What A Waste

My ears hurt, but I suppose that's more my fault than anything else. I picked up the new Linkin Park album, Minutes to Midnight, yesterday along with the new White Stripes single Icky Thump and the new Maroon 5 album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

Yeah, I know, LP isn't supposed to be released wide until May 15. Yeah, I know even iTunes doesn't have it yet. And yeah, it's real.

Oh, and I know Maroon 5 isn't supposed to be wide until May 22. Yeah. It's real too.

So, on that note, I think I have to do some justice and give a quick spin down of what I think.

Icky Thump is first and foremost, really good. The guitar riffs are edgier and the sound is heavier than before, but it works really well. I definitely like it a lot more than most of their previous album, Get Behind Me Satan. If you get a chance to check it out, YouTube has a few radio edits out mixed into some random White Stripes motifs.

Now to the good stuff. Linkin Park's third album, Minutes to Midnight (in reference to the Doomsday Clock which is now 3 minutes to midnight...or doom...or wtfijustblewup), has 12 new songs each with a very distinct feel and sound. Unlike Hybrid Theory and more like Meteora, Minutes to Midnight sounds much more refined, but it loses a lot of the dynamic sound that makes LP sound like LP. If you like "My December", "Numb", "In the End", maybe even "Faint", this album sounds pretty good from top to bottom. If you preferred the heavier, Mike Shinoda driven rap and Chester shrieking from "One Step Closer" or "Crawling", this might not be it for you. Now, that's not to say it's not there, but it's a small and it's definitely separate from the other stuff. Stuff like "Bleed It Out" and "Given Up" sound really good, but you won't hear it mixed into the more ballad-driven songs like you would in previous LP efforts.

From the first couple runs through the album (on shuffle since this was on my Nano), I think "What I've Done" is probably one of the strongest songs on the album, but I've really gotten into "Bleed It Out" and "Leave Out All The Rest". "Hands Held High" is the cliche anti-war song with Mike Shinoda rapping and it's not bad, but nothing spectacular. "Shadow Of The Day" isn't bad either, but I don't think it matches up the average on Meteora. Other than that, it's pretty average, lot less noticeable synth work in the back, more guitar all-around, a more typical rock product than most LP fans probably expected.

The Maroon 5 album, on the other hand, is Maroon 5 through and through. High-end, ear-piercing, and agonizingly pop lamentations about the opposite sex. What better way to go than that? I'm actually enjoying the first go-around with the album, maybe even a little more than the LP album (which probably will fade after I realize how shallow the pop sound is). Even though their first single, "Makes Me Wonder", made me wonder why I should even try with this album because of it's emotionlessness, a lot of other songs really make up for it. I've been enjoying "Kiwi" and "Can't Stop" and "Little Of Your Time" and "Not Falling Apart" are both pretty good. Outside of that, there's not one really bad song (except maybe "Makes Me Wonder", but it grows on you in the grand scheme of the album). If you like Songs About Jane, this album should grow on you. Of course, that's if you like the sound and not the lyrics, because this album is more about breaking up than finding love and wooing it. Top to bottom, this album is much better than Songs About Jane, but I don't think there's a "Sunday Morning" or a "She Will Be Loved" here (whether that's a bad thing or not, is up to you).

Oh, and there's a song with an intro that sounds a lot like Eve 6's "Here's to the Night". I don't know. Maybe just a coincidence.

Oh, and apparently, my "friend" playlist thing isn't going to work. Three days later and I've still got nothing. Thanks guys.

Maybe I should let this blog die. If you disagree, let me know by giving me songs...
http://yavanatidae.blogspot.com/2007/05/im-not-confident-good-thing-and-help-me.html