Music's 3R’s 8.18.12: A MuSTAINe On America
Posted by Nick Krenn on 08.18.2012
From Dave Mustaine’s political commentary on Barack Obama and Miley Cyrus’ new haircut to Baroness being involved in a bus accident and more, 411's Nick Krenn breaks down the Right, the wRong and the Ridiculous from the week in music!
Hello, I'm Nick Krenn, and I'm bringing you the newest edition of the most impolite 411mania column, Music 3R's, where I examine the Right, wRong, and Ridiculous in music. Before we start, here are some things I suggest you read.
The Love/Hate News Report written by John Downey. It's the best column in the Music Section, besides mine of course.
One more plug.
Earbuddy.net, a music site that I run outside of 411mania featuring both John Downey and Chris Bell and a slew of talented writers that post reviews on a DAILY basis.
Let's look at some R's!
Baroness Banged Up, But All Right Following Bus Crash
While touring England, metal/alt rock hybrid Baroness was involved in a traffic accident. Their bus crashed near Bath, England, falling thirty feet over a viaduct. Out of those traveling on the bus, nine people were injured with five remaining in the hospital. Among those still hospitalized include guitarist/vocalist John Baizley, drummer Allen Blickle, and bassist Matt Maggioni.
The band issued this statement on the accident.
The band members of Baroness and their crew are recovering from injuries sustained after their tour bus crashed outside of Bath, England early on Wednesday morning.
John Baizley has broken his left arm and left leg. Allen Blickle and Matt Maggioni each suffered fractured vertebrae. All three remain in the hospital as of this writing. Pete Adams has been treated and released from the hospital.
Three of the five crew members who were on the bus have also been treated and released. One member is still undergoing testing. The driver of the bus remains in critical condition.
Please stay tuned for further updates. Thank you for all the support during this extremely difficult time.
It's good to hear that the band is doing fine for the most part, considering just how severe it was. Yellow & Green is a damn fine album, and you should check it out.
Pussy Riot Go To Prison
I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know who Russian band Pussy Riot is or even try to make you care about their music. However, the band was recently involved in somewhat of a political protest that has landed the three female band members two years in prison. So what did they do exactly?
"Hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" is the official crime. What they did was break out in a flash-performance at Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, where the group shouted an anti-Putin "punk prayer". The incident occurred back in February with the case dragging out for five months now.
Declared "prisoners of conscience" by Amnesty International, the organization noted that they faced danger of being sent to labor camps where the risks of physical and sexual abuse could be extreme. While you could care less about this band or Russia for that matter, it's best to examine a case like this and be thankful for the right to protest in our own country (America) and speak our minds freely. I know one guy that will agree with me in the next story.
Dave Mustaine Has Head-Banged Out All His Brain Cells
Is President Obama staging acts of gun violence in America? Before I even allow that to sit as a rhetorical question, I'm going to answer ‘no' for everyone. However, fans of classic metal band Megadeth might answer the same question with ‘possibly' or even ‘yes'. Why? Well, at a recent concert in Singapore during Megadeth's "Th1rt3en World Tour", front man Dave Mustaine started a semi-rant on America's favorite black president.
"Back in my country, my president is trying to pass a gun ban so he's staging all of these murders. The 'Fast and Furious' thing down at the border. And Aurora, Colorado, all the people that were killed there. And now, the beautiful people at the Sikh temple."
Wow, so not only was violence tied to the latest Batman film, but Fast and Furious also? My God, Expendables 2 comes out this weekend! Everyone take precautions if you're venturing to see this movie. Action films are killing Americans, and the director is Barack Obama…according to Mustaine. Was the killer at the Sikh temple calling himself Jack Bauer? I know it's a television show, but I'm going to assume that any filmed depiction of gunplay has a direct influence on already unstable people deciding to shoot up a public location.
Mustaine continued, "I don't know where I'm going to live if America keeps going the way it's going because it looks like it's turning into Nazi America."
You know what? I'll agree with this a little, making the point that our form of the swastika is the Apple logo. There are too many Apple products out there leading to a mass population gaining an elitist attitude just because they can afford a new iPhone or iPad every six months. Oh, and you know who else owns an iPhone? Barack Obama! Conspiracy theorists unite!
There's no question that Dave Mustaine is a diehard Republican supporter. At one time, he was endorsing Rick Santorum as his choice for America's next president, even though Romney bought (conspiracy!) the nomination. However, am I to actually believe that the President of my country has somehow devised this master plan of creating random acts of gun violence, using average joe killlers? If Obama could harness the power of mind control, wouldn't he just use it to make everyone vote for him in the next election? No, that would be too farfetched. Instead, we should believe that Obama is writing this "symphony of destruction", with planted nutcases "sweating bullets" into innocent bystanders.
This was actually a big hit on MTV in its heyday.
Mustaine's theory of Obama "staging murders" is by no means an iron-clad, and it should be allowed to "rust in peace". Gun control will always come "so far, so good, so what", and criminals will get their hands on illegal firearms no matter how strict laws are. So all of the talking heads and politicians should stop complaining about how lax the current restrictions are – they're plenty strict and most law abiding citizens follow them. I bet there were gun owners in the same Aurora Theater with the lunatic, but they left their guns at home because they were complying with the law. You could say ‘imagine if one of them had brought their guns', but if were talking hypothetically, the situation could have been even worse with some guy trying to shoot the assailant and still hitting innocent bystanders in the process.
As much as advocates for stricter gun control need to calm down, gun enthusiasts should do the same. Guns are not going away no matter how much government officials huff and puff about banning them. There would be an absolute revolt in our country if anything like that ever came to pass. Also, it would be a major blow to our economy losing commerce from the hunting community, collectors, and people just looking to get rid of stress at a shooting range. "Killing is our business, and business has been good"; why would we just eliminate it? We're never going to live in a utopia without violence. I mean, "peace sells, but who's buying?" The answer is no one because there's always going to be people disgruntled about something whether it's a small or major issue; personal or impersonal. And there's always going to be human beings that are just off balance and not fit to exist within a civilized society.
I don't think guns are leading us to a "countdown to extinction". We have global warming doing that for us; although, we choose to ignore that problem because it's got too many math equations involved. Gun + person = bad – is easier to comprehend. But let's say you subtract the gun, you still won't come to an answer of good. You'll just make another problem like person + dirty bomb or person + knife or person + loud stereo and Celine Dion album. And all of those problems equal bad for me.
Miley's New Look
If Miley Cyrus wants to look like a woman of questionable sexuality, who are we to question her?
Recent Features from Earbuddy
Check out some reviews and special columns from Earbuddy.
And that does it for this week. If you want to chat about the stories I covered here, follow me on Twitter @earbuddy or leave me some comments below. Let me know where this column falls under the 3R's – meaning for you to rate it as Right, wRong, or Ridiculous. I promise to change nothing. Be sure to check out Earbuddy for great indie music reviews. Thank you for reading the Music 3R's.
