Tracklist:
1. Black Sabbath
2. The Wizard
3. Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B.
4. Wicked World
5. A Bit of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning
Okay this is a disc that doesn't really need much introduction. This is the first full length Black Sabbath album, and it's pretty good. Some claim this is the first Heavy Metal disc but I would disagree with this. I would classify this as more proto-metal that helped establish and influence the genre along with bands like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Thin Lizzy. In fact most of this album is mostly just pure rock in my opinion. It's hard to believe that this was considered shockingly heavy back in 1970.
Today it feels like easy listening to me. While I'm not a huge fan of Ozzy in general I would have to say his voice works great on the atmospheric title track. Most of the tracks on this album are actually long jams of several different songs strung together. This gives the album a very raw improvisational feel, that makes for good listening. All in all this is a decent place to start with sabbath, although their next album is more well known.
Rating 3/5
Highlights: Black Sabbath, NIB,
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Check out my new post
My new post is finished and has been published below kzuu playlist. Its my first lyrical analysis and I hope to do more in the future.
Peace out.
Peace out.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Name Change and other stuff...
As you will notice above, I have taken the liberty of changing the name of this blog. I felt I needed something new, and fresh to go along with the new year. Long time fans of this blog will remember that it was originally entitled Matt's English 301 blog. You see, this blog was originally started last semester as part of an assignment in a college English class. With that semester long gone, and a new one before me, I have decided to continue updating this blog with topics of personal interest to me. So I plan to post the following in the coming months.
1. Reviews of movies and video games that I feel interested writing about.
2. A lyrical anaylsis of Rush's discography
3. Commentary on various issues
So stay tuned there is more to come, and thanks for all your support...
Song of the Day:
1. Reviews of movies and video games that I feel interested writing about.
2. A lyrical anaylsis of Rush's discography
3. Commentary on various issues
So stay tuned there is more to come, and thanks for all your support...
Song of the Day:
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
My Top Four Games of 2008
Well, its 2009 and to kick off my first post of the new year I decided to give a quick recap of my top four favorite games of 2008. Just to be clear this list is highly 360 centric, as this tends to be my exclusive gaming platform these days. So PS3, Wii, hand held, and PC games are sadly omitted (and it looks like there were some good ones too). Also this started out as my favorite five games, but when I got down to it I decided that these four are the only really stellar games I would recommend without qualification. So here goes...
1. Grand Theft Auto IV: GTA IV takes the top spot on my list, and while the game was hyped to an extreme degree I would still have to say that the game did a pretty solid job of living up to the hype. The game does what every great sequel should aspire to do; provide fresh innovations and improvements on the core game play while preserving what makes the game so fun and attractive in the first place. Pretty much every complaint I have with the GTA series has been addressed from being able to instantly re-try missions after failing without having to drive back to your employer, to a targeting system that actually targets who you want to kill. As opposed to previous GTA games. I actually looked forward to combat in GTA IV with its GOW style cover system. The new Liberty City is also easily the most detailed, organic looking urban environment I have seen in any video game. You can play this game for hours and still be amazed and the little graphical details in this game. The story takes itself a lot more seriously this time, and sometimes a little too seriously for my tastes. You can tell Rockstar really wants this to be the Heat/Godfather/Scarface/Gone With The Wind of video game stories, and while sometimes it doesn't work I think its a good direction to be taking the series. GTA IV still is probably the most entertaining and diverse game of '08.
2. Gears of War 2: Much like GTA IV, Gears of War 2 simple builds on everything that was great about the original. If you weren't sold on the originals game play then you can pretty much skip this one, because there is nothing drastically new. But if you enjoyed the first one or even moderately liked it than this game is absolutely worth it. The single player campaign is significantly longer than the original, and filled with plenty of new enemies and weapons. The storyline while not high literature by any stretch of the imagination is much more fleshed out and fully realized. I think somebody actually hired a writer for this as there is actually an attempt to build up the characters and the origins and intentions of the locust are finally being set up. In fact the ending sets up Gears 3 quite nicely.
3. Mirror's Edge: Mirrors Edge is frustrating, glitchy and repetitive, but at the same time Mirrors Edge is also one of the most unique addictive, and challenging games I've played in a while. The first person perspective is such a great immersing perspective that it is great to see games that utilize it for more than just blowing the shit out of aliens. While you can engage enemies and use guns the game is more about navigating through environments in a manner not unlike the Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia games. To do this it takes a lot of patience, precision, and timing . I died a lot, and had to repeat segments over again, but I never got too frustrated as my deaths were usually my own mistakes, and you quickly tend to learn the games own internal logic and can figure out where to go or what to do. Plus pulling off a successful series of acrobatic stunts is so rewarding that you tend to forget that you spent the last ten minutes falling to your death. I hope there will be a sequel as there is potential for a truly great franchise here.
4. Dead Space: If your as stoked as I am about the impending release of Resident Evil 5, and have not yet played Dead Space then you are in for a treat as Dead Space is the perfect way to spend your time while you wait for Capcom's next zombie epic. Dead Space borrows heavily from RE4. The over the shoulder camera view, the upgradeable weapons, and ammo purchasing stations, the fast zombie like enemies, and huge mutated boss creatures... However, in my opinion there are a lot worse games you can borrow from than Resident Evil 4, and Dead Space adds its own twists mostly because of its outer space sci-fi setting. The enemies are vicious aliens with regenerating limbs that require strategic dismembering of their limbs to quickly eliminate, and there are several awesome sections that take place in complete zero g that lead to some interesting combat situations. Dead Space is highly derivative of movies such as Alien, The Thing, and Event Horizon and also of games such as RE 4 and Half-life, but the end result is still a lot of fun.
My current song of the week:
1. Grand Theft Auto IV: GTA IV takes the top spot on my list, and while the game was hyped to an extreme degree I would still have to say that the game did a pretty solid job of living up to the hype. The game does what every great sequel should aspire to do; provide fresh innovations and improvements on the core game play while preserving what makes the game so fun and attractive in the first place. Pretty much every complaint I have with the GTA series has been addressed from being able to instantly re-try missions after failing without having to drive back to your employer, to a targeting system that actually targets who you want to kill. As opposed to previous GTA games. I actually looked forward to combat in GTA IV with its GOW style cover system. The new Liberty City is also easily the most detailed, organic looking urban environment I have seen in any video game. You can play this game for hours and still be amazed and the little graphical details in this game. The story takes itself a lot more seriously this time, and sometimes a little too seriously for my tastes. You can tell Rockstar really wants this to be the Heat/Godfather/Scarface/Gone With The Wind of video game stories, and while sometimes it doesn't work I think its a good direction to be taking the series. GTA IV still is probably the most entertaining and diverse game of '08.
2. Gears of War 2: Much like GTA IV, Gears of War 2 simple builds on everything that was great about the original. If you weren't sold on the originals game play then you can pretty much skip this one, because there is nothing drastically new. But if you enjoyed the first one or even moderately liked it than this game is absolutely worth it. The single player campaign is significantly longer than the original, and filled with plenty of new enemies and weapons. The storyline while not high literature by any stretch of the imagination is much more fleshed out and fully realized. I think somebody actually hired a writer for this as there is actually an attempt to build up the characters and the origins and intentions of the locust are finally being set up. In fact the ending sets up Gears 3 quite nicely.
3. Mirror's Edge: Mirrors Edge is frustrating, glitchy and repetitive, but at the same time Mirrors Edge is also one of the most unique addictive, and challenging games I've played in a while. The first person perspective is such a great immersing perspective that it is great to see games that utilize it for more than just blowing the shit out of aliens. While you can engage enemies and use guns the game is more about navigating through environments in a manner not unlike the Tomb Raider and Prince of Persia games. To do this it takes a lot of patience, precision, and timing . I died a lot, and had to repeat segments over again, but I never got too frustrated as my deaths were usually my own mistakes, and you quickly tend to learn the games own internal logic and can figure out where to go or what to do. Plus pulling off a successful series of acrobatic stunts is so rewarding that you tend to forget that you spent the last ten minutes falling to your death. I hope there will be a sequel as there is potential for a truly great franchise here.
4. Dead Space: If your as stoked as I am about the impending release of Resident Evil 5, and have not yet played Dead Space then you are in for a treat as Dead Space is the perfect way to spend your time while you wait for Capcom's next zombie epic. Dead Space borrows heavily from RE4. The over the shoulder camera view, the upgradeable weapons, and ammo purchasing stations, the fast zombie like enemies, and huge mutated boss creatures... However, in my opinion there are a lot worse games you can borrow from than Resident Evil 4, and Dead Space adds its own twists mostly because of its outer space sci-fi setting. The enemies are vicious aliens with regenerating limbs that require strategic dismembering of their limbs to quickly eliminate, and there are several awesome sections that take place in complete zero g that lead to some interesting combat situations. Dead Space is highly derivative of movies such as Alien, The Thing, and Event Horizon and also of games such as RE 4 and Half-life, but the end result is still a lot of fun.
My current song of the week:
Friday, November 14, 2008
Gears of War 2 impressions...
So I've been sinking my teeth into the Gears of War 2 campaign recently, and I'd thought I'd give some of my impressions on what a lot of people are calling one of the better games of 2008. This isn't really a review but just a basic outline of my thoughts on the game so far... Maybe after im finished with the game I'll post some more.
The original Gears of War was released in November of 2006 and was hyped up as the first real killer app for the 360. The game relied on a more tactical style of third person game play that forced the player to shoot from cover, and not simple charge in rambo style gameplay that most shooters utilize. This kind of game play was not entirely new. It had been seen in a couple of previous games such as Winback for the N64, and Killswitch for the PS2 and Xbox. However Gears really pulled it off much better than either of these games, and much gritter and interesting art design and graphics. It was the first real game that showcased the 360's power, with awesome insanely detailed gothic looking environments that had been torn apart by war. The game had it's fair share of problems it was short, the story was absolutley shit,the enviroments were often extremely linear. However, the solid core gameply, the excellent graphics, and the fact that it was the first really big exclusive triple A titles for the 360 made it a pretty huge hit. It's easy to say a game like this became a success because it was over hyped, but the game did have merits that set it apart from the Brute Forces and the Fractures of the world.
Fast forward to 2008, and enter Gears of War 2. Let me sum up my impressions by saying that if you enjoyed the first Gears, then Gears 2 is just more refined goodness that was the original Gears. If you didn't like gears then you will probably hate Gears 2.
The game plays more or less the same as the original gears. The only really significant new move is the ability to take a downed locus hostage and use him as a "meat shield." Yes, not a shield, but a meat shield. The game continues its tradition of trying to sound as "super hardcore badass" as it possibly can. The meat shield like dual wielding in Halo 2 is one of those features that is totally hyped up beyond belief as something that will not only change the way you play the game, but also change the way you view reality. In the end, it just provides a nice tactical flexibility for a given situation.
While your repertoire of moves has not changed much you do get some nice new weapons and enemies. My favorite addition are the heavy weapons which include the Gatling gun like "mulcher" and the mortar. The mortar is an indirect fire weapon that takes some getting used to, but once you splatter four or five locust in one shot you'll never want to go back. Just don't use it indoors. I found that out the hard way.
The locust bestiary is much improved as well. I've seen pretty much every enemy from the old games as well as a gamut of new ones. Such as the small skittering "tickers" which explode with you on contact which cause loads of damage. Also the large locust soldiers who carried rocket launchers in the first game now carries a wider variety of armament including flamethrowers, machine guns, and even a mace and shield.
The original games story felt more like a rough outline than an actual story. Which is fine, except that the game's developer Cliffy B seemed to think it was like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Hamlet thrown together into a blender. The sequel's storyline seems quite a bit better this time around which isn't actually saying too much. I'm not done with the campaign so my impression could get better or worse depending on how it plays out. There are still plenty of cheese, and WTF moments peppered throughout the campaign. The locust still aren't really explained at all. I guess this is to increase the mystery aspect of the game, but it would be nice to have a little more backgroudn. A large chunk of the story revolves around Dom trying to search for his wife. This is nice and all, but I was seriously suprised to find out he had a wife at all considering he never mentioned her at all in the first game. It really seemed like something that was ham fistedly inserted into the game to give the game extra drama.
That's all I really have for now... I think I'll try to write a part two after I've finished the storyline.
The original Gears of War was released in November of 2006 and was hyped up as the first real killer app for the 360. The game relied on a more tactical style of third person game play that forced the player to shoot from cover, and not simple charge in rambo style gameplay that most shooters utilize. This kind of game play was not entirely new. It had been seen in a couple of previous games such as Winback for the N64, and Killswitch for the PS2 and Xbox. However Gears really pulled it off much better than either of these games, and much gritter and interesting art design and graphics. It was the first real game that showcased the 360's power, with awesome insanely detailed gothic looking environments that had been torn apart by war. The game had it's fair share of problems it was short, the story was absolutley shit,the enviroments were often extremely linear. However, the solid core gameply, the excellent graphics, and the fact that it was the first really big exclusive triple A titles for the 360 made it a pretty huge hit. It's easy to say a game like this became a success because it was over hyped, but the game did have merits that set it apart from the Brute Forces and the Fractures of the world.
Fast forward to 2008, and enter Gears of War 2. Let me sum up my impressions by saying that if you enjoyed the first Gears, then Gears 2 is just more refined goodness that was the original Gears. If you didn't like gears then you will probably hate Gears 2.
The game plays more or less the same as the original gears. The only really significant new move is the ability to take a downed locus hostage and use him as a "meat shield." Yes, not a shield, but a meat shield. The game continues its tradition of trying to sound as "super hardcore badass" as it possibly can. The meat shield like dual wielding in Halo 2 is one of those features that is totally hyped up beyond belief as something that will not only change the way you play the game, but also change the way you view reality. In the end, it just provides a nice tactical flexibility for a given situation.
While your repertoire of moves has not changed much you do get some nice new weapons and enemies. My favorite addition are the heavy weapons which include the Gatling gun like "mulcher" and the mortar. The mortar is an indirect fire weapon that takes some getting used to, but once you splatter four or five locust in one shot you'll never want to go back. Just don't use it indoors. I found that out the hard way.
The locust bestiary is much improved as well. I've seen pretty much every enemy from the old games as well as a gamut of new ones. Such as the small skittering "tickers" which explode with you on contact which cause loads of damage. Also the large locust soldiers who carried rocket launchers in the first game now carries a wider variety of armament including flamethrowers, machine guns, and even a mace and shield.
The original games story felt more like a rough outline than an actual story. Which is fine, except that the game's developer Cliffy B seemed to think it was like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Hamlet thrown together into a blender. The sequel's storyline seems quite a bit better this time around which isn't actually saying too much. I'm not done with the campaign so my impression could get better or worse depending on how it plays out. There are still plenty of cheese, and WTF moments peppered throughout the campaign. The locust still aren't really explained at all. I guess this is to increase the mystery aspect of the game, but it would be nice to have a little more backgroudn. A large chunk of the story revolves around Dom trying to search for his wife. This is nice and all, but I was seriously suprised to find out he had a wife at all considering he never mentioned her at all in the first game. It really seemed like something that was ham fistedly inserted into the game to give the game extra drama.
That's all I really have for now... I think I'll try to write a part two after I've finished the storyline.
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