6 I The Behrend Beacon
A look at the world of music; from the obscure to the
obscene; the new and the old.
Black Ice proves that AC/DC
can remain classic
By Michael 0. \Vehrer
Do you want to know how hig a Can of AC/DC I am? Huge. That's
the only word I can use to describe it. Some people might think that
my loyalty to the hand might sway any review of their newest album.
In fact, the opposite is true. I hold the hand to a higher standard than
most casual listeners would.
Their newest album. Bark Ire. hit Walmart shelves on Oct. 21. This
was their first release since the way
too bluesv Stiff Upper Lip in 2000.
This was their longest studio album
ever and also the first time that lead
singer Brian Johnson had con
tributed to the lyrics in almost
twenty years.
Since 1 had my pre-ordered spe
cial edition shipped to my house. 1
went on YouTuhe.com to check it
Out. Fm not entirely sure if the
album leaked on purpose. but its
continued existence on the site
would indicate hand acquiescence. if not approval, of the posting.
The first track 1 pulled up was "Rock n' Roll Train. - which the
hand released as a single prior to the album's release. I was blown
away at their triumphant return to their pure rock format. Angus
Young leads on guitar. his brother Malcolm follows with rhythm, and
bassist Cliff Williams provides a steady heat with drummer Phil
Rudd. This track, along with several others, is strongly reminiscent of
1990's The Razors Edge. which gave us such hits as "Thunderstruck."
"Fire your Guns," and "Money Talks. - All of which are still staples
of AC/DC on tour.
In tact, the only thing I noticed that was notably different about
Black Ice v‘as that Brian Johnson shed his usually grave style of
singing for something more resembling soul crooning for several
tracks. At first I was skeptical. but thanks to slight alterations in the
accompanying tracks, the new style tit perfectly.
The first 23 seconds of "Stormy May Day" sounded like any other
good rock song. hut just a second later. Angus. at 53. showed us a
new trick for AC/DC. the slide. The technique. usually used in blues.
was definitely a risk for the guitarist. hut payed off. The sound is new
to AC/DC. but they made it their own by putting Angus' unique style
- off the w all era/ \
In the US, the album sold more than 193,000 copies on the first day
alone. The album was released with four possible logos on the cover.
Three of them. yellow, red, and white, all feature the exact same con
tent. The blue logo is reserved for the special hardcover edition.
which features a 30 page booklet as well as live pictures of the band.
Black Ice was the return to their rock n' roll style AC/DC needed
and fans wanted. But it also showed everyone that AC/DC still has
plenty of room to expand their style and experiment with new ways
to rock.
Ratatat relatively and undeservingly
hidden from mainstream
After the walls between rock. electronic. and hip-hop are destroyed.
Ratatat of New York Cite appears out of the debris. Ratatat was
formed in 2001 by Mike Stroud (guitar) and Evan Mast
(synthesiser/producer) hen they were students at Skidmore College.
As Mast lays down heats and synthesiser melodies. Stroud plays gui
tar rifts and solos over it.
Their first self-titled album. Ratatat. is by far their best. The name
of the opening song. "Se% enteen Years. - comes from a dialogue from
MC Young ('hurl ho says. "I've been rapping for about 17 years.
okay'? I don't write my stuff anymore. I just kick it from my head.
y'know what I'm sayin'. I can do that. No disrespect, but that's how I
am. - This song epitomizes everything I like about the hand. Its
catchy, and very danceable. It's so danceable it was actually played at
the party scene in the film Chweifie/d. The mood of the song goes
through several changes starting very happy and upbeat, with simple
and blissful guitar soloing. It quickly gets frantic, but soon after it
cools down to a soothing synthesizer harmony. The ending makes it
my favorite chill-out song. You really need to listen to this song to get
a feel for Ratatai. The rest of the album follows suite with similar
songs weaving rock and electronic blankets over hip-hop heats that
give it texture.
Sometime last fall I went to hang out with my friend Zack and his
roommate. Andy, was around. Since we were pretty much in the mood
to chill, Andy decided to play some appropriate music. The song
started out with a creepy echoing synthesizer riff overlapping a guitar
twang, with an underlv ing heat. I thought to myself. "Oh this is pret
ty chill." A second later a wild cat's roar chimed in. After that the song
evolved and I became really interested, and it turns out the name of
the song is "Wildcat" oft . of Classics, their second album. Classics
does some of the same things as Ratatat: however, there is a very
noticeable touch of experimentation. I really enjoy this album as well
because all of the songs are intriguing. I say intriguing because there
is so much variance on them that I still don't know when a song is
going to develop more.
In early' June, I was cruising on the internet looking for music at the
speed of light. Something caught my eye and I had to slam on the
breaks and peel my face off the monitor. Ratatat was planning on
releasing another album, appropriate titled LP3. I got really excited
about it and grabbed a copy as soon as I could. At first, it was
extremely fun to listen to. They were experimenting with their percus
sion and a lot more programmed sounds. Unfortunately, after a few
runs through the album, I decided I didn't like it. It's a really big turn
from their previous work. It's got a psychedelic feel to it, and does
have some crazy melodies. Overall though, it isn't the same Ratatat I
loved. If you're really interested though, "Brulee" is a nice and mel
low song that still has an old Ratatat sound.
-'\ _
,-- \
BERM
copy edit °,
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By Justin Pekular
con/rib/tune writer
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p 51185
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
`-
_ .. _ _ \ .., ..
Behrendstock closes 'flashback
Being a hippie. I couldn't
resist when I heard that the Lion
Entertainment Board was putting
on something called
Behrendstock. The two hands
performing were Hot Rocks and
Hard Da\ 's Night, a Rolling
Stones cover hand and a Beatles
coy er hand. Both the Rolling
Stones and the Beatles place high
on my list of favorite hands, so I
was pretty giddy when I heard
about the show.
I showed up for the concert at
about 5:50 p.m.. expecting the
doors to open at 6 p.m. and the
hands to start shortly after.
Here's where things got compli
cated. Both the hand's great set
lists were {Heat. Hard Day's
Night in particular. However. the
concert somewhat fell on its face
until the Beatles' setlist showed
up. How does that work?
Twilight book deserves more credit
Vampires have taken pop cul
ture by storm. Various \ ampire
noels fill the Barnes & Noble
must-read tables. Sonic readers
may have even noticed this odd
trend and pondered its origins.
Think hack to a few years ago.
Vampires were not unpopular.
but neither were they as conta-
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Twilight hi/ Nunn Oct. 8, 2005. The movie is set for debut Not: 21, 2008.
Artistic,
creative or
ambitious?
Write for the
ARTS page of
The Behrend
Beacon
E-mail Evan
Koser at
emksllo@psu.edu
Friday' with a bang
Hot Rocks, in the character of
the Rolling Stones, decided that
they were going to he just like
the Stones and not start the show
till 7:20 p.m. By that time. all
but 30 people had left. Granted.
they did play a good set, and they
sounded pretty similar to the
classic Stones, hut the crowd was
flat. Everybody was fed up with
the group. The band members
thought they could get away with
it. hut they forgot that it's a
Friday night at Penn State: peo
ple wanted to party. not sit in
McGarvey. for an hour and twen
ty minutes.
Some friends and I even tried
to start a mosh pit to get people
excited. hut that didn't work. I
suppose it's because the Rolling
Stones aren't as popular as the
Beatles, people just weren't that
excited. Even when the Keith
gious as they are now. However,
in late 2005 the infection began.
On Oct. 5. 2005 Stephenie
Meyer's best selling novel
Twilight hit the streets. Women
of all ages began to flock to
bookstores across the nation and
for the first time in years a new
male heartthrob entered the
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Manners 6' Civility
"Glory beloogs tou the act of being
constant to something greater than
yourself, to a cause, to your principles,
to the people on whom you rely and who
rely on you."
By Jeff Kramer
staff writer
rpgsoo4(a psu.edu
Richards guy walked into the
audience
Then Hard Day's Night came
on. to the delight of everybody in
the room. They sounded just like
the Beatles, looked like the
Beatles, and even cracked jokes
like the Beatles. The crowd was
a dancing, swaying mass of the
complimentary tie-dye shirts the
LEB gave to the first 60 people
in line. When they played "Twist
and Shout," I looked around the
room. There wasn't a single per
son who wasn't at least shaking
his or her foot in time with the
rhythm. if not more. Most were
dancing and singing.
That speaks for both the quali
ty of the band and the tragically
small size of the crowd. In fact,
when they played "Let it Be," all
but eight people put their arms
on each other's shoulders and
By Neil J. Peters
assistant arts editor
njpsoB.lo psu.edu
scene. What's the most interest
ing part? He's not even real.
Edward Cullen took the concept
of the Knight in Shining Armor
and ran a marathon with it. He's
every girl's dream: he's hand
some, sophisticated, and smooth
(literally). He's got superpowers
and he can't die. Again, what
more could a girl want? Now,
some of you may not know of
this trend, and with the movie
fast approaching, it's time you
were brought up to speed.
The story's protagonist is
Isabella "Bella" Swan. She is
the quintessential "everygirl."
She's not drop dead gorgeous,
but she is cute. She's not a
genius, but she is smart. She's a
bit clumsy and awkward, and is
just trying to fit in at her new
high school in Forks,
Washington. She seems to he
settling in just fine when a series
of strange events leads her into
contact with the mysterious
Edward Cullen. Slowly but
surely she begins to discover that
there is more to Edward than
meets the eye. Here's the clinch
er: she's falling madly in love
with him.
Twilight is a great book, pure
and simple. Meyer does a great
job describing the unearthly
events that Bella experiences.
The imagery puts you right in
the heart of the action and
romance. It is so well written in
fact, that even though nothing
really happens for pages on end.
you can't put it down.
Where the book really knocks
it out of the park is with the char
acters. Bella is just perfect. She
is the average person put in an
extreme situation; and she reacts
John McCain
Friday, October 24, 2008
swayed in front of the stage.
Both groups played great sets,
there's no question about that.
Hot Rocks just thought so highly
of themselves that they thought
they could get away with starting
the show an hour and twenty
minutes late. They didn't want
to play towards the beginning
when there were about 80 people
in the room because they didn't
think there were enough people.
They wrongly decided to ruin the
show, the Beatles cover band.
and the LEB by acting so preten
tious. I guess they had a point,
they opened for the actual Stones
a few times, however, that's no
excuse. The show wasn't ruined,
though; It was a success for
everyone who was patient
enough to wait to hear some
good covers.
the way she should. She cries
when we would cry. She
screams when we would scream.
There's no magic that flows
through her veins or destiny to
fulfill. She's just clumsy and
cute Bella.
There's also the terrific sup
porting cast. Edward is perfect
in almost every way. However,
he can be overly protective and
jealous. Jasper is mysterious and
brooding. His lover Alice is
flighty and childlike, hut also
innocent and forgiving.
Emmet is cocky and arrogant,
yet loveable, while his counter
part, Rosalie, is beautiful but
cold. Then there is the young
and immature, yet down-to-earth
Jacob Black. They all have their
pros and cons. The cast may all
seem perfect, but each have their
personal share of lies to hide.
The story is mostly a romance
novel, with twists of action and
excitement that build up to a
spectacular end. Though it
becomes mildly irritating when
Bella blacks out for half of the
fight scenes. Also, her ability to
under-react to situations that
most of us would wet ourselves
in becomes veritably tiresome.
Regardless, the story is still
top-notch. So please, read this
masterpiece before the movie
hits theaters on Nov. 21. And a
word of advice to all the men
who read the paper: make it a
point to read this book! It is a
way to talk to almost any
women. And if you like to be
places where a ton of women
are, go to the movie theater at
opening night of the Twilight
movie. You will not be disap
pointed.