Thursday, February 21, 2013

Juan McAmnesty hears from angry constituents about Amnesty sell out!

It is about time that John McCain / Juan McAmnesty of the out of touch GOP establishment Rockefeller Republican- wing of the party had to hear an ear-ful from the voters!




McCain defends immigration plan to angry residents


During a heated town hall gathering in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Lakes, McCain said the border near Yuma is largely secure, but he said smugglers are using the border near Tucson to pump drugs into Phoenix. He said immigration reform should be contingent on better border security that must rely largely on technology able to detect border crossings.
McCain said a tamper-proof Social Security card would help combat identity fraud, and noted any path to citizenship must require immigrants to learn English, cover back taxes and pay fines for breaking immigration laws.
"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them."
Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.
One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.
http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-defends-immigration-plan-angry-residents-004915369.html 
As a Libertarian Hard Harry412 knows that most of these folks are coming over and getting government handout at tax payer expense.  Also a little visit over to Vdare.com will reveal that most newly minted immigrants vote Democrat!




Republicans do not need to support an Amnesty that will cause the Republican party to disappear and cause Libertarianism to become any weaker then it already is!  Such a move would actually be anti-democratic since it would lead to a one-Party State!





The fact that new immigrants overwhelmingly vote for Democrats has been true for more than a century.  In the 1870s to 1890s it was Irish, Italians, Polish and Jews who did this.  Back then Republicans wisely put the clamps down with the 1924 immigration act, thus saving the Republican party for years to come so that hallowed heroes like Goldwater and Reagan would have a chance decades later!  Today it is Hispanics who are pouring over the border and bringing noxious Collectivist ideologies like Liberation Theology with them.  They are not crossing the Rio Grande holding up copies of 'Atlas Shrugged' and 'The Fountainhead' above the water to read in their new homeland!





Another sickening aspect of this McCain scheme was his appeal to religion:

McCain urged compassion. "We are a Judeo-Christian nation," he said. 
http://news.yahoo.com/mccain-defends-immigration-plan-angry-residents-004915369.html

That is not True and any research into the religious beliefs of the Founders Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine (both Deists) will quickly disprove this false McCain claim!

As a Libertarian I also know that American Citizen Ayn Rand, a part of the nation through the citizenship naturalization process, was an Atheist and Libertarian role model!



 Rand also rejected all forms of faith or mysticism, terms that she used synonymously. She defined faith as "the acceptance of allegations without evidence or proof, either apart from or against the evidence of one's senses and reason... Mysticism is the claim to some non-sensory, non-rational, non-definable, non-identifiable means of knowledge, such as 'instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing.'"[32] Reliance on revelation is like reliance on a Ouija board; it bypasses the need to show how it connects its results to reality. Faith, for Rand, is not a "short-cut" to knowledge, but a "short-circuit" destroying it.[33]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)#Epistemology:_reason 
Reject McCain, Reject the McAmnesty!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Megadeth - Cryptic Writings

Another excellent Megadeth album!




I like 'Cryptic Writings' a little more then its predecessor album.  They continued with making some mid-tempo songs, but also saw the need to satiate their fan base by tossing in some old school fast Speed / Thrash Metal style songs as well!




Also some of the songs on here are just better than the songs on 'Youthanasia'.  'Almost Honest' has an awesome chorus and 'Use the Man' is a good ballad and is probably better then  'A Tout Le Monde' in my mind.

Also this album has 'She Wolf' on it which totally recalls some of the heavy riffage of 'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due'.  Both songs kick total ass!

KISS - Dynasty

Dynasty finds KISS making a major departure from their signature '70s Hard Rock sound...




... and Hard Harry412 finds that this experimentation in pop rock and disco is not that bad!!!

'Dynasty' is much maligned by some KISS fans because of the bands new musical direction, but really there is alot to like from 'Dynasty'.  Space Ace sings on three songs!  Also the Catman sings on one song as well!  There is a diversity of singers on here that one doesn't really find on past KISS releases where it is just Stanley and Simmons singing only which frankly can get a little old after awhile when listening to a whole album.




Some of the songs on here are good too!  'I Was Made For Loving You' has actually stood the test of time and doesn't sound totally cheesy as a disco song!  'Sure Know Something' has a pretty rocking chorus!

Even though over-all the album is enjoyable I just don't care for the bright pop production values that it has.  It is nothing like the Hard Rock 'Destroyer' sound that I like and that most hard-core KISS fans like.

Also other forms of media from this album (music videos on youtube, promo pictures) are marred by KISSes new 'Dynasty era' costumes.  They started wearing colored capes and other stuff!  It looks like the Starchild actually stole Hugh Hefners bath robe!!!




Like most KISS fans I prefer the 'Destroyer' era costumes and this is what I automatically think of when I think of KISS in the 1970s and also it seems like the band themselves recognized the popularity of the 'Destroyer' era costumes because that is the style they wore when I saw their reunion tour in like 1996 / 1997!!!

The only 'Dynasty' era costume I like is Space Aces!  It is blue which is my favorite color and also looks fairly cool!






The Smiths - Meat is Murder

Another classic from the Smiths!




I wouldn't say this is my favorite Smtihs album, but it is a very worthy sophomore effort.  The production is alot better then their debut and I think this is where they finally started to capture the quintessential Smiths sound




Also this album lacks alot of Classic songs on it.  The only single from it as 'That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore' which is a good slow song featuring The Smiths that I think has some of their trade-mark Black Humor in it.

Just had a powerful realization!



Hard Harry412 here, just had a very powerful realization about the state of the World and my place in it!  (click to make it larger and easier to read!)






Sunday, February 17, 2013

Metallica - Load

'Load'... one of the most controversial albums of all time!




'Load' marked a total change of direction for Metallica.  They started adding in Alternative Rock to the mix, cut their hair, altered their image... heck they even played the decidedly un-Metal Lollapalooza tour!  Indeed at this time they were dubbed 'Alter-nica'



At the time Hard Harry412 didn't really think these changes were that great, but looking back now I can see why Metallica did what they did.  Alternative Rock was taking over the air-waves, they had made Thrash Metal music in the same vein for several albums in a row.  The guys probably just felt they needed to change to stay viable and vital.  (It should be noted that even Van Halen went in this direction by releasing the 'darker then usual' 'Balance' around the same time)




And really is 'Load 'that bad?  Heck I would rather listen to 'Load' then Nickleback or whatever other contemporary rock is out there now.  Ugh, Nickleback... how far we have fallen.  Heck I would even listen to 'Load' before I would listen to Foo Fighers... and I really like Foo Fighters.  But Metallica brings that Heaviness, with a dosage of Alternative Rock, with 'Load' that Foo Fighters lacks.

'Load' features some excellent songs that are amongst the best that Metallica had done.  'Ain't My Bitch', '2 X 4', and 'King Nothing' are totally heavy!  However the B-side of this album is where one can feel that Metallica sort of lost their focus.  It truly is a B-side, whereas before on almost every previous Metallica release the entire album would be all killer/ no filler.  There are some interesting B-side songs though such as 'Mama Said' which finds them experimenting with country music and this song would eventually even be issued as a single!




Overall 'Load' has stood the test of time.  Most contemporary Metal or Hard Rock acts wouldn't be able to touch the A-side material on this album and really only the other Thrash bands Megadeth or Slayer have put out better albums since 'Load'.

Pearl Jam - Vs.

Pearl Jams 'Hard Rock album'!




'Vs.' is a great hard rock album, sadly it is the last album like this that Pearl Jam would make.  After this they would go in some sort of 'college radio' direction.  That has never made sense to me.  Why try to sound like the Pixies (who already had tons of clones... including Nirvana) when you can sound like a unique hard rock band up there with the Rolling Stones, Led Zep, and Guns N' Roses... that is pretty rarified air to enter... many try and many fail.  I think Pearl Jam could have gotten that good if they had not changed styles.




While 'Vs.' is assuredly a hard rock record and also finds Pearl Jam really putting out their first ballads, I just can't help but think what they would have sounded like with Andrew Wood at the helm.  He could do sleaze rock... look at 'Mindshaker Meltdown' so I am certain he could have held his own as a hard rocker.  But ya' know I think Wood could have handled making ballads better then Vedder.  Also Wood played piano!  That would have added a whole new dimension!  Maybe like Queen or something!

Also there is the whole issue of the Pearl Jams ultra-liberal political posturing.  It started to infect their songs like 'Glorified G'.  Listen if they want to talk about this crap on MTV interviews that is ok, but I don't really want to actually listen to it!  With 'Vs.' they finally started to get too political.




Anyhow after this album I sort of bailed on Pearl Jam and would only like a few of their singles after this.  Judged by their record sales many others did as well.

It would have been interesting to have seen them try and keep going in a 'Vs..' type direction but it was just not to be...

Beastie Boys - Hello Nasty

'Hello Nasty'?  Hell ya'!




Hard Harry412 is glad the Beasties took a few years before they released this one.  It is clear that they took their time on it and it shows because this album has a number of totally classic songs on here!



'Remote Control', 'Body Movin', 'Intergalatic', and 'Three MCs and one DJ' are sweet!

The Beasties style does seem to change once again here though.  Gone are the hardcore punk songs of their last few albums (at least I don't remember hearing any), and also the distorted mics that they sometimes used (most prominently on 'Ill Communication').  Those mics made their songs sound totally grungey!  They were cool!  I am kind of sad that stuff is not on here.




However with a new DJ they seem to harken back to their 'Pauls Boutique' days with tons of samples and lots of dance-able tracks as well.  

As far as breaking new ground it actually sounds like the Beasties are singing on some of the songs!  What the heck!  Frankly they are not very good and need to stick to rapping, and hey I have been listening to the B-boys since the '80s and like them so this is serious advice not a put down!!  




Also some of the new non-rap/ non-hip-hop songs don't really seem to fit on here.  Like they have a couple of psychedelic songs where the Beasties don't even sing and have guest performers and frankly listening to that sort of thing doesn't really make it seem like a B-boys album.




Overall though this album is great, heck I don't think the B-boys have released a bad album and the fact they indulged in a little experimentation is alright.

Helmet - Aftertaste

Hell ya' Helmet releases a classic 'return to rock' album!




'Aftertaste' appears to be an attempt by Helmet to recapture their earlier raw heavy sound.  It has some excellent songs on here and overall is probably better then 'Betty'.




Sadly most of the critics savaged this album when it came out and I think maybe they were just reacting to market over-saturation as Helmet had released quite a few albums in like 5 -7 years by this time.

Also many critics blame Helmet for the rise of 'nu-metal' which is total non-sense!  Paige Hamilton doesn't even really rap and it seems to me that the only real nu-metal band that Helmet really influenced was Deftones, and they aren't even really all that nu-metalish but more of a Heavy Alt-Rock / Art Rock hybrid even if they do hang out with Korn and what not.




Most of this non-sense came about because Helmet was on that 'Judgement Night' soundtrack, but both Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Sonic Youth were on there and they are not blamed for the rise of nu-metal!!!!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Nirvana - In Utero

NIirvanas last studio album!




Every Nirvana album sounds different.  They are like Celtic Frost and Alice in Chains that way.

'In Utero' finds Nirvana adding in alot of noise rock elements to their sound, but they still have the same pop friendly type of song-writing present as well.




Still this is a drastic departure from 'Nevermind'.  I couldn't imagine 'Scentless Apprentice' being on 'Nevermind'!  Heck I find it hard to believe that such a hard-core song wasn't relegated to the b-side of this album.  Guess the track listing proves that with this album Nirvana was going to do it their way!

Seriously though this album is pretty dang lo-fi-ish for a major label release.  Nothing like this would be released today, nothing!  'In Utero' 20 years on helps to show how horrible the music industry has gotten recently!  Everything is just so over-produced now!  Yuck!




As for the production of this album (always a hot topic with Nirvana albums it seems) I actually kind of feel let down a little by Steve Albini.  The guitar sounds good, the bass sounds good.  But the drums don't have that 'Surfer Rosa' sound that I always anticipate an Albini album to have.  Frankly I think the bass drum sounds like crud.




'In Utero' shows Nivana going out on top, they had everything going on this album.  Mid-tempo jams like 'Serve the Servants', slow songs like 'All Apologies' and also fast aggressive Heavy Metal-like numbers such as 'Scentless Apprentice'!!

Dinosaur Jr. - Without a Sound

Is this album as bad as many of the critics contend?




Hard Harry412 says HELL NO!  'Without a Sound' is another classic Dino album that features some excellent guitar heroics!  

Also there is quite a bit more distortion on this album then their last one, so it is ludicrous to think they were trying to sell out at this point!




Still for some reason this album always gets passed over by the critics and yes even the band themselves, like J basically refused to play 'Feel the Pain' for a number of years live probably because he didn't want people to think he was selling out or trying to be too popular so some other non-sense.  Gosh I hate the politics that infects some of Alternative Rock... just like what you like and to heck with what others say!!!




Sadly even this anti-'Without a Sound' attitude even infected myself there for awhile, then after years of hearing some of the latest emo type stuff that kids are listening to today I thought 'Hey 'Without a Sound' isn't really that bad compared to this wussy crud'!!!

KISS - Peter Criss

How does probably the least popular KISS 'solo' album fare?




Well Hard Harry412 likes it!




Have always liked Peter Crisses voice and his songs on regular KISS albums have almost always been highlights of those albums to me.  Probably the only exception would be 'Black Diamond', though there have been cover versions of that song that I have liked so I give credit to Peter Criss for writing it!!

Hard Harry412 just likes all four of the original members of KISS, including The Catman!  Dude they just rocked the '70s!  So much talent and all four of them could sing to and had their own distinctive styles that just kicked all possible ass!!!  (not to mention the massive influence KISS would have on Heavy Metal and even Alternative Rock, remember Kurt Cobain liked KISS!!!)

Also when I saw the KISS reunion tour in like 1996/ 1997 (can't remember which year) one of the greatest aspects of that show was Criss coming out and singing 'Beth', dude it was just awesome.  Here it is like 17 years after the band had broken up.. and *BAM* they are back and singing some of their legendary songs, including 'BETH'!!!  Heck 'Beth' was almost in 'Reality Bites'... that is how totally cool that song is.




So anyhow 'KISS - Peter Criss' is more of a pop album and even has some disco flavor, but you know what, every now and then I like to listen to just a little of that kind of jam so I will reach for 'KISS - Peter Criss' the next time I get that hankering.  HAIL CATMAN!!!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Megadeth - Youthanasia

How is Megadeths follow up to their most well known album?




Hard Harry412 can report that it is pretty darn good!  This album is noticeably slower then their previous ones, but that is because they are trying out different things and attempting to branch out as song-writers and is to be commended!  After all you can always hear Megadeths fast aggressive early songs when you actually go to one of their concerts!  (or buy one of their live albums too!)



'Youthanasia' is bolstered by a couple of good singles!  'Train of Conseqences' is a totally heavy almost groove metal type of song that one could argue is riffing off of Pantera or even Helmet.  I am sure some hard-core Megadeth fans probably don't like it, but Hard Harry412 has always liked it.

Also 'A Tout Le Monde' is one of their better songs that show-cases their new found slowed down melodic side.  The main riff is pretty cool and Hard Harry412 wonders if if would sound cool if it was done faster in a speed metal style!




Overall 'Youthanasia' is a totally worthy addition to the Megadeth catalogue.  Also it shows them experimenting with their sound a few years before Metallica did it with 'Load' and I think that overall 'Youthanasia' is better than 'Load'.  This round goes to Megadeth!!!

KISS - Paul Stanley

The Starchild delivers!




On his 'solo KISS' album Paul Stanley shows he can rock on his own.  Back in the day he had a good voice!  Also he is a dependable rhythm guitarist   He also has A LOT of ballad songs on here as well.




The rockers are good, and so are some of the ballads.




However after listening to this thing I was really annoyed by the track listing, it just went like this:

1.) Rocker
2.) Ballad
3.) Rocker
4.) Ballad, etc.,,,
There was just no real flow to the track listing and I kept feeling all jarred and stuff listening to 'Paul Stanley'.  Someday I may have to come up with my own playlist for this album on my Itunes...