#sonic boom ending version is about to meet its match

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Action Chain - Sonic Frontiers Update 2: Sonic's Birthday Bash

Ohtani was cooking pure bliss with this one.

[sonicringbond]

Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey - Scene 36

At last we arrive at the end of the 2-parter or 2-weeker if you prefer. Does it have a big dramatic finish? I’ll let you decide that for yourselves in...

    The tiny planet hung in the sky. Above the mountain ruins that Sonic ran through. Above the storm clouds that Draw tried to keep the golems that held Rosy from reaching. Above the blue aurora and the god who stood in Rosy’s dreams. And at last Rosy had heard its name. Yoluku. Or as she and Sonic had taken to calling it in so short a time. Yolk.

    “Ooh~! Even in my sleep that creepy little planet just won’t go away,” Rosy resumed her fusing before turning her eyes back down onto the entity in her dreams. Or tried to.

    “Eh? Huh? What’s going on, I can’t lower my head!”

    Trying her best, and even putting her hands on her head she could not turn her head away from the little planet in the sky. Even waving her arms in front of her face did nothing as her arms simply became transparent.

    “Cree~py!” Rosy cried out and could not even force her eyes closed. “This bad dream is starting to become a nightmare!”

    Rosy was not the only one who could not take her eyes off the little planet in the sky. Sonic found his own eyes affixed to it as he was sure he saw something beyond it which was not the red crack in the sky.

    “Is that…?”

    “…another Red Star Ring?” Draw finished the question as he stood up on a floating eye-type golem and looked up at the heavens through the crown of storm clouds. He did not realize however that he was already in ear shot of Sonic.

    “What are you doing here!” Sonic’s question broke through Draw’s trance and he looked across to where Sonic was glaring at him from a nearby cliff. “And where’s Amy!”

    “I’m trying to catch up! You left me to fend against an army of golems with only a bow and arrow! How was I supposed to keep her safe! And I’m betting you did that too!”

    Pointing up the mountain at the towering entity at its peak, also transfixed on Yoluku, Draw called Sonic’s actions out. “How did waking that thing up come into collecting Rings! What is wrong with you!”

    “Believe it or not, but I was trying to get her some help dealing with that oversized egg in the sky!”

    “Now I know where she gets her food obsession from!”

    Sonic did not humor Draw with a reply and flicked his nose before taking off back up the mountain. He was going to need a great deal of altitude to spot which golem had taken Rosy. Peaking back and forth between the swarm of golems and the entity on the mountain, Sonic noticed it was clutching at the crystal rose that seemed to be its heart.

    “Maybe that will…,” Sonic started before turning to yell back at Draw. “I’m going to do something crazier than ever! Find Amy before I pull it off and get her somewhere safe!”

    “And where would that be!” Draw yelled back, but Sonic was already moving up the mountain in a demonstration of skill that showed just having his speed was not enough to match him in its use.

    Accelerating as he climbed, Sonic hit the sound barrier the moment he reached the end of an incline he had climbed in the blink of an eye. As he left the ramp, he curled into a ball to perform his signature Spin Attack and was like a fired bullet as a sonic boom erupted around him.

    The sound at last drew the entity’s attention away from Yoluku and it turned quick enough for Sonic to pierce its spectral body and land on the gyroscopic mechanism within its heart. And wasting no further time, Sonic devastated the contraption, the ancient stone standing little chance against his fury of attacks.

    “Ha~ hahahahaha!” the entity surprised Sonic by laughing aloud even as it crashed back down into the mountains from which it rose.

    Sonic was flung from where he attacked back down the mountain and through a cloud of flying golems. Within that collection of golems, he spotted Rosy draped across the arms of one that resembled a smaller headless version of the entity’s stone upper half. With a smirk that things were going well for him at last, Sonic twisted his body to find a foothold on another passing golem. With just a flick of his ankles he kicked off and crashed a Spin Attack right into the core of the one that held Rosy.

    In a spectacular display of acrobatics, Sonic recovered from the recoil of his impact and snagged the sleeping Rosy from the air. With her safely in his arms, he allowed himself a smile. “You’re something else, you rascal. Do you always get into this type of trouble when I’m not around?”

    “Maybe…,” Rosy whispered weakly as Sonic’s voice bridged the gap between her dreams and the waking world. But as she turned her head to look at his reassuring face in both her dreams and reality, her eyes fell fully on Yoluku. A jolt tore through her body and she cried out in pain.

    “Sonic! Sonic! It hurts!”

    “Amy!"

    “KYAAAA~~~~~~!!!!!”

    Trying to understand what it was that made Rosy cry out, Sonic turned to look at her to make sure she wasn’t just half asleep. But the way her eyes snapped open in terror told him otherwise.

    It was an expression he never wanted to see on her face, and he felt powerless. In her eyes though he saw Yoluku reflected and a Red Star Ring behind the ominous planet. Turning his head to look back, he saw only a hint of the Red Star Ring’s presence behind Yoluku. In Rosy’s eye however it was clearly reflected. A broken ring at two of the star points, a length of a red gear in the gaps holding the ring together. Reflected so clearly in Rosy’s eyes was it that that very Red Star Ring replaced her left iris and pupil. Sonic could do nothing to hide his surprise and again he heard the entity he came to the mountain to speak with laugh.

    “A fair exchange,” its voice bellowed through the storm as it descended once more onto the mountains. You freed me from Yoluku’s power and now Yoluku has claimed the medium in compensation. Now, even freed I am powerless to help you, and you her. Ha~hahahahaha~!”

~I never learned what Sonic wanted to see up in those mountains. When I came too after passing out from my fever, it was in a seaside hotel. Sonic had been resting on the foot of the bed and greeted me casually when I woke up. He was ready and raring to go in search of his next adventure. He talked about finding Tails as he wanted to learn more about the world and was sure he could help us. But he never talked about what happened up in those mountains and neither did Draw.

    ~Hee-hee! Normally I’d complain about it or comment it wasn’t like Sonic to keep secrets, and I know I didn’t stop asking them for a while. It’s not just that I wanted to know, but that I had to know. My cards wouldn’t tell me anything either. But I know something happened. I didn’t just have a scary dream up on those mountains. I didn’t just get sick. Something happened to me, and I know it had to do with that dreaded little planet, Yolk.

    ~It had to after all.

    ~The Red Star Ring that replaced my left eye from time to time in my reflection was identical to the one I saw behind Yolk in my dream. And even when my eye appeared normal, it sometimes wasn’t blue like my right eye, but the same shade of red as a Red Star Ring. I’m sure Sonic and Draw saw it too. Sonic didn’t show that he did and told me any problems that we had we could just figure out later. He was so optimistic, but the way Draw looked when he looked me in the eye, and then back at Sonic… I know they know and just don’t want me worrying. But I’m stronger than that. Even with a Red Star Ring replacing my left eye every so often, I can still be cheerful and my usual self. I feel great and want to help find Tails and the rest of our friends and I won’t let this little bit of weirdness stop me!~

-|-

    In Tower Point, Claymore the Purple stood with his arms on his hips watching Yoluku from a bridge between towers. He never saw the Red Ring that appeared behind it, but reports would soon arrive to him of sightings of it. The one that would most hold his interest though was barely arriving.

    “Good Knight!” the black robed priest that strode out onto the bridge greeted the three-meter tall autogolem. “You will be pleased to know that we have compiled all of the reports involving those who have seen the Red Star Ring with the gear within.”

     “Ho!” Claymore greeted the priest mirthfully as he turned. “And have you determined if any of them are mediums?”

    “Not per say Good Knight,” The priest scratched the back of their neck and looked away. “It’s just that one of the sightings...”

     “Ho~,” Claymore expressed his curiosity with an exclamation. Squatting down, he leaned in close to the priest. “Pray tell. Did someone hear something at one of these sightings?”

    “It’s not what it sounds like Good Knight,” The priest looked away not sure how Claymore would react. Claymore remained patient however and kept his silence so that the priest might report. So prompted, they continued anxiously.

    “You see Good Knight, and we’re lucky this report was filed at all as it is so unusual, but one of the sightings was not of the Red Star Ring appearing in the sky behind Yoluku. Rather as the left iris of a traveling pink hedgehog girl.”

    “Has the seal grown so weak that Yoluku could act!” Claymore asked as he clenched his fist, the creaking of metal frightening the priest. But Claymore meant the priest no harm and spun to his feet, striding quickly for an entrance to one of the towers the bridge joined. “We must meet with this girl at once. Yoluku acts and we must know why.”

    Before the priest could act, Claymore suddenly turned around and held a finger up, perhaps even winked one of his glowing purple eyes. “But you leave the gathering of soldiers to me. Return to the radios in case of more sightings and forget not the banquet. The people still need hope. And perhaps I might restore the seal myself before then and we can feast in celebration.”

Scene 36 · CLEARED Sonic & Rosy, End

-----

And that wraps up the 2-parter/2-weeker. I hope no one minds that things took a hard shift there at the end, but the idea was to cause an event to get Sonic and Rosy more invested in the lands below Yoluku. Having Rosy get branded in a way is a huge part of that. It also allows me to introduce another bit of interest further down the road. AU or not, this is still a Sonic the Hedgehog story and that means that means he has to face off against machines and protect nature. Or at least if I stick to the usual themes. But we’ll leave that for the future and I hope you enjoyed. Thank you everyone!

-----

Special Thanks to Cutegirlmayra Story by @JoshTarwater/SonicFanJ Inspiring Song – One Last Kiss – Hikaru Utada – From Neon Genesis Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Fair Use Disclaimer

Sonic the Hedgehog and all affiliated characters and logos are the express property and Copyright© of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS used without permission under Title 17 U.S.C Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976 in which allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Fair use” is use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be considered copyright infringement. The Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey alternate universe (AU) consumer written work of fiction is a non-profit transformative work primarily for personal use and can and will be taken down without warning or prior notice at the request of the copyright holder(s) should it not be recognized under “fair use”.

*Sonic Ring Bond logo created by DEE Art – twitter.com/daryliscute.

Sonic Ring Bond AU and Sonic Ring Bond: The Journey are the creation of Joshua David Tarwater/ynymbus/sonicfanj/@Joshtarwater and is to be, including all contents herein considered for all legal purposes the property of the Sonic the Hedgehog intellectual property (IP) and copyright owners, SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS. All story contributors via prompt, suggestion, written scene, art, and all and every other contribution acknowledge that all contributed material is forfeit for legal purposes to SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS upon official request from SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS.

[thankskenpenders]

So there’s this little cartoon you may have heard of...

As I’ve said on this blog before, I’d never watched all of SatAM. This might be shocking to hear from someone who runs a blog dedicated to Archie Sonic and one of the top twenty Bunnie Rabbot fangirls in the world. But it’s true.

SatAM was very difficult to track down compared to other Sonic cartoons when I was a kid, and I just never got around to watching it as an adult. So for the longest time, I had only ever seen the first episode, which I found uploaded in parts on YouTube in 2007. As the one cartoon featuring the characters I liked from the comics, it became sort of this holy grail of Sonic media for me as a kid, especially with people online always talking it up as the best thing ever and petitioning for a revival. Hell, to this day, a lot of people hold it up as this masterpiece and act like the Archie comics were a complete mockery of it

Anyway so I finally got around to watching the whole series with my boyfriend these past couple weeks, and it was pretty good. So instead of covering a comic today, here are some thoughts on the cartoon that started it all

General Thoughts

SatAM is a pretty good show. It isn’t the greatest piece of Sonic media ever, unlike what some older fans will tell you. It might not even be the best Sonic cartoon (you could easily make a case for the Japanese version of Sonic X, or Sonic Boom if you’re looking for something more comedic). It hasn’t aged the most gracefully, in some ways. The animation’s cheap, the stories sometimes bland. But for a DiC-produced video game cartoon from the early ‘90s, it’s really solid

I think that in many ways, SatAM is carried by the strength of its ideas over its actual execution. The darker, more serious tone is a really cool idea, even if at times it can get a little dull, and even if the show actually gets silly as hell pretty often. (This is a show where Snively literally tortures a captive Antoine by preparing French cuisine improperly.) That opening scene of Robotropolis in the first episode actually sets the mood really well and feels like it came straight out of some cyberpunk anime from the ‘80s or ‘90s. The concept of Robotnik turning people into robot slaves is really cool, even if surprisingly little was done with this aside from Uncle Chuck’s storyline. And I think the Freedom Fighters make a great supporting cast for Sonic, even if the writers didn’t use them to their full potential

Interestingly, I’d often heard from fans that season one was the stronger of the two, when I’d say that the opposite is true. Season one episodes were pretty samey, usually involving low stakes missions to Robotropolis with no real continuity, and Sally ended up being a damsel in distress more than I’d like--hell, so did Bunnie in a few episodes. It wasn’t bad, but it was highly repetitive, and I got a little bored at times. Season two had a few real stinkers (the Antoine episodes) and Dulcy was an unwelcome addition, but I thought the heavier focus on continuity gave the season some real momentum and more emotional weight, which made it way more enjoyable overall

Things I Liked

Sonic. I quite liked this version of Sonic, actually! Jaleel White is a great Sonic, and he was written pretty well. At times the extremely tubular ‘90s lingo was grating (I never wanna hear “Gotta juice!” again), but I was surprised to see that this version of Sonic had a lot of heart. He really cared about the well-being of his friends and Uncle Chuck, and they even let him cry a couple times. I thought they struck a good balance between snark and sincerity with him

Sally. I don’t think SatAM Sally was perfect, but I liked her. I’m still of the opinion that she should have been given more ways to defend herself physically (maybe some kind of power of her own) so that Sonic didn’t have to save her as much, but I liked the banter she and Sonic had. Unlike the early Archie comics, Sally doesn’t come off as the bossy girlfriend who ruins Sonic’s fun. Maybe it’s Jaleel White and Kath Soucie’s performances doing most of the work, but they had a fun back and forth dynamic, with Sally’s sarcasm keeping Sonic’s ego in check, but there still being clear chemistry between the two of them

I also liked the greatly reduced emphasis on her being a princess compared to much of Archie’s material. Like yeah, it’s there. Her dad’s the king, and left her some classified info via Nicole. But her status doesn’t really affect things much. They don’t talk about her having this grand destiny and being the next in line to rule. It’s clear that she’s in charge of the Freedom Fighters not because of her status, but because she’s smart, brave, and gets shit done. That’s the Sally I like.

Plus! In the finale, Sally insisted upon going with Sonic for the final confrontation, and was a crucial part of the climax. Her powering up with Sonic and matching his speed and strength ruled. Compare that to the climactic defeat of Robotnik in Archie, where she was fucking dead

Robotnik. I don’t think much needs to be said here. Jim Cummings rules as Robotnik, like everyone has always said. He’s just so evil and so much fun to watch

Snively??? I’ve never cared for Snively as a character, but Charlie Adler rules and his over-the-top performance made the character way funnier than he should’ve been. Just something about all the little noises he makes, and the way he almost shifts into the Red Guy voice at times

Nicole. It was fun to see Nicole start to get more of a personality in season two, having some banter with Sonic and also picking up some slang from him. It makes the later decision to turn Sally’s computer into a full character (which would have happened in season three, and obviously eventually became a big subplot in the comics) make a lot of sense

King Acorn. While he was only around briefly, I liked that he wasn’t a huge dick, unlike Archie’s King Max

Things I Didn’t Like

The misuse of the other Freedom Fighters. This is, by far, the show’s greatest crime.

I already write approximately 100k words a week on this blog about how I think Bunnie Rabbot is amazing and criminally underused, so I’ll keep this brief, but I was shocked to see how little she was used in this show. People tend to say Dulcy stole her screentime in season two, but she didn’t have much to do in the first season either! We somehow never got a single episode focusing on her. The one where she got temporarily deroboticized focused much more on Uncle Chuck. We never got to learn the story behind her roboticization, or delved into her feelings on the matter much. She mostly just served as a positive, lighthearted supporting member of the team who acts cute and gets some funny lines, but usually stays home

Antoine might have been even worse, honestly. Like, they used him so much! They had multiple episodes focusing entirely on him! And yet I’m not sure he ever really helped. Sonic and Sally kept taking him along, but every single time it felt like it would’ve been a wiser decision to bring Bunnie instead. The jokes about his broken English were just dumb, and god, the way he constantly hits on Sally and starts kissing her hand at the most inappropriate times is just SO fucking creepy. SatAM Antoine is just a horrible, one-dimensional stereotype. There’s a reason why readers of the Archie comics wanted him out of the series until later writers majorly rehabilitated him

Rotor also didn’t get much use, which was a shame, but it at least felt like he was used efficiently. I got the vibe that Rotor was much more bitter about the war with Robotnik than his friends, and it would’ve been interesting to see this explored more. At least we got that one fun episode where he went to space with Sonic

Dulcy. Oh my fucking god. I wanted to like Dulcy! I really did! But most of the time she was just a clutz used for comic relief, and they kept reusing the same joke where she crashed, bumped her head, got dizzy, and thought she was talking to her mom. This happened in almost every episode she was in.

The other miscellaneous Freedom Fighters. Like in the early Archie comics, none of the other miscellaneous Mobians they meet were as interesting as the core cast. They just always felt very bland and I was never as invested in them as the writers wanted me to be. Ari was boring, and that episode where they found the underground city and this other dude started hitting on Sally was a drag. Lupe’s cute though

Rings. This is a common problem in Sonic adaptations, but the fact that rings always serve as Sonic’s instant win button kind of sucks. Basically any time Sonic’s in a pinch, he pulls a ring out of his backpack, powers up, and wins. Not exactly a recipe for suspenseful action

Oh, also, I did kinda find it weird how much Sonic and Sally kissed? Like, all the time? Often while their friends just stand there and stare at them? Not something I’d expect from a Sonic cartoon

Things Archie Did Better

I’ll limit this to the first 50 issues or so, since I don’t think it would be fair to compare two short seasons of SatAM to the highlights of nearly 500 issues of comics

Tails. Tails is okay in SatAM, Archie just used him as Sonic’s sidekick way more. He was barely even in the show. Poor little guy only gets to play dirt hockey all day

Bunnie. Again, Bunnie was underutilized in both series, but the Archie comics did her better. They actually showed the story of how she got roboticized (even if it was a silly story), and they got to flesh her out a bit more. Gallagher showing that she was a carrot farmer before her roboticization and saying she wanted to be a hairdresser was at least something. And as I keep harping on, Rich Koslowski’s backup story in #37 where we find out Bunnie has recurring nightmares about her robot parts taking over and making her a threat to her friends? This single backup story did more to flesh her out than all 26 episodes of SatAM combined

Antoine. Not hard to do better than SatAM here, really. He was really bad early on, serving as little more than Sonic’s punching bag, but eventually they started to set up a romance between him and Bunnie and explored his past a bit, saying that Antoine’s father (his personal role model) was a member of the royal guard who was roboticized in the war. While he still had a long way to go, these were important first steps towards him being a decent character. Hell, these days, being Bunnie’s love interest is one of Antoine’s defining characteristics! And it doesn’t come from the cartoon at all

Roboticization in general. I was surprised how little this came up in the cartoon! In the comics, it’s such a central element. We see more of the heroes’ loved ones turned into robots, and we even got some fun stories where characters like Sonic and Sally were roboticized temporarily. The Freedom Fighters’ efforts to reverse the process was a major part of the plot for quite a while. Bunnie’s fear of losing control is a pretty important part of her character (even if it was only touched on briefly), and after they’re rescued, the rest of the Mobians fear that the “Robians” (including Sonic’s entire family) will turn evil again. It comes up a lot! There are interesting things to discuss here! But SatAM only really talks about Uncle Chuck. We never even see what happened to everyone else

Closing Thoughts

SatAM is not the best show in the world, but it is a solid and enjoyable one. It’s easy to see why people who grew up with it are fond of it, even if I think that it’s long past time certain fans quit acting like it’s the only valid take on the Sonic source material and petitioning for a third season. At the very least, the concepts and characters introduced here are strong ones, and it’s easy to see how they spawned over 20 years of comics exploring said ideas in greater detail. While I’m not sure I could recommend it to non-fans, I think it’s definitely worth checking out for Sonic fans who missed out on it (especially fans of the Archie comics)

Anyway I got to see Bunnie dropkick some Swatbots twice her height so I had fun

[getaroomyouheck]

Album Analysis #15: Linkin Park, The Hunting Party (2014)

(ayyy sorry for taking so long, we’re finally back with the album analysis’! thank you all for being patient with me, i hope this meets your expectations)

Linkin Park was a band that had always been a piece of my childhood. Yet for the longest time, I only knew of Hybrid Theory (2002), Meteora (2003), and Minutes to Midnight (2007). Despite the memes and such regarding the group, I held them up in high regard, with Minutes to Midnight standing as one of my favorite albums ever made.

It wasn’t until the passing of frontman Chester Bennington that I really begun giving attention back to this band, and began to survey releases I hadn’t listened to, like A Thousand Suns (2010). And while that album is fine for what it is, what drew me to The Hunting Party was its heavy rock sound, reminiscent of their earliest works.

So going into this album, I want to hear that heaviness really come to life. I wanna hear Chester’s screams and those chugging guitars and that aggressive beauty. Let’s begin, shall we?

Keys to the Kingdom: Instant attention grabber of an intro, a really great way to begin the record. Chester’s pained screams diluted with an audio effect over them, sounding glitched out and demolished. Only for the roaring guitars and heavy drums to kickstart and fire off into the song. Just hyper aggression and energy, throttling drums and soaring vocals and guitars atop it. Hell, even this structure feels like classic Linkin Park, Mike rapping or singing over the verses, with Chester coming in and screaming his way through the chorus. What changes it is that instead of the nu-metal sound of Hybrid Theory or Meteora, this is full heavy hardcore rock and metal, and I adore it. It’s aggressive, it’s punchy, and above all else it sounds wonderful. I especially love the instrumental bridge, the sound cuts out abruptly and begins to build back into itself, with a buildup of layering guitars and drum patterns. Eventually it just builds into this absolute explosion of grimy guitars and crashing cymbals and snare hits, an overwhelming cacophony of sound, which leads us right back to the refrain of the chorus to end it off. 

Lyrics are not as huge a highlight here, which might be my only criticism to it. What stands out, stands out very much, like the chorus where Chester screams out “No control. No surprise. Throw the keys to the kingdom down that hole in my eyes.” and the verses are rich with shit talking and imagery paralleling war. Linkin Park is, in a sense, committing war and fighting back against all their naysayers. With the 2nd verse from Mike being a direct callout, with the line “Careful what you shoot because you might hit what you aim for”. Some bars from Mike do get kinda swarmed in the sound of the instruments, which while sounding good does take away from his words. Other than that, this is an amazing song which kicks off THP near perfectly. Fantastic, a favorite for sure. 9.5/10

All for Nothing (ft. Page Hamilton): A slower more methodical track after the punchy opening Keys to the Kingdom was, and a little bit worse in my opinion. Definitely not bad, I think the verses from Mike are some of the best on the project, and the instrumentation and production is crisp and fantastic. I especially love the grimy fuzzy guitars on this one, they really underscore the verses incredibly well. Mike’s bars themselves are charged and full of anger. It’s egotistical, but in an entertaining way, like how he states “And no, I'm not your soldier, I'm not taking any orders. I'm a five-star general infantry controller”. It shows that even years on down as an MC he still has that anger and energy that made his bars work. What holds the rest of the song back is I think the pre-chorus and chorus kinda kill the momentum and anger of Mike’s verses. It doesn’t link together well, and instead of feeling like a nice natural link between verse to pre-chorus, it feels like the song hesitates and stutters a bit. It’s a shame, because everything else is still great. I just wish the chorus and how it linked to the verses was better. 8/10

Guilty All the Same (ft. Rakim): In sharp contrast to the last track, this one is bursting with energy and passion. I ADORE the minute long instrumental opening. Beginning with lo-fi crashing cymbals and guitars to loop into a super crisp version of it. Then cutting off to an instrumental buildup from guitar into the main riff utilized in the chorus. Just in general the instrumentation and production of this song is perfect. They know when to make the guitars sharp or fuzzy, exactly how to make the cymbals crash and smash in the right way, how to make each hit of the snare sound like a gun going off. It sounds wonderful, especially underneath the vocals. Unlike most of the songs on THP, this is mostly just a song with Chester. He handles most of the songs vocals besides the guest verse by Rakim, and as always his vocals are infectious and commanding. His utter power as a vocalist in both singing and screaming was always what drew me and others to Linkin Park, and that’s in full effect here. The guest verse from Rakim is also incredibly good, he finds an interesting way to find all these pockets and flows overtop these fuzzy guitars and bass-filled drums, it’s like rap-metal almost. This then breaks back into one more repeat of the chorus and the final explosion that breaks into silence.

Both Chester and Rakim’s lyrics stand out wonderfully and match the angry aggressive sound of the song. Calling out the industry as a whole, caught in their guilt whilst trying to set blame, attaching that grander message and applying it to record labels and their ever present lust for money over genuine talent or strong music. Where Chester’s verse is more basic and has larger more broader strokes in its narrative, Rakim’s verse is clearcut, and the message is sharpened and jagged in its bladed diatribes. Mentioning “corporate hands is filthy” and “All they think about is bank accounts, assets, and realty.” as direct stabs at the grander corporations iron grip on the media we consume. Passion is snuffed out in favor of what sells. It’s a message stated wonderfully through both vocalists, mixed with the crisp instrumentation and energetic fervor, this is definitely one of the favorites. 10/10

The Summoning: Probably the weakest piece here, there isn’t especially much to say. It’s just a 70 second interlude piece between Guilty All the Same and the next song, War. While the sonic landscape it builds is nice, it’s cut far too short to really build up to anything worthwhile or impactful. In the grand scheme of the album and with so many other far more impactful cuts, including a far more atmospheric instrumental piece later in the record, this one just falls to the side. Inoffensive and nice on the ears for the time being, but not anything close to standout or memorable in a way most other songs here are. The one song that being cut from the record would not detriment it in any real way. 6.5/10

War: Easily the track with the most blistering punk energy here, at just over 2 minutes it’s an incredibly scorching speeding track filled with fast energetic guitar riffs and a frenetic blood pumping drum performance layered in with Chester’s screams and strong vocal performance. There’s barely any breaks, from the opening lo-fi guitar scratches and riffs to the looped audience laughter at the end, it’s a pummeling track that has you headbanging and screaming the whole way through. Like most of the albums songs, the lyrics feature a heavy war motif, this time speaking of the general chaos found in war. As Chester states, “It needs to sides to justify, laying down your life”. War does not care about the sides you fight on, if it’s right or not. It will render you null and slaughter you all the same, no matter whom is ostensibly correct. Really the only issues I have with the piece is that like The Summoning, I feel it doesn’t have enough time to really flesh out to be a super standout track. It’s incredibly fun and powerful for the time it’s active, but it doesn’t have too long to be something I can truly say wowed me. Still awesome though. 8.5/10

Wastelands: A nice cooldown from the blistering heat of the last track. It feels more in the Linkin Park wheelhouse, Mike rapping the verses and Chester handling the chorus. It has a very nice production crunch to it, amplifying the drums during Mike’s verses only to have the guitars explode out with energy in the chorus. There’s a nice push and pull dynamic in the song that’s created by this choice, creating a nice duo between the poetry being rapped and the poetry being sung. It once again features pieces of war imagery, but it’s more direct in its commentary.  Rather than being a conceptual musing on war or some metaphorical drive, it’s a very angry critique at the direction of rock, or rather it’s misdirection. Referring to the grand landscape as a metaphorical wasteland, where all true musiciosos who once made rock have abandoned. Mike’s verses are lined with braggadocio, stating his verses rise above all and that what he’s spitting is far above the drivel his contemporaries spit. For the most part, it works, but there are a couple issues I have with the piece. Some of Mike’s rapping can feel stilted and a fair amount of the lines don’t seem to particularly connect to the topic of the song, and feel more like the people he is supposedly stating are trash. It’s still a very well done song, and one I would easily return too, but it feels kind of weak in that department. 8/10

Until It’s Gone: This piece is one of the more emotionally resonant and impactful tracks on the entire record, taking a more lamenting and heartfelt passionate performance in both instrumentals and vocal performance from Chester. There’s a definite boom in each smash of the snare, a bassy overwhelming crunch in the guitar, the instruments layer and unite with the vocals to create this almost marching feeling. It strangely reminds me of the booming repetition found in a couple songs on Swans LP To Be Kind (2014), particularly the cut Nathalie Neal. It creates a feeling of marching to war, that you and the insurmountable masses are all marching towards another goal, a brighter future perhaps. It’s one of the more triumphant songs Linkin park have crafted in terms on the progression and feel from the piece. In that strength I feel it resonates and booms with impact as one of the strongest cuts here. The only real weakness is that the ending with the small beat with skittering hi-hats and explosive snare hits feels a bit tacked on; but it doesn’t take away from the core song and experience found here.

 Speaking of which, the lyrics and poetry Cjester sings here are what make the song whole and piece everything together. Rather than building on the anger and prevalent war imagery found all over the record, it stands out with a muse and waxing poetic on the concept of what you have and what you lose. Specifically, the famous saying of “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone”. It’s that exactly mantra Chester passionately sings in the chorus of this song, verses taking on a similar tone and message. Lines like “I can finally see your light when you let go” refer to this idea, that sometimes you can only recognize the true benefit and reason for why you have something or someone only when they’re gone. It’s a message to cherish the things you have and never let them go. Which, given what’s happened to Chester, is simply heart wrenching. One of my favorite cuts here, amazing in most every way. 9.5/10

Rebellion (ft. Daron Malakian): In a very sharp contrast to the prior cut here, Rebellion is one of the most blistering and energetic throttling cuts here on the entire record. In no short part to the guest guitarist Daron Malakian, of System of a Down fame. This feature immediately excited me, as SOAD was one of the most creative and very incredible metal acts to sprout up in the late 90’s/early 2000’s. Blending alt-metal with elements of polka, Russian folk music, Armenian hymns, and much more. The instrumental performance here is nothing short of excellent, fast and powerful guitar riffs and chugs connect wondrously with the tumultuously churning drum beat. Overwhelming with it’s instrumental power, barely any breaks to be held here. Akin to a cut like War, but even more filled out and more standout in the way the piece progresses and the vocal cuts found from both Chester and Mike. It almost feels like a SOAD track, just featuring vocals from Linkin Park. With how creative the chord progression is and the multi-faceted structure and switching tempo’s found all over the cut, very reminiscent of a piece like B.Y.O.B or Radio/Video in that sense.

Lyrically I feel it stands out prominently as well. It’s a piece focused on the political instability found all across the world, more specifically calling out the whinging and whining from those in first-class worlds. The message is best exemplified by the chorus’ repeating of the line “We are the fortunate ones, who never faced oppressions gun”. In comparison to places where people's rights are violated almost every singular moment, us in First World countries have no right to complain. While I feel that it’s a bit too broadly painted, the core message of “There are people who suffer far worse than us, so sit down and shut the fuck up” I agree with. And even discounting that, it’s still a wondrously put together piece. Arguably my favorite song on the entire record, def one of the best songs Linkin Park ever put together. 10/10

Mark the Graves: Much like the prior track, Mark the Graves is a very instrumentally-oriented track, driven most heavily by the ever present guitarwork lining the record. An incredibly creatively structured and segmented piece, not following the standard song structure found in other pieces here. Alongside this chopped abstract structure, there are constantly changing rhythms and tempos, cutouts of silence that lead into explosive colossuses of sound, smashing drums and overblown bass layer in alongside the guitars. Buildups and blistering walls of flame give way to a repetitious marching drumbeat, echoing and bridging towards another beast of sound. Chester’s screamed delivery following a softly delivered refrain into the outro. The entire piece oozes creativity and uniquity in structure and delivery, sound and presentation, and it hits aces in essentially every aspect. Even lyrics, while not the prominent quality, still fuse and work with the soundscape quite well.

This is a song about memory and mistakes, more so the mistakes of your past and trying to reconcile and atone or make peace with what you have wrongly done. Each line in the verse makes references to the past and seeking to atone, specifically within the line “If we can’t let go, we’ll never say goodbye”. Chester is telling us that to truly say goodbye and forget the past, you have to let go and make do with your mistakes. All you do by holding on is chasing yesterday’s ghosts, and ignoring tomorrow’s premonition. You have to live and let go, otherwise you’ll forever be trapped in the sin of your own failures. A sin of your own machinations, manifest by the mistakes never once rectified or forgiven. It’s a beautiful piece, firing on each cylinder and making no mistakes in idea, or execution. An absolute favorite for sure, no problems whatsoever. 10/10

Drawbar (ft. Tom Morello): This cut was actually one that took me a long while to really get into. Like The Summoning, it’s another instrumental track that serves as an interlude between Mark the Graves to Final Masquerade. Featuring the acclaimed guitarwork of Tom Morello, of Rage Against the Machine fame. Arguably one of the most talented and creative guitarists in the entire scene. Yet, for the longest time I thought this was the weakest cut here. It felt far too plodding, not nearly as throttling or memorable as most other cuts here were. But one day, it clicked, and what I once saw as plodding, was slowly creeping and building suspension and tension in the piece. Each swirling synth, each sangling piano hit, each small snare hit or hi-hat tap, they all add to this creeping feeling of the piece. It’s a languorous and dreading piece, that builds to a climax within this sonic landscape. While I still feel the production sounds cheap at times or that the guitar work can sound somewhat flat for someone as skilled as Morello, it serves its purpose well, and is a track I can easily see myself coming back to. 8.5/10

Final Masquerade: Unlike both Rebellion and Mark the Graves, this is a heart-bleeding cut in which the power comes from the lyrics and Chester’s incredible vocal prowess, almost ballad-esque in the sonic ideas found here. Slower than virtually every other song on this record, it holds a heartbreaking resonance to it that rings true through the entire piece. Instead of blistering and energetic, this penultimate piece has hollow, lamenting guitar tones and a slow, pounding, consistent drumbeat, as if a heartbeat to the final moments of life breathed. Of course, the main focus here is Bennington’s vocal performance, and this is one of his most emotionally powerful and sorrowful pieces he’s ever delivered. Barely any screams to be found here, simply powerful delivery in sung vocal passages, tugging at the heartstrings and making his words manifest in their consonance and passion. Lyrics here are the other main standout besides Chester’s ever beautiful singing, and they’re some of the most powerful in the entire bands career.

This song dictates the falling out of some sort of relationship. Words never said, thoughts never expressed, slowly creating a gap and filling both members hearts with despair and mistrust towards one another. Each day becomes darker, light ebbing away into the darkness of both their locked hearts, apathy rendering what was once there null. As said in the song, “All I ever wanted, the secrets that you keep. All you ever wanted, the truth I couldn't speak”. One refuses to tell them their secrets, the other refused to tell them their truth. It’s the natural way fallings out tend to happen. Both partners simply feel nothing, and refuse to just open their hearts and just speak what they need to speak. Only speaking when it’s too late, when there’s no longer a red string of fate tying them both to the same destiny. No flaws about this piece, beyond gorgeous. Absolutely top 10 Linkin Park song, favorite song here next to Rebellion. Perfection. 10/10

A Line in the Sand: This isn’t the first time LP have concluded a record with a 6+ minute long epic, their album Minutes to Midnight ended in much the same fashion with the piece The Little Things Give You Away. Though whereas that was lamenting, heartfelt ballad about Hurricane Katrina and the horrific damage and fear it brewed in millions, this is a blood pumping, throttling cut packed with screams, slowdowns and swift tempo changes, adrenaline pumping rap sections, and much more. Powerful vocal performances from both Mike and Chester, as per usual I suppose. Long instrumental bridges that lead into charged, anger intensified pieces of energy and flame, into quiet leading passages once more. Genuinely, this feels almost like the bands quintessential song. It feels like Linkin Park’s message and ethos of how and why they make music distilled into a singular piece. Hell, I’m pretty sure Shinoda has said something to that effect in some interview a while back somewhere. Lyrically, this is no different as well.

Lyrics are essentially an encapsulation of the lyrical themes and ideas found present within the rest of the record prior to this. Anger against the ineptitude and growing complacence in the rock scene and music industry. Rage against the critics and those who lambasted LP when they dropped their nu-metal sound post-Meteora, calling them out on their hypocrisy against them. Shinoda puts it best with his lines the 2nd verse, stating “I'd never been a coward, I'd never seen blood. You'd sold me an ocean and I was lost in the flood”. He put trust into these critics and faith in this industry, as he was inexperienced and didn’t know what to think about these things. Like he said, he was sold an ocean but was lost in the flood. From his inexperience came anger, and now he’s here to pay his dues and collect his repentance for what these critics gave done. While not a perfect encapsulation and send off like Final Masquerade probably would have been, it’s essentially who Linkin Park is, or was, distilled into a singular song. Fantastic, a favorite for sure. 9.5/10

Final thoughts + rating: After the relative disappointment of Living Thing’s (2012), this was an incredible return to form for the group. That heavy, aggressive sound I was searching for was found in aces all across this record, plus the wonderful bonus of some more slower melodic pieces as well. And alongside with some incredible instrumental features really making the whole thing come together. Just front to back, nonstop aggression, adrenaline and excitement. All around, this album is a 9/10 for me. Easily one of my favorite releases in the Linkin Park discography, second only to Meteora and Minutes to Midnight. An album I have returned to several times prior to writing this, and one I will continue to return to several times afterwards

Favorite songs: Keys to the Kingdom, Guilty All the Same, Until It’s Gone, Rebellion, Mark the Graves, Final Masquerade, A Line in the Sand

Least favorite song: The Summoning

[neo-losangeles]

here is my review for charli xcx’s number 1 angel. (which i am pitching for the school news paper, as a writing sample, so i can write music/tv for them.)

 AGH IM SO EXCITED AND IM HAPPY THAT I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THIS REVIEW. its like 700 words so that is pretty short and concise  highlighting the strengths and weakness of a record that i think is really cool. anyways, wish me luck. I'm pitching this to a nb-poc frat bro who writes about future x__x 

Standing alone in red with a white rose we find a confident Charli XCX fully invested in her neon-nihilism of her latest effort, ‘Number 1 Angel.’ In the porous space of mixtape and album rendered by her record labels indecisiveness. XCX’s cathartic relief of releasing new music finds her own lane in between pop’s mainstream and it’s avant garde. However, XCX’s talent has yet to be warranted by a higher level of success. It has had its ebbs and flows reaching highs in 2012’s featured ‘I Love It!’ with Icona Pop, positioning her as a writer who can write a song of the summer. In 2014 reaching a double-hit of the assisted Iggy Azalea ‘Fancy’ and her own glittery song ‘ Boom Clap.’ Her latest effort ‘Number 1 Angel’ defiant like her pose on the album cover exudes a non-chalantness of ever reaching Rihanna-esque heights and is much more comfortable in her own reckless self-possession and agency reflected in the music’s neon-nihilism.

‘Roll With Me,’ a standout, is a fluttering track highlighting XCX’s sweetness in her voice only to be juxtapositioned to Sophie’s hyper-feminine tinker toybots ‘Yeah-yea’ chants against a demented drumdrops. Number 1 Angel is situated at the club, specifically at after-hours like in song ‘3 Am’ featuring Mo. The pseudo tropical-house record on obsessing over a hook-up only to be victorious and break the masochistic habit.

Travis Scott’s ‘Goosebumps’ is a song of reference for the record’s interests in moody goth-trap music.  ‘Blame It On You’’s rap-sung verses example pop’s pop’s recentering of hip-hop influences sonically and vocally even if it’s embellished by PC-music’s manic pixie vocals. The two can meet and still exude a coolness like in opening  track, ‘Dreamer’ featuring Starrah, responsible for Rihanna’s ‘Needed Me,’ and Raye offer two verses that match up to XCX’s confidence that make for an ambitious girl group between them.

Finally, arriving to ‘Babygirl,’ gifts the listener a break from the heavy-club smoke for a lighter sunnier song featuring British ‘throw-back’ rapper Uffie. ‘Babygirl’ full of 80’s sunny synth showcasing XCX’s talents of writing a catchy hook; however, is eclipsed by Uffie’s superfun performance, “Gloss on my lips, pop/Sun in my eyes/Goes the other liquor from inside.” The problematics of having too many features even if XCX feels a sense of camaraderie with her peers for having making it thus far, allowing them a shine, often eclipses one of pop music’s most exciting ladies.

‘Babygirl,’ nonetheless, showcases XCX’s vulnerability in her performance and in her voice. A principle factor of why a cheesy record like 2014’s Boom Clap resonated with many becoming a hit. Number 1 Angel’s version of ‘Boom Clap’ is ‘Emotional,’ a record on the teetering lines of guilt and pleasure of having enough self-control to not cheat. The lyrics, themselves, read outloud are shallow yet it is in her vocal delivery where the listener can feel the longing for wanting someone you can’t have. ‘ILY2’ like ‘Emotional’ propose this silly lyric dilemma which can only be answered through XCX’s sincere vulnerability of the refusal of being vulnerable and tender. She sings, “I don’t talk a lot/So you should listen up, I mean it when I say/I’m not afraid, it’s okay/You know I love you too,” alongside Danny L Harle’s cutesy synths. The last half of the record is spent back in the club only to find the drugs are wearing off and it’s almost

5 am like mid-tempo ‘Drugs,’ featuring Atlanta singer Abra. A record that is most fun at the end where it’s hypnotic-psychedelic drop capturing the shameful yet familiar ecstasy of messing around with an ex you just can’t let go.  

XCX found a great balance of working with pop producers and the PC music collective eliminating the worst parts of them:2-D femininity avatars and uncool chaos that ends up sounding like noise. XCX brings her song writer pen that keep up, animate, and sometimes override the over-production like in ‘Lipgloss’ featuring Chicago rapper Cupcakke. Here, again, XCX’s voice is flattened into a hyper-feminine robot; yet, her self-possessed confidence exudes overriding Sophie’s parody ironic hyper-pink synths. Cupcakke’s filthy verses are hilariously boisterous shouting out iCarly and being above it like an ovary.

Closing the record with a convincing argument of not having the mainstream bend to her will rather than her bending too theirs. An effort that has not been electronically exciting since, perhaps, Britney Spears Blackout. Number 1 Angel is a hell of a ride asking its listeners to come to a party steering far way of Ed Sheeran's formulaic pop of ‘putting that body on him;’ but rather into a more femme and darker after-hours of pop music.