Music Review: Youthanasia - Megadeth (1994)

What does a thrash band do after the massive success of "Countdown to Extinction" in 1990? Record Youthanasia. The answer isn't quite that simple, of course. But Megadeth's new direction on this album is a definite gold moment in the history of metal music.

So what's different, exactly? Well, there's no shortage of thrash. The killer solo on "Train of Consequences" echoes "Skin o' My Teeth" and proves that Megadeth can still rock harder than you can brush your teeth. The face-melting power of "Symphony of Destruction" is somewhat lost here, but Youthanasia easily makes up for it with increasingly melodic songs, taking advantage of interesting bass techniques and Mustaine's awesome voice. Megadeth is less focused on blasting your ears with socio-political criticism and stories of cyborgs-gone-wrong on this album and more about delivering a more head-nodding then head-banging sound.

Does that spell sell out? Definitely not. It spells experimentation. The metal sensibility of Youthanasia is stronger than ever with songs like "Elysian Fields" and "The Killing Road". The genius of Youthanasia is how it travels the road paved by Metallica and does wonderful things. Listen to "Black Curtains" to catch some "The Black Album" influence, for example.

Now, time to talk about "A Tout le Monde," easily a candidate for best melodic metal song of all time. A Tout le Monde is Megadeth's answer to Metallica's "One". Both are supremely epic sounding, alternating between heavy/light guitars with genius and melodic skill. The guitar solo is excellent, and Mustaine delivers the most powerful singing that definitely surpasses most metal singers (even surpassing Hetfield's growl on One). And gotta love the lyrics. Mustaine is the only person I can think of to make French sound metal.

MY RATING: Classic metal album. Melodic and radio-friendly for newbies to the genre and has excellent singles. Stands out in the genre as one of the best.

Restaurant Review: Vespa Ristorante

Traditionally, Italian is a cuisine that's "difficult to f*** up," as my friend Ryan would say. But there's a strong distinction between "good Italian food" and "great Italian food". Ristorante Vespa, found off of East Franklin Street, is an example of the latter.

The place itself is charming and quaint, filled with Italian movie posters of American films, maroon curtains, and plenty of Greco-Roman style mirrors. Upon entrance, it's clear that the place has class. Easily the most striking aspect of the restaurant is the service. Upon finishing your water, it is IMMEDIATELY (and I mean immediately) refilled. The food was prompt, and so was the check.

As to the food, I sampled 4 main courses and 1 appetizer (as our party engaged in, "ooh that looks good" kind of dining). The appetizer was the Scotatta: fried mozzarella wrapped in procuitto with tomatoes and red peppers. Too small of a portion, but delicate and delicious. My main course was the Penne al Fumo which was outstanding. The pink sauce was light but strongly flavorful and the pasta was perfect. Other dishes I tried were the Gnocchi Sorrentino, a chicken dish (which I have forgotten the name of) which were both good and the lamb shank, which was dry and dissapointing. Overall, authentic and very satifying.

Pricing was reasonable, and I paid $14.00 for the main course. We opted not to do dessert, but the menu looked excellent.

MY RATING: Very good Italian, and easily the best I have seen on Franklin. Could use a more consistent serving style and to master the meat dishes (eg. the lamb). Overall, reccomended for a upscale dining experience.

Fuck Lady Gaga

It's time to unearth the ugly truth about America's new reigning "techno diva." The catchy single "Just Dance" and follow-up single "Poker Face" seem innocent and catchy enough, but after I'm done with you, you'll see that this whack chick is an abominable sell-out.

I'm approaching my argument as I would a history lesson. I didn't always hate Lady Gaga. I heard about her WAYYY back in early April 2007 when she was first making major waves in the internet techno community as the newest brainchild of producers RedOne, the geniuses behind Robyn's newest electro-hip-hop comeback. Lady Gaga was unique in that she had a definite techno sensibility paired with the flashy performance style of glam rock, ala "Black Cherry"-era Goldfrapp. Her original single "Boys Boys Boys" started getting a bit of club play and I started taking notice.

Gaga finally got signed to a major label and produced the ORIGINAL single "Just Dance". It is here that I must be clear. The ORIGINAL club mix of the single in August 2007 played on techno radio was a fun jammin' techno track, heavily sythesized, heavy drums, fun danceable shit. The closest thing you can find now that resembles this version is the album cut on her album "The Fame", but note that the original version had no Colby O' Donnis. I liked the single because it had major crossover appeal. Lady Gaga's crazy pop antics and her mastery of catchy, danceable hooks had all the hallmarks of doing what Cascada failed to do in 2005/2006: introduce the mainstream pop crowd into the joys of true dance music, put hooks in 'em, and real 'em in with continually powerful hits.

But here is where my hate train leaves the station. Gaga, the shallow performer that she is, got a break on "Dancing With The Stars" in August 2008, performing "Just Dance" in front of a major television audience. Characteristically, when the Top-40 people are forcefully introduced to techno, they wake up and realize that it's awesome. Lady Gaga suddenly had the power to make a difference in the techno world. Lady Gaga, however, did the EXACT OPPOSITE: she sold out.

As soon as she got her break, Lady Gaga teamed up with Akon's Konvict music and crossed the bridge into pop music, burning the bridge behind her. Akon put Colby O'Donnis on the track, and created the version of "Just Dance" that's on the album. Gone was the heavy synthesized pumping bass and in came Colby's whining verse and dumb lyrics. The song became Pop. "Just Dance" topped the Itunes Dance charts. Itunes, sensing the sellout...*cough cough* excuse me, "cross over" appeal of the song stopped classifying Lady Gaga as dance and moved her into Pop in August 2008. Lady Gaga had finally betrayed her roots and had become cliche, bubblegum, silly danceable pop music ala Pussycat Dolls and began being picked up by Top 40 radio stations.

But Lady Gaga's betrayl of anything called "dance" was not complete! NO! Far from it. Lady Gaga invigorated by her newfound success changed "Just Dance" EVEN MORE! There not just two versions of the single, but three! Chances are, if you turned on the radio right now, the version that you would hear features Akon and Kardinal Offishal. Let me repeat, Akon and Kardinal Offishal! The song was COMPLETELY rearranged to include the best elements of Akon and Offshal's failed single "Dangerous" and put the beat and piano hooks centered around Gaga's vocals. Almost ANY traces of the original club mix were essentially destroyed by this new version of "Just Dance", now penned the "RedOne Radio Edit".

And as to be expected, Lady Gaga finally got the break she "deserved". As soon as it became pop, "Just Dance" shot up into the Top 10 of the Hot 100. Accordingly, the techno community has completely abandoned her. Want proof? Look on her "Remixes" of "Just Dance" on Itunes. Recognize a single REPUTABLE techno remixer or DJ who has produced any of the remixes? Nope. All the remixes are produced by hack DJs or are cleverly disguised re-versions of alternate Konvict remixes. (Note that the appearance of Richard Vission, a once-respected DJ may seem slightly contradictory, but it's not. Vission hasn't had a hit in years, and is, quite honestly, desperate).

In short, Lady Gaga is a fucking sell-out. If I could have 5 minutes alone with her, this is what I would say. I'd say, Ms. Gaga, I know "The Fame" of Top 40 success is lucrative, but if you continue on this dark, dark road, 5 years from now no one will remember you. At least Cascada is still respected in the techno community for staying true to their roots. The only people who respect you are drag queens and people who don't know any better. You are quite simply now just one of the many "rising pop stars" who, without a serious course correction, will never have another hit.

Lady Gaga = FAIL. If you're at all into techno, stay away from this sell-out shit. Pick up the newest Kylie album or Amin Van Buuren's GODLIKE "Imagine" and groove on.