piątek, 22 kwietnia 2011

Easter

I'm having holidays. So no new post until next week or so.
Peace!

sobota, 16 kwietnia 2011

The Deadly Sting of The Deadly Sting!

Scorpions are heavy metal/hard rock band from Germany. I wrote about them because I like them and also because I promised it to my friend (who occasionally thinks is a robot ;) – sorry had to put it here =D )

The original cover

As you probably know some country who promotes freedom of speech etc. censored almost all of their cover. The question now is. What country censors most of the things? (Hint – the country is located in the North America). Also later on I will post review of a one song and that will be it for now because I’ll be in great trouble If I fail to write the diploma paper ;)

Dude, Where's My Chick?

And now down to the review of Deadly Sting: The Mercury Years by the Scorpions:


CD1
Loving You Sunday Morning – Is not only the first song on this compilation but also the first track on Lovedrive (1979) making it the first piece of music which characterized their new style now known as the “classic style.” For me LYSM resembles song from the 80s. I don’t know why I have this feeling.
Lovedrive – Good, fast song (damn myself still thinking about the 80s), I wonder if Britney Spears was inspired by the “You drive me crazy” line. Hope not. Also liked the solo.
Holiday – There is some unexplainable magic behind this song which I fail to grasp. It is a ballad with calming music, but then for a brief moment it gets stronger and stronger with vocals adding to the atmosphere just for the last part of the lyrics. And then soothing guitar riffs take us to the end.
Make It Real – There is some weird rhyming involved in the stanzas here. Klaus sings totally different in the refrains (they kind of suck in music terms not lyrics). Mixture of soft and heavy sounds.
The Zoo – This song is strange. Peaceful and melodic on one hand and on the other hand bursting with energy. The Zoo draws me to itself. Like a black hole of sounds sucking you into their spider notes.
Blackout – During this song my thought was that I also will really have a blackout. Song is simple, but nonetheless good for the more energetic people.
Can’t Live Without You – The repeated guitar riffs accompanied by the vocals made this song worthwhile. As always Scorpions perform good memorable solos. This song is no exception.
No One Like You – It is one of my personal favourite song by the Scorpions. It is a mixture of ballad and hard rock parts skillfully put together throwing at the listener chunks of emotions and energy. There is no way you will stand still when it’s played, you must move.
China White – It starts sharply with percussion playing along heavy sounds from the guitars. But I didn’t like it. The same thing repeating over and over made me tired of listening to it.
Dynamite – Ah I’m a sucker for good ‘ol fast song with guitar playing solo in the background and after that vocals + drums. This is the music that gives us the power to jump all over our house when no one’s home.
Bad Boys Running Wild – The beginning maybe confusing cause rest of the song is different. Unfortunately when I think Bad Boys I instantly get the picture of Martin Lawrence and Will Smith in my head. An average song.
Rock You Like A Hurricane – Another personal favourite. You get as much energy as in No One Like You. After listening to it once I hummed for about hour. It is really memorable. And the solo is great.
Coming Home – This song surprised me. Just when I was thinking it will be no more than a depressing ballad it jumped into fast-paced hard rock track. And I’ll tell the change was for the best.
Big City Nights BCN begins well with instruments gathering to give the vocals a great entrance. Yes the vocals here are one of the best on this CD. But I think this song shares some traits with others by the Scorpions – the refrain too simple.
Still Loving You – Ah yes. One of those song which sends shivers down your spine when you hear the solo. There is nothing wrong I could possibly write about this song. Sometimes the vocals resemble this of Freddy Mercury or maybe I’m imagining things. Lyrics have more than one layer of interpretation. One of the greatest song by the Scorpions.
Coast To Coast (live) – Live instrumental version of CTC is remarkably good. I like live versions because they always change something – pace, notes, vocals you name it. Powerful song.





CD2
Don’t Stop At The Top – Solid hard rock song giving power to the listeners.
Rhythm Of Love – The rhythm of this song etched into my mind. Damn you Scorpions!!!! Another mixture of soft and heavy sounds.
Passion Rules The Game – this one of the song in which they experimented with other genres. It has a little bit of progressive rock in its composition. There is something strong about it. Maybe the vocals affect me =D And I’m the only one who thinks that he mispronounces “passion”? Whatev.
Walking On The Edge – The opening vocals are great. Klaus Meine once again showed what he is capable of. Like PRTG it is experimentation and one with excellent results.
Believe In Love – Guitar riffs at the beginning gives emotions which will stay with us for the rest of the song. This track gathers in us the power to Believe In Love (ok at least in my case).
I Can’t Explain – Nice song with some crazy solo work in-between vocal parts.
Tease Me Please Me – Yet another typical hard rock song. As a side note it is the first song on Crazy World studio album (yes the one with Wind Of Change on it). It keeps its style with many others mainstream songs played at the end of the 80s and start of the 90s.
Don’t Believe Her – This piece of music made me move. It certainly got some powerful guitar riffs and solos.
Wind Of Change – The landmark in Scorpions’ discography. Song recognized for its whistling by many a man. One of the evidence that music can reunite people (even though it became popular two years later after the great change in Europe), power ballad so strong that the artist’s emotions are pouring out on us. I hope it will never be forgotten.
Hit Between The Eyes – When Klaus sings a cappella it truly sounds amazing. And in between the percussion rocks!
Send Me An Angel – Just like WOC it is a power ballad. The refrain is the strongest part of the song. Track is melodic magnificently combining vocals with instruments.
Alien Nation – This is a political song about Germany (well, what do you know). You’ll know when you hear it. Guitars as always play hard.
Under The Same Sun – It’s a sad ballad. Not depressing or turning you into a melancholic, but sad in some way, even if there are happy moments in it 'cause we all live under the same sun.
Woman – Some sampling, some guitars playing, a slow ballad about woman. Even the solo brings back memories of some run-down saloon.
In Trance (live) – Yay another live! I love it! The solo especially. And his wailing.
Over The Top – I remember this song from somewhere. The refrain is very characteristic. This osng is nothing special and fits what the Scorpions played throughout years.
Life Goes Around – Starts with nice guitar riffs. And then it all goes around, around, around, around – spinning to say the least. They chose good song to end this compilation.




Deadly Sting: Mercury Years is one of the best compilations of songs by the Scorpions and it is my duty to recommend to all of you never heard of the Scorpions to buy and then listen to it all day long.

Final Score: 7.5/10

środa, 13 kwietnia 2011

I’ll be the next King of Thorn!

                Hello everyone! As always my laziness kills me =) But here I am with a new review. This time it will be about a manga (type of comic originating in Japan If you didn’t know) called King of Thorn (Ibara no Ō). It was created by Iwahara Yūji and published in Monthly Comic Beam between 2002 and 2005. Later on chapters were collected into six bound volumes. King of Thorn is a seinen (adult comic book) filled with action science-fiction survivor drama featuring two protagonists – Kasumi a Japanese teenager and Marco Owen an American badass.

                The premise is simple. Sometime in the near future a mysterious virus called Medusa ravages throughout the world turning infected people into stone figures. But then some rich guy establishes laboratories in his castle to find a cure. In addition 160 were chosen to be put into capsules in suspended animation to wait for the cure. The main plot starts when Kasumi and a couple of other survivors woke up only to see their entire capsule room covered in strange thorny vines and a jungle of trees. Soon enough they discover another scary thing. Dinosaur-like monsters try to feast on them. Seven survivors are now fighting and trying to find a way out of the complex and discover what really happened during their dream.


                For a very short series it has many characters. Story is not only focused on the two main protagonists Kasumi and Marco but also on other survivors – Tim, Katherine, the Senator, Peter and Ron. All of the characters developed as chapters passed by. They are not shallow always having reasons behind their actions. Story almost always is in big suspension mode trying to surprise the readers with unexpected plot twists and scary moments. What is more the story is situated only in castle turned into a medical lab and I really liked it. I didn’t know what really was going until I read the last chapters. This manga provided many WTF!? and Hell No! moments for me. The drawings were are also fine, but the main character face slightly did not fit the overall art of King of Thorn.  Even though it is a little bit too complicated but fortunately the ending didn’t turn out into technologic gibberish explaining what happened.

Final Score: 7/10

(There is an anime adaption of King of Thorn, but don’t watch it. It’s horrible and changed plot a lot…)

czwartek, 7 kwietnia 2011

Today apple pie, tomorrow the world!

Today you’ll be reading review of my mom’s apple pie =D

It is based on the standard recipe popular in my country so don’t expect the same as in American Pie. The two main visible ingredients are two layers of shortcrust pastry and between them one layer of apple jam.  There isn’t anything that I can say wrong about this pie. Its taste is one of the best mainly because my mom with grandma and aunts spent years perfecting making of an apple pie. In addition apple layer is not that sweet. The jam is made out of apples from my grandma’s orchard so the taste is sweet and sour (but don’t try imagining this taste using the same quality of taste as in sweet and sour sauce it’s completely different). Below is a pic of how the apple pie looks in my country. Hope you liked it J


(And yes my reviews are becoming shorter. This is because I need to write my first draft of diploma paper)

Final Score: 8/10

wtorek, 5 kwietnia 2011

To sum up it is 88


I know Sum 41 only from this one song called 88 (whatever meaning they wanted or didn’t wanted convey by this?). It comes from the 2004 studio album Chuck.


To be honest I stumbled upon this song watching an AMV (Anime Music Video) presented to me by my cousin. And I must say I’m really impressed with the share power of guitars and percussion during the first 20 seconds of song. Then it becomes calm but just for a short time. Vocals are good for this part. After that the song literally explodes into awesomeness. Once again guitars and percussion hit hard our ears with hard rock music and now vocals are taking part in it delivering loads and loads of energy and emotion. However I didn’t like the ending. It seems as if Sum 41 didn’t know how to end this song. As for the lyrics I try to not to interpret them because to me it is idiotic. There are as many interpretations as the listeners. We should listen, think, and keep it for ourselves. Maybe this is why I fail to approve the ending of song? Nevertheless it is a great song. Below is the aforementioned AMV – as a bonus it contains edited 88 which ends with a refrain.



Final Score: 6.5/10