Albums

Coldplay
Viva la Vida or Death and all His Friends

I have always been a big fan of Coldplay ever since the days of "Yellow." And last month Alt Nation 21 featured a week of
"Coldplay Nation" which enabled me to hear their new album in it's entirety. I really like this album and have been listening to it everyday for the past week. A lot of critics have been down on the album saying it's "unpredictable," "uninteresting," "too pretentious," "bipolar," that it "disgusts sophisticates," that it should've been better since Eno produced it, or that the band just tried too hard and didn't deliver anything magical. Pretty harsh eh? Maybe these people are just over analyzing the music. There doesn't have to be some deep meaning behind the music and it doesn't have to stand for something. Sometimes it just has to sound good. I rarely listen to the lyrics of a song when I first hear it. If it sounds good then I'll eventually learn the lyrics of the song because I'll end up playing it over and over enough times. I think Coldplay has some good songs. Most of their melodies are enjoyable and I can see why a lot of people like them. Although, Andy Gill offers a different perspective. In his review he writes, "The strange thing is, I can't seem to find anyone who bought X & Y, or who intends to buy Viva La Vida. For that matter, I have never encountered one person who has a kind word to say about Coldplay. None of my personal or professional acquaintances, nobody in the street or the local café, not a single soul will admit to liking Coldplay or purchasing their music. Indeed, most seem to agree that they epitomise everything that's wrong with modern rock music. So who's buying all their albums?" That's a good question Gill, considering that they've sold millions of records around the globe and play at sold out concerts whenever they tour. I'm not saying Coldplay is the greatest band ever, and I'm not about to compare them to Radiohead (which some people have felt the need to do,) but stop analyzing the music so much people and just listen. You might find that it doesn't sound half bad. This fellow reader made a good point: "Don't you realise there's nothing new under the Sun... I'm not ashamed. Its such a Perfect Day, I'm not lost..I'm over 42 and I once walked a cemetery In London. I'm an escapist...especially when it comes to Coldplay. Can we not just just enjoy the fact that we can enjoy music without knowledge? Just by opening our ears..its amazing how we can be totally honest and say we love or hate something. We don't have to follow the ear of someone else who hates or loves the same things each of us do. When you write from powerful media platforms...do you realise that you put stigma's into people's heads? Lets all be free and just enjoy what our ears tell our brains we like...I don't really care what ENO, The Beatles or U2 think. They're entitled to their opinion and so are we! Please don't foist guilt trips on those of us who are free to hear what we like!" Anyway, I like most of the songs on this new album, especially Cemetaries, Lost, Yes, Violet Hill and Strawberry Swing. The song I could live without is the song the album is titled after, Viva la Vida. Didn't much like that particular track, but the rest were good, definitely not unbearable like the critics make it out to be. But go ahead and listen for yourself and tell me what you think.

Albums

Weezer
The Red Album (Deluxe)

Listening to Weezer's blue album always takes me back to the sweet days of being 14 again. Oh yes, the days I started getting in on the music scene of my fellow upper classmen in high school. I remember Stacey listening to them on the bus and that's how I was introduced to the album, although I had heard the Sweater Song numerous times on the alternative radio station before that. The blue album became one of my favorite and most defining albums of Freshmen year. Okay, let's skip the nostalgia and fast forward about 12 years or so. Although my music tastes have expanded and evolved over the years, I still bought every album Weezer came out with. Pinkerton was exceptional, I have to say. Which is why, even after the disappointing green album, I still continued to buy their music hoping their new stuff would be like their old stuff. But nothing they've done has really impressed me since the days of my youth. And why should it? I can't expect them to make an album exactly like what they had done in the past or music that can give me the same feelings I had when I first heard My Name Is Jonas or El Scorcho. Just as I can't expect Da Vinci to recreate the Mona Lisa. So, I suppose Weezer has evolved too. But it seems to me that they haven't grown up a whole lot since then. And I feel like they aren't trying to appeal to the generation that made them big in the first place. I get the impression that the band is shifting their focus to the teeny boppers of today. And I also get the feeling Rivers is only out to get the attention of those kids who just wanna be weird for the sake of being weird, just like him (hence the new cowboy getup and molestache, not to mention lyrics like "I ain't got a thing to prove to you.) Cant' blame a guy for trying. So now to the red album. Yes, I bought it before listening to it (besides the over played Pork and Beans) only because I consider myself a Weezer fan, and as a fan I just have to get it, ya know? My first listen through I thought, "This album is kind of lame." And then I listened again. And then again. And some of the songs started to get in my head. You know, a lot of them were kind of catchy. But some of them were rather boring. I don't think it's a spectacular album, but there are some things I like about it. First of all, the album is more of a joint effort of the band, as not all of the songs are written and sung by Rivers. So some of the lyrics have a different style to them and the music has a little bit different feel than if it was all done by Cuomos. This particular album (Deluxe) supposedly has 4 extra songs on it than the original album. It also includes a booklet that contains the lyrics and commentary from the band that the original doesn't have. My favorite tracks are Automatic and Thought I Knew. If you're a Weezer fan, I'm sure you've already got the album. But for those of you who aren't, I don't recommend buying the album. Just go download Pork and Beans because I'm sure you think it's sooooo cooool.

Albums

Luscious Jackson
Fever In Fever Out

          This album is a reminder to me how good 90's music really was/is. I love the funky, sexy rhythms on this album. I think its one of those you can just chill out to. If any of you love just being able to put in a CD for cool background music when company comes over or when you're hosting a party, this is a nice album to have on hand. If you are anything like me, you will enjoy every track.