ITT: /mu/ in 2002
AH WHAT THE FUCK IM BREATHING AIR FOR THE FIRST TIME SHIT SHIT FUCK
Stay strong, New York. We's gun' get ya, Osama!
And so...
NEVER MADE IT AS A WISE...
Goodnight sweet princess.
You heard Nelly, ladies ;D...
>>131423479cute hit single there>>131423544this however was not cute
Sleater-Kinney is one of three unapologetically political bands to respond to September 2001's world-change with August 2002 albums, and it's remarkable how different they are. The Mekons are cynical and defiant; Springsteen is spiritual and uplifting. Yet both seem worn out, as if neither defiance nor uplift can get them out of bed in the morning. Sleater-Kinney, on the other hand, go for defiant uplift and seem energized by the challenge. Probably it isn't the stance that energizes them--it's their energy that powers the stance. Not only are they a generation younger, they're riding the crest of a wild success burdened by neither the Mekons' quarter-century of subsistence nor Springsteen's felt responsibility to 10 million consumers--not to mention that Corin spent 2001 with her new baby, who plays a suitably small and crucial role in her September 11 song. Throughout they bubble and shriek--literally in the opener, where Corin's "bubble in a sound wave" is the secret of both social and nuclear fusion, and in the career guitar line Carrie lays under "Oh!" Let "Step Aside" do its thing and you'll "shake a tail feather for peace and love" no matter what your weary self thinks of protest songs. A
>>131423378I think it's safe to say that R&B has completely overtaken rap as the main genre amongst the black community and is here to stay.
TWO TRAILER PARK GIRLS GO ROUND THE OUTSIDE, ROUND THE OUTSIDE
The latest Old Person to forge Honest Music in the teeth of a Youth-Orientated Marketplace has lost his legendary voice, so what's the attraction? An egomaniac's deep insight into the human heart? A fat man's heartwarming ability to ambulate to his throne? Or just New Songs by such Respected Veterans as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Van Morrison, Brian Wilson, Dan Penn, and Bob Dylan--whose praise of himself as a dance musician I'd love to hear him do himself, proving that Burke would have butchered the thing even if he could still sing? B-
some of my faveshttps://youtu.be/lWRu4TYfmxc
>>131423378super cool rock doc: Rising Low...Gov't Mule's bass player died and they made an album with tons of guest players: Entwhistle, Graham, Bruce, Lesh, Squire, Watt, Glover, Cox, Levin etc...made a movie of that directed/narrated by mike Gordon. https://youtu.be/PmT_Oj7iQI0?si=rhUkIoB3lkABWa7A&t=682
Fuck you, Feminem. Just...just fuck you.
>>131423721I hate "Complicated" more than you can ever imagine.
The "Bowie's back" huzzahs that accompany every one of this music mill's new releases beg the question of what he's back to and from. The reason Englishmen have actually touted him as the greatest rock artiste of all time is that he's the least American major rock artiste of all time, which is one reason his careful brand maintenance isn't filling any arenas over here. Just to be mean I compared his latest phoenix imitation to 1979's Lodger, a certified nonclassic I always kind of liked. Lodger won easy. He has indeed Learned to Sing, thus rendering himself more the chansonnier only art-rockers ever wanted him to be, and the strain is hell on his sense of humor. The textures are nicer now, but whose aren't? And while the songwriting ain't bad, it also ain't that good. Just switch between the Black Francis cover and any other track and you'll know exactly what I mean. C+
They bitch because everybody compares them to Joy Division, and they're right. It's way too kind, and I say that as someone who thanks Ian Curtis for making New Order possible. Joy Division struggled against depression rather than flaunting it, much less wearing it like a designer suit. What's truly depressing is that, just as the hairy behemoths of the grunge generation looked back to the AOR metal they immersed in as teens, these fops tweak the nostalgia of young adults who cherish indistinct memories of much worse bands than Joy Division, every one of them English--Bauhaus, Ultravox, Visage, Spandau Ballet, Tears for Fears. At a critical moment in consciousness they exemplify and counsel disengagement, self-seeking, a luxurious cynicism. Says certified British subject Peter Banks: "Emotions are standard and boring. I'd like to find another way to live." That's thinking either big or very small. C+
Deer pUKeIf u mek another some like rhis again I willinvade another one of you're colonies (preferably Australia) and destry THEIR tea like the juvenile American that I am
deeper proof than they intended of the deep meaning of neobluegrass--you can't go home again ("Travelin' Soldier," "White Trash Wedding") *
In memory of those we lost this year (Jam Master Jay not included because not music)
>>131424068if you're going to not include rappers you may as well also not include Dave Williams because Drowning Pool wasn't really music either
Down to 33% on amiannoying.com, not because (thank you, Mr. Webmaster) they've become any less annoying or because they gigged as Goat Punishment or because they (who cares?) lost their bass player to the Rentals. Annoying they were and annoying they remain. They're annoying because Rivers Cuomo is the punk Tom Scholz, a solitary genius in love with big and precise. In Boston's arena-rock, this made sense although it was annoying. In Weezer's arena-punk (slightly more arena on this outing and slightly less annoying as a result) it misses the point altogether, which from the Ramones to the Libertines has always been to achieve concision and economy whilst remaining barely erect. Onstage, that is. How Cuomo comports himself in other areas of endeavor I haven't a clue. C
>>131424198>They're annoying because Rivers Cuomo is the punkstopped reading there
The proof of how desperate professional rock scribes are for remaining bands of any commercial clout is in how this release was greeted with Hosannas in a slow news month. This piece of let's-slow-things-down-a-little isn't too bad unless you prefer thee funk, but it's also a turn or two slacker than Californication. Problem is that it's not enough to suddenly act all mature and start making like mysticks, you also have to say something about maturity. And unless I'm mistaken, Anthony Kiedis has never had one thing to say about anything else. B-
>>131423535>>131423893And so with so many of my old comrades-in-arms gone off to the next world, I soldier on alone.
Probably not the worst album ever released by an artist of substance--there are all those Elvis soundtracks. But in the running. Full-length double-CD of wordy strophic strolls that often last six, seven, eight minutes, accompanied solely by a solo guitar Hill can barely strum (the first finger-picked figure occurs on track 10, where it repeats dozens upon dozens of times, arghh). Unlike Hill herself, who during one of many spoken-word breaks tells the adoring multitude that her singing voice has been roughed up by a late night (but not how weak it is when she gets her eight hours), the melodies do not assert themselves. Inspirational Patter: "Every single one of these songs is about me first." Makes them realer, aight? D-
>>131424404At least they didn't make lame duet albums with random lesbians.
>>131424459in 2016 this review would get you hella cancelled
>>131424531No. Back to the Kohl's sound system where you belong.
>>131424564the most terrible 02 release of all
Nintendumb Gaycube XD
These Swedes know the great selling point of the Voidoids was the guitars they can't come near, not the vocals they irremediably recall. How dumb--if it was that easy some emo kids would do it. The Hives explode where a hundred other punk bands are proud to rock. If they're not openhearted like Rancid they're also not cute like Green Day, who dominated that punk revival anyway, and I'll take their wage-slave rants over the Strokes' ass-man ennui any day. Really, so what if Max Martin writes 'em? A-
>>131424816>>131424750Sweden represent.
The nicest Ramone, who was revealing his secret identity well before he knew he had cancer, stands tall as a gentle goof, sounding contemplative partly because he's slowed down a little, partly because music has speeded up a little, and partly because he is. Spareness bleeds into vagueness, minimalism into unfinished business, which may be how he would have wanted these songs but isn't necessarily how we want them. Nevertheless, his ashram seeker is the perfect counterweight to his financial analyst, "What a Wonderful World" to "1969." And when he writes from his bed of pain it really hurts. B+
>>131424919took that long to get to it?
as anon said, this is a weak year for rap if you discount Eminem
The sweeping gestures and broad arena rock of expert nonentities robs the Beatle songs that adorn this tour merch of all their precision and power. Yet the Beatle songs still dwarf the proofs of his solo existence, which gets lamer the older he gets. Still, his winsome smile and cloying stage banter are irresistible. And when he whips up some first-the-gals-now-the-fellas on the chorus of "Hey Jude", it is to cringe with dismay at the survival of a generation. C
>>131425098>still dwarf the proofs of his solo existence, which gets lamer the older he gets>it is to cringe with dismay at the survival of a generationso much projection
Unlike his wife Faith, McGraw committed no egregious sonic offenses on his way to the top of the country charts, and given the kneejerk disdain Middle America elicits from my bicoastal cohort, I'd as soon leave him alone. But in a nation polarized far more cynically and effectively by the ruling class than the shallowest alt ideologue could dream, he has to be called on his love song to a Lady Liberty whose America includes no urban places, on his imperialist assumption that Mexico is for runaway spouses ha ha, even on his domestic bedrock, as if that's as socially responsible as rugged individualism need be. And then there's the matter of "Who Are They," which goes so far as to blame "safe sex" and the replacement of "what the hell" by "what the heck" (I swear) on the owners of this newspaper (honest, named as such), called "funny boys" when he means "faggots" because "They" so decree. Fuck that. I don't much like how David Schneiderman treats unions, but I'm here to tell Timbo that my boss is a better family man than any damn country roadhog. "I wonder if They like to fight," muses Timbo on his way to finding out where "They" live. Me, I use my words. If any Nashville thug lays a hand on me, I'll sue him within 50 cents of his ignorant life. C+
>>131424634That's adorable! X3
>>131423378now that the dust is settled, is metal solved?
Obie Trice, who doesn't make the movie, is all over the soundtrack album--unlike Rabbit's freestyles, which make the movie (Eminem, "Rabbit Run," "Lose Yourself") *
>>131425182god did 9/11 ever ruin country
My precious..
let Green Eyes dump him for real and we'll see how long he hums in the void ("Green Eyes," "In My Place") *
HEY BABY, HEY BABY, HEYGIRLS SAY, GIRLS SAYHEY BABY, HEY BABY, HEY
would rawk more unremittingly on one's stereo without the transmission interruptions claiming rawk's banned from one's radio ("You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire," "Hangin' Tree") **
>>131425210>>131425214I hate these bands, this fuckin teen-metal trend needs to die out. Metallica's next album is going to kick so much poser ass.
>>131425391i heard they're working on a new one, can't wait for it.
>>131425402Dude it's gonna be awesome. Thrash metal will be back \m/. Slipknot won't even be a thing in like 5 years. Real metal for life \m/
No dolt, she figures it's in her best interest to sound like one--as well as an insider outsider like Gush and Bore, whose horrible lessons in playing it safe she takes to heart. "We got rockstars in the Whitehouse/All our popstars look like porn," she whines on the first track, which the "hit" tops by claiming, "I don't have diddly squat," while dissing her "friend the communist" (who I bet isn't, and I also bet doesn't deserve the putdown). And those are the good songs. Soon here come Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, turns of phrase like "Lay it like it plays [a little dumb, but OK]/Play it like it lays [wha?]" and "With broken wings we'll learn to fly" and (am I missing some irony here?) "Life is what happens when you're making plans." Over this I'd take not the White House (where she'd go in a second if invited politely) but certainly porn (which I note without prejudice she is). C+
>>131425444the soccer mom anthem of the decade. could be worse.
>>131425529I'm sorry you were abused as a child, anon.
>>131425545It's not fair. I was just a boy, I thought coach was some we could trust.
>>131425529lol damn my mom just listened to the shitty ac station with jewel and that lifehouse song or whatever it was hanging by the moment. god that song sucked
>>131425460my mom hates Sheryl Crow though
?_;@$.is C
>>131423831Fortunately Phoebe is like 7 years old in 2002 so we won't be hearing from her.
Oh fuck off already, we have Britney now.
Celine Dion comparisons are too huge to mean a damn thing, but only huge will do. Hill's singing is more "human-scale"--like the female CEO of a Birmingham-based health-maintenance operation. Her drumming rocks--like RoboCop on steroids. She's an SUV that seats five linebackers across, a radio signal that grinds the competition into static, the megabomb they'll drop on anybody who doesn't get liberated on their timetable. At this horrible moment in history, she's American overkill as popular music. One thing you can say for Dion--she's Canadian. C
the diligently-realized sound of exhaustion ("Rain On Tin Roof", "Sympathy For The Strawberry") ***
hardcore to the booty, slimfast to the brain ("Work It," "Bring the Pain") ***
ha ha whoops
Buried on this cruddy album is a great gimmick half perfected on the climactic "Get Low": oi anthems gone south, crude and compelling unison chants about flexing muscle in a club where another clique does something you don't like, such as breathe. Socially retrograde, but so was tango, and Lil's namesake Elton beat him to the theme by three decades. What's truly retrograde is the rapping--when Too Short takes a turn you'd think Rakim had dropped in from paradise--and the pimp shit eaten by boy-toy-for-hire Oobie and bull mackstress Chyna Whyte. As if in illustration, this version of "Get Low" includes an indistinct verse about stupid bitches poppin' pussy on a pole. It's omitted from both remixes on the new Part II. They knew what to do. Now you do too. C
>>131425948>>131425876Not music.
The guy who once revealed on national television that rock and roll died with Buddy Holly steps up and confronts the key social issues of the day: radio, stardom, and record executives, plus don't forget teen violence, child abuse, and satyriasis. His hero "don't want to change/what don't need to change," and fuck you if your needs are different. Does Petty have the tunes? Sure, he always has the tunes. Does he whine them in that weird, self-pitying child-drawl? Sure, he regresses every time out. So which would I rather hear, catchy good-guy cant or a Clear Channel jock hyping some mythical Svengalified "angel whore who could learn a guitar lick"? More angel whores, please. Hell, I'll even take an angel. C+
Poor Dave. First he was going on about he had a right to sing da grunge. Then he was going on about his wreck of a love life. Now he's going on about going on. It happens to all of 'em--most of 'em, anyway--and rockin' harder than a motherfucker won't get 'em out of it. Pretty often, rockin' harder than a motherfucker is what got 'em into it. B-
>>131426104accurate. at this point he had nothing left to say except rocking out for the sheer sake of it
I feel raped, bros ;_;
>>131424647these guys will save rock and roll, you can count on it.
masters of their own audio, with soft spots where their emotions can go ("Save You," "Bushleaguer") *
With America lighting up one too many places like the Fourth of July, I went back and tried to hate "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" like I oughta, but it was still too pithy and heartfelt, and the album still gave up a colloquial aptness and easy masculinity I'd overlooked. But obscured by the uproar is a piece of work as immoral as "One in a Million" or "Black Korea"--no, worse. I can forgive duet partner Willie Nelson almost anything, but I'm appalled that he lent his good name to "Beer for My Horses," which not only naturalizes lynching but makes it seem like fun on a Friday night. True, the horses the mob rides evoke Hollywood westerns. Right, there is "too much corruption," though somebody should tell these yokels that "crime in the streets" dropped in the good old days when we had an economy. But the racial coding of the "gangsters" the song sends to their maker needs no explanation. And those "evil forces" who "blow up a building" ain't bomber pilots, now are they? B/E
>>131426241forget that guy who said Nellyville, this is the worst album of the year, maybe decade
>>131424647>>131426177ROCK IS SAVED!
>>131426323Noel Gallagher destroyed these guys.
If on 1986's Nine Lives, the first bummer of a three-decade career divided by a cleaning-up period, she was a cynic at the end of her rope, on the second she's a self-remade woman calling the shots. As usual, the few songs she wrote herself outstrip the others. But even those are for roots-rock matures who share her worldview so narrowly that not a note or emotion takes her anywhere she doesn't know like her own night table. The exceptions are a single helping of Malian guitar from Habib Koite and, to an extent, a gospel rouser by Zimbabwean crossover darling Oliver Mtukudzi. More such tracks might have forced a stretch. Instead she starts off by warning the young against "dealing on the street." Somehow I don't think this is gonna win any war on drugs--or get her on TRL. B-
I'll take the "green" mixes, and fuck you for asking ("I'm Gonna Getcha Good!," "Ka-Ching!") *
>>131424068>didn't include Layne
The selection here is at once so obvious and so inappropriate it feels redemptive--as if that old softy Rick Rubin gently advised his fast-failing charge that if there was ever a song he wanted to sing he'd better not put it off till next time, 'cause there probably wasn't gonna be one. In fact this is Cash's second "Danny Boy," just his first croaky one (at the Kettle of Fish in heaven, Dave Van Ronk is mad he didn't do one first). He's recorded the evil-minded campfire chestnut "Sam Hall" before too. But Cash kills "In My Life" as hard as he kills Depeche Mode and Nine Inch Nails, and though upon reflection Ewan MacColl wrote "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," you'd have thought Roberta Flack defolkified it forever until Cash got his heart on it. Only the pomposities of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Desperado" resist his advances. And first and best comes the newly written title tune, a look at death as cold as "Under Ben Bulben." All that could top it would be American V: Send in the Clowns. A-
>>131425214that was actually 2001
>>131426531It was shitty teen-metal. Then and it's shitty teen-metal now.
>>131426507ha ha remember the time Rick Rubin forced a dying old man to sing his favorite songs at gunpoint?
https://youtu.be/NJsa6-y4sDs?si=3fiNPD1LMpn78H_3O_o, she is?
>>131426323>"I've always hated depressing music. Take The Vines for example. Craig Nicholls lives in Sydney, the most beautiful city in the world. What's he got to be depressed about?"was rkid right here?
>>131427495Sydney is an expensive shithole filled with assholes.
