I tend to think visually. If I can’t picture it in my mind’s eye, then I go back to zero and begin to rewrite. This stance has extended itself to anything I read or watch as well. Obviously, novels have to describe things in detail for it to really connect with the brainpan, but this also extends to entirely visual mediums. If I can’t visualize the world around a motion picture or a comic book, then I usually conclude that the creator’s vision is limited. That usually results in me dismissing the work.
This also extends to the realm of music. A good album has to be many unsaid things for me, but at the top of that list the music has to become ear bud eye candy.
I’ve only once reviewed an album. The end result felt generic to me, the equivalent of a boy band peddling their latest album on TRL. So, I figured I’d give it another shot, take my feelings on the subject of visibility and critique according to that. Below are a list of some of my favorite albums, and a blurb on what motion picture they project behind my eyelids.
Yeah, I’m strange…but you knew that already.
Feel free to share any comments.
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
1968
The Beatles, hopped-up on unicorn tranquilizers, deep-sea fishing and harpooning conventional music.
It was either this or the “Sgt. Pepper” album, but “Sgt. Pepper” doesn’t have “Eleanor Rigby.”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Ready to Die
1994
The best night at your favorite NYC club. All the hip-hop clichés are in tow: Croth-to-booty grinding, Cristol flowing on to cleavage, and Ben Franklins being thrown into the crowd. Center-stage is Biggie Smalls, a walrus in a pin-stripped suit.
Rage Against the Machine
Evil Empire
1996
Zack De La Roca firing funk canons at the White House in hell. His cannonballs are red stars of rebellion.
Korn
Issues
1999
Like Johnathan Davis’ face is melting music.
Many people prefer “Children of the Korn,” but there is something far more sadistic at work here.
Madvillain
Madvillainy
2004
Amidst a cloud of cannabis smoke, MF Doom and Madlib duke it out inside a Super Nintendo. The circuits zipping multi-colored lights like “Tron,” Mario and Link get in on the fun. The beats thump so hard that it shatters your cartridge.
Sublime
Sublime
1996
Brad Nowell’s last will and testament. A tattooed, blonde-kid from California playing to a sea of lighters.
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
2000
It’s like being force-fed sherbet through your ears by Hanna and/or Barbara.
Slipknot
Vol 3: Subliminal Verses
2004
Yeah, the masks that Slipknot wears are pathetically adolescent, but Corey Breenan reminds us of how angry should sound. It’s like watching a shack in the woods being heavy-metaled until it collapses.
System of A Down
Toxicity
2001
Honestly, the video for “Chop Suey” IS this whole album.
Metallica
The Black Album
1991
A Quadruplet of black jeans, black shirts, and long hair playing to nothing but a sweaty studio. Cliff watches at the master control, cheering them on.
Beck
Guero
2005
A car full of hipsters on a road trip across America. Then “Farewell Ride” comes on and you realize you’ve been watching a Western the whole time.
Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf
2002
I already used the car analogy, but “Songs for the Deaf” is like racing down a dark highway with KRDL FM blasting through your speakers during a Zombie holocaust. Watch the re-animated corpses explode on your hood as your breaks give out.
This also extends to the realm of music. A good album has to be many unsaid things for me, but at the top of that list the music has to become ear bud eye candy.
I’ve only once reviewed an album. The end result felt generic to me, the equivalent of a boy band peddling their latest album on TRL. So, I figured I’d give it another shot, take my feelings on the subject of visibility and critique according to that. Below are a list of some of my favorite albums, and a blurb on what motion picture they project behind my eyelids.
Yeah, I’m strange…but you knew that already.
Feel free to share any comments.
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
1968
The Beatles, hopped-up on unicorn tranquilizers, deep-sea fishing and harpooning conventional music.
It was either this or the “Sgt. Pepper” album, but “Sgt. Pepper” doesn’t have “Eleanor Rigby.”
The Notorious B.I.G.
Ready to Die
1994
The best night at your favorite NYC club. All the hip-hop clichés are in tow: Croth-to-booty grinding, Cristol flowing on to cleavage, and Ben Franklins being thrown into the crowd. Center-stage is Biggie Smalls, a walrus in a pin-stripped suit.
Rage Against the Machine
Evil Empire
1996
Zack De La Roca firing funk canons at the White House in hell. His cannonballs are red stars of rebellion.
Korn
Issues
1999
Like Johnathan Davis’ face is melting music.
Many people prefer “Children of the Korn,” but there is something far more sadistic at work here.
Madvillain
Madvillainy
2004
Amidst a cloud of cannabis smoke, MF Doom and Madlib duke it out inside a Super Nintendo. The circuits zipping multi-colored lights like “Tron,” Mario and Link get in on the fun. The beats thump so hard that it shatters your cartridge.
Sublime
Sublime
1996
Brad Nowell’s last will and testament. A tattooed, blonde-kid from California playing to a sea of lighters.
Gorillaz
Gorillaz
2000
It’s like being force-fed sherbet through your ears by Hanna and/or Barbara.
Slipknot
Vol 3: Subliminal Verses
2004
Yeah, the masks that Slipknot wears are pathetically adolescent, but Corey Breenan reminds us of how angry should sound. It’s like watching a shack in the woods being heavy-metaled until it collapses.
System of A Down
Toxicity
2001
Honestly, the video for “Chop Suey” IS this whole album.
Metallica
The Black Album
1991
A Quadruplet of black jeans, black shirts, and long hair playing to nothing but a sweaty studio. Cliff watches at the master control, cheering them on.
Beck
Guero
2005
A car full of hipsters on a road trip across America. Then “Farewell Ride” comes on and you realize you’ve been watching a Western the whole time.
Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf
2002
I already used the car analogy, but “Songs for the Deaf” is like racing down a dark highway with KRDL FM blasting through your speakers during a Zombie holocaust. Watch the re-animated corpses explode on your hood as your breaks give out.
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