Rushmoras

Yep, as One4 said, I believe this was their breakthrough album, and it clearly shows! That being said, so far, not really a fan.

Third Green Day album "Dookie" (1994). So far, I think it's their best work. Though, I have the same observations as with the Ramones (or maybe, it's the same with all punk bands) - majority of the album chords and riffs sound exactly f*cking same!

Second Green Day album "Kerplunk" (1992). More or less the same as the first one in terms of enjoyment and quality.

Well, started Green Day discog. First album "1039/Smothered Out Slappy Hours" (1991). The way it started, I thought that it will be a miracle, if it will be at least a five out of ten, but after less than first half of the album, my opinion changed to the contrary. Quite good for their debut album.

So far, final Morcheeba album "Blackest Blue" (2021), which belongs to the category of one of their best albums. As always, subjective assessments of each album: 1. Who Can You Trust? (1996) - 7.5/10 [Best songs: Tape Loop; Never an Easy Way; Howling; Small Town] 2. Big Calm (1998) - 7.3/10 [Best songs: Part of the Process; Blindfold; Let Me See; Friction; Big Calm] 3. Fragments of Freedom (2000) - 6.7/10 [Best songs: World Looking In; Love is Rare; Love Sweet Love (feat. Mr. Complex); Be Yourself; Coming Down Gently; Good Girl Down (feat. Bahamadia)] 4. Charango (2002) - 8.3/10 [Best songs: Otherwise; Aqualung; Charango (feat. Pace Won); Woman Lose Weight (feat. Slick Rick); Get Along (feat. Pace Won); The Great London Traffic Warden Massacre] 5. The Antidote (2005) - 9/10 [Best songs: Wonders Never Cease; Everybody Loves a Loser; Living Hell; Lighten Up; Daylight Robbery; God Bless and Goodbye] 6. Dive Deep (2008) - 8.2/10 [Best songs: Enjoy the Ride (feat. Judie Tzuke); Riverbed (feat. Thomas Dybdahl); Run Honey Run (feat. Bradley Burgess); Gained the World (feat. Amanda Zamolo); The Ledge Beyond the Edge; Washed Away (feat. Thomas Dybdahl)] 7. Blood Like Lemonade (Deluxe Version) - 8.8/10 [Best songs: Even Though; Blood Like Lemonade; Recipe for Disaster; Easier Said Than Done; Beat of the Drum; Straight Ahead; I Am the Spring – Acoustic; Even Though - Acoustic; Recipe for Disaster – Acoustic; Crimson - Acoustic] 8. Head Up High (2013) - 8.3/10 [Best songs: Call It Love; Under the Ice; To Be; Hypnotized; To the Grave; Do You Good] 9. Blaze Away (Deluxe Version) (2019) - 7.7/10 [Best songs: Never Undo; Paris sur Mer; Find Another Way; Free of Debris; Never Undo – Yimino Remix; Sweet L.A. – Da Lata Remix; Love Dub – Merther Hum Remix; Blaze Away – Gilligan Moss Remix; It’s Summertime – Little Mountain Remix; It’s Summertime – Lindstrom & Prins Thomas Remix] 10. Blackest Blue (2021) - 9/10 [Best songs: Killed Our Love; Sounds of Blue; Say It’s Over; Sulphur Soul; The Moon; Falling Skies] Average album score: 8.1/10 Next stop: Green Day discog.

Ninth and so far penultimate album of Morcheeba "Blaze Away (Deluxe Version)" (2018). Eh, I'd say weaker than their last handful of albums; remixes elevate the album a bit (because the simple non-deluxe version is kinda eh...)

Eight Morcheeba album "Head Up High" (2013). Another solid work of theirs.

Seventh Morcheeba album "Blood Like Lemonade (Deluxe Edition)" (2011). Another pretty good album of theirs.

Sixth Morcheeba album "Dive Deep" (2008), a collab album with other artists. Pretty decent.

Well, finally watched the season finale. I guess, next season will be Sauron searching up corrupted noblemen and giving them gifts. So, Adar... who is he? I mean, he calls himself Uruk, but the dude looks like an elf with a burned face. He can even speak in Quenia language and knows about elven culture. Oh, yeah, the orcs that I only have one thing to say and it is paraphrasing Bender from futurama in that one episode where he became an alien pharaoh: edit: Oh, yeah, now apparently S3 will also have dwarven politics, because why the hell not - the end episode is the best place to introduce off screen characters that never been mentioned before!

Fifth Morcheeba album "The Antidote" (2005). Almost ten out of ten to me.

Fourth Morcheeba album "Charango" (2002). So far, its their best one.

Third Morcheeba album Fragments of Freedom (2000). Started pretty strong, ended up to be mediocre. Still, so far, in terms of quantity of best songs album-wise, it might be their best yet, but as an album - eh.

Second Morcheeba album "Big Calm" (1998). More or less on par with their first one.

Started Morcheeba discography. Another electronic dance type band, but from the get go I like their sound whole lot better than Faithless. First album "Who Can You Trust" (1996) is more than okey for a debut one.

Currently last Faithless album "For Lovers, Not Killers" (2023). Yeah, this one is IMO pretty consistent with most of the rest of theirs - basically mid for me. Has a couple of good songs, but if someone asked me songs stood out, I would just shrug and not know the answer. 5 out of 10

Started re-reading J. R. R. Tolkien's Hobbit: There and Back Again, the last time which I've read was probably in middle school, so more than twenty years ago. The first chapter, of course, talks about how Bilbo Baggins consented to an adventure - Um, rereading this as an adult - man, Gandalf is an asshole: But Bilbo is no better, Though, it is interesting to read that not all of Hobbits are (were) pacifistic lazy type of persons -

So, Faithless has released another two albums since the time I had listened to them. Currently playing WeDisappear (2022), a collab with R Plus and Amelia Fox. I guess, it's pretty listenable (for someone that finds this whole genre meh) in comparison to the rest of their discography. Would rate it 7.3 out of 10.

I'm almost at the end of James Clavell's Tai-Pan. Overall, I like it less than Shogun, primarily because it seems that it's more drama than action. Struan is all talk, but when push comes to shove nothing happens or his enemies are dispatched off screen by other forces.

Oh, damn, I never watched the trailer just seen the poster. I thought that commenters were just taking the piss due to the poster, but it seems that they really made a movie about monkey-Williams. 🤣

Read through Part V of James Clavell's Tai-Pan.

Oh, yeah, Alizee; the only songs of her I know are in these vids (Moi Lolita was probably the most played song everywhere on radios and TVs (at least in Europe) in 2000s). Well, and with soundtrack album (made for a film, which starred Natalia Oreiro in 2016), completed her discog "Gilda, No Me Arrepiento de Este Amor" (2016). Overall, apart from her first album, her songs are quite catchy; I mean its pop for a reason, it's very easy to get into. As usual, subjective assessments of each album: 1. Natalia Oreiro (1997) - 5.8/10 [Best songs: Me Muero de Amor; Cambio Dolor; Valor; Vengo del Mar; Huracan] 2. Tu Veneno (1999) - 8.7/10 [Best songs: Como Te Olvido; Aburrida; Estamos Todos Solos; Basta De Ti; Mata Y Envenena; Si Me Vas A Dar Tu Amor; Que Pena Me Das; Caliente] 3. Turmalina (2002) - 8.2/10 [Best songs: Que Digan Lo Que Quieran; Amor Fatal; Alas De Libertad; Cayendo; Por Verte Otra Vez; No Va Mas; Mar] 4. Gilda, No Me Arrepiento de Este Amor (2016) - 8.5/10 [Best songs: No Me Arrepiento de Este Amor; Corazon Valiente; Se Me Ha Perdido un Corazon (Acustica); Te Cerrare la Puerta; Solo Dios Sabe (feat. Angela Torres); No Me Arrepiento de Este Amor (Remix); Corazon Valiente (I) (feat. Ruben Rada)] Average album score: 7.8/10. Next stop: something from my home country that I can find on spotify... might post it here, might not.

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post here. Finally had the time, the mood and the patience to watch a movie, and decided to continue with Akira Kurosawa. This time, I watched his 1949 movie called "Stray Dog", about a rookie homicide officer that got his service pistol stolen en route to work. In this movie, the main character is plagued by heavy conscience for crimes committed with his gun. All in all, I guess this was a pretty decent Kurosawa movie (thinking that he finally got his groove with countless of so-so movies that were back then IIRC a subject of censorship), however, as with most Kurosawa films, to me it was simply too long; I mean, there is a scene, in which a policeman is calling someone, and it takes them like a minute to decide whether to answer or not. And these kinds of scenes that serve no purpose are all over the place... 7/10.

Yep, that's a Lady Gaga music video alright 😀 The song is a banger, though.

Continuing on with Natalia Oreiro discog, penultimate album "Turmalina" (2002). Pretty good.