Nov 19 2003
Dude, Where's My Multi-Platinum Sales Plaque?
I don't know about you but I feel sad for former metal heavyweights Metallica. Once the kings of the metal world, it appears their kingdom is caving in on them. I think it all started with the haircuts, but that album with the symphony certainly didn't help things. I am STILL laughing at their performance at the performance of Frantic to close out last year's MTV Music Awards. I laughed all the way through it.
I am by no means a fan of the band (my favorite track of theirs is their Breadfan cover) but it's become very easy to hate them for the above mentioned reasons as well as their much hyped war on file sharing. How's that working out for you lads?
Now comes word that lead singer James Hetfield is bummed with the "meager" sales of thir latest album "St. Anger," which has stalled out around at around 1.5 million units sold in the US but is "doing well in Europe." I could go on about this topic but I think this sentence pretty much sums up the band's situation:
"It's a very challenging record," (drummer Lars) Ulrich said of "St. Anger," which was constructed by a computer program and features no guitar solos.
Quoth The Sports Guy, read that last sentence again.
Case closed. Next...
NOTES OF INTEREST FROM THE INTERWEB:
- Anyone ever heard of a female singer/songwriter named Jesca Hoop? They play her all the time on KCRW but can't find any of her stuff online.
- Grambo beat me to it, but Radiohead are rumoured to be headlining Coachella next year. Now just get Morrissey and the Super Furries to play and I am there dude.
- Speaking of Thom Yorke, he's going to be protesting during Dubya's UK visit to see Tony Blair. "Both of these men are liars. We have right to call them such, they are putting our children’s future in jeopardy. They are not controlling the terrorist threat, they are escalating it. Blair will not be allowed off the hook by his pathetic pleading for us to ‘move on’, neither shall Bush."
- Irv Gotti has decided to change the name of his label from Murder, Inc. to, simply, The Inc. "so people can just try and focus on our music and not our name. All everyone seems to want to focus on is the word 'murder'." Yeah, you're probably right, I don't think Bodily Harm, Inc. rolls off the tongue as nicely. Gotti will also got back to using his real surname, Lorenzo.
- Yo, check this article out. It's about Sean McRossin, the owner of Sit N' Spin Records in Chapel Hill. Sean also runs the CD ALLEY store chain. His second CD ALLEY store opened in Greenville, NC a year before I enrolled there at East Carolina University. My sophomore year there I stared DJ'ing at a dance club across the street. I made about $120 a week for two nights of work. I used to take my money on payday/Tuesday and walk right over to his store and drop about $90 on CD's. Every damn week. I got to know Sean the more I shopped there and we went to a few shows in Chapel Hill together. Long story short, he's a cool dude and responsible for turning me on to alot of bands(Buffalo Tom, Morphine, Luna, Stereolab, The Wedding Present, etc.) I still listen to to this day. I literally would go into his store and tell him to pick out 4 CD's that I should own. Dude had good taste. If you are an NYC resident, the really tall dude that bartends at the Mercury Lounge used to work at CD ALLEY, so drop some science on him the next time you are there.
- New Chucky P article for your reading pleasure.
- Natalie Portman to play Lois Lane? That's mucho hot, but how about casting the Man Of Steel? And don't gimme no bullshit like Ashton, Jude Law or any other scrawny pencil neck geek dude. How about Christian Bale if he won't do Batman?
- More on 14 year old soccer phenom Freddy Adu.
- This is an old article but still, it's no suprise that The Sports Guy is still haunted by the death of Len Bias. Good stuff. Grambo, like any self respecting Pistons fan, took offense to Michael Wilbon's assertion that had Bias lived, the Bad Boys of Detroit might never have won a title, but it's not that crazy if you stop and think about it. Even with Bias, the Celtics would have still been in position to draft Reggie Lewis the next year. All of a sudden, the C's bench is super. Now if Bias is getting minutes up front, Kevin McHale can take time off from him foot injury in 1987 (he fractured his foot towards the end of the season, healed, came back for the playoffs, fractured it again and continued to play on it. He was never the same player again). He also takes alot of pressure off of Basketball Jesus and extends his career. Danny Ainge would never have been traded to Sacramento for (Ugh) Ed Pickney and Joe Klien (double ugh). I don't see the Pistons having anyone that can match up with Bias. Rodman? Fine...who's gonna guard Bird? Adrain Dantley/Mark Aguire? Please. The Bad Boys could have been reduced to Patrick Ewing/Perpetual Runner Up status. Then again, maybe not. It's all conjecture. But it's both fun and sad to think about what might have been. Like what if Corey Maggette and Zach Randolph had stayed in school?
- More about MeShawn. Apparently, he and Coach Gruden weren't on the same page. That's coachspeak for "he wouldn't follow directions." MeShawn talked about this to Dan Patrick last night. Guess what he said? And I quote, "Me and the Coach not being on the same page is just a big misunderstatement." The word is misunderstanding buddy. Good lord. He also said something about something that "can't not be true" but I was laughing at him so hard I couldn't write it down. What a dummy!
- TMQB is back in full effect.
- The C's take on the Hornets in Beantown tonight. Hey Coach Obie, how about some more PT for my main man Jiri Welsch? Pretty please? My solution to our guard rotation is start rookie Marcus Banks at the point, make Jiri the back up PG and demote current PG starter Mike James to the back up shooting guard. I soooooo need a front office job in the NBA. Honestly, I'll be happy if anyone steps up and helps PP out some.
I have been excited all day since my first Gothamist link. Sincere thanks to everyone that's linked to the Top 40 Bands list. Cheers.
Good times for a change
See the luck I've had can make a good man turn bad.
So please, please please, let me get what I want this time.
Posted by Kyle in Permalink
Comments
Dude, you're ripping on Metallica on the day Michael Kamen passed away? Brutal. Let the guys mourn in peace.
Thom Yorke: Political Activist. That's just great.
Posted by: Coolfer at November 19, 2003 10:50 PM
I've never been accused of having good timing.
Posted by: information leafblower at November 20, 2003 10:03 AM
Now all Gotti (I mean Lorenzo) has to do is get rid of Ja Smurf, produce some records that don't sound exactly the same as all of his other records, and stop making all of his artists do that stupid "M" hand jive. Big t'ings is in the plans.
Posted by: cashilini at November 20, 2003 11:46 AM
More about Metallica: the lower album sales aren't a result of the Napster debate. (It debuted at #1 didn't it? Something the pro-Napster Lars haters never would have thought possible. Imagine...piss off half the country and still sell over a million. Impressive.) It's just not an album that is going to reach as many people as previous records. Too hardcore. But 1.5 million ain't too shabby, and I believe ticket sales are doing just fine. Metallica has a unique place in the market. They're as much of an institution as any band in the country. They have the support of MTV and rock radio. And very rabid fans. They're not going anywhere any time soon.
Posted by: Coolfer at November 20, 2003 1:15 PM
you probably know this by now, but the reason you can't find jesca hoop online is because all she's got out is a demo, which, as you mentioned, kcrw plays all the time. i've been looking for more from her too. that "seed of hope" song kicks.
Posted by: sputnik at November 25, 2003 4:10 PM
