just woke up. time for brunch, my hybrid meal time of breakfast and lunch. guess i'm going to be stuck at home for the entire day. i'd gladly entertain an invitation to go out if it does come. or maybe i should send out invitations myself. but then again, maybe it would be a little bit too spontaneous. damn, it's been five minutes and i'm already bored.

kevin, my cousin who has been living in Cairo for many years came back and is staying this time. he's the same age as my brother and grew up in England and Cairo. his dad's a diplomat of some sort so travelling is his lifestyle. well, kevin came over to my house yesterday and we played halo 2 thorugh the night. yeah, he's a smart dude and probably one of the people i know who are intersted in the story of halo [evan and myself included]. it's not really geek stuff but science fiction nonetheless. but it's a really great story. so anyways, yeah.

crap, i have nothing much to say now. oh well, i shall occupy this webspace and rave about an album or two.

let's start off with The Used - In Love and Death

here's the review from AMG:

"By 2004 it was getting a little difficult to tell groups like AFI, My Chemical Romance, Thrice, or the Used apart. All mixed the energy of punk, emo-derived passion, and metal sensibilities into a well-played, expensively-produced package. But the end product often ended up sounding a little similar. Though its heart is eventually lost amidst the guiding elements of the genre, the Used's In Love and Death does make some impressive moves away from those very same tenets, showing some welcome restraint and even some rocktastic energy. "I Caught Fire" is irresistible, because it uses its big-budget filters and six-string layers as an advantage, building tension for the song's triumphant chorus release. "Take It Away" sees the inherent, timeless power of a solid riff, and actually revitalizes the ridiculously played-out singing guy/screaming guy dynamic that so many groups in this scene faithfully rely on. "Cut Up Angels", too, is a nice departure, offering fans a modified pop gem that lightens the album's mood considerably. Unfortunately, it still sticks to formula. There are the overwrought string and piano sections, impassioned lyrics, dense arrangements of metal chording and tortured screaming. These sounds have their place, no question. But if all that depression and heartbreak begins to bleed into the diary of the next guy over, it becomes less unique. Still, The Used have made some strides with In Love and Death toward a fuller sound. and it'll be interesting to see what their next move is."

i agree to much of it but i also offer some sympathy to the guys from the Used for receiving only two and a half stars for their album. the Used have altered their songs to offer a fresh breeze, away from the ocean breeze of most punk bands from the coasts which, in my opinion, offer no substance musically. i'm no music expert but you just don't feel anything towards the songs of such bands. it's true, the Used have added a pop agenda to their new plan, maybe to soften their sound and attract more listeners who don't have the stomach for their other more angst-ridden, angry-cum-depressed songs. "Unfortunately, it still sticks to formula. There are the overwrought string and piano sections, impassioned lyrics, dense arrangements of metal chording and tortured screaming." amen to that. like i said before in one of my entries in my old blog [confession-wall], it would all soon be yawn material. it's good that the Used made improvements to sound different, but they didn't pull themselves away far enough. they're still pretty much chained to that stem. all the string arrangements and other studio implanted mixes have made the sound altogether less sincere, in spite of adding more emotion to the songs. it's the same disease infecting many other bands and artists out there who resort to using classical music to reinforce the emotional journey one goes on when listening to music. the bad thing about this is it drastically changes the way the live performance sounds. especially, for a band. if you have a song with hundreds of violins, violas, cellos, timpanis, glockenspiels and an entire orchestra playing in the album, how are you going to recreate that emotion and sound when you're live? the song would be stripped bare when played live. that's something the Used have to overcome if they're trying to break away from the chains of a mediocratic sound. sure, they still connect with people with their music but that connection would wither if they do not evolve their sound. and better still, doing so without the use of studio effects and string arrangements, those disclose a tinge of depleting creativity and lack of musical exploration within the genre.

but all credit to the Used for still providing larynx-shredding, hardcore emotional energy surges with their songs. one thing though, Bert McCracken should stop screaming once in a while. many of the songs have lost their appeal in the album due to his i-wanna-scream-till-my-throat-bleeds approach to delivering the lyircs. the lyrics are already painfully ridden with morbid metaphors and blood-soaked meanings which can be administered with ironic melodies, adding to a more 'messed up' feeling that the words already imply, instead of screaming them, destroying the delicate chord arrangements. McCracken has an amazing voice for those of you who haven't heard him sing. he's like the male version of Mariah Carey. whether his ability to reach super high notes without doing a falsetto is attributed to studio magic or not remains to be seen through live performances but it's still awe-inspiring. it's his ability to reach high notes that enable the band to use higher chords, which make way for more soft and cathartic melodies.

the first 8 tracks progress from an explosive introduction to a mellow boat ride on the lake. apart from "Listening" the rest have the best of McCracken on vocals, using his range to full effect. "Yesterday's Feelings" is a good example. then, the songs go back to full blown, rocked out, hardcore anger. ending with a rather 'funny' song in my opinion, "I'm a Fake".

all in all, In Love and Death is an alright album. the Used fans would give it two thumbs up most definitely but it is not the best we have heard from the Used yet. i would not condemn this album and i would still recommend this album to people but i would not be as eager to do so to some who would find the Used's tone too negative.

that was fun. i think no one would read on if i added another cd review. so maybe in another post. Lost Prophets maybe? yeah, i will be full of praises for that one. i'm reading the AMG review for Start Something, and i think the reviewer is full of sh*t. only ONE star? how can you give the Lost Prophets ONE star?! AMG is mad. oh well, i'll be doing my own insignificant analysis another time.

'stop dreaming. start something. when it's in your hand to start anew.'