-Go listen to Paramore’s song “Misery Business.” I’m guessing that any band with a song on the “Twilight” soundtrack is aiming squarely for a pretty specific demographic, but I heard this little number on the radio and, free of all prejudices I would later develop upon learning who performed it, I loved the thing. It’s just a rollicking good time, and the singer’s got some pipes on her.
The subject matter of the song seems to be reclaiming a wayward boyfriend from a morally vacant temptress, and most of the lyrics are directed at said hussy, vehemently dismissing her failed attempts at conquest. This might not work, or come off as unsympathetic, but Hayley Williams has a great range and seems to mean what she’s singing about; she made me believe this actually happened. Also, the song wisely avoids being dour, and instead opts for righteous fury. The band swaggers, the lyrics sneer wildly and declare sweet victory, and this makes the listener like the protagonist. There are a thousand songs about the battlefield of love, but this one stands out by being cocky and having fun with its subject matter. Great stuff.
Also, the lead singer is a Christian, and went out of her way to apologize for saying something like “oh my God” in this song. Coolness points for her.
-Metallica’s new album, “Death Magnetic,” is quite fantastic. I’ve been waiting for Metallica to reclaim themselves, and it seems like they’ve finally done it with this new offering. Their last album, “St. Anger,” stands hallowed as one of the most universally loathed pieces of music in Western culture (which is funny, because I sort of liked it…for what it was), and that was a hard blow for the band, because they nearly self-destructed getting the darn thing made. The silver lining there, however, was that the fan backlash finally hit Hetfield and company hard enough to make them ask themselves what the hell they were doing. In the past decade, they had tried to be everything from nu-metal to southern rock, desperate to roll with the times when all anyone wanted was for them to stay true to themselves.
It took Rick Rubin, the legendary producer and smiter of BS, replacing Bob Rock in the studio to get things back on track. I don’t know what he told the band in their first meeting, but I shall employ Thucydidian speech (look it up) to wager a guess: “You people are not the Jonas Brothers. You don’t have hit singles, it’s just not what you do. No one’s going to play a seven minute thrash metal song in between Green Day and Rihanna, and you need to make peace with that. In the past decade, you’ve attempted to do everything from ‘nu-metal’ to southern rock, and it’s not working because it sounds crass and faked. It is crass and faked. Stop it. You got to where you are by making down-to-earth, highly accomplished metal with a strong melodic base. Do it again.”
They listened, of course, because everyone listens to Rick Rubin. And, because the Lord loves irony, because it’s not trendy at all, “Death Magnetic” is their most successful release in decades. Sure, they don’t have any singles running up the charts, but the album is at the absolute top; it stayed there for weeks. I think Metallica has learned not to insult its audience and assume we need audio comfort food from them. We want you to be Metallica, that’s what you’re doing right now, keep it up. Welcome back, guys.
-’The X-Files’ is a great television show. Why didn’t anyone tell me this show was so good? I’ve been watching it recently, and I feel like a huge jerk for missing it while it was actually on television. This is great stuff! It honestly makes J.J. Abrams’ little “Fringe” crap feel a little hollow inside. “The X Files” is a brilliant, beautiful series about faith and science at war. Never have I seen the quest for human knowledge so perfectly symbolized as when “Spooky” Mulder and Scully argue passionately about things unseen. If we can’t explain how this person died, was it supernatural? Is that possible? Great stuff. Yes, the mysteries are cool and everyone likes aliens, but I think this show resonated because it spoke to the war raging in our collective psyche. We’re members of two religions in America: science and faith. Both demand our loyalty, and we don’t know how to serve both at the same time. Maybe we can’t.
Now just because I’m a religious person doesn’t mean this is an easy call for me. Science is responsible for too many essential parts of my day to day existence, and its attempts at clear-headed objectivity appeal to me whether I like it or not. I am certainly a person who is constantly trying to believe the two can co-exist together, and my worst nightmare is being forced to pick one over the other; not because I don’t know which I would choose, but because I shiver to think what that choice would cost me.
-Nobody knows what “stupid is as stupid does” means. I’ve asked plenty of people, no one has a clue. Bite me, Forrest Gump, you don’t know what you’re talking about.
-I’m going to love “Quantum of Solace” no matter what it does. I’ll post a review, sure, but don’t trust it when I do. I can already feel that little wellspring of hope in my heart, sprinkling into my mind fantasies about what this film will be that heed not its actual nature. I don’t know what will happen on that screen, I don’t really care, my imagination will mold it like so much putty in my hands.
The few critics who have stepped forward to criticize “Quantum” are brave, and morally just; they eschew the simple joys of relentless action and insist that the movie should have had more gumption and heart. They are eloquent and honest, and I do wish they’d shut the hell up, because I just do not care. Sometimes, a movie is just exactly what you’re in the mood for, and this is one of those times. I have a fever, and the only prescription is “car chases.” Bring it the heck on.
0 Responses to “Pontifications!”