Posts published in “Reviews”

(Archive April 2016) “Probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever listened to.”

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor

Title: Our Sweet Love/
Artist: The Beach Boys/
Writers: Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson & Al Jardine/
Album: Sunflower/
Release: 31 August, 1970

The Beach Boys are a group of five, maybe six young and cute Californians composed of brothers Brian, Carl & Dennis Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, childhood friend Al Jardine, and later on, Bruce Johnson. Together, these six lads would compose many high-hitting compositions that would end up as hit singles [California Girls, Good Vibrations]. They would be best known for their brilliant harmonies and their work leading up to their monumental “Pet Sounds” album. read more

(Archive April 2016) “An interesting mess.”

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor

Song: A Day in the Life [Anthology Version]/
Artist: The Beatles/
Writer: Lennon-McCartney/
Album: Anthology 2/
Release: 18 March, 1996/
Recorded: 19-20 January & 10 February, 1967/
Label: Apple

Anthology 2 is the second of three compilation albums dedicated to Beatles outtakes. They mainly hosted a large set of studio outtakes, home demos, and even live performances that were either bootlegged in large numbers before, or making their debut here.

`Overall, I felt that the compilations helped tell the story of the band’s rise to the top, and their descent towards their last few days. However, my main problem with this set is its gratuitous need to combine certain outtakes in order to form a “complete” product, especially when this uses otherwise unavailable outtakes.

“A Day in the Life”, an already great song that would really benefit from a progressive look at outtake-wise (one outtake at a time), it is instead represented by a smörgåsbord of Takes, numbered 1, 2, 6 & an orchestra outtake, all compiled to form a “complete” version. However, I can’t really complain too much, because both Take 2 and the orchestra piece is available, consumer-wise, for the first time. read more

(Archive April 2016) “Rock, rock, roll Plymouth rock, roll over”

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor

Song: Do You Like Worms/
Artist: The Beach Boys/
Writers: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks/
Album: The Smile Sessions/
Release: 31 October, 2011

I promise you that not every Beach Boys review that I’ll do first will originate from the now-”finished” SMiLE project, but this song has been stuck at the back of my head for some time, that I had to give it a closer look.

Do You Like Worms, better known since its reinvention in 2004 as “Roll Plymouth Rock,” is another song that was considered for the SMiLE album. It was meant to be a lyrical journey across the United States of America, from coast to coast by means of Manifest Destiny and westward expansion, but in its original 1966-1967 state, it feels more like a journey half-recorded. read more

(Archive April 2016) Hamilton: A Musical Review

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

Hamilton Is Not Throwing Away its Shot

By Courtney Wentz | Observer Contributor

Hamilton, a musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and produced by Jeffrey Seller, is the most popular, unique, and important show currently on Broadway.

Hamilton is about the life of founding father, Alexander Hamilton, told in the point of view of the man who shot him, Aaron Burr, with the exception of one song.

Victoria Chadbourne, raised in Phillipston, is now an Arts and Entertainment Management major at Dean College in Franklin, MA, where she has stage managed three shows, was an assistant for four, and has been in ten shows. Chadbourne has been passionate about musicals all her life and had some comments to make about the impact Hamilton has on the audience. Chadbourne said, “The music is diverse enough that everyone could find a song they like, the story is incredible, and you might just learn something without having to read a 600 page book.” read more

(Archive April 2016) Mackelmore’s This Unruly Mess I’ve Made Review

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Jason Greenough | Arts & Entertainment Editor

*This Unruly Mess I’ve Made.*
Macklemore.com

They’ve done it again. My God, the Seattle Hip-Hop superstar duo known as Macklemore and Ryan Lewis have done it again.

With the February release of sophomore effort This Unruly Mess I’ve Made, Macklemore has broken down more barriers in not just Hip-Hop as a genre of music, but one of social and political awareness, as well. From the opening horns of Light Tunnels, the Seattle native begins to share a chronicle of success following his debut smash-hit album, The Heist. In the four years since that release, there have been many dips and turns in the road for Macklemore, and he says that to you, upfront and unfiltered. Unprecedented fame and notoriety, the ups and downs of that fame, a relapse in sobriety, learning he was going to be a Father, and being cited and approached for political and social advice are all covered and discussed in this new record, and quite artistically I might add. read more

(Archive April 2016) Review of Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Jason Greenough | Arts & Entertainment Editor

*Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday*
Photo courtesy: press.netflix.com

If you know me, you may know of my love for Pee-Wee Herman.

I grew up watching Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and Big Top Pee-Wee with my Brother, and the Pee-Wee Christmas special we owned on VHS is close to its demise thanks to our incessant desire to watch it again and again. It’s safe to say that Paul Reubens’ brainchild that originated as a character in his, how you would say nowadays, “NSFW” stand-up comedy routine, was a big part of the cultural exposure of my childhood. All of this paved the way for an excitement comparable to a small kid on Christmas morning, for the release of Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, the newest installment of the Pee-Wee Empire, and one of the newest Netflix originals. read more

(Archive April 2016) Deadpool Review

By editorialteam on August 28, 2024

By Nicole Benoit | Observer Contributor

Deadpool is definitely Ryan Reynolds’ best acting yet. This role is very different from anything he has played before. He typically plays a character in a romantic comedy, but this film brings out his true comedic side. This is a must see film whether you like comic books or not!

This film was written by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and directed by Tim Miller, starring Ryan Reynolds as the superhero and Ed Skrein as the villain. Of course, there is also Vanessa, Deadpool’s love interest, played by Morena Baccarin. Based on its R rating, vulgar language, and racy comments, it definitely isn’t a movie for a family night out. read more

(Archive March 2016) Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next?

By editorialteam on August 23, 2024

By Jason Greenough | Arts & Entertainment Editor

Roger and Me. Bowling For Columbine. Fahrenheit 9/11. Sicko. Capitalism: A Love Story. And now…Where To Invade Next? Michael Moore, everyone’s favorite Detroit Tigers cap-wielding documentarist is back, and he is pulling out all the stops in his new film, Where To Invade Next?, which paints a comparison of aspects of the American way of living to those of countries all over the world.

Moore travels to places like Italy, Germany, France, and Norway to compare their standards of living to those in the States in regards to things such as paid leave and vacation time, tuition costs, food quality in public schools, health care costs and quality, and the education and prison systems, to name a few. And from a viewer standpoint, he hit the nail right on the head. I feel Where To Invade Next? is Michael’s most intense work. While I am always a fan of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the film responsible for getting me interested in political activism and the rest of Moore’s catalogue, and Bowling For Columbine, which I didn’t see until many years after it was released, but still made me feel as if I was there for that situation., this effort certainly lives up to the expectations of someone who was looking for a moving, informative, and brutally honest view of what America looks like from other countries around the world. I needed my feelings to be validated, and to simply say that “they certainly were” is a gross understatement. It showed just how universal the perception of America is, except in America. We seem to be putting on the rose-colored glasses all too often, that is if we ever take them off. We are not, especially in the eyes of these other countries, the land of opportunity. People actually laugh at us. And Moore discusses why. read more

(Archive March 2016) “Mother should I trust the government?”

By editorialteam on August 23, 2024

Song: Mother/
Artist: Pink Floyd/
Writers: Roger Waters/
Album: The Wall/
Release: 30 November, 1979/

The problem with reviewing these kinds of tracks is that, in a narrative, there are going to be multiple parts that aren’t going to make sense in context, which is usually delivered at the beginning of the story. On the Wall, “In the Flesh?” starts the story going and “The Thin Ice and Another Brick in the Wall Parts 1 & 2” continue building onto the narrative. Mother is the first track on the album that I really feel that the overall story really took off. read more

(Archive March 2016) Shorthand Reviews

By editorialteam on August 23, 2024

By Patrick J. Miller | Observer Contributor

In each “Shorthand,” I will cover multiple songs and talk briefly about each of them, all tied to a theme. This month’s theme is “Early Beatles Edition.”

“Love Me Do”
Lennon/McCartney – Non-Album Single [17 (UK)/1 (US)] – 1962.10.05 [UK]/1964.04.27 [US]
“Love Me Do” works as a really simple song that does not need any sort of encryption in order to find a deeper meaning but it would be overshadowed by almost everything else The Beatles would release in the future. [5/10] read more