arts
Max loses edge
Review
By R.W. Greene
Of The Print
Lately I’ve been reading the
memoirs
of
President
Eisenhower, which have been
exerpted in The Oregonian
recently. He mentions in pass
ing a disliking for most jour
nalists, who, he says, violate
the old adage, “Take your job
seriously, but not yourself.”
The majority of journalists, says
Eisenhower, turn the thing
around backward.
The same could be said of
most rock bands these days, in
cluding The Edge of Max,
which played Friday night in
the Community Center Mall to
an enthusiastic crowd.
Although they would probably
like to think otherwise, nothing
in particular distinguishes The
Edge of Max from the hun
dreds and possibly thousands
of bands across the country try
ing to make it on the coattails of
the heavy-metal renaissance.
They have requisite array of
nice, shiny equipment, com
plete with Marshalls, matching
SM-58’s, and about eight
grand worth of keyboards; they
have, the obligatory hip-shaker
up front, and the duck-walking
guitarist beside him; they have
all those tunes which are
resolutely rock-not a hint of
funk or soul, in spite of the fact
that they are, at least for now, a
dance band, and not a concert
one. All traits shared by
thousands of hungry rockers
across the nation.
I don’t know how long The
Edge of Max has been
together, but a few things
showed that it can’t have been
very long. Vocals are the
easiest to pick on; although'the
lead singer seemed to have a
fairly good set of reeds in him,
he tended to be extremely slop
py with his enunciation, a fault
shared by most of the singers at
one time or another. Har
monies were weak, occasional
ly to the point of disaster. A
good rapport between drum
mer and bass player is essential
to the sound of a good band,
and this seemed to be lacking
Friday night. Most tunes~were
rushed—one of my favorites,
struts at noon-nvui concert.
The Cars’ “Just What I Need
ed,” clipped along like a
fevered racehorse. The Edge
needstp learn to lay back a bit
more.
The band’s set selection also
needed some overhauling.
Besides the lousy pacing, and
the long silences between
songs, some tunes were too
obscure, and others were too
old. “Cinnamon Girl” and
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” are a bit
off the beaten track these days,,
and as nice as album cuts are to
play, it never hurts to throw in
a current single or six. The
sound out front was extremely
muddy, and too loud.
The Edge also suffered from
an ancient rock disease—
Keyboardophobia. The two
guitarists were. competent
enough as soloists, but all that
blistering stuff can get tedious.
Mr. Simmons seemed to be a
competent enough player
himself , arid I would have liked
to hear him stretch out a lot
more.
In spite of all this, The Edge
had things going for them. One
is their energy. .That’s
something you could recognize
through all the other stuff , and
the excessive numher of flyers
I’ve seeri in Oregon City the
last week or so shows that
they’re not lazy, either]
Another is their enthusiasm.
They seemed to like what they]
were doing, anyway, and that’s
a lot more than you can say for]
a lot of the jaded and burnt-out
bands hanging on these days.
It’s a valuable commodity, and
I hope they keep it going.
If The Edge was into advice,
I’d tell them to learn some
more and newer tunes, and
work on the vocals. Knock off
the histrionics, and concentrate
oh The music. Take your job-
entertainment—a bit more1
seriously, arid yourselves a bit
less.
Mystery entices
Review
By Amy DeVour
Of The Print
FINA
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The great granite pyramids
in the Valley of the . Kings set
the locale of the new riiovie,
“Sphinx.” The story line begins
in the year 1301 B.C., when a
grave-robber places a curse on
the tomb of a king shortly
before his gruesome death.
The story travels to the present
after a succession of mysterious
deaths of people who are in
volved with the pyramids, and
an exciting plot unfolds.
A young Egyptologist,
played by Leslie-Anne Downe,
discovers a precious gold statue
believed to be from the tomb of
King Tutankhamen. The statue
is stolen and many attempts are
made on-’ the heroine’^ life
because, she witnessed the
murder of the statue’s previous
keeper. She is offered shelter
and a ticket home to the U.S?
but refuses and begins to sletith
on the whereabouts of the
statue. Ultimately, she deter
mines its hiding place and also
stumbles upon a large quantity!
of treasures stolen for black
market trade. Toward thej
climax of the film, the heroine
finds herself in love with a man
involved with the stolen aw
tifaets..
The cinema-photography in
this film is quite good and the
'audience is given a breath!
taking view of the pyramids^
Ori the whole, the acting is well'
dpn<? and entertaining]
although Downe occasionally
appears tired of screaming all
the time. Frank Langella does a
fine job as a leading character,
a native Egyptian whose family
iias a long but discreet history
of black-market trade.
The plot is adventuresome
and thrilling. One cannot help
but root for the Heroine and
bod at the villains, of which
there are many. The ^Sphinx"
is currently playing at selected
theaters. Learn the mystery ol
. the Egyptian curse.
arts briefs
Nojrman Bursheim, chairper
son of the Art Department, will
present his first public lecture of
the new year toriight in
CC-117, beginning at 7:30
p.m. Bursheim’s approximate
ly hour-long lecture will be a
presentation with slides on the
life and art of Vincent Van
Gogh.
Bursheim says he wants to
clear up misconceptions about
Van Gogh, “to present a more
human image of him,” to break
dowh the popular image ol
Van Gogh as an ear-slashing
maniac. “His work is not thatol
a madman,” says Bursheim,
“but rather that of an extraor
dinarily sensitive man.” He ha
a “special feeling” for Vai
Gogh, but adds that anybodl
who studies the man’s life art
art cannot help feeling w
same way.
Clackamas Community Colleg«