Ever Wondered What I Listen To?

Now you don't have to! I'm on last.fm and you can add me if you please. At the moment I'm trying to clean up some of the music on there because sometimes my iTunes likes to play itself at night. At least sometimes it has decent taste.

http://www.last.fm/user/mariazipet

Next review will be of this guy's work:

Fearless

Taylor Swift's "Fearless"; Country; Universal Records

Nineteen year old Taylor Swift's sophomore album, which came out last November, is just short of genius. How can a girl so young write something so catchy yet meaningful, appealing but also relatable? That is the magic of Miss Swift, she reminds us all what it was like to be a teenager and infatuated with a boy, believing this time it would be love. Though that happens to also be the problem I have with Swift on a personal level: Does she know what real love is? Moving on to the music, it doesn't leave a lot to be desired but the lyrics are what capture your attention. Love Story, the album's first single, is about forbidden love possibly written about Joe Jonas whom Swift's parents did not approve of (note the references to Romeo and Juliet, two star-crossed lovers). While things did not work out for Jonas and Swift, in the story, Swift's character does marry her Romeo. I find this to be one of the best endings to a song that I've heard in a while, mainly in the way it's executed. My favorite song on the album happens to be Hey Stephen, possibly because I will forever be that teenage girl who is in "love" with a boy  but can't communicate how much he means to her. Fearless is by far one of the best albums I've heard in a while, especially coming from a genre that I tend to shy away from (Country). Hopefully Taylor Swift will continue to be the lyrical prodigy that she is now.

Rating: Buy

And...We're Back!

Well, I'm back. From my 7-week hiatus.

Of course in that time, I did not listen to a single album all the way through, so I will be playing catch up this week and next. You can look forward to my next review being Fearless by Taylor Swift.

In the meantime, enjoy this very...interesting(?) video:

I will be reviewing their album as well.

The Joshua Tree

U2's "The Joshua Tree"; Rock; Island Records

It's weird that I've been waiting all week to review this album and the day I'm supposed to, I don't. If I had to sum up this album in four words: Greatest U2 Album Ever. Finally, they understand the concept of having a melody! Earlier today I was listening to "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" while riding my bike and I felt powerful. Later I listened to "With or Without You" sulking on my couch. There is something about Bono's voice that just carries the heartbreak through. If you've been there before its just that much more painful to relive it again hearing this song. I understand that he is singing about God, not a woman, but even that I get. "One Tree Hill" is a tribute to Bono's personal assistant who was killed in a motor accident while doing an errand for him. The track is a celebration of life but also regretful: Had Bono gone to pick up his motorcycle himself, his assistant wouldn't have died. All in all, the Joshua Tree is an excellent album which will stand the test of time.

Rating: Warrants the Second Coming of Jesus

War; The Unforgettable Fire

U2's "War"; Rock; Island Records

The third album in U2's discography, War, will make you feel at war. The album opens up with "Sunday Bloody Sunday", an observation of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the title of the song originating from the Bloody Sunday incident where British troops shot civil rights marchers in Derry. Like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", all the songs on War sound militaristic and gritty which shows development from their previous seemingly uninspired albums. As you can see the pain in a child's eyes as his/her mother is taken from them, you can feel and hear the anger, sorrow, and disdain in the music. 

Somehow my reviews keep getting shorter and shorter. I think I'm running out of words to  use.

Rating: Buy

U2's "The Unforgettable Fire"; Rock; Island Records

What's the obsession with America? I'll never know. In U2's fourth studio album, this mania comes through. The first single "Pride (In the Name of Love), was originally supposed to be about then President Ronald Reagan but decided to change it to be a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activists in general. [I'll finish the rest of this tomorrow....]

Rating: Buy

U2's Boy; U2's October

U2's "Boy"; Rock; Island Records

The debut album from the now monstrous Irish band, Boy is a rather respectable album. It's definitely not as polished as their other albums, which can be a good and bad thing. The good: it's pure raw emotion that you can hear in Bono's voice. The bad: it's a little less organized than all the others but that's expected of a debut album, especially one conceived in 1980. The biggest problem with the record is that Bono's voice is so monotone that any intended melody refuses to come through. When it comes to his more heartbreaking songs, it makes sense but the album overall is about sex. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that a monotone voice is not very sensual. 

Rating: Download 

U2's "October"; Rock; Island Records

Oh, the dreaded second album! Many bands hit a sophomore slump and it seems as if U2 is one of those bands. October is not bad by any standards, but most U2 albums tend to be a hit or miss and this one is a miss. One thing that is very evident is that Adam Clayton, the bassist, has gotten better, or at least changed his style, since the first record. He fuses together playing with his fingers with slap & pop, usually associated with funk music, on Gloria. But this doesn't distract from the ruling. I suppose what attributed to the ordinariness is that Bono's lyrics were stolen right before the recording session, so he had to remember the lyrics or make them up. I wonder how much better the album would have been if the lyrics were more powerful. The music still would have been nothing to write home about, though.

Rating: Throw Away

Side note: I cannot wait until Wednesday when I get to review the Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum.

U2 Week

U2 releases their newest album, No Line on the Horizon, on Tuesday. So in honor of the band that started other bands, I'll review two albums from their discography each day starting chronologically from "Boy" to "No Line on the Horizon". Like all my other reviews, I will try to be as unbiased as possible but I can tell you right now that "Pop" is as bad as it gets. Who makes a disco album in the 1990's? Come on!

the Brethern Jonai; the Lonely Island

The Jonas Brothers' "A Little Bit Longer"; Pop; Hollywood Records (aka Satan's Minions)

"A Little Bit Longer" is the Jonas Brothers' third attempt at a decent record. If only third time was the charm. While this album is not as good as I'm sure it could have been, it is better than a lot of other Hollywood Records CD's *coughmileycyruscough*. The first single, Burnin' Up, is a catchy but shallow song about a girl at a party that you feel a "connection" with. My main problem with the Jonas Brother's is that their songs lack real substance. Sure, they may not have a lot of experience with some things in life due to their more innocent take on life, but I'm fairly certain that they have at least felt natural teen angst. Lovebug actually seemed good until they ruined the song at 2:30 by speeding up the song. When I first listened to the album, there was one song that caught my attention: Video Girl. Unfortunately, what caught my attention was the lyrics, some of which did not make a lot of sense to me at the time and I figured that Disney made them change their original composition (I'm probably wrong but I assumed the line was supposed "Get some class, don't kiss my ass" instead of "Get some class and kiss the past). Finally, Tonight reminds me of the music I used to hear in the background when I played videogames. Overall, maybe they should spend a little bit longer composing their songs a little less promoting the album.

On a similar note: Did you know that Queen is signed to Hollywood Records? More proof that they should have disbanded after Freddie died.

the Lonely Island's "Incredibad"; Comedy; Universal Republic Records

A while ago I heard that the Lonely Island was putting out an album and I obviously didn't care. After much dissent, I listened to the record and was surprised: It's actually funny. Yes, I have a sense of humour, but I never found the Lonely Island to be funny in their rather juvenile Digital Shorts for Saturday Night Live. The album was hilarious and also catchy from a musical standpoint with "I'm On a Boat (feat. T-Pain)" and "Boombox (feat.  Julian Casablancas)". But to my disappointment, another song is also lumped into the mix "**** in My Pants"*. The fact that the song and video were made is proof that these guys have yet to move past early puberty. In fact, neither the song nor the video was funny the first time I saw it and it wasn't funny the other 300 times I heard it mentioned the month it came out. "Incredibad" is genius in CD form if you are a 16 years old boy or 40 year old man still living with your parents. If you are me, it's good but after a few listens, gets old fast.

*My family reads this blog, therefore I'm not allowed to write certain things.

So...Oscar Nominations Came out on Thursday

And I fell asleep during the first category. I'm just kidding. But seriously, this year's nominees were utterly predictable, save for the nominations for Changeling (...but not Gran Torino? Wrong Clint movie, AMPAS), and boring. The obvious snubs were the only interesting part. Whether deserved (Revolutionary Road; read review below) or outrageous (Gran Torino!). I am going to post them wih my predictions, as well as my favorites.

Predictions will be marked with an "O" and favorites will be marked with an "X".

Best Picture:

The Curious Case of Benjamin... *snore*

Frost/Nixon

Milk (or as my classmate likes to call it "MLK")

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire       O      X

Best Actor

Richard Jenkins - the Visitor

Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn - Milk                                    X

Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of...

Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler            O

Best Actress

Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie - Changeling

Melissa Leo - Frozen River       O

Meryl Streep - Doubt

Kate Winslet - The Reader        X

Supporting Actress

Amy Adams - Doubt

Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona       O

Viola Davis - Doubt

Taraji P. Henson - The Curious Case of...        X

Marisa Tomei - the Wrestler

Supporting Actor

Josh Brolin - Milk

Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt

Heather Ledger - The Dark Knight              O

Michael Shannon - Revolutionary Road      X