Before launching into my AFC preview, where I express my embarrassing and undying man-love for the Patriots, I have a bone to pick with the Commish. Roger Goodell believes that preseason games are pointless and wants to replace them with real games, extending the season to 18 games. While I would welcome more games, I also think many people are ignoring some of the issues that a longer regular season would create. First, it would cut into the evaluation period for determining roster moves. Aside from trying to limit exposure to injuries, coaches also play non-starters in the preseason to see who can play in certain situations and what positions need to be addressed. I have not heard any mention of how the roster cut periods would be affected, but it would seem only fair that teams be allowed to carry more than the current limit of 53 players, at least for the first few weeks of the season. Speaking of injuries, lengthing the season would also increase the likelyhood of players getting injured. You would also have to consider that players may start to breakdown during a longer season, especially if they play for a team that has consistently made deep playoff runs (like the Chargers, Colts and Patriots). And, in adding two extra games, isn’t there also a possibility that teams will clinch playoff berths even earlier, allowing them to rest their now overworked starters sooner?
chris @ September 4, 2008
Anytime I wonder about the prog backlash of the late ’70’s, I can listen to Ayreon and understand. Foran album that is so bloated, 01011001 is also very light in terms of substance. Musically, there is nothing shocking. It is watered-down, copycat, Euro-prog metal (e.g. alot of bad synthesizers). The bloat comes from the concept and execution of the storyline - something about aliens trying to recreate the human species and a story about modern man and the invasion of pervasive technology into his life, which requires a cast of 17 vocalists! Obviously, this convoluted story spans a double album that is almost 2 hours. More on page 65
chris @ September 3, 2008
So, why all the hate for Cryptopsy? Well, after releasing a lackluster album in 2005, the band kicked-out original singer Lord Worm for the second time, because they couldn’t all get along. The openly announced that they were seeking a singer with clean singing abilities. Then, they placed an ad for a keyboard player. Blabbermouth went ballistic with fans accusing the band of selling-out and changing direction to more Headbanger’s Ball-style mainstream metal (e.g. melodic deathcore, a’la Bleeding Through). In response, the band decided it would be good idea to get defensive, writing blog posts, recording extra songs, and giving interviews all attacking anyone who questioned the band’s new direction. Most opinions were squarely formed before hearing The Unspoken King, but the album did little to quell the collective anger at the band, especially since it is a horribly contrived, barely listenable attempt at appealing to mainstream fans. More on page 67
chris @ September 2, 2008
It may be shocking, but I have only written a handful of music reviews this year. To be blunt, there have been some seriously shitty releases in 2008 and this is without having heard Death Magnetic. Metalica lower their expectations by the day as they take pictures holding Armani bags and release information about the album, such as the terrible title, its odd artwork, and a tracklisting that features a song using the words “Unforgiven” and “III.” Together. The question now is which of the various, ungodly overpriced versions does one buy? I understand that the music industry is in the toilet, which I am sure has nothing to do the continued releases of total shit like Death Magnetic, but putting together so many self-indulgent, over-priced packages further cements how badly this band cares about nothing but your money going into their wallets (and subsequently being used to buy goods at Armani, in Europe). Even if Cryptopsy is not that completely vapid and whorish, I still think their latest, The Unspoken King, which is the most hated album EVER, will be the worst release of the year.
chris @ September 1, 2008