Archive for May 6th, 2008
More Guns…
Posted by Jeff Evans in G'n'R, General, Videos on May 6, 2008
After a quick search for “November Rain”, I was prompted to look up a few of the other “key” singles/videos… so here we go…
Sweet Child o’Mine
These were some of the other “huge” songs that helped make the band the awesome thing that it was, back in the day.
Guns and Roses
Posted by Jeff Evans in G'n'R, General on May 6, 2008
Okay, here’s my notes on G’n’R… or G’n’f’R if you were really into things back in the day…
As I mentioned here (but was really inappropriate to go onto a tangent, considering the other news in the post, but somewhat relavant, if you have ever seen the video for the source song… like here)
Anyway, I digress. I like Guns ‘n’ Roses. I liked the raw rock power when they first came out in the late 1980’s (even if I didn’t really “get” some of the lyrical content until later). But drugs and alcohol aside, they made music. Lyrical content aside, they made some great music – there was a show the VH1 had on for a while, years ago, and one sequence they filmed had a small group – about 6-8 people (who obviously would NOT be listening to G’n’R), trying to sing through “Welcome to the Jungle”. It was funny to watch a 60-something person singing through it, but they did comment afterwords that they were surprised at how difficult, musically the song was.
I digress again. Appetite, and Illusion 1 & 2 (when they were actually 2 distinct albums) were great. Lies was okay, but was only notable for a couple of tracks. Spaghetti Incident? Not so much… although I’ve never listened to it, to be honest, but was advised that it was pretty much a “cover” album, and the sales were rather weak (although I will admit that I have the Metallica-recorded cover projects, but again, that would be rambling… not now, though).
Then they disappeared. They dispersed. They imploded. A few years later, Axl gets a group together, and records a track for the End of Days soundtrack. A very different sound from the earlier works… one that hurts to try and listen to very often…
During the trip to New York that I took in 2006, the day we got there (Friday night), I could have gone to see them in concert at the Garden (yes, Madison Square). I think Jenn even mentioned me going, if I wanted to (it was, after all, right across from our hotel). I looked at her and almost laughed. “It’s the name, but it’s not the band. Axl is the only one I know of, and they haven’t actually done anything new in years.” Besides, I’ve heard to many stories of Axl being a premadonna, and walking off stage during a show. Why would I waste money, not knowing what I would get?
But I digress to a closing point: They were good, nay they were awesome. I distinctly remember listening through Illusion 2 (on cassette, people, remember those?) while playing Super Mario World (way back on the SNES… remember those, kiddies? No? Ask your parents about them.) when I first heard “Get in the Ring”, and was shocked. It wasn’t a great song, by any means, it was more of a tirade, but it was different. G’n’R isn’t different anymore, it’s a shell thriving on the ghosts of the past.
No December Rain…
Posted by Jeff Evans in General, MCC, Wedding on May 6, 2008
[originally started on 2/28/08]
Things here have become quite a bit different, as I am thinking back to when I started this post.
I am engaged. Mary Catherine and I had actually been talking about things and wedding dates, and we sort of tripped and backed into the initial wedding plans. I officially proposed while we were out in Vegas (more about that in another post, I promise!).
So, the festivities are being planned for December 2008, and an extended vacation is planned for the honeymoon.
And yes, the title of the post is a slight nod to Guns and Roses, from the era when they were actually producing music. But that is another subject entirely…
The End is Near!
Posted by Jeff Evans in General, Grad School on May 6, 2008
Finally… although with some disappointment, the end of the semester is upon us. I’m happy it is finally over (that means I have two nights without other significant obligations for a few months, yeah!), but I did like part of the routine – and the accountability within the script class…
Which begets another project. I am kinda starting a writing group, spinning off from the Script writing class. I see it as a bit of therapy and motivation to have a deadline, as well as a group of others to submit the projects to.
But I digress… The biggest “happy point” now is that I will have some time to actually get some reading done, and some quiet time to write. And those goals are a whole other post…
For now, though, I have some “other posts” to catch up on…