Dou-blog: NCAA Basketball & The Grammys

I’ll start off with a couple of comments on the Grammys & then I’ll get down to the true meat of this blog.

So, I’m watching the Grammys, right? Yeah.. So, the award for Best Rock Album comes up & I hadn’t seen the nominees until the show. So, I’m listening.. We got.. Kid Rock – Rock N Roll Jesus.. Ok, that fits. Metallica – Death Magnetic.. They’re metal & it says on the Grammy website that this award includes hard rock & metal, so, fine. Then we have The Raconteurs – Cosolers Of The Lonely. Cool.. Next, we have Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night.. Weird, but acceptable. Now, we have the group & album that WON.. Coldplay – Viva La Vida….. NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOO!!!! I’m sorry, but, they’re not rock & even if they are, there should be a whole different category with them in it. Why don’t they? They do the same thing for Best Rock Song, but then.. They have another award for Best Metal Performance & even Best Hard Rock Performance, WHAT?!?!? Why no “Best Metal Album”? Why no “Best Alternative Rock Album” or whatever they call Coldplay? It’s just not right. There’s FAR more of a difference between the albums ”Death Magnetic” by Metallica & “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay than there is between the songs “Inside The Fire” by Disturbed & “My Apocalypse” by Metallica, they separated those two away from each other placing Disturbed’s song under “Hard Rock” & Metallica’s under “Metal”..  I’m just amazed that they’ll separate some things out like that, but won’t for others. Why should TRUE rock bands have to pay for Coldplay being virtually unidentifiable as to what they play.. What are they? Are they simply a rock band? We know what Metallica is, we know what Kid ROCK is, what is Coldplay? They might as well be put under anything if you aren’t going to separate them from Metallica, Kid Rock & even The Raconteurs & Kings Of Leon! Rant finished.

Now, time to talk College Basketball. What a crazy year this has already turned out to be! I’m not sure anybody wants to be #1. What I am sure of is who could end up being #1 after the March Madness tournament is over & all is said & done. Below are the teams that I believe have a shot at winning it all:

North Carolina - Obviously.. They have the best starting five in the country. I don’t think they will win it all, though.. I do believe they will make it to the Final Four.

UConn – This is a really good team. I really like Hasheem Thabeet, he will take them deep into the tournament.. This is also a Final Four team.

Duke – Don’t let their recent performances fool you, this team is still VERY good.. I doubt that they are Final Four quality, but, they will make the Elite Eight.

Louisville – They will go as far as their defense can carry them. I believe that is to the Elite Eight.

Missouri – They will be the dark horse of the NCAA tournament. Make no mistake, they will surely pull off some big wins in the tournament. I believe they are headed to the Elite Eight.

Clemson – I’ve been all about this team for a while now. It’s not just one thing with this team, it’s everything! I like them to make the Final Four.

UCLA – They’ve made a believer out of me. It’s weird to see them change so much & be more of an offensive team now when just last year they were all about defense. I like them now to make the Elite Eight.

Pittsburgh – I saved the best for last. Yes, this is the team I’m picking to win it ALL!!!! They’re so consistent. While everyone else trips up somewhere, these guys will be there & stand over them in victory on their way to cutting down the nets after they win the tournament.

So, there you have it.. I know it’s early & anything COULD happen, but.. I’m pretty confident about this, which is perfectly fitting for this year, as I didn’t pick any major underdogs to make the Elite Eight. The only thing that could be more shocking is for no shocking team to make the Elite Eight this year, that’s what I’m predicting!

Wherever I May Roam: The Day That Metallica Came Back!

First of all, let me say this.. This is primarily a sports blog, obviously, but.. I couldn’t help it.. I must express my feelings on the BRAND NEW single from Metallica: “The Day That Never Comes”. Metallica is my absolute favorite band.. So, I MUST do this!

Incase you’ve been trapped under a rock somewhere for a while, allow me to excitedly inform you that Metallica is coming out with a new album called “Death Magnetic” on September 12th. It’s their first album since “St. Anger” in 2003. That’s why I titled this “The Day That Metallica Came Back”.. I understand that they never went anywhere, but, they did take a 5 year hiatus between albums. That’s a while!

So, a couple of days ago their first single off of “Death Magnetic” was released titled “The Day That Never Comes” & oh my.. It starts up on the radio & immediately I realize that the legends are back on track after a disappointing “St. Anger” album, to be kind. The song starts out much like their ballad off “Ride The Lightning” called “Fade To Black”, which happens to be my favorite song in the world, without a doubt. So, needless to say, the song has gripped me from the start. From there, I start hearing shades of “One” off of “…And Justice For All”. It’s such an epic beginning, beautiful guitar & then the MIGHTY (as everything is with Metallica) & THUNDERING (THEIR ALWAYS LOUD) drums pick up & right away, you know they’re going back to their roots, so to speak.

Before too long, you hear Mr. Hettfield’s vocals for the first time & they are very clean, as they should be for this type of song. His voice really touches on the very emotion & pulse of this song & it’s meaning. As he sings with his voice seemingly agonizing over each & every word, yet it’s so beautiful, you really start feeling exactly what he’s trying to convey.

My original interpretation of the meaning of the song is that it’s about abuse inside of a relationship of some sort. Which really makes this song less of a song that you really want to get down & rock out to. You know? But hey, that’s Metallica.. They’re alittle dark, alot of their stuff is like this, this is nothing new to them.

After the first verse you are greeted by a pretty hard & heavy chorus with more of the traditional Metallica growl. Directly following that, you are taken back to the start of the song as they play the intro guitar piece again leading up to the second verse which, as usual, is much like the first, just telling the second part of the “story”. Then back through the chorus.. At this point, you’re prepared.. You’re ready for Kirk Hammett to step it up! But first, you get some heavy riffage leading up to a triumphant sounding bridge that blast you right through into what every Metallica fan waits & holds their collective breathes for: Kirk Hammett’s amazing guitar.

OH YES! You get about 3 minutes of solid MIGHTY METALLICA riffage & Kirk Hammett going to town with Lars pounding it out as always on the drums. It does get alittle too repetitive in places & this song could have been shorter…

A couple of other problems are that the music at times seems a bit too happy for the subject of the song & the fact that this song actually ends is another problem! It’s that great to hear Metallica & not just that, but this song is REALLY GOOD. It’s the best song that I’ve heard in quite a while.. Most other rock/metal bands around these days should be ashamed! This isn’t even Metallica’s best work & it is STILL WAY above & beyond most bands out there todays’ work.

I give it an 8.3 out of 10. It’s not EXCELLENT, so no 9. But it is GREAT, that equals an 8…. point 3. Can’t forget about that point 3. But yeah, most stuff out there today isn’t even worthy of anything close to an 8.. So, this score really is great. This song is a major victory for Metallica coming off the heels of “St. Anger”!