Last night saw the Black Crusade tour kicking off in Glasgow. Would have to say, if you don't have a ticket yet and can still get one, then do it, you won't be disappointed! With Arch Enemy, Dragonforce, Trivium and the almighty Machine Head, you'd be crazy to miss it. Expect a review online soon!
I came across an article (via Ain't It Cool News) regarding the upcoming 4th and final series of Battlestar Galactica.
Seems that after initially being delayed from the usual October/November launch for the series to a January launch, the series has again been delayed to an April launch. While that inevitably means that we all have to suffer a longer agonising wait to see what happens next, we may also have the further problem of a mid-season break over the summer, even the possibility of the series spilling over into 2009.
After the cliffhanger ending to the 3rd series, it seems we have some time to wait to see the ultimate fate of the Galactica and her crew.
LA Times article
Was doing a little browsing to see what new albums are coming up in the next month or so, so here is a quick run down of the ones that took my interest
17th September
Down - Down III: Over The Under
Arch Enemy - Rise Of The Tyrant
Ministry - The Last Sucker
1st October
Nightwish - Dark Passion Play
Prong - Power Of The Damager
15th October
Soilwork - Sworn To A Great Divide
29th October
Exodus - The Atrocity Exibition
Avenged Sevenfold - New Album TBA
It's been a while since I've heard anything new from Prong, think the last album of there's that I got was Rude Awakening, so I'm looking forward to giving them a listen again.
The other thing to stand out on the list was the lack of the new Guns 'n' Roses album, which has been pushed back again, this time pencilled in for the 11th February 2008.
1 gig down, 3 to go.
The Dwarves at Glasgow's King Tuts on Friday night was a good gig. This time we were treated to a full set (all 45 minutes of it) and there was no controversy although HeWhoMustNotBeNamed at one point swung his guitar at someone in the crowd - fortunately he didn't make a connection and the roadies/security stepped in to defuse the situation.
As far as music goes it was a good night. First band The Baddies were good. My first impressions of them were they looked like The Hives but they sounded more like The Jam. Good all the same. Next up where The Elvis Suicide with mandatory sideburns. They sounded a bit like The Misfits meets The Cure. Alright if you like that kind of thing. The 3rd support band were Dangerfields from Belfast and they were cool, storming through their set of traditional 100mph rock. There's not many bands can claim to have their drummer as their frontman but The Dangerfields make the music work and their crowd rapport between songs was some of the best I've heard for a while (always like a band with a sense of humour).
And finally to The Dwarves. As always the music was fantastic: Everybodies Girl, Better Be Women, How It's Done, Like You Want...all the favourites were there and played with gusto. You just cant help but think that if they weren't so completely wild and uncontrollable they would have been snapped up by a major label and be huge by now...not that I'm saying that's what the fans or the band would want - just pointing out they have the songwriting capabilities.
Next up: Napalm Death...
Stevie and I are hoping to take in 4 gigs in the next 3 weeks:
The Dwarves, Napalm Death, The Subordinates and Turbonegro.
The Dwarves is tomorrow night, we dont have tickets yet but based on the poor turnout last time they were in Glasgow we're banking on it not being a sell out and we can get tickets on the door. Sadly no new album since we last saw them but their tunes are so great it's definitely worth seeing again, and it's fair to say you never know what you'll get at a Dwarves show!
I was listening to the new Turbonegro album Retox on the way to work this morning and it's another cracker. I possibly prefer it's predecessor Party Animals at the moment but still a very good album with more hilarious lyrics. If you like rock, you'll like this!
The Subordinates are an exciting local band led by a very good friend of mine. I'm gutted that I haven't caught them live before now so hoping to make it next week to see what they're like, certainly the 3 songs posted on their MySpace site are very promising.
And so to Napalm Death, what is there to say that hasn't already been said about these legends, these pioneers? I spotted a live review in a mag the other day that suggested they still have it so looking forward to my ear drums getting a right good workout. I'm currently downloading my Napalm CD's to the MP3 player in anticipation.
We'll keep you posted on what the shows are like.
http://www.thedwarves.com/
http://www.napalmdeath.org/
http://www.myspace.com/subordinates
http://www.turbonegro.com/
The last few days have seen a new poster for the mysterious JJ ABrams film going by the codename 'Cloverfield' (and '1-18-08'). Thanks to forum user Hotdogs and Haggis for bringing to my attention, I'm really looking forward to this film and the poster looks really good, so I wanted to let everyone know about it :)
In the last week I've had the privilege of seeing two franchises of the 80's make a comeback at the cinema, Transformers and Die Hard.
First off, Transformers played more than a significant part in my childhood - not only were they my favourite toys, through the comics and cartoons the characters were so real that they were like family. I know I'm not the only one that felt this way about them, have a read at this good article for more info -> 'Transformers had human touch'
When I first heard that a Transformers movie was finally going to be made, I was both excited and fearful, just how would my childhood heroes be treated by Hollywood? Hollywood doesn't exactly have a reputation for being faithful to their source material, however with the news that Steven Spielberg was involved in the project gave me hope, however while the news that Michael Bay would be directing did not bother me (I loved Armageddon, The Rock and Bad Boys) it brought terror to many other Transformer fans. As the film developed, information came out about it: Bumblebee would no longer be a VW Beatle he was now a Camero and worst of all Optimus Prime was not going to be his usual flat nose truck but instead a different type of truck with flame design paintwork! Then the character designs were released, Megatron looked nothing like his original self, and to add insult to injury, he would no longer transform into a gun!!
Things did not look too good, however the trailers were then released (here and here) and things started to look more promising, the trailers looked good, the transformers themselves looked good. There wasn't too much else to do aside from wait for the movie to be released.
I was lucky enough to be in the USA when the release date came (here in the UK, the release is not until the end of July :( ), so there was no chance I would miss it!
To say the least, I am so glad that I saw it on release night!! The film is brilliant.
The action begins right at the start and sets the tone for the film, the Decepticons are their and they are very dangerous - with Blackout and Scorpnock tearing a military base to shreds. Time is then spent developing the story and human characters, making you realise that this film isn't just about giant robots beating on each other, this film is about the world and the characters (human and robot!) but it's not too serious, there is a good amount of humour throughout, even from the Transformers themselves, which only adds to the fact that they are alive and with personality. Around half way through, the action really starts to step up a pace as the real capabilities of the Transformers are shown and they do not disappoint.
What really makes this good, as a life long Transformers fan, is that although they Transformers are not a visually accurate representation of their original forms, this is them brought up to date for the new millennium. The key personalities are intact (Optimus Prime has the same honour and integrity, Megatron is still evil and Starscream still hates Megatron (and vice versa!)), which is what still makes this the Transformers, it's the characters we always loved with a new modern look. I'd recommend this film to everyone that ever knew of the Transformers!
Second up is Die Hard 4. Die Hard is one of the classic 80's action movies, already with two excellent sequels. With so long since the last one (10+ years), could the essence of the original be captured again? Thankfully, as Rocky Balboa has already shown, an 80's classic can be updated to the modern day and Die Hard 4 (or "Live Free or Die Hard" as it is known in the States) certainly does that. Bruce Willis is in fine form as John McLean again, with the stubbornness and wit we know and love, not to mention his ability to kill all the bad guys while still staying alive. Justin Long does well as reformed hacker helping solve the mystery of what is going on as the USA starts to shut down. The action is constant and certainly lives up to what is expected of a Die Hard movie!
I'd definitely recommend both movies to everyone, both are highly enjoyable blockbusters!
I'm sitting right now listening to 'Get In The Ring' by Guns'n'Roses and for a moment I let myself think "Maybe Chinese Democracy will capture the old GNR magic!". Well, we'll all have to wait until September now to find out as it seems most retailers have move the release date from 2nd April to Sept 07. Sadly, can't say I'm too surprised.
On the plus side, we've picked up a few good CDs recently, so expect a review or two soon! :)
It's been a slow start to the year with very few new albums catching our attention, however it looks like things are starting to pick up now. In the first few months of the year the albums of note have been Korn's "MTV Unplugged", Within Tempation's "The Heart Of Everything", Enter Shikari's "Take To The Skies" and McQueen's "Break The Silence", though not all of these will be to everyones taste. I personally question Korn's decision to release an 'unplugged' album, as a fan of most of their previous work I don't see the appeal of acoustic versions of songs that I loved for their 'Nu-Metal' sound. It always seems to me that it's an easy option for a band to gain 'artistic' points for going acoustic, but it's a distraction from the sound that actual made them popular in the first place... anyway, will stop before I get going on that one, that can be the subject of a future rant! ;)
Coming up over the next month or so we have the following hitting the shelves (and websites!):
Again, in advance of a gig (this time Trivium) I was checking out a band I've never listened to before on the way home from work, support band Annihilator.
I only got half way through their Best Of compilation which covers their first 3 albums: ALICE IN HELL (1989), NEVER NEVERLAND (1990) and SET THE WORLD ON FIRE (1993).
I haven't finished listening to it so I wont pass final comment but so far it definitely falls into the 'classic thrash' category, sounding like early Megadeth and Anthrax. Some of the lead guitar work is really outstanding but as a whole I dont think the songs are as strong as anything by the other big 2. First vocalist Randy Rampage definitely has the nuts-caught-in-trouser-zip typical thrash screaming style!
http://www.annihilatormetal.com/
When we were at the Motorhead gig a few months back I got to see and hear Clutch for the first time and I was really impressed. So much so that on a whim I bought a ticket for their own UK tour next month without really knowing much of their stuff.
So in a bid to get educated before the show I've been tracking down some of their stuff and on the way home tonight I listened to the rather excellent "Robot Hive/Exodus" album which I'd describe as a mix between Black Sabbath and jazz! It's not for everyone (as my Motorhead companions will testify to) but I love bands like this who offer something a bit different.
I'm looking forward to the new album From Beale Street To Oblivion due out in the UK on 26-03-2007 before they hit the clubs.
www.pro-rock.com
A little later than expect, we now have what we consider to be the top 10 albums of 2006.
I managed to catch my old favourite Ginger (of The Wildhearts fame) at a local venue this week and as usual, a good nights entertainment was provided. As I've said many times, I rate Ginger as the most underrated rock songwriter ever!
The night kicked off with The God Damn Whores which featured (oddly) all 4 members of Gingers band, including the man himself on bass while Jon Poole took up guitar and vocal duties, Jase Edwards (formely of Wolfsbane) was on lead guitars. Their set was good enough to convince me to part with £10 for the CD which sadly has an appalling sound mix (6/10 for the album).
RoboChrist may be the strangest band I've ever seen live, if it even was live. Think industrial metal with more than usual samples and a nutter running around stage playing a guitar I'm not convinved was switched on, occassionaly singing into a microphone I'm not convinced was swithed on. I'm yet to be convinced this was a 'live' performance!
Ginger himself was on top form, interacting with the crowd and piling through some top anthems from his back catalogue like So Into You, Supersonic Shake, Yeah Yeah Yeah, Only A Problem and 29 X The Pain. There were a good few new songs from his new solo album Yoni (out this week) which sounded good enough to justify tracking it down later this week.
If you get the chance, I'd recommend trying to catch the tour (8/10)
Since DRM (Digital Rights Management) is an issue to everyone that loves music and movies, I thought the article I came across on the tech website Ars Technica would be relevant to everyone.
I'm sure anyone that is reading this has come across DRM in one form or another, this could be anything from only being able to put your iTunes Store music onto a handful of devices, not being able to copy a DVD to your portable media player or even just reading the news about the Sony Rootkit scandal.
DRM is about controlling how movies and music can be used, what devices they can play on, how often they can be played, etc. As an example, it is DRM that prevents music purchased from Apples iTunes Store from being played on any MP3 player except an iPod. It does have it's uses, however the primary argument is that it is to fight piracy, however every time something new comes along in the DRM world, crackers usually have it beaten in a very short space of time rendering it next to useless. So who does DRM actually affect? It doesn't affect people who want copied movies and music, they can find it DRM-less without much trouble. It affects the people that actually pay for their music and movies - is it even possible to buy a DVD these days without having to sit through 4 minutes of anti-piracy 'awareness' messages each time you want to watch it? You can be sure that those with the pirate copy do not have to sit through that, only those that have actually bought the thing have to be treated like criminals!
I would recommend that anyone who likes there movies and music have a read at the following article, it is important that people know about these things before they have the chance to become too overpowering and controlling.
Privately, Hollywood admits DRM isn't about piracy:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070115-8616.html
