Massive Attack, Mezzanine (Virgin, 1998)

I don't often go back in time when looking for albums in review, but with a shortage of new albums getting my attention I decided to grab something I had been curious about for a while. Massive Attack were an English techno group consisting of Robert Del Naja, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, and Andy Vowles, plus a rotating group of guest musicians. While they had their heyday in the nineties, Del Naja and Daddy G still perform together. I was impressed by Jose Gonzalez' cover of their song "Teardrop," the original version of which is used in the opening credits of the show House. The song comes from the group's 1998 CD Mezzanine, so I decided to give that album a listen.

What strikes me about techno in hindsight is that the one sub-genre of rock that could still be described as cutting edge in the mid to late nineties has largely fizzled out, or at least fallen off the radio, while most other styles have endured despite becoming blissfully stagnant. When you consider how quickly rock evolved in its first forty years or so, the relative absence of change in music since 1995 is disturbing and alarming. Massive Attack deserve credit for trying something edgy and different, but they seem to be on the losing side of history. Their sound is now attached to a particular, distant time.

This is a shame, as the band had plenty to offer. To begin with, the their name is a bit misleading. Massive Attack certainly weren't as relentlessly beat-heavy (and unmusical) as The Prodigy were, for example. "Teardrop," featuring the vocals of Elizabth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, is an excellent song with a solid melody that lingers with you. The raps on the album have a brooding, simmering intensity to them that is subtly effective. I don't know which member did them, but the rapper creatively turns his thick English accent into a musical asset. Guest musician Angelo Bruschini does some fine, if heavily distorted, guitar work on a couple of the songs as well.

I'm not sure how much sense this description makes, but Mezzanine sounds both dated and fresh at the same time. Massive Attack may belong to a style that pop culture has largely discarded, but they were worthy representatives of the style.

Overall grade: B+

reviewed by Scott

A live performance of "Teardrop"

We Are Scientists, With Love and Squalor (Virgin, 2006)

We Are Scientists are not actually scientists; the name came from a U-Haul employee who asked the band members if they were scientists as he was checking their rental truck. (They were wearing glasses at the time.) They are musicians, though, and their second album With Love and Squalor came out in 2006. They were a trio at the time, consisting of Keith Murray (vocals and guitar), Chris Cain (bass and backing vocals), and Michael Tapper (drums). Since then they've replaced their drummer and added a keyboardist, and have another album under their belt.

The band combines punk and hard rock with dance rhythms, in much the same way that Franz Ferdinand did on their debut. (Whatever else you can say about that particular Scottish quartet, they remain influential.) With Love and Squalor is full of high-octane tracks, starting with the opening song and single "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt." This song is defined by the extremely self-explanatory line in the chorus, "if you want to use my body, go for it." The lyrics generally reflect the band's sarcastic sense of humor, but the songs on With Love and Squalor regrettably repeat the same basic themes, namely misadventures out on the town or with a girl. It kind of feels like I'm a therapist and Murray is on the couch, telling me how he messed up yet again, but he's not paying me for the service.

With Love and Squalor is the kind of album where the whole is actually less than the sum of its parts. Most of the songs are really OK by themselves, and "The Great Escape" in particular is worth a few listens, but every song hits you in pretty much the same way. We Are Scientists have some potential, but a little more variety and some positivity would do them a lot of good.

Overall grade: B-

reviewed by Scott

"The Great Escape"

I Think I Love My Wife (2007)

Chris Rock stars in I Think I Love My Wife. While this gets billed as a comedy, it's more of a mix of comedy and drama- a "dramedy" if you will.

Chris Rock plays Richard Cooper. To all outward appearances he is living the American dream. He works as a Manhattan investment banker, has two wonderful children, a beautiful wife, and a great house in the 'burbs. Unfortunately, his wife's frigidness pushes him to think that his whole life is boring, and triggers a midlife crisis- big time. In the middle of this, Nikki, played by Kerry Washington, arrives on the scene. She is the beautiful ex-girlfriend of Cooper's best friend from college. For the rest of the film, she is pulling him away from his marriage, and job, at every opportunity. Rock goes along, for the most part, as he ends up in the middle of this love triangle. With his boring life turned upside down, coworker George, ably played by Steve Buscemi offers sagely advice. Teetering on the edge of losing it all, Cooper takes a long hard look at what he wants out of his life.

While there are a few humorous sequences, like when Cooper develops an unwanted side effect from a little blue pill, for the most part, this film is just not that funny. Underneath the one liners, this is a front row seat on a guy experiencing a serious midlife crisis as he sits in a Porsche convertible. I found I Think I Love My Wife only average.

Overall Grade: C+

--Jonas

The Longest Yard

In this remake of the 1974 film of the same name, Adam Sandler stars with Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds. Sandler is a washed up former NFL quarterback who lands himself in jail. The warden decides to have an exhibition "tune up" game for his team of guards, against the inmates. This wacky scenario did hold my attention, and there are plenty of humorous moments, many of them involving racial, and gender humor (you've been warned).

The whole movie builds to a final game between the prisoners, and their guards. Nice touches include a field fenced in with barbed wire, and Texas Rangers with high power rifles to prevent the escape. Of course, the game uses "prison rules" which amounts to there aren't any!

In conclusion, the whole movie is a put your feet up, and check your brain at the door, relax away type of affair. It is entertaining, and is the perfect movie to "vedge out" with as long as you understand up front that this is the only purpose.
Overall Grade: B