. But I was sure I'd heard it somewhere, then I found it when I remembered this song. But it starts with that bass line, and then the distorted, dirty, "grungy" guitar kicks in playing the same thing. It's great really. In the verse that guitars playing in the right speaker, then in the middle the other one kicks in the other speaker and I don't really know how to describe it but it rocks. I also like the "and you don't have to stand..." part in the chorus. And the solo is awesome, I mean, maybe its not like a thrash metal solo or something, but it sounds cool to me. The next song "Throat Locust" rocks and rolls. It starts and just assaults you with that riff, it's just a power chord or something but it kicks the crap out of anything Nickelback could ever dream of with a power chord. And then the chorus with its "It wont mean a thing..." is cool, and they have the lead guitar or whatever tremoloing over the power chord or whatever, its so simple but it's cool, I'm not a musician, so it can be hard for me to describe what I hear, but nonetheless, I try. Leafy Incline starts out downbeat, with it's downbeat verses until the loud chorus, with its sorta catchy "I'm not alone" part. It's a good song. "Luminol" has a bunch of bass drum that has a cool rhythm and sort of drives the song. Until the middle when it gets soft with the acoustic guitar for a bit, except the electric guitars chaotically chiming in, then it goes back to the cool drumming. Then it gets even softer with a piano and acoustic guitar. That's cool. Then it goes back to electric and starts the end part of the song. But I'm not going to go into detail about each song. "Ulcer" is alright but, it doesn't really impress me much. It doesn't seem to stand out alot. "Lycanthrope" pretty much sucks. I don't like it. "Just bought the Farm" is an ok song. Not really bad, not really good. "Rotor" is really heavy. It opens with this bass line, then the guitar comes in for one moment, then it goes back to just bass. It's so simple but I think its cool. It's got a cool riff too, its heavy and grooves. And I just like the way Tad Doyle Belts out the chorus. "Paregoric" is, along with "Grease Box" one of the best songs on here. Its got a great crescendo riff that gets stuck in your head too, the riff is really cool sounding. Plus it's got that "Too late!" band chant too. "Pansy" has a really sludgy riff. The closer song "Gouge" is a ballad, with acoustic guitars mixed with electric, and is the most melodic song on here. It ends with a whole bunch of feedback noises. It's a good song. All in all, this is a really good heavy metal/grunge album. An album that rocks and rolls, This is exactly what it sounds like, really heavy grunge. 8 out of 10

Video and Song of the week feature is on indefinate hiatus

So since it's really difficult to get good songs now, I've decided to put the weekly Song and Video feature on permenant hiatus, i'm essentially doing away with it. It may occassionally make a return if I find some interesting things, but as a weekly feature it is essentially no more. I've decided to get back to doing more rants. I'm also thinking of getting Google adsense, I know ads on the side aren't nessisarily good, but the more you click on them, the more money I get, which means more money to buy albums, and more content. But anyways, song and video of the week is now on permentant hiatis.

Nintendo

I'm not a fan of Nintendo. In fact, I think their outdated. Let me explain, yes they are responsible for some of the greatest classics in video gaming. But they are now a mere shell of themselves. One thing I don't like about Nintendo is the outdated technology they use now. It's been this way for years. It all started with the Nintendo 64, the rise of The Playstation as a serious competator (I still have mine). They used CDs, while The Nintendo 64 still used outdated old fashioned cartriges still. Although they did have the game Goldeneye. I will give them that. But the Nintendo 64 was outdated already because of that. Then we get the Gamecube, it used really small disks for some reason. It wasnt that good. The PS2 and X-box were ahead technologically still. And now we get to the current generation of consules. The Wii. The Wii is outdated, its just a gamecube with a controller shaped like a remote that you flick to give the illusion of movement. It's quite hyped. Revolutionary my foot. I read in an article Wiis only cost 99 dollars to make but that you buy it for like $250. Meanwhile, Microsoft sells their X-box 360 below what its worth to make you buy it. Not to mention, the only reason Nintendo is still relevent is because now they tap into the market of "casual gamers". In other words, people mostly over the age of 30 something, or people who do not really play video games. Regardless of who exactly, these people represent the effects of the hype bubble. It's when something becomes very popular in the mainstream it attracts a fanbase of mostly hanger-oners who will drop it and move on to the next big thing. Pop music is solely based on this. Which is why songs have such a short shelf life. Not to mention, Nintendo has milked Mario and other such characters for the past 20 or so years at least, how bout some new characters? X-box has Master Chief from the Halo games. How about some new characters???? Without it's massive hype machine, Nintendo would be far less influentual in todays video game market.

Song(s) and video(s) of the week

So I looked at my calender and it turns out I forgot about my weekly video posting, and I figure I'd do this weeks videos early too, so I'll post 3 videos.

Here's the latest single from Alice in Chains, it's a great song, despite alot of my fears, this new singer (William Duvall) works. I really can't wait for this new album, it sounds like it's going to be great, I think it comes out on September 29, and once it does, when I get my hands on it, I will review it, the only problem I hear is that Jerry Cantrell is mixed too loud, I want to hear this new singer more upfront. I'm sure I will when I hear an accoustic song. And I know that the thing says "A Looking In View", but that doesn't really matter, its about the song, and this has good quality, the music video isnt out yet, but it will be, and I might replace this with that in the future. But enough of my commentary.

Check my Brain - Alice in Chains


I feel that, since I have a 2 songs with their new singer here, and the only video I have of their old one is a unplugged performance somewhere on this site, and a Pink Floyd cover song side project done in 1999, at a point where drugs had destroyed any power he had in his voice, and had caused him to start losing teeth, that actually was the last recording he ever made, I should put a studio version of a really good song on here. It has a music video, but I dont like it, and I don't like the live versions I've seen either, it doesnt capture this song fully I feel. So I found a video with just the lyrics, and thats all you need, this is a good song. In fact, it was in the new Terminator movie, at least that what I've heard.

Would? - Alice in Chains



System of a Down is one of the few modern bands I like, these guys are one of the best bands out there, in my opinion. Serj Tanikan can change his vocals on a dime, their funny too. I wanted a ballad like hypnotize on here, but its embedding disabled, but this song is funny, at first it sounds like its about pizza but it's actually about advertising, i think its a good song anyway.

Chic N Stu - System of a Down



This is a hilarious contimplation of birds attacking people, its hilarious, but I already said that.

Funny Bird Attacks


Heres a video of a snake and a bird fighting, you might want to turn it down a bit cause the musics a bit loud. The description says the bird eventually won.

Bird vs Snake


This guy is amazing at beatboxing, he makes sounds I have no idea even existed. He's fast too. and he can make multiple sounds at the same time.

Best Beatboxer!!!

Food Labels

Whats up with food labels? I go to the store and I see something that says "98% fat free". That language is misleading, what it really means is 2% fat. If something said 50% fat free, its still 50% fat. Its wording designed to hide that it is still somewhat unhealthy. Although I admit it is a good idea, I wouldnt have realized it unless I thought about it. Clearly this is a tactic to make food sound healthier.

Weird Names (written 7/23/09)

I can't stand trendy or weird names. It's so stupid, why can't you just name your child right? Celebrities seem to be in a contest to find the weirdest name. Whats that about??? But what I can't stand even more, are names intentionally spelled wrong. That's bull. It's not funny or cute, it makes you look like an idiot who can't spell right. Thanks to all the trend following, tabloid reading moms who want to be "different" we have this. You know, that actually seems like an oxymoron, they contradict each other, how can one be trend following, and want to be different? Exactly. Everyone wants to be different, so to try to be different than everyone else, you do what everyone else is doing to get away from being the same. It's like things that started out different, everyone catches on too, and they all start doing it. In this case, everyone was already doing it before you got the chance to spell your kids name in an idiotic way. Seriously check out some of this I found on a website (it says "Creative baby name spellings, creative? How about stupid?), Abigail can be spelled Abbigail, Abagale, or Abigael. Caleb can be spelled Kaleb, Cayleb, or Caeleb. Zachary can be spelled Zakary, Zakkary, or Zacharie. Michelle could be spelled Mashell, M'shell. Jennifer could be spelled Jennyfer, Jennipher, or Jennafer. Are you kidding me?? What intelligent person would buy this nonsense? How would you like your kid spending their entire lives, telling people how to spell their name??? Seriously. Name your kid right, don't spell like a 7 year old. Another thing I don't like, is when parents give their kids ethnic names, even though their heritage is not at all what they named their kid. For example, giving your kid a Russian sounding name, when you're not even Slavic. Whats up with that?? That's another thing I don't get. And why are there names only old people seem to have? Like Agnes or Merle. Why do we never see those names anymore? Why can't parents just name their kids after Saints or people of the Old Testament, like David or Adam like normal people? That's what most people do, why can't you do that? Bottom line, at least for their sake, and the sake of sounding educated, name your kid a normal name.

Songs(s) and Videos of the week

So I'm backed up by 3 weeks, another 6 video post. it's getting increasingly hard for me to find music on Youtube that meets all my requirements. Some of it has embedding disabled and I can't use it. Sometimes almost enite artists are off limits to me because their record label (like SonyBMG) has all their videos embedding disabled. Not only that but I try to keep this site family friendly and I do go to great lengths to assure that. I personally watch all of the videos I post. This rules out some live performances, like for example, alot of Metallica performances, seemingly most from the early 90s. Because for some reason James Hetfield felt he had to use the F word for no particular reason. I also go to lengths to assure quality. I try to ensure you see high quality performances, which I usually describe, music videos and songs too. Nontheless, I am finding Youtube songs increasingly hard. I do not plan on discontinuing this weekly feature. So I guess I'm going to have to start looking at some other sites, and start searching for songs earlier.

I have the Among The Living Album, I didn't like it much when I first got it, although I've been listning to it lately and now I realize it's pretty good, heres one of the songs on there I've always liked, in fact, it was one of the songs I bought the album for in the first place.

Anthrax - Indians


How could I have forgeotten this song? It's a classic. I don't know what to classify it but it's a good song.

The Charlie Daniels Band - Still in Saigon


Here's another Charlie Daniels Band song, I don't have the internet speed right now to watch videos, so I'll just put this out, and this is still a good song. I may later change this to a live performance if I can find one.

The Charlie Daniels Band - The South's Gonna Do It Again


Since I can't watch videos due to my slow internet, I have to improvise, I'll take whatever I think of.

Weird Al Yankovic used to have a short lived childrens show, it was canceled because of conflict of interest, weird al's humor was more adult oriented, while the station, (I forget which one) considered it an educational childrens show. I read a story about it and was suprised what got pass the censors. Here's some clips.

Imaginary Friend (Weird Al Show)


Heres one of the fake commericals they did.
Pizza Quick Commerical (Weird Al Show)


I heard cats always landed on their feet, idk, here's a news clip of a cat that fell 80 feet from a tree and lived.

Cat falls 80 feet and lives

I've split the blog into two pages

It seems I now have so much content, some computers freeze trying to load my blog, So I've split the blog into 50 posts on 1 page, to see the rest of the site, just click "see older posts" at the bottom.

Song and video of the day

Here's a live rendition of a really good Megadeth song, the only complaints I have with this is Dave Mustaine sings sort of naisily and high pitched, sounds weird, and I think the guitar ist might have started improvising the solo, I'm not sure, but other than that it's a good performance.

Megadeth-Tornado of Souls (live, 2005)


but don't just take my word for it, even daffy duck likes Megadeth.

Duck Dodgers-In Space No One Can Hear You Rock (Special guest star Dave Mustaine.)

Video(s) and song(s) of the week

I'm sorry i've been so lazy, because I'm almost a month behind, so I got to throw out 3 videos for each catigory.

So since I gave that deliverance album a 10, I wondered, are there any other Christian bands that are actually good? I asked the question online and someone recommended this, it's a progressive power metal band, and the person who answere me said this was by far their heaviest song.

Theocracy - Laying The Demon To Rest


Turns out, the guy who sings for theocracy, is also the guy who made this hilarious spot on parody of Metallicas St.Anger album.

St. Anger Parody-Matt Smith


So Alice in Chains is finally releasing a new album for the first time in 14 years. They have a new singer since their original one died in 2002, and suprisingly, this song isn't bad, it's really heavy,and the new singer works, he doesn't sound like the original one but he works. This songs really long too. It'll be interesting to hear him when he sings more up front. Now I'm excited about this new album.

Alice in Chains - A Looking In View


Heres a video of a HUGE firecracker roll.

Proper use of a firecracker roll!


Blowing up a pumpkin.

Blowing up a pumpkin with an M-80 !!!!


Blowing up another pumpkin.

LOUD Pumpkin blow up