Metal Mania

So on VH1 they have this show called Metal Mania. It's a show of nothing but two hours of classic 70's, and 80's classic hard rock and heavy metal videos. Sounds like my kind of show right? Wrong. It sucks. I still watch it with Tivo and record it, because they usually have a gem or two in there. But for the most part this show sucks. Why? Because the so called "metal" they play is crap like Poison, Winger, Warrant and other bands that suck. Not only that, they're not metal, not at all. Not only that, they play the same videos over and over it seems. They play way too many Scorpions videos. Seriously, they're fine and all, but you get tired of hearing them when they have 3 freakin videos in like a 40 video block. And there almost always played. I like Judas Priest, but the only videos I've ever seen on there are "Breaking the Law", "You Got Another Thing Comin'" and "Turbo" "Turbo" sucks. Not only that, they need to play more real metal, I want to hear more classic metal bands and maybe a little thrash metal. Seriously. They play Dio, they play Armored Saint, they play Saxon, but they don't play them enough. Meanwhile terrible bands like Poison take up all the space. They play some old Metallica videos from there live performances occasionally, but I've never seen them play the video for "One". The only Megadeth video I've seen is "Symphony of Destruction". I've seen Sepultura's "Territory" and some other song, but seriously, that's from when they became a groove metal band, groove metal is honestly dangerously close to nu-metal. I've only seen Pantera on there twice, and that song both times was "Mouth for War". The last time I saw it, they actually played good songs for a good chunk. They played Anthrax and Metallica, and some others in there, along with that video, but right after that video they played some crappy Biohazard song. There like a suckier Pantera with rapping. I see the video come on, and I'm like "This looks like its gonna rock!" but it doesn't, it sucks. But even videos that are good are fairly rare, they mostly play crap and when they play something decent its the same thing every time, good is even rarer. I don't mind them playing Motley Crue, or even Ratt every once in a while, but they need to stop playing garbage that isn't metal at all. And if there going to play that stuff they should play more Skid Row, because I like Skid Row, and they should play the video for "Slave to the Grind" sometime. Also, for some reason, there weekend shows, seem to be better.

Album review: Endgame by Megadeth

So I've had the new Megadeth album for a while. What do I think of it? I think it's an excellent metal album. Megadeth have most of the time been rivals to Metallica, mostly because Dave Mustaine, the singer and rhythm guitarist, used to play guitar for Metallica, and wrote some songs that are on their earlier albums. But he got fired and started Megadeth to get back at Metallica. He wanted to create a band that would be more successful. He failed in that. However Megadeth have always been better musicians than Metallica, their songs are far more technical. But, while Megadeth may be better musicians, and they are indeed excellent musicians, they were never better songwriters. But that doesn't mean they weren't good. They were, and they definitely are now. Metallica put out Death Magnetic, and somewhat regained there former sound, the one that got them a fan base before they stopped being metal. It is a good album, but the extreme compression makes that album almost unlistnable to me. This album is not just a good album, but a great album, this album destroys Death Magnetic, its so far ahead its not even funny. Not to say Death Magnetic was bad, not at all, I gave it an 8, but Endgame just blows it out of the water. For starters, the production on this album is really good, its not over compressed, it sounds great. The modern production just makes the songs even better. Also, the musicianship is phenomenal. The drumming is fantastic, the guitars are tight and focused, the soloing is insane, they have dueling solos all over the place and its great. The songs themselves are excellent, all of them, but the standout ones especially. The songs just lock into the rhythm and drive forward with a fury. "1,320'" is a song that just locks into a groove and drives forward, as I said earlier, with a fury. "Dialectic Chaos" is a great instrumental. But I'm not going to describe the songs in detail, although "44 Minutes" kind of has stupid lyrics. It's almost like reading a report, seriously. But it's a good song, even if the lyrics are kinda stupid. Bottom line is that this is an excellent metal album, its miles ahead of Death Magnetic. Some songs are excellent, some good, but none are bad, or even "ok"; I like all of them. Even though I'm giving this a 9 out of 10, its tons better than Death Magnetic. 9 out of 10

An interview with the creator of Daily Ramblings

So today I got a chance to sit down with the creator of this blog and ask him a few questions.

So what is the main goal here at Daily Ramblings?

Global domination of the blogosphere of course.

When did you decide to create Daily Ramblings?

Well, I've always had alot to say about everything, I figured why not share it with the world?

Do you have plans for expanding?

Well I had intended to give Daily Ramblings a proper website that shows up on Google and doesn't have the whole .blogspot thing, but that didn't happen, I might in the future, but moving this would be some work I think.

So do you have any plans for future rants?

Of course, I always have some in my head, I'm thinking of having you write about bottled water.

Why is that?

Well there stupid! Why should you pay dollars for a few ounces of water when you can get the same water for cents!?

I totally agree boss.

Yeah, and it's not like it's cleaner or anything, you know what? I think bottled water is a conspiracy by the aqua industrial complex.

The aqua industrial complex?

(quickly) Yeah, there everywhere man, there like in breakfast cereals man!

I see, you know, I think I'm an aquaholic.

No kidding? Me too!

Well we seem to hold similar opinions on everything do we not?

Yeah we do.

So what do you think of the new Dethklok album?

I think it sucks.

Really? I think it was pretty good.

But their all, look at us, we're half American half Scandinavian.

But it wasn't all that bad.

It sucked!

But...

I still think it sucks!

Alright whatever, lets just agree to disagree. So do you have anything else to say to the devoted fans we have?

Yes, leave comments, it makes us appear more popular, which is part of marketing, which will help us gain global domination of the blogosphere.

Well said. But I suppose you have much important business to do, so I'm gonna have to say bye.

Yes, very much so. Good bye

Bye.

Album review: Black Gives Way To Blue by Alice in Chains

(I know this is a very long review, mostly because I want to describe each song and how it sounds. So please bear with me.)

So yesterday I picked up this album at Best Buy on the day of release, it wasn't even on the shelves yet when I got it, it was still on the carts. But anyway, this is AiC's first album in 14 years, and there first album without Layne Staley, who died of a drug overdose in 2002.
I must say, his replacement, William Duvall, does a pretty good job of singing, he doesn't sound like Layne Staley but he doesn't sound out of place at all. The only problem is that he doesn't get enough upfront singing time, in there old material Layne Staley was clearly the undisputed lead singer, although much of there sound relied on vocal harmonies with guitarist Jerry Cantrell, he was always upfront and Cantrell was in the background more so. Now it's the opposite, while William Duvall actually manages to harmonize well, he doesn't sing upfront much, except on 1 song.
It actually seems that they've traded some harmonizing for switching singing lines, which is kinda cool I suppose. But anyway, this album is definitely Alice in Chains, although they aren't trying to rehash past material, it starts out with "All Secrets Known", its, I'm not sure how to really describe it, airy? AiC records, there 3 previous (they've been around since like 1987 and have only released 4 albums including this one and 2 EP's, although one of them is long enough to be considered a short album, its got 7 songs, it's like half an hour.) albums have always started off with a heavy, rocking song that kicked the crap out of you. This one doesn't, but it's a good song. One thing that stands out is the lyrics are about a new beginning and healing and such, which seems appropriate. The next song is the radio single "Check my Brain", its easy to see why it was on the radio, its melodic, it's a rocking, non-acoustic song and its kinda catchy. Some people whine about how it talks about California, and it is a little cliche, but its about Jerry Cantrell moving to L.A, so it makes sense, seriously. Although I will say that the music video for this song sucks. Its one of the cheapest things I have ever seen. I think they blew there whole budget and we got that cheap piece of crap for a video. It shows the band playing the song and all, which is good, it's what a music video should be, but it looks like it was made with windows movie maker and some stock stuff, I'm not kidding, for example, when they sing "So I found myself in the sun...", guess what they do, they put a picture of the sun in the background! That's real creative. Not. Cheap indeed. But it is a good song. "Last Of My Kind" is the one song where Duvall sings upfront for pretty much the whole song, and he sings great, I don't know why he doesn't sing upfront more often. This is one of the standout songs on this album I feel, it's also one of the heaviest, along with "A Looking in View". But this is the only song we get to hear him upfront. The next song "Your Decision" is an acoustic song. A really good one in fact. I think this is one of the best songs on the album. Then there's "A looking in View", This song is really good, though it has a small flaw in that it drags too long. It's over 7 minutes long. it's also pretty heavy, in the intro theres a little bit of, actually like a split second of double bass, which is unusual for an Alice in Chains song. and then it rips into this riff, it rocks, then the verse with the "Hear footsteps creak the floor..." part with all the harmonies, then it launches right back into that riff, then the verse picks up again with the harmonies, then that riff again, and William Duvall goes "Lay! Down!..." in the chorus. Brilliant, it kicks hiney as the kids say now. Then they have some of that line trading thing with the vocals, where one sings one line and another sings the next, that's cool. And it's got that hook-y "A looking in view too long on the outside..." post chorus thing too, and it's also repeated alot at the end. Great song. "When The Sun Rose Again" is another acoustic song, its cool, it seems to be speaking about how they are back with the "It seems you prophesied all of this would end, where you burned away when the sun rose again?" I think that might be a reference to there sun logo. And then, there's "Acid Bubble", what a song, i think it's the best song on here, it's brilliant. It took a bit to grow on me, but when you really listen to it, you realize the small things that make this song so great. it's slow, it's sludgy, it starts with this riff that just towers over you, its got these slow, harmonized verses, then they've got that line trading again, with Cantrell singing "and I always payed attention to all the lines you crossed" and then Duvall sings "Forgive this imperfection, it shows and know..." part, that's freakin cool, then they go into the chorus with all the harmonies, and then when Duvall sings "Alone inside your mind" the way it rings out, that's cool, and it has a vaguely Layne Staley quality to it,and he doesn't even sound like him at all. All the little things, and then I love that riff that they play in the middle of the song, during the "Intent obsolescence! Built into the system!" part, it's all like duh-duh-duh duh duh duh- duh duh duh duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh, of course you can't really get it from my typing, but its so cool. That song is 6 minutes and 54 seconds of brilliance. "Lesson Learned" is one of those rocking songs, its fairly fast, its short, it's catchy, and its a definite candidate for a single. It's a good song. "Take her out" sounds like something from Jerry Cantrells solo career, but it's a really good song, I've seen some people say this is a weaker song or that it should have been a B-side for a single. I disagree, this is a good song, it's got that sludgy guitar that chugs along at a nice pace and fits well with the vocal melodies, and the chorus is kind of catchy, this is also a song I think could be a single. But its a good song. In fact, I'd say there are no bad songs on this album. But bottom line is this is a good song. "Private Hell" definitely has that "down in a hole" vibe, it's not quite as good though, it doesn't have the same high "Down in a Hole" did. I mean this song has that, but it's not nearly as good as "Down in a Hole". This song does have those "Uh huh, uh huh" responses though. It's not a bad song by any means though. Finally, the album closer, and title track "Black gives Way to Blue", is easily the best ballad they ever did. Ever. In fact, Elton John plays piano on this song, which makes it even better. The only problem with this song is that it's too short, although that's not really a problem. It's a beautiful song really. And I like that they take a stab at all those rip off bands with the "Imitations are pale" line. Great song, perfect closer.
This album does not tarnish Alice in Chains in any way, in fact, it's a great album that in my opinion has no bad songs. It's merely a new chapter in their history. It took some time for this album to grow on me though, I seriously considered giving this album a 7 at first, but I figured 8, but now, I think that this album is deserving of a 10, it's that good. Go out and buy this album now, seriously. 10 out of 10.

Calculators: an exercise in mediocrity

So heres an idea for a rant i've had for a long time, so whats the point of using calculators in school? In 4th grade when we were learning division and such we weren't allowed to use them, but now we're allowed to use them for almost everything, its stupid. When all the computers fail, how will stores calculate prices? They probably can't write it out because they probably don't know how too. It's stupid, or rather its making us stupid. They let us use calculators for stuff we could do in our head probably if we thought about it or wrote it out. Its ridiculous.

Today at School

School today was easily the saddest school day ever. I heard the teacher in woodshop made an emotional speech that almost brought the whole class to tears. I myself feel bad I didn't wear orange, I dont have anything orange, that I didnt know Colton better, and I feel bad for eceryone else espeshally Katie and Nick and such. I think i'm still fully processing this though. I mean, 14 year olds aren't supposed to just die. You go through school seeing the same few hundred kids through out the years grow up and graduate, from beginning to end, now that isn't going to happen. I mean, kids move sometimes, but it's just not the same. There was a general feling of sadness through out school today, in math class a few kids cried, it felt really weird just having an empty desk there, you know? I feel sad, although some people are absolutly torn. This is truely a sad day.

R.I.P Colton

Edit: Ok, maybe he wasnt even at the dance, although thats what I was told. Still tragic either way. Antother edit: Ok, I dont really know, I'm hearing different things. A 3rd edit: Ok, she did go to the dance anyway, alone, sad isnt it?

So Colton died in a 4 wheeler accident yesterday. Really this is terrible. He was 14. I still can't really believe this happened. School will be interesting tomorrow. But really this is tragic, I didn't know him very well, but it was the night of the homecoming dance and he was taking this girl (I'm not going to mention her name because its irrelevant). Put yourself in her shoes, it's your first high school dance, and then the person u were taking dies on the day of the dance. It's sad really. This was completely unexpected. Really this is probably one of those moments that's burned into your mind, like JFK or 9/11, but on a smaller scale. Its one thing to hear about people dying on the news, but when it happens to someone you know it's completely different. This is truly a tragedy.

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.