Korn - Issues Review

We’re nearing the end of my music review your folks!

We’ve traveled all over the music spectrum. From Europe to the United States, we’ve heard all sorts of songs. Today’s review is a revisit to Korn, one of the more iconic nu-metal bands out there. The album in question for this review marks an interesting point in their career, not to mention an album to end the 90s with. Without delaying it any further, here’s a review for Korn’s last album of the 90s, Issues.

Background
Taken from the Wikipedia page:

“During one of the band's recording sessions, journalist Chris Connelly asked about how the recording was coming along, to which drummer David Silveria responded that it "Sounds like the music is a little more simplified and heavier. Kind of heavier grooves, more than the last couple. So kind of more similar to the beginning, except Jon is a much better singer now, so it's all coming together."

In October 1999, Korn posted "Falling Away from Me" on their website as a free MP3 download, although it was against the advice of its attorneys. A statement on the band's site relates: "We're so psyched about [the new album] that we wanted to give all you guys, the true Korn fans — a gift from us. "Korn Offers Free MP3 Of New Single". MTV. Also at this time, the band attempted to start an online chain email, by posting the letter online and asking fans to email the letter to 10 other people and to then sign the "I Downloaded the Korn Single For Free" guestbook on the band's site. For each person who signed, Korn donated 25 cents to the charities Childhelp USA and Children Of The Night. It raised over $250,000.

On November 15, 1999, Korn played at the Apollo Theater in New York City where they played Issues in its entirety. They performed with a choir as well as the pipes and drums of the New York City Police Department. The crowd was mainly radio contest winners. The band claimed that there was a limited number of tickets sold for the concert.

The album featured four different covers each designed by Korn fans as part of an MTV contest (the winning cover was designed by Alfredo Carlos; another album cover for special limited edition of the album features a cartoonish half-caricature for the band). There was also a fifth cover selected for the limited tour edition of the album.”

“Although the album received mixed reviews upon release, it became a commercial success. According to the band in the booklet that comes with Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 album, they did not want to be part of a popular trend and wanted to do their own thing. Thus the hip hop elements of Follow the Leader were removed, moving the band to an alternative metal sound rather than nu metal. The band admits that with Brendan O'Brien working alongside them, he kept them more focused during recording so far as to not letting them just fool around and party, and that there was a lot less drinking this time around.”


Songs
Dead (“***”): We begin Issues with the first of the mini-songs, and I gotta say, I think they’re not really needed on this album. In Dead’s case, it’s just a repetitive playing of guitars, drums, and some pretty cool bagpipes. Jonathan Davis’s singing is good, but it’s kinda hard to hear’s what he’s saying. Dead is a nice little diversion, with a big emphasis on the word little. A “Meh” way to start the album.

Falling Away From Me (“***”): A little story for you: it was about either 1999 or 2000, and me & my folks were coming back home from a trip to Albany. On the way home, Falling Away From Me starts playing on the radio. It was nothing I had ever heard of before: at that point in my life, all I was allowed to listen to was 80s pop songs, and anything my Mom listened to and approved of. Suffice it to say, she wasn’t a fan of Korn (She still isn’t for the most part).

As for the song, it definitely does sound like it’s more of a normal metal song than the Nu Metal that Korn was/is known for. There’s more tradition play of the drums & guitar, although small hip-hop noises & riffs show up once in a while. The singing is probably retains the most of the hip-hop influence, but said influence has been scaled back slightly so it sounds more like a standard metal song of the time. This is what really should have started Issues off!

Trash (“***”): Korn has always been know for songs that creep people out, but Trash my take the creepy factor up to 11. For a majority of the song, the guitars are played in a very distorted manner, often to the point where they sound incredibly alien. The drumming remain normal throughout the whole tune, as it sounds the least unaltered. The singing is a mix of both altered & unaltered: at least for half of the song Jonathan Davis sings in a whisper-like voice that’s untouched, but when he raises his voice, they warp the sound a little to where it sounds like it’s coming from another dimension. As for the subject matter.....yeah, I’ll let you discover that on your own!

4 U (“***”): This is probably the best out of the mini songs. For one thing, it sounds like you’re floating through space as the song plays. The sounds that they use really convey a ethereal vibe, and the instruments keeps things a little bit on the creepy side of things. The singing this time around is both understandable & confusing, thanks to the distortion effects used. Again, the best of the mini songs.

Beg for Me (“***”): The opening for this song is kinda funky. You’re given what sounds like a marching drum band for a little bit, then the sound effects & guitars start kicking in. The sounds used in this song are actually very minimal, with only some electronic effects & voice distortion applied during the softer/quieter sequences. Jonathan Davis doesn’t sound like he wailing at the louder points in the song, and when he sings more quietly, it’s like Trash all over again. Another decent piece.

Make Me Bad (“***”): A theme I’ve noticed on Issues so far is the relatively even mix between soft & loud singing. Jonathan Davis sounds like he has a lot of control in terms of his voice, and this is no different in Make Me Bad. The instrumentation in this song is relatively different this time around: while the songs before hand has smaller bits of rap/hip-hop, Make Me Bad sound more like the Alternative Metal groove they were going for when making Issues. Everything feels a little distorted, a little alien, and perhaps a little unknown. This is easily the most strangest song on the album.

It’s Gonna Go Away (“***”): Just imagine 4 U, but minus the “floating through space” aspect, and more emphasis on the creepy. Next!

Wake Up (“***”): Delving a little into the psychedelic realm of music, Wake Up is a song that’s perfect for a fight. The psychedelic parts are somewhat obvious during the softer parts of the song, where the singing is lower in volume, and the instruments are played in kind of a surreal style. Outside of these moments, it comes back into the typical backyard of Korn. The guitars are fast, the drums are heavy, and the singing is intense!

Am I Going Crazy (“***”): A very goosebumbs inducing mini-song. Am I Going Crazy relies heavily on sound effects, as you can hardly hear any instrumentation, with the exception of some drum work. The singing is much like what was in 4 U, only somehow with more clarity & distortion. If you didn’t listen to 4 U, then it would hurt to listen to this one.

Hey Daddy (“***”): Okay, time for a funny story!

It’s 2005. I’m in 12th grade, and it’s also the final year that I was in my church’s youth group. The pastor told us one day to bring in a cd, play a song, and explain to everyone why we liked it. At this point, I only had Issues for I believe a couple weeks, so I thought that it was the right candidate. I brought it to the church, he took a look at the case, and sarcastically said “Hey, what song are you gonna play? Hey Daddy?”. In all seriousness, I thought that it was the right song. By the time we were done listening to it, he was like “What is this!? This is almost satanic!?”.

Who could blame him for that reaction? The song is very dark & dingy, with the instruments being played in a very sinister manner. Jonathan Davis goes pretty hardcore in this song, as his voice goes between whisper, squealing, and shouting/yelling at the drop of a hat. Coupled with some depressing lyrics, and it’s easy to see why some people would react this way.

Somebody Someone (“***”): It had to get simple at some point.

I’m not necessarily saying that in a bad way. Given that Korn was going down an Alternative Metal path, it’s nice to hear them do something simple. The instrumentation keeps things to a minimum: the drums are never over the top, and while the guitar work can be a little heavy sometimes, they’re kept in place so they don’t go overboard. Jonathan Davis’s singing seems to be carrying the most weight in this song, as he keeps things pretty loud for the most part. A nice song to listen to if you don’t want anything too heavy.

No Way (“***”): Here we have another simplistic song.

I won’t go too long with this one, since some of what I talked about was in the previous song. The instrumentation goes along very simplistically, and while it does play loudly at parts, it’s actually quite tame. Any sounds that are used are very few, and really only used during the somewhat loud portions. The singing itself is rather low key, as Jonathan Davis only yells at about 2 to 3 parts (I can’t figure out which). Another good song if you don’t want something terribly heavy.

Let’s Get This Party Started (“***”): With a title like Let’s Get This Party Started, you assume that it’s right for a party, and you’d be right!

You’ve got all the right things: fist-pumping instruments, body-moving riffs & beats, and vocals that can get you to groove with the whole thing. There’s really nothing else for me to say....other than to crank this up at your next get-together!!

Wish You Could Be Me (“***”): We conclude the mini-songs with this little ditty. Using some of the rap/hip-hop influence that the band hasn’t used much on Issues, there’s a record-scratching effect that being played alongside the instruments. There other sounds used also, and they make the rap/hip-hop elements a little more obvious. Finally, this mini-song has the clearest singing. There isn’t any heavy distortion used hear, and you can pretty much hear what Jonathan Davis is singing. An okay song: nothing hideous, but nothing memorable either.

Counting (“***”): Sounds like if Falling Away From Me had a second half. Next!

Dirty (“***”): We end Issues with perhaps it’s most bizarre song on the table. For starters, the song is 7 minutes & 50 seconds in length, but there’s only 3 minutes & 43 seconds of any actual music. The rest of it is just nothing more than static. But what about the musical portion, you may be asking?

I say it’s a good way to end the album. Everything that the band does before the static show is very steady, there’s never a moment where you think they’ll trip up, and has a even mix between soft and loud. Again, a good way to end the album.

Overall Impressions & Rating
Issues seems to mark a change for the band. While Untouchables was facing some serious identity problems, this album seems to have it’s head on it’s shoulders. There’s a relatively clear personality with Issues, and while the rap/hip-hop aren’t on here much, the metal aspects are still going full & strong. A must buy for any fans of the band.

Issues get a 8.5 out of 10.

See you next time. Until then, stay Otaku!

Type-O Negative - Dead Again Review

Hey everybody!

Once again, we’re taking a look through the library of Type-O Negative during our revisit portion of the music review tour. Tragically, we’re examining the last release that the band even produced. It is an album that has cleared out a lot of Pete Steele’s inner demons, yet it still has enough of the anguish & pain that fans of the band are familiar with. With that said, let’s look at the final release of Type-O Negative, known simply as Dead Again.

2007 Original Release

2008 Special Edition Re-Release

Background
The sad tragedy of Dead Again is that it wasn’t supposed to be Type-O Negative’s last album. Pete Steele was supposed to begin creating new songs in May of 2010. Unfortunately, he passed away one month before he was to start writing new lyrics. What you see & hear in this album is the final piece of material that the band made.

Despite this being the last album, there are three major things that rise above the tragedy. For starters, Pete had been off of drugs & alcohol for a while, making his mind more clear for the creation of music (He also made peace with his atheism, and became a Roman Catholic......go figure). Secondly, actual drumming was used on this album instead of a drum machine, which were played by Johnny Kelly (He was only “Credited” as the drummer on the previous 3 albums. The only other time where there was actual drum playing was on Bloody Kisses, their 3rd album). The last thing about Dead Again that rises above the tears is it’s placement on the Billboard 200. For the longest time, their albums were placed all over the charts, with their 3rd album being at number 166. Dead Again was placed at number 27, the highest position that their music has ever reached. 

Songs
Dead Again (“***”): I should say that the buildup in this song is intense!

For just over a minute (1 minutes & 17 seconds, to be specific), the guitars & drums are played very slowly, almost as if they were crawling through a marsh, and the muck was slowing them down. After they get out of the marsh, that’s when the speed picks up. After it reaches past the 1 minute & 17 seconds, Dead Again immediately gains an enormous boost in speed, with the drums & guitar being played more swiftly than during the buildup. Pete Steele’s singing in this tune is equally as fast as the instrumentation, but what makes his voice so great in Dead Again is that, like the instruments, they don’t skip a beat because of the pacing. A damn good start!

Tripping a Blind Man (“***”): Once again, we’re given some great buildup at the beginning of this song. The guitar & drums are just as slow as they were in Dead Again, only this time there’s a hint of a 60s vibe going on, thanks to a twang-like sound being used. What makes Tripping a Blind Man different is that it doesn’t go full-blown fast on the listener. Instead, you’re given more of a mix between slower & faster. The slow portion feel very methodical & planned out, but when it reaches the fast part, it becomes a little more random & chaotic, but never too chaotic that it trips up a lot. Loving this album so far!

The Profit of Doom (“***”): With a name like The Profit of Doom, you’d expect this to be a song about the proliferation of wealth during a time of crisis. Well, you’d be wrong. Instead, this song is a mix of two subjects: space & faith.

This is the first time in the album where you hear some of Pete Steele’s faith-based lyrics. You’d expect them to be incredibly preachy, but you’d be wrong once again. The lyrics actually fit the song quite well, and the complement the well-paced instrumentation. They’re never too holier-than-thou, but the choice of what was used has a surprising amount of impact to them. The space aspect of The Profit of Doom comes from a subject that we’ve covered once before a while back in my Rage review (Click “***”), and that would be the asteroid known simply as 99942 Apophis. Many of the other lyrical choices refer to this apocalyptical object from the beyond, and that it will possibly impact the Earth on Friday the 13th in April 2029. Coupled with yet again some great buildup at the beginning, and you have a deep yet still very metal song.  

September Sun (“***”): You wouldn’t expect to find a piano in a Type-O Negative album, but then again, Dead Again has been full or surprises so far. In fact, a lot of things about September Sun are surprising. Just take a look at this wikipedia excerpt:

“Peter Steele dreamt about what would happen if he was haunted in bright sunshine, so he proposed the song titled "September Sun." He began writing this song featuring melancholy lyrics about the dead, doom, and sadness, beginning the first line of lyrics with the song title. The song and the lyrics give inspiration about being depressed without being dark, which gives way to hope and reminisce, like experiencing the first sunset after sorrow or bereavement.”

With the way this song is structured in terms of lyrical choices, vocals, instrumentation, and beats, this is easily one of Type-O Negative’s most optimistic songs ever made. There’s a light & warmth that you really can’t find in any of their other albums (Though not necessarily in any of their other songs), but September Sun still has that signature heaviness that only Type-O Negative can provide.

Halloween in Heaven (“***”): In a turn from what we’ve been listening to so far on Dead Again, the song known as Halloween in Heaven harkens back to Pete Steele’s days in Carnivore, the band he made before Type-O Negative came along. You can tell that this song has more in common with the previously mention band than Type-O, simply because of the instrumentation. This has more of a punk-rock vibe than anything Type-O Negative did, although there’s still that band’s signature style at certain points. The singing is also more in line with Carnivore’s attitude & style than Type-O, but once again Type-O’s style shows up from time to time. A really great party song, and a fun tune in general.

These Three Things (“***”): The most epic song on the list, These Three Things is also the longest song on the album. Playing for 14 minutes and 21 seconds, it is a incredible experience. The tune feels very operatic in a sense: all of the instruments sound very sweeping, the singing is incredibly powerful, and as you’re listening to this, you feel as if you’re going on a journey. A spiritual journey, to be exact.

While The Profit of Doom definitely touched upon religion, These Three Things bring it out into the open. While some would argue that a heavy metal musician embracing faith would be bad (Dave Mustaine is a good example), I don’t think it’s bad in the case of Pete Steele. In fact, his newfound look on spirituality has given him new outlets for lyrics. The way he strung religious litany & imagery onto the band’s signature gothic metal style is nothing short of brilliant. If you listen to These Three Things and have some kind of divine experience, then I guess that it was meant to happen.

She Burned Me Down (“***”): For a man that embraced the light, a song like She Burned Me Down doesn’t reflect that. Instead, this feels like a song that would be more at home on World Coming Down than this album. The lyrical choices rely heavily on death, love, fire, and possibly suicide. With that said, She Burned Me Down isn’t a bad song. Pete Steele singing voice is very low throughout a majority of this tune, with only a moment or two where he raises his tone. The instrumentation is great as always, but it’s especially wonderful where it sounds like a military procession at one point. Another solid piece!

Some Stupid Tomorrow (“***”): At first I was gonna say that Some Stupid Tomorrow was a near-copy of the opening song on this album, but I ultimately decided not to. Sure, it has a slow & sludgy buildup at the beginning like the opening song did, and it becomes a more fast-paced song after the buildup just like in the beginning tune, but it’s the tone that changes things: whereas Dead Again felt & sounded a little more comedic, Some Stupid Tomorrow feels much more serious than the previously mention piece of music. This isn’t one of my big favorites off of this album, but I wouldn’t necessarily skip it once I got to it.

An Ode To Locksmiths (“No song available”): To me, An Ode To Locksmiths is like a 3-layer cake. The first layer is the beginning: It’s fast but not incredibly slow, and it sort of has a lighthearted quality to it. The second layer is the middle: the instrumentation & singing slow down to a more steady pace, and Pete Steele’s religious lyrics come forth for a last hurrah. The last layer is the end: the speed picks back up until it’s halfway between the previous two portions, and it takes on a slight humorous bent, but not like what was at the beginning. An Ode To Locksmiths is an interesting song, played & put together in a equally interesting manner.

Hail and Farewell to Britain (“***”): To conclude this offering from one of Brooklyn’s best, we have Hail and Farewell to Britain. This is a slow & sludgy song, with the guitars taking center stage (This is something that I haven’t heard in a song for some time, metal or otherwise). They have an incredibly steady quality to them in this song, and at one point twang as if they’re being played in a 60s/70s style. While they aren’t in the spotlight as much, the drumming really complements the strings that are being plucked, and continue the 60s/70s English rock vibe. A nice way to end a great album.

Overall Impression & Rating
It’s a damn shame that Dead Again is Type-O Negative’s final offering. The band is really giving it their all in this album: from the drumming, guitars, sound effects, to the singing, the production on this album is some of their best. Even if you aren’t a Type-O Negative fan, or a fan of Heavy Metal, then this may be a gateway into a realm of music you’ve never experienced before.

Dead Again gets a 9 out of 10.

See you all next time. Stay Otaku!



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Sorry for the last post again.

Accept - Metal Heart Review

Continuing the revisited artist portion of the tour, I’ve decided to meet up with the band Accept once again. Their previous album I’ve reviewed, Balls to the Wall (Click “***” to read it), is universally accepted as a Heavy Metal classic. Today’s album marks a shift in the band, but I’ll talk about that more in the songs to come. With that said, lets look at Accept’s 1985 album, Metal Heart, and see if it still beats properly.

Background
Taken from the Wikipedia page:

“Wolf Hoffmann explained the concept behind the album: "We had read an article that someone was working on an artificial heart and that one day everybody is going to have a computerized heart. It talked, in general terms, about how more and more of humanity gets sucked out of the daily life and more and more replaced by machine. It's not a new thing now, but then it was new. Humans versus machine, was the general vibe of the record." The original cover concept was for a hologram of a metal heart, until budget considerations resulted in a traditional cover. But fittingly for the futuristic theme of the album, Metal Heart was the first Accept album to be digitally recorded.

Hoffmann recalls Dieter Dierks as a very demanding producer: "We would do some pieces several dozen times trying to capture what he had in his mind for a specific section," adding: "Each song we tried different combinations of guitars, mic'ing and even strings!"

The song "Metal Heart" is well known for containing the cover of two famous classical themes: Tchaikovsky's "Slavonic March" (in the intro) and Beethoven's "Für Elise" in the main riff and solo. This song was covered in 1998 by Norwegian black metal band Dimmu Borgir for their album Godless Savage Garden. "I had no idea it would become as popular as it did," Hoffmann remembers of his contribution to the song.

"Midnight Mover", about a drug dealer, is one of the more commercial songs on the album and was selected for a memorable music video that anticipates the bullet time filming technique by a full decade. "Just ahead of our time again!" jests Hoffmann.

Despite the more commercially appealing sound of the album, it fell short of the sales figures of its predecessor Balls to the Wall in America. Udo remembers the Breaker through Metal Heart era as the time when the band got along best together. Thus this would turn out to be the last album of Accept's golden era, as cracks were soon to appear in the band's solidarity.”

Songs
Metal Heart (“***”): The first thing I like about this song is that the first 1 of it has a slow buildup to everything else. It’s creepy, and feels sorta like a heart beginning to beat for it’s first time. After the beginning minute, the meat of the song is given to you. In true Accept fashion, it’s loud, bombastic, metal, and induces head banging very easily.

Midnight Mover (“***”): As it states in the “Background section above”, Midnight Mover tells the story about a drug dealer, and it shows. The song is dirty, and flits from shadow to shadow so it doesn’t get seen by cops. The instrumentation feels very much like something you’d expect to hear from a typical Accept album of the time, only this one feels a little safe. Not like a sell-out kind of safe, but more like something that doesn’t try to break the mold of other songs, metal or otherwise. It is easy to see why this was a commercial hit: it makes for easy listening, it’s got a catchy beat, and was even used in a great video.

Up to the Limit (“***”): I didn’t want to say this at first. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it! Sadly, I’m just gonna go with it.....Metal Heart is Accept’s version of Turbo. Yep, this what would happen if accept made Turbo first. That doesn’t necessarily make it bad: The instrumentation is good, and the singing is on par with Accept albums that were put out before hand. Sadly, it feels like they went with a more commercial appeal with this album, and Up to the Limit sounds like the start of it (Ironic, give that Midnight Mover was one of the more popular & commercial songs off of Metal Heart).

Wrong is Right (“***”): Wait, did I just step into a Udo album!?

This song doesn’t sound like it belongs here. Wrong is Right is far too fast-paced when compared to everything else on here. Though it varies from song to song, just about all of the other tunes are slower in pace. With that said, I love the energy in this song! It feels like an out of control power plant, and that a simple accident could make it explode, releasing it’s metal energy all over the place.

Screaming for a Love-Bite (“***”): Coming back to this album’s normalcy, Screaming for a Love-Bite dials things back in terms of speed & pace. It’s not quite as slows as some of the other songs on here, as it retains some of Wrong is Right’s incredibly fast pace. With that said, this feels to be the safest of the songs on Metal Heart. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying something new, it try to break from the pack, etc. There’s still a little value with this song, but otherwise I’d say skip it.

Too High to Get it Right (“***”): So now I’m listening to an AC/DC album!?

That’s actually a little unfair to say. This is still Accept, and this is their song. With that said, there is something off. Maybe it because the singing sound somewhat similar to Brain Johnson’s, or that the instrumentations sounds a little like a typical AC/DC song of the 80s, I’m not exactly sure. The point is that this song has two personalities, and doesn’t know which one to stick with. Catchy as hell, though!

Dogs on Leads (“***”): About as dirty as Midnight Mover was, Dogs on Leads goes for more of a sensual/sinister tone. The guitar remain low in volume for the most part, but you can definitely hear the beat very easily. The drumming has a very steady pace, and it doesn’t skip when it changes how low loud it is. The singing is pretty much the same as the drumming: the pace is steady, and doesn’t trip up when they change the volume. A good song to listen to when the lights are low, and a member of the opposite sex isn’t far away.

Teach Us to Survive (“***”): When the hell did the jazz come in!? Apparently, it came in here.

Now I’m not saying that Teach Us to Survive is a Jazz song. What I am saying is that there are jazz elements. You got drums in places that come across as jazzy, guitars that sound more James Bond than actual jazz, and the singing that has more of a heavy blues metal than jazz. Man, and I thought Too High to Get it Right was bipolar! Luckily, this one still has a catchy beat!

Living for Tonite (“***”): Now this sounds more like Accept!

Not that there wasn’t necessarily anything wrong with the previous songs. However, I didn’t feel that there were completely the band’s own music. With Living for Tonite (Yes, that’s how they spelled it), it feels like something that’s completely their’s. It’s got Accept’s instrumentation, it’s got their singing style, and it’s got their “Fuck You” metal attitude that’s still famous today. If you didn’t like how some of the previous tunes were wishy-washy, you’ll be happy with this one.

Bound to Fail (“***”): A nice way to end this album, Bound to Fail comes back to the standard Accept formula like Living for Tonite did. The title of this tune is a little cryptic: as it says above, Metal Heart was the last album of the band’s golden years, but at the same time this song doesn’t sound bad or pessimistic. In fact, it has something of a triumphant tone to it, which is heavily reflected in the instrumentation (Especially towards the end of the song). The singing has been scaled back a bit to make room for the instruments, but that doesn’t mean the singing is weak.

Overall Impression & Rating
It’s easy to see why Metal Heart is looked down upon by some. The production doesn’t feel like it was completely in the band’s domain, the songs don’t sound like they were completely made by the band, and overall sounds more like Accept just helped make this album for someone else. With that said, there are moments in certain songs, and a tiny few songs themselves, where it’s apparent that the band held sway. If you’re a fan of Accept, you’ll definitely come across this album eventually.

Metal Heart gets a 6.5 to 7.5 out of 10

See you all next time, when we’ll be dead again. Until then, stay Otaku!



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Sorry for the late posting. I got half of this review done last night, then forgot to finish it until a couple minutes ago.

My Top 5 Iconic Wresling Controversies

Hello guys. Well, Wrestlemania 30 has aired not too long ago. While a fair show in it’s own right (I didn’t watch it. This is coming on what I’ve heard), it definitely shocked the world thanks to a certain match. After hearing about this, I’ve thought about controversies past & present, and how they’ve they impacted the world of World Wrestling Entertainment. In perhaps a entertaining & informative post (As well as a surprise bonus post), I wanted to show you what I consider to be my top 5 iconic wrestling controversies. Enjoy!

5) The Montreal Screwjob

For any old-school wrestling fan, the incident known as the Montreal Screwjob is very well known, and probably ranks as the number one wrestling controversy of all time. The reason why it’s not my number 1 is because by the time this happened, I had been out of wrestling for about 4 years (I basically watched WWF when my Dad did. Once he was done with wrestling, I effectively stopped watching as well). I guess I put the Montreal Screwjob on here out of respect for the old-school fans. Hope you like the shoutout!

So what is the Montreal Screwjob? Well, in 1997, Survivor Series was hosted in Montreal (Hence the name), and the big event of that show was a match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for the WWF/E Championship (Take your pick). Bret Hart was actually supposed to drop the title on Raw after Survivor Series, since he was about ready to leave the company at the time. The ending of the match was supposed to be in a “schmoz” style. However, Vince McMahon had called for the bell, and Bret was trapped in his own move, allowing for Shawn Michaels to win the title. This eventually caused Bret Hart to leave the company, and there have been bad feelings between him and Vince ever since (Despite a lot of healing between Bret and the WWF/E since then).

Ironically, there were two positives that came from this. For starters, this allowed Vince to create the “Mr. McMahon” character that’s still going today. Secondly, the Montreal Screwjob was the origin of a new style of booking where the line between reality & fantasy was heavily blurred. Rather bittersweet, if you ask me.

4) Eddie Guerrero Becoming Heel

Ironically, this might not be a controversy for a lot of you. Hell, this might not even be a blip on the radar. For me, this one was a little personal, and let me explain why.

By early 2005, I had become a full-fledged wrestling fan once again. 2003 was the start, and 2004 was the buildup. When 2005 came around, I was watching Raw & Smackdown regularly. One of the first wrestlers I saw when I got back in was Eddie Guerrero. Now, I don’t know about his time in WCW, so I’m going solely on his time in the WWF/E. My first live event was a Smackdown taping in Albany, and one of the matches was a tag team between The Bashum Brothers (I think that’s who it was) against Rey Mysterio & Eddie. The match was particularly special for me was because he still used the low-rider, not to mention the hydraulics. His performance was great, and really complemented Rey Mysterio’s similar usage of speed and the ring ropes. Then he became heel, and boy oh boy was that some whiplash!

I’ll give WWF/E some credit in this regard. Before the heel turn, there was actually a little bit of buildup to it. It started out as small disagreements, and then one night it just exploded, and Eddie Guerrero became a full-fledged heel. It was actually kinda cool: he was creepy, he was sinister, and he even screwed around with Rey Mysterio & his family. He was a damn good heel, and yet, at the same time, I didn’t like him being a heel.

For starters, I thought that the heel turn was rather sudden, despite the buildup before hand. It seemed as though they needed to put it in somewhere, but they didn’t quite know how to. Secondly, there was a point where Eddie got perhaps a little too villainous. It was right about the time when they brought Mysterio’s son into the mix, and made a part of his heel period centered on the kid (There was even a match between Eddie & Ray for custody of the son...WOW!!!). Lastly, a couple months before his tragic death, they put Eddie back into the role of babyface. I was glad to see this happen: I always thought that Eddie was at his best when he was smiling, laughing, and being a skillful fighter/clown. However, I thought that the turn back to babyface seemed a little too late. The turn had to pickup some steam before he became a good guy again, and by the time he was good again, it was only a couple weeks I think before he died. It seemed like when he was good again, they had plans, but I was never really sure what those plans were. I guess we’ll never know.

3) Owen Hart Dies During Entrance at WWE Over the Edge & The Show Continued To Air

Another incident in which I wasn’t watching wrestling, the death of Owen Hart was a shocker to any wrestling fan. One of the great ironies about Owen Hart’s death was that he was a clean wrestler: meaning that he never took steroids, or any other drugs for that matter (Performance enhancing or otherwise). I digress, however.

Working his Blue Blazer gimmick, Owen was supposed to wrestle The Godfather for the Intercontinental Championship. The way that Owen was supposed to enter the ring was by repelling down from arena rafters, giving it a superhero vibe. However, he got released from the harness line early in a equipment malfunction, causing him to fall more than 70 feet into the ring, killing him instantly. While this is definitely tragic, what happened afterwards made the situation worse.

After Owen’s body was carted off, WWF/E continued the event, despite what just happened. This resulted in the Hart Family sued WWF/E (Which WWF/E settled out of, paying them 18 million), Martha Hart distancing herself from the company, future Over the Edge events were cancelled (Over the Edge 1999 was never released on video or DVD, but recently was put on the WWE Network, minus Owen’s death), and Owen Hart’s very well deserved spot in the WWE Hall of Fame has never been filled (Perhaps because of the possible legal ramifications from the Hart Family).

2) Undertaker Losing At Wrestlemania 30

You all knew this one was coming. Hell, the beginning sentences kinda revealed that this one would be here. The Undertaker. The Phenom. The Deadman, and The Streak. They’ve all finally been struck down. People at the arena or at home were practically stunned by what happened in the ring. It may have only been a couple days ago, but there has since been a buzz of information & controversy coming out of Wrestlemania 30 about this match. You might be wondering why. Why did he lose? Why did it have to be a rather standard opponent? After hearing that a damn good chunk of you said the match sucked, and looking up some info, I’ve narrowed it down to 4 points. They are:

1: Brock Lesnar
- Now I won’t quite bitch about this as much, since it was recently revealed that Undertaker picked him. Okay, fine, I’ll go with that. Still doesn’t mean I won’t bitch!
- I will say this: Brock Lesnar is a tank. He can run over anybody with those legs of his, and his fists can practically punch holes in people. His finishing move, the F5, is one of the most devastating finishers in wrestling history. He’s definitely a presence in WWF/E, and his place in the company is deserved (Although many will argue he doesn’t need to be around, and I agree to a tiny respect), but there’s really nothing to him. He’s almost like all of the other tank-style heels in the WWF/E, in that he’s just a mix of muscle & douchebag. I say he’s almost like the other tank-style heels, because he’s being managed by Paul Heyman, and Heyman’s smarmy, slimy attitude complemented Brock Lesnar’s more simplistic, brutish personality.
- Even though taker picked Lesnar as his opponent, Lesnar really wasn’t the right choice. Say what you will about CM Punk from last year, at least he had some kind of depth, some kind of personality (Yeah, he was with Paul Heyman at the time, but he still effectively had his own character), and at least the buildup between Punk & Undertaker had some kind of bite to it. True, a lot of it was clumsily done, but there was something with CM Punk. Brock is kinda boring, kinda stale, and really doesn’t have any personality outside of being a brutish thug.
 
2: The Buildup
- I remember before their match the months of buildup, and it was very lackluster. There was a lot of stalling, a lot of delaying, and it didn’t quite have as much of a zing as previous Undertaker matchups at Wrestlemania. Not only that, but for a good majority of the buildup, it was Undertaker having the upper hand against Brock Lesnar. It really wasn’t until the week of Wrestlemania where Brock Lesnar managed to get an edge in, thanks in part to giving the Undertaker an F5 on Raw of said week (I didn’t see Smackdown on Wrestlemania week, so I don’t know what happened there). The one thing I’ll give WWF/E credit in this regard is that it was the first time that they’ve ever brought Undertaker’s age into question, and into the storyline. It was a couple weeks prior to Wrestlemania where the Undertaker turned 49 years old, which is pretty significant in any wrestler’s career. So they played up on Undertaker finally becoming older, and maybe a little weaker. Kudos on that!

3: The Match
- Given that I didn’t watch this year’s Wrestlemania, I’m only going of what’s been seen & told about the match. Forgive me on this.
- The thing I’ve heard & read the most about this was that it was really just another ordinary Undertaker Streak matchup, and thinking about it, I’m not surprised. A match for the streak has a very set formula to it: Undertaker would do a couple of his moves, his opponent would do a couple of his moves, they both would kick out, then Undertaker would win. Given the stakes (Considering they’ve finally factored in Undertaker’s age), you would expect that there would be something to spice things up, apart from the obvious.

4: The Mystique Is Gone
- When the referee hit the 3-count, the entire arena, and just about everybody at home, probably had a heart attack. Nobody could believe that The Streak, which has been untouchable & pristine for just over 2 decades, was finally struck down in a moment that nobody saw coming, much less believe could happen. While the loss was undeniably shocking, it’s really gonna be the fallout that cause harm. What I mean is that because of this defeat, the mystique of the Undertaker is effectively gone. He’s not quite so threatening, he not so scary, and when (Really more like if) he comes back to Wrestlemania, people will only know him for his broken streak. It’s tragic, really.

1) The murder/suicide of Chris Benoit & his family

One could argue that there have been disturbing incidents before this, and you’d be right. One could that there were incidents since then, and you’d also be right. What makes this my number 1 moment of wrestling controversy is just how shocking, sick, and downright terrifying this incident was. Even how I found out was a little tragic.

My friend at the time, Dennis, called me up out of the blue, and in a panicked voice told me to switch the channel to Monday Right Raw. When I asked why, he said “You’ll see”. I switch the channel, and what I saw was shocking. Vince McMahon was in the ring (Ironic, given that he faked his death in a running storyline at the time), and was talking about Chris Benoit. Between his segments, there were some of his old matches playing, along with segments from the Chris Benoit DVD that was out at the time. It was strange, however, that there weren’t any details being released on the show (Another ironic twist: When Eddie Guerrero died in 2005, details got released not long after). Unfortunately, when the details began coming out, people were horrified by what they saw & heard.

It turns out that before he died, he had killed his wife & 7-year old son, before he killed himself through the use of a weight machine (He did it by hanging, if I remember correctly). As if that wasn’t horrible enough, it turns out that he had multiple drugs in his system (Including steroids), and had severe brain damage (He had some form of dementia, and his brain resembled that of a 85-year-old Alzheimer's patient according to the surgeon). It was apparent that some knew of the brain problems, and it was rumored that WWF/E knew about it as well.

This incident sent shockwaves throughout the WWF/E. Soon after this, any merchandise related to Chris Benoit was taken off of the shop, wrestlers & announcers no longer spoke about him, and the company backed away from him completely. The great irony of this is that all of his matches, both on Raw & Smackdown, not to mention any specials he was on, are airing once again on the WWE Network. Before each episode with Chris Benoit in them, a warning is issued. While I find this to be a little silly, in hindsight I completely understand why WWF/E would do this.

Even more ironic was the scandal that happened afterwards. After discovering that Benoit got his drugs & steroids from a Florida pharmacy, an investigation began. The end results of said investigation determined that multiple wrestlers had actually gotten their stuff from the pharmacy as well, including Kurt Angle, John Morrison, Batista, Edge and Booker T. The scandal & subsequent investigation also resulted in Booker T leaving the company in 2007, though he would eventually return a couple years later.

Since his death, Chris Benoit has become something of a boogeyman in the WWF/E. He’s never talked about, past footage & pictures of him haven’t been shown on WWF/E’s website or other sources, and all-in-all, has become persona-non-Grata in wrestling.

Well, these were my top 5 iconic wrestling controversies. I hope you’ve found it interesting, and maybe caused a little controversy in the process. Until next time, stay Otaku!

James Brian Hellwig: R.I.P. (June 16, 1959 - April 8, 2014)

Once again ladies & gentlemen, another wrestling legend has fallen. James Brian Hellwig, better known by fans as The Ultimate Warrior, tragically passed away at the age of 54. Details about his death are incredibly few, although it has been stated that at 5:50 P.M. yesterday, he collapsed on the way to his car, and was pronounced when his body arrived at the hospital.

Back when I watched wrestling with my father in the early 90s, there were definitely individuals that I remembered. The Ultimate Warrior was right at the top for me, with Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Hulk Hogan, and Macho Man Randy Savage not that far behind. The Warrior had an intensity, an energy, and such a shocking charisma, that to this day no-one has ever been able to even replicate a fraction of that power. Wrestling would not be where it is today, thanks in part to people like The Ultimate Warrior.

Before I go, I wanted to share WWE's official statement on James's passing, along with his final appearance on RAW, as well as a heartfelt video from Noah "The Spoony One" Antwiler.

http://www.wwe.com/inside/ultimate-warrior-passes-away-26223975

http://www.wwe.com/videos/2014-wwe-hall-of-famer-ultimate-warrior-speaks-raw-april-7-2014-26222865

http://spoonyexperiment.com/wrestle-wrestle-2/memories-of-the-ultimate-warrior/

I hope you all have a nice day. Until next week, stay Otaku!

Suicide Commando - Critical Stage Review

Welcome back to the review tour!

To change things up a little, this second half will focus on musicians & singers that I’ve already talked about, whether recently or a while ago. Today’s subject is Suicide Commando’s first album, Critical Stage. I’ve already covered Suicide Commando a couple months back with his 2000 release Mindstrip (Click “***” to read that review), which was a interesting mix between older sounds & newer technology (New at the time, at least). This release is interesting as well, but for different reasons. With that said, let’s look at Critical Stage, and see why Suicide Commando made a career from this release.

Background
Taken from the Suicide Commando website:

“Suicide Commando is signed to the German OFF BEAT label and releases its first full length CD "Critical Stage", including clubhits like "Traumatize", "Necrophilia".... and featuring Dirk Ivens (Dive) as guest vocalist on one track ("Where Do We Go From Here ?"). Several other tracks (including the club hit "Save Me") are released on different compilations during ´94 and ´95.”

Songs
Critical Stage (“***”): Sounding like it comes from a nuclear disaster sci-fi movie, the opening track to this album is a herald to the things that come. Johan Van Roy makes heavy usage of eerie & sinister sounds, and puts them together to create a calling card for toxic mutants. Be careful when you listen to this at night, or else something might slither up and turn you into it’s next victim!

Sheer Horror (“***”): Coming off of the opening tune, Sheer Horror continues with the “Sinister” theme. It also is the first song to feature Johan Van Roy’s vocals. They’re rather basic, and rarely to they change in tone. Because of how things were put together, it sounds like they almost never change in volume. As for the lyrics themselves, they’re also easy to get.

“Schizophrenic
eternal visions
locked up
let me out of here
get a grip
of your endless fear
sheer horror
hell is real
sheer horror

the devil inside of me
is taking control of me

(Repeats for a 2nd time)”

H.I.V. (“***”): Taking a more spiteful approach, H.I.V. almost seems like an attack against people with said sickness. Just take a look at the lyrics!

“Spreading diseases
Body decay
God's reprisal
You must pay
Your body's infected
Death is nearby
Your body's collapsing
Human decline

Disease, disease
Disease, disease

(Repeats for a 2nd time)”

It’s really bloodthirsty, and actually makes me a little uncomfortable. The instrumentation doesn’t help matters either. The sounds come across as if you’re getting infected with the virus. It worms itself into your system, and chances are you won’t be able to get it out of you. Maybe that’s why it’s on my mp3 player?

Traumatize (“***”): Another disturbing song, Traumatize makes me think that perhaps mister Van Roy has a problem. With that said, this doesn’t have as much of a spiteful nature as H.I.V. did. It starts out with a girl screaming in what I believe is a combination of English & German, but I’m not certain. Van Roy’s singing is present in this as well, but all he really sings/says is the word Traumatize. The effects in this are rather simplistic: once it gets into the core of the song, the beat becomes steady & repetitive, but at the same time makes for some great dance music.

So Many Questions (“***”): A common theme you might be noticing so far in Critical Stage is that the vocals really aren’t that special. Johan Van Roy keeps the volume at the same pitch throughout the whole time he’s singing, with only perhaps a second or two to change things. Lyrically, he repeats lines when new once should be introduced. With that said, things change slightly in So Many Questions. For example, here’s what he sings:

“Impressions of death
the last seconds of your life
tell me what do you feel
tell me what do you see do you see
the light the light of eternity
or is it just darkness
purgatory in hell Is there
a heaven Or is it just the hell
Is there a god to believe in
Or is it just the devil
So many questions
stay without an answer
So many doors
stay without an entrance

So many questions
stay without an answer
So many doors
stay without an entrance

(Repeats everything for a 2nd time)”

True, he’s still repetitive here, but the lyrics in question feel a little more substantial. The instrumentation, however, is still rather repetitive, and stays almost consistent in it’s repetitiveness. With that said, there’s kind of a dark beat to it, and you can actually into it’s sinister groove.

Time (“***”): Time has instrumentation that both repetitive yet different. There is what sounds like drums playing the same sound over & over again throughout the entire song. However, there is also a second set of electronics that accompanies the drum-like sound, along with what sounds like monks humming/moaning (I can’t tell). This makes for what I believe the most versatile song on Critical Stage, due to it’s sounds alone. Sadly, the lyrics revert back to the most basic form seen earlier.

“Time is running so fast
how long will it last
it could be an hour
it could be a day
we won't survive the time
we'll die anyway
time

(Repeats for a 2nd time)”

The one positive thing I will say about the singing is that at the end of the second portion, Johan Van Roy does change his volume, but only for a few moments.

Fate (“***”): Remember from a moment ago when I said that So Many Questions had more substantial lyrics than anything else....well, I lied. Feast your eyes on this!

“They coming to get you
You’d better hide
They looking for you
You can’t get out
They getting closer
You gotta run
They gonna get you
The end is done

Death is coming,
Coming your way
Death is coming
To take you away

They blow your head off
You won’t survive
The serial killer
Dead or alive
The scream of panic
The fear in your eyes
The scream of pain
Cut in your vein

Death is coming
Coming your way
Death is coming
To take you away

Death is coming
Coming your way”

Yeah the chorus is repetitive (Makes sense), but in the end he did make other lyrics, rather than repeating earlier choices. Sadly, the instrumentation in Fate is by far the most repetitive on Critical Stage. It never really changes, and overtime it can get rather boring. In my opinion, this is easily the weakest song on the album, despite the improved lyrical choices & usage.

Necrophilia (“***”): With a name like Necrophilia, you’d expect this to be a disturbing song, and you’d be right. Just look at the lyrics!

“I want to get your body
I want to get inside
your ice cold body
covered in shrouds
I want to taste your body
I want to taste your smile
you make me feel so horny
you're making me go wild
necrophilia

I penetrate your body
I'm getting inside
your eyes wide open
staring at the sky
I'm taking of your clothes
you're looking so livid
to hell with religion
you're dead, I'm living
necrophilia”

The lyrics alone are enough to make an average joe faint. However, with the way the instrumentation was done, it comes out looking like a song off of a dark comedy album. Yeah the lyrics are disgusting, but the instrumentation comes across as a combination of sick & silly. It’s really hard to find one solid theme, yet I think that’s not what Johan Van Roy wanted.

Revenge (“***”): Taking the possible comedic aspects and throwing them out the window, Revenge goes to back to the sinister/evil vibe that’s been very consistent throughout this album. Tragically, any lyrical improvements that were present in Necrophilia aren’t in this song as much. Take a look.

“Ashes to ashes
dust to dust
reincarnation
in god we trust
face to face
and eye to eye
facing relation
seeing you die

Ashes to ashes
dust to dust
reincarnation
in god we trust
face to face
and eye to eye
facing relation
seeing you die

die
die

god's revenge
god's revenge
god's revenge”

As you can see, Johan Van Roy repeats the main portion once again. Luckily, the small bit at the end is different, despite it getting repeated. Instrumentation wise, Revenge seems to have more going for it in terms. Things seem to change more, and there also seems to be a little more variety. Only 3 songs left. Lets hope this holds!

Where Do We Go From Here? (“***”): We have another great instrumentation piece. It is the most varied on Critical Stage, with different beats & sounds being used all over, creating a dark mood. Ironically, there is singing in this, despite being a instrumental piece (More on this in a sec). Here are the lyrics.

“Highways full of spirits
a red light stops it all
emotions full of tension
rising to your empty soul
where do we go from here ?
the sky so grey and dark
the future's disappearing
feeding like a spark

where do we go from here?”

For starters, it feels this was just a portion of a song that was to be used. Not that it’s bad or anything (The lyrical choices feel very appropriate for a Suicide Commando album), but it seems like there’s something missing. On top of that, it feels like the singing is very shoe-horned into the song, making it very out of place.

Under God’s Eye (“***”): I swear to god that when I first listened to this, I thought that it was a forgotten song from The Terminator soundtrack. It has that movie’s techno-industrial vibe, along with the mechanical production style seen in The Terminator’s musical choices. Ironically, my complaint of simplistic & repeated lyrics that was used in just about every other song, actually works in Under God’s Eye’s favor. Here they are!

“Under god's eye
Under god's eye
Under god's sky
We must believe
We must believe
Under god's eye
Under god's eye
We're under god's
Under god's eye”

As you can see, it’s the incredibly basic lyrics that have been present in just about all the other tunes, but it complements the Terminator feel that the instrumentation seems to provide.

The Dreamhouse (Mental Version)(“***”): Critical Stage concludes with The Dreamhouse, an instrumentation piece that has somewhat of a metaphysical aspect to it. There are certain sounds that invoke the feeling of the mind, of dreams, and of the beyond. It comes across as something that could put you to sleep, and conjure up all sorts of energy.

Overall Impression & Rating
Though Critical Stage sounds & feels incredibly archaic, it’s this simplistic approach to Industrial Metal that gives the album it’s charm. Done at a time where the technology was still a little primitive, the music on here shows that even when you don’t have much, you can still pump out great music. Simply put: Critical Stage is a classic!

Critical Stage gets a 8.5 out of 10.

See you all next week. Until then, stay Otaku!