Modern Rock Radio re:Play 11.09.07: Issue #5
Posted by Ben Czajkowski on 11.09.2007
The 411Music staff weighs in on how they feel about the new Linkin Park single, “Shadow of the Day.” The Eagles sell 711,000 copies of their album in the first week alone. See who else ranked in the top 100 in album sales last week. Also, check out reviews for Puscifer (Tool) and Paramore.
And Now A Word From Our Sponsor…
Hey, boys and girls. It's that time of the week again. Friday, the day of rest. I hope that everyone has had a great week. I surely have not. It's been a huge-stressful week from hell and I've hated every bloody fucking second of it.
I have a special treat for you though! Rather than just me talking this week, I've asked for my colleagues' inputs. The song, this week, is Linkin Park's "Shadow of the Day." Other tracks this week include Paramore's "Misery Business" and Puscifer's "Queen B".
Notable Rock/Metal Album Sales This Week (Top 100)
Okay, some of these numbers do not add up at all…I'm just going with the info that I have…
No. 01 - The Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden - 711,000
No. 04 – Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold – 94,000
No. 12 - Kid Rock - Rock N' Roll Jesus - 49,000
No. 21 - Nickelback - All the Right Reasons
No. 22 - Seether - Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces – 30,000
No. 24 - Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead
No. 25 - Puscifer – V is for Vagina
No. 31 - Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream
No. 42 - Daughtry - Daughtry
No. 43 - Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
No. 44 - Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow
No. 46 - Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
No. 58 – Paramore - RIOT!
No. 59 - Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
No. 62 - Flyleaf - Flyleaf
No. 66 - Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
No. 76 - Eddie Veder - Into the Wild OST
No. 81 - Otep - The Ascension – 10,000
No. 82 - Finger Eleven - Them Vs. You Vs. Me
No. 99 - Alter Bridge - Blackbird
The Eagles sold that many CDs in ONE WEEK from three outlets: Wal*Mart, Sam's Club, and their website. How fucking insane is that?? Impressive for their first disc in 30 years. Or something like that. Anyway….
Hungry for some angry, chick rock? Here's exactly what you need, if not in "Misery Business", then on Paramore's sophomore effort RIOT!, as a whole. Vocalist Hayley Williams sounds like all the other pop-femme vocalists on the radio, in today's sound-the-same-game music world. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say this sound is Avril Lavigne off her medication.
"Misery Business" is a teeny-bopping, rather vicious track about a girl stealing the man that she really wants, and no matter how the other girl feels about it. Williams sings, "Whoa, I never meant to brag/But I got him where I want him now/But God, does it feel so good/Cause I got him where I want him now." I give Paramore a lot of credit, though, for one line: ""I watched his wildest dreams come true/Not one of them involving you." It rings true with me, and I think the writing and the tempo makes the track what it is: sitting at number three on the modern rock charts.
3.5: Nothing like some angry chick rock to make the day a little better.
Even before the actual video for Tool's single "Vicarious" has hit the interwebs or the shelves on DVD, frontman Maynard James Keenan has released his second mainstream, side project's album. Puscifer's V is for Vagina sounds very little like Tool and even less like A Perfect Circle. Puscifer is no stranger to releasing tracks, though, having two of them on soundtrack over the last couple years. You'll find them ("The Undertaker" and "Rev. 22:20") on Vagina, as well.
When I first heard "Queen B", I was severely disappointed. It was unlike anything I had ever heard from Keenan. I don't think I even made it completely through the track without retching, at least three or four times. Many times through the track later, I don't come close to retching anymore, but the song still does not strike my fancy. With creative talent like that of MJK, one has high expectations. He's proven in the past that he can produce quality sounds before with APC and Tool, but I think Puscifer's track "Queen B" is swing and a miss.
"This lady got the thickness/Can I get a witness…/Booty big and delicious/Shake it like she's fearless," sings Keenan, on what one might consider a psychedelic rock track in a disc full of industrial experiments. While you might interpret this song to be Keenan displaying his humor and love for over-sized, dancing, sexed-up women (and there's plenty of them in America), I see it as a 50-Cent b-side that should have been left in the abortion clinic garbage can. Sir Mix-A-Lot, eat your heart out.
In the proper spirit of the 411Music zone, this next one is a collaborative effort between all the music zone staffers that were kind enough to respond to my emails. Rather than listening to me bash this next one flat out, I thought I'd let the other columnists weigh how they feel about "Shadow Of The Day."
Cameron Young: Personally, I think Minutes to Midnight was a huge leap in the right direction for Linkin Park, and infinitely better than 2003's Meteora (AKA Hybrid Theory Part II). Shadow of the day is the most ambitious song on the record, and probably the best Linkin Park single to date. This gets a definite thumbs up from me! 5/5
Matt Reno: My overall opinion of Linkin Park is that they're at their best when Mike Shinoda is rapping, but they are often unlistenable when Chester comes in with his constipated screaming. Hence why I love "Bleed It Out" but not much else on Minutes to Midnight. Interestingly, "Shadow of the Day" features neither vocal style. Chester ditches the screams for actual crooning, and while I wouldn't call his singing ability anything more than "average," at least it's no longer annoying. Musically, I like the building-up feeling throughout the track as well as the catchy chorus, which sounds like it will be much stronger when done live. The U2 comparison will be impossible to shake, but if you're going to rip someone off, it might as well be U2. "Shadow of the Day" is an ok song and one of the better tracks on its album, though if it's Linkin Park, I'd much rather hear something like "Faint" or "Lying From Me." 3/5
Brandon Ratliff: See, the problem with Minutes To Midnight - and this song - is that it isn't Linkin Park. As I said in my review way back in the day, it's not the worst written music in the world, but it's not Linkin Park. I'm all for a band trying new things and I definitely DID NOT want a Hybrid Theory part 3, but most of the music on MtM comes off as sloppy and lazily written by a band that can do much better, and this song is close to the epitome of that. Why they chose it as a single is beyond me, but I hope that it does really well; I don't listen to the radio and hopefully it'll get old quick and it won't take Linkin Park four years to put out another crappy album, but perhaps two to put out a good one. 2/5
Ben Czajkowski: Oh, boy, there's nothing I enjoy more than ripping apart a band that I used to love. I don't understand why people complain that Meteora sounded like Hybrid Theory. In actuality, people hate it when band's change their sound because it's not what fans are used to. I think Meteora was a logical step away from HT while still maintaining what made LP popular. Minutes to Midnight, however, which is still selling discs…God only know why Chester Bennington buys that many of his own CDs…Minutes is a step backwards for a group of musicians that no longer really want to make music together, it seems. Am I the only one that feels this way?
Single number one, "What I've Done", "Bleed It Out," and now "Shadow of the Day" has been a logical progression in crap. It's also typical, one could argue. Let's examine the singles from Meteora: "Somewhere I Belong", which is where Chester Bennington excels with his heart-felt, passionate, and in some ways, angry, singing. Next was followed with the rappish song "Faint", and then the kick-ass ballad of "Numb." Same pattern, only this time, Linkin Park selected the wrong Ballad. There's one thing that Bennington does not do well: sing in a high key. Yeah, his voice sails, alright, but he fails to maintain control of it. LP was better off sticking to Chester's angry scream or with a more on-target song like "The Little Things Give You Away."
"Shadows of the Day" is a weak-track all-around. The rhythm and tempo are trite and tiring. The lyrics are far from on par for what we expect from this group. It's just another depressed teen song about how they should try to look at the bright side of life. "And the shadow of the day/Will embrace the world in grey/And the sun will set for you."
1/5: I will change the dial every time.
Chart Toppers and Hoppers
Tracks to really look out for in the future, both here and on the radio:
1. Jimmy Eat World – "Big Casino"
2. Stone Sour – "Zzyxz Rd."
3. Avenged Sevenfold – "Almost Easy"
4. Puddle of Mudd – "Psycho"
5. The White Stripes – "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)"
Top 5 MP3s of the Week In My iTunes
5. Haste the Day – "Needles"
4. Still Remains – "Avalanche"
3. Soilwork – "Exhile"
2. Foo Fighters – "The Pretender"
1. Demon Hunter – "Fading Away"
