Oh Yes
Courtesy of YouTube
Better even than Titanic Two The Surface? I think so.
Holy Crap: Mel Gibson Does It Again
No he didn't re-insult those damn filthy-rich Jews and their horned children, he directed another unlikely number one box office hit. Remember this movie? With that ridiculous what-the-hell trailer? Well, with $14.2m grossed on its opening weekend it has just topped the U.S. Box Office charts this weekend according to estimates. See for yourself here. Also note at that link that christmas comedy The Holiday (Diaz, Law, Black, Winslet) "somehow" cost $85m to make, proving once again that stars get paid way too much.
This Website Will Change Your Life
Or at least your listening habits. RateYourMusic.com. Go. Now. It's like IMDB but for music and saner and without the fanboyism.
Like a band but don't know which of their records to buy? Is that band Led Zeppelin? Bang, now you know to avoid Presence and Out Door unless you really really fall ridiculously in love with their first six records and want to have babies with them and name one of them Bonzo. No guarantee you'll agree with the ratings of whatever albums/artists you're looking into but it's as good an indicator as any as to quality, especially when music critics are full of BS and just follow trends.
Here's their all-time Top 100 (and beyond if you follow the links):
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/all-time
And their all-time Bottom 100
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/bottom/album/all-time
Notice how these lists make much more sense than, say, Kerrang's recent list of the best 100 rock records of all-time that placed some "in" My Chemical Romance record ahead of Led Zeppelin IV? That's because RYM's list is instead what actual fans think, you know - people who actually give records more than a quick spin, investing time to go with that initial monetary investment that demands they give it more of a fair go than any "it-was-free-anyway" critic ever would if it's disappointing on first listen as many great but initially inaccessible records can be.
You may also notice how many artists with Top 100 records are in the Bottom 100 too. John Lennon, The Clash, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Metallica, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, My Bloody Valentine, The Rolling Stones, Nas... Maybe Britney Spears and Crazy Frog have timeless masterpieces in them yet.
Plus you can sort by decade or year, and become depressed at how many classic records you used to be able to expect in a year compared to now.
So why am I raving on about this damn site? Quite simple really. Before I found it never would have considered buying a jazz/80s pop/thrash metal record. But I gave The Smiths a chance seeing as the consensus was that The Queen Is Dead topped shitloads of my favourite albums. Didn't take it to straight away, of course not - the fact that this wasn't my type of music was well-established in my initial reluctance to trust these so-called music fans and their "opinions". But by working at it I got there, and now I'm open to a whole other genre, with New Order and Joy Division etc. now much more accessible having acquired a taste for the genre. Same deal with jazz (ew) after Charles Mingus's The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady. It really is *that good*. Then I moved onto *gulp* Metallica. Hated it for a day or two. You know how that story ends. I think, in all honesty, anybody can like any genre of music if they give it a chance and are given the right introduction. It can take a bit of work but I know first-hand it can seriously pay off.
Up to you.
Better even than Titanic Two The Surface? I think so.
Holy Crap: Mel Gibson Does It Again
No he didn't re-insult those damn filthy-rich Jews and their horned children, he directed another unlikely number one box office hit. Remember this movie? With that ridiculous what-the-hell trailer? Well, with $14.2m grossed on its opening weekend it has just topped the U.S. Box Office charts this weekend according to estimates. See for yourself here. Also note at that link that christmas comedy The Holiday (Diaz, Law, Black, Winslet) "somehow" cost $85m to make, proving once again that stars get paid way too much.
This Website Will Change Your Life
Or at least your listening habits. RateYourMusic.com. Go. Now. It's like IMDB but for music and saner and without the fanboyism.
Like a band but don't know which of their records to buy? Is that band Led Zeppelin? Bang, now you know to avoid Presence and Out Door unless you really really fall ridiculously in love with their first six records and want to have babies with them and name one of them Bonzo. No guarantee you'll agree with the ratings of whatever albums/artists you're looking into but it's as good an indicator as any as to quality, especially when music critics are full of BS and just follow trends.
Here's their all-time Top 100 (and beyond if you follow the links):
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/all-time
And their all-time Bottom 100
http://rateyourmusic.com/charts/bottom/album/all-time
Notice how these lists make much more sense than, say, Kerrang's recent list of the best 100 rock records of all-time that placed some "in" My Chemical Romance record ahead of Led Zeppelin IV? That's because RYM's list is instead what actual fans think, you know - people who actually give records more than a quick spin, investing time to go with that initial monetary investment that demands they give it more of a fair go than any "it-was-free-anyway" critic ever would if it's disappointing on first listen as many great but initially inaccessible records can be.
You may also notice how many artists with Top 100 records are in the Bottom 100 too. John Lennon, The Clash, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Metallica, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, My Bloody Valentine, The Rolling Stones, Nas... Maybe Britney Spears and Crazy Frog have timeless masterpieces in them yet.
Plus you can sort by decade or year, and become depressed at how many classic records you used to be able to expect in a year compared to now.
So why am I raving on about this damn site? Quite simple really. Before I found it never would have considered buying a jazz/80s pop/thrash metal record. But I gave The Smiths a chance seeing as the consensus was that The Queen Is Dead topped shitloads of my favourite albums. Didn't take it to straight away, of course not - the fact that this wasn't my type of music was well-established in my initial reluctance to trust these so-called music fans and their "opinions". But by working at it I got there, and now I'm open to a whole other genre, with New Order and Joy Division etc. now much more accessible having acquired a taste for the genre. Same deal with jazz (ew) after Charles Mingus's The Black Saint And The Sinner Lady. It really is *that good*. Then I moved onto *gulp* Metallica. Hated it for a day or two. You know how that story ends. I think, in all honesty, anybody can like any genre of music if they give it a chance and are given the right introduction. It can take a bit of work but I know first-hand it can seriously pay off.
Up to you.
posted by Steve @ 11:25 AM
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