“Hello, bayyyyyy-beh!”
Sammy Hagar was riffing on 1950s disc jockey-turned pop star Jiles “Big Bopper” Richardson when he let out the banshee wail kicking off one my favorite rock records of the 1980s. One of my favorite albums of any kind, of any time, period.
And to think, 5150 was a record that almost didn’t happen—created by a band that almost never existed.
Van Halen were one of the biggest bands in the world in 1984, their similarly-titled sixth studio album having sold a gazillion copies on the strengths of such hits as “Jump,” “I’ll Wait,” and “Panama.” They’d earned a cool million dollars headlining the U.S. Festival on their previous tour—a gig they advertised with a staged parachute entrance by the band and a unique contest giving some lucky fan a shot at “Lost Weekend” spent partying with the boys for a while. MTV, still a nascent cable channel, was far more accessible in ‘84 than during the time of the band’s previous release, Diver Down.
Are you looking at Colin?
COLIN HAY
Gathering Mercury
2011, Compass Records
Colin Hay’s gruff tenor is known to millions as the voice of multiplatinum Aussie pop-rockers Men at Work (“Down Under,” “Who Can It Be Now?”). But only diehard fans are aware Hay was born in Scotland—and that the creativity and grandeur of his solo output eclipses his work from the early 80s. Indeed, the material on Going Somewhere, Company of Strangers, and Transcendental Highway is the stuff the Grammys were made for. Yet the man-at-work remains overlooked, notwithstanding the occasional movie soundtrack (Morning Glory, Garden State) and television cameo (Scrubs).
There is much to like in Zack Snyder’s new “vissureal” experience called “Sucker Punch”. The problem is, there isn’t much to love.
As directors go, Zack’s always an interesting challenge. I tend to be a vehement defender of his; and sure, people can take shots at the faux homoerotic bravado and CGI-infused ’300′…but I enjoyed it for what it was: one man’s retelling of a larger-than-life tale meant to inspire his countrymen to action. And on those terms alone, I find it a fun ballet of orgiastic violence and sepia-washed cinematography (if you can call it that). I even liked The Watchmen….but perhaps because the performances stood taller than the film itself (with Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jackie Earle Haley turning in solid memorable roles). But my favorite work of Zack’s would be ‘Dawn Of The Dead’. Rather than remaking Romero’s satirical classic, he turned it into his own exploration of survival and group politic.
But does ‘Sucker Punch’ hold the same allure as those other films? The short answer is: yes and no. It has its own voice…but that voice tends to strain in the second half as the film loses momentum and stumbles across the finish line. It gets the job done…but the journey is an awkward one filled with impressive leaps and even bigger missteps.
As much as I love The Getaway and Straw Dogs, I consider this to be Sam Peckinpah’s true masterpiece. I think the first time I saw this film was back in the late 80′s and I remember being completely blown away that this film was released in 1969 with this amount of remorseless violence. Can you imagine some dirty fucking hippie sitting in the theater coming down from an acid trip and seeking refuge in a dark movie theater for a few hours only to be bombarded with this film?
That first viewing was great, I remember being giddy with the amount of carnage. Something special happened with this film for me though, the more I saw it and the more I read reviews from the era and several books on Peckinpah, I began to understand the movie, and Sam’s subsequent movies, in a different light.
featuring:
DANNYGLOVERS_DICKBLOOD
Basement Cheetoh Eater
Hawaiian Organ Donor
STUNTCOCK_MIKE
KOUTCHBOOM
with special guest:
Animal_Tranquilizer
Source: Animal_Tranquilizer [AIBN News Staff]
03.24.11 BENGHAZI, LIBYA: Early Thursday, Muammar Qaddafi ordered planes into the sky in defiance of the “No Fly” zone that looks exactly like the country of Libya. No plane had left the ground since NATO declared a ‘No Fly Zone’ over Libya and started bombing the shit out of anything that resembled Air Defense Equipment, including Anti-Aircraft Missile Batteries, airplanes on the ground, helicopters, and the famous Libyan Flying Tank Brigade. Additionally, 3 ice cream trucks were bombed to shit and back for “playing that stupid fucking music, over and over again” said one US Air-recon Pilot who wished to remain anonymous.
Qaddafi ordered “Get Something in the air, now!” in defiance of the No Fly Zone. After what was called an “Epic Rock, Paper, Scissors Match”, a pilot was finally chosen to “lead the others” into the sky. Sources say the other pilots started taking bets on how long the plane would remain airborne while they hid in a bunker getting “ready to follow”.
