Papa Roach - Metamorphosis 0 comments

Label: DGC/Interscope
Rating: 5 Guns

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Written By: Jim Markunas

"Holy F%&$!!!" is the only phrase I can think of to describe "Metamorphosis," Papa Roach's 5th Major label offering, and followup to 2006's "Paramour Sessions." Having abandoned their metal roots for a more dangerous, biker-bar sound, Papa Roach have crowned themselves the new kings of dangerous; one-upping fellow rock bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry.

Papa Roach made a promise to pummel their listeners with full-on rock, opening with the instrumental "Days of War," and delivered, ripping immediately into the altruistic-yet-in-your-face, "Change or Die.
Street-single "Hollywood Whore" follows third, and showcases the classic Papa Roach sound found on "Love.Hate.Tragedy" and "Getting Away With Murder." The song is obviously about stereotypical Hollywood party girls, but the juxtoposition of Jacoby's angry and bitterly comical lyrics take the old story to another level of rock; as does the anti-love song "I Almost Told You That I Loved You."

Current single, "Lifeline" channels classic rock, and sounds a bit like U2 on meth (see video below). P. Roach's guitar player Jerry Horton shows his stuff on this track, proving once and for all that Nu-Metal bands can play a guitar solo if they want to!

"Had Enough," in addition to protesting this nation's war-mongering spirit, in a way re-vamps "Forever," the middle single from "Paramour Sessions," but throws in a little bit of the Deftones' and Interpol's cerebral brand of rock.

"Live This down" just plain kicks ass. Enough said.

The last half of "Metamorphosis" becomes experimental and rock-opera-esq (not a criticism). Each song from track 8-12 fits into a running theme, showcases Papa Roach's versatility, and channels the pomp of glam rock.

I don't usually pester people to buy albums (afterall, I am a journalist), but... Everyone out there HAS to buy this album. Please click the links in this review to get "Metamorphosis" off iTunes and/or Amazon.

Papa Roach - "Lifeline" (Video)

Papa Roach - Metamorphosis 0 comments

Label: DGC/Interscope
Rating: 5 Guns

Buy On:


Written By: Jim Markunas

"Holy F%&$!!!" is the only phrase I can think of to describe "Metamorphosis," Papa Roach's 5th Major label offering, and followup to 2006's "Paramour Sessions." Having abandoned their metal roots for a more dangerous, biker-bar sound, Papa Roach have crowned themselves the new kings of dangerous; one-upping fellow rock bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry.

Papa Roach made a promise to pummel their listeners with full-on rock, opening with the instrumental "Days of War," and delivered, ripping immediately into the altruistic-yet-in-your-face, "Change or Die."

Street-single "Hollywood Whore" follows third, and showcases the classic Papa Roach sound found on "Love.Hate.Tragedy" and "Getting Away With Murder." The song is obviously about stereotypical Hollywood party girls, but the juxtoposition of Jacoby's angry and bitterly comical lyrics take the old story to another level of rock; as does the anti-love song "I Almost Told You That I Loved You."

Current single, "Lifeline" channels classic rock, and sounds a bit like U2 on meth (see video below). P. Roach's guitar player Jerry Horton shows his stuff on this track, proving once and for all that Nu-Metal bands can play a guitar solo if they want to!

"Had Enough," in addition to protesting this nation's war-mongering spirit, in a way re-vamps "Forever," the middle single from "Paramour Sessions," but throws in a little bit of the Deftones' and Interpol's cerebral brand of rock.

"Live This down" just plain kicks ass. Enough said.

The last half of "Metamorphosis" becomes experimental and rock-opera-esq (not a criticism). Each song from track 8-12 fits into a running theme, showcases Papa Roach's versatility, and channels the pomp of glam rock.

I don't usually pester people to buy albums (afterall, I am a journalist), but... Everyone out there HAS to buy this album. Please click the links in this review to get "Metamorphosis" off iTunes and/or Amazon.

Papa Roach - "Lifeline" (Video)

Swine Flu Linked to Terrorists 0 comments

A Fox News Scientific Report that aired Sunday identifies the looming swine flu pandemic as the latest attempt by terrorists to destroy the United States and its allies. The unfolding plot, according to Chief Science Correspondent, Aloysius Divine, underscores the deadly effects of the Obama administration’s ever softening stance toward terrorism.

“There is now incontrovertible proof,” concludes Divine, “Of a possible link between swine flu and terrorist cells. Is it mere coincidence that terrorists are launching their most emboldened attack just as the Obama administration shows signs of opening an investigation against terrorism’s most implacable foes in the Bush administration?”

In an exclusive interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney, Mr. Cheney insists that the looming pandemic vindicates Bush administration policies.

“While everyone was whining and urging us to take action during our time in office about phony issues like climate change, terrorists were busy developing a new strain of flu that will cause millions of deaths. This proves that terrorism remains the only real threat to the survival of the United States.”

In keeping with Fox News’s commitment to fair and balanced reporting, Leonard “Mad Dog” Trotsky, self-appointed spokesperson for a coalition of centrist and left-of-centrist groups, speaking from a locked down unit of a psychiatric ward in New York City, insists that former Vice President Dick Cheney himself is the actual cause of the new strain of swine flu.

“The virulence of this strain of flu and its ability to pass from swine to humans points directly to Vice President Cheney who, after years of wallowing with pigs, and his well documented propensity for causing untold suffering and deaths, is the most likely missing link between infected swine and humans,” Trotsky claims.

The former Vice President vigorously refutes the assertion, decrying Trotsky’s guilt by loose association as “un-American.”

“A looming global pandemic of these proportions,” Mr. Cheney says, “Is clearly the work of terrorists and their enablers and calls for an immediate roundup of anyone who might in any way, wittingly or unwittingly, be aiding and abetting them.”

Cheney calls for the immediate incarceration of the entire United States Justice Department and the Executive Branch of the United States government, while there is still time to save our country. Cheney also proposes a fair test to determine whether he or Trotsky are right.

“Let’s set up some extended periods of waterboarding and other truth determination techniques to separate out the innocent from the terrorists,” he says, “The guilty will eventually confess, and the information we extract from them will enable us to develop an effective vaccine. And the innocent who survive the test, after physical and mental rehabilitation and a few decades of close surveillance, can eventually return to normal lives in a much safer America.”

Mr. Cheney calls for the massive truth determination techniques to begin immediately.

“It worked at Salem and it will work here, today,” he says, “The time bomb is ticking, and we cannot afford to divert our attention from terrorism for another moment.”

3 Reasons Why The Pirate Bay Trial Was A Loss For The Music Industry 0 comments

Written By: Jim Markunas

"So let me get this straight. The Pirate Bay shuts down and suddenly all its users go legit, stop trading and start buying the wares of the entertainment companies." - Bob Lefsetz

The music industry is the only industry in the world that is willing to take civil and legal action against its own consumers. Think about that for a moment... When was the last time GM or Apple Computer put you in jail?

Although piracy is wrong on a lot of levels, it simply cannot be stopped in a cost effective and/or mutually beneficial manner.

Here's why the Pirate Bay prosecution was yet another colossal failure for the music industry even though its being touted as a "victory."

1. "You'll Never Get Her Back on the Farm Once She's Been to Gay Paree"

The cat's been out of the bag for a while... As a consumer, you simply don't have to pay for music. Every song ever released is available on the internet for free in MP3 form. As an industry, we must come to the horrible realization (and really realize it) that most people aren't willing to pay $18.99 for something that they can get for free.

The music industry will never be able to get consumers to pay for music now that it's been free for the last 9 years. Sure... some albums sell, but those days are numbered.

2. Alienating One's Target Market is the Surest Way NOT to Sell a Product or Idea

People view record labels and music industry professionals as greedy and dishonest. This is a fact. It's brought on partly because of the way we've done business in the last 70 years, but mostly because we've resorted to suing college students, jailing talented computer programmers, and strong-arming universities across the US.

As an industry, we suck! We'll have to learn to "un-suck" in order to get things moving again. If we can win back public trust, we can turn a profit once more.

3. Touting Pirate Bay as a "Victory" Buys Into The Outdated Business Model of "Selling Records"

Yes, music industry, it was great when we had a physical product and people paid us handsomely for it, but those days are going the way of the dinosaur - If we don't start to explore new income streams as an industry we're going to be extinct faster than the dodo.

Suing pirates in a "whack-a-mole" fashion not only costs labels millions of dollars in legal fees and damages the reputation of the music biz as a whole, but also points our Tyrannosaurus Rex-like, single-pointed focus in a direction that's failing - towards the old business model!

If the music business' old business model was working, we wouldn't have to sue pirates, because we'd be too rich to care.

I hereby proclaim the album dead! Now what??

OBLIGATORY PLUG: Let's become too rich to care! Let's make filesharing work for the business instead of against it. E-mail me for an interview, and we can discuss how to make the music business work without selling records.

Jim Markunas is a music industry futurist and editor-in-chief of Chicks With Guns Magazine. Jim has a decade of new media and music industry experience, he's run highly successful new media campaigns and has worked with James Brown, Miles Davis, The Walt Disney Company, Truckee Brothers, Mick Fleetwood, and Minty Fresh Records. Currently Jim's focus is monetization strategies for record labels and digital business development.

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