Before They Were MP3s, 1998: #10 - 3 Dog Night - “The Best of 3 Dog Night”

Now that we’ve hit the first “best of” album, I think this would be a good time to mess with the format. Going into detail about each song gets a little long-winded, especially if there’s not much to say. So I’m just going to zero in on what matters to me, and provide more overall reviews.

Before They Were MP3s, 1998: #9 - Everclear - “So Much For The Afterglow”

I love it when people are inconsistent. Not necessarily hypocritical, but inconsistent. A conservative who favors lower taxes for the top rates, reduced spending on welfare, is pro-life and against gay marriage, but opposes the death penalty. A heavy metal rocker with tattoos and torn T-shirts with a weakness for Beethoven’s symphonies. A librarian who shushes any whisper made, who glares sternly at anyone returning a book late, who gets drunk on St. Paddy’s day and jumps up on a float in the parade.

No Beef From Me

No "Where's the (Philosophical) Beef?" column this week. I want to put some serious effort into a piece about "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," as I consider it, in its strange way, one of the most spiritual movies I know.

In the meantime, I leave you with question from the movie "Grosse Point Blank": Where are all the good men dead - in the heart or in the head?

Before They Were MP3s, 1998: #8 - Soul Asylum - “Grave Dancer’s Union”

Sorry to miss a week’s worth of entries. Life has been tres busy. This will probably be a short entry, not only because it is late and I am busy, but because I don’t have that much to say about Soul Asylum. Wikipedia lists them as alternative rock, but really I think they could fairly be called complaint rock. That said, I enjoyed revisiting this album a lot more than I thought I would.

Before They Were MP3s, 1998: #7 - Dave Matthews Band - “Before These Crowded Streets”

“Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” - Ecclesiastes 4:6

“Before These Crowded Streets” was my first major exposure to everyone’s favorite college band. Prior to that, I had heard “Ants Marching” and “Crash Into Me” on the radio, the latter sticking in my head mostly on the basis of one radio-friendly but entirely salacious lyric. I don’t recall how I came to be in possession of this album, so I suspect my brother was the one who acquired it. Regardless, before long we were both listening to it regularly.

As a young man any theme that did not deal with romance probably flew right by me unnoticed, which may account for my failing to catch a theme that runs through several of the songs here. I think it is reflected well by the verse above from Ecclesiastes, though it is likely the band did not have this explictly in mind. That said, Biblical imagery features in several Dave Matthews Band songs, including one which references “Eat, drink, and be merry,” also from Ecclesiastes, so who knows for sure.

Where's the (Philosophical) Beef? #3 - Best Imitation of Myself

The movie "Tropic Thunder" offers up a particularly funny satirical take on the Hollywood machine. The movie takes aim at actors, agents, directors, effects specialists, blockbuster action movies, Oscar-baiting dramas, pandering lowbrow comedies, and more. Perhaps most hilarious of all is Tom Cruise as utterly despicable studio executive Les Grossman. If you haven't seen the movie, just take a look at this photo, and know that his physical appearance is actually the least revolting thing about him.

Cruise does a fantastic job committing to the role, and he is joined by a great many Hollywood mainstays in poking fun at the silly and awful things that happen in the process of getting a picture up on the silver screen. Undoubtedly the reality is not quite so bad as it is presented in the movie, but it made me think of how many people and institutions often end up seeming like a caricature of what they once were.

Before They Were MP3s, 1998: #6 - The Foo Fighters - "The Colour And The Shape"

I’ve always had a peculiar affinity for The Foo Fighters. They’ve never been my favorite band, but how could I not appreciate a band whose front man was the drummer? Granted, as the years went on, Dave Grohl did less and less of the drumming, but it was almost an inspirational tale to a teenager who likes attention but by definition remains hidden behind his instrument most of the time. That and, it was always the front man who got the ladies. And when I was seventeen, there was nothing on this earth I wanted more than female attention.