Review: Stratford Festival - West Side Story

S and I went to see West Side Story at the Stratford festival last weekend. This was a Christmas gift from my sisters and their respective bfs. WSS is easily in my top five movies of all time and will always provoke some strange looks from my friends when I bring it up. But I watched it so many times as kid that my love for the film is ingrained in my bones. You could say its almost like my Goonies. (A film that I firmly believe can only truly be liked if you watched it as a child – which I didn’t)

Anyway, there’s not a lot for me to say about the play. The energy was up, the acting was solid and even though it was still in previews the whole play felt polished, but not overly so. Which is a good thing. You can’t watch a Romeo and Juliet rip off with frantic streetwise dance fighting and want to see a performance that’s too controlled. I think the play is more about the energy and the heart than just getting everything just right.

The thing about WSS is that when it was first preformed it was a contemporary take on a classic play. But for the most part that slant is now solidified in amber, stuck firmly in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I’d love to see a modern look at the play using backdrops and costuming from the 21st century. What would that WSS look like?

Chilina Kennedy as Maria and Paul Nolan as Tony were spot on delivering heartfelt soulful performances. And even though I freely admit I’m overly wedded to the film version of the musical it was nice to see that the play paid homage to the film but wasn’t afraid to own the space and make it their own thing. A satisfying mix of comfortable old favourites and new thinking.

My biggest complaint is that the use of the thrust stage meant that sometimes the action was blocked by other actors. On a couple occasions something ‘big’ was happening on the far side of the stage but I couldn’t see it because the chorus\dancers were filling the space in between. It only happened for mere moments, but it was jarring enough to take me out of the play whenever it occurred.

Anyway if that’s my biggest beef, I’d say you’re sitting pretty.

Chinese Democracy

So,

have you heard Chinese Democracy yet, the new the new Guns and Roses single from the album of the same name? Perhaps you’ve listened it several times online but can’t even remember doing so. Well, you’re forgiven. Lamentably the new single is forgettable and middle of the road material, inducing instant amnesia and a palpable sense of nostalgia for GNR’s earlier work.

The single has a generic mid to late 80’s heavy rock feel, without any of the character and personality that have made a band like Gun and Roses so great the first time ‘round. It doesn’t grab you, hell, the song barely even checks you out before heading off to someplace else, leaving you feeling dirty and cheap.

It’s inevitable. Call it, Phantom Menace syndrome. After 17 years of waiting with baited breath for the coming GNR album, fans old enough to remember the LAST album can’t help but build the whole thing up a little more than it needs to be.

But it’s early days yet. It’d be far to premature to judge the entire album on the back of one mediocre single. I prefer to think of this album as Axl clearing his throat, getting rid of all the grotty phlegm and other crap in his system before inhaling a deep, clean breath and jumping back into the creative pool.

(An aside that robs me of a little hope. S and I went to a GNR concert a couple years ago. Axl was still rocking the Chinese Democracy stage decoration. It was a great concert but it was quite obvious that the weakest songs in his set were the ones from the 'new' album)

Last comic standing

Poor Sean Cullen.

Kicked off Last comic standing. Admittedly, I didn't find his material to be the funniest of all the contestants.

But I do think he's funny nonetheless and you gotta root for the hometown boy.

So congrats on getting as far as you did Sean and I'm sorry you couldn't make it further.

Six sentence comic book reviews

Offered without comment.

Trinity #8
The Brave and the Bold #15
Green Lantern Corps #26
Justice League of America #23
Superman #678
Ultimate X-Men #96
Invincible #51
Gravel #3
Black Summer #7

Green Lantern Corps #26

Mongul II, dead and dismembered? Don’t bet your life on it. In this issue Mongul goes head to head with almost the entire cast of the GL Corps. In a predictable battle, but beautifully drawn by Patrick Gleason, Mongul gets his ass handed to him after one of the Lanterns, Bzzd, sacrifices himself to bring down the new Sinestro Corps leader. A rock’em, sock’em, widescreen space opera that absolutely could not be any more enjoyable, highlighting just how much writer Peter Tomasi is on top of his game. Consistently one of the best comics being published right now, by any company.

Black Summer #7

Warren Ellis’ two year old blockbuster comic event comes to an end, and boy does this thing get talky. The surviving female contingent of the Seven Guns decide that helping keep their city safe is more important than taking revenge on the military for killing Tom Noir in cold blood. Horus, Blacksmith and a not-quite-as-dead-as-we-thought Noir then proceed to jaw at the reader for half a dozen pages in an attempt to justify their actions over the course of this series. A good, but somewhat anti-climatic, end to a better than average story. The incessant moralizing by three of the leads, in order to make their character motivations explicit, really pulled me out the tale. I would have preferred to let their actions speak for themselves and avoid spoon feeding me the unnecessary details.

Invincible #51

The Venom years, only without the sentient costume. For a Jim Lee cover I can’t help but feel like I’m not getting my money’s worth. Invincible’s right hand seems to be twisted into some kind of claw shape and there’s no background to speak of. It’s not a bad cover, just not what I’m used to from JL. Anyway, in this ish Invincible gets a new, darker toned costume, a kid sidekick and a girlfriend to boot. A series that continues to live up to the high standard of comic bookery that it has set for itself, if you’re an Invincible fan you’ll find nothing to hate here.

Superman #678

The latest attempt to repatriate a long lost Jack Kirby creation into the DCU proper continues. Atlas, a former hero type turned planetary dictator, shows up in Metropolis in order to challenge Superman for control of the city. The fists then proceed to fly. There’s a pair of obligatory shadowy figure types pulling various strings in the background and Atlas’ backstory is given an appropriate Kirby style visual treatment. There’s an unfamiliar cadence to some of the dialogue in this issue that’s neither good or bad, but pulls me out of the story nonetheless. An admirable attempt at varying the Superman formula a little bit that will keep me onboard with this title, for no other reason that to see how this story plays out.

Flashpoint: Redux

Despite half a dozen cups of coffee, my morning caffeine has yet penetrate the fog that has settled on to my thoughts. So instead of a post outlining the high and low points of my weekend, of which there are many, enjoy some mindless review-ery instead.

Here are some more thoughts on Flashpoint, then we can stick this sucker on ‘simmer’ for a few months before potentially re-visiting the show.

1. Hugh Dillon is still smiling too much! There’s something to be said for being an actor who handle a broad range of emotion. But at the same time, you’ve got to dance with the one that brung you.

2. Actually, overall, the show still needs more grit. Throw in some realism won’t you? The leading cast is far too balanced and normal to be cops. Where’s the alcoholism? The sexist asshole who doesn’t believe that women should be a part of the team? Where is the inter-squad tension? People are too nice and too polite here, yes their manners are too Canadian dammit.


3. The show has a bit of a case of the CSI’s, more focused on the procedural aspect of hostage negotiation and looking good while doing it. Hell we’ve even got the pre-requisite, montage of events over sappy music at the end. Not sure if this is a criticism, or just an observation.

4. There was a moment last night where Henry Czerny tried to fire his gun into the ceiling to make everyone back off and the safety happened to be on. That brief instant, and the character reactions it highlighted, defined the whole series for me.

5. Timmy’s name dropping.

6. All my information about how cops handle situations like this comes from American television. There were about a dozen instances during last night’s episode where the cops clearly had the drop on Czerny (lethal or otherwise) and didn’t take it. I caught myself noticing this and wondered, with the show’s heavy pre-occupation with procedural accuracy, which method do cops actually use?

Overall, a solidly written and acted second episode. I still think they need to refine the formula a little better. The show is good but with a little more focus giving on giving its production values a bit more of a realistic polish

Flashpoint: As it happens

First thoughts.

1. Hugh Dillon is smiling!!! (and laughing to boot) in the opening scenes. Hardly the grim and gritty uber-sniper that the Americans are going to love to watch.

2. The action scenes take a back seat to the character building material. And that's a good thing. Substance triumphs over style.

3. Why do I care so much about how I think this is going to play south of the border? I know that there's been a lot of talk about it's American license and what that means for Canadian filmmaking. But as I watch it, nothing really grabs me. It doesn't feel like must see TV. It feels like better than average television with a lead actor who is interesting to me because of his musical career and his real life demons.


4. Amy Jo Johnson, utterly miscast in the role of Jules Callaghan, sniper. It feels like shes here to counter some of the gender disparity issues of the show and bring a softer side to this series. Unfortunately she sticks out like a sore thumb. There's no rule that says women, attractive or otherwise, can't be snipers. But it's not hard to see that this show places a premium on young attractive actors and unfortunately AJJ feels like just another entry in this column rather than a character of substance.


5. Hey! Henry Czerny is in the next episode. That pretty much guarantees that I'll be around for the next installment.

6. Overall the show is good but not great. I'm hoping it'll stick around for a little while. I wonder what kind of viewing numbers the opening episode will pull down. (Edit: Apparently 8 million Americans saw the opening episode, which is more than the premiere of House)

Six sentence comic book reviews

All right you insufferable bastards.

Enjoy your pound of flesh.

Trinity #6
Action Comics #867
Green Arrow\Black Canary #10
Justice Society of America #17
Ultimate Origins #2
Wolfskin Annual #1
Final Crisis: Requiem
Booster Gold #1000000

Wolfskin Annual #1

This was a surprise purchase on my part, especially since I’m actively trying to prune my pull list. But two things combined to encourage me to pull this number off the shelf. First, it’s written by Warren Ellis. Second, Wolfskin kills a man by hitting nails into his face as if he were practicing hammering fly balls into the outfield at Sky Dome. What’s not to like? Aside from some intentionally opaque dialogue I thought this was an amusing done-in-one story that sets the stage for the title character’s next story arc.

Booster Gold #1000000

I hadn’t realized that Johns’ final issue of Booster Gold was coming out this week. Regrettably with his departure this title moves into my drop pile. After the death of Ted, Blue Beetle II, time repairs itself and Booster begins to question what’s been driving him to be a superhero in hiding over the last twelve issues. That is until Batman shows him the photographs from the Joker’s camera, that he's apparently been holding onto for years, of Booster trying to save Barbara from being shot. I’m sorry, I’m not buying it. Even keeping the vagaries of a fictional universe’s timelines in mind I have touble believing that Batman is dick enough to hold on to those photos for so long without saying or doing something about them.

Final Crisis: Requiem

Hey, lookit that, Aquaman’s back. Um, I was never the biggest Aquaman fan, but the Internet tells me that the incarnation showing up in this issue is no more. Is this a scheduling goof that has now spoiled upcoming events from Final Crisis? Or was DC determined that all of their Big 7 make an appearance at J’onn’s funeral, throwing logic and continuity to the wind? Anyway, Requiem chronicles the life and death of J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter. Nothing about the way his death is presented smacks of permanence and I think it’s obvious that this is an editorial decision to remove him from the board for a while, for whatever reason.

Action Comics #867

Geoff Johns thrives in his role as DC’s chief continuity repairman for some of their more convoluted properties. This time out Brainiac is getting the Johns treatment. Rather than wait for Brainiac to discover his existence on Earth, Clark decides to turn the tables and bring the fight to him. So he heads out into space where he interrupts one of Brainy’s city smash-and-grab routines. Gary Frank’s art made this issue for me, I’ve never seen Brainiac, and Braniac related constructs, looks so evil and menacing. Now if only we could find some way to get rid of Steve Lombard again, another Crisis maybe?

Now get out of here. You can’t bother to leave me my dignity, so just leave me in peace.

Muzak: No, Virginia...(Pt. 2, A Review)

No, Virginia… by the Dresden Dolls was released on May 20, 2008. Although I had to wait a bit longer than that because I ordered directly from the band in order to get a signed liner note. (faaaaaanboy) Apparently not considered a full-on studio album, No, Virginia… is made up of the left over bits from their previous album, Yes, Virginia…, and a small recording session the band did early in 2008.

So why yesterdays confusing preamble for a quick album review post?

It’s all about artist growth my friend.

The Dresden Dolls first release essentially was essentially about all the left-over angst and pain of a previous relationship. The album is one giant cathartic fuck you to whoever was stupid enough to screw over the band’s leader singer (Amanda Palmer). Its pain, its anguish, its anger, it’s tenderness, it’s the closest you’ll thing you’ll find to a digital soul.

After the album’s release I found that subsequent music from the band lacked much of the anguish, but none of thepassion. Unlike Tori, who buried her demons so far down that her musical fingerprint was completely changed, the Dolls choose to refocus their incredible energy into their music, allowing the band to grow musically but still retaining their core sound. And that’s part of why I admire this band so much.

Core sound is a huge pet peeve for me. I’m all for artists experimenting creatively with their muse of choice. It’s a necessary and crucial step for anyone. But I’m uncomfortable when

a) they push their sound so far that I can’t recognize what it is that attracted me to their music in the first place.

b) they experiment with being avant-garde just for the sake of it, with no thought whatsoever to whether people actually have any interest in going down that particular path.

I take in a respectable amount of alternative media, stuff that will never find a large audience, but nothing pisses me off more than watching or listening to an unintelligible, opaque vanity piece that no one beside the artist is allowed to understand. I don’t need a road map but at least give me a decent shot at unraveling the message.

Anyway, No, Virginia… neatly tracks the Dolls artistic growth while allowing them to strike out in new directions.

I always categorize Dolls’ songs in two ways, sparse and moody or frenetic and up-tempo. Traditionally I haven’t been as enthused with songs in the key of the former but this album seems to hold all the exceptions that prove the rule. No, Virginia… has all the musical highs of any Dolls album and absolutely none of the lows.

Bar one.

The Dolls cover of persistent 80’s favourite, Pretty in Pink, hurts my ears so badly I want to make the pain go away by shoving a screwdriver into my brain. I don’t blame the band, even the Dresden Dolls can’t make a pig turd smell like Chanel No. 5. This is a song I was genetically pre-disposed to hate, no matter who sings it.

It’s hard to tell you why you should listen to this album. The phrase “It’s absolutely amazing Brechtian Punk” will mean nothing to you unless you’re already a fan of the sound. So let me clue you in, it’s punk piano playing, the likes you never seen, pounding drums and, for a change, they’ve even thrown in some light guitar this time out. It’s a pair of musicians who do their level best to leave a little bit of themselves on the recording. It’s for those who are interested in music that doesn’t always play it safe.

The best songs on the album are Dear Jenny, Night Reconnaissance, Mouse and the Model and The Kill. That’s a pretty extensive cross section of the album, but one that highlights all of the band’s strengths.

But don’t just take my word for it…

Muzak: No, Virginia...(Pt. 1 Prelude to a Review)

I loves me some Tori Amos.

From 1992 to 1998 I was privileged enough to be able to hear four amazing studio albums from her, plus a plethora of singles, remixes and side projects. It was some of the most powerful music I have ever known.

She was very much a product of her musical era, a 90’s singer/songwriter, showing off the softer, but no less tortured, side of grunge/alternative.

Then, in 1998, she seemed to make peace with many of her inner demons and her music went from soul-searing to light and breezy, and I lost my connection to her.

I enjoy female singers much more than I enjoy male ones. I touched on part of the reason for that in my Weezer Red album review. I find the majority of male-fronted musical ventures, who even touch on the subject of love, to be nothing more than sad, sappy bastards who waste my time moaning about how much they love some unobtainable woman.

I spent the majority of my late teens and early twenties doing the same thing so I fail to see the appeal. Why should I pay to hear some wanna-be rockstar complain about how, when he waves around his popularity and a fistful of cash, some groupie doesn’t throw herself at his feet fast enough. Gee I can totally relate to that scenario.

Pass.

So I found myself gravitating to female artists, the angrier the better.

Which is where I stumbled onto the Dresden Dolls. They opened for NIN at a concert about four years ago. I generally try to avoid opening acts like the bubonic plague but I’d made an exception for this one because I wanted to be as close to the stage as possible when Trent and Co. made their appearance.

Watching the Dolls (Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione) play on stage that night was akin to listening to Little Earthquakes for the first time. I’ve seen plenty of concerts and watched lots of musicians strut and preen but I’d never seen someone actually play themselves to the point of collapse before. This wasn’t music it was a live exorcism. There was a demon in that keyboard goddamit and Palmer was going to get that thing out of there if she had to rip it apart with her bare hands.

Hells yah.

I was sold. I had my Tori back. I had the anger, the passion and the sheer human pathos digitally etched into my brain. This is what I wanted out of my music.

So I bought the album, played it all day, every day, for about a month, drove my roommate at the time abso-friggin-lutely nuts and thanked my stars that I’d been lucky enough to find the Dresden Dolls.

Muzak: Weezer (Red)

What makes Rivers Cuomo a good songwriter? Well in my eyes it’s his ability to take simple song concepts, that have been subject to every hoary cliché since caveman first started banging sticks together, and elevate them to something greater. He’s just as likely to talk about a missed romantic opportunity as a baseball allegory or, I don’t know, a treatise on land rights claims by Native Americans.

The point is you don’t have to listen to a bunch of whiny, crying ‘why doesn’t she love me, I love her’ b.s.

Which is a GOOD thing.

It’s been three years since I’ve had the good fortune to be graced with another Weezer studio album. 2005’s Make Believe was one of the band’s strongest releases to date with a sound reminiscent of a more polished version of their debut album.

So does their sixth album, Red, stand up?

Well after putting the album on repeat on my iPod for almost a week, I’d have to say…pretty well. After all these years the band still retains their core sound. It’s pure Weezer all the way and even a passing fan will enjoy the music. Songs like Pork and Beans and Everybody Get Dangerous seem almost familiar, built around Weezer’s traditional growling guitars, driving drumbeats and Cuomo’s tongue in cheek lyrical stylings.

And while I don’t find they’ve gone out of their way on this album to push creative boundaries they’ve still gone a bit further than the average bear would. I recommend The Greatest Man That Ever Lived and Heartsongs. It took me a little while to get into both of these songs but once I did I found they retained a cultish appeal that some of the album’s more format friendly tunage lacks.

So where does this album stand in a completely subjective ranking with their other work?

…Something like this.

1. Pinkerton
2. Make Believe
3. Blue
4. Green
5. Red
6. Maladroit

So yah. It’s not their greatest album. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad album by any stretch of the imagination (Maladroit I’m looking at you). But after a couple days I found myself skipping over some songs and that’s a sure sign that you’re never going to get into Chris’ personal musical hall of fame.

So in the end, a solid album, even a good album, but not a great album. I’d recommend it to hardcore and casual fans alike, but I suspect that aside from one or two singles that this album isn’t going to be big with general population.

Six sentence comic book reviews

That’s right true believers, if I can’t review an issue of my weekly crack habit in exactly six sentences I’ll not only refund you all your money back, I’ll double it!

Action Comics #866

Hey, it’s the return of Brianiac: Version 833 squared to the fourth decimal place! Or at least that’s what Geoff Johns wants us to believe. Honestly, who knows anymore? Brainiac, to me, is one character who’s been changed so often that it’s impossible to have a definitive version of him anymore. Every time they settle on an interpretation I enjoy another writer comes along and revamps him. Gary Frank, you do gooooooooood penciling, a nice blend of pre-COIE Braniac influences with a modern touch.

Booster Gold #10

What the, Mr. Mind is back, again?! Reusing his own plot device from the somewhat successful weekly series, 52, Geoff Johns reveals that the evil genius responsible for forming the Time Stealers is a demented caterpillar. Either Johns is co-opting Mr. M as a Booster Gold villain or he's running a little low on ideas. But if ain’t broke don’t fix it. The next to last issue of Johns run on BG wherein our titular hero tries to fix time, rescue his pal Blue Beetle II and become a real superhero. I approve.

Trinity #2

You know what? I’m digging this series. I’ve always had a deep admiration for Mark Bagley’s art and Kurt Busiek is no slouch at writing a decent spandex slugfest. It’s nice to see Bags penciling something other than Spider-man for a change. My biggest beef so far is that for a title showcasing DC’s big three the cover art work, and series logo, falls a little flat. How about rotating in some high caliber cover artists to keep things fresh and coming up with a logo that does this series justice?

Invincible #50

I’m a late convert to this series. So I’m sure anything I’d have to add to an analysis of it has already been said elsewhere. But what the hell, it’s my g.d. blog. Reading this book feels like what it must have been like to read Spider-man in it’s early days. It’s always fun, fresh and absolutely free of the grim and gritty superheroes that seem to be populating my comic books. With Invincible’s upcoming costume change it almost reads like this series is a self-referential, tongue-in-cheek take on the traditional story arcs of decades old superheroes.

That’s round one in the bag. I’m hoping the six sentence review structure will force me to be concise and timely in my reviews. But then again, I hope that working out keeps me slim and in shape, instead of just giving me excuses to crummy foods. So, y’know, my standards are all over the place.

NCD #8: When will Final Crisis get here?

Booster Gold #9

Geoff Johns continues to do what he does best, mine DC’s past for continuity errors to smooth over. This week’s victim of nostalgia is the Justice League International. In Booster Gold #9 Johns makes an attempt to explain away how Maxwell Lord showed up in the pages of Countdown to Infinite Crisis with a flesh body instead of the cyborg chassis we last saw him sporting.

It wasn’t a great explanation, apparently he’s one massive skin graft, but it’s more than anybody else could be bothered to do. John’s time on this title is coming to a close so at this point he’s really not really advancing the plot much, just tying up loose ends. (I suspect the next issue won’t extend much beyond a generic fight scene and a long villain exposition about why they’re doing this)

But the biggest question I have about this issue is; Does Batman wear his entire costume under every disguise, bat ears and all?

Green Lantern Corps #24

Patrick Gleason, you’ve done it again, Oh and kuds to everyone else who helped out with this issue. I’m glad to see that the Green Lanterns have officially swiped Mongul from Superman for their own Rogue’s Gallery. It just makes sense to have an intergalactic dictator match up against the space cops, as opposed to the guy who could be almost anywhere in the blink of an eyelash but rarely leaves downtown Metropolis.

In this issue writer Peter Tomasi tries a different take on the Black Mercy by making it show victims their greatest fear rather than deepest desire. Considering Mongul is now the leader of the Sinestro Corps it’s a neat little twist that pays homage to Mongul the first’s most recognizable story while acknowledging his son’s new role in the GL mythos.

I approve.

Batman #676

This is the first part of Batman R.I.P. which promises to change everything in Batman’s life…again. Here we’re introduced to the Black Glove group who may, or may not, know Batman’s secret identity. Tony Daniels art and layout is much more palatable this time out than it was in the previous issue. Unfortunately readers are still getting stuck with serviceable art when they should be getting someone a little more A-list. I understand if Kubert is off that list for perpetually blowing deadlines but surely there is someone a step up from Daniels.

I’m a little bitter because I was hoping for something really visually different for the new batmobile and what I got was a generic re-tread of the first bat-car, only with red headlights. I wonder if Batman’s throwaway line about the car ‘not being what he expected’ is part of the story or Morrison’s opinion on the limitations of the artist he’s been saddled with.

Green Arrow \ Black Canary #8

I read this title because I like the character of Green Arrow.
I’m clearly not reading it because I enjoy the writing or the art.
I hate myself.

Walking Dead #49

However, I am reading this title because I enjoy both the art and the writing. Robert Kirkman has significantly pared down the group of survivors who were previously residing at ye olde prison complex. And despite the perception the reader is left with after the bloodbath of the last issue, the original group of survivors isn’t quite as decimated as they seem, especially when you take into account those who left in the RV with Dale and Andrea.

In this issue, with the exception of a brief cameo by Michonne, we follow Rick and Carl as they attempt to find food and shelter after escaping from the Governor’s deathsquad. It’s a nice simple break from the all out action this title usually provides. It feels like everyone, writer and readers alike, are taking a nice deep breath before plunging into the next chapter of a post-apocalyptic zombie world.

I can’t wait.

Muzak: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - IV

I loves me some Nine Inch Nails. When Cobain passed on and grunge was dying a public and painful death from overexposure, NIN was the band that I turned to. My anger, rage and roiling emotions were nicely duplicated in Trent’s muzak. It was a much needed outlet for pent up teenage life.

As I matured, and Trent mellowed, I found that NIN was one of the few bands who’s new albums continued to be just as relevant and groundbreaking as their older material. They resisted the urge to milk the nostalgia of their older fans and persisted in exploring the breadth and depth of their unique sound.

So it’s almost inevitable that NIN would get around to creating an album like Ghosts I – IV. This album, which is completely instrumental, also happens to be their first studio album recorded outside of a major record label deal. Where Radiohead hath trail blazed, NIN shalt follow.

What else can I say about this album? Well, the majority of it is like listening to the acoustic version of wallpaper actually. That sounds overly critical and I don’t mean it to be. It was actually meant as a compliment. I’m crap at just putting something on in the background and letting it function as white noise. If the radio or television is on I have to actively focus on what is being played. I am biologically incapable of tuning anything out.

Ghosts is the rare exception to this. Alternating between light piano interludes and the more familiar grinding guitars Ghosts seems to be made up entirely of the instrumental segues that are peppered throughout so many of his other albums. At times I felt like I was listening to a lost track from ‘The Downward Spiral’ or an extended version of something off of ‘With Teeth’.

But with this album I was able to listen to the whole thing and drift in and out of it at will, enjoying a snatch of guitar here or a particularly noteworthy solo there. Although it’s all solo when you get down to it. The songs on Ghosts don’t employ a typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus structure. They are all essentially rambling train-of-thought pieces, which only helps add to the albums background music feel. There is no stress on the listener whatsoever to actively participate in the experience of enjoying these tunes.

So on the whole, I approve. I probably wouldn’t normally have given an album like this the time of day, instrumental\experimental muzak isn’t really for me. Having the NIN name on the disc made all the difference regarding my choice to purchase it. But now that I have bought it, I’m glad I did. It’s a welcome break from what I normally listen to and I think it broadened my horizons enough for me to consider giving something similar a try.

Well played Trent Reznor. Well played.