Well ladies and gentleman I am
back with yet again another CD
review of the Rock Genre. This one
most likely not so well known unless
you play Guitar Hero and Guitar
Hero II (this artist can be found in
the later of the two). The band is
Avenged Sevenfold, or as they like
to be known/abbreviated as, A7X.
The band debuted in July of 2001
with their album, “Sounding the
Seventh Trumpet.” This album was
recorded independently under Good
Life Recordings, when the members
of the band were nineteen years of
age. The sound was a combination of
hardcore and metalcore. After several
other albums and a small following
they released “Waking the Fallen”
under Hopeless Records (the same
company that re-released their first
album), and A7X received positive
rating from Rolling Stone Magazine
and made their way onto Warner
Bros. Record Label. Because of this,
the band grew very mainstream.
Under Warner Bros, they released
the album of interest, “City of Evil,”
which steers away from the metalcore
genera and stays more Heavy
Metal, meaning less screaming and
more singing.
The band has many religious
undertones, the band’s name is a
reference to the book of Genesis in
the Bible and the story of Cain and
Abel in which Cain is punished to live
in exile alone and miserable. Anyone
who relieved Cain of his misery by
killing him would have “vengeance
taken upon him sevenfold.”
“Beast and the Harlot” is a song
derived from the Bible. It comes from
the book of Revelation and refers
to the punishment of Babylon the
Great, world empire and seat of false
religion. Another Bible reference
occurs in the song “Wicked End.”
In the song, several times it is said
“dust the apple off, savor each bite,
and deep inside you know Adam
was right,” making reference to Eve
eating the forbidden fruit.
Although the band’s title and
members’ stage names make obvious
references to religion, M. Shadows,
vocalist for the band, stated in an
interview that they are “not really
religious at all.” “Anyone that read
the lyrics and really knew anything
about us, they would know we’re not
promoting either” he said. “That’s
one thing about this band that I love
is that we never really shove any
kind of, like, political or religious
beliefs on people. We just, the
music’s there to entertain and maybe
thought provoking on both sides, but
we don’t try to, like, really shove
anything down anyone’s throat.
There’s too many bands that do that
nowadays, I think.”
Their song “Blinded in Chains” was
used in the soundtrack for the video
game Need for Speed: Most Wanted
and Arena Football. “Bat Country”
was used in the soundtracks for
SSX on Tour, NHL 06 and Madden
06, following in the footsteps of
“Chapter Four” which had also
been on the soundtrack for NHL
2004, Madden 2004 and NASCAR
Thunder 2004. The song “Beast and
the Harlot” was in the soundtrack for
Burnout Revenge. “Beast and the
Harlot” also appears in Guitar Hero
11, released in November 2006. The
song “Bum it Down” is featured on
the Saw 111 soundtrack.
This band has made the change from
independent metalcore to mainstream
heavy metal, and has grown ever
since their debut with Warner Bros. I
give this album a 8.5 out of 10 (they
can get somewhat repetitive), but I
look forward to their future releases.
If you would like an album reviewed,
e-mail me at rgtsoo6@psu.edu.
J&J's Pizzeria takes your poor cash
By RUSTY TUCCI
Staff Reporter
RGTSOO6@PSU.EDU
I sit there looking over one of those
free car advertisements, (you know,
the ones that they have at stores and
restaurants,
the booklets
with over 100
pages of new
and used cars
for sale) and I
heae, “ninety
three pepperoni
boli, and small
poppers.” I
walk up to
the counter,
bringing
my recently
emptied
medium drink
cup up with
me, and pick
up my order.
The Stromboli
is surprisingly
large for a
mini; about
eight inches
long, three
“ish” inches
wide and
about and inch
tall, of melted
mozzarella,
pepperoni, and pholo courtesy of googla.com
sauce, cut -nice J&J Pizzeria and Grille offers a wide selection of budget friendly pizzas and other familiar Italian cuisine and is located in Middletown.
straight
down the middle. I have a small cup
of sauce for my dipping pleasure.
The last item on my tray that my
eyes seemed to have gravitated
to was the bag. A bag containing
my personal favorite item on the
menu: Jalapeno Pepper Poppers,
the decadent pepper stuffed with
cheddar cheese, and smothered in
bread crumbs.
I fill up my cup (again; 1 was
really thirsty) with a perfect blend
of coca-cola and a hint of orange,
◄ Geek's Corner ►
By LISA STONE
Columnist
LCSI67@PSU.EDU
What ever happened to geeky
TV? Don’t get me wrong, there are
some excellent TV series out there
today that I am a devout follower
of, but what happened to those
Saturday morning cartoons and
those weekday afternoon shows
that used to be like geek crack?
I have to admit, anymore the
majority of cartoon selections out
there just don’t seem as appealing.
Is this because we have simply
outgrown cartoons? I can’t say that
I think that is the case, or at least
not entirely. I went back and got
the old Transformers: Beastwars
as well as some of the old The
Uncanny X-men cartoons and they
are just as addictive to me as when
I used to have to drag myself out
of the morning at some god awful
hour to watch them.
The cartoons offered up to the
kids today just don’t seem to make
the cut in most cases. These new
ones like Kirby, Megaman, and
The Cramp Twins just don’t hold
a candle to the old cartoons out
there. Far too many cutesy cartoons
seem to have taken over. Don’t
get me wrong, they always had a
presence in the Saturday Morning
Line Up. Had to give the girly
girls something to watch. I truly
understand that. But it seems like
it has gone too far. Where are the
super humans, the explosions, the
plots with at least a little suffering,
angst or even challenges that don’t
involve making it to the top of jelly
freaking mountain!?!?
I will say there are a few
redeeming cartoons out there. Ones
such as Yu-Gi-Oh do make up for
some of their brethren. They aren’t
enough to get me out of bed a six
and then I head back to my table.
Looking around, for any thieves
that might be interested in stealing
my food, I noticed how clean
the place was. The floors where
obviously swept and most likely
freshly mopped.
The windows were clean, slightly
smeared, but that looked to be the
calling card of the five year old
window smearing boy that was
leaving when I entered only 10
minutes ago, and all of the tables
appeared to be clean enough for me
to lick my spilled soda off of (the
soda tasted fine).
1 decided to go in the reverse order,
and eat my appetizer first. I took a
look at the bag of goodness, and I
reached my hand into the bag and
a.m. like they used to when 1 was
younger, but I may be willing to
say that is because of a college
student’s less than perfect sleep
schedule and call it even.
So what happened? Are kids
these days, more into cutesy than
us old farts? Did the networks get
Looney Tunes, with their infamous characters, was a staple Saturday morning cartoon for now college students.
accused of corrupting youth with
violence, the explosions, and other
adult themes? 1 truly wish I knew,
because then maybe something
could he done.
heroes in action.
Other factors such as after school
and weekend activities have caused
TV stations to put less focus and
thus less money into this tradition
of our childhood than they
Saturday morning cartoons seem once did.
A common opinion as to why
removed the morsel of a popper.
After a thorough observation, this
included but was not limited to me
making various measurements of
size, density, temperature, and a
bunch of other things which must
remain a secret from you, the
readers, as well as me.
After this investigation I realized
that the popper was generously
sized for the price. 1 took a
bite, only to whimper in pain
immediately afterward.
The cheese scolded my lips, but
it was still amazing. The poppers
contained more cheese than I was
expecting, and they were not overly
smothered in bread crumbs.
The jalapeno inside was, like at
most places, split in half and again
to be dieing is the lifestyle of
Americans and their children today.
With the advent of internet and
computer gaming, console gaming,
and last but not least VCRs, kids
today don’t have to crawl out
of bed in the wee hours of the
morning to see their animated
generously sized. After devouring
all four poppers I came to the
conclusion that the poppers where
a very good deal.
I then decided that I might as well
try the Stromboli since I had ordered
it. The entree was filling and then
some. Inside there was about six
to seven ounces of pepperoni (give
or take) and a generous amount
of cheese.
After another one of those
secret inspections, I came to the
realization that 1 was not expecting
something this large for the
$4.75 that 1 had paid.
Like the poppers, the inside was
extremely hot and burned my lips
because in part from the freshness
and part by my carelessness.
Another problem that many
stations site is that kids are harder
to impress today. If the animation
isn’t excellent or if it isn’t a
beautiful computer generated
cartoon children today don’t like it
Personally I am not sure this
is true or if it is just an excuse,
Photo courtesy of googto.com
but I will say 1 am in favor of the
cartoon industry continuing to
advance. 1 can only hope that the
stations will continue to support
the advancement.
Where does this leave us though?
Are we doomed to forever be
After finishing another soda,
bringing my total to three sodas,
I decided I would take a look
around. The bathrooms were
clean, the jukebox had an eclectic
selection of music, and the few
games made it like most other
pizza places.
The paper menu, as many of us
have seen, is extremely colorful and
eye-catching.
The menu includes everything
you would expect from a
pizzeria. Pizza coming in the
form of an entire pie, or in
the individual slice, you can
buy an entire pie for the price of
about .six slices.
They serve your specialty pizzas
as well, such as the Taco pizza,
the Hawaiian, the Meaty, the
White, and a few others.
They also have your Sicilian
pizza, for anyone who is squared off
around the edges.
There are some Strombolis
and some Calzones. Then if
your not in the mood for pizza
they have pastas, salads,
subs (both hot and cold),
burgers, sandwiches, sides, and
your WINGS.
Oh, and for your liquid indulgences
coca-cola products are available at
the fountain. The restaurant offers
a refrigerated section of bottled
drinks including beer, for those
of you who are legally allowed to
drink, and I believe they have some
beer on tap.
If you like food and you don’t
truly want to cook, and you have
a couple dollars to spare, then
grab a couple of friends and head
into town and stop at J&J. With a
couple friends you can get a good
meal. Alone it can be a bit pricey,
but the prices are about the same a
Midtown Pizzeria.
So if your hungry, thirsty,
or looking to have a good
time, grab some friends, and head
on over to J&J Pizzeria and Grille.
without our cartoons? I for one
refuse to relinquish my childishness
and some of the networks out there
have heard myself and others
like me.
We are given cartoons such as
Fairly Odd Parents, Spongebob
Squarepants, and Invader Zim to
ease the loss. Though they are
not at the crack of dawn Saturday
morning, they are still enough to
give me the necessaiy cartoon fix
to keep my inner child alive and
glued to the TV.
Heck some TV shows out there
today such as Avatar: The Last
Airbender are even indoctrinating
children to the anime side at a
young age! I am one of those geeks
that got up with my brother at four
in the morning come the weekend
and watched the old anime that
SciFi used to air. It is sad that they
no longer do this it seems, but
perhaps they will try it again.
This move towards trying anime
out on the impressionable young of
America is an awesome move by
the TV stations and I fully support
their efforts. Though if they don’t
start choosing voice actors and
editing teams that make cats cry
soon, I may change my toon. And
yes, I am probably just saying that
because I am an anime junkie.
In the end, sad as it is, Saturday
Morning cartoons as they were
when the college students of today
were kids are probably gone. Much
like Scooby Doo, Speed Racer,
and Looney Toons still hold a
special place in the hearts of our
parents, the cartoons we loved as
children will likely be bought in
DVD form when we aren’t paying
tuition bills so that we might honor
our childhoods. If we are lucky,
perhaps something even better will
come along to take their place. We
can only hope.