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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2002)
some that fire in your belly With Army ROTCf you’ll get to fuel your desire to be the best. In the process, you’ll learn how to think on your feet, m Army ROTC course iy It’s time to stoke that fire Call 346-ROTC v.r'v: (selected appetizers) 3 pm - 6 pm <S- 9 pm - Close (j\ the 3024 Gateway Stv Springfield phone: (541)744-1364 fax: (541) 744-1482 Located right off Gateway St. and the Gateway Mall entrance What’s wrong, right with modern rock CD review Ryan Nyburg Freelance Reporter It’s amazing how two different releases can so accurately point out what is right and wrong with modern rock. Mudhoney’s latest “Since We’ve Become Translucent” represents the former, while Coldplay’s “A Rush of Blood to the Head” rounds off the latter, each presenting the highs and lows of today’s music trends. One of the survivors of the Seattle grunge farce of the early ’90s, Mud honey has always been the first and last word in that _ musical orrsnoot. They so embody the term “grunge” that you might be lieve they spend all day in flannels, drinking beer and not shaving. Doubt C..1 K..* _ think about. On “Since We’ve Become Translu cent,” the band puts together a trash compactor of rock ’n’ roll history, mix ing blues, country, garage, metal, psy chedelia and just about everything in between, all linked by the band’s rol licking energy, all distinctly their own. Mudhoney also adds horn arrange ments to their slash-and-bum take on music, but while this might come off as overproduction in the hands of oth er bands, it fits perfectly here. The horns add a ’50s flavor to some of the tracks, making some of the straight out rockers sound like more like Ed die Cochran on Benzedrine. The whole album seems to have been driven at the frenzied, gritty pace of a Russ Meyer film — which is appropriate, considering they got their name from one and often em ploy the same delightful exploita tion. Mudhoney remembers a time when rock could be powerful, mov ing — even sexy — and their music expresses that. Now for those who prefer the more whiny, weepy side of rock mu sic, Goldplay brings us “A Rush of Blood to the Head.” These guys are already holding benefit concerts for fair-trade practices, so you know they’ve lost touch with reality. The only band in recent memory to mix politics and music was Rage Against the Machine, and it worked because they were venomous and angry, two descriptions which could never be applied to anything by this band of Brit-pop purveyors. There is hardly a track on this al bum that doesn’t suffer from over production. Whereas Mudhoney’s horn section worked with the music _and wasn’t over The whole album seems to have been driven at the frenzied, gritty pace of a Russ Meyer film. done, the string arrangements on “Rush” are worth less, and the songs could have been improved by sim plifying the pro duction. They ac tuauy tiuu Mims <jii one track, for no conceivable pur pose other than, apparently, to an noy me personally. All the songs are the same kind of pop-ballad garbage that defined their hit single “Yellow” this past year. The only exception is “A \\Tiisper,” where the amps are cranked up a tad, making this track sound, com paratively speaking, like Metallica. The lyrics give little if any indication of the band’s political slant, and songs like “The Scientist” are noth ing more than collections of break up cliches and “oh-my-weeping heart” sentiment. It’s good to know that there are still bands like Mudhoney to add some life and soul to modern rock, and to combat the bland, melan choly stylings of Goldplay. If not, we would be headed down a dark, sitar strewn road from which few of us would ever return. Ryan Nyburg is a freelance writer. His opinions do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald. SAVE $$$ BUY USED TEXTS