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. the michigan daily SPRING BREAK 2004! America's. Best Stu- dent Tour Operator! Jamaica, Cancun, Aca- pulco, Bahamas and Florida. Campus Reps Wanted! Call: 1-800-733-6347 www.beachlifevacations.com Join America's #IStudent Tour Operator CANCUN i eACAPULCO FRIENDLY BABYSITTER NEEDED for 2 children, one day a week. High energy, fun, wholesome, many interests a plus! Need ref- erences. Call Teri @ 769-9790. !UMICH SPRING Break-Are You GOING? LOWEST price, 50 hrs. FREE Drinks/Meals Be a Campus Rep. - Earn cash & 2 FREE trips!! Free materials provided 800-367-1252 www.springbwakDIRECT.com ADD YOUR NAME to our Wall of Flame! 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