Favorite Albums of 1968

Sorry this one took so long. A lot happening, mostly with people around me has taken up a lot of my time. Some good things, some shit things. So yeah, moving on...

So, 1968 is a year. And music came out in it, and I like some of it, and this is the music stuff that I like. Yeah, list time!

10. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Creedence Clearwater Revival: CCR is one of my first 60's-early 70's loves. Their music is a weird mix of bluegrass, southern rock, and blues that 45 years after their debut, I still haven't heard anywhere else. That being said, most debuts by great bands fall under one of two categories. You have the albums where the band puts all their energy and musical creativity into a masterpiece of an album, or the albums where you can tell the band was still growing as musicians and songwriters, while having a resemblance of their better work, they tend to be more formulaic and less dynamic. Unfortunately "Creedence Clearwater Revival" falls under the latter. You can tell it's CCR, it's got their sound, but all of the songs sound the same and while they sound great, it gets old after a while, making the album as a whole their least appealing and most boring. That being said, I still really enjoy this album. It just doesn't hold up as well as their future work.

9. Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: Honestly, the title track alone is almost enough to make this list, but the other tracks, all five of them, are good as well. Ranging from prog rock, to some of the earliest Stoner Rock, Iron Butterfly's debut is a hallmark in music history that's solid, unique and innovative throughout, ending in one of rock's most epic and amazing songs. Fans of Kyuss, Clutch, Deftones, Fu Manchu, and even White Zombie and Tool, bow to Iron Butterfly, because without them, I doubt those bands would exist.

8. The Amboy Dukes - Journey to the Center of the Mind: I love me some Ted Nugent. The Amboy Dukes are horribly underrated when people talk about his career. Though not as good as their first album, this is a great follow-up, and it's not 1967 so it was able to slide into the list. But it wasn't just The Nuge that made this band great, vocalist John Drake and rhythm guitarist Steve Farmer are also very underappreciated talents and songwriters that help take the songs to another level along with Ted's obviously great guitar work. This album, as hinted at in its title, is much more jazzy and psychedelic than Nugent's solo work. It's probably the most "laid back" album Ted Nugent would ever be associated with, but it's still a great album well worth your time, for interesting perspective on the wild man's career if nothing else.

7. The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society: Ah, The Beatles are still going strong. Yeah, this sounds so much like a Beatles album, you'd be justified in confusing the two. There's some Kinks flavor, but you can tell they were trying to ride The Beatles' popularity. There are more mellow tracks, more vocal harmonies, and more instrumental experimentation. Honestly, they pull it off pretty well. I enjoy The Kinks in general, but as a huge Beatles fan, you can't go wrong with sounding like them. Especially if you actually have the talent to do so effectively. That makes it surprising that it never charted on release, only selling approximately 100,000 copies. But it's been highly praised in hindsight and even landed around the middle of  Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Also, that name is pretty awesome.

6. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle: This is widely considered the shining moment of The Zombies' career. Nines and tens, 4.5 and 5 stars, 100th Greatest Album of All Time according to Rolling Stone. It's experimental, complex and engaging both musically and lyrically, and enjoyable throughout. This is especially impressive when you consider that the album was recorded in a meager and hectic six months. How they sounded so relaxed during this whole thing is beyond me. An amazing album, buuuuuuut I still prefer their self-titled debut.

5. Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum: This is one of the most revolutionary albums ever created in my humble and correct opinion. Blue Cheer established the Metal guitar sound with this album. Every track is heavy and atmospheric. Just listen to the riffs on songs like "Summertime Blues" (classic among classics) and "Doctor Please". There are only six tracks, but they're all jam-packed with musical goodness. Oh yeah, they started that trend of multiple six to seven-minute epic tracks in rock and metal. Also, they kick ass.

4. Cream - Wheels of Fire: If Eric Clapton had an album in the 60's or 70's it's probably going to be on my list for that year. The man is a master of his craft, and it's just amplified when he's surrounded by so much talent. Honestly, this album could have still been #10 or 9 if every track was just "White Room". Easily one of my favorite songs of all time. it's so melodic and chilling, while still energetic, and the metaphorical lyrics are so high, I just love everything about it. But the rest of the album actually measures up surprisingly well. I still wouldn't make your best track ever the album lead, but every track is really good guitar-driven Blues Rock by some of the greatest to ever do it.

3. The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet: The beginning of the great Stones albums. I can't say it's their best, as it's a tad on the one-dimensional side compared to some of their later work. Just about every song is a mid-paced, bluesey/acoustic song, full of random instrumentation and laid back vocal melodies, no matter the subject matter. While it loses points for having so little variety, the Stones pull this off so well, it's astounding. Every song is a great listen, and if you're in the mood for the kind of music this album provides, you could listen to the whole thing over and over and still be entranced. That and it has "Sympathy for the Devil" on it. Discussion over.

2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland: While I've never been to Electric Ladyland, I sure as balls love their music. This is probably The Experience's greatest work from a technical standpoint. Every song is complex both musically and lyrically and everyone is in the prime of their performing careers. Unfortunately, I didn't grow up with this album as much as Are You Experienced? and for that alone, I think I don't like this one quite as much, but it's still an amazing album that's a clinic in writing music.

1. The Beatles - The Beatles (The White Album): It's rare that a band makes a double album and I end up actually glad they did. Almost every time, what they make turns out to be about half good, and half filler, if that. But as we all know, The Beatles. What about them? Just... The Beatles. They simply don't write bad songs. I think this is my third, maybe fourth favorite Beatles album, but it's still an absolute classic. While every song isn't stellar, every song is really good at the very least. If they released the best songs as a single album, it'd be a masterpiece, but the extra songs are of great enough quality that I'm glad they exist.






Again, sorry that took so long. I shall make an effort to be more consistent. Also, I'm gonna start doing random years. It feels too boring to both the readers, and the creator to be moving at such a slow pace. That and I can talk about all kinds of genres and such. Anyway, look forward to that, probably next Friday-ish, unless I get really bored this weekend. So yea, @SycoMantis1991 on Twitter, Sycotic Sliloquies on Facebook, comment, etc.

Disney Gives EA Exclusive Console Gaming Development for Star Wars. WHY?!

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force... as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." Quite honestly, Obi-Wan pretty much sums up how I feel about this. I have to admit, I was more on-board with Disney's purchase of the Star Wars franchise. Even moreso after the announcement of a new trilogy, and even moreso than that, after announcing movies outside of the main story being released every year there isn't a new numbered sequel. I was never totally enamored with the idea, but I've been very cautiously optimistic. Not certain they'd do great things, but knowing if anyone could, it'd be Disney. They've done great things with Marvel the last few years, though most of those movies aren't quite as amazing as they're made out to be, but still entertaining, and no one has the resources they do.

My optimism started to wane a few months ago with the announcement of the director for Star Wars: Episode VII, J.J. Abrams. While I love knowing John Williams will be creating the music, and Harrison Ford's always witty and entertaining character both naturally and as Han Solo will return, putting J.J. Abrams at the helm cancels those out for me. I don't think Abrams is a poor director necessarily, I just think he's possibly the most average director on the planet. I've never watched anything he worked on and had an emotional response to it. His movies, as well as his television series' always feel stale and robotic, just going through the motions without doing anything different or even exciting. That's not a movie-making formula that I think works with such a high-fantasy sci-fi, story-driven series like Star Wars in all its endless incarnations has been. But that aside, this isn't about J.J. Abrams, this is about *sighs* Electronic fucking Arts.

Anyone who cares enough about video games, especially Star Wars games, probably already knows why this seems like a horrendous idea. EA is basically the collaborative effort of the most money-hungry, least consumer-concerned blights upon the gaming industry. Voted "Worst Company in America" each of the last two years by consumerist.com and for good reason, EA has established verification codes that go along with their games, disallowing Xbox Live and PSN as well as downloading DLC and even online multiplayer if you didn't buy their games new, as well as creating their own Steam-like service that has been suspected of monitoring users' computer activity. There are also a plethora of  questionable account suspensions and bans including a suspension for posting an Origin troubleshooting link that EA themselves had posted in the past, commenting about teabagging other players after a kill (of course, they are EA forums), and my favorite, posting in a BioWare forum asking "Have you sold your souls to the EA devil?" which they only got mad about because it was clearly an accurate analysis. Have you played Dragon Age II?

Oh, but Origin is far from the worst of their crimes. EA has their ads strewn over every gaming site that just so happens to give their games glowing reviews. They force their developers to push out bare-bones titles frequently and expect us lambs to pay full price every time. Crysis, Battlefield, Army of Two, the crap CoD ripoffs (and you know it's bad when I insult it in comparison to Call of Duty) that are the new Medal of honor games, and the God of War clone, Dante's Inferno. Don't get me started on their sports games. I love sports, and I love sports games, but they've degenerated into nothing but $60 roster updates. It's not worth it. We know it, they know it, but neither will do anything about it.

I haven't even gotten started on their slaughter of some of the only quality developers and franchises lately. They forced Visceral Games to curb the Sci-Fi Survival Horror series Dead Space, and make it a third-person shooter with weak jump scares and imposed a 5 million sale minimum in order to keep the series going (which they really shouldn't anyway at this rate), which of course it failed to meet, partially because a Dead Space game had yet to reach even 4 million, and partially because people knew it'd be a watered-down version of the game they love because EA had their hands in it. It gets worse though. BioWare, yeah, remember them? Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, they were the kings of the Western RPG. They were Squaresoft East, then Electronic Arts bought them. Dragon Age II became a third-person hack n' slasher with no character customization, minimum RPG elements, a claustrophobic "world", ugly environments, and completely copied dungeons. Then the final chapter in this console generation's biggest actual franchise, Mass Effect 3 came, Ashley became a model, the model of a mid-20's "cool guy" was shoe-horned in, and thought the rest of the game was amazing, the ending was farted out in twenty minutes to meet deadlines and ended up being pretty much a nonsensical pile of ass. They destroyed BioWare so wholly, it lead their two founding members, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, as well as their master lead writer, Drew Karpyshyn to willingly bail on the company they gave so much of their lives to, leaving one of the great developers in video game history as a shell of their former selves.

These are the people we expect to handle possibly the most beloved media franchise ever established? FUCKING REALLY, DISNEY?!?! Next thing I know, Michael Bay is going to make Episode VIII and Rihanna is gonna make the soundtrack for it! You're marketing geniuses, you do your research, you know EA creates more bloodlust among gamers than all other entities combined, how could you even consider this a good idea? What are you on? Did Sonic Team invade your ranks?! What the balls is wrong with you people?!

Ok, vitriol-laced rant over, WHAT THE FUCK?!, anyway, let's take a look at how this is going to play out.  There are three developers that have been given creative license with the Star Wars franchise under the Excreting Anuses banner. DICE, famous for making Call of Duty: Youcanblowupbuildingsanddrive Edition (aka Battlefield), and Mirror's Edge I guess?, Visceral who created the above average last-gen James Bond games, the above average Godfather games, the pretty good God of War clone Dante's Inferno, and Dead Space, which was big and innovative, but proved Vesceral is totally fine with letting EA run their ideals into the fucking grave. There's also, of course, BioWare, or what's left of it at least. The dull, rotting husk of RPG perfection long-gone. I'm not excited, even BioWare doesn't provide me with any real solace. Ok, there will probably be an RPG, cool, will it be an RPG in more than name? I guess we'll see. And will they get time to actually create their vision? Ha! I doubt it.

What would I like to see? Well, let me preface by saying I expect nothing positive out of this. I suppose Dice is the obvious candidate if we were to see a Star Wars: Battlefront 3, which I would like to see, IF it's not a third-person shooter, which it would almost definitely be. I think the easiest fit for them is another Republic Commando game, or to a lesser extent, a rebooted TIE FIghter-style game, though again, I wouldn't trust any of these. Visceral are the ones I honestly have the most hope for. They have more experience making more kinds of games than the other two. I can see them pulling off a hacker like Force Unleashed but more refined control-wise, and hopefully longer. I could also see a Bounty Hunter type game, almost like 1313 was supposed to be, but a huge, sprawling mix of a faster Dead Space and Assassin's Creed. BioWare, well I think they're still capable of greatness, but I don't have much faith. I'm honestly expecting a watered-down TOR, and I definitely wouldn't mind a KOTOR 3, but with Karpyshyn done, who wrote a lot of the first game, I don't know, unless they can get help from Obsidian like they have to great results in the past, and there are a lot of other things they can do in the RPG realm, taking Expanded Universe games, or tackling unused periods in Star Wars from a similar or maybe even different angle, but whatever it is, it'll probably be a promise-laden, unfinished mess. Sorry BioWare, I love you, but EA's dragging you down, bro.

In short, I hate this move. There are things about it that you can point to and say "that could be nice", but you can say that for pretty much any company. The point is, EA has a history of horrible business practices, pushing out unfinished games, and imposing strict changes on the creative vision of those actually creating the games. EA isn't just hated to be hated, there's perfect reason for it, and there couldn't have been a worse choice for a company to tie Disney's new, huge franchise to. I hope it turns out well, but I don't see it happening in the slightest. Oh well, I'm gonna go play some KOTOR or Jedi Outcast.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on @SycoMantis1991 on Twitter, comment, subscribe, or don't either way's cool.

Favorite Albums of 1967

First of all, before we start, I'd like to say one thing... FUCK THIS YEAR!!! 1967 is so good. It's one of those golden years of music. So many good albums, SO MANY GOOD ALBUMS. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, and Velvet Undergorund would have made top fives most other years. I left some amazing albums off this list, and even those at the bottom of the list are classics in my opinion. And don't even get me started on ordering these sons of bitches. Realistically, the top 5, maybe 6 could have been number one many other years and are some of my favorites ever. Alright, now that my tangent is over, let's begin... Hope you're comfortable, because there's gonna be a whole lotta gushin' going on (yeah, that Jerry Lee reference would have worked a lot better in '57 than '67).

10. The Byrds - Younger than Yesterday: You may not think so with the lack of attention they get from me, but I really like The Byrds. The thing is, they put out good album after good album, but outside of one or two exceptions (the two to actually make lists), I've never seen any of their albums as more than pretty damn good. Though not my favorite, this is definitely The Byrds' most solid album track-by-track. It has classic Byrds rock, classic Byrds ballads, and is probably the most musically complex album of their career. As much as this album is great in every sense, it just doesn't have the huge standout Byrds staples like Mr. Tambourine Man did, otherwise it'd be my favorite album by them.

9. The Doors - Strange Days: I can say with a good amount of confidence, that you'll never see these next two lower than they are here. Which is far from a knock on these albums and moreso a testament to how amazing this year was. I thought this would be a lot higher to be honest. Listening to it again though, it's probably the weakest album of The Doors' career. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy every single song on this ablum, but hardly any stand out. "People are Strange", "Love Me Two Times" and "Unhappy Girl" are all great tracks, but otherwise they're mostly just decent Doors songs. You can tell this is the transitional album, between finding their sound on their debut and trying to experiment and expand. It suffers a lot from lack of focus and consistency, if more songs were like the ones I mentioned before, it'd be a clear classic, but as it stands, it's just a great album by a band known for being better than great.

8. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love: OMG YOU PUT JIMI AT NUMBER EIGHT?! This reminds me a lot of Strange Days, really. It's the second album in the same year as a stellar debut, tries too many different things, and ends up being an inconsistent disappointment. This is a genuinely great album from top to bottom, but little really impresses like most of their work. I love tracks like "Spanish Castle Magic", "If 6 was 9", "You Got me Floating" and "Little Wing". With the odd exception, the rest are fairly forgettable compared to most Hendrix songs. The musicianship is great as always, but the songwriting just doesn't excel like on other albums. But when your worst album is the eighth best of 1967, you're still doing something right.

7. The Monkees - Headquarters: I believe this is the first time I've put The Monkees on any of my lists. I do like them, I've just never loved them. Honestly they just take a lot of tropes from other bands and don't pull them off quite as well. I suppose you could say they're the Pearl Jam of 60's rock. Well if that's the case, I suppose this is their "Ten". The only album of theirs that I can say I enjoy every song off of. It's not a hit machine, but it's by far the best collection of songs. "Forget that Girl", "I Can't Get Her off of My Mind", "Mr. Webster", "No Time", "Zilch", are all great, as is the rest of the album. This is proof of how excellent The Monkees were capable of being when they weren't so worried about making another "Daydream Believer" and put equal effort into every single song. I don't think their other albums, though great in parts, come anywhere near this one.

6. Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow: This is the one Jefferson Airplane album I love. Every track is a trip (in the literal and drug-related sense) of creative musicianship, deep lyrics, pulsing melodies, and strong, fitting vocals. It's too bad they never lived up to this again, but I can't exactly blame them. This kind of Psychedelic Rock is hard to come by, and even harder to perfect. Every song feels different, and they all go together so well. I can't say from personal experience, but I imagine listening to this while tripping on mushrooms or LSD caused many a brain to suddenly leak white, salty fluids in the late 60's. The true testament to how great this album is, is that it includes classic staples of 60's music like "Somebody to Love" and one of my favorite songs in general, "White Rabbit" and every song matches those in greatness, never feeling like a means to an end, the end being the hit you love, like a lot of albums, especially nowadays, tend to.

5. Cream - Disraeli Gears: I hate this. This album doesn't deserve a 5 spot in any given year. I can't argue when I see it #5 on all-time lists. It's truly an astounding album in every sense. It's a perfect blend of psychadelic, blues, and pure rock. I can't name a standout track this time because they're all great. Clapton, Bruce, and Baker are all at the top of their game and are probably the best set of musicians together at the time, and create a classic among classics. Honestly, if Cream had stayed together longer, they'd probably be considered among the greatest bands ever. But I suppose we wouldn't get Derek & The Dominoes, Blind Faith, or his solo material. So it evens out.

4. Albert King - Born Under a Bad Sign: Albert King may be the most under-appreciated man in Blues. In a decade where Blues was being pushed out the door for Rock n' Roll, Albert King came along with his second studio album and blue the motherfucking doors off. You can tell why this album took 5 years to create. The guitar-work is some of the best of the entire decade. It's skillful, emotional, and perfectly executed. The backing instruments fit the tone of each song perfectly, and King himself just has an awesome voice. He has a rare blend of energy and somberness that excellently conveys the messages of struggle and inner-strength in his lyrics. If you have even the slightest hint of interest in Blues, this album is a necessity.

3. The Doors - The Doors: Be. fore. you. Slip intooooo unnnnconsciousnessss... This album is THE reason the doors are as renowned as they are. It's near-perfection throughout. It goes from haunting blues, to pure rock, to somber and epic Simon & Garfunkel-esque pieces, but somehow, don't ask me how, I'm not a musical genius, but it all ties together so fluidly. The typical rock isntrumentation is great, but I've never heard a keyboard sound so badass. Ray Manzarek is an excellent musician, milking every ounce of emotion possible out of his keyboard, vox continental, and the marxophone, clearly the biggest instrument in music at the time. Every song is unique, every song is a journey, and every song is a trip on its own. This is only triples when you add Jim Morrison's excellent vocal skills. He had an astounding and underappreciated knack for finding the perfect tone to match the sound of the song he was singing over. This is an absolute clinic in songwriting and performance. And again, fuck this year, because I actually didn't even think twice about leaving this out of the top two.

2. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced? I'm legitimately experienced after having heard this album. This is Jimi at his absolute finest. Perfect riffs and solos, soulful singing, and emotional lyrics, if a little heavy on innuendo and metaphors, but he was a stoner among stoners, so that's to be expected. The thing that makes this album borderline perfect though, is the entire band. Jimi is widely considered legendary and for good reason, but have you heard of Mitch Mitchell? Probably not. Just listen to the drum work on "Manic Depression", "Fire", "Red House" or "Hey Joe". The Experience wasn't great just because of Jimi, but because of Mitchell's stellar drumming and Noel Redding (no relation to Otis)'s solid backing bass work. The combination created a masterpiece worthy of being heard by every human being.

1. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hears Club Band: This album, THIS ALBUM! If this isn't my favorite album of all time, it's definitely up there. I love almost every Beatles album, but aside from maybe Rubber Soul, none are in the same stratosphere as Sgt. Pepper in my opinion. Every track on this album is pure gold. You can tell every member put their heart into this album as I can't find a single flaw in any song. From the musicianship, to the lyrics, to the vocal work, everything is performed with as much excellence as possible. I could keep gushing, but I think you get the point. It's my favorite album of all time from possibly my favorite band ever, released in one of the greatest years in the history of music. If you haven't heard it, you absolutely need to, and I hope you will enjoy the show.



Like always, thanks for reading, hope you liked, feel free to follow on Twitter @SycoMantis1991, comment, follow the blog, or don't, that's cool too. Prick :)

St. Louis Rams Draft Recap

Yes, I love sports too. Feel free to skip this if you don't. I'm a St. Louis Rams fan, random, but I don't care, it'll never change. With that, I'm so glad Jeff Fisher is calling the shots this year. I couldn't stand to watch their drafts the last few years, they were picking guy after guy that I wish I couldn't say I knew wouldn't work out the second their name was called. But last year was so good. I swear they read my mind with each pick. Brockers, Johnson, Givens, Jenkins. JANORIS JENKINS. All these guys were astounding for the Rams last year. So, even with what many consider a weak class this year, I was locked in to every second this year to see what Fisher and the rest of the organization would pull out of their hat. And here are my thoughts, by pick.

Round 1, 8th overall: West Virginia WR, Tavon Austin - I was mildly excited when the Rams traded up eight spots, though a lot of their needs I thought could be addressed with the 16th pick and the 46th that they gave up. They could have still drafted Jarvis Jones, Eric Reid, or even the likes of Le'Veon Bell, Montee Ball, and Arthur Brown with their now gone second round pick. That being said, I'm cautiously excited about Tavon Austin. He has a lot of Percy Harvin in him, without some of the personality issues or injury history. He's lightning-quick, has good hands, and ran under a 4.3 40-Yard dash. If he lives up to the hype, he can be a monster of a playmaker for the Rams. The problem I have is his size. While I don't generally have a problem with small, fast receivers, but the Rams' best receiver right now is a small (though not as small), fast, deep threat. Austin Pettis has emerged as a decent receiver, but he's the only even slightly proven other wide receiver on the team. If Brian Quick and Tavon Austin become the dangerous duo they have the potential to me, with Givens becoming the third option burner, this could be the start of another Greatest Show on turf, but until then, I think it leaves them as a one-dimesional receiving corps.

Round 1, 30th overall: Georgia LB, Alec Ogletree - I was begging my phone (I was listening to the ESPN Radio coverage) to call out this guy when the Rams' pick came up. With most of the top safeties gone, except for Matt Elam, who's a high risk, high reward guy with one really good year in an average conference (though I'd still be satisfied), Ogletree was pretty much the only option in my mind. As a former Safety, he's quick for a linebacker, as well as a great option in running back and tight end coverage. Yet at 242 pounds, he possesses plenty of size and arm length to wrap up and take down a back or screen receiver after reaching them with his elite closing speed. He doesn't have good block shedding skills, but as someone relatively new to the position, that can be taught, especially with the elite pass rushers and defensive coaching around him. With the right coaching and effort he can convert excellently into an elite linebacker with insane versatility. He has areas of concern, but they all relate to his inexperience. If he pans out, St. Louis may have the best front seven in the league for the next decade.

Round 3, 71st overall: USC Safety, T.J. McDonald - Here's the safety I've been asking for. McDonald is a big, physical Safety who also has the speed to cover tight ends effectively. He has solid range and close on the ball, as well as great blitzing and block-shedding ability for his position. Not to mention his stellar ability to go up and fight for the ball in the passing game. He does lack lateral movement and agility, making it difficult to cover the field side-to-side, though he wasn't often used in deep coverage, so he doesn't have a ton of experience working with this immobility. He played a lot of hybrid looks in college, coming up behind the linebacker in pass rushing and coverage of mobile quarterbacks. Though that's not ideal for a safety, I think doing that in college will help a lot in a division with duel-threats like Russell WIlson and Colin Kaepernick at quarterback. The last thing is the leadership abilities and read skills he exemplified t USC, Safety is disappointingly underappreciated as a leadership position and it's always good for your backfield when one comes in being able to accommodate that.

Round 3, 92nd overall: West Virginia WR, Stedman Bailey - I don't love this pick, but it has huge potential to be a steal. He's another short receiver at 5'10". but he had outrageous production at West Virginia. He caught 114 balls for 1,622 yards and 25 touchdowns, as the second-best receiver on the team. He's a good leaper with good body control and route-running skills, who you wouldn't believe is as short as he is when you watch him play. He doesn't have amazing speed though, and many figure he won't amount to much more than a slot receiver in the NFL. But even so, he has the skill set to be elite in that regard. I'm not too excited about the pick, but it's solid and has good potential.

Round 4, 113th overall: Alabama G/C, Barrett Jones - I'm honestly astonished that this guy was the 113th player drafted. He's one of the most versatile and decorated offensive lineman in college football history. He's not physically elite, but he's tenacious, unrelenting, and smart. He can be solid at any position and is a natural-born leader with tons of experience blocking the best defenses in the biggest games in college football. He definitely has bust potential due to his lack of physical dominance, but I think he has much more of a ceiling than most, and at worst, he'll be a solid backup for anyone on the Rams' line for years. Plus, he looks like a smaller version of the big, white dude from Remember the Titans.

Round 5, 149th overall: Miami (FL) CB, Brandon McGee - This may be my inner Hurricanes fan talking, but I really like this pick. I loved what he did in college, one of the most consistent and effective corners during the length of his career. He has great speed, agility and footwork, as well as mid-air movement when going up after the football. He also has good size at 5'11" and 193 pounds to go along with a 4.37 40-yard dash. He tends to get out-physicalled by more bulky receivers (which isn't common in the NFC West outside of Larry Fitzgerald) and loses his balance at times, but his high level of quickness allows him to recover in a hurry. He's a two-year starter who was a team captain in his senior season, with a total of 44 games under his belt. He also played mainly man coverage during college which I think makes him a good fit next to more do-everything back like Finnegan and Jenkins.

Round 5, 160th overall: Vanderbilt RB, Zac Stacy - Well, they finally got a power back in hopes of complimenting Daryl Richardson in the running game. To be honest, I don't know much about this guy. He's a compact, power back at  5'8" and 216 pounds. He was a consistent 1,000-yard rusher on average teams while playing against defenses the likes of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, all teams touting a great run defense. I think he can be a solid change-of-pace back to take the load off of Richardson and add variety to the offense as a whole.









Overall, I really like this draft. It's a mix of solid talent and high upside, as well as solid fits at every position. White I'm not the biggest fan of the Austin pick, if he pans out, it'll be a steal even so early, especially if Brian Quick becomes anywhere near the next Terrell Owens like Receivers Coach Ray Sherman declared he saw him as after drafting him last year. Imagine Terrell Owens, without the crazy, alongside Percy Harvin, without the injuries. I think Ogletree can be a perfect pick and make the team's front seven one of the best I've seen in a while, McDonald is the solid multi-dimensional Safety that Fisher always uses perfectly, and everyone else is a steal in my opinion and fill pretty much every hole on the team with the best talent available at the time. Even with Seattle and San Francisco in the same division, I can't express how excited I am about the Rams' future.

Favorite Albums of 1966

Yeah, it's been 8 days, not a week. But the NFL Draft started yesterday, so deal with it! Anyway, yeah, 1966. Not nearly as good as '65, a bunch of bands ascending or declining and pretty much nothing on here is the respective group's best work. Anyway, here's the list. Enjoy.

                                                                                 

10. Otis Redding - Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul: I'm a big fan of Otis, but this is honestly a fairly middle-of-the-road If I was doing a top 9 for him, it'd probably be number five. A lot of years after this it might not make the list. But it's a solid album. No real standouts, but every song is quality Redding. Also worth note that this is the last album he recorded during his life.

9. The Shadows of Knight - Back Door Men: Yep, another "you've never heard of them" band. This album is basically half dirty blues-rock, and half Byrds-esque. Not amazing, but very enjoyable, definitely worth a listen.

8. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: I'm not the biggest Simon & Garfunkel fan. I greatly appreciate them as musicians, but I've never loved their music. They're very hit and miss with me. Some songs don't do much for me. But other songs like "Sounds of Silence", "April She Will Come", and "Scarborough Fair" I absolutely adore. And this has the most great songs of any of their albums in my opinion. Most of these songs are musical excellence, but some of them are extremely dull. So it loses a few spots.

7. The Kinks - Face to Face: The first really good Kinks album. Everyone's heard a song or two from The Kinks, but their career as a whole is fairly underappreciated. A lot of these songs kind of blend together, but in a good way. They all flow and almost feel like segments of one huge, great track. They have better, but this is when they started being great.

6. John Mayall - Blues Breakers: A Blues album with Clapton on it. Need I say more? Next!

5. The Beatles - Revolver: Honestly, this surprises even me. A Beatles album at number five?! I should love this album more. Literally 100's and 5/5's across the board, VH1's #1 and Rolling Stone's #3 albums respectively. Apparently it's the Beatles album of Beatles albums. And it is a great album, but it's one of my least favorite. Songs like "Eleanor Rigby", "Taxman", "Good Day Sunshine", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" are all really good Beatles songs, but the rest don't do for me what other Beatles albums do. Maybe it's because it's a Beatles album I'm not in love with, but it just doesn't hit me like their other albums. Still well worth your time though.

4. The Rolling Stones - Aftermath: Another band that finally came into their own. Though this time the opposite of underappreciated. The Stones had good blues rock albums before, but this is the first one that sounded different, it sounded Rolling Stones. Every track is solid and energetic, they'd have better after this, but this is a great start to the Rolling Stones as we know them.

3. Cream - Fresh Cream: Cream is one of the greatest Blues-Rock acts ever. Pure genius songwriting and intrumental accompaniment. Their first album isn't their greatest, but it is great. Every track is solid along with standouts like "Toad", "I'm So Glad", "Spoonful", and "Sweet Wine".

2. The Beatles - Yesterday and Today: No Beatles at number one, who would have thunk it. I definitely like this a lot more than Revolver, but it's still far from their best. "Drive My Car" "We Can Work it Our" "Day Tripper", and of course, "Yesterday" are all classic Beatles tunes. But "If I Needed Someone", "And Your Bird Can Sing", and "Doctor Robert" are also great. Continues this year's theme of "not their best", but still amazing.

1. The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds: This is pretty much the only album that could have been number one. Well-regarded as the best album by one of the best bands of their era, and one of the more renowned ever. It takes the excellent experimentation started on "Today!" and perfects it in every way. Every song is excellent, classic rock and roll. Widely considered one of the greatest albums ever, and for good reason.











As always, thanks for reading. @SycoMantis1991, comment, follow, whatever you like.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

So, I know it's late but I'm poor. Anyway, I finally saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and as a highly-qualified nerd, I figured I'd give my thoughts on the flick. I guess we'll see if this ends up review-ey or rant-ey as it goes on. Firstly, I should say I'm a big Tolkien fan. Not just Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but also works like Farmer Giles of Ham, and The Silmarillion. But I'm definitely not a "books shouldn't be movies derpdederp!" type. I actually got into Tolkien's work through Peter Jackson's original Lord of the Rings trilogy.I actually love the idea of epic movies based on these books if they're well done and appropriate.

Appropriateness brings me to the first thing about this movies, the first thing I thought even the first time I heard about it. It's taking a book that, upon my last read-through. took me about three hours, and stretching it into three films of approximately that same length. The story is bound to either be the slowest, most drawn out creation imaginable (perhaps omitting the original Dune movie), or shoehorn in so much unrelated plot in order to extend it, that there are times that it feels nothing like the original product. To be honest, The Hobbit has a little of both. Things like the beginning where the dwarves keep showing up and hang out at Bilbo's house is a tad too long (though I'll admit it's well done and accurate for the most part), as is the also forced arguent between Gandalf and Saruman. Not to mention the totally pointless addition of The Brown Wizard, Radagast and his... I can't even say it without grimacing... Rabbit Sled. All part of a desperate ploy to hammer the familiar Sauron from the Rings trilogy into The Hobbit, both to pad time and to pander to those only following the movies. Also, what's with the ballsack-chin goblin? Men in Black did that over a decade ago, but they admitted it.

It's not all bad though. There are some things Peter Jackson pulls off tremendously. The entire Gollum portion is done perfectly, from the dialogue, to the vocal inflections, the set pieces, and how it slowly builds to an exciting and magnificently done crescendo. I also rather enjoyed the troll scene, aside from one of Peter's nephews apparently getting a hold of the script and adding a scene where one of the trolls sneezes on Bilbo. I know The Hobbit is a kid's book, but you're clearly trying to make it more serious, which isn't possible when you add scenes like that, it's contradiction incarnate. The dwarves are better done than a lot of reviews I've seen give them credit for. Some are kind of bland, but others such as Fili and Kili, Dwalin, and Thorin are all very entertaining, though I think they tried to make Thorin a bit too Aragorn-esque for my taste, as opposed to making him his own character. The action scenes are obviously well done, but no one really expected much else, even when  they're not necessary.

Honestly, there were times when I loved this movie, and there were times where I was bored out of my mind. I honestly think it trudges too much and adds too much unnecesary and sometimes petty dull things to the story. Like reviving the Orc King just out of clear desperation for a main antagonist until they reach the mountain is pretty lame if you ask me, though I don't hate how they did the character himself, he's a bit typical, but menacing, reminds me of the villian no one remembers from Mulan. My favorite as well as most hated scene was the end where they start top reveal Smaug and leave you with just his gigantic eye. I really, REALLY hope they do Smaug justice. He's far from just a fire-breathing badass and if that's how he turns out, nerdrage shall soon follow. Overall, this movie's above average. Some great parts, some poor parts. I honestly believe this should have been two movies, or even one. you can tell even with the first movie that there's so much effort put into extending it, that it takes away some from what they do with the scenes that actually relate top the narrative they're using. I'll see the next two, and I'm hopeful, but my expectations are a bit on the low side.



Thanks for reading, blah blah blah, @SycoMantis1991 on Twitter, comment and follow and stuff if you'd like, have a good one.

Bioshock: Infinite Review

I attack most modern First-Person Shooters much like Nicki Minaj attacks any validity rap music ever had in mainstream media. And I don't regret it. Call of Duty and Battlefield are pretty much The Hangover of video games. A new, pretty, hyped name that people blindly praise because they've never played Metroid Prime or they've never seen Billy Madison. hangover isn't horrible and neither is Call of Duty. The problem with them is they're both a totally watered down version of what they're supposed to be. Hangover isn't bad, but it's not funny to any extent. Call of Duty is well-crafted, but there's no fun factor whatsoever. Yet they both somehow have become the pedestal on which to measure all other First-Person Shooters or comedies. Their only competition being the carbon copy sequels they release. With that cleared up, on to Bioshock: Infinite.

With my previous banter in mind, I love what this game is. It's solid FPS gameplay with many elements that keep it from becoming monotonous, it's a game that's graphically magnificent and beautiful while being unique and not typically "realistic". It makes you a silent, mostly faceless protagonist while still making you feel immersed as a big part of what's going on in its world. it gives you a companion that you become genuinely distressed over when she's not with you, as well as actually developing the characters around you and making you care what happens to them, positively or negatively. But most of all, it actually has an interesting, deep, and completely unpredictable story. Didn't think that could happen anymore, did you?

Bioshock: Infinite thrusts you into an aesthetically mind-blowingly beautiful and detailed world. Every citizen shows some personality, and walking around, you slowly get a feel for what an idealistic utopia has been established in this floating city. It's a great counter-balance to not just the obvious violence that occurs, but also the corrupt, exclusionary dictatorship that the city's self-proclaimed "Prophet" has molded in his own twisted image. You'll see a magnificent, almost Disney-esque environment, down to having your main companion look and act very akin to a Disney princess, quickly turn dark and gruesome. From segregated restrooms and public stoning, to the elderly being used as experiments that pretty much turn them into weapons of close-combat warfare and the worship of the Founding Fathers as religious figures. I know I'm going on about the world, but it's really the most perfectly executed thing I've seen in a video game in years.

The gameplay in Infinite is also surprisingly fun. It borrows a lot from the original Bioshock, but it's so polished and perfected that it still feels fresh. You can obtain powers called Vigors, which are basically Bioshock's Plasmids. What's done better here is, while the vigors are very helpful, and you'll want to use them, they're not a necessity like in Bioshock. They definitely feel more fun to use when they're not forced down your throat. The shooting is polished and flows perfectly, the weapons, while not great in number, are all highly unique and all fun to use. This is all backed nicely by Elizabeth consistently tossing you extra ammunition, vigor, and health. This keeps you stocked up without breaking any bit of flow to hunt around for health packs and ammo. The rail-gliding or whatever it's being referred to is also a very fun fast-travel-esque element, making for quick getaways as well as swift mid-air strikes aside from the quick movement across Columbia (oh by the way, the city is called Columbia, I know you were on the edge of your seat waiting for me to bring that up.)

Finally, we get to the story. Now I'm going to spoil as little as possible, simply stating my general thoughts about the story and its elements. Bioshock boasts a very complex story, almost too complex. It does an amazing job establishing itself, grabbing your attention and engrossing you right away, never letting go. You want to help Elizabeth, you want to do just about everything you end up needing to do in the story, never feeling forced into the action. It's absolutely brilliantly done in every way. At least for the first half of the game. Once traveling between time and dimensions is thrown in there, everything just goes insane. It throws so much at you, some making sense, some making none whatsoever. And honestly, it becomes much more about the action than the story, and with the story becoming a hundred times more insane, it should have been the opposite. I believe Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw described it best as "Maximum up-its-own-buttness" by the time the story concludes. And I'll admit, it's quite an ending. Albeit over-complicated, pretentious, and nonsensical while providing no real closure, though it seems to think it does, but it'll definitely make you think, a lot.

Overall, I wanted to love this game like everyone else does, but I only really like it. It does some things amazingly, and other things rather poorly. Its story is fascinating, but pretentious. The gameplay is fun, but gets over-indulgent toward the end. The characters are great, but almost all become insignificant as the game progresses. The artwork is absolutely stunning, but becomes bland and lifeless toward the conclusion. And the ending, while interesting, is supposed to be a solution to everything that makes you wonder if it actually solved anything at all. I really do like this game. I love Columbia, I love Elizabeth, I love a lot of the gameplay, but it does too much poorly and is too unfocused to really love the entire thing. But if you get the chance, rent it and try it. I can't suggest buying such a short game, but it's well worth experiencing.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment and share. I'm sure a lot of people hate me because my review wasn't "BIOSHOCK IS TEH BEST BECAUSE I'VE ONLY PLAYED COD UNTIL NOW AND HAVE NO HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE!!" so feel free to say that. Also, follow me @SycoMantis1991 on twitter if you want to see me say random stuff every now and then.