Category Archives: Music Commentary and Criticism

​A First Look By Jose el Retardo: Van Halen’s ​A Different Kind of Truth

February 16, 2012 – 12:32 AM

​Before getting into the release of the first Van Halen album to include David Lee Roth in 28 years it’s necessary to bemoan the current state of modern music. Finding myself desiring to discover a new song or band, ​​I recently looked up the lamentable website Pitchfork. Big mistake. For any fan of the vast [...]

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Scandinavian Black Metal/Seasonal Affective Disorder

February 5, 2009 – 3:36 PM

Not a lot of people realize this, but Norway and the surrounding area is widely considered the birthplace of true black metal, a sub genre of heavy metal which focuses on exploding double bass drums, highly distorted tremolo guitar picking, odd rhythm changes, and chilling vocal screams and growls venerating the many charms of satan. [...]

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The Meaning of Rock

February 2, 2009 – 3:44 PM

Anyone who seriously loves rock music would agree that, although theories abound, there is no one way to define the soul of the genre. From the somber crunch of Black Sabbath, to the endless wisdom of Dylan, to the all-encompassing everything which is Zeppelin, the spirit behind rock music is as endlessly complicated as the [...]

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One Thing Leads To Another: Metallic and Killing Joke

January 30, 2009 – 3:38 PM

Don’t listen to what the media tries to tell you. For the most part, punk is pretty much dead. I’d love to see it come back, but you know. There’s a lot of things I’d like to see happen that never will. In my opinion, one of the very last great punk records is, oddly [...]

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