Site Introduction
OK, who the hell are you?
Hey,
you get right to the point, don’t you?
Well, my name’s Brad, and as I type this I am currently one week into
the fall semester of year one of a PhD program at a really, really big university
on the west coast. I graduated from a
semi-notable private institution in the
Hmmm, what else is there? Well, I like a great sense of humor, romantic dinners by candlelight, long walks on the beach, and talking for hours about my innermost feelings. I also look just like Brad Pitt, something you can verify by looking at my picture here.
What the heck is this site? Why did you decide to start it?
This site, my friend, is just another in a far-too-long line of Music Review Websites, and does very little to stand out from the rest, besides the fact that I unnecessarily curse every fifth or sixth word (or used to, I’ve toned it down some. Getting more mature? No. Just finding less profane ways to be ornery. Plus, I’m a college graduate now, and I don’t wanna turn into Mark “I’m 30, but you couldn’t tell I’m older than 15 by looking at my site” Prindle. Nothing against Mark, though. He’s GOD in Webreviewerdom). You can look at all the other sites (at least the ones I’m aware of, there could be more) on my links page here. I discovered the sites of George Starostin and the aforementioned Mark Prindle a few years ago, and decided to start one myself for no good reason, and with the help of my thankfully Computer-Literate Roommate Li, right around the start of my junior year in college. I know absolutely nothing about HTML or whatever, but thankfully my Computer-Literate Roommate Li said “hey, um, you know, you can just make everything on Word,” and I was off and running. This is also why all of my pages look suspiciously like Word Documents. Because they ARE. Because I’m a computer moron.
What kinds of stuff are you gonna review? Do you have any biases?
I used to say something to the effect that “you’re mainly gonna see classic rock sixties/seventies-type bands and more recent nineties/naughties bands here,” but I think I’ve expanded my palette enough the last few years to feel comfortable in saying this site provides you, the reader, with a pretty good variety, although things are still obviously skewed towards white men you can hear on classic and/or modern rock radio. However (here comes the excuse!), it’s generally easiest to find that type of stuff without paying for it (usually my main goal), so there are mitigating factors at work here. I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t have any biases. I do, although the bias I expressed against rap here in the past is slowly but surely evaporating (though it’s not like you’re gonna be hearing Chamillionaire or some such pre-packaged, derivative bullshit merchant on my stereo any time soon). I HATE modern country music and think it all sounds the same (old-school country’s quite alright, though). I don’t really like techno all that much, though it’s fine in certain settings (for instance, one of the Boston-area modern rock stations plays hardcore techno music after midnight for a few hours on Saturday nights, and I thoroughly enjoy listening to it when driving home late at night sometimes. It makes me feel like I’m in The Matrix or something). I don’t really understand jazz or classical music, either, so you won’t be seeing Miles Davis or Mozart reviews here. I also hate Celine Dion/Barry Manilow/etc. adult contemporary bullshit saccharine shlock crap, but I don’t think that’s really a bias, since I believe everyone in the world hates that type of music and Celine Dion actually buys 10 million copies of her own record herself to make it look like she’s popular. I’d say the one positive bias I have is probably towards random nineties “grunge” rock, just because I grew up with it, but I hope you’ll bear with me and allow me to give decent ratings to bands like Live and Silverchair. I also hate Creed with a passion, which you can read about here.
What makes your opinion more valid than mine?
Nothing, except that I’ve probably been exposed to more music than you, unless you’re another web reviewer (especially if you’re Mark, George, or Capn Marvel, who between them have probably heard every album ever made by anyone), in which case I’ve probably been exposed to less music than you, and this fact fills me with a deep, deep shame.
Do you play any instruments yourself?
Yes, technically, but it doesn’t really influence my reviews any, except that I’m able to pick out when someone’s drummer sucks dick (like Creed’s, for instance). I’ve actually played the saxophone very badly since I was 10, and I used to very half-assedly be in my college marching band, though I think I might be the worst sax player in the history of that fine institution. I took guitar lessons for a year in eighth grade, but I had to stop because (seriously) my fingers are too short. I couldn’t physically cover the whole neck. I’m sure I could have if I tried really, really hard, but eh. I took up drums in college, though, and have actually become quite decent at those, at least decent enough to be in cover bands that play high school graduation parties. I think I might have some natural talent there! Seriously. This is cool, because the only other thing I think I have natural physical talent at is ping pong, and that’s not gonna help me all that much in life.
How does your rating system work?
Well, it’s just your basic 1-10 system. Nothing weird or abnormal about it. No “band ratings” that make it impossible for bands to get a perfect score. Bands can get multiple 10’s if they’re good enough, etc., but you can read more about it here if you REALLY want to.
Who is Al?
Al,
who I mention frequently and quote even more frequently (I’ve several times
actually IM’ed him going “dude, give me a quote for this band, I’ve got
nothing”), is a friend of mine from high school, as are a number of others I
mention profusely on this site, including my college roommate Li, John, and Joe
(or “The Moonman,” as I refer to him at the top of the Stone Temple Pilots
page). There are numerous other friends
of mine I’ve quoted for my various band pages, but it’s not like I’m gonna give
you people a list of their names, phone numbers, and email addresses here. Anyway, when I write a review about a band Al
actually gives a flying frig about, I still pretend that I’m writing it to
him. Seriously. Ofcourse, most of the time that’s not the
case, because he has biases about the size of
Oh, and here’s a picture of Al:
And a picture of Li:
And a picture of John:
And a picture of Joe:
