Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
CKY - Carver City [Special Edition]
Intellectual progressive skate-metal semi-concept album.
For anybody who hasn't rushed out to buy it from that description alone, you may continue to read.
CKY wrote their 2009 album, Carver City, as a concept album about a fictional town sharing the same name. Presented as a bayside tourist destination, but hiding a dark and tragic history underneath it's gilded veneer, the city's sordid past is reflected through the subject matter of the album's songs, most of which are allegedly based on real events.
This is a great album to help broaden any music collection, and I've chosen it as my first suggestion intentionally. Carver City is an album easilly accessible to any fan of metal or alternative rock, but possesses an intelligence and creativity that surpasses most other mainstream bands within either genre. Progressive-rock influences are unmistakable throughout the album, whether taking form in exploratory synth-solos or Jess Margera's drumming. The lyrical prowess throughout fluctuates between the powerful, melancholic drama of "...And She Never Returned" (also, try listening to "Boardwalk Body without feeling at least a LITTLE fucking pissed off) and the crowd-pleasing social outrage of "Rats in the Infirmary". And while I'm mentioning "Rats", the album breaks up it's prog-rock themes with a few well placed, catchier anthems such as "Rats" or "A#1 Roller Rager".
I usually find Special Edition albums to be cheap fucking tricks, either tacking a few shit songs to the end of the album or packaging some shit DVD that you'll never watch, in order to get you to pay $15 as opposed to $10 of $12. However, this is one case in which I fully recommend the SE. Now, I don't know why the songs "Fisherman's Wharf" parts one and two weren't included on the main album - probably some combination of money-grabbing and lack of lyrics (thus, not contributing to the theme of the album). However, those two tracks, in addition to some extra artwork on the sleeve to support the concept, make this worth the extra few bucks.
If there's one real flaw to the album, it's that it's not a full-flegged concept album. There's no sense of narrative - instead, we have to KNOW that it's a concept album, and to have that concept explained beforehand, before understanding what the artists were attempting. Of course, doing so would decrease the accesiblity of the album, so it's a sacrifice that was worth making.
QUALITY: * * * 1/2
VARIETY: * * * * *
ORIGINALITY: * * * * 1/2
(Ratings out of 5 stars)
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Boardwalk Body." It's not among the more proggy songs, but it fucking got under my skin. About a young man who witnesses the murder of a woman and finds her body by the waterfront, it brings back memories of Seven Mary Three's "Water's Edge", while the lyric "And who could ever leave her like this?!/he took her hand inside of his..." is the best of the album, creating a romantic tension that explodes and magnifies the tragedy of the song, and exhibits a slick writing style that shows CKY really knows what they're doing.
Among the more proggy songs, "Fisherman's Wharf Pt.2" is probably the clear cut best. While "Carver's Bones" is a great climax to the concept of the album, this bonus instrumental track has a tremendously fragile, wraith-like feel that pushes it a bit further.
BOTTOM LINE: Though CKY found mainstream success with their "Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild" album during the Jackass craze, Carver City is a better album in some ways. At the very least, it shows an artistic intent above and beyond a lot of the shit in mainstream metal, and for that I can recommend it above most metal albums.
For anybody who hasn't rushed out to buy it from that description alone, you may continue to read.
CKY wrote their 2009 album, Carver City, as a concept album about a fictional town sharing the same name. Presented as a bayside tourist destination, but hiding a dark and tragic history underneath it's gilded veneer, the city's sordid past is reflected through the subject matter of the album's songs, most of which are allegedly based on real events.
This is a great album to help broaden any music collection, and I've chosen it as my first suggestion intentionally. Carver City is an album easilly accessible to any fan of metal or alternative rock, but possesses an intelligence and creativity that surpasses most other mainstream bands within either genre. Progressive-rock influences are unmistakable throughout the album, whether taking form in exploratory synth-solos or Jess Margera's drumming. The lyrical prowess throughout fluctuates between the powerful, melancholic drama of "...And She Never Returned" (also, try listening to "Boardwalk Body without feeling at least a LITTLE fucking pissed off) and the crowd-pleasing social outrage of "Rats in the Infirmary". And while I'm mentioning "Rats", the album breaks up it's prog-rock themes with a few well placed, catchier anthems such as "Rats" or "A#1 Roller Rager".
I usually find Special Edition albums to be cheap fucking tricks, either tacking a few shit songs to the end of the album or packaging some shit DVD that you'll never watch, in order to get you to pay $15 as opposed to $10 of $12. However, this is one case in which I fully recommend the SE. Now, I don't know why the songs "Fisherman's Wharf" parts one and two weren't included on the main album - probably some combination of money-grabbing and lack of lyrics (thus, not contributing to the theme of the album). However, those two tracks, in addition to some extra artwork on the sleeve to support the concept, make this worth the extra few bucks.
If there's one real flaw to the album, it's that it's not a full-flegged concept album. There's no sense of narrative - instead, we have to KNOW that it's a concept album, and to have that concept explained beforehand, before understanding what the artists were attempting. Of course, doing so would decrease the accesiblity of the album, so it's a sacrifice that was worth making.
QUALITY: * * * 1/2
VARIETY: * * * * *
ORIGINALITY: * * * * 1/2
(Ratings out of 5 stars)
MY FAVORITE SONG: "Boardwalk Body." It's not among the more proggy songs, but it fucking got under my skin. About a young man who witnesses the murder of a woman and finds her body by the waterfront, it brings back memories of Seven Mary Three's "Water's Edge", while the lyric "And who could ever leave her like this?!/he took her hand inside of his..." is the best of the album, creating a romantic tension that explodes and magnifies the tragedy of the song, and exhibits a slick writing style that shows CKY really knows what they're doing.
Among the more proggy songs, "Fisherman's Wharf Pt.2" is probably the clear cut best. While "Carver's Bones" is a great climax to the concept of the album, this bonus instrumental track has a tremendously fragile, wraith-like feel that pushes it a bit further.
BOTTOM LINE: Though CKY found mainstream success with their "Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild" album during the Jackass craze, Carver City is a better album in some ways. At the very least, it shows an artistic intent above and beyond a lot of the shit in mainstream metal, and for that I can recommend it above most metal albums.
Ground Control to Major Tom
Okay, so there seems to be some money available in this blogging thing...or so I've been led to believe. And so I figured, "hey, my opinions are more important than everybody elses! Why SHOULDN'T I get paid for them?!" No...in fact, it's my God given OBLIGATION to tell other people how to think and act.
...I think that's the same inspiration that Stalin drew on...
...but no matter.
Anyway - I know that everybody says "Oh, I listen to everything...but I prefer [X]." Then when you ask for a peek at their collection, iPod, whatever-have-you...it's ALL [X]. Worse yet, it's all *shudder* RADIO rock.
Now, I DO listen to just about everything that I can get my hands on. And when I hear this, I usually drop a few strategic suggestions to liven up their catalog, and promptly change the subject. So I figured, "hey, I'll just write a fucking blog about it. Then when this happens again, I can just give them the URL. It's GENIUS!" I've seen few resources on how to build a better collection, so hey...that's something I can do.
I think the format I'll do this in is to suggest a variety of easily accessible albums that would fit easily into any collection, and hope that it gets any readers interested in finding more music within that style. That's what's worked for me, so hopefully it works for others.
The one thing I have to say, here and now - if you only pursue the music you like, then your tastes won't change. To improve your listening habits, you have to challenge yourself, and listen to the stuff that might not interest you right away. In fact, the stuff you HATE is the stuff you should be listening to three, or four, or five times until you get an ear for it.
I'm only doing this to improve my ability to write about music, so I'll write when I feel like it. That is, unless I actually CAN make a profit, in which case I could find time to schedule it.
So whatever, lets see what happens.
...I think that's the same inspiration that Stalin drew on...
...but no matter.
Anyway - I know that everybody says "Oh, I listen to everything...but I prefer [X]." Then when you ask for a peek at their collection, iPod, whatever-have-you...it's ALL [X]. Worse yet, it's all *shudder* RADIO rock.
Now, I DO listen to just about everything that I can get my hands on. And when I hear this, I usually drop a few strategic suggestions to liven up their catalog, and promptly change the subject. So I figured, "hey, I'll just write a fucking blog about it. Then when this happens again, I can just give them the URL. It's GENIUS!" I've seen few resources on how to build a better collection, so hey...that's something I can do.
I think the format I'll do this in is to suggest a variety of easily accessible albums that would fit easily into any collection, and hope that it gets any readers interested in finding more music within that style. That's what's worked for me, so hopefully it works for others.
The one thing I have to say, here and now - if you only pursue the music you like, then your tastes won't change. To improve your listening habits, you have to challenge yourself, and listen to the stuff that might not interest you right away. In fact, the stuff you HATE is the stuff you should be listening to three, or four, or five times until you get an ear for it.
I'm only doing this to improve my ability to write about music, so I'll write when I feel like it. That is, unless I actually CAN make a profit, in which case I could find time to schedule it.
So whatever, lets see what happens.
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