Music Review: Coldplay - Viva la Vida

It does not matter that Coldplay is absolutely the shittiest fucking band I've ever heard in my entire fucking life, or that they sound like a mediocre photocopy of Travis (who sound like a mediocre photocopy of Radiohead), or that their greatest fucking artistic achievement is a video where their blandly attractive frontman walks on a beach on a cloudy fucking afternoon.

-Chuck Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

After Coldplay wrapped their tour for their last album X&Y, rumor was they were taking a break for a while. Now, I come from the world of Metallica and Tool, where time between albums is usually a five year wait, so I was surprised to see Coldplay back with this new release only two years later.

Despite some of the initial comments I made in my X&Y review, time allowed me to realize that Coldplay was becoming a bit bloated and were on the verge of becoming a parody of themselves. The high falsetto voice of Chris Martin, the soaring music, and the artistic snobbery that can come with being one of the biggest bands on the planet. Keeping your feet on the ground can be a challenge, and in successive albums since their sparkling debut, Coldplay was losing that battle.

If the time off served the lads any purpose it was a chance to take a step back from their whirlwind few years and reassess what they wanted to do musically. Their decision was compromise.

Coldplay will never come back with an album quite like Parachutes again, but with Viva and U2 Producer Brian Eno at the helm Coldplay has found a balance between the pop hits that have made them who they are and the subtle nuances that give them musical cred.

Just a note, the Klosterman quote at the beginning of the article made me laugh, then made me feel bad for liking Coldplay for about three seconds, but then I realized two things. First, while Klosterman's critique is partially true, he is slightly exaggerating his hatred for Coldplay to serve the larger purpose of his essay and what "Coldplay" represents, and second, even if he does truly have those feelings (circa 2000) he later goes on to reference The White Stripes and Jane's Addiction as "great." Eh, not so much, Chuck. Plus, as humorous as I may find him, he is a music snob. I can admit I like bands like Coldplay. Music is such a subjective medium that it seems almost impossible for an individual to purely like "cool" music. Anyway...

The songs on the album are more pulled back than some of the soaring epics on X&Y. For example, the album opens with a musical intro, and aside from the title track and the reprehensible "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" there are no blatantly pop-happy songs. That is not to say there are not great songs on this album. I think "Viva la Vida" is a very quality song. Other highlights are "Lost!" (not "Lost?") and "Yes."

Coldplay's new sound incorporates everything from harps, to mandolins, a horn section, surprisingly minimal drums, and those Spanish mariachi things.

Lyrically I found some of the lyrics to be trite. Lyrics about getting to heaven, crossing rivers, dead people living in heads are pretty run of the mill, but I'm willing to go along with it. After all, I was telling Coldplay to be a little less snobby.

This album definitely won't win you over the first time through, but it shouldn't push you away either. Their sort of lost marching band concept from their video "Violet Hill" is a good reference point for the aspect and mood for the album. In time, I think it will surely be viewed as a good album.

Worth the Purchase: 4/5
Compared to Prior Works: 3.5/5
Progression: 3/5
Sound: 4/5
Production: 4/5

Final Score: 3.7/5

*Note: New rating system is in place. All old ratings will need to be adjusted.

Top 5: Hottest Female Athletes

Following my inspired Top 5: Guys I'd Wanna Be List, I've decided to add to the legacy of the Top 5 by counting down the Top 5: Hottest Female Athletes. What I'm looking for is a blend of looks and talent along with still being active in athleteics. Anna Kournikovas, need not apply. So ONWARD!

HONORABLE MENTION:

These girls haven't quite made their impact sports wise to consider them an adequate blend of accomplishments and looks. Then again, I guess I could have put some semi-ugly girls who have accomplished a lot in sports (i.e. Olympic Gold Medalist, Natalie Coughlin), but where would be the fun in that?

HOPE SOLO

She's the goalie for the United States Women's National Soccer Team. She made some waves last year due to her benching for veteran goalkeeper, Briana Scurry (she was not considered for this article), during the 2007 World Cup loss to Brazil. She also appears in the Nike Sparq Training Commercial (44 sec.). And that's about it.

ASHLEY FORCE

She races funny cars and is the daughter of funny car legend, John Force. I'm not sure if the last name is made up, but there is something very "Vin Diesel-ish" going on here.

ANA PAULA MANCINO/LOKELANI MCMICHAEL

Apparently the former is a volleyball player and the latter is a tri-athlete. Whatever.

DQ'd FOR BEING GROSSLY OVERRATED

SERENA WILLIAMS

DANICA PATRICK

AMANDA BEARD


5. SASHA COHEN

The 23 year-old figure skater is a 2006 U.S. National Champion, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 Olympic silver medalist. While she may have fallen short of some of her higher expectations earlier in her career, Cohen has put together an impressive resume and should continue for several more years. As for looks, well she is bendy, and has taken to some part time modeling and acting. I'm sure that will go well.



4. CANDACE PARKER

She has already won multiple NCAA Championships and any individual award a female basketball player can win. Now she is with the LA Sparks in the WNBA for at least a year until a foreign team picks her up for double the money. Oh, and if you want a guy that went way out of his league, here's her fiance, NBA basketball player Shelden Williams. Whoops, I mean here. Sure she may have poor judgment and is rather awkward, but she's 6'4 for the love of God! Plus, an attractive WNBA player? Come on, that's something.

3. MARIA SHARAPOVA

At 6'2 Maria is no slouch. The former #1 Player in the World is 21 and already has 19 career titles and is a French Open win away from a career grand slam. I mean, the woman should be just wrapping up her Junior year of college, not warming up for Wimbledon in two weeks. I know some people may think M-Sharp is #1, but I think others are a little bit better. Who knows, there may even be a hotter female tennis player out there...hmmm.

2. TANITH BELBIN

Tanith jumped to the public's attention during the Turin Olympics, winning the Silver Medal for the US for Ice Dancing. Apparently Ice Dancing is like figure skating except more boring. What makes it not so boring? Tanith Belbin.



1. ANA IVANOVIC

Alright, you caught me. The 2008 Women's French Open Champ caught my eye. She's really the whole purpose of this article, and I really don't care. She's now the #1 Ranked Women's Tennis Player and is all set to hone in on some of M-Sharp's publicity dough. Frankly, I think she'll be worth every penny. If she can keep up this level of play (which she supposedly can) then a couple years of Ivanovic v. Sharapova wouldn't hurt women's tennis at all. The hottest female athlete is still named Ana, just drop an 'n'. Rock on, Ana.

Kimbo Slice Is Not The Face Of MMA

The sport of mixed martial arts makes its network debut tonight on CBS. The two hour fight card is headlined by the infamous Kimbo Slice. Touted as the face of MMA, rival (and I use rival very loosely) to the far superior UFC, Elite XC has gone the route of many other fledgling MMA leagues by pumping up one individual superstar to carry the entire league. In this case, they have found pay dirt in Kimbo, the former backyard brawler. He carries just enough general popularity and curious intrigue to make MMA and non-MMA fans alike tune it to see what many neophytes in the country think will be a wild swinging/punching brawl that ends in a brutal knockout. That, however, is not what MMA is as a sport, nor what it should be marketed as. The complexities of mixed martial arts is far better understood through what each fighter brings to the octagon/cage/ring as opposed to what is perceived on the surface level.

To Kimbo's credit, he has ridden the wave of MMA popularity to bring himself money and notoriety. He certainly has the strength and punching power to put on a good show, but he lacks the overall polish elite fighters in the sport possess. After knocking out two cupcake fights in the form of Ray Mercer and Tank Abbott [with Abbott's only shot at winning was being powered by his immense hatred for minorities (no, I'm not joking)] Kimbo is hyped up enough to bring in some pretty decent numbers for tonight's TV event. While I'm sure he has been training hard to improve his MMA pedigree there is only so much ground he can make up.

Take for example, UFC Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. "Minotauro" is a 6'3 241 lb. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master from Brazil. Along with a background in Judo and boxing, Big Nog has also ran through some of the top talent in MMA. Beating the likes of Mirko Cro Cop, Dan Henderson, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia, and Mark Coleman. Far from the Mercer and Abbott victories Kimbo has. Now, no one has attempted or even considered putting Kimbo in the same league as Big Nog or any of the previously mentioned heavy weight fighters. The point remains that for Kimbo to be considered by popular culture as an "icon" in the utmost superficial meaning of the word would be misappropriated and borderline enraging to true MMA fans.

There are two types of opinions people have about MMA in general. Either it is brutal and barbaric, a poor man's version of boxing or true MMA fighters are some of the most talented and well-versed athletes in the world today. The product being pumped through the waves of CBS tonight is MMA in some form. There are respected fighters on the card, but as far as Kimbo being the fighter to represent the whole spectrum of he certainly is not. So when he does fight, or when you read about it in the paper or online, keep in mind that at this point he is more circus sideshow than world class MMA fighter.

My First Year Being A Soccer Fan

One of the last articles I wrote on the old (oldest) site was my initial tackling of the English Premier League. While this may not seem like all too big a deal, the prospect of picking up an entirely new sport, league, and culture was a lot to handle in one season, but I feel like I made some major strides. Thanks to soccer fantasy leagues, ESPN Soccernet, Fox Soccer Channel, and a myriad of blogs on the Internet I've caught on pretty quick. For those of you that haven't read the aforementioned article, after my selection process was over I selected Arsenal as my team.

No matter where my sports alliances lie, it appears to be that I may be the source of bad luck because as soon as I pledged my loyalty to Arsenal they lost one of their all time great players, Thierry Henry and were threatened to be taken over by foreign investors. However, as the season began, things turned around. The remaining players pulled together and were leading the Premier League by the half way point. This was quite remarkable and many people left Arsenal for dead (which in the Premier League means finishing in 4th place), but nonetheless Arsenal's ability to play beautiful football and out play other teams was impressive for sure.






Of course, I wouldn't be lucky enough to actually have the luxury of choosing my sports team, then have them win a championship that very year. No, no. After the half way point, Arsenal grew tired and fatigued lacking the depth and experience necessary to carry out a full season. Players, like Cesc Fabregas (pictured) and Emmanuel Adebayor hit cold spells, and before you knew it, Arsenal was out of every major competition for the year. It was pretty disastrous and a huge let down for me, let alone the fans that have rooted for Arsenal all their lives.




Now the team is on the rebound, per se. Their salary structure is under fire as teams like Manchester United and Chelsea basically have none, and this stinginess is causing a lot of gripping among players on the team even causing two starting midfielders, Matthieu Flamini and Alex Hleb to leave for more lucrative deals. Arsenal appears to be changing their ways slightly offering new contracts to Cesc Fabregas and Gael Clichy. Arsenal is also hot on the tracks of several young stars from France, most notably 20 year-old Samir Nasri. Don't let the goofy uniform fool you, the guy is tabbed as the next Zinedine Zidane. Now, Arsenal must move forward and add the depth necessary to sustain a full season in all tournaments. The problem with this is that Arsenal has always leaned towards young, inexpensive players (which I enjoy) and they are also in huge debt due to their new stadium and no foreign billionaire backing their spending. Now, this is a viable way to sustain a team as many European soccer teams are losing money due to the global economy and increased player salaries. Personally, I think Arsenal can win this way, but there must be some common ground in order to hold onto players like Cesc, Adebayor, and go get skilled veteran players that can help now.

Overall, European soccer is fannnntastic. The games are exciting, the format is great, and once they get HD programming, it's all over. It's a great way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, and I always enjoy a new sports pursuit. I suppose the most surprising (in a good way) thing is how much I took to really rooting for Arsenal. By the end of the season, I felt the same way about an Arsenal win/loss as I would with the Phils or Flyers.

So, if I haven't pumped you guys up enough for soccer, try to check out the Euro 2008 that starts on June 7th. It's an international clash of all the top Euro teams in a month long tournament. You'll find about 95% of the world's best players taking part, and it is easily accessible on ESPN2. Now, my biggest problem is what team to root for. Japan isn't European, and I guess my default would be Germany, but I really don't associate myself too much with my German heritage. I kind of like the French team because Arsenal has so many French players, and I kind of want to root for Portugal just so I have a reason to root for Cristiano Ronaldo. I think it's gonna either be France or Germany. So we'll see. But check it out, hope you'll be joining me next year (which starts in August!).

Movie Review: Iron Man

Iron Man kicks off the Summer Blockbuster Season. Stop me if you've heard this before. Yes, it is true, Summer and Summer Blockbusters are coming. Screw plot, acting, and intelligence, let's get some CGI, explosions, sequels, and overly attractive people that can't act. While Iron Man applies to to most of those stereotypes, the reason I didn't write off Iron Man all together is that Iron Man is portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr. Also, with this whole "origination" superhero movie that started with Spider-man and was taken to a new level by Batman Begins, superhero movies have gone up a notch beyond just parading guys in tights in front of the screen.

To be honest, all I really knew about Iron Man were a couple of cartoon episodes I watched when I was a kid, and of course the Jerry and George debate on Seinfeld as to whether Tony Stark aka Iron Man wore some sort of undergarment beneath his suit (the answer is yes).

Commercial break: I'm watching TV and this Budweiser commercial comes on. It's talking about the 100+ years of brewing tradition and how it is the "Great American Lager." Listen guys at Bud...we all know Budweiser sucks. It tastes horrible, leaves your stomach in knots, and isn't of high regard for most people. Technically, it's not even a beer, let alone a lager. The ingredients make Bud more of a rice wine than a beer. Give it up, Bud. You're not fooling anyone.

So what I was really looking for from Iron Man was his origins. Unlike Superman, Batman, Spider-man, etc. I wasn't sure what made Iron Man tick or why billionaire arms developer, Tony Stark took on this new persona. The beginning, although slow, was really the main point of interest for me. Ok, so Tony Stark was a kid genius, inherited his dad's weapon manufacturer, and as many spoiled genius kids are...they develop a drinking problem and live a lavish life womanizing and driving awesome cars. Oh, the second best part of the movie, Tony Stark's Audi R8. It is an amazing car, and coincidentally, I saw an all black one rolling down the streets of Philly the next day. That's $110,000 base model, folks. I would kill for less.




Anyway, back to the origin, Tony Stark is captured and fill in the spoiler blanks, he becomes Iron Man. That part, as I said was slow, but not unbearable as long as there is a pay off for it. However, there was none. Iron Man slacks once it gets into the whole fighting the villains, plot part. There are a couple of interesting moments where Iron Man dismantles a terrorist network in some generic Middle Eastern city, as far as the action is concerned, but there isn't any real drive or purpose behind the action, the villains, and why Iron Man is taking these people down.

The villain is obvious from the get go of the movie, laying waste to one of the worst "Surprise! You thought I was a Good Guy Guys" ever. Then, who is Iron Man fighting? Terrorists? The "SYTIWAGGG?" There needs to be some focus there. Also, I'm not appreciative of the whole, generic terrorists angle. There was no reason why they did what they did or reasoning as to why they acted the way they were. We were just supposed to assume, oh these guys are from the Middle East somewhere, they must want to kill the United States and destroy our way of living because that's what Middle Eastern people do. Just a little more thought to certain aspects like that are what separates a great superhero movie from an average superhero movie.

Also, it looks like Iron Man just deals with global problems. He doesn't stop bank robberies or local problems like your typical superhero, but he uses his suit to tackle world issues. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not, but it appears to be the situation.

Iron Man tries to be an outstanding superhero movie though. As I mentioned, they cast Robert Downey, Jr. as a superhero, which is odd to say the least, and they went after Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Terrence Howard to round out the main players. All of them had particularly forgettable roles and weren't given much to work with character wise. They were all very one dimensional and just second fiddle to Downey's role.

Director Jon Favreau does an admirable job with his first Blockbuster, but his lack of experience does show on the major plot and story points. He seems to be more concerned with the effects, rather than the character development that has made him a successful director up to this point. Despite the wide palate of possibilities Favreau is presented with, he keeps this movie pretty by the book. There aren't any truly memorable moments, nor was there much creativity on Favs part. He even gave himself an overdone cameo as Stark's bodyguard. Plus, would it have killed him to throw in an answering machine scene?

Overall, Iron Man does kick off the Summer Blockbuster season with the hype, promotion, effects, and big box office returns that one would expect. This is not Batman Begins more Fantastic Four (minus Jessica Alba). Major Boo points. Anyway, this movie will entertain those that want to be entertained, but beyond some improvised lines from Downey and the R8, Iron Man proves to be pretty forgettable.

Directing:3.0/10
Acting: 7.5/10
Plot: 4.0/10
Re-Watchability: 6.0/10
DVD Purchase: 2.0/10

Overall: 4.5/10

EDITOR'S NOTE: Just picked this up after I posted my review, but I left out the best thing about the whole movie experience. I went to see it at the Ritz in Voorhees, and who should walk in the lobby as I was enjoying a coffee, but Brian Dawkins. That's right B-Dawk was in the house looking as if he wasn't trying to be noticed, except for the fact that I know what Dawk looks like and I'm betting the average movie goer isn't ripped to shreds like he is. Sure enough, he was going to see Iron Man with two guests. Of course I went in after he entered the theater and sat about 10 feet away from him. It was a cool experience, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to ruin his evening and draw attention to him. Good times though.



Yes, that is a photoshopped picture of a fully uniformed Brian Dawkins making love to Jessica Simpson while Romo cries. Guess it was funnier when Romo and the uglier Simpson sister were still together. Oh well, funny nonetheless.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I'm reworking the site. It's not done yet so lay off me!! In the meantime, enjoy the sleepy kitten.

Coming up:

Iron Man Review
Wrap up of my first season following the English Premier League

Also, check out the Foo Fighters reference link on the side of the site. I had a nice conversation with an ACTUAL Foo Fighters fan!

Courtesy Flush

First off, I would like to apologize for my baseball picks. I'll admit, they were a little rushed, and although I'm not willing to write them off entirely since we are just at the 20 game mark, a lot of my "predictions" have been horrible. For example, the Tigers winning the World Series without any bullpen and a new offense that hasn't meshed yet. Then there's me not picking Chase Utley for NL MVP. Nine homers later, I feel like a bum. Not only because he is my favorite Phil, but I deliberately did not pick Chase because I didn't want to seem biased. So if I could do it again, I'd change about 85% of my picks. I don't mind my division picks, but as for the awards...I'm embarrassed.

Speaking of sports...

The UFC had their first pay-per-view ever in Canada. Headlined by one of the best pound for pound MMA fighters in the world, and Hab native, Georges St. Pierre. I'm mentioning this because St. Pierre has lined himself up to go on an epic run in the UFC at his weight class. For those that don't know, St. Pierre is arguably the most well-rounded and definitely the most athletic fighter in MMA. Although, he was supposed to go on such a run against Matt Serra before losing to him a year ago. Well, St. Pierre avenged that loss and now has the focus and drive to be something great. Plus, we'll all hold our breath for a possible Anderson Silva v. Georges St. Pierre mega-fight. Unless, Silva, who is the best LB 4 LB fighter in the world, bumps up to 205 before that.

As I mentioned, the UFC was in Canada, and as a result UFC President Dana White piled the card with Canadians. This resulted in some less than "hyped" fights. Including three strange fights.

The first was Michael Bisping v. Charles McCarthy. Bisping is British as McCarthy claims the UFC is giving Bisping a cupcake schedule to increase appeal overseas. Well, McCarthy backed his words up by covering his face for 5 minutes before a Bisping knee did him in.

Second, was the Rich Franklin v. Travis Lutter fight. Franklin was the former 185 LB. champ before Anderson Silva broke his face...twice. Lutter gave Silva the best fight in the past year or so, and he was going to use Franklin as a springboard back to Silva. However, Lutter has consistently had weight problems, even coming in over the limit when he fought Silva. Well this time, the out of shape Lutter made weight but gassed by the 2nd round, leaving Franklin (an excellent striker) to tee off and finish the pathetic mess that is Travis Lutter.

Last but certainly not least was the most bizarre fight I have ever seen. Nate Quarry v. Kalib Starnes. Starnes is one of the Canadians on the card, fighting in front of his home town. Both are respectable fighters, but for some reason Starnes decided he was going to run from "Rock" Quarry (get it?) all night long. Openly leading to his hometown fans booing him and Quarry openly mocking him in the ring. This of course led to numerous YouTube clips being assembled in his name. There really isn't any words to describe it, so video works better. Oh, and Dana White immediately ripped up Starnes contract after the fight. Seriously...

Kalib Starnes Fights Away From The 90's

Kalib Starnes Runs Away To The 80's

Run Hard: The Kalib Starnes Story


Speaking of UFC...

Normal color commentator, Joe Rogan, was not at ringside due to a family obligation. I tend to think that the pay-per-view was on April 19th, and Rogan [a MASSIVE pothead (still cool guy though)] didn't want to miss any 4/20 action. Either or, I did get to catch his main gig, a comedy show in Philly a couple of weekends ago. I saw his standup on Showtime and it was HIIIILARIOUS, so I did the compu-nerdy thing and checked his Myspace to see if he had any shows coming to town. Sure as shit he did. So a couple of my friends hit it up for our first real comedy show. All I can say is that it was awesome.

The show was at Helium Comedy Club in Philly. It really was my ideal of what a comedy club is, which means it looks like the comedy club that Jerry performs at on Seinfeld.

Rogan was touring with two other comics, both of whom, certainly had their own sense of humor. All of them were hilarious, and warmed up the crowd like champs. There were two things I wanted to see at the show:

1. Rogan bring the place down, of course.
2. Rogan throw out a drunk heckler (he's famous for this)

Luckily I got both. Rogan was hilarious, and a drunk bunch of "dudes" were thrown out for being loud and obnoxious. Everyone I went with called it from the get go as these assclowns were waiting for the show holding a blow up doll and doing certain sexual positions to it. Real geniuses we were dealing with. It gave me great pleasure to see them leave, and Rogan of course ripped into them with is usual brash humor.

The coolest part was that Rogan hung out after and talked to the crowd, took pictures, and just made sure we got our money worth, which I say we did. Check out his DVD (it's in my Recommendations) or just go see a comedy show. Keep an eye out for a guy that you think is funny and just make a night of it. Well worth your time, and South Street is only a cab ride away afterwards.

GO FLYERS!

Concert Review: Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden is relatively new to me as compared to most of my favorite bands. Metallica and the re-united Stone Temple Pilots have been with me since middle school, tool followed soon after and so on and so forth. Being able to catch up on these metal legends have been a pleasure, and the one aspect I had been missing out on was the live concert. I have seen Maiden once before on the Somewhere Back In Time Tour, but Maiden just essentially played the entire new album. So when this opportunity to see them in a "throw back" concert in honor of their historic 1980's world tour. This is Maiden at their best. Playing all their old songs and putting on a huge stage show that glorifies all the 80's excess I missed out on.

Essentially, Maiden loaded everything onto a custom 757 for a world tour. That's every person, instrument, and piece of equipment needed for an entire stage show. Luckily, of the only two shows in the United States was in East Rutherford, NJ. So I gathered some of my friends in a 2008 stretch Charger we rented (for convenience) and we were on our way!

Getting there, it was sold out of course. But let's start in the beginning. The opening act was Lauren Harris (daughter of Maiden founder Steve Harris). I was initially bummed that there wasn't a more prolific band like Avenged Sevenfold, Helloween, or Iced Earth. However, when Lauren took the stage, I was fine with it for two reasons. First, see the picture to the right. She could have done a mime act for 35 minutes and I would have been fine with it. Second, I'm a sucker for female lead singers in rock bands. I don't know why this is the case, but it gets me all the time. Whether it is Nightwish, Flyleaf, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or Paramore I'm a sucker. If I was a superhero, female lead singers in rock bands would be my weakness.

Just a quick word about Lauren's band. The drummer is 50...seriously. Then there is the bass player. Randy Gregg is his name and rocking the fucking house is his game. The guy is straight out of the 80's. He had the spandex, the hair, make-up and stereotypical rock star moves. He looked like a Motley Crue reject, but by the end of the show I was his #1 fan. Rock on, Randy!

On to the show. I was lucky enough to get VIP floor seats, that left me about 3 people back from the stage. Good times. Then came the Churchill Speech Intro, Aces High, and explosions and the concert was off and running. Maiden ran through many of their classic songs during the 2 hour show. The fans were crazy, and minus some obnoxious asses up front, things were great. The stage show was elaborate, but what really pushed this concert beyond the previous one I had seen (besides the set list) was the pyro. There were so many explosions that you really got a sense for what a classic rock show was.

Despite being essentially a bunch of old guys Maiden never stopped the entire show. Bruce Dickinson was running all over the place and the musicianship of the rest of the band was on point as usual. They still have as much energy as they had twenty years ago. It's a great thing to see as many rock bands are fading out into mediocrity or old age.

Maiden released plenty of more dates in the U.S. for the Summer and I'll be attending the MSG show in June, so I can't wait. Should be a blast. If you have any interest in seeing Maiden, take advantage.

MLB 2008 Season Preview

Since the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's decided to open up the baseball season in Japan, I've been left bumping up my MLB preview by a week. Last year was exciting, personally, due to the Phillies finally making the playoffs. The rest of the season was kind of a drag with the Bonds scandal and a rather dull regular season. I think this year has a lot of good things in store. Since this Roger Clemens mess has apparently passed for now, the focus can purely be on baseball, and that is always a good thing.

So as usual, here are my predictions. Plain and simple.

STANDINGS

AL WEST - Seattle Mariners
AL CENTRAL - Detroit Tigers
AL EAST - Boston Red Sox
AL WILDCARD - Cleveland Indians


The AL is definitely interesting. With the defending champ Red Sox and Yankees fighting it out in the East and the Blue Jays supposedly coming on strong (I don't buy it) the Sox should win an overmatched Yankees team that did not improve upon their deficiencies from last year. The Tigers will have the best offense in baseball with Justin Verlander in Cy Young contention. I like the Mariners in the West. Their pitching should be improved with the additions of Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva to help a solid bullpen. The offense is in question, but it is an Adrian Beltre contract year. Here's what he did during his last contract year:

2004 with the Dodgers: BA .344/ R 104/ HR 48/ RBI 121

An Average Season Since: BA .267/ R 81/ HR 23/ RBI 92

NL WEST - Arizona Diamondbacks
NL CENTRAL - Chicago Cubs
NL EAST - NY Mets
NL WILDCARD - Philadelphia Phillies

The NL is a little bit more predictable than the AL. The main question is out of the West where the D'backs, Rockies, and Dodgers will be looking for a playoff birth. The Cubs have to win that division. The Mets look good from a pitching stand point and have enough offense to carry them to the top of the East. I'm sticking with my team and giving the Phils a Wildcard birth. Injuries are an issue for them, and I think they may be relying too heavily on the likes of Jayson Werths of the world, but we shall see. The offense is potent and Chase Utley should be in the running for NL MVP.

POST SEASON

ALCS - Tigers v. Red Sox
NLCS - Cubs v. Mets

WORLD SERIES - Cubs v. Tigers

CHAMPS - Tigers

AWARDS

NL MVP - Alfonso Soriano
AL MVP - Miguel Cabrera

NL CY YOUNG - Cole Hamels
AL CY YOUNG - C.C. Sabathia

NL ROY - Justin Upton
AL ROY - Joba Chamberlain

NL HOME RUN LEADER - Ryan Howard
AL HOME RUN LEADER - David Ortiz

NL BATTING CHAMP - Hanley Ramirez
AL BATTING CHAMP - Ichiro

HOWARD HR'S - 55

WORST PHILLIE - A Durbin

Music Review: Lupe Fiasco - "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool"

Musical consciousness. It is something that is achieved when you have found your niche as a music listener. It is the period where you stop just listening to music at random and truly focus your efforts to one idea or concept of music. Some people never achieve this musical consciousness, and some people don't want to.

I was one of the people that found my musical consciousness around the time I was 12. After years of aimlessly perusing music stores for the newest CD release and buying such all-time great albums as: Matchbox Twenty "Yourself or Someone Like You," U2 "Pop," or, oh yes, Chumbawamba "Tubthumper." I was finally grabbed by one idea of music. Metallica's "...And Justice For All" album completely flipped my idea of the kind of music I wanted to be a part of. Loud, aggressive, intelligent, and diverse music that sets out to maximize the intent of the genre.

Since then I have emerged myself into the rock and metal music scene. I've gone to all lengths to find new bands and music that can fulfill the concept of music that I wanted to be a part of. That was nearly 12 years ago. Since then, I've ran the gamut of that kind of music. From the legends, to underground bands, progressive rock, and mid to late 90's flag carriers for a new generation. Now, I feel like I am in a rut. My appetite for music has essentially dried up essentially all the bands I would want to know about, and there hasn't been a worthwhile new band since the late 90's.

So now I'm left without my main source of music. These new bands like Children of Bodom, Bullet for My Valentine, and Lamb of God don't do it for me. So I searched outside of the metal realm for artists that encapsulated my idea of what good music is.

The positive that came about was my interest in different kinds of music. Across genres and generations I searched far and wide from England to Sri Lanka for new musical inspirations for my own sanity and interest. From Richard Wagner to John Coltrane to Cabaret Voltaire to TV on the Radio to M.I.A. to the point of this whole article, Lupe Fiasco.

Lupe first came to my attention on his protege, Kanye West's song, "Touch the Sky." Soon after came the release of Lupe's "Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor." There were several songs on the album I downloaded and enjoyed very much. He was definitely one of my favorite rappers, but where the separation comes is two fold.

1. My favorite rapper doesn't mean a favorite artist. Look at my Facebook profile. I have a couple artists listed under the "Favorite Music" section, but if you scroll down to my iLike artists there are roughly 3x as much.

2. I was biased. I didn't want to buy a rap album, or pretty much any other album that wasn't metal/rock oriented. It was for no reason other than my own prejudice against wanting to step outside my musical comfort zone.

With much of the same Kanye sensibility and a pronounced focus on interesting topics and acrobatic lyrics, it was becoming more and more difficult for me to deny the talent that Lupe has. Although his art is rap, the angle at which he approaches his music is one of much intelligence and style. He shrugs off common rapper stereotypes of money, ho's, and gangster life. That wasn't his life, and that's not what he knows about. What he does concern himself with are global situations facing young black people as well as fighting against the images that rap tends to thrust on their artists.

As the release of Lupe's second album "Lupe Fiasco's The Cool," came, it definitely had my ear. Everyone knows "Superstar," but it was the rest of the album that caught my attention yet again. Lupe surpassed his skill level on "Food & Liquor" to produce another fresh, amazingly original album that deserves every drip of acclaim for this up and coming MC. The lure of the music became to great for me, and I was running out of reasons to NOT buy this album. It was like the time I tried to convince myself that Miranda Kerr wasn't hot. I made a strong argument for about a half hour. I really believed she was okay compared to other models, but then my wits came back to me and I realized how wrong I was.

This album is just a thematic trip that everyone should be a part of. Every song is a powerhouse of production and lyrical ingenuity that can cross anyone's musical tastes. Some people may be hesitant to agree, but listen to "Gold Watch," "Paris, Tokyo," or "Gotta Eat," and try not to move your head. It's not possible. Want a crash course in who Lupe is? Then listen to "Dumb it Down." He references Street Fighter in his lyrics for God's sake! How awesome is that?

I love Street Fighter 2 I just really hate Zangief/
Only Ken and Ryu I find it hard to beat Blanca/
I keep a wee ninja hanging and a/
Unkle album banging/
If you negative in energy then stay out the vicinity of...

This is not your typical album, and Lupe is not your typical artist. He is classic like Wagner, smooth like Coltrane, and intelligent and rocking like Metallica. He is a part of my music consciousness, and he certainly is a pioneer in my branching out a little more to find music that is just great music.

So if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. My musical conscious is expanding, but I suggest you get Lupe's new album.


Compared to Prior Works: 4.0/5
Progression: 4.0/5
Listenability: 5.0/5
Song Quality: 4.5/5

Final Score: 4.38/5