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Page 3
Friday • December 1 3, 1996
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The Year In Review
Mbvri
Highs & Lows
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might’s Hxpectec :
Columnist
roniorrow Nigi:
Expected Lot
John LeBas
lunior Journalism Major
1996 held few musical surprises, except the deaths of many talented artists.
Heroin is back and has again gnawed its way into pop culture. Violence contin
ues to claim artists. And MTV still has its filthy clutches on all current popular
music. The following may seem like a music eulogy, but is really just a protest.
Take up my cause; get a hearty helping of this suggested music — they're good
bands you probably didn't hear this year. Enjoy, and bring on 1997.
55°F
courtesy of TAI®
Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland had to enter rehab to battle his heroin addiction
Costly Habit
Bands suffer when musicians fall
victim to drug addiction.
s 1996 draws to a close, music is weeping. It has been five
hiodem years since Nirvana brought grunge and alternative to the
Forefront of music. Five years since music has been turned on its
head. Music has come to a standstill.
' Maybe it has to do with all the heroin that’s been going around. As
fyou needed a reminder, here’s a recap of “the year in junk”:
Stone Temple Pilot’s lead singer Scott Weiland continued to
struggle with his addiction. The band was forced to cancel its sum-
ner tour opening for KISS. This coupled with bad publicity because
rfthe heroin issue probably contributed to the disappointing sales
)f Tiny Music ... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop. It’s a shame, too,
because STP was finally developing a more unique sound (see: “Big
lang Baby”).
But Stone Temple Pilots wasn’t the only group rocked by heroin use
his year. The bigger story was probably Smashing Pumpkins. Also at a
areer peak, the Pumpkins were touring in support of the hugely suc-
essful double album Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (one of the
hggest double discs of all time at over 3 million copies sold) when
hey lost keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin to an overdose July 12. Adding
nsult to injury, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was arrested for heroin
Possession and was subsequently booted out of the band.
Sublime, an up-and-coming punk-ska combo out of southern Cali-
wje?™ 3 ’ * ost * ts ^ ea< ^ s i n g er Brad Nowell to a heroin overdose in May.
sBattalion.ForcamptR*® ^ was q U j te a t 00 because Sublime, released after Nowell’s
leath, spawned the radio hit “What I Got.”
Depeche Mode saw lead singer David Gahan’s addiction come to a
lead this summer with his possession arrest following a cocaine-
leroin overdose. While not the musical icon he used to be, Gahan of-
ered the following in a July 21 article in the Los Angeles Times: “Peo-
8* Pie seem to believe the myth that if you do it just once, you’re fine,
ind now many people seem to be going straight to heroin, bypassing
ot and all that and going straight to the devil.”
\smussen,CiiyEdi
Sports Editor
ie, Visual Arts EdWK
g, Web Editor
, Photo Editor
eber, Cartoon Editoh
senfluck, Melissa NuniW
uff, John LeBas, Aaron W*
remy Furtick, Colby Gain*
Boldt, Bryan Goodwin,SI*'
Stephen Llano, Sean
ngie Rodgers
D at James,. ..
oonists: Michael Depot
i the Division
laid Building. Newsroom
http://bat-web.ta™.e^l ,
ix: 845-2678. .
i; up a single copy of Ike 8-'
•ar.To charge by Visa,
ill and spring semesters
exam periods) atTexasW
address
-1111.
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin was kicked
out of the band after being caught with heroin by police.
Pics of '96
Sting, Mercury Falling (A&M) — Not as good as Ten Summoners Tales,
but more mature. Sting is a classic storyteller, and writes good studying
music. Mercury Falling even includes some country-inspired tracks.
Cannibal Corpse, Vile (Metal Blade) — Aggressive, revolting and oh
so entertaining. Get past the screaming, and listen to the guitar work:
pure genius, and more musical than might be expected. But be fore
warned — Vile is only for the most hard-core of music fans.
Surrender to the Air (Elektra) — One of the best experimental jazz al
bums in recent years. Musicians and their instruments, nothing more.
Young and fresh, it features such musical czars as Jon Fishman and Trey
Anastasio of Phish and John Medeski of Medeski, Martin &Wood.
MU330, Chumps on Parade (Dill ) — Wow! MU33Q proves there’s
more to high energy music than techno. A good album for those who
have never heard ska (a reggae-ish offshoot), because MIJ330 makes ska
more palatable by including lots of rock and catchy horn tunes. For ska
fans, MU330 finally takes the
genre in a new, rhythm-pow
ered direction.
Descendents, Everything
Sucks (Epitaph) Descen
dents, pop punk rulers of the
’80s, returned this year after a
eight-year hiatus to kick
some sense into the
overblown punk scene. If you
like Green Day (or any pop
punk, for that matter), you’ll
like Descendents, because
these guys did it first.
Mike Patton, Adult Themes
for Voice (Tzadic) — Raise your
hand if you remember Faith No
More. Mike Patton, that now-
defunct band’s singer and
frontman of Mr. Bungle,
stretches the limits of listenabil-
ity and sanity on this self-pro
duced effort. Hey, there are no
instruments — just pasted-to-
gether samples of Patton’s vocal
noise — but at least it’s original.
Wesley Willis, Feel the Pow
er (American) — Speaking of
Beck!
sanity, this guy has none. A paranoid schizophrenic, Willis belts out truly
honest tunes about some of his favorite things. The music is exactly the
same but is played at different tempos on all 20-something tracks.
Tool, Mnima (Zoo) — Truly creepy. There’s no telling where Tool gets
this stuff, but they can’t be beaten in the musical torture-evil-weird de
partment. Marilyn Manson could learn from these guys: The reason Tool’s
music is so disturbing is because they are for real.
Beck!, Odelay (DGC) — Not what you might expect. In other words, this
is no “I’m a Loser”-type record. This former Austin street musician turns
the simplest sounds and beats into the catchiest tunes. Lots of swaggery
hip-hop, some countiy. A great “chill” album.
Fishbone, Chim Chi ms Bad Ass Revenge (Rowdy)—Yes, these guys are
old, but they still rock like wired teenagers. Big drums, big guitars, big
horns and big attitude. Very Fishbone. Enough said.