Lou Reed & Metallica-"Lulu"

When Metallica announced that they would be making an album with Lou Reed, there was a great amount of aversion coming from the metal community. I, for one, did not even know who Lou Reed was. Considering what they did with their previous album, people like me thought the inclusion of another guy in the band was'nt going to stop their newly found momentum. Infact, there was a great amount of hope among the Metal community that Metallica were going back to their roots and that the new album would be atleast half as good as their previous one. Death Magnetic was, by far, the best thing Metallica produced since the Black album. It nearly took 2 decades for James Hetfield to understand that he was'nt going to become Lynrd Skynrd by making blues guitar solos. Death Magnetic was the answer to the countless number of insults they had been enduring for more than half of their carrier. And just when they seemed to be getting back their lost respect, Lulu came. And before Lulu came, the single, The View came. When I first heard the song, I knew, this guy, Lou Reed was just enough to shatter the hopes of Metallica becoming a credible metal band. But still, there was a tiny glimmer of hope that the rest of the album would turn out to be better.  It was announced that the album had 10 songs which is normal for a standard metallica record. But the running time being close to an hour and a half swept everyone off their feet. Who would have expected Metallica, supposedly a thrash metal band, would make songs that last for 20 minutes. The song lenghts drove everyone crazy and the resulting hype was too much. We expected too much off them even after hearing the single. 

But today, after hearing to the album in its entirety, it would be safe to say that, without any doubt this is the worst album Metallica ever made. The first song, Brandenburg Gate promises something to be expected of the album when James sings "Small town girl...". But after listening to a couple of songs, you will find that it was the only thing good about the album. Search the entire album, hear to the songs a thousand times, your efforts to stumble upon a line that James actually sings would be futile. Lou Reed has literally replaced James Hetfield as the lead singer. For fuck's sake, is this even a Metallica album? I dont know what was in James' mind when he let Lou Reed sing all the verses, but seriously, he does'nt do any better than reciting the lines. And more than anything else, the biggest flop in this album is the much anticipated 20 minute song. There is no riff, no solos, no James, no nothing. Nothing at all, except Lou Reed "talking" about his junior dad throughout the length of the song. 

Reviewing each and every song would be awfully difficult because, no one has ever seen anything like this before. Lulu is not thrash metal. Lulu is not hard rock. Lulu is not even music. If the rolling stones ever makes a list of the 500 greatest flops in the history of music, Lulu should be just beating Justin Beiber to top the list. But, being the fanboys of Metallica that we are, we can convince ourselves understanding that, this was'nt entirely made by Metallica.

Most of what is seen in this album are essentially Lou Reed. Coming to think of it, there is not even a single trace of Metallica in the record, except the occasional guest appearances by James Hetfield that makes us realize that he is still alive.

It's nearly time that James Hetfield should stop making albums trying to "reinvent" the music in him that even make the system of a down guys laugh. If he still does'nt get the point, he should call it a day. Atleast for the legacy of the first four albums.

Review By Adarsh

A Dramatic change of Events: Dream Theater (2011)

The all star band which recently lost its renowned drummer mike portnoy released an album titled 'A Dramatic change of events'. The album as such has all amazing songs which are a pleasure to listen to like any other DT song. I think that the album is a letdown for hardcore fans. 

 

 The band has been as it is criticized for losing out on their star drummer and the new drummer has been under scrutiny. Talking about drummers if you listen to the album we notice that in almost all the songs there is no sign of the drummer trying to dominate or make his presence felt in comparison to what mike portnoy has done. In one or two songs its visible like maybe bridges in the sky. That is the only song which has can be classified as a DT like song as there is a perfect fusion of all instruments.

  In most of the songs the keyboards have been used extensively and the others have not been given much of the spotlight. If you listen to any other song by them we will notice that there is an equilibrium maintained in which all the musicians are given proper importance. 

 Another letdown can be said to be that of the role of john petrucci. Being a hardcore fan of him myself I felt bad when I did not come across any solo with crazy shreds and the odd really fast sweep which makes the songs almost impossible to cover exactly.

  

 One of my favourite songs from this album has been breaking all illusions. The song has a metalcore touch to it and reminds me of bands like killswitch engage and as i lay dying. The main riff itself sounds very much like the metal core riff. The vocals in that song and the bass lines have been outstanding there. The solo in this song was  a let down for me. It was played on a US Blues sort of patch. Though the solo had some parts which sounded very bluesy on the whole the petrucci tried to bring in his feel and sounded more like malmsteen's solo's. The slight delay in the patch made the solo sound sexy. Though there is a good bit of shredding towards the end of the solo on the whole it was a disappointment to me.

 The last song titled Beneath the Surface is such a beautiful song that anyone who listens to music will fall in love with it. Its a beautiful soft melody based song with not much complexities and intricacies. I was hoping for a beautiful guitar solo to top it off instead of the keyboard fill. Nonetheless the song is still amazing.

   The song build me up, break me down has a real cool guitar riff but the starting and the beat in that song is kind of upsetting. The way the effects had been put in initially shook me for a minute. I suppose they were experimenting with the album as the drummer is gone now new ideas might be flowing in leading to change in Dream Theater. This is my interpretation of the album. 

Optimism

Another jam session over a chord prog i found interesting. Though this progression reminds me of something. I can't place it though. Hope you enjoy!

Solitude

This is a video i made over a chord progression that i liked.I came with the title solitude as my friend thinks that's what the theme is. I would like to put some lyrics over this chord progression. If any of you have some ideas mail me or leave a comment here and let me know what you think.
I came with the title solitude as my friend thinks that's what the theme is.
Hope you enjoy.

ESP LTD SC208, 8-String

I haven't been writing much of late as i haven't come across many interesting things. Today i was searching for 7 strings and i came across this 8 string guitar which is really amazing for its price range. ESP LTD sc208 is a stephen carpenter electric guitar. The specs are pretty much okay and good for a guitarist who has just gotten into djent or is not very keen on spending too much for his 8 string.

- Construction: Bolt-On
- Scale: 25.5 inches
- Body: Basswood
- Neck: Maple
- Fingerboard: Rosewood
- Frets: 24 XJ
- Hardware: Chrome
- Tuners: ESP
- Bridge: Fixed
- Pickups: ESP LH-308 (B and N)
- Controls:
- Master Volume
- Master Tone
- 3-Way Switch



The Body isn't very impressive yet as i said before for a beginner its definitely great. Heavy sounds can be produced with the help of the 7th and 8th strings hence i suppose the basswood shouldn't bother you too much. The neck and the fretboard are good and has the other specs which are pretty much standard.

Its priced at $449. Check out this link for further details.
http://www.zzounds.com/item--ESPSC208

Sweet child of mine on sitar

I recently came across this interesting ad of channel v. The song has been played by two sitarist's and has been sung by a Indian classical vocalist, it has about a minute of the song. The vocalist hums the tune which axl rose sings. It shows the versatility of Indian musicians and the Indian instruments.At the end of the song there is a note which says V are all rockstars!