Spider-Man 3
Verdict
Overall, exams went okay-ish. Kind of. Bleh. Expected this given the subjects I was taking and the crap exam timetable I was dumped with.
Chinese Democracy... Revisited
According to some guy in Chicago: November 28. Which could mean December 2nd here. I'm still not convinced.
Endless Wire
So The Who released their first album in 24 years. Still isn't out here in NZ yet for some reason but fortunately if you change your computer clock to a US time zone (any of the four will do) you can fool AOL into letting you hear new releases without having to download them (else it gives a convenient "error" message). w00t. Overall? Haven't listened enough to give the record a fair respose. Like it. It's different. Some awesome stuff there, also some squandared potential due to most of the best songs being chopped up as minute-long parts of a mini-opera and some serious under-production to the detriment of stuff like their best new song Mike Post Theme which kicks ass live.
Bat Out Of Hell III
There is no substitute for Jim Steinman. Long story short, Steinman and the Loaf sued each other for the millionth time and the end result was Bat Out Of Hell III. Comparing it to Bat I is pointless; it's like comparing Kid A to Pablo Honey. But taking Bat III and looking at it for what it is, I guess it has some great highlights in amongst a sea of mediocrity and generic bullshit (like Cry Over Me... by Diane "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" Warren). If It Ain't Broke Break It is bad and its title also fittingly describes Bat III's entry into the Bat series (its an unnecessary album, especially without Steinman's direct involvement, and tarnishes the Bat reputation a little), and the short lullabye Cry To Heaven is "nice" but a terrible way to close the trilogy when you compare it to Bat I's classic closer For Cryin' Out Loud or even the song from which Cry To Heaven was derived, the powerful Angels Arise from Steinman's Batman musical (please somebody greenlight this project, or at least give the songs for Nolan to throw into the movies as score :D ) which would have worked well in its full form as the end of the Bat series. Jimmy dropped the ball on that one.
That said, Bad For Good is on par with past Bat classics and features Brian May doing some terrific soloing (the song sounds very Queen-esque in parts even without him) on a track dripping with Steinmanisms and brilliant moments of lameness/cheesiness (a nearly-sixty rocker singing lyrics like "you think that I'll be bad for just a little while, but I know that I'll be bad for good" is about as much genuine fun as you can have listening to a quality rock song. Blind As A Bat should have been the first single, its the closest thing to a classic Anything For Love type epic rock ballad and is possibly the only other song to be found here truly worth of belonging on a Bat album (and Steinman didn't even write it). There are other good songs, sure, but they don't sound like Bat songs. Hmm. But like I said, judging for what it is and not what it isn't, even if calling this Bat Out Of Hell III readily invites comparisons to past glories, this isn't a bad album at all. At its best it's awesome, and at its worst it's only awful on maybe one or two occasions during an 80-minute running time. Overall? "Decent" I guess. You'd have to like the other two Bats and not have extremely high expectations to bother buying it though. I haven't bothered yet, downloaded the whole thing about six weeks before release though. Gotta love how that works.
Recommended Downloads:
Bad For Good, Blind As A Bat, Land Of The Pigs, Monstro/Alive (basically one song in two parts), Seize The Night, The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Why so many, and not a glowing recommendation? Because there's a big gulf between the best tracks and the worst tracks. Oh and with an album like this, Mp3s can't really do the production justice I suppose so keep that in mind if there's anything "lacking".
Think You've Seen The New Spider-Man 3 Trailer?
No you haven't. Even with shitloads of incomplete CG this bootlegged trailer makes the movie look a helluva lot better than the crappy teaser and, to a lesser extent, new "official" trailer did. If the link doesn't work its because the studio doesn't exactly want this out yet and will pull it from YouTube eventually when word reaches them. Which will be soon.
Script, $50, Goats
First script done yesterday, just doing some typing up now to get it all together as a whole, but most importantly got it done before the semester ended thus proving that having to otherwise pay people vast sums of money is a good incentive to get work done. Maybe. The script currently sucks, but is complete from a start to a finish with a middle thrown in for good measure. I was watching Brazil for the gazillionth time yesterday and got a few ideas as far as tone and atmosphere goes as to where I can take it when I tackle a second draft. For now, I'll let it simmer in the pan for a while and get working on I Am The Lemontree once I've finished doing the company accounts this week.
Overall, exams went okay-ish. Kind of. Bleh. Expected this given the subjects I was taking and the crap exam timetable I was dumped with.
Chinese Democracy... Revisited
According to some guy in Chicago: November 28. Which could mean December 2nd here. I'm still not convinced.
Endless Wire
So The Who released their first album in 24 years. Still isn't out here in NZ yet for some reason but fortunately if you change your computer clock to a US time zone (any of the four will do) you can fool AOL into letting you hear new releases without having to download them (else it gives a convenient "error" message). w00t. Overall? Haven't listened enough to give the record a fair respose. Like it. It's different. Some awesome stuff there, also some squandared potential due to most of the best songs being chopped up as minute-long parts of a mini-opera and some serious under-production to the detriment of stuff like their best new song Mike Post Theme which kicks ass live.
Bat Out Of Hell III
There is no substitute for Jim Steinman. Long story short, Steinman and the Loaf sued each other for the millionth time and the end result was Bat Out Of Hell III. Comparing it to Bat I is pointless; it's like comparing Kid A to Pablo Honey. But taking Bat III and looking at it for what it is, I guess it has some great highlights in amongst a sea of mediocrity and generic bullshit (like Cry Over Me... by Diane "Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" Warren). If It Ain't Broke Break It is bad and its title also fittingly describes Bat III's entry into the Bat series (its an unnecessary album, especially without Steinman's direct involvement, and tarnishes the Bat reputation a little), and the short lullabye Cry To Heaven is "nice" but a terrible way to close the trilogy when you compare it to Bat I's classic closer For Cryin' Out Loud or even the song from which Cry To Heaven was derived, the powerful Angels Arise from Steinman's Batman musical (please somebody greenlight this project, or at least give the songs for Nolan to throw into the movies as score :D ) which would have worked well in its full form as the end of the Bat series. Jimmy dropped the ball on that one.
That said, Bad For Good is on par with past Bat classics and features Brian May doing some terrific soloing (the song sounds very Queen-esque in parts even without him) on a track dripping with Steinmanisms and brilliant moments of lameness/cheesiness (a nearly-sixty rocker singing lyrics like "you think that I'll be bad for just a little while, but I know that I'll be bad for good" is about as much genuine fun as you can have listening to a quality rock song. Blind As A Bat should have been the first single, its the closest thing to a classic Anything For Love type epic rock ballad and is possibly the only other song to be found here truly worth of belonging on a Bat album (and Steinman didn't even write it). There are other good songs, sure, but they don't sound like Bat songs. Hmm. But like I said, judging for what it is and not what it isn't, even if calling this Bat Out Of Hell III readily invites comparisons to past glories, this isn't a bad album at all. At its best it's awesome, and at its worst it's only awful on maybe one or two occasions during an 80-minute running time. Overall? "Decent" I guess. You'd have to like the other two Bats and not have extremely high expectations to bother buying it though. I haven't bothered yet, downloaded the whole thing about six weeks before release though. Gotta love how that works.
Recommended Downloads:
Bad For Good, Blind As A Bat, Land Of The Pigs, Monstro/Alive (basically one song in two parts), Seize The Night, The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Why so many, and not a glowing recommendation? Because there's a big gulf between the best tracks and the worst tracks. Oh and with an album like this, Mp3s can't really do the production justice I suppose so keep that in mind if there's anything "lacking".
Think You've Seen The New Spider-Man 3 Trailer?
No you haven't. Even with shitloads of incomplete CG this bootlegged trailer makes the movie look a helluva lot better than the crappy teaser and, to a lesser extent, new "official" trailer did. If the link doesn't work its because the studio doesn't exactly want this out yet and will pull it from YouTube eventually when word reaches them. Which will be soon.
Script, $50, Goats
First script done yesterday, just doing some typing up now to get it all together as a whole, but most importantly got it done before the semester ended thus proving that having to otherwise pay people vast sums of money is a good incentive to get work done. Maybe. The script currently sucks, but is complete from a start to a finish with a middle thrown in for good measure. I was watching Brazil for the gazillionth time yesterday and got a few ideas as far as tone and atmosphere goes as to where I can take it when I tackle a second draft. For now, I'll let it simmer in the pan for a while and get working on I Am The Lemontree once I've finished doing the company accounts this week.
posted by Steve @ 3:21 PM
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