YOUR
BAD
HAIR DAY
Slightly different music,
in case you're slightly
different.
3EB even climbed into one of two rolling
drum-sets and sang along as he and
Continued from Page 8 drummer Brad Hargreaves were
their entire set with crisp vocals and wheeled around stage like little children
solid mixing of instrumentation. in out-grown strollers. By the tim te
Ultra-cool Tony Fredianelli (lead gui- band finished their set, no one r y
tar) stood proudly at the edge of his cared what they were playing.
amplifier in stark contrast to the imma- 3EB's dramatic, dazzling and deafen-
ture Stephen Jenkins who pranced ing set only proved how the quality of
around the stage brimming with arro- their material was inconsequential to the
gance. A half-hour into their set, Jenkins entertainment they provided. The fact
jumped into the crowd and ran onto a that Stephen Jenkins and company
table between the lawn and pavilion. played well, with passion or with talent
Completely choreographed, Jenkins didn't matter. In fact, it's hard to tell if
screamed lyrics while taunting the they did. However, if the concert's order
young crowd. Amidst admiration of of musical performance had *n
himself, a roadie appeared beside him reversed, Splender may have left the
with acoustic guitar ready in hand. stage with roaring applause as well.
Jenkins immediately sang the first vers- Some fans left the show, not thinking
es to their 1997 smash hit,"Jumper."The how badly 3EB had played, but rather
song was perfect timing, as the audience how talented Splender and Vertical
was primed for excitement. If 3EB had Horizon seemed next to their counter-
been replaced with Splender or Vertical part.
-lorizon at that point in the show, the But in big, bold letters, the ticket stub
crowd's reaction to their tmsusic would said it all: "MGD MUSIC PRESENTS
have been as great, if not greater. But THIRD EYE BLIND." The hard-work-
Third Eye Blind had gained complete ing acts of Splender and Vertical
control over the audience, and the audi- Horizon weren't even mentioned lt
ence didn't care. Even after Jenkins beer and 3EB's theatrics stole the n ht.
screamed through unintelligible, loud, As U2 front-man Bono once said justi-
thrashliig no-name songs, the audience fying his over-the-top antics in concert:
applauded and danced with joy. Proving "It's all bullshit, man, but that's enter-
himself quite the exhibitionist, Jenkins tainment.
'Stereo a mellow kind
of modern rap-rock
RICHARD ASHCROFT
Alone Witlh Everybody
WALTER TROUT
Live Trout
GILASSJAw
GLASSJAW
Everything You Ever Wonted To Knowv About Silence
CREAS
Vindicaton
TRANCE GLOBAL NATION 4
Various Artists
RADIKAL TECINO VOLUME 4
Although hip-hop and rock share a
common ancestry, the two genres are
often seen as direct opposites on the
Music spectrum.
Some artists,
Grade: A. notably Limp
The Urge Bzkit and Rage
Against the
Too Much Machine, have
Stereo made names for
Immortal/Virgin themselves by
Reviewed by combining the
Daily Arts Writer two in a sort of
Vavid Reamer rap-metal hybrid.
The Urge has
opted for a smoother, less aggressive
manner of bridging that stylistic gap,
combining reggae beats and rock and
jazz instruments to create a multicultur-
al love cocktail. And if that's not
enough, philosophy and physics
lessons abound on the band's newest
effort, "Too Much Stereo."
The St. Louis-based sextet has done
a bit of musical experimentation in the
last five years, during which it has
released three albums. The band's
sound has ranged from college rock to
in-your-face funk, none of which seems
to have satisfied its members. "Too
Much Stereo" is a much more consis-
tent collection of songs than any of The
Urge's previous efforts, with all of the
songs falling in the same loose genre,
somewhere in the ska/reggae/rock area.
Even when the Urge's songs have a
somber message, as in the case of "Say
a Prayer" and "Liar, Liar," they have a
light, carefree feeling to them. This is
partially due to the instruments
employed by the band; one of its mem-
bers plays the trombone on every track,
another plays the saxophone exclusive-
ly, and the guitar work generally con-
sists of playful diddling. The result is
coutesy onmmoetai/Vifgi
something similar to ska, but with
greater depth and feeling than the pop
ularized equivalent.
The album is as diverse lyrically i
is musically. In the span of two so'rgs
vocalist Steve Ewing noes from refrai
lines of "We're all falling at 32 feet pe
second squared" to "Last night was
bitch for me" Some of the lyrical con
tent is more clever, however, such as th
word play "It was a blessing in hi
eves/She vas undressing his disguise:
taken from "Four Letters and Tw
Words."
"Too Much Stereo" is a difficu
album to categorize, mainly because
combines elements of so many
ent musical styles, but it is a ver
enjoyable listen. Especially for anyon
sick of the aggressive punk and ra
influenced rock that is becomin
increasingly popular these days, "To
Much Stereo" is a millow alternative.
enhances frat-rock with a Rastafari
element, creating a laid-back soun
track for a session of serious veget
tion. Between college, jobs art
prices, who couldn't use one of thb:
right aboutt ttoV'?
15"
ON MOBY
Shifting Skin Moby Songs: Best Of 1993-1998
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