Music's 3R's 03.15.10: Jessica Simpson in the Media, Chris Brown Needs Help, GnR Cause Supermodel Riots, More

Posted by Aaron Titan on 03.15.2010

From Jessica Simpson's recent media rounds, Chris Brown begging for radio play, and the Insane Clown Posse being blamed for Juggalos' crimes to Killswitch Engage's Adam D dissing Metallica, Serj Tankian's Elect the Dead Symphony, Axl Rose causing a supermodel party to end in riots, and thoughts on last week's round of American Idol, 411's Aaron Titan brings you all the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous in the music world in this week’s Music 3R’s.



Greetings:

Well hey, it's you! So glad you could make it on this fine Monday! It's your old pal Aaron Titan back with another rousing rendition of the Music 3R's. I know our relationship has been strained with the shorter R's columns as of late. That may have partially been my fault, as I always write on the weekends and happened to be traveling a bit for funerals, get-togethers, and the like lately. It's also partially the music world's fault as I've just not been struck by too many interesting music news beats lately.

This week, however, there was a plethora of topics I cared to discuss. I'm motivated and there was shit else to do this weekend. Friends were relatively busy. Apartment wasn't terribly messy (very rare for this writer). Weather was pretty shitty. Nothing much else to do besides write and listen to music. Oh, and while they didn't quite make the Opus of the Week this week, I've recently discovered that Parliament is the shit. Funk music and R&B may be my two new favorite delights in life.



Speaking of which, here's your Opus of the Week…



Opus of the Week: Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night

During the last two years, I've really started to expand my musical horizons and allow a lot more pop music to filter into my playlists. Watching shows like American Idol helps with that, and I heard a Maxwell song on there recently that kind of pushed me towards his music. I had heard amazing things about his newest album BLACKsummers'night, so I thought, why the hell not?

This album is incredibly cohesive, which is always a must for me. From front to back, I really like BLACKsummers'night as a collective work. It's soulful but it's not a sleeper, which is a hangup I have with a lot of R&B music. I dig chill music, no doubt, but there's got to be something there to keep me interested. Maxwell certainly does here!

"Bad Habits" is full of gusto and attitude and has a fun, jazzy urban vibe to it. "Love You" sounds like a love song that is truly meant and isn't a hackneyed, ‘love you girl' tune that there are a million carbon copies of out there anymore. Finally, as a rock fan at heart, I was pleasantly surprised by the showy "Help Somebody," which features banging drums and churning guitars commingling with soulful organ and keyboard playing.

Very good album that I plan on playing on repeat over the next several weeks (or months).

Titan's Key Tracks: "Help Somebody," "Love You," "Bad Habits"






The Column

For those unfamiliar with the 3R's concept, here's the breakdown. I will be reporting and commenting on happenings in the music world and categorizing all the hoopla into three sections: the Right, the wRong, and the Ridiculous. The Right will feature news, albums, and announcements music-related that I'm personally stoked about. The wRong will be the bad versions of all three of the aforementioned. The Ridiculous is the worst of it all, that which makes good ol' Mr. Titan shake his head in perplexing amazement.

The Right



Serj Tankian Goes the S&M Route: Not the sexual kind though! System of a Down's Serj Tankian just recently released his Elect the Dead Symphony album featuring New Zealand's Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra. Essentially, they took a lot of Serj's Elect the Dead solo tunes and a few new ones and made all of it into a purely orchestral show. This isn't like Metallica's S & M album which also still carried the metal music backed by the orchestra, as it's purely orchestral with Serj singing.

Any that follow the column consistently know that I bad-mouthed Serj for doing this project not too long ago. My first impression of it was that Serj was being too over-the-top even for his usual manner and that Elect the Dead wasn't that solid of an album that it warranted the orchestra treatment. Nevertheless, I read 411Mania's own Chris Crowing's review of the album and enjoyed the two YouTube clips he embedded in the write-up – welcome to the team by the way man.

I don't admit being wrong that often, and it might be the influence of the 1.5 L bottle of burgundy wine I'm knee deep in at the moment – but I might just have been wrong about this album:








To be fair, I haven't listened to it in its entirety yet. I just got a hold of a plethora of new tunes that I've yet to delve too deeply into yet (Kyuss, Zac Brown Band, Maxwell, old Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Legend, Paul McCartney/The Fireman, The Stooges, live White Stripes,…), so I'll put off Serj's new shit for just a bit longer; however, "Empty Walls" sounds incredibly convincing in the above clip, as do his other tunes in the commercial ad clip I posted. I almost wonder of the Elect the Dead songs were better suited for this arrangement rather than in a hard rock format. I look forward to listening to Elect the Dead Symphony very much now rather than just avoiding it as I'd originally intended.

Still though, I hope System reunites sooner than later. I really enjoyed seeing them live in 2006.



Chris Brown Wants Radio Play: Yeah, and I want a golden toilet seat, but hell man, we can't all get our way, can we? This past week, Chris Brown released the audio statement I've posted below, pleading with fans to campaign to get him radio play:





Hey man, you can piss and moan all you want but fans are going to boycott what they boycott. Really, I don't blame radio stations for not wanting to play Chris Brown's music. Chris Brown now carries the stigma of a woman beater and probably will for the rest of his life. That's just how it is.

Chris Brown's situation is incredibly unique because it's one thing to hear the report live on the Grammys of how he was arrested for hitting Rihanna; it's quite another thing to see Rihanna's beaten face plastered all over the internet. We could all actually see how badly he beat her up. That's an image I don't feel comfortable posting in the column, but most of you saw the photo and for me at least, it still comes back as clearly as ever in my mind when I see or hear about Chris Brown. It's just an association most music fans and people in the radio business have with Chris Brown now. That dude could put out the most dope club single ever, but I guarantee you it wouldn't sell as well as it would have before he did what he did.

That said, I'm a believer in second chances. Every single person has done something in their lives they wish they could take back but can't. All you can do is go on living and do the best you can in your life from that point forward. Chris Brown is learning that actions have consequences and his will undoubtedly follow him around for a lot longer than he wishes they would. It's incredibly right that the radio is choosing to ban him, though I hope he finds a way to bounce back, as he is a very talented performer. I would recommend that the ‘bitching and moaning' pleas of help end though. It's just not very endearing Mr. Brown.

The wRong



Adam D Disses Metallica: This past week, Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz was doing a radio interview and spouted some really interesting shit. Well, let's preface this…

For those unfamiliar with KsE, Adam D is…different. Killswitch's live show is unlike any other band in the heavy rock (I'm not going to get into all that subgenre horseshit). While most metal bands usually take themselves extremely serious and act extremely crazy, hardcore, and any other macho or pissed off adjective you can think of, Killswitch act the exact opposite. Having seen KsE live three times, I can attest to the hilarious buffoonery they exhibit on a live stage. Adam D is the epitome of this, wearing a vampire cape and cutoff jean shorts and prancing around the stage like a fairy half the set. The rest of the band tries to outsqueal each others' guitars (think a ton of Zakk Wylde harmonic guitar squeals in a row…like over and over again) and are following their leader in this fashion. Here's a few examples of what you usually get out of Adam D:








OK, so now that the unawares now have an idea of the demeanor of Adam D, here's what happened.

Adam D is know as a pretty capable studio producer, having been behind the boards for pretty much every KsE album in addition to helming other bands' albums too. In the radio interview in question, he was asked if there were any bands he's really like to work with in the studio that he hadn't yet. Here's what he said:

I wanna make METALLICA's next record so I can make them good again." [Blabbermouth.net]

Well, ain't that some shit right there? I mean, let me clarify a few things here. I'm a Killswitch Engage fan, no doubt. The End of Heartache is a pretty bitchin' record, all things considered, and Jesse's vocals on Alive or Just Breathing were pretty awesome. I also dig on their new self-titled album for what it is.

That said, I'm also a pretty big Metallica fan. I own their catalogue and the live bootlegs of the two shows of theirs I've attended (2004 and 2008). I also happened to catch Jason Newsted play with Voivod and Ozzy's solo band at Ozzfest 2003. If I had to pick my favorite Metallica record, I'd probably have to go with Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets as a very close second.

And to an extent, Adam D's comments are pretty typical of a lot of heavy music fans. A lot of people bitch about how awesome Metallica used to be and how they suck now. The Black Album is good, though I can understand how those who were fans of Metallica from the Cliff days would be alienated by it. To be fair, the Load and Reload albums are a bit weak. I dig Load quite a bit – "Bleeding Me" is one of my favorite Metallica songs – while Reload is just not my tastiest cup o' tea.

Then we come to St. Anger. I've gone back and forth on this album depending on my impression of it at the given time, but having seen Metallica on their world tour for this album and having listened to it enough times between 2002 and now, I can say that I like some of the songs on the album. As a full listening experience though, it's just not as good as I prefer a Metallica album to be.

Death Magnetic - on the other hand – is quite tasty to this music listener. Besides "Broken, Beat, and Scarred," I really like every song on that album. "All Nightmare Long" and "My Apocalypse" are two songs I still throw on fairly regular rotation. Again, I can totally understand people's frustrations with the sometimes randomness of the jamming/riffing, but I personally like this album.

So yeah, in my opinion, Adam D is probably being his usual sarcastic, 12-year-old self when he says Metallica are not "good" anymore. Then again, just because Metallica aren't doing the same things they were in the 80s doesn't mean they aren't necessarily good.

Adam D doesn't even really take his own live craft that seriously, so perhaps before casting stones he should reevaluate his own band. When I saw KsE at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival last summer, the guitar squeals and goofy stage antics got old pretty quickly during a mere 45-minute set; I'd hate to imagine what a headlining set from KsE would be like. I mean, I like their songs, but all the fucking around on the guitars just got kind of obnoxious and detracted from the music in the end.

Above all, Metallica are the biggest heavy band of all time.

Read that again before throwing a fit, OK? Did I say they were the BEST? No, I didn't. They have sold the most albums and the most concert tickets, and theoretically, have the most fans, so they are the biggest.

And dammit, I'm a big Metallica fan, so I take some exception when people say they're not still "good." Lars Ulrich may be kind of a douche, but at least he doesn't have to wear a good vampire cape to get people to come see his shows.



ICP Blamed for Juggalos Violence: I would strongly suggest checking out the ABC News clip posted below. It poses an interesting debate, one which I'll put my opinion of out there for below:





I'll say this to start out with: ICP and the Juggalo fans are an easy target. A couple of fans of their music go out and commit some truly gruesome acts and if you're the media, you're going to look at who or what to blame. You see the convicted are wearing a shirt with the Riddle Box Joker's card logo on it and you check a little more into ICP. They rap about murder, suicide, and the like and on top of that, they paint their faces with black and white clown makeup. Clearly, ICP have to be the ones to blame, right?

Well, while Violent J was a little more eloquent in the ABC interview that his partner Shaggy 2 Dope, they both pose an interesting point: Why are they necessarily to blame? They are entertainers. What they do is entertainment, not leading a murder cult or what have you. If somebody listens to the song "I Stab People" and they actually go out and stab people, they clearly took the song and inspiration in their life that was already pretty twisted before ICP entered the picture. There was clearly a myriad of other external factors at play that didn't come from two dudes wearing clown makeup.

I can appreciate the value of a lot of forms of entertainment. I can watch the movie Rudy and pull for the title character as he pursues his dreams. And really, that could inspire me to go out and pursue the dreams I have, football related or not. It doesn't necessarily, but it could, you know? Likewise, I could watch the movie Halloween and see Michael Myers fillet victims that pissed him off and got in his way. Am I going to go out and do that to the people who get in my metaphorical way? Absolutely not, because I have sound judgment about right and wrong. It's extremely clear that the ICP fans that committed the crimes they did were not capable of sound judgment of the value of a human life and how it's wrong to kill someone.

I would say that ICP may have been a soundtrack of their violent passions and really, that's kind of like that kid from Columbine playing Blink-182's "Adam's Song" on repeat while he hung himself over depression, despite Mark Hoppus' intentions of the track being an overall positive, anti-suicide message. You can put the entertainment and art out there, but you can't control what people do with it or use it for.

Do the ICP then, have a responsibility to their substantial fanbase to put a more positive, less violent message out there? I mean, that's nobody's decision but theirs, but I can tell you that they kind of tried that with 2002's sixth Joker's Card album, The Wraith: Shangri-La. The album had messages of salvation and in the end, the twist of following God. People didn't really get into it.

ICP have carved their niche audience and that audience follows them because of the lyrical content and themes they consistently offer. If you were a hardcore Slayer fan, would you go see Slayer do MTV's Unplugged series? Fuck no, because when you go to a Slayer show, you expect fast thrash music and brutal lyrics. With ICP, you similarly expect murder-influenced lyrics and hard beats. So yeah, ICP could take the positive route but it wouldn't be incredibly effective.

The Ridiculous



Axl Rose Up to His Old Tricks: The New York Post reported on Saturday, March 13th:
An A-list crowd of Brazilian billionaires and supermodels rioted at 3 a.m. yesterday after waiting hours for Guns N' Roses to perform, and then learning Axl Rose and his band wouldn't play. The exclusive concert in a Sao Paulo club was hosted by Ana Beatriz Barros and fellow lingerie models. "The audience got angry and started to mount the stage, and fight and destroy everything," our source said. "It was wild. There were fights everywhere, on the dance floor, in the bathrooms, outside the club. Crazy. I guess the free drinks didn't help."

Well, I guess we can take solace in knowing that some things in life never really change. I mean, it would seemingly take a lot to get a bunch of stuck-up models and rich people to riot, so Axl must have told the people there that GnR would actually play the show. You would think that if Axl signed on to do the gig, he'd have figured out professionalism at this point in his career and actually have done the fuckin' gig, right?

Yet once again, we've got Axl just being Axl and not seeing that his childish actions have consequences. Crowds of people are a dicey dynamic, especially when they're fucked up on liquor (and in this particular case, blow most likely). I mean, it's not an excuse for people to destroy the place if the band doesn't come on, but you've gotta' understand how volatile people can get, especially if you keep them waiting for as long as Axl tends to do on a nightly basis. Have we learned nothing since 1991 Axl?:





When you get to the big time, you just can't behave like a child. You gotta' be a professional musician, because that's your job. Axl has clearly not learned professionalism, though I think we've sort of learned to love him for that after this long, haven't we?



Jessica Simpson Making the Media Rounds: I guess the media continues to ask her about it all, but how many of you are tired of Jessica Simpson still complaining about John Mayer. I mean, did they work out some sort of deal in order to get Jess' name back in the headlines, because I'm not sure many people really gave a shit about her anymore until Mayer's Playboy interview came out. Maybe she struck a deal with Billy Corgan too, as that was also one of the first times I read her name online in a long while, that being when she was rumored to be dating Corgan.

Side Note: Billy's now kicking out most of the replacements from his band to get second string replacements. C'mon man, the tunes you're doing are OK, but it's not really the Pumpkins, is it? It sort of was when Jimmy was still manning the drums, but now, it's really not the Pumpkins anymore. End Side Note Here

It's almost genius how she's making herself out to be such a victim. Granted, I do feel a bit sympathetic that she got so much crap for gaining weight, as people's body images are an incredibly sensitive issue and nobody should be made to feel bad for how they look. I totally get her point there and hope her upcoming TV show (which focuses on these issues) brings positivity into others' lives.

But like, she made her fucking bread and butter on the fact that she was hot. There was a reason we watched her music videos. There was a reason that you got to be in the Dukes of Hazard film. There was a reason we put up with her stupidity on that Newlyweds reality show. That reason was because she was hot in that big boobs, blonde, good ol' American way.

You gain weight and suddenly, people can't figure out what the big deal was about you in the first place. I'm just saying that I don't think her acting skills or music were the primary reason she was famous, that's all. And hey, it's not that she's not good-looking anymore, because she still definitely is.

I guess, just don't get too high-and-mighty about people getting on you for your weight when your appearance was sort of the vehicle you were riding for several years.





American Idol Recap: In keeping with my last few columns, I'm going to end shit this week with a recap on my thoughts of the last week's episodes of American Idol. If you're not an Idol fan, than pass on by this one to my closing remarks. This is a column about pop music on a pop culture website and since I've gotten back into this show, I'm going to follow it here.

So, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the performances this week. Crystal Bowersox is still incredibly awesome and consistent. ‘Big' Mike Lynche's rendition of "This Woman's Work" was exceptionally moving too. Heck, he even made Kara cry! I still feel that these two are the favorites thus far. Siobhan Magnus and Lee DeWyze are both qualified to be in the same discussion for now, but after that, there's not a lot to get me excited about the other contestants. I think once the themed nights begin next week – we've got Rolling Stones covers set for this Tuesday – the contestants will have their selection process focused a little more. I look forward to seeing how unique these contestants can really make their performances now that we're down to nut-cuttin' time in the final 12. Again, as I said last week, I still don't see a lot of star power in this year's contestants and feel that the elimination process is going to get a little more formal and less exciting now.

However, what the fuck was up with some of the eliminations this week? Alex Lambert is gone? Really? I mean, perhaps the charisma and stage presence weren't there yet, but the dude had mad chops vocally. I've had his performance of Ray Lamontagne's "Trouble" in my head all week long. His voice is really solid and I think America fucked up a little by eliminating him, especially this early on in the competition. I wish the guy luck and hope he finds musical success via another avenue, because I was a definite Alex Lambert fan:





Lily Scott was another that I was surprised got the boot so early on. She was incredibly quirky and adorable and had the unique factor going on for miles. She just seemed a lot more genuine than most and I was surprised somebody like Katie Stevens, who clearly doesn't know what the hell she's doing onstage, is still in the competition.





Hasta Luego: Hey kids, that's it for me today. I hope your experience here with the Music 3R's was a fun one and hope to see you back here same time next Monday. Until then, cheers!

Soundtrack to the 3R's this week was played by the following artists…
Cypress Hill – "A to the K"
John Legend – "Used to Love U"
White Rabbits – "Percussion Gun"
Weezer – "Troublemaker"
Michael Buble – "Haven't Met You Yet"
Styx – "Too Much Time on My Hands"
Foo Fighters – "The Last Song"
Zac Brown Band – "Highway 20 Ride"
Billy Joel – "Uptown Girl"
Beastie Boys – "So What'cha Want"
Iron Maiden – "Fear of the Dark [Live]"
Jay-Z – "What More Can I Say"
Van Halen – "You Really Got Me"
Serj Tankian featuring the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra – "Empty Walls (live)"
Trivium – "Kirisute Gomen"
Soulfly – "Eye for an Eye"
Stevie Wonder – "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"
Ray Montagne – "Trouble"
Common – "Forever Begins"
Michael Jackson – "Stranger in Moscow"
White Zombie – "Cosmic Monsters Inc."
Drake (f/ Kanye West, Lil' Wayne, & Eminem) – "Forever"
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – "Turn the Page"
Bullet For My Valentine – "Scream Aim Fire"
Pantera – "Yesterday Don't Mean Shit"
LL Cool J – "Rock the Bells"
Kyuss – "Gardenia"
Brother Ali – "Bad Mufucker Pt. II"
Slayer – "Disciple"
Chickenfoot – "Sexy Little Thing"
The Stooges – "Search and Destroy"
The White Stripes – "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn (live)"
Down – "On March the Saints"
James Brown – "I Got the Feelin'"
Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
Incubus – "Battlestar Scralatchtica"
Superjoint Ritual – "Stealing a Page or Two from Armed and Radical Pagans"
Black Label Society – "Stronger Than Death"
Judas Priest – "Metal Meltdown"
The Who – "Love Reign O'er Me"
Black Sabbath – "Heaven and Hell"
Static-X – "December"
Mos Def – "Umi Says"
Street Sweeper Social Club – "Fight! Smash! Win!"
Faith No More – "A Small Victory"
Scandal – "The Warrior"
Parliament – "Bop Gun (Endangered Species)"
Lamb of God – "Remorse is for the Dead"
U2 – "Beautiful Day"
Ween – "Bananas and Blow"
Primus – "Is It Luck?"
A Perfect Circle – "Judith"
Sammy Hagar – "Heavy Metal"
Nine Inch Nails - "The Line Begins to Blur"
Atreyu - "Right Side of the Bed"