"Burn it Black" by Injected

Today I found out that Jade Lemons, former guitarist for the band Injected, passed away this week of a drug overdose. In honor of Jade, I wanted to dedicate this entry to Injected's one and only album, "Burn it Black."

"Burn it Black" was released on February 26, 2002. 2002 was a big year for me. It was the year I graduated from high school and started college. Hence, I deeply associated the songs from that album with my year in the dorms.

Injected were composed of singer Danny Grady, guitarist Jade Lemons (RIP), bassist Steve Slovisky, and drummer Chris Wojtal. They were a group of high school friends from Atlanta that found success on the local scene and make their big move toward rock stardom in 2002 with their debut album. They scored a couple of minor hits on alternative rock radio with "Faithless" and "Bullet," as well as songs on the soundtracks for the movies "Spider-man," "The Fast and the Furious," and "The Scorpion King." They were also featured on the MTV Campus Invasion Tour. All the makings of success, right?

Well, for some reason that success was short lived. From what I've read, it sounds like there was a change in management at their record label, Island Records. The new management did not support them, and their second album (the tracks for which had already been recorded) went unreleased. They were dropped from their label and ended up breaking up and going their separate ways. The recorded tracks for the aborted second album, "The Truth About You," were eventually leaked online.

The original line-up of Injected reunited at least once for a charity show in Atlanta. They still have a dedicated following online, and I am one of their long time fans. I wish I could have seen them live! They ended up giving some of their songs from the second album for other bands to record. Butch Walker, who produced "Burn it Black," used the song "So At Last" on one of his albums. A band called Upside took "Monday" (one of my favorite songs) and "Daylight." Probably most notably, David Cook of American Idol fame made a minor hit out of "Barbasol" (also known as "Spun Again").

But back to where it all began, "Burn it Black." That album gets me revved up like few albums do. Injected were great at mixing super catchy, heavy guitar riffs with great, melodic singing.

Track 1, "When She Comes" gets the album going on a high note. I love the way the riff starts fairly quietly for a seconds before the rest of the band joins in and the song explodes into a high energy, head-bouncing good time. There's something about the way the spiraling guitar chugs along in this song that gets the heart pumping!

The album doesn't slow down as it moves into Track 2, the title track "Burn it Black." This is one of the most frequent songs on this album to get stuck in my head. It's a pretty straight forward rocker, with that special Injected magic that makes it both catchy and heavy. This song is also the one that made it onto the soundtrack for "The Scorpion King."

Track 3, "Bullet," is one of the singles from the album. However, I'd say it is one of the least representative-sounding songs on the album. As the loudest, most aggressive song on the album, I really think it was chosen as a single to try to cash in on the nu-metal fad. I think this was a miscalculation, as Injected really isn't a nu-metal band. They are a bit too traditional rock and roll to be lumped into the macho posturing and manufactured aggression that defined the nu-metal genre. Not to say that "Bullet" is a bad song. Far from it. It's got one of the album's catchiest choruses, and some ferocious guitar. But I think it hurt Injected's general appeal because it caused them to get lumped in with the hundreds of nu-metal wannabes clogging the music marketplace at the time. End rant.

Track 4, "Faithless," is the other single from the album. This one was a better choice for a single, and it also appeared on the soundtrack for "The Fast and the Furious." It's catchy as hell, with a great soft-loud verse-chorus dynamic. If any one song can be credited with getting me into Injected, I'd say it was either this one or Track 6. More on that song in a minute. But first . . .

Track 5, "It Only Hurts a While." Another highlight (the first half of this album is full of them), this could be called a power ballad of sorts. The emotion of this song really makes it stand out. It's loud and beautiful at the same time.

"Faithless" may have introduced me to Injected, but Track 6, "I IV V," was arguably the one to sell me on them. From the first seconds of the song when the drums fade in, to quickly be joined by the rhythmic pounding of the guitar riff, the listener is treated to the sweetest of rock and roll ear candy. The chorus is catchy and a bit more singable than that of "Faithless." Why this was not a single, I'll never understand. It at least made it onto the soundtrack of one of the biggest movies of the year, the very first "Spider-man."

The second half of the album isn't quite as strong as the first half, but that just means it's "great" instead of "amazing." Track 7, "Sherman" is a straight-forward heavy rocker. Track 8, "Used Up" is another one where the guitar riff and the chorus compete to dominate my head space. Tracks 9 and 10, "Ms. Fortune" and "Bloodstained," slow things down a bit, but still keep the music rocking. Track 11, "Lights Are Low," offers up one more fast-tempo rocker before the album slows down for the closing track, "Dawn."

Listeners who stick around for the hidden track, "Ride the Snake," will be pulverized by Injected's hardcore offering. Normally I can't stand screamed vocals, but somehow I like this song. Maybe because it's the only one on the album, and I can tell they boys are just doing it for fun. This isn't the genre they want to completely inhabit.

It's a shame that Injected weren't able to find more success from the music industry. In my humble opinion, the talent was there. Perhaps it was a matter of timing. They were playing a brand of rock that was out of style during the days of Nickelback and Limp Bizkit.

Now that Jade Lemons has unfortunately passed away, maybe more people will be introduced to the music that he and his band brought to life. Whatever the rest of the band is doing these days, I wish them much success. Please send warm wishes to them and to the rest of Jade's family and friends!

David Bowie

Another overdue entry for a late, great rock star. First off, I admit that I am not as familiar with David Bowie's work as I am that of Scott Weiland. I started listening to Bowie much later, after I began delving deeper into the back catalog of rock music. The only album I own is his greatest hits, and I've only begun listening to his full albums over the past year, as many of them came up on the "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die," which is a list I am gradually making my way through.

Even still, David Bowie holds a special place in my heart for several reasons, which I will discuss here.

My first exposure to David Bowie was not his musical works, but rather, as an actor in the movie "Labyrinth."

He played Jareth the goblin king in that movie, spending the entire film messing with a teenage Jennifer Connolly. The most memorable part for me was the song, "Magic Dance," particularly the first several lines, which became a long-standing inside joke between my cousin and me:

Jareth: "You remind me of the babe."
Goblin: "What babe?"
Jareth: "The babe with the power!"
Goblin: "What power?"
Jareth: "The power of voodoo."
Goblin: "Who do?"
Jareth: "You do. You remind me of the babe." (song commences)

If you haven't seen "Labyrinth," check it out, but be prepared for weirdness. It's full of Jim Henson puppets, with Connolly and Bowie being the only human actors (that I can recall).

Of course, David Bowie is most known for his music. The number of classic songs that he gifted us with during his long career is staggering. "Changes," "A Space Oddity", "Young Americans", "Modern Love," "Golden Years," "Fame", "Let's Dance", "Rebel Rebel" . . . the list goes on and on.

Being introduced to the music of an artist through a body of hits that already exists in its entirety is a much different experience from following the progression of an artist's career in real time (such as has been my experience with the band Incubus). It is easy to forget that the collection of songs are the result of years of progression, growth and change. This became apparent to me as I listened to several of Bowie's albums in chronological order this past year.

He started off as a teen-idol type of artist. Check this out:

Later on he became fascinated by the idea of performing as various characters, such as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke.

He would go on to experiment with various musical styles, including music inspired by German "krautrock" during his so-called "Berlin trilogy" of albums. He continued to release music for the rest of his life. "Blackstar," his final album, was released just two days before he died last month.

Bowie's music, even though I began listening to it relatively recently, still has much personal significance to me. I associate it strongly with my first (and so far, only) romantic relationship. My ex and I discovered our shared appreciation for Bowie on our second date, and on several occasions we would sing along to Bowie songs in the car together. "Changes" on the freeway, "A Space Oddity" on Mulholland Drive. In addition, "Under Pressure" was our go-to karaoke song, with me always singing the Bowie part. Now that more than three years have passed since we parted ways, the pain of losing that relationship has diminished (though not disappeared, but does it ever?), so I feel like I can appreciate these memories once again.

David Bowie was, hands down, one of the most creative and interesting rock musicians of all time. I definitely plan to delve into his material even more now.

Scott Weiland

This long-overdue entry is in honor of one of my favorite rock musicians, who sadly passed away at the beginning of this month: Scott Weiland.

Scott Weiland was the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots, one of the most popular rock bands of the early to mid-1990s.

Rising to prominence at the tail end of the "grunge" era, Stone Temple Pilots sometimes got labelled grunge and sometimes "post-grunge." I have never been fans of either term. "Grunge" mostly describes a cultural movement, bound by time (early to mid 1990s) and geography (based in Seattle), whereas "post-grunge" describes the bands that were influenced by this initial movement and went on to take the style and sound of grunge bands and make it more "mainstream." So "grunge" usually refers to bands such as the so-called "Big Four" of the Seattle scene: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Post-grunge usually refers to bands that came a bit later and weren't necessarily from Seattle, such as Foo Fighters, Silverchair, Live, Bush, and Fuel. Personally, I am a fan of all of these bands, and chances are I will cover others of them on this blog at some point.

But this entry is about Scott Weiland. So I'll start by talking about STP and what their music means to me.

My first exposure to STP's music was their big hits that were played on KROQ 106.7, particularly "Plush" and "Interstate Love Song." The first STP album I listened to was Core, which in addition to "Plush" also had other hits such as "Sex Type Thing", "Wicked Garden", and "Creep" (not to be confused with the Radiohead song). "Sex Type Thing" was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar. "Wicked Garden" has long been one of my favorite songs of theirs, ever since I first heard it in a car commercial. Even today, I still picture an SUV crashing through glass when I hear Weiland shout out, "Burn! Burn burn! Burn your wicked garden down!" Core was a great album, but at the time of its release it apparently got a lot of flack from critics. They accused STP of ripping off the sound of other bands such as Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Rolling Stone magazine voted them Worst New Band in 1994 in the very same issue that the reader poll rated them as Best New Band. To be fair, judging from their early videos, they really were aping the macho, aggressive, dark persona that a lot of rock bands were doing at the time.

STP started to lighten up on their second album Purple, which also happens to be my favorite album of theirs. Classic songs like "Interstate Love Song" (another of my favorite songs to play on guitar), "Big Empty" and "Vaseline" are found on this great record.

Their third album, Tiny Music: Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, was about as weird as its title suggests. Here was the band really trying to set themselves apart. Its a good album overall, with some great songs like "Tripping On a Hole In a Paper Heart" (which has my favorite STP guitar solo) and "Big Bang Baby" as well as some . . . weird songs like "Art School Girl."

As I understand it, the band went on a bit of a hiatus between their third and fourth albums, largely due to Scott Weiland's drug problems. They finally put out the aptly titled No. 4 in 1999, which was the year that I first started becoming a serious fan of rock music. I remember the music video for "Sour Girl" playing on MTV, with Sarah Michelle Gellar as some sort of weird angel of death, making out with Scott Weiland in some kind of nightmarish landscape populated by mutant Teletubby creatures. Yeah . . . While some of the songs on No. 4 are a little over the top grunge-metal, as if the band were trying to recapture their hard rock cred, overall it is still an excellent album.

The same can't quite be said for their two remaining albums. Shangri-La-De-Da was their fifth album, and the last before their first breakup. I remember being disappointed in the album, but even more disappointed that they broke up before I got to see them.

Scott Weiland went on to join some of the members of Guns N' Roses to form the supergroup known as Velvet Revolver. I actually liked them quite a lot, and went to see them in concert twice. Once they were the sole headliner, with Hoobastank opening for them (not the best pairing . . . apparently they did not get along and Doug Robb from Hoobastank wrote the song "If I Were You" as a critique of Scott Weiland's attitude). The other time I saw them, they were co-headlining with the newly reformed Alice in Chains.

After VR broke up, STP got back together and I finally got to see them live. It was a great show down at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. However, I never got around to buying their comeback self-titled album. The reviews had been mixed, and by that time I had become very selective about the albums I purchased. I have listened to it though, and some of the songs are quite good.

For me, STP's music will always represent my days in high school, learning to play the guitar and exploring the world of rock music that had just recently opened up to me. My love of their music gave me something in common with another kid in my English class, who went on to become one of my best friends. I recently reconnected with this friend, having been inspired to reach out to him after I heard the news of Scott Weiland's death. Just last night, I attended this friend's wedding. 

Something about STP's music really spoke to me during a formative time of my life, and I will forever consider myself a fan. The music world has lost one of the greats of his generation.

RIP Scott Weiland! 

 

"Marvel's Daredevil": Season 1

I was late to board the Netflix train, but now that my new roommate has it I have definitely fallen under its spell. This is largely due to my first Netflix original series, "Daredevil."

First of all, I am pleased that the show has rescued the Daredevil character from the low point that the 2003 movie starring Ben Affleck had left it. Now, to be honest, I was not one of those who thought that movie was terrible. I'd place it in the middle ground of Marvel movies: not as good as the first two "Spider-Man" entries, most "X-Men" movies and pretty much all of the "Avengers" movies, but much better than its spin-off "Elektra" or the abysmal "Ghost Rider." I especially enjoyed Colin Ferrell's (admitted hammy) performance as the assassin Bullseye.

"Daredevil" the series, however, blows that film completely out of the water. No hit-of-the-week nu-metal bands to be heard, no cheesy overblown special effects, and no overuse of gratuitous slow-mo. Instead, you have a well-crafted, brilliantly acted, and marvelously choreographed thirteen episodes that are an inspired addition to the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).



One thing that "Daredevil" does remarkably well: deliver multi-dimensional, interesting characters. I can't think of a single weak link in the cast. Charlie Cox is great as Matt Murdock, the blind attorney who moonlights as a masked vigilante, desperately trying to save his neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen from those who would destroy it. Deborah Ann Woll and Elden Henson are equally effective as Matt's friends and coworkers, Karen Page and Foggy Nelson. Foggy is his best friend and partner at their law firm, while Karen is an early client who becomes their secretary and friend. Together, the three make a very believable group of friends and coworkers that have their ups and downs but always are there for each other in the end. Vondie Curtis-Hall plays Ben Ulrich, a newspaper reporter ally of the trio who brings pathos of his own to the story.

Of course, every effective hero story should have a strong villain, and this is where the series' most well-known actor, Vincent D'Onofrio, comes in. His portrayal of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin, is terrifying and memorable. An interesting facet of the series: the most prominent love story we see is not that of the hero, but of the villain. Over the course of the season we see Fisk go on awkward first dates with the beautiful Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) and gradually build his relationship with her. In fact, after a few episodes of Fisk being a never-seen, barely named boogie man, we first meet him during his first meeting with Vanessa. The season is just as much Fisk's story as it is Murdoch's.



The show does a great job of building tension, raising stakes, and offering up surprises. Even minor characters that you expect to just be passing through can end up being crucial players in the deadly game of cat and mouse between our heroes and the antagonists. There are also plenty of Easter Eggs for perceptive viewers, both those that are fans of the other films and TV shows in the MCU and those who are die-hard enthusiasts of the original comic book source material.

Thinking back to the origins of these characters, it's amazing that they have come so far. That goes for Marvel Comics in general. It's little wonder that Stan Lee has a cameo in practically every Marvel movie or TV show (he's not present in the flesh in "Daredevil," but eagle-eyed viewers might spot his photo on the wall in the police station). These characters all started out as nothing more than ideas in the imaginations of several remarkable men. Now, new generations of creatives are able to give their own spins to them, retelling their stories in new mediums of which the original creators would not have even dreamed.

The recent superhero trend, which started in the movies and has moved to television, is still going strong with no sign of slowing. As long as we are still given material of the high quality of "Daredevil," I don't see it slowing anytime soon.

Super Mario Maker

Today's post is about a very recent release: Super Mario Maker for the Nintendo Wii U.

First, a bit about the Wii U. It has admittedly not been Nintendo's greatest accomplishment. While the tablet controller was an interesting concept, it was nowhere near as revolutionary as the Wii's motion controls. Giving the system the name they did was probably the biggest mistake, as many people thought that it was nothing more than an add-on for the Wii.

Despite the system's failings however, Nintendo's first party software is still second to none, and is the most compelling reason to own the system. Unfortunately, new games in the Star Fox and Legend of Zelda franchises have been delayed until 2016. Which leaves Super Mario Maker as the company's major offering for 2015.

Super Mario Maker is not your typical video game. In fact, I would hesitate to even call it a game. It is more of a tool. A tool to create your own Mario levels, and a tool to explore the levels created by others around the world.

The game has gotten some flack for having a sub-par searching system, which makes finding the best levels a challenge. Let's face it -- the majority of levels that have been uploaded are pretty bad. Then, even among the ones that are well-designed, you have to sort through dozens of so-called "automatic" levels that are set up in such a way that they play themselves, and other musical levels whose gameplay is secondary to recreations of theme songs from other games.



With help from the internet and YouTube, however, you can find some gems. It is amazing how some people have found unique ways to use the Mario characters, obstacles, and mechanics to do a variety of things.  Some people recreate levels from classic games such as Mega Man. Some levels contain a narrative of sorts, telling a story. Others are straight-forward Mario levels meant to challenge the player. I've seen Mario-ized versions of Alice in Wonderland, the classic arcade game Space Invaders, and even Disney's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride. The sky's the limit, which is one thing I love about the game.

Super Mario Maker is not the first game that has brought the tools of basic game design into the home. When I was a kid, I messed around a bit with a game called Klik and Play on the computer, which was a lot of fun. It would allow you to create simple games and institute logic in them. While Super Mario Maker does not have an explicit logic function that allows you to program events into your levels, many creative minds have found ways to use the tools the game does provide to attain similar results. For instance, a Thwomp placed on a conveyor belt may activate a "P" switch at the proper moment, thereby opening the way forward by turning a previously impassable wall of blocks into collectible coins. That's the best thing about a sandbox-style game like Super Mario Maker: chances are the players will discover ways to do things that the makers of the game didn't even think of.

Being a sucker for creativity (hence this blog), I was captivated by the premise of Super Mario Maker from the first time I heard of it. It definitely takes a bit of patience to enjoy it, but for creative types it is a rewarding experience.

Impro Theatre

Ever since high school, I have been a fan of improvisational comedy. Back then, I would watch "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and think it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Well, this entry is not for "Whose Line" (though a future one might be!) With this entry, I would like to write about one of my favorite improv troupes: Impro Theatre.

Impro Theatre is based in Los Angeles. Their home-base is a small theater space in Los Feliz, but many of their shows are performed all over the area. I have seen them perform at the Acme Theater in Hollywood, the Falcon Theater in Burbank, at UC Irvine, and various other places.

Unlike "Whose Line," which focuses on short form (games and scenes that last about 5 minutes or so), Impro specializes in long form improv. In long form, games are usually not utilized and scenes can go on for an extended period of time. In particular, Impro specializes in narrative long form. Basically, they improvise plays. Not only that, but they do it in the style of various famous genres, authors, or playwrights. Some of their shows include Western Unscripted, Jane Austin Unscripted, Chekov Unscripted, and Fairy Tale Unscripted. Personally my two favorite things that they do are Twilight Zone Unscripted and Sondheim Unscripted.

For their Twilight Zone show, Impro gets a simple suggestion and then creates an original "episode" of the Twilight Zone, complete with the theme song, a cold open scene, and an introductory monologue. It is amazing the things that they come up with. I have seen them do that show at least five times now, and it never gets old. A typical performance has them creating three to four individual episodes.

Sondheim Unscripted, on the other hand, takes one suggestion and turns it into a two hour performance, with an intermission in the middle. For this show, a live pianist improvises along with the performers. When he starts playing, the actors bust out into song. The show is absolutely incredible. I do improv myself, and having taken a class in musical improv I can tell you, it's not easy. Not only does Impro pull it off, they pull it off WELL. AND attempt to sing in the style of a Sondheim musical at the same time, complete with complex melodies and harmonies.

Basically, whether you are an improviser or not, if you appreciate creativity and live performance you owe it to yourself to check out Impro Theatre. I was so inspired by them that I signed up to take several classes with them. Through the classes and the number of shows I have attended, I've gotten to know several of the troupe members including the artistic director Dan O'Conner, Lisa Frederickson, Brian Jones, Ryan Smith and Nick Massouh. They are all wonderful, nice people. If you live in the LA area their show is a must see, and if you've been thinking of taking improv classes I'd highly recommend them.

Homestar Runner

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. That's what moving into a new apartment and a little bit of international travel will do!

Recently I was reminded by one of my favorite websites to visit during my college years: Homestar Runner.

The creation of brothers Mike and Matt Chapman, aka "The Brothers Chaps," Homestar Runner began as a side project while Mike was in college. The character of Homestar Runner debuted in a picture book that Mike made with a friend and was later brought to life by the brothers in an animated short they created using, of all things, the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint. Eventually the brothers learned how to use Flash and brought Homestar Runner and a colorful cast of supporting characters to the internet. Mike did the animation, and Matt did the voices (with his girlfriend providing the voice of the sole female, Marzipan).


The colorful cast of Homestar Runner.

Though Homestar Runner himself is a funny, memorable character, the most popular character of the site is arguably his nemesis, Strong Bad. Looking a bit like lucha libre wrestler, Strong Bad's snarky, mischievous nature contrasts with Homestar's naive good-naturedness. The site's tent pole feature was Strong Bad Email, a collection of shorts revolving around Strong Bad answering questions from fans. Full of (sometimes obscure) pop culture references and riddled with hidden Easter eggs, the Strong Bad emails were the source of many an inside joke between me and my college buddies.

One of the greatest parts of the email shorts is that often one-off, seemingly throw-away gags would evolve into recurring sketches of their own. From the GI Joe parody "Cheat Commandos" to the faux-comic "Teen Girl Squad," a visit to Homestarrunner.com would always surprise and delight.



In recent years updates to the site had slowed to a crawl. Finally over the last couple of years updates have begun again. From what I have read on handy dandy Wikipedia, both Chaps have largely moved on to other projects.  Matt is a writer and director for the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba," and Mike has also written for the show.

While the days of Homestar Runner being a normal part of my routine are over, I still have a fondness in my heart for the website. It is great example of two guys expressing their creativity and becoming successful because of it. From the modest beginnings of animating using Mario Paint to having one of the most successful Flash cartoon websites ever, their story is an inspiration and a great example of how the internet has created opportunities for creativity that did not exist before.