CD review: Def Leppard-Songs From the Sparkle Lounge

It's really hard to describe the sound of this album. After listening to it, "heavy metal," "pop," "ballad," and just "rock" all seem to fit. But not in the way that many albums do--one song at a time. Instead, several of these are combined in some songs and what you get is....something.

It's not a bad something though. However different it may be, it's still Def Leppard, and Def Leppard can still rock. Despite Joe Elliott's range shrinking a little (not a lot, but enough to notice), you can still tell that this is the same band that put out "Pour Some Sugar On Me." Of course, not all of the songs are a new sound--several of them still sound like something straight out of the 80s. However, there are definitely some modern influences.

The album is Def Leppard's first since "x" (excluding YEAH!, which was all covers). I think that for a band to be able to put out an album so long after the previous one and still make it good really says somehting about their talent.

Tracks to check out:

• Go
• Nine Lives
• Tommorow

Cd Review: Whitesnake-Good to be Bad

The title may be Good to be Bad, but Whitesnake's album is anything BUT bad. Far from it actually, as it's already one of my favorite Whitesnake albums.

One of the 1st things I noticed when i started listening to this album was that (thankfully!), unlike a lot of other classic rock artists' new albums, IT IS NOT COUNTRY AT ALL!!! Definitely a plus. I'm sick and tired of all the old groups going country. Stick to rock, people!

But seriously, the songs are great. The albm features 11 new songs, and I like almost all of them. They pretty much all have a Whitesnake vibe to them, and other than Coverdale's voice getting a little raspier, they sound just like they always have. Probably the only real gripe I have is that the opening from Can You Hear the Wind Blow sounds almost exactly like Animals by Nickelback (minus the drums). Other than that, great job.

Tracks to check out:

• Call On Me


• A Fool in Love


• Lay Down You Love

AL Central: Who woulda guessed it?

Flashback to 2007. Atop the AL Central Division the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers battled all season long for 1st place.

Now, 2 weeks into the 2008 season, these same two teams are tied for last place, and the White Sox and Royals are already almost 5 games ahead.

Of course, with a season 162 games long, anything can--and probably will-happen. For now, the Tigers seem to be getting right back into things, and the Indians are still struggling with their pitching game. There's a lot of talent on both teams though, and you can expect to see Cleveland and Detroit back on top in a few months.

Random Fun: Mario themed Wii

Saw this pic on Gizmodo, thought it was cool, so here ya go. It's a Mario Galaxy Wii. You know, if Nintendo sold these, just maybe a couple hundred of them, they'd make a LOT of money. Better yet, the people who have been customizing them could make some cash.

Original Post: Gizmodo

This week in...music

April 15:

• Asia-"Phoenix"
• Mariah Carey-"E=MC2"
• Thrice-"The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth"

This week in...movies

In theatres:

April 18:

• The Forbidden Kingdom
• Forgetting Sarah Marshall

DVD:

April 15:

• AVP: Requiem
• Juno

Harmonix to Nintendo: "HDD for DLC"

After hearing that Rock Band for Wii would not have downloadable content, or possibly no online at all, I said "screw that, I'll get it for PS2." But now, Harmonix is talking about adding DLC for the Wii version. The catch? Nintendo has to put out a hard drive for the Wii.

In my opinion, a hrad drive should have been done months ago anyway, considering that the Wii has only 512 MB of storage, and since Guitar Hero 3 is supposed to be getting DLC as well, more space will soon be needed.

Of course, the outcome of all of this is yet to be seen, and there is still the fact that Guitar Hero 3 controllers won't work with the Wii version of Rock Band (I REALLY don't want to spend another $60 just to be able to play 4 player), so it really comes down to personal preference. Myself, I'm still leaning PS2 just for the controllers, but if there's for sure going to be DLC then my mind may soon change.

Source: QJ.net

Kansas wins NCAA tourney

What. A. Game.

Down by 9 with 2:12 left in the game, the Kansas Jayhawks didn't seem to have a chance. Then , after 3 free throw misses by Memphis, down the court they went and hit a 3 with 2 seconds left. OVERTIME!

From then on out, it was all Kansas. Final score: 75-68, Kansas wins it all.

I must say though, that Memphis played a heck of a game. I was rooting for Kansas all the way (I picked them to win it all when I first filled out my bracket), but you really have to give a lot of credit to both teams. For most of the game, it could have gone either way.

Good luck to the players of both teams in coming years (oh, and GO BUCKEYES!).

Random Rambling: Music

I wanna rock!

But of course, anymore, that's just too much to ask.

Why does music suck so much these days? Aside from old classic rock groups who are still cranking out albums, there's really not a lot of good music out there anymore. Out of the couple thousand songs in my library of music, only 100-200 are anywhere near recent. And most of that is the same groups, different albums; Nickelback, Creed, Alter Bridge, and some Staind are about all of the "modern" rock in my library. Then there's the good stuff--Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Pink Floyd, Van Halen. Classics.

Look at most of todays stuff; rap, generic pop songs--certainly nothing that will be considered classic someday. Classic rap? I don't think so. Seems to me the shelf life of a rap song is a few weeks. People have been listening to the Beatles for almost half a century.

Thankfully, there are some classic rock groups keeping music alive--Def Leppard's new album looks promising, as does Whitesnake's. Not to mention how awesome Van Halen still sounds (go see them if you get the chance, it's well worth it). Unfortunatly, these guys are getting old, and probably won't be around much longer. With any luck, rock n roll will make a return in modern bands in coming years.

One can only hope...

Hang on Sloopy: Ohio State wins NIT

It's about time OSU won had something go their way this season. After being national runners-up last year, they failed to even make the NCAA tourney this year, instead going to the NIT. It's probably for the best however, as they wouldn't have stood a chance in the NCAA tourney.

The buckeyes were 32 for 57 shooting, and beat UMass 92-85 after trailing by 5 at the half. The top performer for OSU was (no surprise) Kosta Koufos, with 22 points.

Hopefully, the experince gained during the NIT will help the buckeyes do better next season. Go Bucks!

This week in...movies

In theatres:

• Leatherheads
• Nim's Island
• The Ruins

DVD:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks
• Sweeny Todd

Random Rambling: A little bit of everything

Well, I missed a couple of days of blogging due to internet explorer problems, but luckily all seems to be working now, so I'm good to go. Not a whole lot going on of late--no HUGE movie releases, CD releases, etc. Baseball season has finally rolled around however, and my Cleveland Indians started it off right with a win at home against the White Sox. Go Tribe!

On another interesting baseball story--A-Rod now makes more than the entire Florida Marlins team COMBINED (Source: Yahoo). Wow. Let me get some of that money!

Outside of sports, not a lot going on. So, until tomorrow...adios!