Placebo Effect

Awesome, for the most part. I'm hoping that MacFarlane will be able to make another awesome project. Wonderfalls (a very funny and weird dramedy that is having its premiere the second Friday of March) and The Jury (another fucking cop show) look to only be getting picked up if they do well in their midseason runs. No idea when The Jury will actually premiere, or if they have enough faith in it to start it off on Friday nights next season. And by the way, talk about some GREAT lead-ins. At least Fox finally realized (partly) that they'll never be satisfied with the ratings for a Thursday or Friday show. Boston Public LIVES!!!!!! YES!!!!! Holy shit. Fuck NWA TNA up their asses until the midnight replay! YES!!!!! I wish they'd just let Bernie Mac die. My Wife and Kids, which isn't that good in the first place > Mac. I'm actually anticipating the WB's predicted line-up for 2004-05. I stumbled upon Grounded for Life last night, and shockingly, the show's actually very funny. What's the source for this, by the way?

I never got into the live version of Tick, though I'll have to Netflix it to judge fairly. My So-Called Life I can't really cry over, as it gave way for a lot of really good (and really good, albeit) teen dramas. I never got enough experience with Ben Stiller and The Mr. Show, but from what I've seen, I've liked. I fucking hated Firefly. Just couldn't get into it. Here's my list, in no particular order: Family Guy, Homicide, Freaks and Greeks, Undeclared, Fastlane, John Doe, Andy Richter, Boston Public, MSTK3000, Off Centre, Clerks (fucking awesome, by the way), Becker, Daria (would've liked to see the show taken to college), and a few others that I'm surely missing.

Are you sure? When I couldn't remember if I'd remembered the definition of flotsam correctly (compared to jetsam) I checked out the definition online. And the definition there didn't reference common street trash. (not doubting your definition, just wondering if I should stop using dictionary.com for my definitions) I actually did use dictionary.com for it. It's the second definition.

From my Xplosion report... Konnan is not out with 3LK. Do I smell tension? I was joking guys.

Sorry but flotsam can mean "discarded odds and ends." for example cups, cigarette buts, water bottles, etc. Puddle of Mudd have started to become real "fuck off" lately, apparently. There was a real interesting story where either the vocalist or a guitarist pretty much said "fuck Fred Durst," mentioning how despite Fred having "discovering" them, he had his assistant call them to congratulate them on the success of the second album.

Remember that Raven believes there's big money in a feud between himself and Sabu. I honestly believe that we're going to end up with a Sabu/Raven feud, pending that Sabu is crisp (HAH!) on Wednesday night. If he goes out there and blows spots like the last time (where he eliminated himself from that battle royal like a dumbass), then TNA will likely continue the Punk/Deniro vs. Raven feud.

While I wouldn't say Unearth is full blown thrash, they do a lot of the same screaming/roaring bullshit that makes me hate the genre. They were also on the White Trash Thrash Metal (or something to that extent) tour, so my mind puts them in that category from that as well. In the past, I've found Opeth, Walls of Jericho, In Flames, and Nevermore tolerable. And even then, a lot of them incorporate normal singing into their sounds, which is likely what attracted me to keep listening in the first place. My big thing is that I'm a lyrics guy. When people say that certain nu-metal bands that bandmates that use repetitive cords, bland bass work, etc., I just don't see it. With any kind hard metal, I can not get into the music (ESPECIALLY live) when there's no fucking chance of understanding the lyrics unless I either look them up or spend an hour breaking it down. I'm no aficionado, but I've listened to enough by now to realize that it's not for me.

Personally, I consider thrash and scream one and the same in my head. That's very stupid on my part, but I've tried many times to get into the music and have yet to be able to. Cross off Unearth and LOG as a result. I recently started to listen to Dimmu, and am starting to get into it a bit. Lacuna Coil is great, and I hope they wind up doing the last half of the tour, as I missed them twice when they've come to Philly. And yeah, Ozzy, BLS, and JP should be great, but for me, this is going to be a very weak show. Especially if Lacuna goes out for the first half of the tour. To each his own, though. If you like the line-up, have a great fucking time.

From MTV.com. Ugh. Last year they announced EVERY band on the tour, and from what I remember, only Revolution Smile (who dropped off to do an Ill Nino tour, and them being assholes) and Finger Eleven not showing up. Fuck me, I'll say it. I want a couple nu-metal bands on the tour. I'm really unable to enjoy scream metal. I can see why others do, but to me, it's shit. I have no desire to see a ten minute set by Hatebreed or SJR, let alone fifty. Well, at the very least, I guess this means that the majority of the groups I had in mind will end up coming to Philly and doing a forty-five minute-hour long set before or during the summer.

All three of you haven't been paying attention to the news I assume. DP has a new lead singer, and have an album coming out late April/May. They're now (well, in a few weeks) on the Headbanger's Ball tour with Damageplan. Their new stuff is apparently a lot harder than the first album, but that seems to be how a lot of the nu-metal bands are going. Good to hear that about Flaw. Why would they continue the DP name? The band was identifiable by Dave Williams and the name will always be linked to his death…Staying together is one thing, they should have at least changed the band name. I'm sure this is all Wind-Up. It look a lot of money and luck on Wind-Up's side to get that band known, and when they were at their peak, anyone who knew the least about current music at least knew who they were. That's something that very few bands on Wind-Up have, and the last thing that they'd want to do is lose potential profit. But then again, it may have been on the band members' part. Think about it. How long after Dave died did the world forget about Drowning Pool? Plus, with so many bands getting signed, and promptly dropped after an album and one or two supporting tours, there's a great chance they may have just realized that maximum profit would come with the DP name.

I watched the DVD earlier today. Good stuff, though as someone who has read books, internet shit, and everything else anout the Wars, it meant very little to me. Some good footage nonetheless. For whatever reason, the funniest part of the DVD was the narrator simply saying "He was busy" for the reason why Vince didn't show up to the fight.

All three of you haven't been paying attention to the news I assume. DP has a new lead singer, and have an album coming out late April/May. They're now (well, in a few weeks) on the Headbanger's Ball tour with Damageplan. Their new stuff is apparently a lot harder than the first album, but that seems to be how a lot of the nu-metal bands are going. Good to hear that about Flaw.

oh my word It's very, very generic, and I absolute hate the two songs where the vocalist tries his damndest to sound like Layne Stanley. The stuff's a tad bit catchy at points, but that's coming from someone who is able to stomach radio rock. First album is like a 4.5 or 5/10. The only time I listened to it was the day before, and of, the 3DD show that they played. Probably would get on my nerves very quickly if I listened longer, admittedly.

the fuck? I know Drowing Pool is very simplistic nu-metal, and it's not the best of the pool, but I just picked them out of the few possibilites there are for these type of bands. Crossfade, who has their album coming out in April on Earshot. Thinking about it farther, they're being promoted as a radio rock band, though there are a few songs from their CD that'd fit in with the Ozzfest crowd, at least last year's. And Flaw, I can't see how anyone could dislike their shit. Not sure how they are live, but I'll be seeing them twenty days or so from now. Element Eighty and Twisted Method, by the way, will likely get sidestage slots. Eighty more so than Method, as I heard it from their mouths. Method have apparently mentioned to a couple fans at their shows that they'll be doing the sidestage, but I just spoke to them last week and they didn't make mention of it. Obviously, different tastes in music.

Tantric's first album is actually pretty stellar, though I haven't gotten the opportunity to get the second. Don't even know if it's been leaked yet. What was odd was that when I saw them with 3 Doors Down a month ago (I saw there to cover Shinedown), all of Tantric's first album sounded great. The three songs from the second album, though, were absolutely terrible on the production end.

Wow, this is such a dramatic change from last year. As someone who isn't a fan of hardcore, I just hope a few guys like Crossfade, Flaw, and Drowning Pool wind up being added.

Holy shit. Inferno, Heartbreaker, and Ace fuckin' Darling in a match with Xavier, Striker, and Walters. That's a mismatch.

TNA shows were already going to shit during Russo's booking, which started in Week 5 (a Low Ki/Red match just BARELY saved the show that night, and even that match wasn't as good as their ROH match). It's just that TNA's even worse now with Mantel and Jeff Jarrett having their way all the time. For one, Russo wasn't even booking TNA during week five. Second, you're an idiot for making a comparison between week five, and what, week 75? God knows we've all lost count a while ago.

Thank goodness, because I'm having a hard as heel time trying to figure out who all the non-TNA people are (aka the jobbers) without having a headache. The only way I know is just picking it up from the commentators.

I'm now writing up an Xplosion report every week for 411, and the first of many to come is now up. Not that this has anything to do with the Observer, I just didn't want to make a full thread about it.

I wonder who they'll job to...

Fred Willard is awesome. He's seemingly guest starred on every shitty sitcom in the past ten years, and always manages to overshadow the performers around him. I remember him appearing on Breaker High as the asshole replacement principal, and just cracking me up so much with his line delivery. He was also a supporting star of a WB sitcom that got axed after twenty-four episodes, and was the highlight of that.

Shinedown mentioned there being a chance of them opening. If it happens, trust me, Shinedown is a great opening act. The vocalist sounds like a rock star, and the whole band gives a simply energetic performance.

Did Mankind pin him at KOTR 1996?

My biggest question stemming from tonight... Is Corey Kastle a heel now? Did Niles Young turn face? Did something happen that I'm not aware of? Yeah, so I inexplicably like Kastle and Young. Kiss my ass.