Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark

So I saw Spiderman last night. It had been something I wanted to see before the 20 different accidents and the million terrible reviews. The little kid in me (plus the U2 fan) thought that this would at least be a great experience.

I'm not a critic, so I can't tell you if it sucked or not. They way I described it as soon a I left was this: It's like watching a live Power Rangers episode with Team America puppet-pulling (read: stupid) action sequences. The "flying" was cool, but I was crapping myself thinking that somebody might fall.

The whole concept of the play its hard to pull off. Nobody will be happy because Spiderman is one of those iconic heroes in America - everyone has their own image of him. I'm not going to say I wasn't happy, but I wasn't thrilled. They killed some of the key original story lines.

I'm not sure it was ever meant to be a musical. That's part of the problem. There were points where I couldn't really understand what was being sung, it felt like the guitars overpowered the voices. Some of the songs were really good (I've been trying to download them all day today), but some were terrible. I kept trying to picture Bono singing them, and it didn't really work for me. But the "main" song was right up Edge's alley. It felt like all the songs were adaptations of other U2 songs, which is kind of weak, but U2 is amazing, so it balances fairly.

I'm not a huge Spiderman nerd. I couldn't tell you everything about the villains and the differences between Amazing Spiderman and Ultimate Spiderman and SuperDuper Spiderman. I watched whatever version that was on Fox on Saturday Mornings. I vaguely remember something about the spider goddess, but I really didn't like that whole theme. It really bothered me that the "with great power comes great responsibility" line from Uncle Ben that was like the focal point of the entire cartoon/movie/comic was barely mentioned. They could of made a song out of that.

Staging wise (is that the right term? I've become such a loser.) was probably the best thing about the show. They were able to mix in a healthy combination of comic book into the "real" world. You can see why the show is the most expensive in Broadway's history - the set was moving more than Kanye West's during his Glow in the Dark Tour.

One funny thing from last night - at the end it was pretty clear that Peter Parker was supposed to fly one last time, but he didn't get his "flying tools" strapped on in time/correctly, so he just walked off the stage and sort of threw the cords at the stage hands. Glad to see he didn't risk his life, but it's a shame the ending wasn't what it could of been.

The show is still in "previews" or whatever the correct terminology is for it. I don't think it's a total disaster. I just think they need to change things around. The whole Spider Goddess thing was brutal. Scratch her, make one of those "Sinister Six" the core villain for part two. They're strong enough characters there. There's a lot they could do - the Spiderman Universe is so expansive, it makes no sense to keep it to just the Green Goblin.

I just pray this isn't the beginning of a trend, as in a few years we see a X-Men on Broadway. And then the Hulk. Then Iron Man. Etc. Keep them on the silver screen.

Top 5 Albums of the Decade (according to me)

So I saw Rolling Stone's Top 100 Albums of the Decade, and found myself agreeing on some points, but clueless on some others (I really don't understand Radiohead, and never really liked Wilco.) That doesn't mean they're wrong, I bet they have better expertise than me, but I just thought it would be a perfect opportunity for my first real post. But I only picked 5 albums. They aren't necessarily my favorites, but what I think are the best.

Also, something I think to keep in mind, at the start of 2000, I was 11 years old. My music selection was pretty limited to Blink-182 and Sum41. I still listen to them today, but I was hypnotized by them.

5) The College Dropout - Kanye West

I don't claim to be much of a hip-hopper, but Kanye's first album was awesome. Previously he was behind the tracks producing Jay-Z and other's tracks. But his own album really blew everyone else's out of the water. It was the start of him on his way to becoming one of the biggest players in the game. He's featured on alot of other people's songs, and although he's REAL cocky (yo but this was the best album of ALL TIME) he's really talented, and we saw that in The College Dropout.



4) A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay


I struggle to pick my favorite Coldplay album, but when you look at the track listing, how can anyone argue against "Clocks", "The Scientist" (their best song ever in my opinion), "In My Place", among others. This album not only proved that Coldplay was better than just a one hit album, and became a phenomenon with X&Y and Vida La Vida. They're really something special, and this album really showed their brilliance.

3) American Idiot - Green Day


Okay, so if you knew me in 2004, you know that this album was the only one in my car, and no other CD was going to be played. There were so many levels of the album that appealed. The rock opera format is difficult to pull off, yet they did it brilliantly. The story summed up an American teenager from a broken home growing up in a war-torn, politically inept, country. While I don't consider myself political towards the left or the right, I really appreciate the commentary the band made on the choices the government made regarding war, and at the same time threading it into a magnificent story. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was one of the best songs of the 2005 (it was hard to compete with Kelly Clarkson that year.) Both "Boulevard" and the album won Grammy's. It was even made into a musical play, which last time I checked is a play in LA. Really a great story and a bold concept that many artists don't dare to take.

2) All You Can't Leave Behind - U2

I wasn't sold on this album when it came out (see above regarding listening to Blink and Sum41 in 2000) but over time I realized how huge this album was. Although it came out in 2000, I think everyone remembers their Super Bowl performance in February 2002, with the 9/11 Memorial featured. It was powerful and inspirational, and looking back nine years later, it's really grown to become one of their best, and swept the country with it's catchy songs, especially Elevation. Who wasn't addicted to that song?

1) The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

So again, if you know me, you know my obsession with Bruce Springsteen. It's taken over my life. But this album captured the soul of America post-9/11. For my generation, September 11, 2001 was the day that everything changed. It was our loss of innocence and freedom. For the first time in a long time, America felt vulnerable. It was a game-changer. The country needed to rebound, and Bruce provided that sense of hope that he always has, but this time America needed it. The songs were so powerful, motivating, and inspirational, it's hard to listen to it and not smile, especially for "Waitin' On A Sunny Day", and "Mary's Place." It isn't Bruce's best album, but it was definitely the most timely (of the three I've been alive for anyway)


And now the debate ensues (for the four people that read this blog)