8- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, January 6, 1994
RECORDS
Continued from page 5
high powered melodic groove that
trades off nicely with a standard Rush
verse. If Rush is aiming at a new
sound, which may be the case given
their recent experiments, then their
biggest problem is Lee's distinctive,
and some would say, annoying vo-
cals. Rush will never sound like a
truly rejuvenated band with Lee at the
forefront.
If you're a real Rush fan, you
already have this disc and are prob-
ably pretty pleased. "Counterparts"
should attract some attention from
guitarloving Rush fans who've given
up on the band lately due to their over-
produced, keyboard-dominated re-
leases. For those who've never been
fans, don't be persuaded by the mis-
leading singles. It's still Rush.
- Gianluca Montalti
Green Apple Quick
Step
Wonderful Virus
The Medicine Label
As far as hard rock from Seattle
Rock City goes, Green Apple-Quick
Step hasjumped the bandwagon pretty
late. Two years after Nirvana enabled
record companies to market "alterna-
tive" music successfully, two years
after Pearl Jam proved this point and
even six months after Stone Temple
Pilots ripped off Pearl Jam to shoot to
superstardom, along comes Grunge
Awful Quick Shitwanting a piece of
the apple pie. Well, don't let them
have any. If no one buys this unorigi-
nal waste of studio time, maybe Green
Asshole Quiche Seep can crawl back
into whatever crevice they came from
and reemerge with something a little
more creative.
The tools are all present. Techni-
cally, the band plays extremely well.
The riffs are exciting and the harmo-
nies created between vocalist Ty
Willman and bassist Mariann Braeden
are actually quite good. But then Grave
Affront Crap Stew goes and brings all
the rock clich6s to life. Songs about
drugs and booze ("Ludes and
Cherrybombs" and "Bottle") are tired,
and oooh, can you actually believe
they're against polluting the environ-
ment ("Dirty Water Ocean")? Imag-
ine that!
Somebody should tell Gross Apple
Quid Spew that "grunge" as a legiti-
mate style died when the fashion in-
dustry capitalized on "The idea of
looking like you don't care" (which is
from an actual ad). And speaking of
fashion, at the band's opening slot on
the recent X appearance at the Blind
Pig, you could see that they know
fashion! Dressed in flannels, ripped t-
shirts, wacky hats, and chains, Gag
Apathetic Quit Slop struck all the
right poses, played all the right chords,
said all the right things, and were still
a bore to watch and listen to. Seattle's
illegitimate sons (and daughter) have
to find some originality to be consid-
ered a musical force.
- Matt Carlson
Jazzy Jeff and the
Fresh Prince
Code Red
Jive/RCA
You're not going to like this when
you first hear it but you should buy it
anyway. The Fresh Prince tries too
hard to give the lyrics an updated feel
in many instances, and Jazzy Jeff, one
of the most underrated musicians on
the rap scene, only produces two of
the tracks on the album. But on the
other hand, the Fresh Prince contin-
ues to be creative. "Twinkle Twinkle
(I'm Not A Star)," for instance, is
corny - but it's good; nearly every
track has a strong theme and this
album will win you over after a couple
spins. Producers like Pete Rock (what
a surprise), Dallas Austin and Teddy
Riley handle the music and it is al-
most too solidly produced - it
sparkles with high cost production.
However, the album is worth it for
"I Wanna Rock." Jazzy Jeff rips up
the old "It Takes Two" (yes, Rob
Base & E-Z Rock), transforms it (with
the style of scratch he gets credit for
creating), slows it down and then a
live drum set kicks in to the music
from Big Daddy Kane's "Smooth Op-
erator." It's an incredible DJ song,
something unheard of nowadays. All
in all, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince
continue on the pop tip, but in a qual-
ity way which stays true to the game.
-- Dustin Howes
Various Artists
Straight Outta Ireland:
Volume II
Scotti Bros.
A conmpilation of all Irish per-
formers, eh? So you're expecting a
record full of U2 rip-offs, correct?
Well, that's not what you're going to
get. Perhaps that's unfortunate be-
cause almost anything would make a
livelier listen than this. In fact, if it
wasn't for the song listings on the
back of the CD, you'd swear that
every track on this album was re-
corded by the same performer. Never
has lifeless, bland, formulaic Oop
music sounded so ... well ... boring.
Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, while trying a bit too hard, are still as creative and
unique as ever in their new album, "Code Red."
The inclusion of An Emotional
Fish and Hothouse Flowers, the two
largest name draws on this record,
does nothing to make this package
any more attractive. An Emotional
Fish spend too much time not trying
to sound like U2 to explore any worth-
while ideas. And Hothouse Flowers
play every song so over-the-top that it
comes across as pathetically melo-
dramatic.
It's unlikely that you've heard of
any of the other performers on this
album before (or will ever again, for
that matter). It's quite amazing really
how a couple of folk tunes, a hard
rock ballad and even a techno track
can all come out sounding so alike.
But it's done right here on this record.
If this is truly the best Ireland has
to offer as far as music today, then
what a sorry state it is. Hate it or not,
U2 is still rock supreme in the land of
the leprechaun.
- Nima Hodaei
Souls of Mischief
93 'til Infinity
Jive/RCA
After all the hype, including an
800 number, the Souls of Mischief
drop correct. Hailing from Oakland,
but with a definite east coast flavor in
their tracks, they got much jazz and
most of all melodic bass lines which
move the tracks along just right. They
spit good rhymes on the new school
tip; obviously thought went into the
lyrics, but it's nothing breakthrough
in terms of flow (contrived high voices
- a la Cypress Hill and over-drama-
tizing the rhymes - ala Das EFX). A
few tracks really stand out - includ-
ing "Live and Let Live," "Never No
More" and the title track - making
this an incredibly strong first effort.
- Dustin Howes
Front 242
05:23:09:12 Off
Epic
Front 242's second release this
year finds them breaking the new
ground that they had promised but
failed to deliver on last spring's
"06:22:03:11 Up Evil."
In the past, Front 242's albums,
while consisting of agressive body
music, had a formulaic quality which
left them somewhat devoid of sur-
prises.
"Off," on the other hand, is an-
other matter. The album breaks from
the formula immediately with the
amazing "Animal(Cage/Gate/
Guide)," with its hacked-up female
vocals. The minimalist approach to
this song, along with the focus on
soundscapes and sparse percussion
adds up to what might be the most
haunting Front 242 song ever. Things
get even crazier with "Modern An-
gels," an almost hardcore techno-ori-
ented composition with some Nine-
Inch-Nails-style vocal insanity that
literally bursts out of the speakers and
takes off at a speed-of-light pace.
"Off' also features some much
more interesting ambient reworkings
of tracks from "Up Evil," as well as
two or three versions of some songs
from "Off," the best of which are the
two "Modern Angels" remixes, which
highlight the experimentation that
Front 242 hoped for on this record.
Other tracks, such as "Serial Killers
Don't Kill Their Girlfriend" are much
weaker (mainly due to the loud mix-
ing of typically campy 242 lyrics),
but they still make for a refreshing
change.
This isn't the same band that
brought you "Headhunter" and "Wel-
come to Paradise." "Off' gives a
strong indication that Front 242 have
finally broken away from the trite,
overdone world of "industrial dance"
and are prepared to move on to a new
dimension in electronic music. -
-Andy Dolan
pudgee, t haphat
bastard
give 'em the finger
Giant
Trak masterz (Big Daddy Kane,
Chubb Rock) are in the house with
serious production skills. The beats
and samples are tight, the snare has
pop and the bass lines and drum is
clear as fine crystal in a bucket of
Absopure. The chanting is played out,
but doesn't ruin the album. The image
is hard but the flow is beyond that.
This is good rhyme wrapped in hard-
rock marketing. Get the CD or tape
and watch for the rising star.
- Dustin Howes
MICHIGAN
RECORD!
1140 South University, Ann Ar
(above Good Time Charley's)
phone: 663-5800
Store Hours
Mon-Sat: 9:00a - 10:00p
Sunday: 11:00a - 8:00p
Ss
aFOR A B YA
bor
including
KILLING IN THE NAME
BULLET IN THE HEAD "
WAKE UP
BOMBTRACK
Stop in to USE OUR MULE! An easy-to-use
computer that will search out the hardest-
to-find music...it's in the House!
e PHllAURPHIA
cUSK FROM THE MOTION PCTURE SOUNDTRA
Featuring songs by Bruce Springsteen,
NeilYoung, Peter Gabriel, Sad
Spin Doctors, and Indigo Girs.
tF" fr' v tI WY I-?" "1J[T a/- .h1r _C'
With their new album, "05:23:09:12 Off," Front 242 has proven themselves ready to move on to new dimensions,-
I ii XVJI
I
The University of Michigan Gilbert and Sullivan Society
is pleased to invite all and sundry to our next
MASS MEETING
for the April 1994 production of Gilbert and Sullivan's
most famous and dynamically absurd comic opera -
THE MIKADO.
II' WtILIJ
f or
Arts
Film, music,
theater, f ine arts,
f books
'it.
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