Addictive Berries
Some time last year, a craze started to surface, something that no one saw coming, it had teens and adults alike glued to a small screen, what had the power to do this to people? What could drive them to constantly be walking around hitting tiny buttons? BlackBerries.
BlackBerries by themselves are just regular smart phones, but why are they so addictive? They are so, because it keeps people connected, not just to family and friends, but to their entire social life. By paying a certain fee, BlackBerry users can always be coupled with their Facbook and Twitter accounts and to the internet in general. It’s good because you can always be in touch with your entire internet life, you can always talk to people, always know the latest news, but when does it get bad?
People tend to get addicted, really addicted to their BlackBerries, always typing something in or updating their Facebook status. Its not uncommon to see students typing into something under their desk in classes. People get distracted, they stray away from conversations, all from the sound of a subtle bleep. All the above statements aren’t that bad, but when people are sending each other messages while crossing the road or even while driving, that’s when it becomes dangerous. You cant really blame the people who make BlackBerries or the people who provide the subscription, you should instead blame the people who carelessly act like their social life takes importance over their existent life.
Can anyone really stop the public’s obsession with BlackBerries? No. All you can do is admire the way one company has made tons of money just by amplifying the basic need for communication, by allowing people to constantly be united with their social lives and allowing instant messaging through the likes of MSN and BBM just that much easier. Infact, BlackBerries have become so infamously addictive that it has garnered the nickname of ‘CrackBerry’
Metal and its unfortunate stereotype
For years now, metal has always been associated with a lot of things, most notably satanism. The public just presuppose that just because metal bands are playing heavy, fast, brutal music, they are linked to evil, immoral beliefs. That is quite the opposite. Metal chooses to go beyond what mainstream music speaks of and ventures down the alley of what people are afraid to write of. They do it because it gives them their own sense of individuality and a chance to truly speak their mind without fear of being shunned or conflicted. Perhaps some other genres prefer not to write about subjects such as religion because its away from their safe zone, and may garner them a lot of ‘haters,’ while Metal can continue to write in that technique because of a strong underground presence.
So, one side may say that they do it to speak their mind, others might say that they do it because it works, it gets them attention and it gets them publicity, be it good or bad, but they say that any publicity is good publicity, right? If a band choose to write about dark and sinister subjects, they are bound to get noticed, again, might not always be for the right reasons, but the wrong reasons will turn into criticism and that leads to exposure as the mass loves criticism. Even if the bands write about certain subjects related to Satanism, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have faith in it, while some Norwegian Death Metal bands and a handful of others really do believe that Satanism is the right path, does not mean the whole Metal community believes in it.
And that’s where the whole stereotyping act comes into play, just because some people believe that a certain subject matter may be correct, does not in any way mean that the everyone else believes in it. Stereotyping makes it so that everyone who listens to punk believes in anarchy or that any fan of rap maybe a ‘gangsta’ and finally those who listen to metal are ultimately deemed Satanic, its come to the point where nobody can listen to anything without being judged.
But perhaps Metal bands don’t do it for the attention, perhaps they don’t do it for the sole idea of being individual, maybe they just do it because it amuses them, subjects such as religion intrigue them and that they just enjoy writing that style of music. And I’ll end by saying that the devil horns or the Corma was actually used by (R.I.P) Ronnie James Dio’s grandmother to ward off evil spirits, now what does that tell you about Metal and Evil?
Quick word of thanks to Joshua Rego for the idea to write this article. \m/
Do Schools Encourage Conformity?
Yes, most definitely yes. By making everyone wear the same colored attire, by forcing everyone to be trim and proper, it is the very thing that encourages and forces conformity. But is it always a bad thing?
Conformity is “the process by which an individual’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by what is conceived to be what other people might perceive.” According to Wikipedia anyway. Personally, I think that conformity should be looked down on. Why? Well for one, it strips away the students ability to be an individual, to be who they want to be, and tells them what they should be like. How uninspiring would it be if everyone was the same, if everyone had the same beliefs, is this what school and various other institutions try to influence or force us to do?
Others might say that it saves money as you don’t have to keep purchasing new clothes, but ultimately, individuality is something that you cannot put a price on, money cant buy it. Individuality is formed by a persons personality, experiences and surroundings. If the ‘surroundings’ force you to be something, then even subconsciously it will begin to hinder ones uniqueness.
Conformity banishes one’s personality. It convinces you to follow what everyone else is doing. It deprives a person from feeling his/her own emotions towards specific things and encourages you to “follow” what everyone else is doing. Whoever said that the people you are encouraged to adhere are correct? That their views and measures are acceptable?
Schools should value diversity over conformity, they should nurture variety within the students. They should encourage people to be different so they can stray away from the norm, perhaps this will make school seem more enjoyable? Maybe students would bunk less and actually start looking forward to coming to school. Can all these declarations become a reality if schools just allowed the students to be nothing more than themselves? After all is said and done, conformity is inevitable as everyone wants to be accepted as part of the masses.
Album Review: Death Magnetic
Death Magnetic was the ninth studio album by Metallica, released through Warner Bros. and Vertigo Records. Even though this album went number 1 in various countries, ultimately, it comes down to whether this it shows a true return to form or whether they still need to make a few adjustments, Lets see what Death Magnetic has to offer.
Sound: YES, finally, after much anticipation, the guitar solos are back, in all its shredding, tapping and Wah-Wah goodness. Kirk Hammett shows us just how much more song can be, with the simple addition of a mind-bending solo. Guitars apart, there is no more steel snare! Just a good old tight, familiar, not-sound-like-garbage-cans snare. Makes the whole album a lot easier to listen to. Now the downside, the album wasn’t very well produced, they seemed to have compromised sound quality, just to make the album as loud as it can be. The snare seems to sound a bit fizzy at times. With that aside, lets start breaking down the standout songs.
That Was Just Your Life: The song starts off with an eerie heartbeat that goes into a clean guitar that resembles the sound of the Black Album. Then the distorted guitars come in, and from there, the song can only get faster and heavier. Accompanied by an extremely catchy verse riff, James Hetfield begins to sing… fast. At times it hard to understand what he’s saying, but the chorus makes up for it all, as catchy as you’ll ever hear, the song continues in its unrelenting pace, which leads to a brief dual harmony which gives way to an in-your-face Wah-Wah solo. All in all, a great, fast, catchy song to start off the album.
Broken, Beat & Scarred: Quite the different riff to start off a song, that has extremely infectious guitar parts, this song is very groove oriented. Lyric wise the song talks about getting up after being kicked down, and that “what don’t kill ya, make you more strong.” A very fast break down followed by a pure shredding solo, followed by more power-chord driven rhythm. This song really has a lot of riffs which will latch itself to the insides of your brain. An extremely catchy song, one of my personal favorites.
The Day That Never Comes: The first single released off of the album, and once I heard this, I knew that I was getting Death Magnetic. This is the most downbeat track on the record, aside from The Unforgiven III, it starts off with clean guitars that give way to an octave lead and then back to a clean, picked verse, to a heavy chorus, yeah that’s a lot of changes. The song gets heavier as it goes along, its a song that’s very dependent on tight, catchy rhythm playing. The twin solo is really good, again, fast. The solo is arguably the best part of the song, it gets more and more intense down the line. The lyrics of this song are pure genius and can be related to anything from religion to war. The song has constantly been compared to ‘One,’ some saying that its not as good, some saying that its better, I don’t see they both cant just be brilliant songs.
Cyanide: Heavy intro, that leads to a somewhat slower verse and pre-chorus, and even more so, chorus. The song itself is okay, but what really stood out to me was the EPIC breakdown! The breakdown is just pure brilliance, it goes from thumping, heavy rhythms to a slow, clean picked piece and it keeps going until a good, pure and at times, flying solo. Standout moments in this song are most definitely the breakdown and the chorus.
This album definitely has a lot of high points. The lyrics are much better than the previous album, the instruments are better (snare, solos). Death Magnetic showed myself, and many other people that Metallica are still more than capable of writing amazing music, while the sound quality can get annoying at times, the album redeems itself with great songs, I would highly recommend it to ANY Metallica fan, or metal fan in general. It was so good, I got 2 copies.
2010-11 NBA Season right around the corner
And when I say right around the corner, I mean 3 days away! This season will answer a lot of questions, like if the Big 3 (James, Bosh and Wade) can actually work as a cohesive unit, if John Wall really can carry the hopes of Washington on his shoulders and if the Cavaliers could ever recover from LeBron signing with the Heat. And with all these factors already in, veteran teams like the Lakers and Celtics will always continue to show why they are 2 of the most dominating franchises in the league.
If preseason games are any indication, then Cav’s are doing just fine, with a preseason record 6 wins with 2 losses, they aren’t doing bad at all. But teams usually limit the use of key players because of the risk of injury, so one cant really judge. With all the trades that have taken place over the summer, most notably LeBron James, this season is sure to be a crazy yet entertaining one, and with just 3 days left for the season to start, fans the world over will see just how teams cope with the winds of change. NBA truly is where Amazing Happens.
Avenged Sevenfold, and why they’re just that amazing
About 3 years ago, I was introduced to this band known as “Avenged Sevenfold,” or simply A7x, and since then, my life has taken a dramatic turn for the better. A lot of people might say that they are just a band and that they cant really change your life, but they REALLY have. From the incredible singing of M. Shadows, to the insanely fast Synyster Gates to the rhythmically tight duo of rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance and underrated bassist Johnny Christ to the now passed, irreplaceable Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, this band has managed to create their own genre-defining sound through maturing as musicians and now stands among the upper-echelon of the metal and music scene in general, all in the span of 5 albums. Through listening to A7x, I’ve been able to expand my musical tastes through listening to their influences such as Metallica and Pantera, and these bands have gone on to be some of my favorites. Listening to Synyster Gates shredding yet melodic solos has definitely been my primary influence to pick up a guitar and actually take it seriously.
Their first album “Sounding the Seventh Trumpet,” saw a definite metalcore sound emerge from the band. Heavily distorted, crunchy barred riffs were in abundance on this record, with more focus on the M. Shadows growling vocals and The Rev’s drumming. In this record, The Rev never had any drum parts written out, he would get in the studio and play everything then and there all from though improvisational skills. Most songs on this record were heavy and in-your-face, except for the ballad “Warmness on the Soul,” which showcases Shadows softer singing voice, “Shattered by Broken Dreams,” is the perfect way to end the album, an excellent mixture of slow at first and heavy at the end. Their next album is undoubtedly one of my all time favorites, “Waking the Fallen,” opened a lot of peoples eyes to A7x, from the ever catchy “Unholy Confessions,” to the slow and somber “I Wont See You Tonight Part 1,” this album is just pure raw power in all its most glorious state. They had reduced the amount of growling, but seem to perfectly balance it with catchy, full-on singing. With Synyster going full guns ablaze in this record, it certainly lived up to all it could be. Melodic, heavy and unique could be the only words to describe this record.
The breakout years, that’s what can be said about Avenged Sevenfold since 2005, ever since the release of the critically acclaimed “City of Evil,” the bands popularity has gone nowhere but up. Their longest album yet, and by far the most melodic, I know that word has been used a lot, but it is THE word to describe A7x. “Bat Country,” was arguably the breakout song of the album, going on to be TRL’s #1 song and allowed them to capture MTV’s Best New Artist award, beating out the likes of Rihanna and Chris Brown. This album is when Syn showed the world just what he could do, from the insanely fast “The Wicked End,” to the powerful “Strength of the World,” and the extremely emotional “Seize the Day,” solos are plentiful and brilliant on this album, most guitarist will feel the need to up their game after hearing this album. Next came their self-titled album, and it came out on Halloween of ’07, some criticize it by saying that it was “over-polished,” or “over-produced,” but they can keep their opinion because this album is a more mature sounding A7x which means, 5 stars from me :). They’ve kept the heavy growling to a minimum on this, but is enjoyable none the less. Syn continues to do what he does best, which is shred the daylights out of a guitar. My brothers favorite song “Afterlife,” contains the most shredding solo I’ve heard out of an A7x record, the solo is literally crazy fast, but that doesn’t means the harmonies stop, Zacky seemed to grow as guitarist and seems to be as good as he ever was. It goes without saying that The Rev continues to blow peoples brains away with his ridiculous drumming and writing skills.
December 28th, 2009, I was out of the house when my sister called me and told me that The Rev had passed, I didn’t believe her thinking she was just playing a joke on me, little did i know that, that was going to be a very sad day… Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan was found dead at his home and it was later revealed that he died from an overdose of pharmaceutical drugs and alcohol, how would Avenged Sevenfold continue without one of their main songwriters and best friends?
A7x had said that they were going to release a new record in memory of The Rev, and that’s how ‘Nightmare’ came to be. Their most recent release brings the best of the raw power of “Waking the Fallen,” and the infectiousness of “City of Evil,” into an 11 track CD. From the heartfelt ballad “So Far Away,” to the massive 11-minute “Save Me,” this record had something for everyone. Everyone seemed to have gotten better, from the singing of M. Shadows to the bass playing of Johnny Christ. Mike Portnoy was filling in for The Rev, even though no one could replace him, he was the closest through playing styles, after all, he was The Rev’s hero. The album proved to be a hit, debuting at the #1 spot on the Billboard 200. This album was the perfect tribute.
So just why are Avenged Sevenfold so great? In case my 900-something word piece just didn’t get to you, I’ll sum it up. They are great because they can turn people onto amazing music and keep them interested by continuing to make great music. And that’s why they’re just that amazing.
Hello blog world!
Hello, this is my first blog post from my first blog, so let me begin by introducing myself.
My name is Yoan, and as of right now, I am 16, from Sri Lanka and living in Dubai.
My hobbies include playing guitar (my most favorite thing in the world) , watching just about every crime show in the world, name it I probably watch it, and finally… gaming. 🙂
Yoan's Blog 