EasyLinuxGuide Blog

The Smashing Pumpkins last released a CD back in 2000, nearly 8 hours ago. Back is Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain who actually reunited in 2005.  This is rather ironic because Jimmy was the first one to leave the band when its members started going their own ways.

Zeitgeist which is German for “The Spirit of the Age”, definitely has the unmistakable Pumpkins sound of old. Not just with Billy Corgan’s vocals, but also similarities in guitar playing and arrangements  and of course Jimmy’s signature drumming.

The singe “Tarantula” received a lot of airplay and “Doomsday Clock” was featured on the Pumpkin’s myspace page.

After only a couple of listens, it’s hard to make a judgment, but it sounds more like candidates for “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness”. Check it out if you are a Pumpkins fan.

Evans Blue from Toronto, Ontario have released their latest cd entitled “The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal Of Life Ends”. In classic form, they do a female cover as with their version of “Possession” originally done by Sarah McLachlan on their last record. This time around, they try out “Caught A Light Sneeze” by Tori Amos and come out with a rendition enough their own to make it instantly different but still recognizable enough for the original to be placed.  As a whole, Evans Blue doesn’t really change much about their sound and arrangements on this release which is a good thing if you’ve heard their last release which is almost always on my playlist. The 11 track “The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal Of Life Ends” again features a nice collection of tracks with unique vocals reminiscent of Billy Corgan’s whisper to a scream style in the early 90’s but in a more subtle manner.

Evans Blue will probably not sell a million records with this release but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve recognition and respect for releasing two of the most accessible cd’s of the past several years. These cd’s may take a few listens to really get into some of the tracks and hear the subtleties  of the vocals, but it’s well worth the investment.

So, here’s the deal. This band is comprised of Chad Gray (lead singer of Mudvayne), Greg Tribbett (guitarist from Mudvayne), Vinnie Paul (drummer from Damage Plan and Pantera), Tom Maxwell (guitarist from Nothingface) and Jerry Montano (bassist from Nothingface).

This is a project that got pushed forward and was a chance for the members to have some fun and in Chad Grey’s eyes - pretend to be 19 all over again, have fun, sing about the rock and roll lifestyle, drinking, partying and all of the things from come from being in a rock band. Mudvayne’s topical tunes usually are more serious so perhaps this is a respite that Chad needed.

I can tell that you cannot expect this to sound like a Mudvayne album because it doesn’t. You will definitely hear the unmistakable sound of Chad Grey’s voice which makes you think it’s Mudvayne at times, but as you listen to the music, you quickly realize it isn’t the same.

Is change good? Well, it all depends on you. Mudvayne is my favorite band and Chad Gray is obviously a reason for that. Any chance I get to listen to Chad sing is a good thing, but there are a lot of reasons why I like Mudvayne so much and a lot of those reasons are missing. I didn’t clearly hear Greg’s guitar work as much as I would have on a Mudvayne record largely due to the other band members drowning him out. I have listened to a lot of Nothingface and really like their stuff as well, but again, it seems better dismantled instead of amalgamated.

Apparently the new Mudvayne record is done and will be released in the fall of 2007. In the meantime, check out Hell Yeah and see what you think.

This release was due as the previous release “Berth” was more just a collection to remind Used fans that they were still around. This new release features many relationship laden tunes resulting in some slower tracks like “Smother Me”. Others like “Pretty Handsome Awkward” have a more straight ahead rock element with Bert’s straining and spitting vocals. Songs like “Paralyzed” bring forth trademark sounds like something from a fairly tale and then moves into so called emo style. It may take a few more listens to gain some more solid perspective on this CD as some of The Used’s other material may require. There is no other band like The Used which is why they deserve at least a few listens because when they get things right, it’s like a beautiful accident like you’ve never seen before. There is nothing manufactured or contrived.

For those of you who didn’t know about Pandora, it was a website where you could create your own station and log in from any computer or even share it with others. Songs would be played through streaming and you could accept or reject songs or bands or even add them manually yourself. It was good while it lasted. My only real complaint with Pandora.com was that it only allowed so many songs to be skipped. So initially, if the site guessed wrong at your musical taste, you could only skip a few songs and then you were forced to listen to each song in its entirety.

Why has Canada been ruled out? In Pandora’s words: “We are deeply, deeply sorry to say that due to licensing constraints, we can no longer allow access to Pandora for most listeners located outside of the U.S. We will continue to work diligently to realize the vision of a truly global Pandora, but for the time being we are required to restrict its use. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.”

It’s unfortunate these sort of things happen, but it is just another example of how legislation is disorganized and unsettled. This is technology surpassing legal imagination and it surely is just another example of many more instances to come.