Release Date: January 1, 1980
Genre: Hard rock, progressive
Length: 35:35
Drumsticks make fine weapons. Just ask Neil Peart. If drumming was a martial art, he'd be a kung fu master. Just listen to this album for proof. But before I go in depth (ha) on this album,
It's story time.
"Playing Nintendo with the energy." That is NOT the correct lyricature, of course. It's just something I'll always remember about my first few times listening to "The Spirit of Radio." Also, Meatwad would make a terrific singer for a Rush cover band. But I digress.
A long time ago, before I had the intrawebs and digital music devices (it's funny how a computer is needed in some facet for both of those), I had a list. I mean, this was THE list. This list contained almost 250 pages of songs. When I started this list, all I could say I really knew about music was that Metallica were Gods. That was years ago, mind you. This list made me have to hunt down band names and song titles. Rush had songs, like many others, that the song title was either not in the lyrics or was incoherent to the untrained ear, so pin-pointing song titles becomes a pain in the ass when you have little to go on, especially when you don't know exact lyrics (case and point, read the first line of the previous paragraph)
I think the only thing that list taught me was the diversity of music I liked. For christ's sake, I'm a glorified metal head who has time for (certain) rap and country. The only thing that didn't was my opinion of Metallica. And I started that list AFTER St. Anger.
Rush does rank on my internal list of bands worth mentioning 'cause I consider myself a fan. Sadly, they fall in the second half of that list, around bands like Smashing Pumpkins and Foo Fighters. Mind you, I don't dislike those bands on some level or hold grades in the least amount possible. They just haven't fully "clicked" my mental switch that makes me go balls to the wall fanatical like I do for bands like t69l and CkY.
That said, Rush is pretty cool. Rush is in the top 5 exports of Canada, with hockey, Tim Hortons', and Ghastly's Ghastly Comic. This album, getting back to the point of it all, is pretty cool as well.
"The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" are songs that make me go, "Well, duh. Of course I like Rush" The rest of the album I'll have to elaborate on: meh.
That's not to incite any bad thoughts or anything. Nothing hits you just as strong as the first two. That being said, "Natural Science" 's beginning to make me need to piss something fierce.
Final Score
6.25/10. Not bad, just not that great, either.
P.S. Fuck Game Informer's grade scale of 10 for reviews does not mean 7 = C like school grades. 5 is average. 7 is good, 2.5 is for shit. 10 is Master of Puppets. 'Nuff said.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
'Nam Sketch
A lil something something Dylan (my brother) and I wrote during a screening of Full Metal Jacket.
(In Vietnam, two soldiers are taking cover from enemy fire)
Sold. 1 (Cromwell): [fires off round, throws grenade – forgets to pull pin, ducks under cover]
Sold. 2 (Jim): [waits for explosion, ducks under cover]
8 minutes later
Crom & Jim: [in same stance, waiting for explosion]
Jim: [to Cromwell] Did it go off?
Crom: [puzzled] I think it did…
Jim: Did you pull the pin?
Crom: [thinks] SHIT.
Jim: Shoot at it!
Crom: What the fuck is that going to do?
Jim: Maybe make it explode!
Crom: Lemme check… [pulls head up, evades gunfire] I think I saw it.
Jim: Then shoot at it!
Crom: Fuck that. [pulls another grenade, pulls pin, throws, hears two consecutive explosions]
Silence.
Jim: Are they dead?
Crom: [pulls head up, receives gunfire] FUCK YOU GUYS! [gives middle finger to enemy, shot off, screams in agony, shows missing finger, blood squirts]
Jim: [screams with]
Crom: [screams back at Jim]
http://cromwelljones.blogspot.com/
(In Vietnam, two soldiers are taking cover from enemy fire)
Sold. 1 (Cromwell): [fires off round, throws grenade – forgets to pull pin, ducks under cover]
Sold. 2 (Jim): [waits for explosion, ducks under cover]
8 minutes later
Crom & Jim: [in same stance, waiting for explosion]
Jim: [to Cromwell] Did it go off?
Crom: [puzzled] I think it did…
Jim: Did you pull the pin?
Crom: [thinks] SHIT.
Jim: Shoot at it!
Crom: What the fuck is that going to do?
Jim: Maybe make it explode!
Crom: Lemme check… [pulls head up, evades gunfire] I think I saw it.
Jim: Then shoot at it!
Crom: Fuck that. [pulls another grenade, pulls pin, throws, hears two consecutive explosions]
Silence.
Jim: Are they dead?
Crom: [pulls head up, receives gunfire] FUCK YOU GUYS! [gives middle finger to enemy, shot off, screams in agony, shows missing finger, blood squirts]
Jim: [screams with]
Crom: [screams back at Jim]
http://cromwelljones.blogspot.com/
Busy, busy, busy,,,
Sorry I've disappeared for the past few months. Between working a lot, getting sick more than I'd like, and generally been distracted. It happens way more often than I'd like...
With that opening, I'll at least show you what I have done in the time in between posts. Little f.y.i., this is pretty much just a list of movies, so be prepared to see a lot of movie titles. The movies with this ->*<- next to it will be movies I had already seen before renting them off of netflix. This list is also in reverse order, so the last movie on the list is the first movie I rented after seeing The Godfather Trilogy, which was the last movie I remember mentioning on this blog:
Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro
Chasing Amy
Tombstone
The Rocky Horror Picture Show *
Mystic River
Blood Into Wine
Platoon
Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux *
Eyes Wide Shut
Schindler's List *
Barry Lyndon
The Shining *
Full Metal Jacket
A Clockwork Orange
Lolita
Dr. Strangelove *
2001: A Space Odyssey
Paths of Glory
Spartacus
The Killing
Amadeus
The Seafarers
Killer's Kiss
Brokeback Mountain
Ben-Hur
The Cider House Rules *
Chinatown *
It Happened One Night
The Maltese Falcon
Hoffa *
The Deer Hunter *
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest *
Porco Rosso *
Citizen Kane
Legends of the Fall *
Raging Bull
Princess Mononoke *
Hamlet (2000)
The Untouchables
GoodFellas
Dog Day Afternoon
Casino
2046 *
Blade Runner: Theatrical & Director's Cut
Fight Club *
Oldboy
Memento
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly *
For a Few Dollars More
A Fistful of Dollars
I want to point out that while most of these movies I got to see for the first time, I also got a few more I had already seen to show them off to people who hadn't seen them, particularly my brother, Dylan; and one of my best friends, Nick. That being said, it's a pretty solid list of movies. Really good shit, if you ask me. I got all of Stanley Kubrick's films that are on DVD as of this moment and might I add that his movies blew me away.
There were a few bad ones, surprisingly. Barry Lyndon was a bore (yeah, I know, right after saying all that stuff about Kubrick in that last paragraph). Not that it wasn't well shot or anything, this is Kubrick we're dealing with here; but I think if a movie ever had TOO MUCH pacing, this movie fell victim to it. Eyes Wide Shut was just... weird. I can't describe it much more than these three things: Very poorly acted, amazing camera work (as par with Kubrick films), and a lot of nudity (particularly Nicole Kidman).
Citizen Kane and Blade Runner haven't really aged well. In defense of Citizen Kane, it is a really old movie. It changed cinema forever and for that, I respect the hell out of it. It's just not much of a movie to see now a days. Blade Runner... hurt. It really was the worst movie on the list. I mean, I watched it three times just to make sure. It's deathly slow and broken up into pieces because of the editing problems. I still haven't seen The Final Cut, so my vote isn't officially cast yet. But the three versions on the DVD I saw were just sad. They never should have messed with Ridley Scott's vision, period.
Other than movies, its been half ass writing and work for me. I got something else to post, but I'll do that separate from this. Hope you all had a fun holiday season.
With that opening, I'll at least show you what I have done in the time in between posts. Little f.y.i., this is pretty much just a list of movies, so be prepared to see a lot of movie titles. The movies with this ->*<- next to it will be movies I had already seen before renting them off of netflix. This list is also in reverse order, so the last movie on the list is the first movie I rented after seeing The Godfather Trilogy, which was the last movie I remember mentioning on this blog:
Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro
Chasing Amy
Tombstone
The Rocky Horror Picture Show *
Mystic River
Blood Into Wine
Platoon
Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux *
Eyes Wide Shut
Schindler's List *
Barry Lyndon
The Shining *
Full Metal Jacket
A Clockwork Orange
Lolita
Dr. Strangelove *
2001: A Space Odyssey
Paths of Glory
Spartacus
The Killing
Amadeus
The Seafarers
Killer's Kiss
Brokeback Mountain
Ben-Hur
The Cider House Rules *
Chinatown *
It Happened One Night
The Maltese Falcon
Hoffa *
The Deer Hunter *
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest *
Porco Rosso *
Citizen Kane
Legends of the Fall *
Raging Bull
Princess Mononoke *
Hamlet (2000)
The Untouchables
GoodFellas
Dog Day Afternoon
Casino
2046 *
Blade Runner: Theatrical & Director's Cut
Fight Club *
Oldboy
Memento
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly *
For a Few Dollars More
A Fistful of Dollars
I want to point out that while most of these movies I got to see for the first time, I also got a few more I had already seen to show them off to people who hadn't seen them, particularly my brother, Dylan; and one of my best friends, Nick. That being said, it's a pretty solid list of movies. Really good shit, if you ask me. I got all of Stanley Kubrick's films that are on DVD as of this moment and might I add that his movies blew me away.
There were a few bad ones, surprisingly. Barry Lyndon was a bore (yeah, I know, right after saying all that stuff about Kubrick in that last paragraph). Not that it wasn't well shot or anything, this is Kubrick we're dealing with here; but I think if a movie ever had TOO MUCH pacing, this movie fell victim to it. Eyes Wide Shut was just... weird. I can't describe it much more than these three things: Very poorly acted, amazing camera work (as par with Kubrick films), and a lot of nudity (particularly Nicole Kidman).
Citizen Kane and Blade Runner haven't really aged well. In defense of Citizen Kane, it is a really old movie. It changed cinema forever and for that, I respect the hell out of it. It's just not much of a movie to see now a days. Blade Runner... hurt. It really was the worst movie on the list. I mean, I watched it three times just to make sure. It's deathly slow and broken up into pieces because of the editing problems. I still haven't seen The Final Cut, so my vote isn't officially cast yet. But the three versions on the DVD I saw were just sad. They never should have messed with Ridley Scott's vision, period.
Other than movies, its been half ass writing and work for me. I got something else to post, but I'll do that separate from this. Hope you all had a fun holiday season.
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