It's Blitz!- Yeah Yeah YeahsThe Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an interesting band. Their first album (Fever to Tell) was dirty, energetic garage rock. Their second album (Show Your Bones) went an entirely different direction, adding a lot of acoustic guitar and the result was a considerably lighter album. The songwriting was still excellent, but I prefered Fever to Tell's heavier style. When announcing their new album, It's Blitz!, lead singer Karen O said it would be a synth-heavy 1980's style album. I assumed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs would go the way of the Killers: they would experiment with new sounds, which would result in good albums, but would never be able to match their first album.
It's not that Show Your Bones was bad, it was actually awesome. However Fever to Tell was so damn fantastic I didn't see any way they could surpass it, especially with a synth-based album. Two days and seven or so listens later and I am completely blown away. While I'm not yet ready to proclaim it their best album, it sits right there with Fever to Tell. The songwriting is yet again fantastic and it somehow manages to blend the more relaxed mood of Show Your Bones with the high energy of Fever to Tell and the result is pure bliss.
The only way I can adequately describe it, and this is going to sound strange, is to compare it to Shaun of the Dead. Both dig into a genre which is often times cheesy and poorly done and manage not only to not make fun of it, but pay homage to and embrace it. The result being something brilliant, familiar and yet somehow unique and creative.
If you've liked either of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' other albums, check this one out, keeping in mind it's going to sound different from them. If you didn't like their previous albums, still check this out. The change in style may suprisingly result in a good listen. And if you have yet to hear of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs this is a great album to start out with.
5/5, 10/10, 100% whatever, you get the point 3 Comments
First let me say this will be faily lengthy. It's impossible to decribe what makes a great game so great in a 4 sentance paragraph. Anyone who fears the "wall of text" should move on.
If you told me I would be playing a game with essentially 2 mutliplayer maps for over a month and still not be bored with it, I would call you crazy. To be honest I was a little hesitant when purchasing Left 4 Dead. The lack of content worried me. However I am a huge fan of Valve's games and a huge fan zombie movies and games. If you want to know the basics of the game, you should head over to the Left 4 Dead page, as I will only be talking about why I love this game so much.
First the campaign. Every scenario and every level within each scenario feels vastly different from one another. The game is always changing locations and each location requires a different strategy. Changing the difficulty also changes the game significantly. Strategies that work on normal may not work on advance. Start playing on Expert and that's a whole different beast. Failing to stay together watching each others backs quily leads all 4 survivors untimely demise. However, as good as the campaign is, the versus mode is where the game's brilliance truely begins to shine.
The first thing you will notice is how insanely faster the pace is online when playing as the survivors. While it's important to stay together, the longer you take, the more time you give the zombies time to spawn. However simply sprinting through the level as fast as possible will usually end up spreading out your team, making you more vulnerable. The proper pace must be found and every person must be on the same page.
On the other end you have the zombies. You get to play as zombies. Let that sink in a second.....ok good. Playing as zombies is simply amazing. Much like playing as the survivors, teamwork is a must, probably even more so than the survivors. One zombie on their own can easily be defeated, especially by a group sticking together. However, a well coordinated zombie attack can break up even a close group. Pulling one away from the group as a smoke, then having a hunter pounce on the suvivor coming to his rescue is but one of the many strategies required for sucess. There is a feeling of accomplishment unlike any others when a well coordinated attack sees several of the survivors go from full health to dead in the matter of seconds. There is simply nothing like it in any other game.
This reliance on constant cooperation with teammates is what makes the lack of maps a complete non issue. Find a new spot, a new shortcut or a new path can completely change how the map is played. On top of that, every group of players will have a slightly different play style and different staregies. It's all about on the fly adjustment and it becomes a mind game between survivors and zombies. This can only be accomplished with intimate knowledge of every section of the map.
So in summary, despite a lack of actual content, the very nature of the game rewards repeat play. The experience is actually enchaced upon spending more time with the game. The teamwork required to suceed and the unique aspect of playing as a zombie is what makes this the best game of 2008.
To anybody who actually read all that, I applaud you.
Log in to comment