Top 20 albums of 2009: Pt. 2 10-1

Okay, the last entry of this blog covered numbers 20-11 of my top 20 albums of 2009, I recommend you check that out before reading this. But also before we begin the countdown, here are a few albums that didn't quite live up to their own hype in 2009...

The letdowns:

Jay-Z-The Blueprint 3- With “Death of Autotune” and “Run This Town” dominating hip-hop radio weeks before the release of this album, it seemed as though Hov was on his way to putting out his best album of the decade. Alas, The Blueprint 3 only furthers Jay-Z’s place as just another rapper who should gracefully leave the limelight to the guys who still spit fire.

Flight of the Conchords-I Told You I Was Freaky- Last year I put FOTC on this portion of the list because their debut album relied so heavily on their HBO show to retain their humor, and in retrospect that’s sort of wrong, their debut is actually a perfectly good comedy album that’s funny on its own. The sequel, I Told You I Was Freaky on the other hand, falls into my original reason for disliking the debut, only this time around, the songs aren’t nearly as funny even with the shows help. While they foray into a few good songs, notably the Police-esque “You Don’t Have To Be A Prostitute,” FOTC have a hard time maintaining their comedy and being original composers.

Clipse-Till The Casket Drops- Clipse have put out two of the best hip-hop albums of the decade, and everyone was excited for them to round it out with another classic. However Till The Casket Drops is a weak attempt by the Virginia duo to become a more radio friendly version of themselves. It’s a let down to the fans as well as hip-hop as a whole.

Owl City-Ocean Eyes- While I was hooked in with the Postal Service sound and undeniably catchy “Fireflies,” I Found that Owl City's full length album had a hard time keeping its momentum up. I talked a lot of good about this album after hearing the first few tracks, but upon a full listen I realized I was only making a fool of others and myself. Just listen to Give Up by the Postal Service or The Listening by Lights if you want the same thing here only a lot better,

Now onto the main event...

10. Mos Def-The Ecstatic



Mos Def went from being an acclaimed rapper to one of the more well like rappers turned actors, but when he underwent that change the “rapper” portion of “rapper turned actor” suffered greatly. After his solo debut Black on Both Sides, Mos more or less sucked as a rapper to be blunt. He tried too hard to be innovative and frequently came out looking like an idiot for even trying. However, with his release of The Ecstatic, we see the classic Mos Def reemerge from the ashes to deliver an album that is downright great. His rhymes are on par with the old Mos, and the beats match as well. Mos Def has truly exceeded all expectations with this album.

Notable Tracks: Twilight Speedball, Auditorium, The Embassy

9. La Coka Nostra-A Brand You Can Trust



House of Pain members Everlast (a.k.a. Whitey Ford), Danny Boy O’Connor and DJ Lethal (also of Limp Bizkit) teamed up with indie rappers Ill Bill and Slaine a few years ago with the intent of making white hip-hop something that was more than just a joke. Opting to get everyone in the same room to record instead of working over mp3’s across coasts, La Coka Nostra ended up taking much longer than they had expected to release their debut album A Brand You Can Trust. However, the wait was entirely worth it. Describing themselves as hardcore hip-hop, the guys from LCN take no prisoners with their lyrics. However, for every line they spit about “totin’ a glock,” they come back with one about how a life of crime isn’t going to do them any good in the long run. Guest appearances from UGK’s Bun B, Snoop Dogg, Sen Dog and B-Real from Cypress Hill, Immortal Technique and others solidify LCN as a credible, and entirely real hip-hop supergroup.

Notable Tracks: “Bloody Sunday” “The Stain” “F*ck Tony Montana”

8. Phoenix- Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix



I’m one of those guys that have a difficult time buying into the hype of bands I know nothing about. However, after a lot of good hype from both the internet and friends, I finally gave in and listened to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. And while I wasn’t blown away entirely, I certainly enjoyed their album. It runs a solid 10 tracks, enough to make a mark, and little enough to leave the audience wanting more. While this isn’t technically their debut, for most American fans it’s their first real taste of the band, and it is a delicious first taste indeed. The chemistry between the members is there, as they clearly know how to make fun music, but they still retain their ability to be true musicians. I look forward to getting to know this band more.

Notable Tracks: “Lisztomania” “Fences” “Countdown”

7. K’Naan- Troubadour



After attending this years Rock The Bells festival, I was given an iTunes card that redeemed 25 tracks from artists on the tour. Many of whom I knew, some of the songs I already had, but there was one song out of the 25 that I played to death and that was “I Come Prepared” by K’Naan and Damian Marley. Thinking the album was from 2007 or 2008, I enjoyed listening, but had no rush on getting the album in its entirety. However, upon realizing it was indeed a 2009 release, I freaked out and got a hold of the album as fast as I could. And listening to it based on the one track I got for free made me realize that I had been dwelling too long on “I Come Prepared,” as the album as a whole is just great. K’Naan raps, sings, and strums the guitar in a way that lures you into the horrifying stories of his youth as a child solider in Somalia, as well as other subjects that range from happy to sad to everything in between. The music provides a perfect backdrop for these tales, and his unique voice blends well with everything around him. Guest appearances from Mos Def, Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, Kirk Hammett and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine only add to K’Naan’s chameleon-like musical versatility.

Notable Tracks: “Bang Bang” “America” “T.I.A.”

6. Dave Matthews Band- Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King



Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a general fan of the Dave Matthews phenomenon. I simply don’t understand all of the hype behind him. I don’t particularly dislike him as an artist, but at the same toll I’d never been really amped to get into his music. However, with Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King I was extremely surprised, not by the quality of the music, but how easy it was for me to get into it. The album starts with the droning saxophone of LeRoi Moore, who passed away in late 2008 after recording his parts on the album, and instantly kicks into what is a truly funky and original record, even for DMB. They manage to take their extensive jams from live shows and translate them into catchy tracks that still hold onto their improv-heavy signature sound. If Dave and company can continue to make albums like this; I may just have to convert to his cult.

Notable Tracks: “Shake Me Like A Monkey” “Funny The Way It Is” “Why I Am”

5. Lily Allen- It’s Not Me, It’s You



Lily Allen has all the makings to be a pop icon, yet at the same time, she still grasps onto the indie kids that were hooked on her debut album Alright, Still. On It’s Not Me, It’s You, Lily takes another stab at making her signature breed of obscene, rude and entirely honest pop music and upon the second time around, she’s done it even better. It’s easy to hum along to tracks like “Not Fair” and then go, “Wait a minute! This woman is singing about her boyfriends lack of libido!” and that is exactly what makes Lily Allen so great. While she hasn’t caught on as much in the states as she may have overseas, it’s pretty clear she doesn’t seem to mind with tracks like “The Fear” mocking the concept of being just another pop diva. Lily is the first woman to crack my top 10 list, and she earned her spot at number 5.

Notable Tracks: “The Fear” “Everyone’s At It” “F*ck You”

4. RX Bandits-Mandala



Don’t you hate it when a band you love kicks out members that helped them define their sound? After the release of their last album ...And The Battle Begun, the RX Bandits lost their sax player. It was unfortunate, but the two horned band charged onward, the trombone covering all of the wind bases. However, fans of the band were shocked to hear that the Bandits had parted ways with the last of its horn players this year for their new album Mandala. This had me scared, how could a band that I admired so much lose the two members that helped give them the signature reggae/progressive/metal sound that had grown on me so much over the past few years? Well, after much inner turmoil, I got around to listening to Mandala and I must say, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Guitarist Steve Choi’s quick keyboard lines accentuate the frantic picking of guitarist/singer Matt Embree, covering the lack of horns very well. The album plays in a way that is both new and logical. One of those situations where you say, “I don’t like the band without the horns, but this is what they should sound like given the change.” Some compare the Bandits’ strange style of music as a more focused Mars Volta, but I must disagree, as the music of RX Bandits is much more calculated, heartfelt and downright awesome in comparison to Volta’s absurdly fast writing and recording style. Mandala is an awesome album by a band that does nothing but move up both in talent, and in quality. Way to surprise me, RX Bandits!

Notable Tracks: “It’s Only Another Parsec” “My Lonesome Only Friend” “Bury It Down Low”

3. Brother Ali-Us



Last year my number one album was Atmosphere’s When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, and this year, the group’s affiliate Brother Ali has come oh so close to the same mark. For those unaware, Ali is an albino who moved around from state to state his entire life. With that very basic description alone you can assume the man has a whole lot to say. With Atmosphere’s Ant behind the beats, Ali spits pure genius on this album, approaching the “ghetto” checklist that all rappers follow in a completely original and refreshing fashion. While many rappers, even the greats, spend decent amounts of time spitting about their nice cars and the abundance of girls they get, Brother Ali is completely satisfied happily proclaiming that he has enough rent money for the year. And while other rappers talk about killing people in the street, Ali tells us a calculated tale of bad neighbors dealing cocaine one floor below him, and how easy it was to make a few dollars from their idiocy. To be quite simple, Brother Ali is a humble genius, and those that say rap is the weakest form of poetry must take a list to Us to see that.

Notable Tracks: “The Preacher” “Fresh Air” “The Travelers”

2. Biffy Clyro- Only Revolutions



A few years ago I was lucky enough to catch Queens of the Stone Age on their Era Vulgaris tour. What stuck out to me the most about that show, aside from the sheer awesomeness QOTSA put out, was their first opener. A schizophrenic, hairy trio of rockers known as Biffy Clyro, The music they played was loud and dingy, but it had all the qualities that make you love musicians as musicians, proficiency in their playing and originality in their style. After a few months of not thinking about them, I stumbled upon their breakout album Puzzle in a used bin at F.Y.E. I bought it, and found myself having a hard time not listening to it. Two years later, the band has released Only Revolutions, a suitable follow-up to Puzzle. The album hits all the marks it needs to, rocking out like madmen on several of the tracks, however it’s the deviation from their unique sound that really jets this album this high up the list. Instead of playing to their strict ballad/hard rock variety, the band mix things up, playing some undeniably catchy pop rock tracks, some more emotional tracks, all the while keeping their credibility and accessibility intact. While this album isn’t going to change the way the world looks at rock music, it certainly shows that breaking a working formula can sometimes yield good results!

Notable Tracks: “Born On A Horse” “Mountains” “Know Your Quarry”

1.Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...pt. II



Oh boy. I wrote briefly about this in my piece regarding the Wu-Tang Clan as the artist of the year, but allow me to tell you just how good Raekwon’s new album is. . For fans of the Wu, this is gold, for non-fans it's probably platinum. This is the album that takes what made the early Wu-Tang solo albums special and progressively brings it forward to 2009. The original Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, released in 1995, became a blueprint for the true gangster hip-hop album. It combined elements of the mob with those of the street, with skits breaking up brutally honest tales of life in the slums and the horrors of drug dealing. Every rapper who made a true gangster rap album following Cuban Linx was influenced by the album whether or not they’d like to admit it. And now in 2009 we were graced with a sequel. And 14 years later, Raekwon still has a whole lot to say. He doesn’t glorify drug dealing one bit, he doesn’t play to his varying audience and he doesn’t care about what a man his age is supposed to say, his rhymes are intricate, they hit with a resounding impact, and they make you realize that the man has truly grown. The production on the album is near flawless as well. When you have to say that Dr. Dre is the weakest producer on your album, you know that you have something great. The album plays wonderfully, guest spots from all of the living Wu-Tang members only helping in Raekown’s grand return. I said that the Wu-Tang Clan was the artist of the year, but I must hone that statement in and specify that Raekwon the Chef truly is the greatest rapper of the year.

Notable Tracks: “House of Flying Daggers” “Canal Street” “We Will Rob You”

So happy new year! Thank you for reading the blog and keep visiting!

Top 20 albums of 2009: Pt. 1 20-11

I was going to wait to post this until tomorrow, but it's finished.

But before I start I'd like to part one of my caption awards, this one being...

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Blakrok-Self Titled
Lights-The Listening
The Lonely Island-Incredibad
Dethklok-The Dethalbum II
Q-Tip-Kamaal The Abstract
The Cool Kids-Gone Fishin'
Wu-Tang Chamber Music

All of these albums are good, don't get me wrong. And there are several other albums that came in 2009 that were good. These ones however would fill my 21-27 slots.


20. Kid Cudi-Man on the Moon: The End of Days



When I first heard “Day N Nite” back in the early part of the year I was a little annoyed. I don’t like that song that much and I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was making it so popular. But as the months passed I got more and more into the way that Cudi crafts his music. He’s a rapper by definition, but the collaborators on this album only prove the fact that he is far from that. While Kanye West and Common show up and deliver decent verses, it’s Ratatat and MGMT that truly bring out the best in Cudi on the tracks “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Alive”. While this album is far from perfect, Cudi’s relaxed flow and spacey beats make it a worthwhile listen.


Notable tracks: “Soundtrack 2 My Life” “Alive” “Pursuit of Happiness”

19. KISS-Sonic Boom



The early reviews for this album were nothing but positive, screaming about how KISS had returned to their greatness. But then again, those reviews were written by Guitar Magazines and members of the KISS Army. The later reviews were in the middle, sure it was vintage KISS, but is vintage KISS even worth listening to? The answer, to put it quite simply, is yes. This album rocks from top to bottom. Gene and Paul still have it, and the “new” faces of Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer mesh in perfectly, never once making me say “I miss Ace and Peter.” The album wreaks of testosterone and alcohol, but isn’t that what we want from KISS? Even at 60 years old, Stanley and Simmons have the act in check, if there’s any event that has more than 2 men, beer, and overall awesomeness, Sonic Boom is the way to turn that awesomeness way up!

Notable tracks: “Modern Day Delilah” “Danger Us” “Yes I Know (Nobody’s Perfect)”


18. Maxwell-BLACKsummers’night



I don’t generally listen to R&B music, especially modern R&B music. I feel like all that you’ll hear on the radio is auto-tuned guys with six packs that croon the women on stage and then go and act like they are thugs once they leave. Maxwell, however, is what an R&B singer should be. His voice is fantastic and the music that is very clearly written by himself and not a team of producers and record executives, follows suit. The single “Pretty Wings,” while overplayed on the radio is a beautifully crafted song with several layers of instrumentals that just make you feel good. A great listen, and proof that there still is hope out there for popular R&B.

Notable tracks: “Pretty Wings” “Phoenix Rise” “Help Somebody”

17. Manchester Orchestra-Mean Everything to Nothing



The rock music this year has been very diverse. Bands like Passion Pit and Mute Math followed the lead of MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular as far as psychedelic indie rock is concerned, but Manchester Orchestra really stood out on their own as a force in the rock scene of 2009. Mean Everything to Nothing, the bands third album, is a collection of really interesting and original rock music that seems to pull its roots from everything from blues to folk to pop rock. In a decade dominated by over the top theatrical bands like Coldplay and wailing vocals of Fall out Boy and Panic at the Disco, it’s good to hear a band rock out without remorse and still manage to get over with critics and fans.

Notable Tracks: “The Only One” “Pride” “Everything to Nothing”

16. Them Crooked Vultures-Self Titled




When the lineup of this band was announced, any true rock and roll fan cried tears of joy. Nirvana and Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age frontman (and best of the year regular) Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Let the weight of these three dudes sink in. With expectations so high, and early releases of snippets pumping up the fans, it seemed as though Them Crooked Vultures were going to make an album that topped the charts and lists similar to this before they even released one song. But alas, upon the release of the album the world had to come to terms with the fact that no matter how great the band may have looked on paper, greatness should never be assumed. While all three musicians have distinct styles, the only one who truly shines here is Homme, and while that makes for good bluesy riff rock, with the potential of this band, that’s not enough. The album is certainly worth listening to for fans of any of the three members, but it didn’t quite hit the mark it should’ve and thusly falls far short from number one.

Notable tracks: “No One Loves Me and Neither Do I” “New Fang” “Elephants”

15. John Mayer- Battle Studies



If there is one thing that’s certain about John Mayer’s career it’s that you can’t predict what’s next. After Room For Squares and Heavier Things, who could’ve predicted Mayer’s radical change to the blues with his Trio’s Try! and Continuum. I thought that Mayer would follow suit from Continuum on his newest album Battle Studies and I was proven wrong. While he doesn’t revert back entirely to his acoustic strumming days, he doesn’t truck forward with his Stevie Ray Vaughn blues either. There’s a strange vibe to this album, one that makes the listener question where exactly Mayer is not just as an artist but as an individual. Some say the album was rushed together, and others say it is heavily calculated. Wherever it really is, I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care to. What I can say is that I enjoyed much of this album, and it keeps beckoning me back in for more listens.

Notable tracks: “Heartbreak Warfare” “Perfectly Lonely” “Crossroads”

14. The Dead Weather-Horehound




Another returning list member is Jack White, who never seems to stop making new bands. This year’s The Dead Weather proves yet again why Jack White is one of this generation’s greatest musicians. Dead Weather is a supergroup of sorts, White teaming up with Raconteurs bassist Jack Lawrence, former Queens of the Stone Age guitar player Dean Fertida and The Kills singer Allison Mosshart. Together they play White’s now signature brand of blues rock, with a little kick of punk flare from Mosshart, whose vocals combined with White’s, flat out rock. Unfortunately, this album may fall into obscurity behind the White Stripes records and the two Raconteurs albums, but if The Dead Weather decide to put out another album half as good as this, it’ll certainly be worth a listen.

Notable Tracks: “I Cut Like a Buffalo” “Hang You From The Heavens” “Rocking Horse”

13. Easy Star All-Stars-Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band




I’ve always liked the concept of Easy Star All-Stars, but they’d never really appealed to me. I’m not a big enough Floyd fan to enjoy Dub Side of the Moon, nor am I a big enough Radiohead fan to enjoy their OK Computer cover album Radiodread, but finally, they have done something that I wanted to hear, a reggae interpretation of The Beatles classic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band! This cover album is really fun, the All-Stars really have a way with retaining the identity of a song while still transforming it into their own work. All of the background noises anyone who grew up listening to Sgt. Pepper have nitpicked are still in tact, played by the incredibly tight horn section. The vocals seem to be the weakest point in this album, as there is no distinct Paul, John and Ringo voice throughout, but one can let that slide in favor of the overall experience.

Notable Tracks: “When I’m Sixty Four” “Within You Without You” “Lovely Rita”

12. Dylan Connor-Breakaway Republic




Dylan Connor has a way with songwriting that tugs at my heartstrings. His uniquely familiar voice combined with his savvy writing skills make him a force to be reckoned with. On Breakaway Republic, we see him break through the weaknesses of his last album Plug In, to deliver an extremely fun rock album. On his last album Connor seamed to peak with no real crescendo musically, due to the fact that most of the album was just him strumming his guitar and singing. Here we have that same mentality combined with a competent band. His backing band is phenomenal, always tightly locked in a groove, while still making sure that Connor himself is indeed the true focus of the music. Not to say Connor ignores the musicians, as their parts are all intricate and wrap themselves together to make some of the happiest rock songs that don’t sound like every other group around. While it’s not a completely perfect album, it’s a very well put together piece of art that just works, it hits when it’s supposed to hit and during it’s down time you can’t stop tapping your foot.

Notable Tracks: “Breakaway and Burn” “I Want Everybody To Know” “Soundwave Surfer”

11. Chickenfoot-Self Titled




Now when Grohl, Homme and Jones came together to form Them Crooked Vultures, people went “Oh man that is going to be the greatest rock group ever!” and I said, it falls a bit flat. But when Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Chad Smith and Joe Satriani came together to form Chickenfoot, the music world collectively said, “Okay, well that’s going to be something we’ll pass up on,” due to the ungodly amount of cheese present in the lineup alone. But when the album came out, the cheese had the skills to back it up. Chickenfoot straight up rocks. Anthony departs from his root pumping basslines from Van Halen to deliver some groovy jams, complimented perfectly by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith, who feels like he’s just having a good time. Satriani is amazing as always, shredding through songs and laying down fun chords, and Hagar proves that there is no point of being “too old to rock.” If you like good old fashioned American rock and roll there is absolutely no reason to skip this album. It’s funky, fun, and best of all it’s fresh.

Notable Tracks: “Soap on a Rope” “Sexy Little Thing” “Turnin’ Left”



Stay tuned for number's 10-1, coming your way soon!

Wrestler of the Year: 2009

To call myself a pro wrestling fan is one of the hardest things I’ve had to come to terms with. When all of my friends grew out of it I didn’t. I’ve explained this before, but I always feel as though it needs to be reiterated. In the past several years the wrestling industry has gone from bad to worse, and as my old TNA pieces pointed out the problems with particular divisions, I had such a difficult time writing the remaining pieces I gave up completely! The company had lost so much credibility that I just couldn’t justify writing critique pieces. It’s like critiquing a third graders art project. It may be terribly painted, but it’s a third graders! In TNA”s case, it may be a terrible wrestling promotion (at this juncture) but it’s people who have no idea what they’re doing! So you have to let it slide.

But all of that being said, in my Best of 2009 series, I’d like to present my wrestler of the year. Before I do so though, I’d like to go over some runner ups.

Jeri-Show. For those that don’t know, the tag team of Chris Jericho and The Big Show. When Y2J brought out Show as his partner at the Night of Champions pay-per-view I was upset. With so many talented undercard performers like Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Chavo Guerrero, Jack Swagger, and former partner Christian on the roster, why would he “choose” a multi time heavyweight champion instead of putting over a younger guy? The answer came in the following months as the team proved to the world exactly why tag team wrestling is great. The combination of Jericho’s incredible microphone skills and proficient ring work alongside Big Show’s size, strength and vastly underrated ring work, they just dominated. So much so that they brought the tag team titles to the main event of WWE’s TLC pay-per-view.

C.M. Punk. Punk has been a favorite of mine since he debuted a few years ago. The straight edge gimmick that he really lives is great, and can work easily as a face or heel alignment. Punk’s face run was great, becoming the first man to win the infamous Money in the Bank ladder match twice only adding to his credibility. But perhaps the most shocking and awesome move came at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view when Punk cashed in his money in the bank against Jeff Hardy after Hardy had won a grueling ladder match against Edge (fantastic match by the way, great finish). Punk slowly morphed into the manipulative heel that he is now, chastising the beer drinking audiences at live shows and converting the one time “slow” wrestler Festus into Luke Gallows, who claims everyone had him on sedatives to keep him from being himself. Punk has become one of the top heels in the company and he has done it quickly and effectively. While he has left the main event level for now, I have no doubt he’ll return to it.

Alright. To the main event.

Dave Winchell’s wrestler of the year for 2009 is Nigel McGuinness.


The shirt looks like the beer logo!

Wrestling fans shouldn’t be surprised by this call, but those that don’t keep their finger to the pulse of the industry may be a little weary about just what Nigel has accomplished in the past year.

He started the year as the reigning Ring of Honor champion, and he was a fighting champion, with a title length closing in on Samoa Joe’s record. He battled through much of the early year, and upon injuring his shoulder, STILL had a match of the year candidate against KENTA in New York City (I was there, it was fantastic).

Even after dropping the belt to Jerry Lynn, Nigel’s presence in Ring of Honor was felt. He cut promos on video wires, showed up to shows, basically did everything he could to keep his name relevant. He even took the place of Ric Flair in New York City as enforcer of a match after Flair stormed out ( I was there for that too, Nigel was on his game).

Perhaps the biggest shock came to the industry this year as Bryan Danielson signed with WWE, and Nigel followed suit shortly after. Ring of Honor is probably the number 3 federation in the country right now behind WWE and TNA, so losing its two top draws in less than a week was a devastating loss. After the announcement, ROH went on a “Final Countdown” tour that touted Danielson more than Nigel, but ended with an epic bout in New York (I did not attend that one...) between Nigel and Danielson. Ring of Honor gave them the grand finale they both deserved.

And as Bryan Danielson moved into WWE’s “before we put you on TV you’re going to have to adapt to OUR style attitude” Nigel seemed to veer off the radar. Nigel didn’t have the connections that Bryan did (he was Shawn Michaels and William Regal’s star pupil), and as if nothing happened all rumors about him seemed to fall off the face of the rumor sites all of us wrestling fans flock to.

But Nigel just couldn’t sit around, within days of his WWE rumors disappearing he reemerged, in the biggest way possible. The word had barely hit the air when Nigel signed with TNA, under the name Desmond Wolfe. But the signing wasn’t the big deal, it was the instant elevation of him, the fact that he was made a superstar in a matter of minutes after his debut. Against whom? Most big guys start their TNA run against the likes of Scott Steiner, Eric Young, Kevin Nash, anyone that can put them over, but not quite over that rope of title contender-ship. But not Nigel eh-hem, Desmond. He made his debut approaching none other than Kurt Angle and telling him just how much he respected Angle as a competitor, and within moments of shaking his hand he had him knocked out in the ring. Basically, Nigel said, “Hey WWE, you don’t want me? Well how about I go to your top competitor and make myself a star in 5 minutes.” Although he lost two pay-per-view matches to Angle, he still got his name, and his in ring abilities over in less than two months.



Rumors going around are that Nigel wouldn’t sign with WWE because of some qualm he had with the drug testing policy, and what that means about his use of drugs is beyond me, and I don’t care to know. But Nigel in TNA is the best thing for him right now.


Bobby Lashley should stick with unscripted stuff.

So, all of that being said, Nigel McGuinness a.k.a. Desmond Wolfe is easily the most dominant and impressive wrestler of the year. While his win/loss streak isn’t flawless, the fact that he created such waves in the industry is enough to make people aware of his incredible in-ring and microphone abilities.

Artist of the Year: 2009

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted. I’ve been really busy with classes, filming and editing things. Also, I’ve been tweeting about things that may seem relevant to this blog instantly (follow me @DH_Winchell if you’re not). But I wanted to get on here before the top 10-20 albums of the year to give a little insight onto how I thought the year went musically.

I was thinking for a long while as who the artist of the year would be. Drake, Wale, and Kid Cudi all blew up but they really didn’t leave a huge mark as they should’ve, and honestly radio play downgrades many artists. Lady Gaga had a string of hits and more rumors about her sexuality than Kermit dolls sewed onto that dress she wore, but she didn’t encompass the entire year as a superstar in my opinion. KISS put out a really good new album that happened to come packaged with a greatest hits CD and a live DVD, which although it was only available at Wal-Mart, debuted at #1. They also went out on the most profitable tour of their career and rocked the house. But still, how can someone say that the 60 year old KISS guys are artists of the year? What about Michael Jackson? Dave Matthews Band? Britney Spears? Taylor Swift? No. No. No. After much thought there is a clear artist of the year and I have deducted them with plenty of numbers to back up my claim.


Dave Winchell’s “Artist of the Year” is the Wu-Tang Clan.



Now I see all of you going, “Aw man that’s so dumb, he likes them so he’s picking favorites!” And I would like to make sure that you know that I went into this process with an open mind, listening to bands, looking at tours, and checking out the way fans relate to them.

Let’s start with a little bit of background, there are 8 living “true” members of the Clan (R.I.P. Dirty). This year we’ve seen solo albums from two members (Raekwon, Ghostface Killah), a duet album from Method Man with longtime collaborator Redman and we’ve seen a compilation in Wu-Tang Chamber Music that might as well have played as a full Clan album. And we were treated to another digital only Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture album! Also, we were lucky enough to get the final release from Old Dirty Bastard, while I can’t say I listened to it, nor am I particularly interested to, the fact that it’s available only shows how much Wu there was in 2009.

But five albums from nine people is nothing. Right? It’s not just the number of the albums, it’s the fact that they even got made. In the end of 2007, upon the release of the Wu’s last full group album 8 Diagrams there was a huge fallout between RZA, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah that threatened to split the group in two. And last year, both RZA and GZA released albums that were good, but nothing particularly memorable. And then for the first half of this year the Clan kind of stewed. Could they re-unite after the public beef between the groups core members? They could, and by the looks of their works in 2009 they did.

Let me tell you that Wu-Tang Chamber Music is far from a typical comp. album from any hip-hop group. While their last comp Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture was a decent look at the Clan combining forces with incredibly competent indie rappers like MF Doom, Aesop Rock, and more, Chamber Music is much more a Clan album with their hand picked guests. Five members of the Clan are present on the album, and they choose their guests in more underground rappers like Sean Price, Kool G Rap, Sadat X and a few more.
Another really cool aspect of this album is that RZA had a live band play all of the instrumentals, and yet we still get that signature, kung fu funk that all of the Wu fans love.


"Our album is better than The Blueprint 3!"

And let us not forget Method Man and Redman’s Blackout! 2, a sequel to their 1999 album. This album follows the path of it’s original, showing that even late 30’s men can enjoy the excess of life and still style their words with some originality (take that Snoop Dogg). They also feature fellow Clansmen Raekwon and Ghostface. It was critically acclaimed, and although didn’t top any charts, one must take into consideration it came out against Eminem’s Relapse.

Ghostface Killah also put out the album Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City and unfortunately I can’t say I’ve listened to the album aside from a few tracks, and honestly I’m not too big of a fan of the concept. Ghostface said he wanted to make a more R&B-centric rap album, and to me that’s a waste of his talent. But a 68 on metacritic as well as several notable guest spots from Kanye West, John Legend, Estelle, Ne-Yo, Lloyd and Fabolos make this a notch in the Wu’s post worth noting.


TRUMP CARD

And then there was Raekwon...apparently the tension between RZA and Raekwon and Ghostface was because Ghost and Rae considered 8 Diagrams not “street” enough for the Wu-Tang fans. From what I’ve heard, RZA had to sit down with Raekwon and let him know that since the Wu is so well known that they can’t afford to be “street” when the whole world appreciates their art. But the words that sealed the deal between RZA and Rae was that while 8 Diagrams wasn’t going to be a ghetto banger, that Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II would be. And thank the lord it was, because that album is phenomenal. At Rock the Bells at Jones Beach they were plastering posters everywhere for the album and I said to my friend Corey McNair, “I’ll hang this poster up in my room if the album is good, but if it’s bad, I’ll take it down.” And surely enough the poster is still hanging proudly on my wall!

And all releases aside, the Wu had a prominent role in the aforementioned Rock the Bells tour this year. While they didn’t headline, RZA, GZA and Raekwon all dominated the second stage, giving credibility to their fellow side-stagers K’Naan and Slaughterhouse by simply appearing on said stage. Also, the group had a pseudo reunion on their New York date, getting the bump from second stage to a main stage set that featured Raekwon, RZA, Method Man, Inpsectah Deck and O.D.B.’s son Boy Jones. Apparently Ghostface was on hand but didn’t get up on stage to perform.

If that isn’t enough, the Wu also saturated themselves even more by appearing as notable guests on some of the albums most highly anticipated and critically acclaimed albums, The Black Keys hip-hop project Blakroc which featured the likes of Mos Def, Jim Jones, Ludacris and more featured fantastic verses from RZA and Raekwon and a sex heaby posthumous track from O.D.B. Also on N.A.S.A.’s star studded album The Spirit of Apollo which featured the likes of Tom Waits, M.I.A., David Bryne, The Cool Kids, DJ AM, and more, Method Man, RZA and Ghostface were given prominent roles opposite several talented individuals.

So all in all, my love for the Clan aside, it’s pretty clear to me at least that these guys deserve the artist of the year. Now you can argue for so many more, and I’d love to hear these arguments. But to me, there’s no denying the work these guys put into maintaining their image, whether or not that image is mainstream I don’t care. And if you don’t think they deserve this honor, you’ve got to at least give them the E for effort!

End of the Year Update

Hey readers. Sorry for the lack of updates, this semester has been killing me with work. I just wanted to let you know there are a few really cool end of the year updates coming your way. However, before I get to that, I just wanted to give you guys a list of the music I've been listening to this year. That way you can get an idea of what exactly is going into my "Best of 2009" list...so here is the list.

1. Andrew W.K.-55 Cadillac
2. As Tall As Lions-You Can’t Take it With You
3. Biffy Clyro-Only Revolutions
4. Blakroc-Blakroc
5. Brother Ali-Us
6. Bruce Springsteen-Working on a Dream
7. The C-4 Movement-Prepare 4 The C Sons
8. Chickenfoot-Chickenfoot
9. Chris Webby-The White Noise LP
10. Chris Webby-Teenage Mutant Ninja Rapper
11. Clipse- Til The Casket Drops
12. The Cool Kids-Gone Fishin’
13. The Cutoff Frequency-Back to the Underpass
14. Dan Deacon-Bromst
15. Dave Matthews Band-Big Whiskey and the Grogrux King
16. The Dead Weather-Horehound
17. Dethklok-Dethalbum II
18. Dizzee Rascal-Tongue N’ Cheek
19. DOOM-Born Like This
20. Dylan Connor-Almost Green
21. Dylan Connor-Breakaway Republic
22. Easy Star All Stars-Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
23. Eminem-Relapse
24. Flight of the Conchords-I Told You I Was Freaky
25. Franz Ferdinand-Tonight
26. Jay-Z-The Blueprint 3
27. John Mayer-Battle Studies
28. k-Os-Yes!
29. K’Naan-Troubadour
30. Kid Cudi-Man on the Moon: The End of Days
31. KISS-Sonic Boom
32. The Knightsbridge Fiasco-The Nights We Remembered
33. La Coka Nostra-A Brand You Can Trust
34. La Coka Nostra-The Audacity of Coke
35. Lights-The Listening
36. Lily Allen-It’s Not Me, It’s You
37. The Lonely Island-Incredibad
38. Lt. Headtrip- Lt. Headtrip (Raw Dog Version)
39. Lupe Fiasco-Enemy of the State (A Love Story)
40. Manchester Orchestra-Mean Everything to Nothing
41. The Mars Volta-Octahedron
42. Maxwell-BLACKsummers Night
43. Method Man and Redman-Blackout! 2
44. Mike Falzone and the Peppermint Trick-Do it for the Story
45. Mos Def-The Ecstatic
46. Muse-The Renaissance
47. Mute Math-Armistice
48. N.A.S.A.-The Spirit of Apollo
49. Owl City-Ocean Eyes
50. Passion Pit-Manners
51. Q-Tip-Kamaal The Abstract
52. Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Part II
53. RX Bandits-Mandala
54. Say Anything-Say Anything
55. Slaughterhouse-Slaughterhouse
56. Sneep Deepy-Big Move, Tiny Mixtape
57. Spinal Tap-Back from the Grave
58. Sparklehorse-Dark Night of the Soul
59. Street Sweeper Social Club-Street Sweeper Social Club
60. Tempest Edge-The Creation
61. Them Crooked Vultures-Them Crooked Vultures
62. TRV$DJAM-Fix Your Face Vol. 2
63. TV/TV-Not Enough Red
64. Various Artists-Wu-Tang Chamber Music
65. Wale-Attention Deficit
66. Weezer-Raditude
67. Wide Eyed Wanderers-My Baby Left Me/Rear View


There are a few albums I honestly just didn't care to listen to. Snoop Dogg, Ghostface, Ol' Dirty Bastard just to name a few. There were a handful of pop albums I wanted to listen to, just to see how they sounded like Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga but I honestly don't care enough to spend the time. So that's what you're getting for now. No clues as to what's best...

Rarity....

You're never going to see my posting online wrestling critics on this site because I think most of them are geeks with too much free time, moreso than me, which is saying something. But this video by Truthslayer actually rhetorically asks some good questions to the wrestling world. Check it out if you like wrestling, if you don't, leave me alone.

My 2009 Playlist (thus far)

A lot of people have been asking me, “Dave, what’s the best album of the year?” and I gotta say, if you know me, I don’t judge until the end. I mean, I keep a quiet list in my head of good stuff, but I never really choose until I’m sitting down at my computer writing up the list. In fact, last year Vampire Weekend was my number one album until I sat down in a noisy Subaru dealership and realized just how great Atmosphere’s album was. But all of this aside, I won’t tell you what’s the best, but I will give you an idea of my favorite tracks of the year thus far. This is not in any order, it’s just a list of the songs that have held my attention for several plays...

1. Mos Def ft. Slick Rick-Auditorium
I’ve been talking about this track for the last week or two to people, but it’s been played a whole lot in said week. Up until The Ecstatic came out, I was against Mos, his last two albums were extremely disappointing, and his ego is completely out of whack. I saw him make a fool of himself on Bill Maher and remember just shaking my head in shame. But the new album is straight up classic Mos, and this track in particular shows that he still has a grasp of how to pull some strings to add credibility. Slick Rick hasn’t been “relevant” for a long time, but this track shows that unlike so many rappers that lose their lyrical game with age (Fat Joe, Snoop) he’s still got it and he’s not just glitzy chains and an eye patch. The beat is chill to the point of being haunting and the lyrics are nice.
2. The Cutoff Frequency-Danny pt. 2
Considering I know all of the members of this band very well, this song making the list shows something of its quality. I am a very harsh judge of local music, especially with people I’ve played with, and in the case of the Cutoff Frequency that’s every single member. But something about this song, the harmonies in the chorus, the synth line, it just hits the spot for me. And the mix is really dirty sounding, in a good way.
3. Eminem ft. Dr. Dre-Old Times Sake
Relapse is a lackluster album, if there is one thing I can forewarn you of my list for best of the year, it’s that unless #2 is a classic, Eminem won’t make it. But this song shows how good the album could’ve been. Granted the lyrics are hollow, but it’s Dre and Em showing they’ve still got the rhythm that made them so famous. I think this may be the closest we’ll get to the Eminem we all loved so much.
4. Kid Cudi ft. Ratatat and MGMT-Pursuit of Happiness
The first time I heard this track I thought it was pretentious, as I think Cudi’s ego exceeds his ability (my friend did sound for him and told me some horror stories) but the MGMT and Ratatat combo on this track really makes it. And I don’t dislike Kid Cudi, I like his slow moving delivery, he’s not trying to show you he’s the best lyricist in the game, because I think he’s aware he’s not. He’s more about cranking out decent jams that make you think for a little while. Ratatat’s signature sound just stinks up this track and it’s great.
5. Lily Allen-The Fear
By far the best pop track of the year. Lily is the anti-hero for pop music and that’s why I love her. Not only does she completely buy into the paparazzi, but she makes incredibly catchy, yet credible music. Since this is an early album I think a lot of critics will forget to put it on their lists, but it certainly deserves to be there.
6. Sneep Deepy ft. Mike Falzone-Better Than Me
I like hip-hop music. I like friends from my hometown. So this is a logical choice for this list. Mr. Deepy raps about things that are relevant to any CT townie, but at the same time speaks to people getting dirt from others who have no reason to lay it down. There’s a great line that where speaking on a beer pong game, he coldly taunts his opponent with, “Nice state school sweat shirt. You ain’t better than me.” DAMN!
7. RX Bandits- It’s Only Another Parsec...
Nice Star Wars reference first of all. Secondly this song rocks out hard. I was weary that without the horns RXB would lose their signature sound, but the sick nasty use of keyboards fills that void perfectly in this song. The heavy rocking of the tunes combined with the jam-friendly hands of guitarists Matt Embree and Steve Choi make this track a near perfect one of its genre.
8. Slaughterhouse-The One
Slaughterhouse is a “supergroup” of four underground emcee’s looking to break through to the mainstream, and this track is the one in which they tried the hardest. They spit about celebrities, drugs, alcohol and partying, but do it in a classy old school Slim Shady manner, showing that while they may talk smack, they are doing it intricately enough that you have to respect it. There’s a line where Royce Da 5’9” mentions old school icons Rod Stewart and Ozzy Osbourne, only to follow it up with witty lines about Keri Hilson and Paris Hilton. If only Joe Budden didn’t run his mouth and get knocked out by...
9. Raekwon ft. Inspektah Deck, Ghostface Killah and Method Man
At Rock The Bells in New York they were giving away free posters for Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II and I said to myself, “I’ll hang this up on my wall until the album comes out and if it’s good I’ll keep it up.” Little did I know just how good it would be. This track is reminiscent of classic Wu-Tang, the lyrics on point and the beat as kung fu influenced as you’d expect it to be. Awesome.
10. Mike Falzone & The Peppermint Trick-Leave a Little For the Fallout
I love Stratford CT’s king, Mike Falzone’s music, but in the past, I felt that it wasn’t complete. There was always something missing from it. On his album Fairview, it felt like the hip-hop beats were taking away from his songwriting, and on his next release Fun With Honesty, the music was there, but the band didn’t feel like it was truly a band of it’s own, rather an ensemble gathered to record the EP. On his newest release Do It For the Story, Falzone and new band The Peppermint Trick hit gold. This track is so well put together, it’s a great first track to the EP, and the layering of instruments into an extremely satisfying explosion of sound is awesome. The keyboards especially make me smile.
11. Spinal Tap-Stonehenge
The new Tap album is kind of pointless, a few new tracks and refreshed recordings of the old songs, most of which don’t sound as good as their originals. Stonehenge however, takes the greatness of the classic version and injects some modern ROCK into it. It’s the same song it once was, but it kicks so much harder now.
12. Dylan Connor- Breakaway and Burn
Wow, I love local music. Dylan Connor, the teacher by day, rock star by night, is somewhat comparable to Mike Falzone. On his last album Plug In, his songs were beautiful and well written, but they lacked the kick that would bring them up to classic level. On Breakaway Republic, his live band took to the studio and made this album, but specifically this track great. The way the slap bass smoothly layers in the chorus and the drums move the verse along is beautiful.
13. La Coka Nostra-That’s Coke
La Coka Nostra are a bunch of angry white middle-aged rappers who still grip onto their gangsta personas and pray that the public believes in them. The only catch is that it’s all entirely believable! They come off as scary dudes that seem like they may kill you. Made up of House of Pain (Everlast, DJ Lethal, Danny Boy O’Connor) and Ill Bill and Slaine, LCN are not afraid to scare you, but make you bob your head along for the ride.
14. Miley Cyrus-Party in the USA
If you consider the fact that a group of Disney pop songwriters crafted this song, tracked the instruments and came up with everything and then autotuned the hell out of Miley Cyrus’s voice, it’s really easy to get behind this track. It’s so catchy and the synth line in the chorus is awesome. Just put your hands up!
15. Drake ft. Lil’ Wayne, Kanye West, and Eminem-Forever
Wow, what a lineup. I think this song blew “Swagga Like Us” out of the water. The beat is instantly memorable, the clichéd airhorns adding to the power of it. Lyrically it’s none of these guys’ best verses, but it’s certainly worth listening to. The best part is the beat under Wayne’s verse, it gets so dark. And this also proves how good Relapse could’ve been had Eminem tried.
16. Chickenfoot-Sexy Little Thing
Something about this supergroup made up of Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith screams, “Stay away, we’re pure cheese!” but anyone who knows me I will dive head first in! It’s awesome! It’s fun, mindless and catchy.

Now there are other albums I really like, and some of the tracks on this list are parts of a lesser whole, so don’t let this little mixtape give you assumptions of what’s number one or two or three!

My Top 25

I always think peoples top 25 most played songs playlist on iTunes are some of the most interesting things. It shows you about what they listen to a lot, and if they're your friends you can chastise them for having unpredicted songs ("I Love College" was on one of my friends lists) and it's just a cool way of gauging artists you don't really say you love but you do! So here's my list. Take it for what it is, I think it's a nice look at the diversity of what I listen to, though some artists stack up. Who cares?

1. Andrew W.K.-Party Hard
2. Lordi-Hard Rock Hallelujah
3. Peeping Tom ft. Rahzel & Dan The Automator-Mojo
4. Smashing Pumpkins-Tarantula
5. The Jackson 5-I Want You Back
6. KISS-Strutter
7. Mark Ronson ft. Lily Allen-Oh My God
8. MGMT-Time To Pretend
9. Andrew W.K.-She Is Beautiful
10. The Bar-Kays-Too Hot To Stop
11. Common-Be
12. The Cool Kids-Pennies
13. GZA/The Genius-4th Chamber
14. The Hives-Tick Tick Boom
15. Mr. Bungle-Ars Moriendi
16. Paul McCartney & Wings-Jet
17. Vampire Weekend-A-Punk
18. Vampire Weekend-M79
19. Aesop Rock-None Shall Pass
20. Andrew W.K.-We Want Fun
21. Biffy Clyro-Who's Got a Match?
22. Cake-Wheels
23. Chickenfoot-Soap On a Rope
24. Daft Punk-Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
25. Dylan Connor-Breakaway and Burn

That's it. Cool.

DVD Review: Wu: The Story of the Wu-Tang Clan

dir: Gerard Barclay

The Wu-Tang Clan is in my top 5 musical groups of all time. I can't tell you why, I can't tell you exactly when, and I can't tell you for what reason, but about two years ago something in my head just clicked and told me, "This group will change the way you look at hip-hop music." I'd had Enter The Wu-Tang on my iTunes for some time, and most of it I'd listened to and liked, but none of it had really sunk in. I saw them on Rock the Bells 2007, co-headlining with Rage Against the Machine, both of whom had re-united for the tour, and I remember when they hit the stage there was a reverence. There was a level of respect between the members on stage and the percentage of the crowd that was into the music that I wish that I had for a group, and sure enough two years later, I have it for them.

With that in mind, I've spent my fair share of money on the Clan. I physically own 15 of their CD's, several from the group, several solo and a small handful of compilation albums, I have 2 t-shirts a hoody, a limited run poster on my wall, and I spent an entire afternoon in Barnes and Noble reading their first book The Wu-Manual (I didn't buy it because the cover was ripped nearly off). So for all I's and P's, I'm a big fan. So when BET went out and said they were airing a documentary to celebrate the group, I was ecstatic. It had been years since the Wu had received mainstream media attention, and with such a strong resumé since their last big commercial success, it was time. Unfortunately due to schedule conflicts (Damn you, Hofstra!) I didn't catch the doc on TV. So, thanks to the lovely people at Netflix, I finally got to watch the documentation of the Clan's career.

To sum it up, this documentary is not for Wu fans. It scratches the surface of their career, paying attention to the highest of highs and the lowest of lows of the CLAN, not of each of the 10 members. It can be more or less broken into five major segments:

1. The Rise
2. Enter the Wu-Tang/National Recognition
3. The fame/Wu-Tang Forever
4. Ol' Dirty Bastard's jailing and death
5. (a very brief look at) Modern Wu.

Now for those that don't know the music of the Clan, this may seem legitimate. But what the documentary skims over is just as, if not more important than some of the topics covered. Director Gerard Barclay chooses to omit the fact that two of the groups spawned solo albums, GZA's Liquid Swords and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx influenced the hip hop game on comparable levels to their debut Enter the Wu-Tang. I read a review on the Internet Movie Database that said it was forgivable to skip over these because they weren't the entire Clan efforts. Well perhaps that's true, but all of the first round of Wu solo albums were produced by RZA, and all of them featured most of the Clan on several tracks, Raekwon's album "guest starring" Ghostface Killah on over half of the album. But even if these factors weren't involved in the solo albums, the documentary completely leaves out the groups other two albums, The W and Iron Flag the first of which was O.D.B.'s last album with the Clan.

And aside from the discography, the overall production of this documentary is highly flawed. The stock footage is shotty, and the audio is mostly overdubbed during live performances. Not to mention there are only two concerts used, one of which before Enter the Wu was released, the other after their massive success and release of Wu-Tang Forever. The interviews are very limited, mostly RZA and non-members such as Steve Rifkind of Loud Recrods. There are brief stock interviews of several members, and Raekwon, Cappadonna and affiliate Popa Wu are the only ones who were interviewed in 2008 for the documentary. This leaves out GZA, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Inspektah Deck and Masta Killa, all of whom surely have stories of the Clan.

Another piece of the documentary that I found to be a bit frustrating was the amount of attention paid to O.D.B. I understand his passing was the moment the Clan re-grouped, but given the amount of time to cover the careers of all 10 members, Dirty's last days are treated as though he was the only important member of the group. There is enough material and footage of Ol' Dirty Bastard to make a documentary just on him, and it would be fascinating, but when I put in The Story of the Wu-Tang I expect to be given views on most of, if not all of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Director/Writer/Narrator Barclay also lacks motivation. When he speaks, it's as if he's reading a written script he's never heard before, lacking any emotion. His edits are weak, his stock footage of New York from the 1990's is non-existent, and his range as a director is incredibly low. I understand how he thought he was the right fit for the job, as he'd been the man behind the camera for a lot of memorable Wu-Tang moments, but his lack of any real filmmaking skill takes away that level of being the right fit.

In his last shots of the documentary, Barclay and his crew manage to spell Masta Killa's name wrong (Masta Killer) as well as the title of 8 Diagrams (calling it Diagram singular). He also summarizes the most famous members with their own frame, lumping the "lower-level" members all on one frame listing them, saying they "are recording new albums." However, it's fine for him to give himself a frame saying "I continue to direct". It's an insulting end to a lackluster documentary by an unqualified director.

I highly recommend the 2006 doc by Denis Hennelly and Casey Suchan Rock the Bells, the documentation of the Wu's first and last reunion before Dirty's death. It's an extremely deep and fascinating look into one concert that covers more about each Wu member than this entire waste of time did about the whole Clan.

Review: Swan Songs by Hollywood Undead

They were on sale at Sports Authority!


Let me begin by professing my love for nü- metal. I love nü-metal. A lot of people ask me why? I don’t know, it just hits the spot when I need it to, simple as that. Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other was the first CD I remember using my own money to buy, granted it was censored, but I was in the seventh grade.

In the case of the three kings of nü-metal, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit and Korn, the common factor is the strong musicianship backing up the somewhat lackluster lyricists of Mike Shinoda, Fred Durst, and Jonathon Davis respectively. But in the genre, the lyrics don’t exactly matter, they’re not channeling great MC’s like NaS or Talib Kweli, they’re screaming about driving their cars and doing things their way and telling people to shut up when they talk. But not once, not ever, have I taken these bands seriously. I love the musicians in Limp Bizkit and Korn, and I admit that Linkin Park can hold their own, but I completely understand how some consider the genre to be a skid mark on rock and roll’s history. I don’t, but I understand if you do.

So with my love for the genre in mind, you can imagine that when I heard about California’s Hollywood Undead, I was excited. A new nü-metal band? It seemed too good to be true. I’d seen some critics trash them, but that’s to be expected. Limp Bizkit’s classic Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water got butchered by critics. “Whatever,” I said, “No big deal, I’m sure if they have their heads in the right place, they’ll make fun music.” So with that I dove into their debut LP Swan Songs, excited for the genres regeneration. And to add to Songs’ credibility, Don Gilmore, producer of Linkin Park’s first two album, put his producer stamp on this. A passing of the torch perhaps?

The album starts with the steady rockin’ “Undead” which samples The Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” while layering gang vocals and mindless rap. What struck me instantly on the first track, is that while the music kicked some serious behind, the lyrics weren’t like that of the great gods of Durst, Shinoda and Davis, but more along the lines of Lil’ John. They were actually trying to rap over the mildly good metal grooves. It took a moment to set in, but I got over the ridiculousness of that. I said to myself, “I can get behind this if it gets better musically throughout the album.”


Slipknot doesn't wear scene clothes!

Little did I know that Hollywood Undead had absolutely no clue what they wanted there sound to be when they made this album. They spend most of the it jumping back and forth between somewhat heavy tracks and goofy party rock tracks. I thought I was going to be listening to a new age Linkin Park, but instead I was getting a stupidly bad-ass LMFAO. The “rappers” Charlie Scene, J-Dog, Johnny 3 Tears, Funny Man and Da Kurlzz have absolutely no idea how to construct lyrics without coming off like complete and utter morons. I said only a few paragraphs up that even the iconic nü-metal singers couldn’t write decent lyrics, but they never went out and tried to make songs that read like real radio rap music. In the albums low point, “Everywhere I Go”, one of the rappers (I can’t tell the difference most of the time) spits the lyric “Gotta get drunk before my mom wakes up / Break-up with my girlfriend so I can bang sluts.” And did I mention that the chorus of the song Charlie Scene makes several references to his “weenie” in the same song?

What also makes “Everywhere” a terrible song is the way it’s rapped. Charlie Scene, or whomever it is, channels Eminem incredibly poorly. Trying to be that Slim Shady-esque character made famous in tracks like “My Name Is” before kicking the chorus with a Fall Out Boy like whine, again, referring to his “weenie” more than once during every chorus.

The band also reminds me of another similar band, Chronic Future, the only difference being that Chronic Future makes pop-punk infused rap music, not heavy metal. There’s some uppity vibe sent out by Chronic Future that makes their happy music generally work, while Hollywood Undead talk about having meaningless sex, drinking and smoking marijuana while trying to layer keyboards and drum machines. My advice; if you want to make this music work, don’t overdo the novelty instruments. In this case, the keys are certainly novelty. Very, very much so. Most of the album is overly layered with this stuff.

And just when they appear to have done everything in their power to make me dislike them, the band goes back into a sad rock song about why life is meaningless, or something along those lines. While the albums most popular single, “Young” does convey a decent amount of competence on the part of the musicians and the singers, that and the first track alone don’t have nearly enough power to keep the album stable.

With that being said, Hollywood Undead is a hopeless cause. Garbed in their hockey masks, but rapping about how everyone knows who they are, talking about how hardcore they are and then singing about taking their clothes off in the club and wearing scene clothes, Hollywood Undead are just a musical contradiction. I don’t recommend this album to anyone, unless you find the masterful work of LMFAO to be not hardcore enough, but on the right track.

Week of updates: Day (cough cough) 7

Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

Week of updates: Day (cough) Six

Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

A quote, simple and effective.

"Losers are morons who don't have the balls to cheat."-Kenny Powers

Week of Updates: Day (cough) Five

Sorry I missed yesterday. Much Say Anything prep.
Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

This video has made me laugh and I've seen it like 100 times.

Week of Updates: Day Four

Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

This is the website I choose!

http://www.astoundingessays.com/getyourphil/

My brothers web comic! Read it!

Week of Updates: Day Three

Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

The book is, rather, a play. Called Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan. Read it last night. Really quirky, interesting dialogue. I thoroughly enjoyed and approve. It's an easy read and worth every minute. Some plays are tough to read because they are simply dialogue with basic stage direction, but this one lends itself to that.

Week of Updates: Day Two

Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

So a photo for today. The original picture I wanted was impossible to find online, from rapper The Game's debut The Documentary's booklet. The picture has game weighing drugs with a pistol in his hand peering through his blinds. The picture transcends the artist, and even music, as it just shows a desperate man trying to survive. Granted, I'm not a drug abuser or dealer, so that could be way above my head, but I find the picture to be very primal and real. But enough of that.



I love this picture. It hangs above my desk. It motivates me. It's funny. It's well painted. It's absurd. It's brilliant. I absolutely love it, and I love that it was an advertising tool so many years ago. When I grow up, I want a framed version for my home.

Week of Updates Day 1.

I saw this on LJ friends page and I need things to update update.
So we have one week. One post a day.
Day One: A Song
Day Two: A picture
Day Three: A book
Day Four: A site
Day Five: A Youtube clip
Day Six: A quote
Day Seven: Whatever tickles your fancy

So a song...



This song went way over peoples heads a few years ago.

A little note...

Hey everybody, just wanted to sit down and make a quick update about something pointed out to me recently. This year has been HUGE for hip-hop, while rock has shown some good efforts with Chickenfoot, The Dead Weather and a few others, I've noticed that hip-hop has had a great year thus far...lets just take a look at some of the greats we've had thus far. I won't give any comments, just a brief overview of what good has come of this year.

Method Man & Redman-Blackout! 2
La Coka Nostra-A Brand You Can Trust
Jay-Z-The Blueprint III
Mos Def-The Ecstatic
Wu-Tang Chamber Music
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II
Kid Cudi-Man on the Moon (haven't heard it yet.)

And there's more on the way! A new Ghostface Killah album, Clipse's "Till The Casket Drops" and who knows...maybe Relapse 2 will be decent. So basically I'm saying that NaS was very wrong when he said hip-hop is dead. It's still alive and well.

The Prototypal Classic

I have decided to go all out and post my newest film on Facebook and Twitter. People have been whining about my lack of updates, so here is this.



Hailed by Conor Eamonn Ferguson as, "As good as any six minutes of Curb Your Enthusiasm."

And D.Winchell calls it "The most important film of this decade."

SAY ANYTHING IS PLAYING MY SCHOOL

And this is the flier I made.

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Summer Movie On Point INSANITY

Yeah no updates in mad long. Clearly working full time all summer and being of legal age to attend bars has gotten in the way of my posting. But alas, I am here once again at my computer, sitting in the comforts of my nice new Hofstra University dormitory. People have asked me what I thought of the summer movies, and it's tough because I saw quite a few of them. And I am bored on my last day of summer, so I would love to go and give you ON POINT REVIEWS for all of them!

Star Trek
A re-boot of the classic Sci-Fi franchise. The Lost and Cloverfield icon J.J. Abrams took the helm, and the question was posed; Can you take the geekiest thing in the world and make the world love it?




Pros
-The action was great, sci-fi space battles are a hard thing to make truly unique, but the ship designs really made this a sight to see. The man to man (or man to Vulcan, man to Romulan, you know what I mean) were good too.
-The ensemble was great, Zach Quinto and Chris Pine leading perfectly as Spock and Kirk respectively. John Cho, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana and Anton Yelchin filled out the Enterprise near perfectly as well. Not to mention Eric Bana was near unrecognizable as Captain Nero.
-It was fun, it never took itself too seriously and really made for a great experience.
Cons
-Leonard Nimoy, while a pleasure to have in the film, sort of lingered around. He didn't do much to advance the story after his initial scene, but he just kept coming back to offer more wisdom.
-There wasn't enough time to let the secondary characters bloom. It seemed as though they were brought in for one scene (Sulu's swordfight for instance) and then tossed back for some supporting lines here and there. But since this was the first in what will surely be a franchise, it's forgiveable.


The Hangover
The sleeper hit of the summer, four friends go to Las Vegas for a bachelor party and much chaos ensues.



Pros
-The ensemble worked well together. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifinakis bounced off of each other very well. While Zach clearly stole the show with his awkwardness, Cooper's overexcited schoolteacher was my favorite.
-Visually, the movie was really good. There were some instances where I forgot I was watching a comedy because the shots of Vegas were so good.
-The whole "crazy stuff happens in Vegas" thing worked out to the movies' advantage. It was a bit cliché, but the movie didn't aim to challenge.
-Mike Tyson. Enough said.
Cons
-Galifinakis seemed to constantly push the limit of what he was doing, and several times, his character cracked incredibly dumb jokes, that even in context were just stupid.
-It got a lot of hype to be the next iconic comedy of this generation, and I feel as though it isn't at all. It's a fun, thoughtless comedy that is just around for laughs.
-It teetered between serious and over-the-top too much. Ed Helms falling for the stripper, while Ken Jeong hops out of the trunk of a car naked...two complete opposites that made the pacing a tad awkward.


Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Robots blow things up, Megan Fox walks around all hot and stuff. Shia Labeof spits out quirky one liners.



Pros
-The first 45 minutes retained the fun over the original Transformers. It was fun, light hearted and didn't take itself seriously.
-The CGI is incredible, truly a sight to see.
-John Turturro, while spitting out terrible dialogue, manages to be funny against all odds.
-Megan Fox is incredible, truly a sight to see.
Cons
-After the first 45 minutes, the movie gets completely random, too hard to follow and downright stupid, and not in a good way like the first one.
-Too many robots! The first one was good because you could keep track of what Autobots and Decepticons were on the front line. The motorcycle trio, the Fallen, the old man...to many!
-Too much pointless action. Now I like things blowing up like any living male, but I'd like there to be a reason. It seemed that every chance Bay was given to blow something up he did.
-Megan Fox can't act. But did you really go to see her act?

Bruno
The guy who grew a dirty mustache to play Borat brings his third Ali G show character to the U.S.A. in this homophobe targeting flick.



Pros
-There is a lot of shock humor in here. Unexpected stuff left and right.
-Bruno really pushes some people to their brink and it's hilarious. A scene when he interviews parents about their babies modeling for him shows just how irrational some people can be.
-Larry Charles (director) has a knack for good timing. He lets the awkwardness settle in when it needs to, and he cuts away to accentuate a joke that doesn't need anything at all.
-The final "real" bit is fantastic, I laughed for a long time.
-One celebrity cameo is so funny that it lingers around the whole film, and at points you find yourself saying "Remember when that famous person made that great line?" and started chuckling again.
-They get the "fashionisto" bits out the way early. Those were his worst parts on the TV show. Putting him out of his element is much funnier than keeping him in it.
Cons
-The staged bits in this weren't as effective as they were in Borat. They seemed to just make too many awkward gay jokes, whereas in Borat, they actually developed the "story."
-While Borat pointed out the racism and ignorance in Americans while they let their guard down around him, Bruno merely pointed out the homophobia in people. While that was certainly funny, it didn't offer that same look at society that Bruno did.
-Male nudity urks me. And there is one scene of excessive male nudity.


Funny People
Judd Apatow directs this flick about a dying comedian who employs a young up-and-comer to help him organize his life.




Pros
-Sandler plays his best dramatic role to date, and perhaps that can be attributed to the fact that he plays a darker version of himself.
-The ensemble cast is good. Schwartsman and Hill especially compliment each other and Rogen. Bit parts from RZA and Aziz Ansari are good too.
-The stand-up comedy is really funny.
-Eric Bana's arrival is great, and he is hysterical.
-The cameos are for the most part great, Eminem, Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman, Dave Attell, Norm MacDonald, James Taylor, Justin Long. It added a little flare to the flick.
Cons
-It was too long and poorly paced. Had it flowed in the optimal way, it could have been his best movie, and an award contender for sure.
-Rogen didn't do much. In Knocked Up he showed us that he could put some heart to his slacker, here he's just a guy who wants to make it.
-Not enough of the bit parts from RZA and Aziz Ansari.
-The relationship between Rogen's character and Aubrey Plaza's was kind of forced. It could have been a real focal point of the movie.
-It was promoted as a comedy when really it was a drama. A bit more comedy couldn't have hurt it, but it was a real bad job on the PR part.


District 9
Aliens who are stuck on earth are treated like dirt.



Pros
-The small budget is used fatastically. The special effects are really good and real looking.
-All of the weapons used by the aliens are awesome and innovative. It's good to see new things in a movie like this.
-Sharlto Coply is a very convincing lead. Considering this was his first acting role, I think he deserves much kudos.
-The fights are great, they are subdued and minimal, but when stuff goes down, it goes down hardcore.
-The plot takes some strange archs, as characters turn their back on each other left and right.
Cons
-The flick segways from a mockumentary to a movie poorly. It keeps going back and forth.
-In the end, the film comes to a bit of a ragtag action ending. While most of the story is logical and proves points socially, the end does nothing more than showboat the CG, which is great.


Inglorious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino kills Hitler.




Pros
-Tarantino's dialogue is great, the first scene in which "The Jew Hunter" interviews a farmer who may or may not be housing Nazi's is superb. He builds tension so well and delivers in the release.
-Pitt plays his best character since Snatch. Aldo Raine is a hilariously brutal individual.
-The brief action sequences are satisfying to no end.
-The interweaving plots are interesting. To see them connect at the end is cool.
-Christopher Waltz was fantastic, he played the manipulative Nazi so well.
Cons
-Not enough of the Basterds. They were on screen for only a brief period of time.
-The pacing was off at times, while not as bad as in Funny People, it could have had a few minutes trimmed and it would have been fine.
-The secondary Basterds weren't given enough time, B.J. Novak and Samm Levine especially. That's just cause I'm a comedy geek.
-Mike Myers served no real purpose, he may have been good, but he didn't do anything.


ALRIGHT that about wraps it up. I'm seeing Up this weekend! Finally!

Bumpin' #1

Okay, so my updates have been scarce since returning home from school. So I want a way to beef up my backlog without wasting your time. I was at the Ring of Honor Manhattan Mayhem III show on Saturday and I wanted to write about that, but since my last entry prior to it was a wrestling related piece, I figured it's smarter to space things out. I know how frustrating it must be for non-wrestling fans to come here awaiting music and film insights just to hear about men in tights...so I present a quick new piece I will be posting from time to time "Bumpin" which will have me giving you a look into what I am listening to currently and some reasons why...

So without any further ado...

BUMPIN' 6/17/09

Mos Def- Black on Both Sides, The Ecstatic

I am so annoyed all the time by Mos Def's ego, he talks crazy in public and thinks he's the best GD person alive. And The New Danger was a waste of time, not to say it wasn't a good idea, it was just poorly eecuted (the comp I'm on has no key for the letter that follows W). But Black is a classic in my mind and is a frequent listen and while I told everyone I had no desire to hear Ecstatic, I purchased it with several coupons and discounts after hearing it wa recieving etremely (again, sorry) reviews. It's like classic Mos, so get on that if you haven't yet.

Sugar Ray- Greatest Hits

I missed the train on these guys back in the day and am just making up for it now. It's ridiculously fun and sing-a-long worthy. The vocal harmonies are also great.

Justice-Cross
Another one I feel I should've been into earlier. This album is awesome and fun and although it gets a bit repetitive, it's dance music so it's all good.

House of Pain- Fine Malt Lyrics

Everlast is the man and a while ago I picked up this album for like $5 and didn't think twice about it aside from "Jump Around" until about 6 months ago when I started really getting into it. Maybe it's because of DJ Lethal's Limp Bizkit affiliation (a brief obsession I had, no regrets), but I've been heavy into this album and it's really underrated. While Danny Boy (the one that's NOT Everlast, as you'll clearly hear when listening) can sound like an idiot, there's no denying that for a bunch of white Irish guys, the House of Pain can really kick some ass.

Rage Against the Machine- Evil Empire

Surprisingly, this album only has one huge hit on it. While it doesn't pack the same punch as their self titled album, the grooves are certainly great on this one. Wilk and Commerford (drums and bass for those unaware) really highlight Tom Morello's quirky guitar effect work which really highlights Zack's raps. A great album that often goes overlooked, as it's sandwiched in by the truly definable Rage albums.

See you later!

WWE Extreme Rules Pay-Per-View Review

Before I begin let me say that I'm not 100% on the match order, but all the matches are there.

I’ve never written a review for a pay-per-view before so I’m going to do this as follows: Give my pre-show thoughts, rate each match individually, and then give my overall thoughts. Okay? Good.




PRE-SHOW THOUGHTS:
I was mildly interested in watching this show. The card was underwhelming, and the fact that WWE has cut so much “extreme” stuff like bleeding and dangerous moves from their now TV-PG rated programming really lead me to believe that this show was going to be a really weak representation of what “extreme” truly is. And with the recent release of Mr. Kennedy, I’ve been down on the company. So the odds were definitely stacked against the ol’ WWE for this event.

MATCH #1:
FATAL FOUR WAY for the UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP
MONTEL VONTAVIOUS PORTER vs. MATT HARDY vs. WILLIAM REGAL vs. (c) KOFI KINGSTON
What urked me about this match initially is that somehow putting four guys in a match all of a sudden makes it “extreme.” They really didn’t let any of the guys show off their stuff, as each of these four truly are fantastic performers. Kofi hit a few good moves, Matt kind of bummed around, MVP was way over and Regal was very clearly the man to hate, regardless of his immense skill. I thought Kofi botched the finishing kick on Regal, but then I realized that Kofi’s finisher just sucks.
2/5


MATCH #2
NO HOLDS BARRED for the INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Chris Jericho vs. (c) Rey Mysterio
Should have been prior to the first heavyweight title match. This feud has been a fun one to watch, and while Jericho is playing the stereotypical angry-at-the-world heel right now, he was really selling his dislike for Rey as a whole leading into this match. But like so much of the WWE’s product in recent years, this didn’t live up to expectations at all. There were a couple of good moments, mostly Jericho jumping out of the way of Mysterio’s now overly clichéd cruiserweight moves and countering them. A great spot with Jericho hitting the Code Breaker against Rey’s West Coast Pop. The end of the match was good, and when I realized that Jericho was holding Rey’s mask I went crazy. This match is definitely a great way to re-ignite this fed and have Rey come off as a lot more menacing. Jericho seems to be used to rejuvenate stars that really need to get over stars that have faded over the years, and right now he is doing a fine job.
3/5

MATCH #3
SAMOAN STAP MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. Umaga
I had no desire to see this match. Up until last month I thought Umaga was garbage, and although he has definitely stepped up in the ring, I still think he’s not a good fit for Punk. But this match exceeded all of my expectations. I had no idea the point was to hit all four corners in succession to win the match, as the only strap matches I have seen have just involved guys chained together. Umaga definitely sold Punk as winning, which is good, as many big guys never seem to be able to put over smaller, more technical guys. Punk won with a good spot and solidified his place as the good guy...
2.5/5


MATCH #4
HOG PEN MATCH for the MISS WRESTLEMANIA TITLE
Santina Marella vs. Vicki Guerrero w/ Chavo Guerrero
Santino is by far the funniest guy in the WWE right now, and his stuff is generally good. But once this SantinA gimmick started, I really started hating the writing team. It’s stupid and it’s not over and it’s not making anyone involved in the feud look at all credible. A year and a half ago Chavo was in a great feud with C.M. Punk for the ECW belt, and now he’s been reduced to having mud thrown at him since his widow Aunt wants her honor defended. Where’s the honor in booking a Hog Pen Match?
.5/5

MATCH #5
EXTREME RULES MATCH for the ECW TITLE
Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger vs. (c) Christian
As I said in my pre-show comments, any and all remnants of “extreme” are more or less gone from the WWE right now and this match really nailed the coffin shut in my mind. The stipulation that if Dreamer lost, he’d have to retire clearly failed, as everyone had seemed to forget that was the case until a few weeks ago when they tried to re-ignite the feud between him and Swagger. The reason he was only ECW champion for like 15 minutes back in the comapny’s prime was because he doesn’t really work in the “main event,” and while he tossed Christian and Swagger into garbage cans, he definitely didn’t come off as all that extreme here. We’ll see how he does in the future, but this match didn’t give off it’s desired effect, and the crowd was not into Tommy at all, so that really took away from the ending of the match.
2.5/5


MATCH #6
CAGE MATCH for the WWETITLE
Batista vs. (c) Randy Orton
Cage matches suck. To non-fans they seem appealing, but to anyone who has watched wrestling for over a year, they know that there are only so many ways you can toss someone into a steel fence. And the match played out so poorly too, it was like neither men had ever watched (mind you, both have been in several) a cage match in their entire career. Batista winning, while dumb and illogical considering he has a torn tricep, really will open the door for Orton to do things aside from chase the belt, as his character really has a lot that he can do.
1/5

MATCH #7
SUBMISSION MATCH
John Cena vs. The Big Show
When I think of a great submission bout, these two men don’t even enter into my brain one bit. There are so many good technical wrestlers on the card who could’ve taken this and made it interesting, but they had to sell the fact that even though Cena has taken Show out a hundred times, he still had to win an uphill battle. And the finish was stupid, the fact that Cena used the ropes to get Show to tap is bogus, as in any match, when someone reaches the ropes the hold must be broken. It was predictable and lame, but recently, all of Cena’s work has been such.
1.5/5

MATCH #8
LADDER MATCH for the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE
Jeff Hardy vs. (c) EDGE
The bit before this match about how these guys have been throwing each other off ladders for ten years was good and gave some true meaning to this match. And overall it was great. I’m not too big on Jeff Hardy to be honest, and judging him by a spot-fest ladder match is certainly unfair to the great technical guys like Regal and Finlay, but he entertained the hell out of me. Edge took the spots better than Jeff most of the time, and the bump that broke the ladder was really awesome. The way the match ended was great too. Jeff stuck Edge between rungs of the ladder, and Edge flailed around as Jeff snatched the belt. It was badass.
4/5

BUT WAIT...
MATCH #9
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
C.M. Punk vs. (c) Jeff Hardy
Me and my friends had jokingly foreshadowed Punk coming out to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase, but we literally went nuts when it actually happened. The music hit and Punk looked like he was ready to become a heel. Jeff was all battered and Punk was just smirking staring at him, it was tense. He quickly hit the Go To Sleep, but when Jeff kicked out it really seemed like Punk was actually going to lose, but thankfully they played it out realistically and Jeff couldn’t take any more of the fresh faced Punk after a second GTS. I was skeptical about how they would make Punk react, as he might apologize to Jeff and stay face, but when he started strutting around the ring playing the belt like it were a guitar, you could just tell how good of a bad guy he’s going to be.
3/5 (for a match, 5/5 for a shock)



OVERALL THOUGHTS:
The show was wildly inconsistent and way too short. There were four great matches, one of which was based entirely on shock value.