Biggest Letdowns of 2007 (Some of them Anyway)

2007 had some great moments, which I talked about here. Sadly, there were some low points too. In no particular order, some of the things that sucked about the year that's nearly gone past.

Amy Lee becomes the female Axl Rose
The Evanescence frontwoman probably won't be getting Christmas presents from any of her original bandmates. Earlier this year she kicked out Rocky Gray and John LeCompt, the remaining original members of the band (Founding guitarist Ben Moody quit in 2003, more on him later). By most accounts, Amy Lee seems to kick out any member of the band that dares suggest she's wrong about what the band should be. Based on the war of words that went on after the fact (Lee more or less accused Gray and LeCompt of trying to destroy "her baby", and LeCompt joked about how he hoped we would become lyrical fodder for Lee), not much love lost here, except from the fans that miss what was once a good band becoming the Amy Lee show. As much as I love Lee, she can't carry that band on her back. The Open Door was a disappointment mostly because she released the shittiest songs as singles after "Call Me When You're Sober". At this point all we can do is hope the band quits while they're ahead, or that the band gets a backbone again.

Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober [iTunes]

(As for Ben Moody, he's spent his time writing and producing for the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavigne. A recent report also notes he collaborated with Celine Dion on her most recent album. On the Bill Simmons Vengeance Scale, I'd say this is about a 0.7 out of 10. )

Jay-Z pulls a fast one on iTunes, revokes American Gangster
It was the most the third most anticipated rap album of the year, and had racked up millions of pre-orders on iTunes by the time American Gangster, the new Jay-Z album inspired by the movie was due to be released. But then at the last minute, Hova pulls it from iTunes, citing his desire for the album to be heard as one unit, not song-by-song. As a result all the people who preordered the album got screwed. Smooth...reaalll smooth.

Having said that, I heard a couple tracks off the album, and am duly impressed.

Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...) [AmazonMP3]

Matchbox 20's "New Album"
A 6-song EP and a greatest hits collection that even the most casual fans have does not an album make, guys. Get back in the studio and give me more.

Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come [iTunes]

Live Earth
Huge dud. But then again, pretty much what you'd expect from a concert organized by Al Gore, no? Even the Foo Fighters sounded boring in this one. And that Police/Kanye/John Mayer performance? You wanna tell me that wasn't the most scripted thing ever? Points for effort and trying to be socially conscious, but no-good on the execution.

Buy the album on iTunes if you must (can't even give you an mp3 of Linkin Park's performance)

Legally Blonde on Broadway
OK, I'll admit, the movie didn't suck nearly as much as I thought it would. This is more a rant about Broadway's apparent decision to join Hollywood in not coming up with original ideas. Between this, Young Frankenstein, and the slew of Disney musicals, the theatre is almost as bad as TV and film at this point.

...and this is the industry I'm gonna go into...*sigh*

High School Musical 2
A sin against God, man, and everything I did for four years between September 2002 and May 2006.

50 Cent hasn't retired yet...
Despite his album Curtis getting soundly beaten by Kanye West. I guess a rapper's promise doesn't mean as much as it once did. Does anyone else miss the days when a rapper would promise to pop some caps, and then shortly thereafter the news would get out about another shooting?

50 Cent - Ayo Technology [iTunes]

Radiohead release In Rainbows, get verbal blowjob from the blogosphere
I'll admit, I was among those who praised Radiohead's ingenuity when they self-released their new album. I also think I was one of the first to dismiss the music itself as trippy, directionless and overrated. Meanwhile nearly every other blog has added In Rainbows to their Best of 07 list. Just 'cause you do something ballsy doesn't mean you're automatically the best.

I think that's all I've got. The Best Songs of 2007 list will be arriving shortly.

On a random note, I had the strangest urge to listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers earlier today. There was no reason for it whatsoever, but I'm blasting the Greatest Hits CD now, and thought I'd share that fact.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fortune Faded [iTunes]

==TJ==

But the Kid Is Not My Son...

OK, first things first, because I keep forgetting to put this up...

I'M ON MTVU!!!

When the page opens, select All Shows > Campus Invasion > Kidz in the Hall - Wheelz Fall Off. Wait till the time counter hits 2:54 (it counts backwards). But yeah that's the first wave of awesomeness.

Other cool stuff:
-The oft-talked about Chris Cornell cover of "Billie Jean" finally leaked last week along with a few other songs from Carry On. It should be noted that a blogger for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer referred to the new material as sounding like old Daughtry B-sides. If this is the case...more, please!

-A few entries back I mentioned more leaked songs from Chinese Democracy. Well, to put it quite simply...they suck. Miserably. Think "Macy Gray recording a metal album" bad. Yeah.

-Last week Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee married longtime her longtime boyfriend, therapist Josh Hartzler. In my opinion this will lead to one of two outcomes: a) they will divorce within 6 months (in keeping with the Axl Rose comparisons), or b) Hartzler will leave Lee amid more complaints about Lee's overbearing personality and weird hairstyles. In other news Evanescence announced that members of Dark New Day will be filling in for the dismissed Rocky Gray and John Lecompt, and that the tentative title of their third studio album will be Cuban Democracy.

OK I made that last part up.

One more thing about Evanescence; in an attempt to "clean house a little bit" former drummer Rocky Gray is selling on eBay the platinum and gold records he earned while with the band. In his column, Bill Simmons keeps what he calls the Vengeance Scale. Right now this act appears to measure at about a 6.5. Damn...bitter much?

OK that's it. Might be back tomorrow with more stuff.

==TJ==

Axl Rose : Chinese Democracy as Amy Lee : ...

I know I promised a Minutes to Midnight review, and that's still coming later tonight, but I want to give the album another couple spins before I make a final call. In the meantime a few bits of news from the past couple days.

-Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance are headlining the 2007 edition of the Projekt Revolution tour, with Placebo, Saosin and a couple of other no-names slated to be on the tour as well. Chester Bennington held a press conference earlier today with details, but no site has come forward with details yet. An unconfirmed report from Blabbermouth.net says the tour will come to the Tweeter Center in Camden on August 25th.

-Evanescence is down a drummer and a guitarist. Amy Lee, the heavy-handed, gothy lead singer reported that Rocky Gray and John Lecompt were ready to move on, but in a bitter MySpace blog entry (now blocked) Lecompt described an angry cell phone call from Lee which ultimately ended with him being fired. These departures mean that Amy Lee is the only original member of the band remaining. Is it too early to start making Guns N Roses comparisons?

-Speaking of which, another member of the GN'R camp is about to get fired. Over the weekend at least two more tracks from the mythical Chinese Democracy album leaked. "There Was A Time" and the title track both found there way onto the internet, and if a report from idolator is any indication, as many as 6 more tracks could leak in the very near future. Is this a real leak, or has the recent lawsuit caused Axl Rose to adopt alternative methods of releasing the album?

Ok that's all till I get back with that review. In the meantime, kindly take note of the fact that Axl Rose is 45 years old.

==TJ==