Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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g , lit; UAMciuu'uK * Wednesday, August 4, 2uu4 T-tlu »jj IT " W< -mim^TTTI h /rT‘\7 jim carrey: fiere it is! CONTACT US H H VI I X ‘Samsonite!’I was way off.” _ , J *ll/\ DURING HIS QUEST TO RETURN MARY SWANSON'S E-mail us at gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu JL JL Jl—L_JI JL T Jl—I—<L jl briefcase in -oumb & dumber” CD. Review PHOTO SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK Badly Drawn Boy, the musical pseudonym of Damon Gough, just released “One Plus One is One.” AUyou need is Love ONE PLUS ONE IS ONE Badly Drawn Boy 4 out of 5 stars BY MEGAN TREACY THE GAMECOCK “One Plus One is One” is the fourth full-length release from Damon Gough, a.k.a. Badly Drawn Boy. The album continues his ongoing musi cal discussion of love and re lationships, but defines itself by centering around the idea that love conquers all. The title track and first song introduces this theme with the line, “Why can’t you see that one plus one is one / Much greater than the sum of the parts.” Gough’s pleas for peace are surrounded by a stronger and wider instru mentation than on previous albums. For fans of “Have You Fed the Fish?” this will seem to be a natural progres sion, but for those yearning for the days of “The Hour of Bewilderbeast” or even “About a Boy,” disappoint ment lies ahead. As the album untoias, Gough unveils a prominent aspect of this album: the flute. On songs like “Summertime in Wintertime” the flute melodies take on Jethro Tull proportions, and on others they gracefully float along with Gough’s yearning for dream-like love. The biggest change seen on “One Plus One” is the almost primary use of the piano as opposed to guitar. “Have You Fed the Fish?” showcased an almost-even proportion while the earlier two albums show cased even less. This, howev er, is not a bad thing. Piano based “Logic of a Friend” is easily one of the best songs Gough has ever written and is the most shining moment of this album. The majority of the stand outs on this album are con tained in its second half, starting with “Four Leaf Clover,” an optimistic and simple piece of piano-pop whose charm is amplified by the use of handclaps and lines like, “Don’t worry about a thing / Keep taking it easy.” Later on, laxe tne Liory delivers eruptions of instru mentation that would make Thom Yorke and the boys proud, while instructing the listener “to live in the hearts of those that you loved is not to die.” Weaknesses in the album lie in the songs’ eccentric in troductions and endings. The ticking of a clock ends “This is that New Song” while run ning water and a music box bring “Year of the Rat” to an end, a song whose grandiose orchestration and addition of a children’s choir could find it just as appropriate on a Polyphonic Spree album. The epic “Holy Grail” clos es the original U.K. track list ing of the album, but the U.S. version includes two extra tracks: “Don’t Ask Me, I’m Only the President,” an obvi ous nod to our current state of affairs, and “Part B.” The tracks are good additions for Badly Drawn Boy fans, but not essential to understand Gough’s message. “One Plus One is One” is Gough’s most experimental album, but his most solid in theme and message. This al bum is a must for a Badly Drawn Boy fan, and strongly recommended for those who like their pop grand and meaningful. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecockfeatures@gwm.sc.edu I prefer my heavy metal ‘Black ’ened I hate new metal. I hate the idiots who play new metal on Fender Stratocasters, and I hate the idiots who listen to new metal while joyously slitting their wrists. Use broader slices, Nosferatu. I also hate living in the past, but people should | know where their dad-hating whine-fests come from. All that stuff comes from Ozzy, Itchy, Dopey and the fat guy. Yes, it comes from Black Sabbath, the ugly heavy metal version of the Beatles. They were innovators. Awesome Danas liKe Atreyu, STEVEN ..... .a. ..|i Slayer, Between the Buried and VAN HAKbN , ^ „ Second-year Me, and Dying Fetus would not mechanical exist were it not for Black engineering Sabbath. If you’re in main student stream denial that such a fa mous band could spawn such fame-spurning bands, do your homework with a black #666 pen cil and get back to me. Follow the holy lineage: Sabbath begat Metallica, Metallica helped beget Korn, Korn begat Puddle of Mudd. Let us pray Puddle of Mudd falls like the Tower of Babel. “Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978)” was released a few months back, and critics heaped praise onto the-octet of albums that featured Ozzy on lead vocals. The band decided to sweep its uncomfortable Ronnie James Dio phase under a dusty rug. That’s not to say Sabbath hasn’t made mis takes besides hiring Dio —.they also produced a lot of fluff. The song “Fluff” (no joke) from the album “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” is an aimless ditty that makes me dry heave. On the other end of the spectrum, check out the beautiful “Solitude” from the album “Master,” the song that convinced me of Ozzy’s singing ability. Most of the Ozzy catalog is a potent punch of adrena line, perfect for insecure American males like ♦ SABBATH, SEE PAGE 7 — _I The original members of Black Sabbath.