Reviews by SlackerChick

First as a sort of disclaimer let me say this - Green Day were Terrific. I don't think they know how to NOT give a great performance. I'm sure the two shows this dvd was filmed at were a blast.

That being said. Whoa, was this dvd terrible. It's like they hired some guy who just graduated from film school with a B average to do the directing. No, wait I take that back. It's like this was the director's final project for film school and he threw in every trick he'd learned to try and get a good grade.

If you're looking for a concert dvd from Green Day stick with Bullet in a Bibble, Awesome as F**k wasn't even half as good as Bullet was.

Before My Dinosaur Life I thought I liked only one song by Motion City Soundtrack. I can safely say now I like at least 12 songs by them. I bought the album on a whim after seeing a live performance by the band and it very quickly grew on me. Listening to this album is pure joy from start to finish.

Oddly, the lead single 'Her Words Destroyed my Planet' is my least favourite song on the album. Which is not to say that it's a bad song it's just that the rest of the album is that good. But there is no one song I actually dislike and it's tough to pick a favourite. I love the driving intensity of Disappear, it's impossible to not sing along to the chorus of @!#?@!, the imagery in Delirium is captivating, and History Lesson and Hysteria just plain rock.

My Dinosaur Life is pop rock at it's finest and I love it.

Linkin Park have taken a big step forward with their musical direction and created something truly unique music wise. Taken as a whole it is almost mind boggling how cohesive an album A Thousand Suns is. While there might be only 9 traditional songs, the 15 tracks on the album flow so smoothly into one another that if you weren't paying attention you might think the album was one 45 minute long song. And unlike many other albums, not one of the 6 other tracks is superfluous, they all contribute something to the overall feel of A Thousand Suns.

Linkin Park always have that one song that bridges the gap between their previous album and the latest one. That song on A Thousand Suns I believe, is Burning in the Skies. It has hints of Shadow of the Day and What I've Done from Minutes to Midnight but with the flavor of A Thousands Suns. I really enjoy the way they've chosen to blend Mike and Chester's voices throughout the disc, the rapping, singing and screaming seem to build from one another instead of fighting for dominance. I would like to be able to say that there is no one favourite song for me but the middle eastern influences in When They Come For Me automatically makes it my favourite. And while there is no one song I dislike, after awhile the clip of Mario Savio's most famous speech in the intro and outro of Wretches And Kings became grating enough that I had to stop listening to the entire song.

If I hadn't already known what The Fray were capable of I would have been happy enough with this cd. But this feels like a step back instead of a step forward in The Fray's musical growth. That's not to say there aren't any good songs on this eponymous sophomore release. But in my mind it doesn't measure up to the brilliance of How to Save a Life. This album starts strong but falls apart in the second half with only a few high points to speak of there.

I was completely bored with 'Ungodly Hour' after just the first listen. In my mind it's the weakest of the songs on this self-titled album. But while there were very few risks taken through the course of this album at least one of them stands out as a winner. 'We Build Then We Break' is like nothing I've heard from The Fray before and I love it. Definitely my favourite song on the album. Some other solid songs: 'Syndicate', 'Say When' and the lead single 'You Found Me'.

I have mixed feelings about Read Between the Lines.

The behind the scenes documentary was well shot and a great way to learn about the band. The footage was at various times silly, amazing, moving, hilarious and full of stupid boy moments. Definitely my favorite part of this dvd.

The concert footage I'm less impressed with. The Dvd is misleading when it says the concert section was all shot at one show. I hope they don't think their viewers are too stupid to notice that the concert is two entirely different shows in two different venues. The show itself was pretty good though the cinematography could have been better.

Overall though, I'd say the good outweighs the bad on Read Between the Lines.

The Final Riot is, in my opinion, one of the top quality music dvds of '08. The behind the scenes documentary was well shot and gives interesting insight into the inner workings of the band and what life is like for a band on tour. While I have a few quibbles about how the concert was filmed they were never enough to take me out of the moment while watching the show.

Haley Williams has a commanding stage presence as the band's frontwoman, charming both the viewer and the audience she is interacting with. The actual performance itself was one of the best I've seen captured on film, high energy and you could nearly see the joy the band and the audience felt in that moment.

When The World Comes Down is possibly the most pop rock album I've heard all year. But that doesn't mean it isn't good music. The Rejects have put together a solid album, there isn't a song on it that I don't like - even after weeks of listening to it.

They've expanded and refined their sound some on When The World Comes Down, bringing in a little country on the duet 'Another Heart Calls' (they are after all Oklahoma boys). While on other songs their love of '80's rock shines through, most especially on the song 'The Wind Blows' a ballad like song that seems to seep '80's rock from it's pores. And yet I love it in-spite of it's ballady-ness. My favorite song by far is 'Breakin' closely followed by 'The Real World' and the lead single 'Gives You Hell'.

Once again Fall Out Boy has managed to produce my favourite album of the year. I bought Folie a Deux the day it was released and haven't stopped listening to it yet. There's not a song on this album that I don't like and I have yet to find only one absolute favourite.

Fall Out Boy have done some truly interesting things with their sound this go around. They've really come together as a band on Folie a Deux and instead of just one truly great part there are four. Of the 14 songs on this album (13 songs and a hidden track) there's a few songs that I'm drawn to, that I listen to over and over again.

It's so hard to narrow down though there's so many awesome things about all of the songs. I can't help listening to 'She's My Winona' and 'West Coast Smoker' (oh hell yes!) but '(Coffee's for Closers)' and '20 Dollar Nose Bleed' make me happy in my soul. and and and... I could go on. In my mind there is nothing on Folie a Deux that is not to love.

I never expected to like Phantom Planet as much as I've grown to. When I first heard about them they'd been label a 'Garage Band', one of the few labels in rock that'll turn me off a band. But Raise The Dead is a well crafted album that truly displays their talent. I can't stop listening to it. I was taken in by Alex Greenwald's voice (that man can wail no doubt about it.) and Sam Farrar's deft bass lines. If Raise The Dead is the embodiment of the garage band sound then all the other garage band acts need to step up their game.

My favourites are hard to narrow done with this album. I think the top three would be 'Demon Daughters', 'Dropped' and 'Confess'. But there's truly no song on Raise The Dead that I don't enjoy.

Gym Class Heroes have really showcased their musicianship on The Quilt. Not only have the beats and melodies grown stronger but Travis's rhymes have as well. Gym Class Heroes seem to have set out to explore their sound and play with styles on this album. They experiment with not only the different sounds in hip-hop today but things like reggae and jazz. The songs on The Quilt remind me of everything from Eminem to The Hush Sound yet still sound uniquely Gym Class Heroes, there are even two songs on the album that are sung instead of rapped.

My favourite songs are 'Live a Little', 'Blinded by the Sun', 'Guilty as Charged' and 'Catch Me if You Can'.