This album is an immediate masterpiece for anyone who likes big loud guitars, tight melodies and harmonies, and ass-kicking rhythms. If you even liked the Foo Fighters before, you will fall in love with this album.  When the eagerly anticipated album leaked to the internet last week, the Foos said “F#$% it! Here you go, internet– streaming for free on our website!” If you don’t already own it, go buy it now!  Ok?  Ok.

Now let’s talk about the story behind the album. If you saw the documentary Back and Forth that premiered at SXSW (my review here) and is currently in rotation on VH1 Classics, you know the story behind the album: Dave Grohl wanted to go back and record an album “the way we used to” in his garage, all on analog tape. As someone who used to mess around with recording on analog 4-tracks back in the day in various drummers’ garages and basements (or certain log cabins on Timpview Drive in Provo….) I remember the analog days well and understand the nostalgia- they were just somehow warmer and more real than the digital approximations with 1s and os. Especially since on some of those 4 track recordings we did covers of old Foo songs Big Me, For All the Cows, I’ll Stick Around, Walking After You…. ah, the 90’s. (And a shout out to anyone who ever came to a show to see me play in The Basement, Roger the Shrubber, Waiting for Godot, or any other bands I was in around various Utah County venues.)

And then came digital recorders. And ProTools. And you could fix everything on your computer or autotune your vocals so Britney Spears had talent, etc. And maybe I’m getting too old and falling into “Kids these days and their music” but I just can’t get as excited about a lot of mainstream music that sounds so overproduced and manufactured. And so I love the idea of Foo Fighters trying something revolutionary by recording how albums used to be recorded.

This also fits well into the oeuvre of Foo Fighters, who have had a history of doing low budget recordings and getting superior results to over-produced albums. The 1995 Foo Fighters album was recorded basically as a demo cassette by Dave Grohl playing all the instruments himself. 2000’s There is Nothing Left to Lose, for which they won 3 Grammys, was recorded in Dave Grohl’s basement. The follow-up, One by One, cost a million dollars to record and was basically unreleasable. Grohl and co re-did it in a week, again with help from his home studio, and it was a hit.

And now enter Butch Vig, he the drummer/songwriter/co-producer of Garbage, he the producer of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish and Siamese Dream, Helmet’s Betty, and various awesomeness by Freedy Johnston, Soul Asylum… oh, and he’s also recently produced for Muse and Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown if you need an album produced after 2005.  So Dave Grohl tells him he wants to record on analog tape in his garage- and Butch goes for it. In some ways, this seems very simple: Butch just pointed a mic at the band and they do what they do. The results are pure Foo.

So much of this reminds me of Dethklok complaining that their music sounded “too digital” and so they engineer a way to record on water. But for Foo Fighters, the result is an amazingly warm and personal album. Let’s get to the tracks:

1. “Bridge Burning” The album starts with a bang, the first line a scream, “THESE ARE MY FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!!!!!” Amazing rock track with a chorus hook that if you aren’t singing all day long I may doubt your humanity. Oh yeah, they played this on The Daily Show last night.

2. “Rope” Am I the only one who thinks the opening riff sounds like King Missle’s “Detachable Penis”?  It’s seems so blatant that this has to be an homage of some sort. But another amazing rock track and I would not have picked this for a single over other, more obvious choices.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byDiILrNbM4

3. “Dear Rosemary”  Featuring vocals from Husker Du/Sugar frontman/legend Bob Mould, this is an amazing rock ballad that really takes advantage not only of having three guitars in the band, but each of their individual styles mixed to perfection. The harmonies from Mould also just perfectly make this song, and lead to a bridge with one of the best hooks of an album full of amazing ones.

4. “White Limo” This song and video have been around for a while (Foos released it as a “valentine” to their fans on Feb 12), but it just reminds me so perfectly of earlier, playful Foo songs of balls-to-the-wall punk metal like Watershed, Weenie Beenie, or Nirvana’s Radio Friendly Unit Shifter. Don’t know what it has to do with a white limo since I can’t understand the words, but I’ll bang my head to it regardless.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebJ2brErERQ

5. “Arlandria” Again an incredibly catchy song in the rock ballad realm with a chorus tailor made to be sung along with in a summer stadium tour. I’d say this is a favorite, but it’s hard to pick among these songs because so much of the album is so good. They also played this on The Daily Show where Dave Grohl discusses haircare and how the collective Foo children destroy backstage greenrooms that rival Van Halen.

6. “These Days” This song starts off so innocent and pretty and then RAWKS into a power anthem. Again, this just perfectly showcases the hard edge and soft underside of the essence of what it is to be Foo Fighters.

7. “Back & Forth” This seems so obviously to be a personal reflection by Grohl on his musical career and what he’s looking for now. This song obviously also provided the director of the Foo documentary with a title because of its meaning about the evolution of the band over the last decade and a half.

8. “A Matter of Time” Another uptempo rock number with a prechorus that would rock your sock off if he didn’t punctuate it with a “woo-oo!” to give it a little pop edge. Here’s where the Foos always surprise me- as such an amazing rock band they throw in these little pop punctuations and it’s just amazing.

9. “Miss the Misery” Starting with feedback and a distorted wah-wah pedal, this sounds more like some of Grohl’s other Seattle compatriots (Soundgraden, Alice in Chains) in its melancholy melodies and tight harmonies backed by heavy guitar riffs and screaming choruses. Yes, all of those are good things, especially in an album which tilts towards pop rock. This provides some needed balance and we head into…

10. “I Should Have Known” Featuring Krist Novoselic on bass and accordion (you remember his accordion from Nirvana Unplugged’s Jesus Don’t Want Me for a Sunbeam, right?) Grohl described this a song about a relationship, but as he thought more about it he looked back on all the times in his life he should’ve seen something coming. This song also contains the most powerful and memorable musical phrases of the album in the chorus. This also starts off really unassuming and pretty and ends up a bloody screaming mess. And you can tell Novoselic’s bass as you really hear that grungy, fuzzy bass that permeated Nirvana’s signature sound.

11. “Walk” The perfect chaser to the melancholy portions of the album. You could cobble this together with Learn to Fly and Times Like These into a power trio of songs of rock redemption. And for an album that began with a prophecy of famous last words, Grohl repeats over and over, almost mantra like, I never wanna die, I never wanna die.  Agreed. And if you’re going to keep making music like this, same here.

And that’s Wasting Light. You already bought it– so go listen to it! Enjoy! I haven’t bought an honest to goodness physical CD in… 5, 7 years? It’s been mp3s and ipods for me exclusively. Somehow it seemed right to buy this on an actual CD (and the vinyl version is coming in two weeks for you true analog fiends– I applaud you) – and it now sits in my car’s CD player and is unlikely to leave that place for the rest of the year. Yes, the mp3s will go on my ipod, but this will be enjoyed as a cohesive album and not just in my ADD-laden playlists and random selections.

Thank you Foo Fighters. Thank you Dave Grohl.

5 Stars.

One for Dave, one for Pat, one for Taylor, one for Nate, one for Chris.  Wait. Can I give an extra star to Butch Vig for producing this? 6 stars? Unprecedented. But perhaps worthy.

Warner Brothers has sent out a few promotional shots of Ryan Reynolds in full body GL regalia today and it’s, well, intersting how form fitting the uniform is. Take a look for yourself.

It looks like all that training by Kilowog really keeps the rookie Lanterns on their toes! Seriously though, I don’t know why the costume designers decided to go in this direction. I suppose the argument for an ultra-form fitting costume could me made, but if that were really the case, all of the Green Lantern Corps would be arrested for indecent exposure. On second thought, maybe we should be glad they stopped at the toes. Let us know what you think!

Mimoco has been kind enough to provide us with a brand new Joker Mimo-bot to give away to one lucky reader of Big Shiny Robot!

For those of you who don’t know, Mimobots are small flash drives that can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are painted like all of your favorite characters. I’ve raved about their Star Wars line, but now they’ve teamed up with DC Comics to provide you with the best of what comics have to offer.

For those of you who don’t want to wait until the contest is over, be sure to visit Mimoco and pick up some of these invaluable flash drives all on your own.

As for the 2GB Joker we’re giving away, all you need to do is shoot us an email at editor (at) bigshinyrobot.com. For an extra chance to win, you can go to our facebook page and invite all of your friends to like us. Or you can ask your followers on twitter to follow us @BigShinyRobot. Just be sure to mention in your email that you’ve done it.

I need all of the emails in by Friday at Midnight MST.

UPDATE: We are giving away THREE (3!) more Mimobots from the Batman line! Click here to learn how to enter!

We’re back with another episode of The Big Movie Mouth-Off podcast!

The podcast features the stars and producers of The Big Movie Mouth-Off film review show, which appears here at Big Shiny Robot! and on Xfinity (Utah On Demand and Channel 6). That lineup is: Jeff Vice from MSN Entertainment, Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine, and Bryan Young (me) and Elias Pate from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.

To download the latest episode from iTunes, follow this link.

There, you should rate and subscribe to the podcast.

This week, we talked about:

• Hawkeye in Thor
• Movie News
• Best assassinations in film
• Best movies about hitmen

Listen! Let us know what you think! Spread the word!

For those of you who don’t like iTunes, you can get a direct .mp3 here. And you can add the BSR! podcast RSS feed by right clicking this link.

We have some reviews from earlier in the year that somehow slipped through the cracks.  So first we have Battle: Los Angeles:

Beastly:

And Rango:

When I stumbled upon this bit of news about a Batman live stage show, my mind immediately went to the train wreck that is (or, looks like now, was) Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Apparently, though, this is a show that has been put together by Anthony Van Laas, who has done choreography for Mamma Mia! and Sister Act, and has described this production as “Described as neither a musical, nor a traditional theatrical production, but ‘an elaborate all-new, all-action arena production aimed at kids and families.'” – So, yeah, whatever that means.

This production is set to start touring the UK this July with plans to come to the US in 2012. Batman Live follows an original script written specifically for the show that is a retelling of how Dick Grayson becomes Robin and features a handful of villains including, The Joker, The Riddler, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman. I tried to find a bit more out about this production, but all I could really find was just a bunch of blurbs talking the show up about how big of a lavish spectacle it will be, and how “we” have never seen anything like it. Sound familiar? . . .



Creative director Anthony Van Laast, who has worked on West End shows and Hollywood movies including the latest Harry Potter, said: “It’s got stunts, it’s got Batman flying, it’s a big lavish spectacular – this is going to be a really good piece of theatre.”

The Dark Knight will be helped by a brand new Batmobile created by Formula One designer Professor Gordon Murray, which will drive on to the stage before skidding to a halt.

A 100ft screen shaped like a bat will act as a backdrop for the special effects, and characters will be able to fly around the set thanks to a grid suspended above the stage. It will also include an action sequence where the Joker tries to escape in a hot air balloon, only to be shot down in flames.

The idea of taking iconic superheroes and putting them on a live stage has never had much appeal to me. The costumes always look “off” and the idea of a bunch of theater actors over-acting to portray a superhero just makes me cringe. That being said, I’m sure there are some fans of theater out there who may be all about this. I can’t exactly figure out if this is just a straight theater production, or if there is singing and dancing. To me, it’s one thing to put on a big, exciting production of Batman – it’s something completely different to have Bruce spin, then do a graceful leap through the air before landing a punch to The Joker’s face, followed up with him belting out a few notes about being a tortured soul in a bat-costume.

In any case, it will be interesting to read some reviews of Batman Live once it hits the stage and to find out a little more about exactly what this show entails. Until then, I hope this crew has better luck than the Spider-Man crew with getting this off the ground – even if it’s not my “cup o’ tea”.

Source: This Is London, Daily Mail, Batmanlive.com

What are your thoughts on a Batman live stage-show? Would you check it out if it does indeed come to the US next year? Leave your thoughts on the comments below!

The Atom Eve redesign contest is well underway over at Superhero of the Month, and Alex has been posted the submissions as the roll in! Some great stuff has already been done, but fear not! You still have 10 days (as of this post) to get your re-imagining of Atom Eve submitted to SHotM! So, if you need a little inspiration, head on over to SHotM to check out what some artists have done already and then get to work! Remember, there are Ryan Ottley-signed copies of Invincible Volumes 5 and 6 on the line here!

Atom Eve entries are due by 6:00 p.m. MST on April 22. Voting will take place between April 26-29, and the winner will be announced April 30. Be sure to bookmark Superhero of the Month and follow the site on Twitter and Facebook to follow all the great contests and great art that is the result!

Pinball FX2 comes to you from Zen Studios and can be downloaded for free from the Xbox Marketplace. Once you have the game you can then download tables for 200 points per table or sometimes also in bundles. Pinball FX2 for those that don’t know is the most realistic pinball games I’ve ever seen on any video game platform. It’s as if real pinball designers were making new pinball games and putting them onto the xbox instead of to local arcade lands. If you like spending money on actual pinball machines then there is no reason you shouldn’t be buying the tables that are constantly being put out by Zen Studios.

That is one of the best things about this company is that they keep continually putting out new tables so when you feel you’ve mastered all the tables they have they put out a new one just in time. The new one I speak of is the one pictured above, “Mars”. Set to come out this month you can explore the red planet in the year 2100 and unlock the secrets that Mars has in store. Here is a preview of the upcoming table:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbk5cFHmyuY

If you already like pinball then there’s no reason you shouldn’t be picking up these games, if you are like me and you suck at pinball, don’t worry, they’re still really fun. You can play by yourself, against friends online and even compare scores. We’ve got three of us here at Bigshinyrobot who are all playing the games and though I’m the worst the competitive side of me wants to keep playing so eventually I will beat them.

If you want to find Pinball FX2 go to the game marketplace on your xbox screen and either search by title or you can find Pinball FX2 in the arcade section. Every game has a free trial to play before you buy and you can buy directly from within the game itself.

Disney has been incredibly prolific in their Blu-ray offerings in the last couple of months and each of them are worth your money, but each for drastically different reasons. The one reason unifying all of them is that they’re all entertaining films and more often than not, they’re good.

Bambi: Though Walt Disney was a renowned fighter of “Communism”, his films had some pretty radical messages by today’s standards and Bambi is no exception. (Fantasia, you’ll remember, had a pretty definitive statement of the truth of human evolution.) Bambi is a thoroughly stunning indictment of man’s encroachment into nature. Everything is idyllic and the animals are peaceful, happy, and adorable, until man enters the forest. He kills these cheery creatures indiscriminately and burns down the forest. It’s a pretty standard message of environmentalism and illustrates a fairly pointed opinion against hunting. And I loved every minute of it. I remember seeing Bambi as a kid, but I don’t remember any details of it, so seeing it on Blu-ray again was an eye opening experience. It was a very, very well animated film and in HD it was utterly breathtaking. Everything about it was so painterly and lovely, even the burning down of the forest. It wasn’t as much of a narrative as I expected it to be, much more of an animated vignette of nature with beautiful music and special effects, Bambi’s story is merely way of bringing the viewer through the seasons and to illustrate the destructive nature of man.

This is a classic film and there’s a reason for it and I would definitely consider

picking this up for your collection.

Tron and Tron: Legacy: Watching these films again was a joy, but I have to say, the original Tron film outmatches the sequel in just about every way. From story and heart to character and script, Tron was just head and shoulders a better film. The story certainly made more sense and there was this ambitious energy to it that made it perfect. The new film made little sense, though it was incredibly fun to look at. I’ve added both to my collection, but if you have to pick just one of these two to pick up, I’d go with the original. Aside from the fact that it’s hands down a better movie, it looks absolutely gorgeous on Blu-ray.

The Incredibles: Easily my favorite of the Pixar films, The Incredibles is out on Blu-ray tomorrow and is a bright and shining example of beautiful storytelling, brilliant filmmaking, and stunning animation. Wrap all of those things into a truly great, classic movie onto a Blu-ray and you’ve got one of the easiest excuses for dropping $25 in the galaxy. Everything about watching this film again on Blu-ray is a joy, particularly the characterizations and the music, both standout upon repeat viewings. That, and the style of the film, the cool 50s retro look in the beginning and the overstylized characters, it’s easy to fall in love with the visuals. But director Brad Bird takes the tried and true formula of a superhero family (much like The Fantastic Four) and knocks it up a notch on screen in a way that may never be replicated again. I could only ask for a Fantastic Four film half this good and I’d be completely satisfied.

This is one of those movies that you’d be foolish not to upgrade onto Blu-ray. I’ve said it over and over and over again that Pixar makes some of the best looking Blu-rays in the business and The Incredibles is no exception.

Disney has also been kind enough to give us a taste of some of the bonus features:

Tangled: Last on our list today is the newest animated release of the batch and I find that it’s really proving Disney’s return to form for the medium that brought them originally to greatness. You can read Scarlett’s more full review of the Blu-ray here, but I have to say that I enjoyed this movie quite a bit myself. My only complaint about this film is that it was in 3D animation instead of classic 2D animation. I don’t understand the fascination with 3D. I can understand Pixar clinging to it, but it’s frustrating that I can’t get my 2D hand drawn feature animation fix anywhere else. Having said that, Tangled is the epitome of a good story well told with a lot of tremendous elements to it that I really did enjoy more than most mid-list Disney movies. In particular, Ron Perlman’s appearance as The Stabbingtons.

If you have kids, this is definitely a movie that you’ll enjoy watching them if you missed it in the theatres. And you’ll probably find yourself watching it more than a few times.

That’s it for the recent Disney releases of note, and I have to say it’s a really solid batch. You’d not do much better than adding all of these to your collections. The picture quality on all of them is astounding, the movies are all range from watchable to fantastic.

I did have one issue with the Bambi disc, though. It was more than likely my Blu-ray player, but it took forever to load every time I tried playing it. And I’d have to eject it and put it back in over and over again. I have an older player, but the firmware is update. The loading time is probably my only complaint about Blu-ray as a whole.

If you had to pick one of these four, which one would you buy?

The Hollywood Reporter pointed me out to this new Thor featurette that has me salivating like I can’t believe. In fact, this is my 1138th post and I was going to write a review of the Blu-ray of THX-1138 (because it’s an underrated masterpiece) but I watched this featurette and I’m DYING to see this movie. I can’t believe that there are people out there NOT excited for this movie.

Think about this: Kenneth Branagh is directing this movie and he’s a genius. End of story.

Now I have this subconscious urge to get a Dr. Pepper at 7-Eleven.

Digital Comics are pretty great. It’s nice and convenient to have your reading library in the palm of your hand with the need for digging through longboxes all the time. It’s great that technology has progressed to a point where this is a feasible option. What if it wasn’t though? What if digital comics became a reality in the late 80’s/early 90’s? Of course, the comic companies would want to reach the widest audience possible, so they would create software on the dominate platform of the time, The Nintendo Entertainment System! Unfortunately, the NES had some graphical limitations, and both DC and Marvel would have had to get a bit creative. With that in mind, I’ve created what I think NES-style digital comics would look like! Of course, I’ve included the originals as well, so you can compare. (Click for full size)

DC  Comics Digital Archives: Thrill to the astounding exploits of the World’s Finest heroes, available in their own NES Paks! Using DC’s patented “panel-by-panel” view, you can view the earliest adventures of the Metropolis Marvel & the Dynamic Duo in a new and exciting way! Accompanied by the finest digitized soundtracks available, your reading experience will be increased a thousandfold! Witness the adventures of Superman, Batmean & Robin! Sold Separately MSRP: $59.99

Marvel Digital Masterworks: Greetings Merry Marvelites! The Marvel Bullpen is happy to bring you The first in our series of classic Marvel yarns! Thrill to the first exploits of the ever-amazing Spider-Man and the senses-shattering strength of The Incredible Hulk! With the officially licensed Nintendo Game Pak, you can experience the beginning adventures of your favorite superheroes in the boldest way possible. Each story has an intro by the digitized voice of Smilin’ Stan Lee! Face Front, True Believer, these digital comics are the real deal! Excelsior! 1 Issue Per Cartridge MSRP $59.99.

Well, with the limitations of the time, it probably wouldn’t be the greatest reading experience ever, but it’s fun to pretend, right?