Reviews Supplemental

30 Dec 2014: THPS HD
Albums I've already reviewed:
Metallica/"Death Magnetic" (2008)
Telekinesis/"Twelve Desperate Straight Lines" (2012)

THPS HD is the last stop on our tour of Tony Hawk. It was a "greatest hits" version of THPS1 and 2, electing to give us fucking Downhill Jam instead of School 1.
The soundtrack is half songs from THPS2 + Superman from THPS1, and half new songs. I'm doing two albums featuring the new songs.

30 Dec 2014: Pigeon John/"Dragon Slayer" (2010)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-action-by.html

HIP-HOP YES

The Bomb is a great song, first off. You might have heard it in some commercials, and it does have that "marketable" quality. It's got the easy "woah-oah-oah-oah" shit, but it's got a great beat and nice lyrics.
Buttersoft Seats is incredibly strange. It's almost amazing, but it lacks the final push into full-on "what the FUCK".

The album is fine. It doesn't really play out like The Bomb would lead you to believe, but that's fine. Lightning never strikes the same bottle twice, after all.

30 Dec 2014: Apex Manor/"The Year of Magical Drinking" (2011)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/03/julio-and-case-of-missing-mama-pajama.html

To be completely honest, THPS HD's new songs weren't really that great beyond The Bomb, Please Ask for Help, and All Nightmare Long

Teenage Blood is better than I remembered, honestly. It's your typical "fuck yeah we are teenagers (except not really)!!!" song, but it's performed well.
Holy Roller is shit and I hate it and FUCK YOU USE A PIANO

The album is decent. I suppose not-Neversoft did a good job of picking the cubic zirconia in the rough.

I'll start the GH2 thing next year. For now, have everyone's favourite Welsh band.

31 Dec 2014: Badfinger/"No Dice" (1970)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-guys-by-frog.html

The third track here is called Love Me Do, and it's not a cover. There's a law against that, right? I'm pretty sure you can't just call a song Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Eleanor Rigby, so why Love Me Do?

This is a great album, and better than Badfinger's debut. I enjoyed it a lot.

31 Dec 2014: Harry Nilsson/"Nilsson Schmilsson" (1971)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-jojo-by.html

Everyone says Nilsson's Without You is so much better than Badfinger's, but fuck that. It's not. Badfinger did it first and best.

The album started off good, but just got worse as it went on. Kind of a self-indulgent mess.

01 Jan 2015: "Greatest Hits Volume Two" by The Beatles

This is a pretty good compilation. I mean, any compilation with Boys on it is okay with me. Plus you've got She's a Woman and 'til There Was You, which are both PRETTY FUCKING GREAT
The only sore spot is Anna.

Now let's do all the albums from GH2's main setlist.

01 Jan 2015: Tier 1 and Tier 2
Albums I've already reviewed:
Cheap Trick/"Heaven Tonight" (1978)
Toadies/"Rubberneck" (1995)
Nirvana/"In Utero" (1993)
KISS/"KISS" (1974)
Motley Crue/"Shout at the Devil" (1983)

Danzig/"Danzig" (1988)
Pearl Jam/"Pearl Jam" (2006)
Warrant/"Cherry Pie" (1990)
Van Halen/"Van Halen I" (1978)
Spinal Tap/"Spinal Tap" (1984)

The first two tiers of GH2 were great. Nirvana, Cheap Trick, Nirvana, KISS, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, this baby's got it all. There's only one sore spot, but we'll get to that in a minute. The absolute best song for playing here is Mother, with Strutter a close second. The extended solo on Heart-Shaped Box was great, but the rest of the cover is severely lacking to my fanboy ears
I'd like to brag that I have FCed every song in the first tier aside from Shout at the Devil, but I am sure you are all better than me and have done that already

01 Jan 2015: Rancid/"Let's Go" (1994)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-sleep-by.html

Salvation is the weak link of the first tier, but it's fine. It would be one of the better songs in GH1's first tier, if that counts for anything. It's also probably the easiest song in the game, but I could see an argument for Possum Kingdom.

The main problem with this album is that the singuy just sounds like he's drunk and saying whatever. I think Wavegroup did Salvation better, too.
The second problem (which amplifies the main problem) is that this album has fucking TWENTY-THREE SONGS

01 Jan 2015: Wolfmother/"Wolfmother" (2005)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-laugh-by-she.html

Let me get this out of the way now: I don't like Wolfmother at all. Does anyone?
The thing that really makes Wolfmother bad is the singuy. They have some decent riffs and such, but the vocals are unbearable.

I like Dimension's riff. It has a nice feeling to it, even if it isn't technically impressive.
Woman's riff is great. It was a fun song in GH2, even if it's not a good one. It was also in Tony Hawk's Project 8, and I considered doing it on Sunday.

Once you get used to Wolfmother guy's voice, this isn't so bad. I've heard a lot worse, really.
I'm trying to underplay it, really. I don't want to be "that guy who likes Wolfmother". I did like this, but let's just say I didn't.

02 Jan 2015: Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5
Albums I've already reviewed:
Kansas/"Leftoverture" (1976)
The Stooges/"Raw Power" (1973)
The Police/"Regatta de Blanc" (1979)
Alice Cooper/"Billion Dollar Babies" (1973)
Alice in Chains/"Dirt" (1992)
Black Sabbath/"Paranoid" (1970)

Foo Fighters/"The Colour and the Shape" (1997)
Deep Purple/"Shades of Deep Purple" (1968)
Matthew Sweet/"Girlfriend" (1991)
The Rolling Stones/"Sticky Fingers" (1971)
Guns N' Roses/"Appetite for Destruction" (1987)

Rick Derringer/"All-American Boy" (1973)
The Pretenders/"Pretenders" (1980)
The Allman Brothers Band/"Brothers and Sisters" (1973)
Thin Lizzy/"Bad Reputation" (1977)
Aerosmith/"Rocks" (1976)

Tier three is one of two tiers that I'd already reviewed all the albums from. And they were all good, which is in itself good. In these tiers, there's really only one bad song. Sure, songs like Monkey Wrench aren't fun, but they're good songs. Tier four contains my jam, Fake Girlfriend.

02 Jan 2015: Butthole Surfers/"Independent Worm Saloon" (1993)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-life-by-deads.html

AND THE AWARD FOR EDGIEST BAND NAME GOES TO
yes, it is edgier than anal cunt

Who Was in My Room Last Night? might not be the best song, but it was pretty fun in GH2. The song would be better without the "I'M FLYING I'M FLYING" or whatever at the beginning.

The album is twice as long as it should be. Cut out the entire first half minus WWIMRLN and the last three tracks, and you've got something pretty good. As-is? Eh.

02 Jan 2015: Primus/"Frizzle Fry" (1990)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-direct-by.html

Because I hate myself. I hate myself so fucking much. Fuck you, myself. You are a cunt. I would not hang out with you, and would in fact actively avoid you if I saw you.

John the Fisherman is one of the worst songs I have ever heard. Everything about it is absolutely abysmal. The first review I see on RYM has text that reads "desert island cd...how can anybody not like john the fisherman?". Why did I decide to accept that friend request again?
Les Claypool makes Dave Mustaine sound like fucking Freddie Mercury, but he's not even the main problem with John the Fisherman. It's that awful, awful guitar part. I mean, holy shit.

Mr. Know-It-All has a pretty cool guitar part, though.
The title track is actually pretty good. I'm surprised.

At the end of it all, fuck it. Fuck Primus. I am never doing another of their albums until I come up with another stupid idea for a week of reviews.

03 Jan 2015: Tier 6 and Tier 7
Albums I've already reviewed:
Heart/"Dreamboat Annie" (1976)
Stone Temple Pilots/"Tiny Music" (1996)
My Chemical Romance/"The Black Parade" (2006)
Rage Against the Machine/"Rage Against the Machine" (1992)
The Sword/"Age of Winters" (2006)
Jane's Addiction/"Ritual de lo Habitual" (1990)

Anthrax/"Spreading the Disease" (1985)
Iron Maiden/"Piece of Mind" (1983)
Stray Cats/"Stray Cats" (1981)
Rush/"Moving Pictures" (1981)

Tier six is the second tier I'd already reviewed all the albums from. It's a pretty fucking great tier. Tier seven, however, is not. The next two albums are why. Plus I don't like Madhouse much.

03 Jan 2015: Lamb of God/"Ashes of the Wake" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-alternative.html

There is nothing I love more than throat-shredding screamy vocals. Oh, wait, I forgot about having my skin peeled off and being burned alive.
The GH2 cover of Laid to Rest is actually better by fucking miles.

Either the album gets slightly better as it goes on, or I just got used to it. Either way, I didn't enjoy it at all. It's bad.

03 Jan 2015: The Reverend Horton Heat/"Smoke 'em if You Got 'em" (1991)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-hay-by-hey.html

Psychobilly Freakout is decent, I suppose. Bad example of the band's music, really. It was also hell to five-star, and it doesn't even matter that I eventually did it, because there's no way in hell I'll be able to do Misirlou.

This album isn't as good as Liquor in the Front. Too many instrumentals. It's a shame, because the first two tracks made me think this would be great.

04 Jan 2015: Tier 8
Albums I've already reviewed:
The Living End/"Roll On" (2000)
Megadeth/"Rust in Peace" (1990)
Lynyrd Skynyrd/"Pronounced" (1973)

I have listened to half of tier eight, and who can blame me? Freebird is great; it's a classic. Carry Me Home is great. Hangar 18 is overrated. I'll get to the other three later.

04 Jan 2015: Avenged Sevenfold/"City of Evil" (2005)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-by-the.html

I really don't know how to feel about this band. On one hand, I don't want to like them. On the other, I kind of do. I've had this album on my list for a while, and my biggest fear was always actually enjoying it. Well, FUCK IT
With band members calling themselves things like "M. Shadows", "Synyster Gates", "Zacky Vengeance", "Johnny Christ", and "The Rev", it's not hard to understand why I want to avoid liking this band at all costs. R.I.P. The Rev blah blah blah

THE ALBUM COVER IS FUCKING SWEET BRO
THERE'S LIKE A SKULL GUY WITH A FUCKING SWORD
WHO EVEN HAS SWORDS
THIS FUCKING GUY DOES MOTHERFUCKER

Like, you could put Beast and the Harlot on, and I'd be able to sing along pretty fucking accurately. But I wouldn't, because I don't want to be "that guy who likes Avenged Sevenfold". The GH2 cover is better, though.
"Symbolic woman sits on this throne", wow
"Makes us drink from poisoned wine to fornicating with our kings", wow
See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAJiQJWVXxM

Shadows's higher register is garbage, as seen on Burn it Down.
I have always liked Bat Country. I wish I didn't, but there you go.
"Can't you help me as I'm starting to burn", wow
"Sometimes I don't know why we'd rather live than die", wow

There is nothing major wrong with this album. Tracks six through eight could easily be thrown in the trash, but whatever. It's fine.

04 Jan 2015: Suicidal Tendencies/"Suicidal Tendencies" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-errands-by.html

Institutionalised is great. It's great. I can't say it isn't without lying.
Unfortunately, it is a horrible vision into the band's music. It's all generic punk bullshit with none of what makes Institutionalised great.

05 Jan 2015: Tier 8 and DLC
Albums I've already reviewed:
My Chemical Romance/"The Black Parade" (2006)

The DLC for GH2 was kind of odd, honestly. The GH1 repeats weren't, but the rest kind of was. Packs were 500 Microsoft Points, which is $6.25 in real money. I'll go in a bit more detail about one of the packs tomorrow, but for the rest:
The MCR pack was the only pack for just one artist. It single-handedly made MCR the most-represented artist in the Harmonix GH games. It was all songs from The Black Parade, which was at that point the "new" album. The choices weren't bad, but none lived up to Dead! in the main setlist. Where was House of Wolves?
Then there were three foreign songs for 200 MSP each, which is $2.50 real money. Why they didn't release them as a pack was anyone's guess. I didn't play these.
Finally, there were two packs of just whatever. This is where today's last review and tomorrow's two reviews will come from. Two from the first pack tomorrow, and one from the second today. I own both these packs, and they're very underwhelming aside from one song which I enjoyed. More on that after Misirlou.

05 Jan 2015: Dick Dale and His Del-Tones/"Surfers' Choice" (1962)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-dates-by-dates.html

IS THAT A BABY CHICKEN
GET IT OUT OF THE STUDIO
IT HURTS MY EARS

That fucking violin or whatever on Misirlou is the fucking worst. GH2 cover was miles better.

Like, whatever. It's just so unremarkable.

05 Jan 2015: Dropkick Murphys/"The Meanest of Times" (2007)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-daughter-by.html

The State of Massachusetts was a perfect choice for GH2, really. The acoustic guitar parts just make it work much better than POWERCHORDS

Otherwise, see the review for the last one it's exactly the same

06 Jan 2015: DLC

IT'S TONY DAY
DLC HE DIDN'T BUY FROM ARTISTS HE LOVED

06 Jan 2015: Trivium/"The Crusade" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-double.html

I remember Tony saying Trivium were like a much better version of Metallica. We'll see how that goes.
As a nice coincidence, this is the exact album he was talking about.

If you had placed Ignition in front of me, my exact words would be "Oh, is this a new Metallica song? Hetfield's voice has kind of gone to hell, hasn't it?". It's not bad, I suppose. It's just that if I wanted to listen to Metallica, I'd listen to, you know, Metallica.

The final track tries WAY too hard to be Metallica. It's way too long, and is definitely the low point of the album.

Worse than the best Metallica, better than the worst Metallica. Right in the fucking middle of the Metallica scale.

Master of Puppets
Kill 'em All
Garage Inc.
Ride the Lightning
The Black Album
The Crusade
I Can't Megadeth
... and Justice for All
St. Anger
Reload
Load

06 Jan 2015: Atreyu/"A Deathgrip on Yesterday" (2006)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-geothermal.html

Granted, Tony was more about the album after this one, but nothing's ever perfect. R.I.P. Tony Manotas

It's fine. There is nothing wrong with this, and there is nothing particularly exciting about it, either.

I'll do all the albums/songs from GHERT80s starting tomorrow, but for today, here's some other shit.

07 Jan 2015: Screaming Trees/"Sweet Oblivion" (1992)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-brief-by-short.html

No idea why I didn't do this earlier. Probably should have.

It's supposedly grunge, but I really wouldn't call it that. If you're one of those people who says Pearl Jam or Nirvana ( ) aren't grunge, there's no way in hell that Screaming Trees are, even if you exclude Nearly Lost You. BUT THE GUY'S VOICE IS SLIGHTLY RASPY IT MUST BE GRUNGE

It's a good album. It was a toss-up between giving it a 3.5 and a 4, so I let the last track decide. The last track firmly stated its point, and I gave it a 4.

07 Jan 2015: Diamond Head/"Lightning to the Nations" (1980)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-ike-by-ikes.html

This was a big influence for early Metallica (including Dave Mustaine), and both Metallica and Megadeth have covered a few of their songs.
Like, it's good. It's not much more than that. The last two tracks are the best two.

ALL THE ALBUMS FROM GUITAR HERO ENCORE: ROCKS THE '80s

08 Jan 2015: Tier 1
Albums I've already reviewed:
Quiet Riot/"Metal Health" (1983)
A Flock of Seagulls/"A Flock of Seagulls" (1982)
Skid Row/"Skid Row" (1989)

Still mad about Metal Health missing its solo. Kevin was right; Metal Health will drive you mad
Honestly, this tier is kind of disappointing. I Ran and 18 and Life are great, Metal Health was butchered, and then we have these two.

08 Jan 2015: The Go-Gos/"Beauty and the Beat" (1981)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-falcon-by.html

I GOTTA REVIEW THIS THE GO-GOS ALBUM OR I WILL BE FIRED

We Got the Beat is just kind of a song. I have never cared for it one way or the other. Our Lips are Sealed is a much better song, anyway.

The album is about what you'd expect. It's just like We Got the Beat; just kind of there.

08 Jan 2015: Accept/"Balls to the Wall" (1983)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-lord-by-lords.html

Oh boy. This is going to be awful. Balls to the Wall was in both GHERT80s and GTA: Vice City Stories. I can't say I cared for it either time.

This is bad. It's really, really, really fucking bad.

09 Jan 2015: Tier 2
Albums I've already reviewed:
Scorpions/"Blackout" (1982)
Eddie Money/"No Control" (1982)
White Lion/"Big Game" (1989)

The second tier was probably the best one. Radar Love, No One Like You, and even Shakin' was fun. Great tier, really.

09 Jan 2015: Asia/"Asia" (1982)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-person-by.html

Heat of the Moment is great. It's just great. I wish I'd be able to remember it exists more often.

The "progressive rock" tag this album has on RYM is unwarranted bullshit that only kept me away from this album. I feared it would be pretentious bullshit, but it's actually really good. I should have done this months ago, when I first wanted to.
This isn't progressive in the slightest. It's much closer to Foreigner or Boston than Pink Floyd or, uh, King Crimson.

P.S. Today I hit 2,000 entries on the music blog apparently

09 Jan 2015: Homestar Runner/"Strong Bad Sings and Other Type Hits" (2003)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-musings-by.html

Full disclosure: My only exposure to Homestar Runner was Trogdor in GH2 and Because, It's Midnite in GHERT80s. I considered replacing this with the Bow Wow Wow EP, but those guys were too INDIVIDUAL for my tastes

Trogdor being the opening song was the best move. It just roars out of the gate. "Thatched-roof cottages" are still the best three words put into any song.
"FOOTBALL" is probably the best one word put into any song.

Because, It's Midnite is the only song I use the intentional misspelling (and misgrammar...-ing) for, out of all the songs that exist. It deserves it.
HEART OF A LION
AND THE WINGS OF A BAT
BECAUSE, IT'S MIDNITE
Crimson falls down from the wings of a dove floating over the pavement; guitars take flight wearing my tightest pants because, it's midnite
True poetry.

Moving Very Slowly is pretty much a perfect metal song. I could have sworn I hear that opening riff somewhere before, though.
Limozeen should have retired after their first song. Night Mamas isn't anywhere near Because, It's Midnite. It doesn't even deserve to be properly misspelled.

It has its moments, but I'm pretty sure a lot of this worked better when it had video.

10 Jan 2015: Tier 3
Albums I've already reviewed:
Dio/"Holy Diver" (1983)

Here's where my plan hits a snag. Both The Vapours and .38 Special ain't having this shit. So my plan is FUCKED. Rather than two days, four albums, we're going one day, two albums. My RT80s quest will end at least two albums short.

10 Jan 2015: Scandal/"Warrior" (1984)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-gargoyle-by.html

Their only album. The Warrior is a good song, really. There's nothing bad about it. The way it faded out in RT80s was jarring, but other than that, it was great.
There's a reason you've only ever heard The Warrior, let me just say.

10 Jan 2015: Twisted Sister/"Still Hungry" (2004)
http://musiccouldbebetter.blogspot.com/2014/04/julio-and-case-of-missing-caste-system.html

Twenty years after the release of Stay Hungry, Twisted Sister rerecorded the thing. Stay Hungry was a pretty good album, even if I've heard I Wanna Rock and We're Not Gonna Take It far too much. This one has also got some BONUS TRACKS so people will actually buy it, I guess.

Stay Hungry is the best Twisted Sister song. It loses a bit from the rerecording, but if this were the only version of the song that existed, it would still be the best Twisted Sister song.

So why does this exist? Only The Price came out better in the end. If they'd rearranged and reimagined every song, I'd get it. The 1984 outtakes are better than Burn in Hell/Horror Pretentious, but I can see why they were left off. The new 2004 tracks are just uninspired, to put it nicely. Rock 'n' Roll Saviours is a direct rip-off of Children of the Grave, with new and worse lyrics.