Album Review – Chevelle: Sci-Fi Crimes

Not to start off with a “look how cool I am” item, but I have listened to Chevelle since their first disc, Point #1.  I first heard of them when I saw their video for Mia on MTV at some riduclous time early in the morning.  The song sounded like Tool, kind of.  The video looked like a Tool video, kind of.  At the time (and to this day) Tool was my favorite band.  I loved them.  I ate, drank and slept AEnima when it came out and because of that infatuation with Tool, I loved anything that reminded me of Tool.  Back then I was more forgiving, I listened to any crappy band that stole MJK’s vocal style or kind of sounded like Tool.  Almost none of those band stuck with me except for Chevelle.  I never really thought of Chevelle in the context of “on of my favs” but with the release of Sci-Fi Crimes, they are up there.

I have enjoyed every Chevelle album to a point.  They have all had a handful of songs that I thought were excellent, but then the rest of the tracks bored me.  With this release they have made an album that is good all the way through, front to back.  The album starts off with Sleep Apnea and the opening guitar is distinctly Chevelle.  The track is good, but the album gets better as it goes on.  The chorus of Mexican Sun is excellent and it becomes very infectious.  The further you get into the album, the stronger it gets.

For the first time I feel like Chevelle has their own identity here.  Maybe that’s what was always missing for me.  Something to make Chevelle strong on their own, not because they sound like someone else or have a heavy influence from another artist.  And that’s what this disc does.  The first single, Jars is a perfect song for radio play.  While that will be disappointing to some, it doesn’t really matter because we all know Chevelle doesn’t get a ton of radio time no matter how good they are.  The track has another awesome rif with a really catchy chorus, but it’s still heavy enough for Chevelle to keep that edge.  The album really gets better the further you go.  Letter From A Thief is by far my favorite track on the album.  There is a certain emotion in it that Chevelle hasn’t displayed before.  The last two tracks finish the album off in awesome fashion.  The last track, This Circus has some of the best percussion that I have heard in quite awhile and like so many of the tracks here, the chorus will stick in your head for days.

Will this album convert people who have hated Chevelle?  No.  Will it make long time Chevelle fans happy.  Hell yes.  I think it’s their strongest work and gets better with each listen.  I also feel like it’s brought me closer to Chevelle, as cheesy as that sounds.  I feel like I can call them one of my favorites now because their body of work over 5 discs is strong enough to do so.  I would be surprised if this didn’t get a spot on my top ten this year.

Rating:  4.0 out of 5.0

Listen if you like:

• 10 Years – Division
• 30 Seconds to Mars – A Beautiful Lie
• Tool – Lateralus

The Prodigy: Invaders Must Die Review

So only a little over 2 months into 2009 and I am already with 2 of my most anticipated releases.  The first being P.O.S.’s Never Better, which didn’t disappoint.  I don’t know that I can say the same about this one.  The Prodigy more or less made modern electronic music what it is today.  Their influence is undeniable, unless you are like 15 and don’t know who they are.  Their first disc, Experience was a quirky mix of jungle and drum and bass mixed in with some clever vocal samples.  There were some classic tracks on that album but the Prodigy really didn’t become The Prodigy until their second disc.  To this day I still think Music for a Jilted Generation is my favorite electronic release and I think I’ll go to my grave with that thought.  After that they had the mega hit with Fat of the Land which added a lot of vocals from Maxim and Keith, 2 guys who were largely relegated to be hype men at their concerts.  The first five tracks on that disc were as good as anything Prodigy had but the disc quickly faded after that.

Since The Fat of the Land it has all been downhill for the Prodigy.  While they have remained very popular in the UK their fame in the US has all but vanished.  Since the Fat of Landthere were mis-steps like Baby’s Got  A Temper and then an absolutely horrible LP follow up to Fat of the Land in Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned.  The disc was feature heavy with a whole lot of people the Prodigy shouldn’t have been working with.  Tracks with Twista were terrible, Kool Keith got a little but too much time as a guest and Juliette Lewis nailed it on one track and flopped on another.  All together their last disc was a disappointment to everyone except the most hardcore Prodigy fans.

Movie Review: Death Note (DVD)

Of all the locations in the world, I have always enjoyed movies from Asia the most.  If you are willing to look there are great foreing films from every part of the world, but Japan, South Korea and China have some of my favorites.  Something about over the top gore from a film like Ichi The Killer or the twisted plot of Oldboy just entertains me to no end.  These are films that would never be made in America and that’s probably for the better as an American studio might get in the way of what should be happening.

My latest dip into Asian film comes in the form of Death Note.  This is a film based on a very popular manga from Japan.  The story follows Light (or Kira), a college student living with his parents who just happens to come across a note book with some pretty amazing powers.  Light is the type of person who gets upset with all of the many injustices of the world.  Criminals set free because of spotty evidence or random loopholes within the law.  Apparently the God of Death is on his side because one night on his walk home, Light just happens to come across the Death Note.

Cheap Crap from China: Zune 120/80 Crystal Clear Case

Often times there are sites for a certain products (take the iPod or Zune for instance) that have massive review sections of every accessory you can think of. They take a real serious look at things like cases, FM transmitters and other random things you never knew you need. Unforgettably, something always gets left out. The cheap crap from China. You know the stuff. You can find millions of pieces of cheap crap from China on eBay and even in same cases on Amazon. Here is one such piece of cheap crap, the Crystal Clear case for the Zune 120 or Zune 80.

I wanted a case after I got my Zune just because I always like having a little extra protection on my music player. From my days as an iPoder I always had to have a case because the iPod got scratched if you looked at it the wrong way. While the Zune is no where near as fragile as the iPod classic is, I still thought a case wasn’t a bad idea. So here was my first purchase. I got this off eBay for 8 dollars with shipping included. Compared to the $30 dollars I would waste on an iPod case (sorry, I just thought iSkin made great stuff) this seemed like a deal.