I hold to a rather simple opinion : you can’t be movie of the year if the audience is looking at their watch at the 60 minute mark and wondering if they should leave.
And this is where I found myself at that precise point while watching Sinners (2025).
Don’t get me wrong: Sinners is a fine movie, but the pacing – especially in the first half – was atrocious. Reflecting on the movie after it finished, this was the overall feeling I got. The music was fantastic, and I would have loved to see more or it; the effects were well done. But the slow build and unnecessary bloat brought it down. The denouement felt interminable, on the levels of The Return of the King as well.
I enjoyed seeing the Buddy Guy cameo (which I don’t think is much of a spoiler at this point), and wish he had been present throughout, in some way, shape or form. But overall, I thought getting to the Juke joint faster would have made for a better flick as a whole. Let’s give it a 7/10, as far as ratings go.
April 12th, 2025 was Record Store Day once again, and I managed to make it out to my FLRS to grab a couple titles this time around. There wasn’t a ton of stuff I was looking for from the RSD ’25 exclusives, though I did have my eye on a few, and ended up getting one. Also added a few from my backlog, and a couple that I grabbed on a whim, and I ended up noticing a recurring theme. Let’s have a look at the haul (roughly chronologically):
Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1974)
The lead track is an all-time classic, repeated here on what is essentially an early “greatest hits” collection, and one that I’ve wanted for a long time. This wasn’t a RSD special, but I couldn’t pass it up. Required listening, but how does it fit in the post-television era?
Judas Priest: Live In Atlanta ’82 (2025)
The vinyl edition to a set that was previously included in a box set (that I don’t have). A legendary band that basically formed a genre, at pretty much their peak. Fantastic set list from their “Screaming For Vengeance” era. “The Hellion/Electric Eye” is one of the best opener’s ever.
Corrosion of Conformity – Blind (1991)
The pivot point, where CoC started moving from their hardcore roots to something recognizably metal. One that I’ve listened to lots but didn’t have on the shelf. And as a reflection on the current era, it is as a fierce condemnation as other better known albums from their early 90s contemporaries.
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade (2006)
What has become an all-time pop punk classic for the millenial generation, I saw it for a discount, and thought it was worth trying out. And I’m glad to, as it is a varied and fun album that far exceeds the usual ambitions of its genre.
Kendrick Lamar – DAMN (2017)
And much like the MCR, this was on at a discount, and I thought I could expand the range of what I listen to. Given the recent SuperBowl halftime show and dissing on Drake, this seemed a worthy choice.
And.. well, I’ll give it a bit of time. This one is far outside my usual listening, and a bit challenging for that.
Have we found the theme yet? It’s a pretty angry set; the rage seethes throughout the riffs and vocals across the tracks and decades. It is a setlist for the current age.
But as for Record Store Day: Overall, it was a fun experience, despite the 30 minute wait outside with snow slowly starting to fall (because April). We’ll be back.
Thought I’d branch out, try something completely different, and the new Lady Gaga album was a chance to broaden my horizons a bit. having already started to hear Abracadabra non-stop since its release the night of the 2025 Grammy Awards, I was a little curious what the full album would be like. Turns out, not too shabby indeed.
I haven’t picked up a dance-pop album since Dua Lipa’s “Future Nostalgia” (2020) was on repeat play on the gym’s stereo system, and while decent, I don’t think Mayhem quite hits the heights of that album, though they share some similarities. I quite like the first three tracks (“Disease”, “Abracadabra”, and “Garden of Eden”) and the latter’s callbacks to Lady Gaga’s own “Bad Romance” provides a nice link to her earlier work. Checking the archive, this is the first Lady Gaga album I’ve owned, though obviously her music has been ubiquitous in the 21st century.
The album unfortunately falls off a bit after that. there’s still some decent tunes: “”Killah” sounds funky enough to appear on a Prince album and “Zombieboy” is topical enough to show up on some geek-related soundtrack at some point in time. The remainder of the album blurs together a bit, unfortunately, at least to my untrained ear. What could have been an all-time classic 8-song album, or a good 10-song one feels bloated with the 14 tracks on it. A tighter track selection would’ve served this album well. Still decent enough dance pop, happy enough to see it come up in the shuffle. 8/10
*: I realize I didn’t mention the Bruno Mars duet “Die With A Smile” from 2024 as this has been played tons, but I appreciate the inclusion of the single here, rather than being off on its lonesome in the ether.
**: Choosing to show the CD rather than the case, and it looks like there was a bit of a missed opportunity there to go full “death metal spiderwebs” with the logo, which would have been a nice way to push those boundaries just a bit further. C’est la vie.
Very cool to see Mike Portnoy returning to Dream Theater after recently seeing him playing on a Hello Kitty drumset or playing along to a Nickelback track over at Drumeo. I hadn’t heard a Dream Theater on release for a long time, which isn’t so much a comment on their quality but rather an indictment of my listening habits. And after a few listens, I’m coming around on this one.
The first listen was on the home system, where I thought it came across as trying a little too hard to be Rush, and kinda tuned it out after placing it in that box. But after giving it the authentic Rust Bucket Listen, placing it in the stock CD player of my grungy second-hand car, it sounds much better, and my rating of it has improved.
The track that did it for me was track 5, “Midnight Messiah”, which is probably odd for an album of this length (where the standout comes halfway through). But I like the groove and the riffs, and found it approachable enough that it gave me an “in” to check out the music. I like the instrumental opener “In the Arms of Morpheus”, as well as “Bend the Clock”, and “A Broken Man” isn’t too bad either. The 19 minute final track “The Shadow Man Incident” is still a challenge, but as a whole, the album sits much better as some ambient music in the background at the house than others in my collection.
Which is a reminder that location matters, even for music, and that sometimes a context shift is necessary. 8/10
Caught this on release day due to the lead single “Devilry of Ecstasy” showing up in my feed due to the glory of the Algorithm. (Praise the Omnissiah). And this time, the algorithm (and the band) hit it out of the park. I was stoked to find that my FLRS had a copy, as I had looked into pre-ordering via the Nuclear Blast label’s website, but the shipping was silly expensive at sub-$1000 levels. And after giving this the proper test, I was surprised to see how much this exceeded my already high expectations.
I haven’t heard this band before, but this is fantastic: melodic power metal with lush harmonies and soaring guitars. This feels like the metal soundtrack to a Broadway musical, and I mean that as the highest compliment: this is fantastically catchy and listenable.
The album starts off with three straight bangers: “Call of the Night”, “Game of Faces”, and “Devilry of Ecstasy”, and it doesn’t let up. The opening tracks are as good a start to an album since last year’s Invincible Shield by the almighty Judas Priest. The album is polished and well-produced and sounds great to listen to. If I need to get jazzed up, I’ll just throw this in the stereo for the ride.
The one drawback might be a bit of the sameness of the later tunes. Still well done, but perhaps lacking the furious kick of the openers. That’s not a knock; I’d be happy to listen to any track if it came up in the shuffle. Solid all around. Highly recommended. 9/10
