Entertainment
TOMCOE'S REVIEW OF CD'S THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN OUT FOR A LONG TIME, BUT HE'S JUST NOW GOTTEN AROUND TO LISTENING TO THEM
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Family Guy: Live In Las Vegas |
I suppose I should get one thing out of the way before I start my review on this album, and that is acknowledging the fact that I'm a huge fan of the show Family Guy. Whatever Seth MacFarlane puts out, I'll give it a chance, and with a few exceptions (Like - ahem - the god awful, ham fisted American Dad), I'll usually enjoy it. Any show that has clips like these would have to produce an album funnier than anything on television or in the movies. So it was with great excitement that I illegally downloaded this soon to be classic album.
Looking back, maybe it was due to that excitement that I not only found this album so disappointing, but the only way I could have possibly liked it any less would have been if I had accidentally not paid for the edited "clean" version instead. Not only is this album not funny, there are spots that get downright annoying. If dick and fart jokes are your thing, then by all means, feel free to waste your time listening to this. Myself, I used to love that kind of low-brow humor, but then I turned 12. A song like "All Cartoons Are Fucking Dicks" might give you a slight chuckle when you read the title, but once you get beyond that and start to listen to the actual song, it's apparent that the writing here is just plain lazy. And I'm sorry, but there's only so many times I can hear about Stewie's bowel movements before it gets old. (For God's sake, this is coming from a guy who just recently posted an article laughing at the name of hunting products because they sounded dirty.)
Worst of all, there are moments in this CD that are just plain tedious. It's bad enough that MacFarlane & Co. seem to have reduced one of the most clever shows on broadcast television to nothing but lazy humor, but they seem to have adopted the philosophy of "If it's funny once, it'll be even funnier if we do it 10 times in one song". The worst example of this is Track #9, T.V. Medley , which lasts in excess of ten minutes, consisting of nothing more than Brian the Dog and Stewie singing the theme songs to shows like Family Ties. Hey, as long as they were trying to get laughs from material that they didn't write, they should have read aloud from the script where Alex P. Keaton gets addicted to amphetamines. That would have been comedy gold, folks.
This CD is nothing short of a trainwreck, with no apparent thought put into any aspect of its production. While listening to it, I got the sense that the only reason the thing was released in the first place was so MacFarlane could score a quick cash-in while his show's still popular. My advice would be to avoid this mess at all costs, especially if you're a die-hard fan of the show. If that's the case, then do yourself a favor, and stick with comedy albums from shows that know how to handle the format (Such as The Simpsons: Songs In The Key Of Springfield , or South Park Presents: Mr Hanky's Christmas Classics.) Or better yet, hunt down anything by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly. In case you who don't know who I'm talking about, he's the guy who replaced the original teacher on Head of the Class , and later portrayed El Duce in the now-classic Boondock Saints . Yes, he has more than his fair share of dick and fart jokes, but his delivery is some of the funniest stuff you'll ever hear.
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Wonderland: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
For a better soundtrack, I would recommend the one put out a few years ago in support of the film Wonderland . For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it's an account of infamous porn star John Holmes (portrayed by Val Kilmer, who turns in what may very well be the best performance of his career) and his alleged involvement in one of the most brutal murders in Los Angeles during the 80's.
In this movie, the audience gets a pretty clear picture of what the real-life Holmes was like, which was basically a manipulative, abusive, free base addict. (But hey, at least he was a manipulative, abusive free base addict with a giant dick...) Because of his habit, he eventually falls in with the wrong crowd, and the next thing you know, Christina Applegate and one of the guys from O Brother, Where Art Thou get their heads bashed in with lead pipes.
The easiest way to describe this movie is to think of it as the polar opposite to Boogie Nights, which was actually loosely based on the life and times of John Holmes. (Yeah, you know that part when Dirk Diggler tries to rip off that creepy guy with all the coke, who then kills that guy who played the Punisher? Well that scene was inspired by the events depicted in this film.) In Boogie Nights, you're shown both the bright and dark sides of the porn industry, with all the characters eventually overcoming their personal demons. Well, that's great for that film, but in this flick, there is no bright side, there's hardly any reference to the porn industry, and it seems as though Holmes himself is the demon, turning the lives of all who get near him to shit.
But the best aspect of this movie is that it doesn't treat the viewer as if they were idiots. Rather than spoon-feeding you with information, the filmmakers present the story as two opposing accounts of the slayings as told in a series of interviews to the two detectives assigned to the case. By the time the it's all over, the writer and director leave behind a lot of loose ends, half truths, and downright lies, forcing the audience, like the investigating officers, to sift through it all before they can make up their own minds.
Abe summed up the movie perfectly when he said he felt the need to take a shower after he watched it the first time. The atmosphere conveyed in the film is that palpable. So, when I got the soundtrack, I was prepared to be disappointed. I expected it to be like most other soundtracks. In other words, nothing but a collection of loosely strung together songs that have absolutely nothing to do with one another.
Well, I don't know if it's due to the sequencing of the tracks or because of the impression I was left with from the movie, but in my opinion, this is easily the best soundtrack since Pulp Fiction. And that's in large part due to the fact that this disk exceeds where so many other soundtracks have fallen short. From the moment you put this album in your CD player and hear John Holmes say that he's gonna tell you a story called "Wonderland", you get the same feeling you did from the movie - everything from a sense of over-stimulation (T-Rex's "20th Century Boy" ), paranoia ("In Every Home, A Heartache" , by Roxy Music), excess and aggression ("Search and Destroy" by Iggy and the Stooges) with a brief moment of pure joy, just to throw you off balance ("Faith To Arise" , sung by Terry Reid). Plus, it doesn't hurt that it's loaded with nothing but songs from one of modern music greatest eras - the late Seventies and early Eighties. And hey, in my book, if you can find a CD that successfully combines Ted Nugent and Gordon Lightfoot, you've got a winner on your hands. You might have to do a little bit of hunting for this one, but if you see this album - buy it.
12/12/05
Other Entertainment Articles:
12/07/05 Teen Wolf The 24th best movie of the 1980's by Harris
11/22/05 Aquaman: The Television Series...? by Harris
11/16/05 The Bible Game for your X-Box, PS2, or other deity defying machine by TomCoe
11/04/05 The Return of a TV Legend One of Harris' childhood crushes returns to television
10/07/05 Just Like the Movies A short review of two geek-inspired films by Brent Mata
8/04/05 Vans Warps Tour 2005 by Abe
7/26/05 The Devil's Rejects review by Tommy
7/25/05 The Bad News Bears review by Harris
7/02/05 FFL Just to prove that even the Foo's crap is better than anything else out by Nick
7/01/05 War of the Worlds review by Harris
6/19/05 In Your Honor review A continuation of the Best Summer Ever by Nick
6/18/05 Coldplay: X & Y by Bulldog
6/17/05 Batman Begins review by Harris
6/07/05 Audioslave's Newest review by Bulldog
5/17/05 Monster-in-Law review by Tripp
5/13/05 Make Believe Nick talks reviews the newest Weezer album
5/05/05 With Teeth Nick reviews the newest Nine Inch Nails album
4/27/05 Kung-Fu Hustle review Harris finally does an in-depth review of a foreign film.
4/15/05 Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law DVD review by guest writer Randy
4/14/05 Pauly Shore is Dead review by Abe
4/13/05 A Movie that I Would Kill to Watch Seventy Times by Abe
4/09/05 Top 25 80's Films: Predator by Harris
4/02/05 Sin City review by Harris
3/25/05 The Notebook A bad movie with an even worse review by Tommy
3/24/05 The Dirt a review of Motley Crüe's biography by Tommy
3/09/05 Fall-Out Boy review by Abe
3/07/05 What the Hell? Head of Korn fame joins religious right by Harris
2/19/05 The Punisher video game review by Harris
2/10/05 Jettared Tommy talks about his love affair with a soon-to-be-not-so-local band
2/9/05 Pearl Jam: rearviewmirror A review by Bulldog
1/22/05 There is Nothing Out Nick talks about how there's nothing on at the movies
1/11/04 A review of White Noise as well as the Couch Party's own EVP ghost by Harris
1/07/05 I Decay A review of a local band
12/07/04 Alexander review by Tripp
12/07/04 Tiger Woods PGA Tour video game review by Bulldog
11/17/04 The Most Overrated Series Nick attempts the impossible--reading every Harry Potter book in 7 days.
11/06/04 The Incredibles review by Nick
11/03/04 Saw review by Harris
10/20/04 Team America: World Police by TomCoe
09/06/04 Aqua Teen Hunger Force DVD Review by Harris
08/26/04 Taking Back Sunday: Where You Want to Be review by Abe
08/22/04 Open Water review by TomCoe
08/19/04 Walden review by Nick
08/13/04 Princess
Diaries 2 Review by Tripp
08/12/04 Real Ultimate Power: a book review about ninjas. REAL ninjas. by Harris
08/10/04 DVD Review: Bowling for Columbine by Nick
08/05/04 Van Halen: The Best of Both Worlds album review by Bulldog
08/05/04 The Village Review by Nick
08/03/04 Harold and Kumar Go to White Caslte Review by Nick
07/30/04 The Borne Supremacy Review by Nick
07/23/04 Catwoman review by Harris
07/25/04 The Most Disturbing Moments in Recent Movies by Harris and TomCoe
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