14 I Tuesday, Oc
ALBUM REVIEW
1 Am Not A Human Being’
Reviewed by Joshua Glossner
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Lil Wayne may be Drake’s mentor but now
Drake is taking Weezy to school.
I Am Not A Human Being,” Lil Wayne’s
newest album, consists of
10 songs eight of which
are collaborations with
other artists. Frankly, I
think this shows Lil Wayne
can’t confidently make a
solo album.
Then again, maybe I’m
being a bit hard on poor
Courtesy of amazon.com Weezy.
But after being away, I
expect he would create an album worthy of his
fans' anticipation not to mention have some
fresh, new lyrics.
m \
LILNNN'INE
itlauii
Lil Wayne reused some of his lyrics from Young
Money's "Bed Rock” in the song “Popular” and
used it as his chorus.
Did all that jail time suck the creative juices
out of Lil Wayne?
Another depressing thing about this album is
that Drake out-raps Lil Wayne in the four tracks
they collaborate on.
For example, in the song “Gonorrhea,” Lil
Wayne raps about not wanting to catch some
one's gonorrhea and wanting to inflict pain on a
person.
But when Drake comes in, he is actually using
creative lyrics to get his point across instead of
using profanity in every other line.
"With You” another song featuring Drake
gives me a vibe that Lil Wayne was trying to cre
ate the next "Best I Ever Had."
Sorry, Weezy. Nice try, but I think Drake
already stole ladies' hearts with that one.
Lil Wayne seems to be keeping fans interested
bv featuring Drake, not by his own merit.
Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj each shine on both of
their feature tracks. In all honesty, the only rea
son I listened to those songs was to hear Sean
and Minaj sing during the choruses.
One of the two songs Lil Wayne goes solo on is
"Bill Gates." I thought Wayne would rap about
how rich he is, but I was wrong.
Wayne raps about shooting people, having sex
and drinking alcohol. I'm pretty sure Gates is not
referenced in this song besides Lil Wayne claim
ing he's "Bill Gatin' " (whatever that means).
I didn't find "I Am Not A Human Being” worth
my time, but if you are a huge fan of rap or Lil
Wayne, maybe you will.
But vou'll probably regret it.
Grade: C-
Download: "What’s Wrong With Them?
(feat. Nicki Minaj)” and “That Ain’t Me (feat.
Jay Sean)”
To e mail reporter: jdgs299@psu.edu
REVIEW
‘The Union’
Reviewed by Josh Bollinger
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
How do you match the compositional genius
and piano mastery of Sir Elton John?
By being a master yourself.
That's where John’s fel
low pianist and legendary
session musician Leon
Russell comes into the pic
ture.
John and Russell
released “The Union” a
masterful collaboration of
blues ballads today,
coi.rtes. -f amazon.com marking Russell’s return
to the world of big record
labels since his last major release more than 10
years ago.
"The Union" is an organic ode to rock ‘n’ roll
blues and a bit of a departure from John’s usually
ostentatious pop performances.
The blues genre started as a way for artists to
express their anguish and tell of their hardships
in the only way they knew how through music.
Russell and John hit the nail on the head.
One unchanging factor on the new album and
all of John's records is all the emotion that goes
into his playing. John uses the piano as a means
of expressing his uttermost pain and turmoil.
This applies to Russell as well, but his means
of expression lie more in his voice than his
instrument. The aged rasp of Russell’s voice
brings a level of maturity to the blues-based
tunes the duo plays.
John and Russell prove to us why they’re two
of the most respected pianists in rock.
Each and every song features beautiful inter
play with Russell's soulful backbone and John’s
typical rolling melodies played overtop and in
substitution of chords.
This record strikes me as mellow and melan
choly, with spots of upbeat, yee-haw rock ‘n’ roll.
"There's No Tomorrow” is a showcase of the
slow blues drudge feel on a lot of the record. The
guitar solo on it shows the listeners John and
Russell aren’t the only talented musicians playing
on the album.
Serving mostly as a melodious backdrop to the
keyboards with a slightly crunchy, reverberated
tone, the solo takes the music into a world of
imperfect bliss not seen with John’s virtuoso per
formance. The solo features sloppy, almost chaot
ic playing that’s wrapped up with the bluesiest of
pentatonic runs and nearly screams in your face
at the end.
“Hey Ahab” ventures into a much funkier
realm that will have you bobbing your head and
tapping your foot to the thunderous back beat
and appreciate some of the more stupendous
piano playing on the album.
The few imperfections of the record don’t
detract from its charm they add to its charac
ter and make it more interesting to listen to.
Grade: A
Download: “Hey Ahab”
To e-mail reporter tjbs267@psu.edu
T. 19, 2010
SI TW TI J T' 1 ! T II — i
INIvbVIE
MASOCHISM IN 3D
Film’s skits still funny
Reviewed by Karina Yiicel
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
“Jackass" takes it to a whole new
level of craziness, and I’m not just
talking about the movie being in 3D.
Johnny Knoxville and the boys are
back with their wildest stunts and
pranks in “Jackass 3D.”
But it seems to me that this movie
will be the last installment because
the “Jackass” crew just doesn't seem
that into it anymore.
They still take pleasure in seeing
each other get hurt, which is all the
good old fun on which the show was
built. But the guys give the impres
sion that they're a little tired.
They have been living this life for
the past decade maybe they are
moving past it.
But just because they don’t seem
as into getting hurt as they used to be
doesn’t mean they failed to bring the
pain.
The screaming oohs and ahhs from
the crowd prove just that. The stunts
were a mix of old and new combined
with a whole slew of pranks
in between
The ‘‘High Five” where
Wee-Man sets up fellow
cast members to walk into
a room where a big hand
slaps them and knocks
them down puts you in the
mood for the rest of the
movie.
Another good stunt is
"Duck Hunting." One guy
dresses up in a life vest and
Band loses musicality
Reviewed by Lauren ingeno
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
To the Kings of Leon’s most loyal
fans the ones listening years
before the band was “on fire” the
band’s second CD wasn’t nearly as
good as its first, the third couldn’t live
up to die second and the fourth
appealed to too many pre-teen girls.
And the fifth? The most devout will
think if s garbage.
Before listening to the Grammy
winning band’s newest album “Come
Around Sundown,” which was
released today, I promised myself 1
would avoid such musical snobbery.
Kings of Leon, which gained over
whelming success in the U.K long
before American fans took notice,
eventually earned stardom with their
2009 album, “Only By the Night,”
which made it to the Billboard Top
Hen.
But just because they sell albums
in their own country now doesn’t
make them sell-outs.
They didn’t tell every radio station
to play their two worst and most
mainstream songs on repeat day
after day.
Even after walking off stage (post
pigeon-pooping incident in % Louis),
I ac&iittediy called them divas, but I
didift write them off. Success doesn’t
always equal bad music.
Unfortunately, this time it did.
With an unimaginative album title
as lethargic as most of its 13 songs,
“Come Around Sundown” may prove
that Kings of Leon feels largely apa-
to its current success and to
malting music in general.
Goie are the fHtby and crude
fyries,fest-paced metopes, Caleb
FWhjwffl’s raw, raspy voice and the
' generalrocking, roaring pulse that
Speedo covered with feathers and
goes flying through the air while the
other cast members try to shoot
them with paintballs.
“Electric Avenue” is one of the best
stunts. Bam Margera and some other
cast members run through a Taser
obstacle course, and Bam ends up
getting launched through the air.
Steve-0 takes part in a lot of the
stunts this time around. After his
stint in rehab two years ago, I think
he wants to prove to everyone he can
still be a jackass while sober.
Personally, I think he does a pretty
good job. I mean, how many times
can you do something where you
know that you are going to go
it
pumped through the band’s other
four albums.
These elements have been
replaced by boring and similar
sounding songs, with choruses that
play out like strung-out moans.
Kicking off the album with the
repetitive “The End,” maybe Kings
were sending us a message: The end
of their music is near. They were
tired of their own CD before it began.
Basically, Kings of Leon doesn’t
sound like it used to, which isn’t a bad
thing by itself
A band is supposed to grow and
change its sound. But the songs
sound a lot like Kings is fighting
between what it used to sound like,
what it wants to soundlike and what
it thinks fans want it to sound like.
The album picks up by the second
song and first single, “Radioactive,”
with an upbeat tempo and a mount
ing energy. Unlike many other tracks
on the album, this deeply soulful song
makes you want to keep listening
because it sounds like it’s actually
going somewhere.
These two songs arefollowedby
the drowning songs “Pyro” and
“Marx” inwhich ftffbwffimakes
strange cooing sounds accompanied
by melodramatic lyrics.
I couldn’t wait for both songs to
end
It made me flinch even more when
Knoxville was run over by a bull,
because it felt like I was really there
and really watching it happen.
The fun of "Jackass" isn’t just the
cast members' intent to hurt them
selves and one another, but seeing
that these guys get to do it for a living
and have the best time
Jg, together.
W? After 10 years, the crew
is obviously still a family,
|||| and being able to laugh at
* themselves and one anoth
er just makes the movie
. 1 that much more entertain
mm ing.
Grade: B+
The Daily Collegian
through an intense amount of pain
without wanting something that will
take the edge off?
But he does seem scared before a
lot of the pranks and stunts that he
takes part in. There is even one
prank where he struggles just to
introduce the stunt because he
knows how much it will hurt.
Many of the stunts and pranks are
old favorites with a new twist. Steve
-0 gets stapped inside a poop-filled
port-o-potty and bungeed into the air.
You can probably imagine what
happens next.
All in all, the movie was hilarious,
gross and made me wince more than
10 times. To top it all off, putting it in
3D format just makes the pranks that
much better.
Their mellow music from past
albums seemed like an angry, in-
your-face sad
But these new songs, along with
others on “Sundown,” just sound
depressing
The song “Back Down South” on
the other hand is hugely refreshing
It has a country blue-grass feeling
and sounds drastically different from
anything else I’ve heard from Kings.
And yet, it’s easily my favorite song
on the album with its upbeat melody
and sweet lyrics.
Instead of whining about wanting
to go home, this song along with the
ending track “Pickup Thick,” sounds
like Kings singing along, having some
nostalgic fun with their friends back
in Tennessee.
Overall, I think Fbllowill summed it
up best.
“We know you’re sick of Kings of
Leon. We’re f—ing sick of Kings of
Leon, too,” he once shouted to a
crowd at festival in the U K last sum
mer.
Well, Kings of Leon, the truth is, I
wasn’t sick of you until you became
sick of yourself
Inside an album that was an over
all disappointment were some great
tracks that hqpefrdly provide insight
into where the band is headed.
I’m not completely jaded fry Kings,
but I think it’s time tte southern boys
start rethinking how they can com
bine “popular” sounds with the gritty
music from their roots to make mime.
that fens enjoy listening to.
And more importantly, music the
Download: “Back Down 8m0l”
and “Radioactive”
Grade: C+
To email
To e-mail reporter:
kzysols@psu.edu