Last week, it was reported in The China Post that our primary and secondary school education system has managed yet again to churn out “the world’s top performers in science”.
While rankings did drop for the mathematics category, Singapore was nonetheless within the top 5, out of the 37 countries studied. (Read more)
A total of 15 years.
That is the amount of time that has lapsed since the last Guns N’ Roses (GN’R) studio release - The Spaghetti Incident?.
Since then, GN’R has seen their popularity wane and underwent multiple personnel overhauls (11 revisions to be exact; leaving Axl Rose the only original member remaining) while bands like Nirvana ushered in a new wave of Grunge music in the early 90’s.
It was also during this extended hiatus from the focus of the mainstream media that Axl Rose began work on his masterpiece - Chinese Democracy.
Process was slow as Axl Rose constantly swung back and forth between hiring a different producer, recording material and jam sessions in studios, and tinkering with post production intricacies.
If anything, Axl Rose certainly saw Chinese Democracy as the perfect platform for him to showcase his vision of how GN’R should sound like.
However with doubt always looming over its release and patience wearing thin, the then unreleased Chinese Democracy grew to become a running joke amongst those in the industry and press as a metaphor for drawn-out recordings that would never see the light of day.
With the album just released late last month after a 15-year wait, does the quality of the tracks justify the prolonged production time or will it been a case of “too many cooks spoil the broth”?
Kicking it off Hard rock
Like a heavy tank, this album streamrolls its way through with an unapologetic hard rock sound.
The title debut single (”Chinese Democracy“) starts off as an eerie and abstract soundscape consisting of chinese voices spliced and layered one over another. A series of pounding drumbeats and overdrive guitar riffs are then introduced before the song morphs into a full-blown hard rock tune that rains down a torrent of guitar and bass lines backed by a fast and furious drumbeat.
The subsequent track “Shackler’s Revenge” presents Axl Rose’s take on the metal/hard rock sound that was once popular in the 80’s. The song explodes right from the start, taking prisoners with its aggressive blend of fast guitars and heart thumping drums.
Interestingly, “Shackler’s Revenge” also adopts a variety of vocal sounds that includes a menancing baritone growl at the start, a high falsetto reminiscent of glam metal bands and synthesised vocals.
Shifting Gears
Things do take for a sharp and strange turn from the third track onwards.
“Better” sounds like GN’R ripped off a Third Eye Blind tune and tweaked it slightly by slapping on harder sounding guitar and drum bits.
The outcome is a pop sounding modern rock track that would probably go down well with casual listeners (it’s the second single off the album; a calculated move anyone?) but then again, “Better” does little in helping to justify the album’s 15-year wait.
The band then heads down the ballad route with “Street Of Dreams”, which left this writer cringing right from the opening.
Plagued by a clichéd piano introduction, cheesy unintelligent lyrics (“You know I tried so hard to make you/Oh, to make you change your mind”) and dated arrangement, the track winds up sounding like a poorly written Bon Jovi ballad found at the bottom of trash bin.
For the remaining bulk of the album, Axl Rose sticks largely to the formula of taking pop rock tunes and giving them a slight twist or topping up with a harder rock sound.
While these tunes are unmistakably well-crafted, tight and will have no difficulty going down as solid tracks, resorting to such a polished sound is also the album’s biggest pitfall – becoming too “clean”.
Chinese Democracy for the most parts plays it far too safe – everything sounds overtly processed and too calculated.
For a band that once stormed the world with its pioneering blend of dirty, blues-influenced hard rock, playing it so safe this time round, is simply confounding; especially for a record as long-awaited as Chinese Democracy.
Saving The Best For The Last
Of the 14 songs available on the album, the one that truly stands out is track 14 “Prostitute”.
The tune manages a fine balance between loud and soft elements to produce a 6-minute epic that artfully brings together different textures and themes. Sounding melancholic in one moment and aggressive the next, “Prostitute” is a complex masterpiece that will leave listeners in awe.
In A Nutshell
For serious listeners, Chinese Democracy would offer little in the way of providing a fresh and exciting sound that teases the senses and emotions.
The album’s overall lack of an interesting experimental edge makes it hard to achieve a sustained listening throughout the duration of the album.
Its series of songs with questionable lyrics (“I.R.S.”, “This I Love”) and predictable arrangements will also leave many to question the album’s quality and wonder if 15 years has indeed been a worthwhile wait.
The UrbanWire gives Chinese Democracy 2 out of 5 stars.
Tracklisting
01. Chinese Democracy (Sample)
02. Shackler’s Revenge (Sample)
03. Better (Sample)
04. Street Of Dreams (Sample)
05. If The World
06. There Was A Time
07. Catcher In The Rye
08. Scraped
09. Riad N’ The Bedouins
10. Sorry
11. I.R.S. (Sample)
12. Madagascar
13. This I Love (Sample)
14. Prostitute (Sample)
Serenaide?
I Am David Sparkle?
B-Quartet?
Firebrands?
Drawing blanks at these local band names? Well, don’t be too hard on yourself because there many out there who are just as clueless and unenthusiastic in the local music scene. (Read more)
“Change has come to America!”
From “Obama Girl” to Sarah Palin’s “I-Can-See-Russia-From-Alaska” comment to President-elect Obama’s apparent link to a terrorist, this year’s US Presidential Elections has certainly been an exhilarating and interesting race. (Read more)
Before you pick up a copy of Perfect Symmetry, you should be warned that the album will showcase a side of Keane you probably never thought possible.
Tom Chaplin and gang have abandoned their penchant for gloomy piano-driven anthems about love, loss and yearning for a good ol’ (literally) bold 1980’s synthesiser-heavy sound.
The new Keane even features, surprise, surprise - the added use of electric guitars.
A journey far from perfect
Released last month, Perfect Symmetry represents the British band’s third studio effort since their 2004 debut.
In their 4 years so far, Keane has certainly come a long way between battling critics about their sound and coping with lead singer Chaplin’s constant drug rehabilitation problems. Fortunately, Chaplin finally got cleaned up, and Keane headed to Berlin on a night train ride to seek inspiration for their new album.
But perhaps seeking ideas on the German railway wasn’t that inspired an idea because Perfect Symmetry crudely resembles something of a sonic trainwreck.
Like getting “Rick-Rolled”
While there are certainly a few well-crafted tracks, much of the album sounds too formulaic and uninteresting.
The lads clearly aspired to move away from their old sound but failed to muster enough, if any, fresh and exciting material.
The track “You Don’t See Me” is an example of this. The band sounds tired and the song lacks the edge and direction to move listeners. In the end, it winds up sounding like a bland filler track left in just to make the numbers on the album.
The band’s elaborate use of synthesisers circa 1980 throughout the album to expand their sonic palette also at times borders along sounding overtly cheesy (”Black Burning Heart“). The inclusion of hand-claps, and saxophones that sound like they were ripped off from an 8-bit video game soundtrack doesn’t help either.
Even lyrically, the band has opted for cliche verses (”Give me your hand/Cut the skin, let me in/The molecules of us/Bleeding into one again”) that would surely have no problems making its way into a Rick Astley song.
Perhaps taking a listen to Perfect Symmetry is a little like getting Rick Rolled - a fun prank that can get frustrating if it happens one too many times.
The upside
However not all is lost on Keane’s third studio outing. There are a handful of bright sparks where the trio’s pop sensabilities pull through and remind listeners why they are still one of Britain’s biggest acts in recent years.
The track “You Haven’t Told Me Anything“, manages a fine and tasteful balance between the new 80’s synthesiser sound and contemporary pop, while giving it just enough edge to make it relevant to young listeners.
Other notable tracks include “The Lovers Are Losing” and “Perfect Symmetry“. However both tracks seem to be drawn more from the sound of their previous albums than the current direction of things. Take a listen to the former, and you might just mistake it as a B-side to the single “Crystal Ball” from the band’s previous sophomore album.
In a nutshell
Keane certainly didn’t break new ground with the release of Perfect Symmetry. While it might please the casual listener, you would be hard-pressed to find a critical listener or fan who isn’t dismayed at the album’s lack of depth and innovative content.
Then again, Keane doesn’t claim to be an art rock group like Radiohead and by that standard, Perfect Symmetry isn’t too terribly far off from being a decent pop rock album.
For their retro album, this UrbanWire writer gives it a rating of 3 out of 5.
Now let’s just hope that Keane doesn’t look further back in time and start mimicking Sgt. Pepper for their next album.
Track Listing
01. Spiralling
02. The Lovers Are Losing (Sample)
03. Better Than This
04. You Haven’t Told Me Anything (Sample)
05. Perfect Symmetry (Sample)
06. You Don’t See Me (Sample)
07. Again And Again
08. Playing Along
09. Pretend That You’re Alone
10. Black Burning Heart (Sample)
11. Love Is The End
Take 1 – No More Knock-Knock Jokes For “The One”
Keanu Reeves, known popularly for his portrayal as Neo or “The One” in the Matrix movies, has denied allegations that he had intentionally knocked down a paparazzi photographer last March .
Reuters reported that the plaintiff had accused Reeves of driving straight into his path to prevent him from photographing the Hollywood actor.
In his defence, Reeves denied the plaintiff’s account of the incident and claimed that the photographer had lost balance walking backwards and fell on his own.
Guess the brooding star won’t be interested in listening to knock-knock jokes any time soon.
Take 2 – Benefits Of Being “In The Red”
Being “in the red” might not be such a bad thing after all.
A report by the BBC stated that researchers from the University of Rochester have discovered that men tend to perceive their dates more positively if they were dressed in red.
The experiment showed that participants were more willing to spend on a date when shown images of women dressed in red, than any other colour.
So ladies, why worry about the economic crisis? As long as you have a red dress, you can get some poor guy to pay for all your meals and drinks.
Take 3 – One Hack Of A Teen
If your idea of a hacker is uni geek with incredibly thick glasses pounding away furiously on his keyboard in a dark dingy room, then you’ll be alarmed to know that the one who just stole your email password is actually just a teen.
The BBC reports that more teenagers are using their home PCs to engage in petty cyber crimes and create viruses. Most want to profit from their illegal online activities but are rarely able to do so due to the lack of necessary skills and knowledge.
This trend certainly gives homework a whole new meaning.
Take 4 – Zeppelin To Take Flight Once More
Legendary rock band Led Zeppelin are slated to produce new material and go on tour once more. The band however, will be without lead singer Robert Plant, who declined to be reunited with his bandmates, according to the BBC.
Led Zeppelin had previously reunited briefly last December for a sellout concert at the O2 Arena in London.
Auditions for a new singer are underway and the band is reportedly looking for someone different from Plant.
So old greying men with queer instant noodle like hair need not apply.
Take 5 – Saying Yes To Facebook At Work
Has your boss banned social networking sites at work? Well, he might change his mind if he knew that allowing employees to surf these sites at the workplace could be beneficial.
British think-tank Demos, believes that employers are better off limiting the amount of time their staff spend on sites, than trying to impose a complete ban on websites like Facebook and YouTube in the office.
In its report, Demos cites that there is a possibility for business growth if companies appropriately harness these networking tools to achieve better office and customer relations.
Guess it’s time to face up to the powers of Facebook.
Trick or treat!
Halloween is here once more and what’s makes for a bashing Halloween party has got to be all that yummy candy (apart from laughing at your friend’s zombie outfit of course)!
While you stuff yourself silly with all those sugary treats, has it crossed your mind that what you just pop into your mouth might not be as innocent as it seems? After all with the recent melamine scandal, you can’t be too cautious right?
Apart from the ongoing melamine issue, let’s not forget how the salmonella contamination of pastries late last year where several hundred customers suffered food poisoning after eating tainted cakes. This led to bakery chain having to cease operations to review production standards and its parent company receiving a $5,000 fine.
You had your daily morning fix of corn flakes today? Well, that could have very well been made from Genetically Modified (GM) corn. GM crops are different from regular crops in that they have been biologically enhanced by scientists to possess greater resistance against pest and diseases while producing higher yield. It is still unknown what effects the long-term consumption of food made from GM crops can cause to the body.
So many ingredients and processes go into making our food these days that sometimes even reading the labels might not tell the full story.
With the recent spew of food scares and ongoing concern about GM food, are youths at all concern about what they put into their mouths? Urbanwire went out to the streets and sought the opinion of some youths.
This was what they had to say:
Do you share the same thoughts as those featured in the video? Whatever your opinions, we would like to hear from you so do drop us a comment below.
Next week, America will be going to the polls and a new President will be elected. So will it be Obama or McCain who will lead the charge for the next four years? And what would be the reactions of Singaporean youths to the results? Check back next week to find out!
What Say You? is a three-part series produced by Elliyani Mohamad and Hoong Wei Long. It will attempt to showcase what this generation of Singaporean youths really cares about and has to say on various topics like foreign politics, the arts and global issues.
Should I pop that Made In China candy into my mouth?
Is anything safe to eat anymore?Obama or McCain?
Do we know who’s the “better choice”? Do we care?Are local bands inferior to their Western counterparts?
Are we willing to support our homegrown musicians with our wallets?
While most military personnel are eager to sign out from camp on Fridays to enjoy their weekends, a group of 130 individuals were quite ready to kick off their long weekend by booking themselves in. (Read more)
Attention Platoon!
Golden Village Grand is organising a Tropic Thunder Ambush Party this Friday. Mission commences at 1900 and a screening of Tropic Thunder will follow at 2100. Mess tins are not required but expect great tasting chow to be served. Come dressed in your military best, and stand a chance to win a pair of GV movie tickets.
So Troopers, synchronise your watches and we will see you there at the party fall in.
Dismissed!
The Tropic Thunder Ambush Party will be held exclusively at GV Grand this Friday on Oct 24 from 7pm to 9pm. The screening of Tropic Thunder starts at 9pm. Tickets are priced at $28 and are available online from Golden Village’s website.
