reviews
Reviews: music & film
GAME
Death Jr.
PSP
☆☆
It's pretty hard to smile if you don't have lips.
That's only one of Death Jr.'s problems. I really wanted to like this game. It has a plot that is far from normal: Death Jr. and his friends are in a museum when he opens a box containing a monster that takes his friends' souls and scatters them about. The characters are pretty funny and the weapons are original — especially the C4 harmsers. That's right, exploding hamsters.
Another reason I wanted to like this was because it is an original to the PlayStation Portable. Unfortunately, the controls are really touchy when targeting weapons and I spent almost five minutes trying to make what seemed to be an easy jump. If you're sick of using your PSP as a portable video player, an MP3 player or as an emulator, check this out. It's not going to blow you away, but it will give you something new and original to play, two things that the PSP is sorely lacking.
- Charley Forsyth
MUSIC
Trisha Yearwood
Jasper County
1/2
On Jasper County, Yearwood's first record in four years, she ditches the
ballads of yore for a hee-hawin' line-up of western-dance numbers and knockout country rockers ("Who Invented the Wheel" is bluesy, ballys, gutsy Yearwood at her best). Songs like "Pistol" and "It's Alright" revert to old-time hillbilly twang and honky-tonk piano riffs. "Sweet Love" is smoldering, sexy country, the likes of
- of the mediocre, country-pop-driven variety. Albums like 1998's Real Live
which Yearwood delivers deliciously. And "Try Me" is a solid, tense, mid-tempo rocker with pitch-perfect harmonies from Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn.
If ever a complaint was made of Yearwood, perhaps unfairly, it was that her material is excessively ballad-heavy
Woman and 2001's Inside Out, though some of her best, had trouble rising above the land of mediocrity. Those were saved by Yearwood's interpretive voice. On Jasper County, the material works with Yearwood, rather than Yearwood straining to make the material worth something. And the listener reaps the rewards of
such a partnership. Finally, things are as they should be on Jasper County. In a smart move, Yearwood includes only one true ballad, lead single "Georgia Rain," a gushing, gorgeous piece of contemporary pop-country, taken to the next level by a nuanced vocal treatment.
Thus Jasper County, Yearwood's tenth album proper, should mark a milestone on an already award-studded path. Throughout her career, Yearwood has always made a point to choose material a cut above the mediocre, rarely obvious or instantly catchy, which has succeeded in making her music more interesting, whether due to non-traditional instrumentation, a meandering melody, or unclear hook. Still, it's great to see her get a hold of some true radio-friendly, big-chorus, hook-laden stuff. The woman whose voice takes the mediocre to something more is even more amazing when performing material that matches the stellar quality of her voice. The results are sublime. Jasper County is damn well near the best album Yearwood has ever crafted. And that's saying a hell of a lot.
- Nick Connell
Jasper County will be released Sept. 13th.