Saturday, January 29, 2005
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Well, uh, it's done. It could hardly have gone any better, I'm delighted to say. The exile was worth it, the hours I spent revising were worth it, the support from a few people was worth it.
So, in the best "24" crew lingo (something I learnt from Season 2's Making Of documentary), this is a semester wrap for Paulo! Bring on next semester (after a few days rest, please). Time to catch up with more books, more movies, more music.
If that's possible, that is.
So, in the best "24" crew lingo (something I learnt from Season 2's Making Of documentary), this is a semester wrap for Paulo! Bring on next semester (after a few days rest, please). Time to catch up with more books, more movies, more music.
If that's possible, that is.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Yesterday was a rather productive day in terms of revision and I'm happy for that. Whereas things were looking quite dark before I started revision, right now I'm much more confident and I hope I can do well. Today is pretty much the last day before the exam so it's time to wrap things up.
Anyway, last night I still found some time (rather late, though, which is crap as I've been trying to maintain a sane schedule) to see Phone Booth with Joel Schumacher's audio commentary. Earlier on, I had seen a 30 minute featurette also contained in the DVD documenting the making of the movie and it was a delight. It's one of the most insightful documentaries I've seen as a DVD extra, really. One thing that struck me was that I didn't know director Joel Schumacher other than by word of mouth and I've found out he's quite a character. As strange as it may seem, he looks very old and very young at the same time, with all the wrinkles and long white hair but he has some (kinda queer but funky) way about him which sets him apart from pretty much every other director I've seen before. I confess I wasn't overly impressed though and the focus was on the making of the film anyway. What's particularly astonishing about it for me is the privilege of being able to see footage of the shooting of the scene where Colin Farrell is making a rather emotional speech to his wife and pretty much every gathered in front of the booth. We're talking about over 5 minutes of monologue and Farrell delivers it flawlessly without a single break. Remarkable. Needless to say, after the "Cut!", a big applause instantly broke from the crew and all extras. It's not everyday you see something like that and Farrell has just gone up a few spots in my rank.
Later, as I said, I set out to see the movie again, this time with Joel Schumacher's commentary. And my oh my, was I impressed. The way he speaks (a derivative of his manner I described before) makes you feel really comfortable watching the film "virtually" alongside him as he provides fascinating comments providing each character with context. We get to learn some of the actors are actually regulars of his movies, particularly Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, Flatliners (sounds particularly interesting) and A Time to Kill and many others in Tigerland, as well as of his profound admiration for Forest Whitaker (make it two). All in all, an interesting journey which makes me want to see more of his movies, considering he also directed the adaptation of one of my favourite John Grisham novels, The Client with Brad Renfro and the awesome Susan Sarandon. Perhaps his recent adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous stage musical, The Phantom of the Opera?
Anyway, last night I still found some time (rather late, though, which is crap as I've been trying to maintain a sane schedule) to see Phone Booth with Joel Schumacher's audio commentary. Earlier on, I had seen a 30 minute featurette also contained in the DVD documenting the making of the movie and it was a delight. It's one of the most insightful documentaries I've seen as a DVD extra, really. One thing that struck me was that I didn't know director Joel Schumacher other than by word of mouth and I've found out he's quite a character. As strange as it may seem, he looks very old and very young at the same time, with all the wrinkles and long white hair but he has some (kinda queer but funky) way about him which sets him apart from pretty much every other director I've seen before. I confess I wasn't overly impressed though and the focus was on the making of the film anyway. What's particularly astonishing about it for me is the privilege of being able to see footage of the shooting of the scene where Colin Farrell is making a rather emotional speech to his wife and pretty much every gathered in front of the booth. We're talking about over 5 minutes of monologue and Farrell delivers it flawlessly without a single break. Remarkable. Needless to say, after the "Cut!", a big applause instantly broke from the crew and all extras. It's not everyday you see something like that and Farrell has just gone up a few spots in my rank.
Later, as I said, I set out to see the movie again, this time with Joel Schumacher's commentary. And my oh my, was I impressed. The way he speaks (a derivative of his manner I described before) makes you feel really comfortable watching the film "virtually" alongside him as he provides fascinating comments providing each character with context. We get to learn some of the actors are actually regulars of his movies, particularly Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, Flatliners (sounds particularly interesting) and A Time to Kill and many others in Tigerland, as well as of his profound admiration for Forest Whitaker (make it two). All in all, an interesting journey which makes me want to see more of his movies, considering he also directed the adaptation of one of my favourite John Grisham novels, The Client with Brad Renfro and the awesome Susan Sarandon. Perhaps his recent adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous stage musical, The Phantom of the Opera?
Monday, January 24, 2005
Yeah well I couldn't really resist reproducing here the following quote from itsari's journal:
"The fact that there's even people debating whether or not Creed is better than Nirvana is evidence enough that the human race has failed as a species and needs to be wiped out. A bit sad, really."
I second that. As sad as it is.
This comes right within context considering I've been absorbing With The Lights Out, a 3CD + 1DVD set which is a collection of the more obscure material from Nirvana, particularly focusing on early versions of songs which came to have a lot of sucess later on but are depicted here in their raw accoustic early format. Even if I had already heard quite a bit of what's in there before, through bootlegs and stuff like that, it's still an adorable piece of Nirvana material. I was a bit late buying it, but as they say, better late than ever.
By the way, got around to see Dark City yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will try to come up with a formal review in a few days.
Oh and here's my very own South Park character (make your own!):
Back to numerical analysis revision...
---
[ Listening to: Pink Floyd - The Final Cut ]
"The fact that there's even people debating whether or not Creed is better than Nirvana is evidence enough that the human race has failed as a species and needs to be wiped out. A bit sad, really."
I second that. As sad as it is.
This comes right within context considering I've been absorbing With The Lights Out, a 3CD + 1DVD set which is a collection of the more obscure material from Nirvana, particularly focusing on early versions of songs which came to have a lot of sucess later on but are depicted here in their raw accoustic early format. Even if I had already heard quite a bit of what's in there before, through bootlegs and stuff like that, it's still an adorable piece of Nirvana material. I was a bit late buying it, but as they say, better late than ever.
By the way, got around to see Dark City yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I will try to come up with a formal review in a few days.
Oh and here's my very own South Park character (make your own!):
Back to numerical analysis revision...
---
[ Listening to: Pink Floyd - The Final Cut ]
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Just a quick entry to say that I'm still somewhat alive and kicking, despite the recent absence of blog entries. Last December 27th I wrote an entry here that started like:
Mini-holidays are now officially over. This is going to be insane until mid-January.
I wasn't trying to fool you, dear reader. Perhaps insane is a bit too much to describe it but it has been hard work indeed and that has contributed for keeping me from writing here as much as I'd like to. Not exactly in terms of time available but more in terms of having to focus on other things. Not that I write anything particularly interesting, otherwise, but still. You be the judge of that.
When I said mid-January, by the way, I lied. Not on purpose but the thing turned out to get stretched as I didn't really have time to study for an exam due on 13/01. This led me to forfeit it and attend the alternative date of 26/01. If everything had gone to plan and I had attended the first one, I'd be already off this semester but this way I'll still be on the hook for a few days more. And this one is far from being a walk in the park.
So right now I'm pretty much focused on getting over this which means revising quite a lot for it. I've decided to come back to Evora so I could be completely alone for a few days up to next Wednesday and hopefully this way I'll prepare myself adequately. In the mean time I've been shuffling tasks and so during study breaks there's some new goodies I've acquired and which I've been going through. After having cruised through all of 24's second season, I'm now catching up on the audio commentaries some episodes include (one from each of the 6 DVDs). The best one by far has been the one by Carlos Bernard (who plays Tony Almeida), Sarah Wynter (Kate Warner) and Michelle Forbes (Lynne Kresge). These guys are completely crazy and it made a really interesting commentary with lots of nice insights about the shooting and relationships between actors off camera. Add to that some good humour and it ends up being one of the most interesting and laid back audio commentaries I've ever listened to. Season 3 has just started airing on Portuguese TV (and Season 4 in the States...) and I'm obviously completely hooked. However, I've already ordered the DVD boxset. A few 24 die-hard fans around here, you see... It also helps that all three seasons are 60% off at Amazon.co.uk.
Other than that, bought On Writing by Stephen King yesterday. I'm periodically drawn into King's work, having read From a Buick 8 and The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Vol. 1) early last year. A few days ago I saw Stand By Me again (review coming in the near future) which is one of his (multiple) adaptations to the big screen and that somehow sparked my interest on him again. So I picked this up from a shelf and have been enjoying it throughout. King is not just terror atall, he can be really funny sometimes (and touching, as with Stand By Me) and he is indeed funny when he talks about his infancy and youth.
Also picked up a couple of good (I guess) DVD deals at low price, Phone Booth and Dark City. While the first is one of the films I enjoyed the most in recent years, the second may just be one of the films I will enjoy the most in recent years, judging from reviews and the general feeling about this movie. I'm especially interested in Phone Booth's audio commentary by Joel Schumacher (shame it's not with Kiefer too!). By the way, have you noticed the pattern? Kiefer Sutherland stars in almost everything I've mentioned so far: 24 (the likeable and resilient Jack Bauer), Phone Booth (as the fantastic Voice), Stand by Me (the cocky badass Ace) and Dark City (Dr. Daniel Schreber). I'm not obsessed with him but Kiefer just so fucking rules.
Last but not least, and getting back to the university subject, I'd like to credit a couple of really good friends (Rui and João) who did a really good job of guidance for me during the early stages of the Logic Programming assignment. What they did was pretty much showing me The Light and I'm in big debt to them for their patience even while they were going through a week long Compiler Optimization exam. That's too much to ask for but they did it. I couldn't really credit them in the assignment proper but I want to do it right here. Thanks, guys!
...and what was supposed to be a "quick" entry turned out to be already too long. Time to sign off for now.
Mini-holidays are now officially over. This is going to be insane until mid-January.
I wasn't trying to fool you, dear reader. Perhaps insane is a bit too much to describe it but it has been hard work indeed and that has contributed for keeping me from writing here as much as I'd like to. Not exactly in terms of time available but more in terms of having to focus on other things. Not that I write anything particularly interesting, otherwise, but still. You be the judge of that.
When I said mid-January, by the way, I lied. Not on purpose but the thing turned out to get stretched as I didn't really have time to study for an exam due on 13/01. This led me to forfeit it and attend the alternative date of 26/01. If everything had gone to plan and I had attended the first one, I'd be already off this semester but this way I'll still be on the hook for a few days more. And this one is far from being a walk in the park.
So right now I'm pretty much focused on getting over this which means revising quite a lot for it. I've decided to come back to Evora so I could be completely alone for a few days up to next Wednesday and hopefully this way I'll prepare myself adequately. In the mean time I've been shuffling tasks and so during study breaks there's some new goodies I've acquired and which I've been going through. After having cruised through all of 24's second season, I'm now catching up on the audio commentaries some episodes include (one from each of the 6 DVDs). The best one by far has been the one by Carlos Bernard (who plays Tony Almeida), Sarah Wynter (Kate Warner) and Michelle Forbes (Lynne Kresge). These guys are completely crazy and it made a really interesting commentary with lots of nice insights about the shooting and relationships between actors off camera. Add to that some good humour and it ends up being one of the most interesting and laid back audio commentaries I've ever listened to. Season 3 has just started airing on Portuguese TV (and Season 4 in the States...) and I'm obviously completely hooked. However, I've already ordered the DVD boxset. A few 24 die-hard fans around here, you see... It also helps that all three seasons are 60% off at Amazon.co.uk.
Other than that, bought On Writing by Stephen King yesterday. I'm periodically drawn into King's work, having read From a Buick 8 and The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Vol. 1) early last year. A few days ago I saw Stand By Me again (review coming in the near future) which is one of his (multiple) adaptations to the big screen and that somehow sparked my interest on him again. So I picked this up from a shelf and have been enjoying it throughout. King is not just terror atall, he can be really funny sometimes (and touching, as with Stand By Me) and he is indeed funny when he talks about his infancy and youth.
Also picked up a couple of good (I guess) DVD deals at low price, Phone Booth and Dark City. While the first is one of the films I enjoyed the most in recent years, the second may just be one of the films I will enjoy the most in recent years, judging from reviews and the general feeling about this movie. I'm especially interested in Phone Booth's audio commentary by Joel Schumacher (shame it's not with Kiefer too!). By the way, have you noticed the pattern? Kiefer Sutherland stars in almost everything I've mentioned so far: 24 (the likeable and resilient Jack Bauer), Phone Booth (as the fantastic Voice), Stand by Me (the cocky badass Ace) and Dark City (Dr. Daniel Schreber). I'm not obsessed with him but Kiefer just so fucking rules.
Last but not least, and getting back to the university subject, I'd like to credit a couple of really good friends (Rui and João) who did a really good job of guidance for me during the early stages of the Logic Programming assignment. What they did was pretty much showing me The Light and I'm in big debt to them for their patience even while they were going through a week long Compiler Optimization exam. That's too much to ask for but they did it. I couldn't really credit them in the assignment proper but I want to do it right here. Thanks, guys!
...and what was supposed to be a "quick" entry turned out to be already too long. Time to sign off for now.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Monday, January 10, 2005
Movie Review: "High Crimes" (2002)
Last night I got around to see "High Crimes" on DVD, a 2002 movie featuring the beautiful Ashley Judd (Heat) and the brilliant Morgan Freeman (Shawshank Redemption, Se7en). With these two on the lead roles you can't really lose, can you? Well, no, not really.
Claire Kubik (Judd) is a hot shot lawyer working for a well known firm who happens to manage important and mediatic cases. She's very self-confident, sophisticated and fresh and knows very well what she wants and likes. And she likes living with her husband, Tom (James Caviezel), on the country side. However, this idyllic scenario soons turns into despair when she learns that Tom isn't quite who she had always known and is in fact a military dissident accused of a capital crime who turns out to be known as Ron Chapman. It all goes back to a few years earlier, when Tom/Ron took part on a covert special operation that ended on him allegedly shooting nine innocent people at point blank range. Claire believes her husband is innocent and decides to help him in military court. Aware that she really isn't familiar with the ground she'll be stepping on, she asks for the help and assistance of a former military lawyer, Charlie Grimes (Freeman), whose biggest struggle by then is to avoid alcohol like he's been proudly doing for over 400 days successfully. Grimes is a relaxed, easy-going type guy who likes to be a "wild card". He doesn't play by the rules and that usually works for him. Together, Claire and Grimes work alongside a newbie military lawyer (Adam Scott), only to find the spider web they have to entangle is bigger than they imagined at first.
I don't want to go along with the rest of the plot as it's not really necessary. "High Crimes" is a typical courtroom thriller that's been done over and over again and it's quite predictable even if you haven't seen many of these genre films. However, the fact that it doesn't promise too much also means that it doesn't have too much trouble delivering well enough. Especially interesting, in my opinion, is the way we get to see the different versions of what supposedly happened during the blood stained operation in South America. Director Carl Franklin shows us the same characters, in the same exact situation, doing the exact same things, except the roles are exchanged. This has been used to the same effect in 2003's Basic and most likely comes from earlier on. Either way, it's probably the best way to keep us on our toes and give the audience a graphic taste of both sides in question, like we are jurors in this case.
The acting is very good, and I can honestly say I was quite stunned by Ashley Judd as she looks beautiful on screen. Her freshness and confidence impressed me in a way I haven't felt like in a good while and that was a good surprise. Morgan Freeman doesn't surprise me at all, he just keeps adding insult to injury with yet another brilliant performance showing he's not only classy, he's also extremely versatile. James Caviezel delivers a strong performance aswell although there's not much room for him to shine, at least not as much as it does for Judd or Freeman. However, within the confines of his role in this story, he does what he needs to do: be convincing. The supporting roles are convincing aswell - Juan Carlos Hernández is particularly scary in the role of Major James Hernandez - and of particular interest to me is the appearance of Jude Ciccollela as the judge, who you might know as the Mike Novick of acclaimed TV series 24.
The story itself unfolds in a very fluid manner, Freeman adds the touch of class - and in this case of smart comedy too - and despite the somewhat weak and predictable plot and mandatory final twist, the film is still satisfying and entertaining.
*** out of 4
Claire Kubik (Judd) is a hot shot lawyer working for a well known firm who happens to manage important and mediatic cases. She's very self-confident, sophisticated and fresh and knows very well what she wants and likes. And she likes living with her husband, Tom (James Caviezel), on the country side. However, this idyllic scenario soons turns into despair when she learns that Tom isn't quite who she had always known and is in fact a military dissident accused of a capital crime who turns out to be known as Ron Chapman. It all goes back to a few years earlier, when Tom/Ron took part on a covert special operation that ended on him allegedly shooting nine innocent people at point blank range. Claire believes her husband is innocent and decides to help him in military court. Aware that she really isn't familiar with the ground she'll be stepping on, she asks for the help and assistance of a former military lawyer, Charlie Grimes (Freeman), whose biggest struggle by then is to avoid alcohol like he's been proudly doing for over 400 days successfully. Grimes is a relaxed, easy-going type guy who likes to be a "wild card". He doesn't play by the rules and that usually works for him. Together, Claire and Grimes work alongside a newbie military lawyer (Adam Scott), only to find the spider web they have to entangle is bigger than they imagined at first.
I don't want to go along with the rest of the plot as it's not really necessary. "High Crimes" is a typical courtroom thriller that's been done over and over again and it's quite predictable even if you haven't seen many of these genre films. However, the fact that it doesn't promise too much also means that it doesn't have too much trouble delivering well enough. Especially interesting, in my opinion, is the way we get to see the different versions of what supposedly happened during the blood stained operation in South America. Director Carl Franklin shows us the same characters, in the same exact situation, doing the exact same things, except the roles are exchanged. This has been used to the same effect in 2003's Basic and most likely comes from earlier on. Either way, it's probably the best way to keep us on our toes and give the audience a graphic taste of both sides in question, like we are jurors in this case.
The acting is very good, and I can honestly say I was quite stunned by Ashley Judd as she looks beautiful on screen. Her freshness and confidence impressed me in a way I haven't felt like in a good while and that was a good surprise. Morgan Freeman doesn't surprise me at all, he just keeps adding insult to injury with yet another brilliant performance showing he's not only classy, he's also extremely versatile. James Caviezel delivers a strong performance aswell although there's not much room for him to shine, at least not as much as it does for Judd or Freeman. However, within the confines of his role in this story, he does what he needs to do: be convincing. The supporting roles are convincing aswell - Juan Carlos Hernández is particularly scary in the role of Major James Hernandez - and of particular interest to me is the appearance of Jude Ciccollela as the judge, who you might know as the Mike Novick of acclaimed TV series 24.
The story itself unfolds in a very fluid manner, Freeman adds the touch of class - and in this case of smart comedy too - and despite the somewhat weak and predictable plot and mandatory final twist, the film is still satisfying and entertaining.
*** out of 4
Saturday, January 01, 2005
2004 End of the Year Round Up
We've already said goodbye to 2004 and so it's time for yours truly to jump in the best-of-the-year lists bandwagon. Considering I haven't really seen many new movies this year, having focused in old classics, I don't really fee like I'm able to put out a decent movie top 10 for 2004, so I'm sticking to music. It turned out kinda lengthy so if you're easily bored, you better look someplace else ;)
10. Iced Earth ~ The Glorious Burden (Website)
I must say that what stroke me first about this album was its cover. I just loved the battle picture, really digged the drawing. Not being an Iced Earth fanatic, I decided to check it out and was quite impressed with the quality of this album. Most songs are quite catchy and even the ballads are ok, despite me not having an inclination for metal ballads. The special edition 2-disc set also includes a very nice long and progressive piece titled "Gettysburg" which definitely should be present in the regular edition as it is pretty much the highlight of this album.
9. Mastodon ~ Leviathan (Website)
Every now and then there shows up a band which is genre-defying while decidedly good at their own kind of sound. This year, this title goes to Mastodon which surprised me with their Pantera meets Dillinger Escape Plan kind of sound. They can also be very diverse, mixing really powerful, heavy and speedy songs with more laid back tunes, including an awesome 13 minute progressive epic. This is a band definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
8. Fates Warning ~ FWX (Website)
Thanks to Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater (on his HotD thread), 2004 was the year I got to know Fates Warning. This is also a band I have to investigate further in 2005 as I find there are definitely some hooks in it but I still haven't gotten to the bottom of it. There's gold here though as any Fates Warning fan would surely tell me, I can feel it but I haven't found it myself yet. As it is, I really enjoyed FWX, Jim Matheos guitar work is quite nice and Ray Alder's voice is definitely an added value for me. Time to drill down into their back catalogue...
7. Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand (Website)
Every once in a while there's an album coming out from which you seem to have heard every track somewhere before but the truth is that it's all new stuff. That's Franz Ferdinand's 2004 debut for me. These tunes have such powerful hooks it's unbelievable and you can even dance to it. I wonder if this band is a one-hit (well, one-album actually) wonder or if they can take their thing to the next level. Perhaps 2005 will tell us?
6. Edguy ~ Hellfire Club (Website)
Edguy's strength for me resides in their powerful choruses, it just sounds so great! Tobias Sammett's voice seems to be perfect for their type of sound and apart from the odd cheesy balad, this album steps on the gas all the way. Unfortunately, as with most of power metal, it can be as good as boring after a while and that's the only problem I found in it. It's ok, the only thing you need is to put it down for a while and then spin it again a couple of months later. Fresh as new! Aside from that, Hellfire Club is one hell of a record, I wish I had caught them live earlier last year.
5. Dream Theater ~ Live at Budokan (Website)
Dream Theater filled the hiatus between original releases in 2004, with a live album recording in the mythic Budokan in Japan. This was part of the Japanese leg of the Train of Thought show and it was released both in DVD and Audio CD format. This is a great addition from the band, featuring an amazing set of roughly 3 hours (as we're used to) with the majority of Train of Thought being played but also revisiting When Dream and Day Unite with "Only a Matter of Time" (the first time for a live release if I'm not mistaken). But the devil (in a good sense) is in the details, as they say. Beyond This Life has this amazing Frank Zappa homage live extension, the rendition of Hollow Years is purely amazing with an extended solo by John Petrucci (as he also did later in the show for In The Name of God). If that wasn't enough, the band also plays the godlike Instrumedley piece which is an awesome track to have on record. Dream Theater proves once again their mighty power. 2005 will surely bring even better things from them, considering a new album is to be expected and it's the 20th anniversary of the band.
4. Ayreon ~ The Human Equation (Website)
I've already given a mention in an earlier entry to this project so I'll refrain from saying too much right now. Suffice to say that this is a winner right from the starting lane considering it includes James La Brie, Devin Townsend and Mikael Akerfeldt. This simply had to be in my top 10. Period.
3. Blackfield ~ Blackfield (Website)
If I had to pick a musician of the year, that title would go hands down to Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. The guy is like the King Midas. Everything he touches turns gold. Be it his own Porcupine Tree or producing for Opeth and Paatos, you can't lose with him. 2004 saw the release of yet another of his side projects, entitled Blackfield, together with Israeli songwriter and singer Aviv Geffen. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition of sad yet beautiful music, if a definition for such thing exists. It may take a couple of spins to actually put the pieces together but when it does, the reward couldn't be better. Think of it as a stripped down version of Porcupine Tree and there you have it. And this is more than enough to fill the gap between Porcupine Tree's albums, from which a new opus is about to see the light of the day and it's called "Deadwing".
2. Green Day ~ American Idiot (Website)
Green Day will always have a soft spot in my heart, considering I've grown up with them from very early on. Despite that, I don't think I'm biased when I give the second spot to them as it is by all means well deserved. Never before has Green Day sounded so tight and focused on their work. The band has been growing with each release and going through different stages in their career and the same goes for Billy Joe Armstrong's songwriting. From the love-punk-pop of the first couple of songs, through the Dookie acclaimed masterpiece and my favourite Insomniac into the more comercially-aware Nimrod and Warning, the band has finally come of age and American Idiot is proof of that. They found their place proving the teenage angst wasn't just instrumental, maturing into a cohesive and well-aware ideology while maintaning their awesome gift for catchy melody and choruses. Finally, one interesting thing I found was the intriguing (to say the least) twelve minute, multi phase piece as the second track of the album. Green Day going progressive within punk-pop? Good!
1. The Gathering ~ Sleepy Buildings (Website)
The number one spot had to go The Gathering, obviously. Even if 2004 was in many respects one of the worst years of my life, the single fact of having seen The Gathering live in front of me (and yes, add Dream Theater show to the bill aswell) has the gift of making me regard last year as a positive one. 2004 was also an amazing year for the band itself, considering they've been touring most of the time and giving out great shows indeed. As for the record itself, Sleepy Buildings is a selection of The Gathering's back catalogue as played in an accoustic show in early 2004. Some renditions are absolutely wonderful and "Saturnine", "Amity" and "Travel" hitting home perfectly. "Locked Away", the opening track is so similar to Jeff Buckley it's even scary. And that's a good thing, if you ask me. The Gathering's voice, the beautiful Anneke van Giersbergen, really shines and stands out in this record. 2005 will hopefully bring a new album from the band and most importantly for Anneke, she'll give birth to "a petit garçon". So, when all is said and done, this number one spot is not just the best album for me, it's also the band of the year. Go TG!
Anneke during Sleepy Buildings accoustic show recordings
There's also some honorable mentions I rather not leave out. Persuader has come back in 2004 after some conflicts inside the band releasing Evolution Purgatory. While not on par with their amazing debut back in 2001, it's still an awesome power metal record. L.A. based Megadeth has also come back to the scene and to their golden days, I must say, with the very politically-aware The System Has Failed while Swedish band Pain of Salvation released Be, a strange yet fabulous concept album about the meaning of life itself. A Perfect Circle has been put in the backburner while its members pursue more important interests (Tool being one of those for vocalist Maynard James Keenan), not without releasing eMOTIVe, a covers album with renditions of Joni Mitchell, John Lennon or, believe it or not, Black Flag. Funny. Joe Satriani also delivered a strong album, full of catchy melodies, while asking whether Is There Love in Space?. Dream Theater's bassist John Myung side project The Jelly Jam also released a new record, summarily titled 2, their second album (surprise, surprise), which is a valuable addition to the progressive genre spectrum. Finally, a word of appreciation for Angra's Temple of Shadows, a fantastic power metal album coming from Brazil and containing an interesting mix of influences.
Last, but definitely not least, it's important to say that 2004 is a very sad year for music at large considering ex-Pantera guitarrist "Dimebag" Darrell was shot on stage during a Damageplan gig last December. Much has been said about this truly sad and disgusting episode but I must stress that things like this don't belong in 21st century nor anywhere else for that matter and must not happen. Ever. Rock on Dimebag!
Here's hope for 2005!
10. Iced Earth ~ The Glorious Burden (Website)
I must say that what stroke me first about this album was its cover. I just loved the battle picture, really digged the drawing. Not being an Iced Earth fanatic, I decided to check it out and was quite impressed with the quality of this album. Most songs are quite catchy and even the ballads are ok, despite me not having an inclination for metal ballads. The special edition 2-disc set also includes a very nice long and progressive piece titled "Gettysburg" which definitely should be present in the regular edition as it is pretty much the highlight of this album.
9. Mastodon ~ Leviathan (Website)
Every now and then there shows up a band which is genre-defying while decidedly good at their own kind of sound. This year, this title goes to Mastodon which surprised me with their Pantera meets Dillinger Escape Plan kind of sound. They can also be very diverse, mixing really powerful, heavy and speedy songs with more laid back tunes, including an awesome 13 minute progressive epic. This is a band definitely worth keeping an eye out for.
8. Fates Warning ~ FWX (Website)
Thanks to Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater (on his HotD thread), 2004 was the year I got to know Fates Warning. This is also a band I have to investigate further in 2005 as I find there are definitely some hooks in it but I still haven't gotten to the bottom of it. There's gold here though as any Fates Warning fan would surely tell me, I can feel it but I haven't found it myself yet. As it is, I really enjoyed FWX, Jim Matheos guitar work is quite nice and Ray Alder's voice is definitely an added value for me. Time to drill down into their back catalogue...
7. Franz Ferdinand ~ Franz Ferdinand (Website)
Every once in a while there's an album coming out from which you seem to have heard every track somewhere before but the truth is that it's all new stuff. That's Franz Ferdinand's 2004 debut for me. These tunes have such powerful hooks it's unbelievable and you can even dance to it. I wonder if this band is a one-hit (well, one-album actually) wonder or if they can take their thing to the next level. Perhaps 2005 will tell us?
6. Edguy ~ Hellfire Club (Website)
Edguy's strength for me resides in their powerful choruses, it just sounds so great! Tobias Sammett's voice seems to be perfect for their type of sound and apart from the odd cheesy balad, this album steps on the gas all the way. Unfortunately, as with most of power metal, it can be as good as boring after a while and that's the only problem I found in it. It's ok, the only thing you need is to put it down for a while and then spin it again a couple of months later. Fresh as new! Aside from that, Hellfire Club is one hell of a record, I wish I had caught them live earlier last year.
5. Dream Theater ~ Live at Budokan (Website)
Dream Theater filled the hiatus between original releases in 2004, with a live album recording in the mythic Budokan in Japan. This was part of the Japanese leg of the Train of Thought show and it was released both in DVD and Audio CD format. This is a great addition from the band, featuring an amazing set of roughly 3 hours (as we're used to) with the majority of Train of Thought being played but also revisiting When Dream and Day Unite with "Only a Matter of Time" (the first time for a live release if I'm not mistaken). But the devil (in a good sense) is in the details, as they say. Beyond This Life has this amazing Frank Zappa homage live extension, the rendition of Hollow Years is purely amazing with an extended solo by John Petrucci (as he also did later in the show for In The Name of God). If that wasn't enough, the band also plays the godlike Instrumedley piece which is an awesome track to have on record. Dream Theater proves once again their mighty power. 2005 will surely bring even better things from them, considering a new album is to be expected and it's the 20th anniversary of the band.
4. Ayreon ~ The Human Equation (Website)
I've already given a mention in an earlier entry to this project so I'll refrain from saying too much right now. Suffice to say that this is a winner right from the starting lane considering it includes James La Brie, Devin Townsend and Mikael Akerfeldt. This simply had to be in my top 10. Period.
3. Blackfield ~ Blackfield (Website)
If I had to pick a musician of the year, that title would go hands down to Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. The guy is like the King Midas. Everything he touches turns gold. Be it his own Porcupine Tree or producing for Opeth and Paatos, you can't lose with him. 2004 saw the release of yet another of his side projects, entitled Blackfield, together with Israeli songwriter and singer Aviv Geffen. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition of sad yet beautiful music, if a definition for such thing exists. It may take a couple of spins to actually put the pieces together but when it does, the reward couldn't be better. Think of it as a stripped down version of Porcupine Tree and there you have it. And this is more than enough to fill the gap between Porcupine Tree's albums, from which a new opus is about to see the light of the day and it's called "Deadwing".
2. Green Day ~ American Idiot (Website)
Green Day will always have a soft spot in my heart, considering I've grown up with them from very early on. Despite that, I don't think I'm biased when I give the second spot to them as it is by all means well deserved. Never before has Green Day sounded so tight and focused on their work. The band has been growing with each release and going through different stages in their career and the same goes for Billy Joe Armstrong's songwriting. From the love-punk-pop of the first couple of songs, through the Dookie acclaimed masterpiece and my favourite Insomniac into the more comercially-aware Nimrod and Warning, the band has finally come of age and American Idiot is proof of that. They found their place proving the teenage angst wasn't just instrumental, maturing into a cohesive and well-aware ideology while maintaning their awesome gift for catchy melody and choruses. Finally, one interesting thing I found was the intriguing (to say the least) twelve minute, multi phase piece as the second track of the album. Green Day going progressive within punk-pop? Good!
1. The Gathering ~ Sleepy Buildings (Website)
The number one spot had to go The Gathering, obviously. Even if 2004 was in many respects one of the worst years of my life, the single fact of having seen The Gathering live in front of me (and yes, add Dream Theater show to the bill aswell) has the gift of making me regard last year as a positive one. 2004 was also an amazing year for the band itself, considering they've been touring most of the time and giving out great shows indeed. As for the record itself, Sleepy Buildings is a selection of The Gathering's back catalogue as played in an accoustic show in early 2004. Some renditions are absolutely wonderful and "Saturnine", "Amity" and "Travel" hitting home perfectly. "Locked Away", the opening track is so similar to Jeff Buckley it's even scary. And that's a good thing, if you ask me. The Gathering's voice, the beautiful Anneke van Giersbergen, really shines and stands out in this record. 2005 will hopefully bring a new album from the band and most importantly for Anneke, she'll give birth to "a petit garçon". So, when all is said and done, this number one spot is not just the best album for me, it's also the band of the year. Go TG!
Anneke during Sleepy Buildings accoustic show recordings
There's also some honorable mentions I rather not leave out. Persuader has come back in 2004 after some conflicts inside the band releasing Evolution Purgatory. While not on par with their amazing debut back in 2001, it's still an awesome power metal record. L.A. based Megadeth has also come back to the scene and to their golden days, I must say, with the very politically-aware The System Has Failed while Swedish band Pain of Salvation released Be, a strange yet fabulous concept album about the meaning of life itself. A Perfect Circle has been put in the backburner while its members pursue more important interests (Tool being one of those for vocalist Maynard James Keenan), not without releasing eMOTIVe, a covers album with renditions of Joni Mitchell, John Lennon or, believe it or not, Black Flag. Funny. Joe Satriani also delivered a strong album, full of catchy melodies, while asking whether Is There Love in Space?. Dream Theater's bassist John Myung side project The Jelly Jam also released a new record, summarily titled 2, their second album (surprise, surprise), which is a valuable addition to the progressive genre spectrum. Finally, a word of appreciation for Angra's Temple of Shadows, a fantastic power metal album coming from Brazil and containing an interesting mix of influences.
Last, but definitely not least, it's important to say that 2004 is a very sad year for music at large considering ex-Pantera guitarrist "Dimebag" Darrell was shot on stage during a Damageplan gig last December. Much has been said about this truly sad and disgusting episode but I must stress that things like this don't belong in 21st century nor anywhere else for that matter and must not happen. Ever. Rock on Dimebag!
Here's hope for 2005!
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