Entries For: October 2007
10/16/2007
Linkin Park Mopes In "Shadow of the Day"
Linkin Park, oh, I suppose I've missed you. But what I've missed is your earnest boy-band-with-a-backing-bass sound, the uber-dramatic bridges and crescendos of synthesizers. What I didn't miss was your attempts to be Coldplay. I have seen Coldplay, Linkin Park, and you are no Coldplay.
What I see here is lead singer Chester Bennington (seriously -- CHESTER), singing about the world. The world is apparently bad. You can tell, because he turns on the TV and watches the news. Which is full of violence. So he laces up his manly manly construction boots and leaves the house to walk around the riot raging right outside his door.
And he walks around and sings for a while, while cops point their guns and rioters run amok... Really, it's a pretty boring riot as far as riots go. Eventually, a car gets set on fire, and Chester sings some more about how the world is sad and bad and all that... And then the video ends.
Some might interpret this video as having a very nihilistic message, but it's a video about hope, really. Hope that if you stand near a burning car to sing about how the world sucks, the car's fuel line won't ignite and set you on fire. We all gotta hope for something, I suppose.
10/08/2007
Britney Spears's "Gimme More," The Video. Sigh.
As a profoundly embarrassed "Gimme More" apologist (I think it's a good song, okay?!), all of the recent Britney Spears kerfuffle has me feeling awfully torn. After all, I like the song. But everything that's happened in relation to the release of said song is more than a little disappointing.
And I'm including the official music video on that list. It's not just that there's something profoundly creepy about blonde Britney Spears sitting at a bar and getting turned on by watching brunette Britney Spears shake her moneymaker. It's also the seedy club, the uninspired pole-dancing, the weird fake arm tattoo... Oh, good grief, she literally rubs up against the wall for the part where she says she's up against the wall. Boo-urns.
In short -- oh, dear. I'm still a fan, Brit-Brit. But if you could put a little more effort in, that'd be great. We're all saying give us more, at this point.
