Audiophillatrocities: Like a Kid in a Candy Store

Before I say anything...

Yes, I did buy 3 CDs today... must have left a hole in the wallet eh?

hold on..... ZOOM IN ON SECTOR 7G!

WHAT THE FAZZLEBOTS!?

Yes ladies and gents I kid you not, I bought 3 CDs for RM29.70.
Well these weren't exactly CDs I was dying to get my hands on, but I was curious as to how I came across them in that sea of unwanted CDs in the relatively tiny Music Valley store in Ampang. I, like many did love Good Charlotte's Chronicles of Life and Death when it hit the shelves a few years back, and A.A.F and Jem have always stood out as curiosities, having only heard a pinch of their songs. They were artists they to me, I hadn't heard enough of to hate or love... So, why not? At bout 10 bucks a piece, its cheaper than trying to buy only the familiar bits off iTunes.

I'm not here of course to dish out extensive reviews these albums, but I would tell you what I think of these supposed "last resort" albums after listening to them on the way home.

I won't say much about Good Charlotte's Good Morning Revival, since its one of the more "familiar" album to most, and of course the more familiar band. Its hard to compare this album, and the previous Chronicles of Life and Death release to their second album The Young And The Hopeless because they look valued at 9.90 just by placing it along side it's monolithic predecessor. It has to be said that the music arrangements are worthy of some applause, and that the album held its own against it's big brother with the high energy vibes held within some tracks, but the same can't be said for the lyrics which lack the depth young troubled teens resonated with when they were "Young and Hopeless". Nevertheless, still 'Good' Charlotte, just not at their best.

Alien Ant Farm as most would recall hit us hard when they decided to cover Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal back in 2001. ANThology overall fits in well with the post-90's music of the time, worthy of being placed alongside the likes of P.O.D and Sum 41; in fact it comes a cross as an interesting blend of both. The hard driving hi-hat riddled backbeats and "stereotypically 90's+" guitar riffs we'd expect from just about any American band of the time are profound on this record, alot more in fact compared to other albums of it's time which does two things. For one, it cements this album on a huge pavement tiled with similar sounding bands. Secondly, and this goes to all bands hailing from this era, the "stock" "rock" beat the album thumps out on every track leaves one somewhat confused as to what to feel at times. Any trace of emotion in the lyrics is trumped by the pounding music before one could even start to contemplate. As the third line in their song "Summer" goes, the "feeling is dead ". On another note, these bands were never about deep thought so thats perhaps something that you shouldn't ponder upon too much when listening to the likes of A.A.F. So, if you are into that kind of gig, or if you were born anytime after 1987 and peaked in the "rebellious" phase bout the same time I did in the 2000's, this one is for you.

Jem goes without saying, I recall many of the lads in my class back in high school questioning why the music video for "They" was purposely slowed down when things got interesting visually... Aside from curiosity being hormone driven, I did come to like some of her other singles, like "Its Just A Ride" and "Wish I". So, upon finally listening to the album for what it was instead of scrapping at the bottom of Youtube's archives, I have to say that it was decent, not to the extent that I would have gone out and bought the album with more cash, oh no! Aside from the hand full of tracks I didn't mind having in my library, the rest was a tad mundane and repetitive to my taste. I'm not a really big fan of having music driven by soft R&B beats, and having lyrics repeated over and over to the extent that I'm convinced of having bought a Trance or Techno album, but thats just my opinion. Aside from the few curiosities, the album was by no means a "gem".

Oh, and on an unrelated note..... this ruined the cover...... grrrrrr