Too Much of a Good Thing

When LeBron James decided to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh by "taking his talents to South Beach," he changed the landscape of the NBA for better or for worse. Never before had two of the top three players in the NBA chosen to collaborate as free agents. Magic Johnson had an aging Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Larry Bird had Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippin and Dennis Rodman. They never tried to join forces with each other, or Karl Malone or Charles Barkley for that matter. The times they are a-changin'.

Then came the discussion of what to call this fantasy basketball team that was holding practices in Southern Florida. Some call them the Superfriends. The heat themselves have started calling themselves The Heatles. That is pretty bold to name yourself after the most influential, most important rock group of all time. Those guys came out with platinum record after platinum record. Their rhythm guitarist once said that they were more popular than Jesus, and most of the world was okay with that. They set the bar for what popular music could be. They changed their sound several times, but always managed to pull it off to keep up with the changing times. They broke up after a prolific run and each member went on to successful solo careers, proving that they were each talented enough to do it on their own.

What have these Heat done?

Dwayne Wade led the Heat to a championship five years ago, but has not done much since. Chris Bosh should not even be considered a superstar, but merely a guy who has always put up good numbers on a bad team. LeBron James took Cleveland to the Finals a few years ago, but got swept. With a better team around him the last few years, he has failed to get out of the Eastern Conference and quit on his team and his city to play with his star powered friends in Florida.

If anything these Miami Heat will be The Traveling Wilburys, the supergroup comprised of ex-Beatle George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. Some of the most successful artists in the history of rock collaborated for a couple of albums, but the combination of all their talents, egos, ideas, and personalities could never outshine their individual accomplishments. Too much of a good thing really can exist. Their second album, after Orbison's death, paled in comparison to the first and their ship had sailed. The Miami Heat might be able to win a championship or two, but they will never be the best team ever.

The Mountain Goats Stay True to Their Style Even with Increased Publicity

This is a music review I had to write for my journalism class on one of my favorite bands. Enjoy!

Since the early 90s, The Mountain Goats, an indie rock band centered around the poetry of frontman John Darnielle, have set a standard for themselves focusing on the power of their lyrics. To promote the release of their 17^th studio album, The Life of the World to Come, last October, The Mountain Goats did something they had never done before: they performed on TV. First being interviewed on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and a few months later on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. In spite of their recent publicity, The Mountain Goats have remained true to their music.

For those who are not familiar with The Mountain Goats, they have been around since 1991 when John Darnielle began recording his poems set to guitar on a dual cassette recorder. In 2002, the album Tallahassee, The Mountain Goats began making higher quality recordings, and maintained some stability with a regular lineup. Before then, Darnielle would write the songs and various musicians he knew would work with him as needed but beginning with Tallahassee, The Mountain Goats became a more permanent band. As years progressed, the musicians around him would change but Darnielle’s songwriting remained constant. The Mountain Goats’ current lineup consists of Darnielle on vocals and guitar, Peter Hughes on bass, and Jon Wurster on drums.

Darnielle’s vocal style combines the lyrical brilliance of Bob Dylan with the passion of Bruce Springsteen and the subtly melodic angst of Jackson Browne for a unique blend that has been a staple of The Mountain Goats’ sound for nearly two decades. The lyrics in their songs span many different situations of the human experience ranging from teenage idealism and aspirations to dealing with fighting parents as a child to trying to save a marriage that is on the brink of divorce. If you listen through their entire discography, there is something anyone can relate to.

When they made, their first-ever TV appearance in October, it began with Stephen Colbert interviewing Darnielle and then they performed their new song “Psalms 40:2” after the commercial break. Colbert began his interview by revealing that he is, in fact, a fan of their work. Colbert read aloud one of his favorite sets of lyrics: “And a rabbit gives up somewhere, and a dozen hawks descend/ Every moment leads toward its own sad end/ Ships loosed from their moorings capsize and then they’re gone/ Sailors with no captains watch awhile and then move on” from the song “Sax Rohmer, Pt. 1”. Colbert is keeping with his act, questioned why an “artsy liberal” like Darnielle would write an album inspired by the Bible and why he did not instead choose a cooler animal to represent their band, like mountain lions.

The Mountain Goats most recent album, The Life of the World to Come, holds steady with the band’s tradition, but also has a different take on it. The title of the album is a reference to the Nicene Creed, and each of the songs is named for a different Bible verse. The songs do not directly quote their specific verses, but the lyrics explore spirituality through real-life situations. It puts a different spin on The Mountain Goats sound, but is not too religious for people of other faiths to be offended either.

If you are looking for music that has strong rhythm, and powerful lyrics that make you think, then The Mountain goats are a band worth checking out. Even though they have only started getting major publicity recently, their entire body of work is worth listening to.