Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 1998)
KoRn “Follow the Leader” Immortal/Epic Records Grade: B+ Black Eyed Peas “Behind the Front” Interscope Records Grade: B+ Of all the records that have been or will be released this summer, the new KoRn album was probably the biggest question mark of all. It wasn’t hard to believe the band might have softened up after the suc cess of the last album, “Life is Peachy,” or have gone into some weird Marilyn Manson tangent to get away from the newfound fans. However, neither scenario is true. Instead, KoRn will win over several new fans with their most diverse and best album yet, “Follow the Leader.” Soon to be a new KoRn staple, “It’s On” leads off the record by throwing down solid beats and the band’s standard of hard, funky bass and guitar. Changing it up, KoRn throws in the key board and wild guitar of “Dead Bodies Everywhere,” then adds Ice Cube rapping along on “Children of the KoRn” and slows Liz Phair “whitechocolatespaceegg” Matador Grade: A For some hardcore fans of Liz Phair, 1994 was like a swift kick to the stomach. The woman who once bemoaned, “I’m going to spend my whole life alone,” got married. In 1996, she gave birth to a boy. Domestication soon set in as vigorously as it had with punk priestess Patti Smith nearly two decades earli er. Unlike Smith, however, Phair isn’t wait ing around to return to the music world. Albeit a four year absence from her last album “Whip-Smart” is a long wait Her new album, “whitechocolatespaceegg,” has already generated enough speculation to keep fans talking for another three years. The album was initially sent back to her after record executives complained that it lacked a “hit single.” She also alternated producers, it down for “Pretty,” while each completely shift the perception of the versatility of the band. Even Cheech Marin makes an appear ance on the secret track “Earache My Eye ” The stand-out song on the album is “All in the Family;” where singer Jonathan Davis duets with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst. The • two use the song to rip on each other and their bands. Calling each other everything from Vanilla Ice to unoriginal to discussing body parts, the song is grotesque but funny. The real sticking point of the album is that Davis has mastered his style as a vocal ist so well, songs including “Freak On A Leash” make the listener do a double take the first time through the album. Unlike before, the listener can enjoy most songs on this KoRn record for his singing and not be lying. KoRn will be hitting the road this fall on its very own “Family Values” tour along with Limp Bizkit, Rammstein, Ice Cube and Orgy. Black Eyed Peas were part of the “Smokin’ Grooves” tour this summer, and while their album hasn’t received the atten tion of KoRn’s, it is just as good. The styles displayed on “Behind the Front” can be explained as a cross between A Tribe Called Quest and Spearhead, not using the services ol both Scott Litt (R.E.M.) and “Exile in Guyville” producer Brad Wood. A long absence and two producers could have made “whitechocolatespaceegg” a career-ending album for Phair. She has always done best with little production and a quick session in the studio. Her classic album, “Exile in Guyville,” was recorded in her bed room. Wood, producer of Guyville, kept all the flaws there, making Phair far more humane than most of the alternative divas out there today. The slightly off-key guitar play ing and her trademark warble-like voice became a trademark for the artist. Surprisingly, “whitechocolatespaceegg” does not have a polished feel to it. The uneven structure of “Perfect World” and her shaky but frank vocal delivery on “Go On Ahead” prove that the old Liz Phair is still very much intact throughout this album. Another sur prise on the album is the musical variety. There’s enough style changes and shifts to make even the Beastie Boys’ new album seem repetitive. There are the traditional pop songs that Phair does so well, including the title track, “Polyester Bride,” and “Johnny Feelgood.” But there is also the quirky, almost unclassifi able, “Uncle Alvarez” and the vintage rocka billy shuffle of “Baby Got Going.” Sometimes the risks don’t work. “S***loads of Money” just doesn’t seem to come togeth er, and, even with R.E.M. helping out, “Fantasize” rings hollow compared to the other great songs on “whitechocolate spaceegg.” While Phair has grown musically, she has toned down quite a bit in the vulgarity depart ment. One thing that made people drool over I— bad company with which to be compared. The first track, “Failin’ Up,” begins with a Spearhead beat as the three members of Black Eyed Peas add Tribe quality rhymes over it The chorus to the song is very simi lar to something from De La Soul’s “Three Feet High and Rising,” leaving the rest of the album with a lot to live up to. From the qui.ck rhymes of “Clap Your Hands,” to the slow groove of “The Way U Make Me Feel,” to the strong rapping of “Head Bobs,” the album keeps flowing while hitting several different styles of the genre. The first single is the finger-snapping “Joints and Jam” which features some of the best rhyming laid down in the past few years. Without the weak “Grease” rip-off in the middle of the song, it’s one of the best songs here. While the 16-track album seems to drag on a little in the middle with several slow tempo songs in a row, this is probably the best hip-hop album of the year thus far. Still, until Tribe’s “The Love Movement” is out Sept. 29, no claims for that honor can yet be made. — Patrick Miner “Guyville” was Phair’s explicit R-rated car crash scenarios of relationships gone bad. Indeed, before Alanis Morissette was telling teen-agers about tales of going down on boyfriends in a theater, Phair was giving a harsher description in her much-quoted song “Flower.” One of the best songs she has ever written was called, “F*** and Run.” And maybe because she was afraid that her kid would be quoting lyrics from her new album, she has taken on a tamer identity. In the only song in which she utters the “f-word,” “Johnny Feelgood,” Phair still has that maver ick persona to her. The song is basically a shootout to dominance in a strangely femi nist-empowering sort of way. The only other song that would have fit in perfectly in “Guyville” is the driving song “Ride,” in which she uses a bedtime prayer as a founda tion to her story of purgatory and liberation. Sadly, “whitechocolatespaceegg” lacks the metaphor usage that Phair seemed to rely on so heavily in her earlier works. Instead, the lyrics are more case studies of other charac ters. Other times, she resorts to bland descrip tions such as, “It feels good.” With 16 songs and only three so-so songs, “whitechocolatespaceegg” is a must purchase for fans. For first-time Liz Phair fans, “white chocolatespaceegg” is an ideal purchase. It isn’t as radically innovative as “Exile in Guyville,” but it is a profile of an artist who refhses to compromise for anyone for the past four years. The title of the album may not sound like a classic, but the rest of the album rings with a confidence and freshness that makes it one of the best albums of this year so far. — Sean McCarthy ‘Buffalo 66’ weaves offbeat tale of love BUFFALO from page 8 Brown notices the man next to him is peeking at his package. When Brown tells the guy to keep his eyes to himself, the guy says, “But it’s so big!” Just out of prison and already a homo phobe, Brown goes ballistic and almost beats the crap out of him, and then can’t urinate because he’s so angry. Shortly after this scene, Brown meets up with Layla, played by Christina Ricci. A platinum blonde dancer in a short, baby-blue dress with matching eye shadow, Layla becomes Brown’s hostage after he promises his mother over the phone that he and his wife “Wendy” are coming over. On the way over to his parents house, Brown gets rough with Layla and threatens to kill her unless she agrees to pose as “Wendy.” He then instructs Layla on how he wants her to act when they arrive, telling her, “You’ll adore me, you’ll love me, you’ll cherish me, Jesus Christ, you can’t live without me. Layla soon discovers why Billy Brown acts the way he does — he is the product of a dysfunctional family. His father, Jimmy Brown (Ben ~~ ~ Gazzara), dis- f fy/* owns Billy, and iWlfltW his mother, Film: "Buffalo ‘66” Janet Brown Stars: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, (A nj el i c a Atfelica Huston, Ben Gazzara Huston), is a Director Vincent Gallo Buffalo Bills fanatic who Not Rated wishes Billy Grade: A was never bom Five Words: Troubled man unexpect because she edfy finds love missed a Bills football game the day he was conceived. Despite the tension coming from the three Browns dur ing Billy’s first visit in over five years, Layla is charming and wins Billy’s parents over. During the dinner, all of the atten tion is on her, and Jimmy Brown enjoys having her around so much that he decides to bury his face in between Layla’s breasts while hugging her goodbye. After viewing “Buffalo ‘66,” all former images of Ricci have been erased from the memory banks. It would be an understatement to say that the 18-year-old Ricci has grown up during the last few years. Until recently, the actress was best known for playing cute, lit uegiriroiesiiKev.nersaaugmerin Mermaids and Wednesday in the “Addams Family” movies. But in “Buffalo ‘66,” a sexually promiscuous Ricci flashes the camera cleavage throughout and even gives the audience a panty shot. The reinvented Ricci has performed several adult roles in indie films as of late, most notably in the movies “Ice Storm” and “The Opposite of Sex,” which have earned her the tag “Sundance darling.” When Layla and Billy leave his parent’s house, Billy set tles down and apologizes to Layla for the things he made her do. He tells her that she’s free to go, but Layla decides to stick around because she has seen parts of Billy’s personality that she finds intriguing. Like Billy, Layla is a lost soul in search of someone to love, and she falls for him. Billy then begins to soften in the presence of Layla, and as he becomes more comfortable around her, he opens up. By the end of the movie Billy is a changed man, more compas sionate and less judgmental, and he decides to give the beau tiful girl and love a second chance. “Buffalo 66” runs at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater tonight through Sunday and Aug. 20-23. Screenings are at 7 and 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays; 1,3:15,7 and 9:15 p.m. on Saturdays; and 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:15 p.m. on Sundays. 200s Far sale Jeans, shorts and camo. The Jean Outlet 3241 South 13th ©Indian Village 420-5151. (Students Wanted) To buy our unusual furniture. B.B.& R. Mall 1709 O Street. Open seven days! Full and Queen size mattress sets. New and plastic. Never used. 10 years warrantee. Retail for $439 and $639. Sell for $165 for the Full, Queen $195.477-1225. 97 Kawasaki ZXI 750 Jetski^i^if^4/50a94 Starcraft Camper, loaded, awning, $4,000 402-376-1616.* Re-conditioned, professional clarinet (Noblet). Leave message at 463-8858. ‘87 VW Cabroilet, 5 speed, air, 78K, nice. $3,650. Baer’s Auto. 1647 South 3rd. 477-6442. For Sale: 21 inch Trek 620 Touring bike. Only $100. Queen-size waterbed with storage compartments $75. 483-2175. Daily Nebraskan Back-to-School Issue Check out the Daily Nebraskan classified ads in its special Back-to-School issue, Thursday, Aug. 20. Call 472-2588 to place your ad by noon, Wednesday, Aug. 19 or email to: dnvunl.edu 300s Unton ADOPTION A loving alternative We offer counseling and adoption services to help you plan the best future tor your baby. No fees or obligations. Statewide since 1893. Nebraska Children's Home. 4600 Valley Rd.. Suite 314,483-7879 Pheasant Hunters Excellent hunting in Central South Dakota. Rooms available, great rate. For information, diall Darik 605-266-2173 after 7p.m. Auto Accidents & DWI Other criminal matters, call Sanford Pollack 476-7474. Criminal Defense, DWI. Bankruptcy, Stone Law Firm, Affordable Rates, 475-0055
