Review Something To Cry About
I liked Neil's first CD, although it was a little heavy on the show tunes and clubby music for my taste. This somber collection really connected with me, even though I have pretty negative associations with a couple of the artists on it. It also perfectly suits its title. I'm just going to talk about what's on the CD, 'cause I'm too lazy to download the extra tracks.
Hector the Collector Shel Sivlerstein: Bitter and sweet, like all good comedy. I love Silverstein's delivery, but here it's more subdued than his usual manic howl.
Leather Tori Amos: Gawd, I hate Tori Amos. Except this song, placed after my enjoyment of Mr. Silverstein, is the perfect compliment for 'Hector'. Sad, but with a little bit of sassy defiance and humor. Add a touch of bombast, and you've got a great tune.
Price of Temptation Roseanne Cash: Neil, where did you learn your CD arranging skillz? As different from 'Leather' as another piano ballad can be. Affecting and sympathetic, and endlessly sad, with that great hanging ending.
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda Joan Baez: I love Tom Waits 'Tom Traubert's Blues' which uses 'Waltzing Matilda' to similar effect. This one isn't quite as tear-in-you-beer, though. Although similar to the two preceding songs, the longing and sadness is less immediate, but no less palpable.
Maybe it was Memphis Pam Tillis: Kick it up a notch! Belt it out, and let it go sadness. Sadness with a smile, that you can wrap yourself in like a blanket.
Cats in the Cradle Johnny Cash: This is a worthy, but workmanlike, cover. It seems like Cash coasted on this one. Still, it's hard to defeat this song, even with a strangely inappropriate 'chikka bum chikka bum' arrangement. I . . . I liked Ugly Kid Joe's cover better. I feel like I've betrayed the secret brotherhood of people who like good music.
Bang Bang Bang Tracy Chapman: Tracy Chapman was my nemesis on my Israel trip. I heard her first album, with that godawful 'Last Night I Heard the Screaming' song, for eight hours straight. Literall from one end of the Holy Land to the other. It does strange things to a man. But this song fits in so snugly where it is, it seems absolutely right, and I find myself enjoying it, even considering giving ol' Tracy another chance. My hat is off to you again.
Silver and Gold Dolly Parton: Maybe I'm just getting sucked in by the countrified flava of most of these tracks, 'cause even though I don't think I've ever heard this song before, it feels like I grew up with it. Must be living out here in Georgia.
Marvin, I Love You Marvin the Paranoid Android: Why haven't I heard these Marvin tracks before? Great stuff. I guess I can see being sad to this song, but it's to silly to not want to get up and dance to the cheesy robot beat and surfy guitar.
You Call Everybody Darlin' KT Oslin: Another silly, although less silly than 'Marvin', sad song. Yummy and harmless, with enough edge to dig down to where it hurts.
Worlds Apart Big River Sdtk.: Wow, more than halfway through and only one show tune! Segues in nicely. A nice and simple song.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? Eartha Kitt: Then you kick it with the master of overboard emotionalism. Man, I thought she was great as Catwoman, but this song just knocked me out. Slinks into your ears and never leaves.
I Just Shot John Lennon The Cranberries: Yep, it's a Cranberries song. Of course, what could possibly come after that Eartha Kitt song? And it segues very well into . . .
When I Was Young Tina Turner: The CD might have exploded if you put this and 'Brother...' right after one another, but crushing the poor Cranberries in between the wonderful big band '60's sound and the '80's synth cheese in this song seems like a crime against nature. You can just hear the years in Tina's voice. Bad-ass.
Empty Chairs at Empty Tables Men Out Loud: The emptiness in this song, after the excesses of the last three, just crushes me down. Beautiful and Powerful.
Shaking Hands Michelle Shocked: A similar feeling to 'Empty Chairs' but turned inward. Self-loathing and doubt to a jaunty country beat.
The Beauty of Gray Live: Another band I have issues with, and this song is a little too glib and stark for a song about the tough issues in life. Still, it's enjoyable to have just a straighahead rocker at this point.
Still Thrives this Love k.d. lang: Slinkiness removed from Ms. Kitt's school. Slow and sultry in a perfectly brooding cocktail, the perfect pill after Live.
Paradise John Prine: Loss of a treasured place so that it exists only in your mind is a strangely bittersweet experience, and this song captures that.
I Take My ChancesMary Chapin Carpenter: A clever lyric and a never-say-die attitude give this song fire and spirit. Hopeful, yet full of danger and tragedy just around the corner. I could do without the little guitar solo-ette, though.
All That You Have is Your Soul Tracy Chapman: Ending on a quiet note of wisdom. (is this song the opposite of 'Take My Chances'?)
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03:06:56 PM,
Saturday 16 November 2002
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I had a great time at Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. However, I'm glad that this is Columbus's last HP film, his limited visual vocabulary is starting to wear thin, and he's proving to be a strange editor when it comes to trimming the books, often sacrificing character for extraneous plot. The effects are a mixed bag, without much innovation, we saw most of this in the first movie. I was mostly impressed with the creature animation. Dobby works for me better in the film than he does in the books, and I thought he looked great. Fawkes, on the other hand, is simply awful looking. He's supposed to be beautiful! The Basilisk is a giant snake, it would be tough to screw up, and they don't. The chemistry between the main characters is better, particularly Harry and Ron, who act more like best friends in this film. The humor is much sharper and better timed than the first film, and some of the new sets (the Weasley House and Moaning Myrtles laboratory in particular) are wonderful. And Kenneth Branaugh as Gilderoy Lockhart rules!
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10:37:34 AM,
Saturday 16 November 2002
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It would be easier to get excited if I had found out MAD was looking for a new cartoon four months ago.
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03:50:13 PM,
Thursday 14 November 2002
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Sometimes I wish it would just die, already.
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