Writer's Block: Top of the Charts
It says "Motown Never Sounded So Good" by Less Than Jake, at 122 plays. I don't really believe it...sure, I used to listen to it all the time, but not quite as much anymore. I kind of thought that other songs would have overcome it by now. "Everything Goes Numb" is fourth, for crying out loud...and "Doomsday" doesn't even make the top five. Strange...I'm pretty sure iTunes doesn't know how to count. Actually, I honestly think there's something wrong with it...if I go down to the bottom of the list, there are several songs that only have a few plays listed, but I'm quite sure that there should be more.
Speaking of music, I recently finished my Spanish 2 project (YES THANK GOD) and my reward to myself was the Torchwood: CoE soundtrack. Forty songs for ten dollars on iTunes...you really can't go wrong with that, even if most of them are around one minute long. Anyway. Here's where I cut the text because, believe it or not, some people in the world haven't seen TWCoE yet (yes, YET, even though it's been available for illegally watching online for MONTHS now) and this upcoming paragraph or so could be considered a spoiler. Maybe not. I have no idea what I'm going to write about so it'll be just as much a surprise to me as it is to you. Don't you just love when I write just because I haven't written anything in what seems like FOREVER?* Because ya'll hang on my every word. I should probably get back to the point.
I am, to begin this succinct review, slightly disappointed in the new album. There's much too much filler for my taste, and not enough tangible melodies and countermelodies and raw, dripping emotion for it to become one of my favorite MG albums. Speaking of MG albums, I've noticed a very obvious lack of "Murray Gold" in the "artist" column. Of course, now that I've gone back to verify this observation, I see that he's not mentioned in the other Torchwood album either. So...I've just made a fool of myself. And I could go back and delete my accusation of MG not having a part in the making of the album, but I think I'll keep it to further describe how it feels like there was something missing.
The basics: Forty songs. A whopper of a track number, certainly, but, to restate what I've already mentioned, most of these songs are very short, in the style of the first Doctor Who soundtrack. Sheer motifs, with a few full-length pieces thrown in.
The cons (It's always best to mention the cons first. Not only because then the pros are the last thing lingering in your mind, but also because I'm the sort of depressed person who thinks of the cons first.): WHOA. Look at that. The close parenthesis serves two functions--it not only closes the parenthesis, but acts as a frowny face to supplement the angsty little tidbit that was inside the parenthesis to begin with!!! I'm quite happy with myself, here. Anyway, the first con is that many of the motif pieces aren't motifs at all, but stringy little things that don't hold much. I take a glance at my iPod and notice that the song is ending before I thought it had left the intro. Others carry a bit of a tune, but several of THESE seem to be restating melodies that were originally in the first album. Sure, they're remixed, with beats in new, exciting places and emphasis on previously unnoticed sections, but they're not honestly "new" sounds.
The pros: The songs near the end of the album are the ones where I really feel MG and BF shine through. There's more to them, and there's more feeling in them, if you follow me. Ianto finally gets a theme halfway through the album, though it is very short and, for me, anyway, the beat is hard to find. Listening to it again, now, I still can't figure out if it's in 3/4 or 4/4 or if random notes are being hit on the synthesizer at random moments. Though unsatisfying, it really comes through later on, in the potentially epic "The Ballad of Ianto Jones". A sweet, haunting piano intro fades in, and leads into something very similar to the original Theme, with a sorrowful vocal accompaniment and a helpful low guitar which keeps the beat. The greatest moment, however, is when it slows into dead silence...then leaps back with drums, a stronger guitar, a stronger melody, and a rock beat, to be true to its title. Maybe it's just me being a sucker for drums, but this piece is absolutely fantastic as it is.
But enough about Ianto. *Cringes from the Ianto fans* The second piece I'm going to mention specifically is "Fighting Back", which really strikes me for some reason. It's the first song in a long line of mournful tracks to have some energy to it. The first few seconds, with its raging guitar, loud brass, and beating drumbeat really jar the listener into realizing that this is Torchwood, Ianto or no Ianto. Of course, it really settles into that wonderful, creaky strings section and gets down to business...fighting the 456 and realizing what it's going to take to win this battle. Then getting that energy back and running with it, weaving the new CoE theme in perfectly** and being fantastic. This song just sounds like Torchwood and I love it for that.
But really, what our dear composers are best at is writing sappy bits of bittersweet angst and hurling it at us when we're not expecting it. The standout in this category is most definitely "I Can Run Forever", obviously referencing Jack's idea to give up on his leadership position and go...well, go somewhere that isn't Cardiff. (I hadn't stuck any spoilers in this review yet and I figured I might as well, if I was going to waste my words on a warning before the cut.) It begins with a style that can only be described as "Rose's Theme" and "The Girl on the Roof" put together, but with an overriding "Jack's Love Theme" feel. ...I'm such a dork. Of course, Ianto's theme falls into place, and--the moment that made me gasp out loud and attract the attention of my mother, who was sitting right next to me in the car--leads into Owen's theme, seamlessly and perfectly, which lingers, hesitates for the slightest pause; and finds Tosh's theme, again, placed in the music so naturally that anything else being there is incomprehensible. That is the overwhelming talent of Murray Gold. Sometimes, I feel like he doesn't write music; he just knows how it should sound, and turns the feeling into notes, into beats and melodies and harmonies. So here Jack is, poised to leave, and his thoughts? Only of the members of his team; that he got killed. A desperate, somber Jack's theme finishes it off, and the song ends on a (literal, certainly not figurative) high note that seems to be waiting for something.
That's enough from me. It was a good album. Not the best, certainly, but good in its own way. To recap, the short songs were short, while the long ones were magnificent.
What else can I write about? Umm...I'm excited for school to start. My family is bugging the crap out of me...and it's just the little things that are bothering me, like how I've developed the habit of looking over my shoulder while on the computer because my mom has developed the habit of walking by, stopping, and just looking at what I'm doing. It's not like I do anything bad, but I don't like the feeling of not having any privacy. See--I just did it again. Instinctively switched tabs to my mail, or the facebook home page, just because I heard approaching footsteps and wasn't in the mood for this entry to be read and commented upon by relatives. It already happened earlier...I didn't feel like switching out of this page, and my mom read a random sentence out loud, laughed, and walked away. It's insulting, and I don't like it. And whenever I try to confront her about it, she acts all condescending and I get nowhere. There's other little things, too, which certainly won't seem like much in plain text, but they bother me more than they should. (Like how my dad JUST decided to move the couch out of the room I'm sitting in, typing, and put a chair there instead. Now everyone's running around moving things. Why? Honestly?)
I finished reading I Am The Messenger for probably the tenth time this weekend. I have never loved a book to bits as much as I do this one, and the way that I want to read it AGAIN kind of concerns me a little. The tone is always artistic yet never subtle; the same goes for the style of writing. I've often thought of putting some quotes from it onto my facebook page, but I decided that I would end up retyping the entire book into that little square. And it's not artistic just to be artistic; that's the best thing. Zusak writes this way, it seems, because it's the best way to describe every square inch of this world, be it ugly, bland, simple, beautiful, or all of these at the same time. I love Ed for his honest, humble view of himself and the way he slowly grows as a character and as a person to be somebody truly extraordinary by the end of his messages. I love Marv the "tight-arse" and the opportunity to see who he really is...maybe I should stop. I have a feeling none of you have ever read this book before, and these words will be lost on you. Sadly. I beg you to read it: I Am The Messenger, by Markus Zusak; one "z", one "s". If you happen to live in Australia (lucky bastard) then the title is just The Messenger. It will change your life. I am not exaggerating. This one essay prompt for U of M asks about a book that has impacted you; I am beyond all doubt going to write about this one.
Well. I feel like this is enough. A nice return to LJ, I think...I know that the one thing I'm NOT is reliable, but for tradition's sake I am going to now say that I'll try to write more consistently now that my life is going to enter a schedule. AKA school. Senior year. Oh, wow...that alone will be enough to fill a journal entry. I don't even know what I think about senior year right now.
*It's not true. I've been writing. Honest. It just hasn't been on LJ, and, in some cases, on LJ but not viewable by the likes of YOU. This is not meant in an offensive way...well, maybe a little bit. The point is, most of this writing that you are hearing about is uncomfortably angsty and would not entertain you in the slightest. If I was in your position, it would probably entertain me, but that's because I'm a sadist with no actual life. And hopefully, you are not. Let's just say it involves "Emily", if you catch my drift. You can add your own assumptions if it'll make you happy but I'm not going to type up another bout of angst just to please my lifeless sadist friends. =)
**I just realized. "Fighting Back" is one of the few tracks that DOESN'T contain the CoE theme, and I was actually listening to "Run for Your Lives", the next track, when I wrote that sentence. I didn't even notice the one song flowing into the other...