lostprophets - the Betrayed [review]

Yes okay, it was roughly three reviews since the last lostprophets review I did. But whatever, new lostprophets albums are like gold dust (except considerably less expensive :p ) and as such, it's my duty to review it. Except no-one will read this review. So it doesn't matter. Kinda like talking to myself, really. Oddly therapeutic :D

^Sexy box art is sexy. 'Nuff said.

This rather awesome album opens with the track "If it wasn't for hate...". Nice punchy intro, not really a song though, so you'll be forgiven for skipping over it onto the next track (if you must), DSTRYR/DSTRYR. Cool name, heavy song- this is what lostprophets is all about, not the rather whiny and annoying emo music they later produced (*cough* Liberation Transmission *cough*). This track is epic. Move on to track three "It's Not The End of The World But I Can See It From Here" (snappy!) this is a song that'll appeal to all the NOOBS who WORSHIP Radio One. It's not that great a song compared to the rest of the album, but still a damn sight better than most of the drivel you hear these days.

Track four, Where We Belong, goes for epic and ends up being slightly cheesy but somewhat pleasing :) I like it a lot, to be completely honest, but nowhere near as much as "Next Stop Atro City" (see what they did there?) Shouty. Very shouty, and somewhat unpolished, but thats partly why I like it so much. Watkins once again proves his great vocal range. A track to dance to (whilst being shoved around a mosh pit, natch.)

Track Six, "For he's a Jolly Good Felon", is somewhat Arctic Monkeys-ish. That's a good thing by the way. No idea what genre it is, but hey, it's an amazing song, so I'm not complaining. Track Seven, "A Better Nothing" is another slightly cheesy song, with an amazing chorus and...ah....it's wonderful....as is the next song "Streets of Nowhere", and "Dirty Little Heart", and "Darkest Blue" and...well....you know the rest. It's all amazing. The final track, somewhat reminiscent of Sway (off their second album) rounds the whole thing of beautifully. Wonderful.

Damn, my reviews are getting short. Never mind. They're still as good, yeah guys? Guys..? Oh right yeah, I forgot, they all ran away. May as well write a conclusion anyway. Basically, this album is easily up their with my favourite albums of all time. It lacks a little polish (annoying, since they've had four years to work on it. Silly Welsh people.) but I guess that's all part of what makes this album so great :)

A

FACT - In The Blink Of An Eye [review]

Okay, FACT are a Japanese band who make most (all?) their music in English. Some of it's alright, so I was looking forward to this album, even though it was kind of lost for me amongst the hype of the new lostpropehts album (review soon. Maybe.) Right, and now i have finally had a good and thorough listen, I can say it's pure unadulterated crap. Shame.

^Blurry faces, all in various states of hilarity. Laugh loudly, move on.

Track one and three, in the Blink of an Eye and Slip of the Lip are okay-ish. His voice (dunno who he is. Don't care.) grates horribly, but some awesome riffs make up for it. Annoying high pitched ones, but okay nonetheless. The rest of the album, though, is awful. Look, I really don't need to keep reviewing this crap. Just don't buy it okay? Simply put, I think what we have here is the single WORST album in the history of the entire universe. Thanks, FACT. Thanks a lot. Now get out and never darken my doorstep with your god-awful music ever again. Morons.

(This one doesn't even get a grade at the end. Our alphabet isn't long enough)

DS - The World Ends With You [review]

Happy New Year everyone :)

Right, with that generic opening out of the way, let's jump straight into a review, shall we?

THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU (or "It's a Wonderful World" if you're into importing stuff that's just as easily available in your own country). (On a side note, if I use lots of capitals its because this game DEMANDS it by being so AMAZING.)


^sexay box art ;)

From the box art (and believe me, it's one helluva good one) alone, you can tell this game is going to be amazing. Not only is there the comforting "Square Enix" (who make the best RPG games ever, by the way) logo emblazoned on the front, there's a cool emo type person in an awesome outfit. Seriously, he's WEARING PURPLE HEADPHONES and has SPIKY ORANGE HAIR. What's not to like?
This though, is not your standard RPG. It's a beat-em-up-adventure-action-RPG. Snappy!

The plot? As usual, it's an amazing one, with some really likable characters. Essentially, there are some bad guys and they take people and make them play the Reaper's Game, which lasts a week, and every day new challenges are set and...it's good, okay? And the plot has enough twists and turns to keep you occupied during the more than ample playing time.

The gameplay in this game is REALLY QUITE MESSED UP and yet, somehow, AWESOME AT THE SAME TIME. Outside of battle, you'll wander around a gritty urban landscape, interrupted by anime-style cutscenes, and of course, battles. And there are no immensely irritating random battles that occur every thirty seconds.
I wouldn't mind if there were, to be completely honest, because the fighting system is fantastic. On the bottom screen, you control our spiky-haired friend Neku with your plastic pen of death (er...that's the stylus, by the way), unleashing hell on the incredible variety of monsters (or 'Noise'). On the top screen, you control one of Neku's partners (you'll go through three in the course of the game) with the buttons. I'm doing a really bad job of explaining this. Dammit! Never mind, all you need to know is that this game has a crazy amount of crazy ideas. Truly mindblowing.

As for the games graphics and sound...well, they're fantastic. Style overflows from every frame and the soundtrack really helps to emphasise that. All the characters, no matter how small a role they have to play, Noise, all the Pins and their respective attacks are beautifully drawn in a graphical style which I think more games should have.


^Woo, more low-quality screenshots casually stolen from other websites! :D yes, it's as crazy as it looks. And then some.

All of this wouldnt matter though, if the game was a walk in the park. Thankfully though, it is a real challenge, especially on hard difficulty (well duh). So while that is not an issue, there is one small problem with this game, it may be a little too styled for some.
If you have a hatred of anime (silly you), or are against innovation then a) what did you buy a DS for?! and b) go and sit on a cactus. Underwater. Suspended over an undersea volcano. With some sharks. hungry sharks. (weirdly, there's a shark boss in this game :D ). But that doesn't matter, because I, personally, absolutely love it, and well, it's my blog, so I have no problem in awarding this with not just an A*, but also the title of my favourite game ever :) :)

A*

D'espairsRay - Mirror [review]

a.k.a. Review number 7, guys. Exciting stuff.

So, if you haven't read the title, you'll most likely be wondering what awful-album-you've-never-heard-of I'll be reviewing today. For those of you who are more observant, you'll have noticed I'm reviewing Mirror by D'espairsRay. Shall we get on with it then?

Ah but wait. First, I must point out, that I am entirely unsure about what to think of D'espairsRay. I'm hardly a rabid fanboy of theirs, but at the same time, I'm not consigning them to the metaphorical music rubbish bin of doooooooooooooom. And, as such, this review will probably be the least biased one yet. Hooray.

^I would ask what the hell is up with the album art, but that would be rude :S

So. Track one. "Damned". No, they're not all that happy a band. A single looping guitar riff for 40 seconds. Fair enough. Then, an awesome scream at about a minute in. Now would be the perfect time to talk about Hizumi's vocals. Certainly, his screams are incredible. Unfortunately, his actual singing voice is a sort of semi-operatic one that may put some people off. I think the awesomeness of his screams should offset the slightly meh main vocals for most people. But I love his voice anyway. Oh right, the actual song? It's fine. But the band is just getting warmed up...

Song number twoooo. "Trickster". This is actually a really solid song from D'espairsRay (or Despa, if you're feeling especially lame). Hizumi's voice, for once doesn't feel out of place (especially the screamy bridge about halfway through the song :D ) and, well, need I say more? Love it.

Third Track. It's name is "Mirror". It opens with synth. Synth. Oh dear. What is the world coming to? On certain bands (Girugamesh springs to mind) I'll let it slide. Here, it doesn't work. Sorry guys. Chorus is horrible. Song is horrible. KILL IT WITH FIRE.

"Sixty∞Nine". Wait isn't that a sex...oh, never mind. Song's definitely not to my tastes, until it takes a dramatic turn at around 2:30. Then we like it. There also seems to be an irritating amount of synth in this song as well. It's just not called for. 'Nuff said.

Next song is "Kogoeru yoru ni saita hana". The title's something about flowers...i think. Hmm. Can't be bothered to check right now.I can't stand this song. It's so...pop. There, I said it. About as good as having your face attacked by a zebra.

Suddenly, the album takes a dramatic increase in terms of quality :D

And then we have "Screen". It's a really pretty sort of song. One of those unexpectedly calm songs that takes your breath away (see "Glass Skin" by Dir en Grey for another example of a song like this). So much awesomes. Yep, "awesomes". This song becomes so good that it breaks my grammar. w00t!

LOST SCEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENE. Or, err, "Lost Scene" if you're a normal person (I'm not, by the way. I'm weird). Suffice to say, this is my favourite song on here, and it almost makes up for the flaws of the songs that come before it. The song that comes after it, "Hollow" is okay, too. And theirs a "la-la-la-laaa-ing" bit, punctuated by screams. What's not to like? :P

"Closer to Ideal" opens by sounding very much like a Girugamesh song. Then Hizumi sings. Then it sounds like something Despa would do. Obviously :S An alright song, which admittedly, has moments of downright fantastic. Okay, as a whole, the song is very good. I'll give them that. Did I mention it goes on for six minutes?

"Angeldust". Despite the girly-sounding name, it's arguably the heaviest song on here. Hey, you don't see me complaining. Nice song. Very nice song.

"Squall". Sounds weirdly like a Hyde song. A huge change of pace, and, well, I really like it. Even though there will be haters of this song, I really don't care. It's wonderful.

Finally on the album (excluding the European bonus track "Desert", which wasn't much good anyway) is Kaleidoscope. Much as you'd expect an album like this to end. Fairly inoffensive, alright guitar solo. Two words: let down.

The conclusion? I don't think I'm a Despa fan. Some of their songs are alright, I guess, but others will make you want to tear your ears off. Or maybe just your earphones, if you're not a huge fan of masochism :P

C+

Lostprophets - Start Something [review]

a.k.a. more good things from Wales. No sheep jokes please ;)

Okay, I love the lostprophets, I've done a really bad job of hiding it too :P Also, I've known them since waaaay before they became mainstream, so don't start. And this is my favourite album by them. (though I'm a huuuge fan of thefakesoundofprogress and Liberation Transmission, too).


^Album art. Made of awesome. And the colour black. A lot of that.

So. Start Something. Without a doubt, this is the most agressive 'prophets album. From the opening track "We Still Kill the Old Way" through to the magnificent finale "Sway", its one helluva ride. Right. I've ranted long enough. On with the actual review, methinks. Heh, methinks. What a word.

Track numero uno. "We Still Kill the Old Way". Catchy, loud, and obnoxious. Then "To Hell We Ride" is track two. Another amazing piece of musicality. But all this is just filler. Fantastically, epically, awesomely incredible (yeh, adverbs run wild and free here) filler, which any other band would be happy with as the main event, as it were, of their album. But not the lostprophets. They go one better.

Track three. "Last Train Home". It is, without doubt, a masterpiece. Everything rock should be, and all too rarely is. Easily one of my favourite songs of all time. Somewhat a less impressive achievement when you realise my music collection consists largely of Japanese metal :P

"Make A Move" is the next amazing song on here. The video's pretty cool too (random comment #1). By this point, you wonder if this album could possibly get better. And it does. Wow, that sentence seems really redundant :S Um, anyway, after Make A Move is "Burn, Burn". It should be our national anthem. Hey, it would make various sporting events more interesting :)

"I Don't Know" is great. An incredible solo and some of the strongest vocal work on the whole album can be found in this marvellous track. Yes, I did just say marvellous. "Hello Again" is a tidy little song with a neat instrumental at the end. The weakest track on here, but hey, it's still good. Track 8, "Goodbye Tonight" is very very good. It's like (dodgy analogy alert!) "I Don't Know"'s more chilled out cousin.

Then in comes the track after which the album is named. Start Something. Intro is cool. Vocals, both sung and screamed, are also good, and just what the album needed after a two-track lapse into slightly calmer music. After that is the equally brilliant "A Million Miles", which is another great song. Track 11 is a little bit amazing. "Last Summer". If I could drive, I would say it was the ultimate driving song. But I can't. Damn. Anyway, an inspirational work, which shows how far the lostprophets have come in terms of emotional maturity.

Track 12, I'm told, the Americans didn't get. They probably don't deserve it anyway (not that I have anything against our cheese-eating cross-Atlantic friends). The heaviest song on here by a mile, and the best-titled too: "We are Godzilla You Are Japan". Highly recommended.

Finally, the album ends with a soothing instrumental, namely "Sway". Running for 10 and a half minutes, you have to be pretty hardcore to listen to it all. Especially seeing as the last two minutes are one sustained note. I like this song :)

I have no problems in awarding this album full marks; you really didn't need five hundred words to tell you what was staring you in the face from the start: GET THIS ALBUM.

A*

Wii - De Blob [review]

I thought I'd try something a little different today, and try reviewing a video game for a change. Stop whining. It's my blog, I shall review what I like :P

The game I'm reviewing today is, without a doubt, not to everyone's tastes, but I like it. No idea why, but I do. I am of course, referring to de Blob. When this game came out, like three people bought it. If you were not one of those three, punch yourself in the face now. By the time you come back round, you might appreciate good games.

^Box art is slightly insane.


^Though Japanese Box Art is unquestionably more awesome.

Yes, okay, it's for the Wii. Yes okay, 'Wii' sounds like a bodily function. Yes, it looks like a kids game. YES. I KNOW. YOU CAN SHUT UP NOW. But, let's face it, anyone with even a half-decent taste in games will have to suffer for their art :P Especially if said taste in games is Nintendo.

In recent times, the Wii has become a bit of a joke. Not because of its name, most people have got over that. But even myself, once a dedicated fan of the Big N (indeed, rumour has it my first sentence was "Playstation smells."), can see that most the games being released for it are all stupid, inspid, and aimed at gullible grandmothers (of course, there are exceptions, but you I speak the truth and you know it). Anyway, that's my little rant over.

However, a year or so ago when this game was released, I bought it. I have no idea why. After all, THQ aren't exactly known for the quality of their games, are they? But there was something about that blue fellow on the box that made me buy it. And tell you what, I'm glad I did.

Right, the plot is awesome. Some little black things came (the dastardly INKT Corporation) and stole the colour from the world. So then you have to restore colour to the monochrome world of de Blob. Yeah, real 'awesome', I hear you say. But it's great, and the amusing characters really speed the plot along smoothly.

^De Blob: Not a game for the colour blind :P

Graphics: As you can tell from the (slightly rubbish) screeny above, the graphics are really nice. And I'm not just saying that. Sure, it may look alright in screenies, but when you see it in motion, complete with fluid and convincing animation as paint sprays everywhere, you'll be left no choice but to agree with me.

Sound: The sound in this game, a nice mix of jazz and funk (and some other stuff) is nice, and really blends in with your surroundings. Better still, its customisable. The more you paint of a certain colour, the more a particular instrument will play in the background. Nice one ;) The sound effects are also pretty spot-on

Gameplay/Replay Value: Not that much variation, but it never becomes stale. You will have a ridiculous amount of fun playing de Blob. Controls work really well, despite the Wiimote's notorious lack of accuracy. The multiplayer gives it some extra legs too.

So, in conclusion, you have to love it. Simple as.

A*

Senses Fail - Still Searching [review]

Ah, the festive season is well and truly upon us. As such, I thought I'd celebrate by...er...writing another review. How my life goes. The band in question today is Senses Fail. Now, Senses Fail have been one of my favourite bands for quite some time, which is remarkable seeing as I generally despise anything with a humorous accent (i.e. an American one). I remember the day I discovered this amazing band well. I was quite (quite?!) bored, so I typed 'fail' into Spotify. I have no social life , okay?! The results that fateful search returned were anything but 'fail'. Senses Fail are great :) (right, that's my mindless plug for the day over and done with).

But which one of their albums? Their debut, Let it Enfold You? Their incredible follow up album, Still Searching? Or perhaps the more mellow (by that I mean 'not-as-good') third album, Life is Not a Waiting Room? In the end, I opted for Still Searching. Don't ask why. I might review Let it Enfold You at some stage. If you're nice to me :P

^Some cheery album art for you. Crazy.

Right, so, this album opens with 'the Rapture'. it's an odd little beast, as it has NO RELATION WHATSOEVER to any of the other songs on the album. Hmm...

So, glazing over that odd little opener, the album starts at full pace, and does not slow down until the very end. The song which kicks it all off is Bonecrusher. Yes, they are emo, however did you guess? But good emo (oxymoron?), so stick with it. Great song. Simple, yet so awesomesauce. Hmm, I've never quite understood that word :S
Let's look at the urban dictionary definition for it... (do we have to?)

Definition: It's like applesauce, only made with awesomes.

I see...kinda. Anyway, moving on. After putting such a tune as that at the front of the album, I wondered how they might follow up such an incredible song. They decided to follow it up, fortunately, with something even better. Sick or Sane is it's name, PURE WIN is its (apostrophe? no apostrophe? ah, screw it) game. Je l'aime.

The next two tracks, Can't Be Saved and Calling All Cars are kind of like, musically speaking, cousins. Similar, yet somehow quite different. That analogy was somewhat crap. Never mind. They're both really good. As is Shark Attack, an in-your-face emo attack on your ears.

Track 7 on Still Searching (the imaginatively titled Still Searching) is every bit as obnoxious and noisy as its predecessor Shark Attack. Normally, for any other reviewer, this would be a bad thing. But here, it means that this song is GREAT, especially the screamy chanty bits (you'll see). I make my own damn rules :P

Track 8 is heavily reminiscent of Can't be Saved. They call it 'To All the Crowded Rooms'. I call it an awesome track. Especially when it breaks down at the end, surprisingly (or not) with some more screaming. :)

Lost and Found. (That's the next song on this album, by the way.) It's a tad whiny, at the start anyway. Then it goes good. Very good. An example of what Senses Fail can really do, when they're feeling mature that is. As usual, Buddy (yeah , that's his name. Poor guy.) delivers a strong vocal performance. I like it, in case you haven't already noticed.

Every Day is a Struggle. It opens a little crazily, but quickly turns into another classic tune. The chorus makes me happiful. The next track on here, the peculiarly entitled "All the Best Cowboys have Daddy Issues". Perhaps something I'd expect to hear on the soundtrack to Sonic the Hedgehog (speaking of which, all his games as of late are pure unadulterated pap. Remind me to review one sometime). It's another solid, maybe even great track. No complaints here :)

Just as all the best cowboys have daddy issues, all the best albums feature an instrumental or two. The instrumental on here is 'Negative Space'. It's just padding really, and follows nicely into the final song- The Priest and the Matador. It's about a guy who dies by lobbing himself from a church roof. Lovely. Have fun with that. A good song, nonetheless, and a nice way to end the album.

It's time for me to go now. Sorry. But first, I shall conclude. Yes, I shall! Yes! YES!!!!!!1!!!!!one!!!!!eleven!!!!!!
er...yes? So, anyway. Senses Fail are not revolutionary in any way. Nor should you pretend they are. However, you can't deny this album is great fun. Simply put, by this album. Please.

B+