Tuesday
September 23, 2003
www.michigandaily.com
artseditor@michigandaily.com
ARTS
7
Detroit's Obie Trice drops debut
By Joel Hoard
Daily Music Editor:..x
Courtesy ofx
Dreargworks
I'm not a,
pie. I have :
feelings, EBW
you know.
ALLEN'S NEARLY BACK IN FORM WITH 'ANYTHING'
With the knowledge that any album
that bears the Shady Records label
will go multi-platinum, Eminem sur-
rounds himself with a posse of rap-
pers (among them D-12 and Obie
Trice) who are m__.______
capable of selling Obie Trice
records but not
dexterous enough Cheers
to challenge Em Shady/Interscope
for his hip-hop -______
crown. Not only does Eminem make
a cool pile of cash, but he gets an ego
boost at the same time.
Needless to say, Obie Trice could
never compete with Eminem as a rap-
per, but just to be sure, Em restrains
Obie severely on Cheers, Trice's
Shady Records debut. Eminem wants
Cheers to sound decidedly run of the
mill, and as executive producer, he
makes it happen.
Cheers' backing tracks, most of
which are produced by Eminem him-
self, are noticeably overmixed. On the
title track and "Don't Come Down" in
particular, Trice struggles to be heard
amid the deafening beats.
Not that being unable to hear Obie
Obie Trice and Eminem. (Not pictured: Eminem.)
By Vanossa Miller
For the Daily
In "Anything Else," Woody Allen's new
love farce about twenty-something rela-
tionships, he tries to appeal to the
younger generation of filmgoers after the
commercial and critical failure of his
past two movies. Allen writes and directs
this film, but fails to
achieve the neurotic
magic he created in
such earlier films as
the similarly themed
"Annie Hall." Here,
he focuses on the
lackluster relation-
Anything
Else
At Quality 16 and
Showcase
Dreamworks
ing - the occupation they share.
Meetings with Dobel become an outlet
for Jerry to vent anger at his relationship
and his fears about Amanda cheating on
him. These meetings between Allen and
Biggs have scattered moments of sim-
plistic humor, but tend to reduce the
momentum of the movie and hide the
real plot between the young lovers.
Biggs and Ricci create an odd yet
alluring chemistry on-screen; the viewer
truly roots for Jerry to turn his lady on.
Biggs, though having had roles in poorly
created comedies like "Loser," shows that
he is a capable actor in "Anything Else."
By stammering through monologue and
talking directly into the camera, he seems
to model his characterization of Jerry on
the Allen whose charming and magical
persona once awed viewers.
Ricci is, simply put, a gorgeous crea-
ture, making Amanda charming despite
her whiney, self-obsessive tendencies.
Her acting helps us understand why Jerry
cannot leave and is willing to put up with
her excessive irrationalities.
The script is adorably simple but has
little energy to keep the viewer and the
libido of its characters satisfied. "Any-
thing Else" gives viewers a taste of the
quasi-unbalanced relationship that can be
typical of college dating, and those
impending lovers who hyperventilate
when seduced.
WHAT THE
RUCK WERE
THEY
THINKING?
With the "who
thought of thisT' plan
of marketing the new
Woody Allen as any-
thing but a
Biggs/Ricci romantic
comedy, Dreamworks
shot itself in the wal-
let. Not only did they
fail to reverse Allen's
string of box-office
failures, they forced
Allen's worst opening
weekend ever - a
paltry $1.7 million.
Not marketing
"Anything Else" as a
Woody Allen film
was a disaster from
the start. Better than'
both "Curse of the
Jade Scorpion" and
Hollywood Ending,"
Allen's newest
deserved better!
is any big loss. His awkward lyrics,
such as "I know I don't wanna be
headin' home / With some double-Ds
full of silicone," shift from unfunny
Eminem rip-offs to inane thug postur-
ing. On the mic, Obie is competent at
best; his plain vocals often weakly
plod along under the overwhelming
beats. In brief appearances on
"Lady," "We All Die One Day" and
"Hands on You," Eminem casually
delivers a few lines and thoroughly
embarrasses his proteg6, which,
while quite unnecessary, is certainly
entertaining.
As the most profitable man in hip-
hop, Eminem could easily afford to
add the world's best MCs to his ros-
ter, but that's not what he's going for.
He wants the spotlight locked firmly
on himself. Giving Obie Trice a
chance can only be seen as charity
work, but just to make certain that
Obie doesn't steal the show, Eminem
ensures that Trice never sounds bet-
ter than average.
Oh my god, it's a mirage. I'm
tellin' y'all it's sabotage.
The everlasting hubris of Fred DUrst
ship of Jerry (Jason Biggs) and Amanda
(Christina Ricci) whose sex life has been
nearly non-existent for the past six
months. And despairingly, like Diane
Keaton's Annie Hall, Amanda is simply
never turned on, though their relationship
started as an illicit affair.
The film details the fickleness of
Amanda's emotions as Jerry adores her
and tries to seduce her again. Along with
enduring the haphazard pitfalls of their
romance, the couple has to deal with
Jerry's mentor, Dobel (Allen), who infus-
es Jerry with dialogue on love, lessons in
self-defense and help with comedy writ-
By Glenn Lopez
For the Daily
Back in 2001, then-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland
announced he would be departing from the band. Music
fans everywhere rejoiced at the prospect of Limp Bizk-
it's timely demise. Unfortunately for them, frontman
Fred Durst had other ideas on his mind. Determined to
reclaim the respect that he likes to
believe he once had, Durst changed
the band name from Limp Bizkit to
the ridiculous limpbizkit, and
recruited former Snot guitarist Mike
Smith in order to "co-headline" a
three month summer tour with
limpbizkit
Results May
Vary
Flip /Interscope
panties now."
(Can you say
"Restraining
order?") Lyrics
aside, the song is
fairly enjoyable.
Smith's guitar
riff grooves pret-
ty hard, making
them sound like
an actual metal
band, a rare
occurrence on """
this album.
From there,
the album just gets progressively worse. Not even the
Doggfather himself can save "Red Light - Green
Light," the song is just plain bad. The worst though has
to be their cover of the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes."
Making your own song sound like shit is one thing;
making someone else's fine song sound like shit is
damn near criminal. Limpbizkit does just that with
Fred's added lyrics ("No one knows how to say / That
they're sorry and don't worry / I'm not telling lies") and
obnoxious synth effects, guaranteed to make even the
casual Who fan wince. Now that I think of it, everyone
will wince after hearing this record.
Brand new Day rising on Reverie
Anniversary
moved on and
became a '70s
cover band. It
was only a matter
of time before
Saves the Day fol-
lowed suit. After
Saves the
Day
In Reverie
Dreamworks
definitely harder to decipher. It's pure
pop now, making the melodies a bit
more unpredictable than in their punk
days. No longer is lead singer Chris
Conley, now a mature 23, threatening
the life of some guy named Nick and
singing about rocking out to Queen in
a friend's car. Those days, it seems, are
over.
That's not to say that In Reverie
isn't a good album. The hooks are
solid, catchy and still worthy of the
road trip sing-along. "Anywhere with
You," "Morning in the Moonlight"
and "Tomorrow Too Late" all contain
glimmers of the band's former self. It
just feels like In Reverie is missing the
spark that made Saves the Day who
they are, or who they were. Perhaps
it's Conley's new relaxed singing style,
forced from too much touring. Per-
haps they've been listening to the
White Album too much. Or maybe
they're just finally growing up.
Linkin Park and Metallica. The end result, limpbizkit's
fourth studio album, Results May Vary, is Freddy D. and
Company's latest gift to the young MTV-loving demo-
graphic.
After an annoying intro that likely no one will ever lis-
ten to, the album begins with the first single, "Eat You
Alive," a song about Fred's obsession with an unnamed
"hot" female. (Britney, are you listening?) The song
sports some of the most absurd lyrics ever heard, includ-
ing lines like "no doubt that I'd love to sniff on them
Mayer returns a bit Heavier on Things
By Brandon Harig
For the Daily
the success of Stay What You Are,
everyone expected a strong follow up.
What they got was In Reverie. Strong?
Yes. Different? Definitely.
What made Saves the Day stand
out, aside from their fairly young age,
was their ability to blend pop and
hardcore punk musicianship with
incredibly catchy and sometimes mor-
bid lyrics. In Reverie, the band's major
label debut, finds the group expanding
their sound significantly beyond their
emo roots. Where emo is often formu-
laic and all too literal, Saves the Day's
new style is much more diverse and
John Mayer is a product of the
Internet download craze, even stating
in live performances that he did not
mind the downloading and burning of
his second album,
Room For
Squares. Serious
fans of his will
always know
three different
versions of every
song and compare
John Mayer
Heavier
Things
Aware/Columbia
and contrast the
Songs such as "Homelife" and the
lyrically impressive "Split Screen Sad-
ness" draw listeners in with their slow
melodies and honesty, traits of some
of Mayer's earlier and best work. Truth
be told, Heavier Things does have its
moments of genuine musical excel-
lence - it's not that bad of an album.
Yet, the depth of lyrics tends to come
in short supply beyond a few songs.
The release of this album marks a
departure from Mayer's roots. On
Heavier Things, Mayer threw out all
of the knowledge he picked up play-
ing the small cafes of Atlanta and
picked up several musicians, sum-
ming up what this album represents
- a departure from the realm of live
gigs and a step into the studio.
While Dave Matthews chose to
explore what he sounds like on his
newly released solo album, John is
trying to attach the B to his name. In
the past naysayers have called him
John Matthews. With Heavier
Things, Mayer corrects it with the
debut of JMB.
traits of the live and album versions of
various tracks down to the drum lines.
With visions of acoustic sugarplums
and melodic fairies dancing in their
heads, masses of fans will put the disc
in their CD players and press play.
And a good amount of them will
be pissed.
Falling under the blade of high pro-
duction, Heavier Things, Mayer's third
album, feels more like the product of a
jam band than the third album of a
Grammy Award-winning artist. Find-
ing commercial success in the bouncy
singles like last year's hit "No Such
Thing," the album feels like a pander-
ing to the crowds who discovered John
on MTV His current single, "Bigger
Than My Body," rests on the voting
block of TRL and fits nicely in the
show's programming - interpret that
however you like.
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