Currently published at: http://skuawk.com/film/669/a-modern-fight-for-christmas
A Modern Fight for Christmas
By Dara Avenius
Friday, December 8, 2006
In this modern tale of ‘Scrooge’ and the Spirit of Christmas, ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ manages to be both hilarious and heartwarming, something adults can enjoy unashamedly, even if they are not accompanying minors to the show. When five kids are stranded in a Chicago airport after a major storm grounds all flights, they are put in a room with all of the ‘Unaccompanied Minors’ in the airport. There, chaos reigns as all of them have an epic food fight the likes of which most kids would dream of.
The kids come from different backgrounds: rich girl Grace Conrad, played by Gina Mantegna , tough tomboy Donna Malone, played by the wonderful Quinn Shephard, geeky Charlie, played by the hilarious Tyler James Williams from Everybody Hates Chris, awkward 14 year old Spencer Davenport (Dyllan Christopher) and the sweet fat boy Timothy Wellington, played by Brett Kelly. However different from one another they are united by the fact that they all are children of divorce, stuck in a miserable airport on Christmas. When Spencer and his seven-year old sister Katherine (played marvelously by Dominique Saldana in her feature film acting debut) get separated, they all band together to help him bring Christmas to her so she will not be disappointed.
The audience will clearly relate the story to other films before it such as ‘The Breakfast Club', 'Home Alone’ and ‘Scrooge.’ However, the cast here manages to make what could have easily been a trite tale adorable, fun and consistently funny. The manager is played by Lewis Black, the acerbic commentator on The Daily Show. Here he manages to be acerbic but veers away from cruel. His long suffering assistant is played by Wilmer Valderamma, who is perhaps the only miscast as the tiresome comedic foil. But he melts into the background enough to allow the story and the rest of the cast to shine. And shine they do.
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Monday, November 13, 2006
Theatre Review - 'A Collapse'
Currently published at http://www.skuawk.com/news/640/theater-review-a-collapse
Theater Review: 'A Collapse'
Monday, November 13, 2006
By Dara Avenius – Skuawk! Contributing Writer
When you’ve lost everything, what do you have? Where do you turn to right yourself again? These are the central questions asked by Vincent Marano’s Fringe Festival Hit ‘A Collapse’. A disaster has wrecked a town, taking from the citizens their loved ones, their possessions, and their hope. Lost and confused, they turn their eyes to Mary, a sweet young girl trapped alive in a wall after this disaster.
She bears the penance of her plight with a humility that inspires the townspeople as they struggle with their own reactions to this disaster. Indeed, she is more concerned with her state of undress when the soldiers come to rescue her, than she is of her trapped state. Like her religious namesake, she becomes the beacon of hope and comfort to those who feel helpless and lost.
The townspeople await the arrival of the government, looking to them to help this poor girl, and by turn, them. However, in a catch-22, Mary, played expertly by Laura Williams, is deemed not dying, and therefore, they can’t rescue her. Oh, of course there are many reasons, rules and regulations that prohibit them from solving this otherwise simple problem, from the machines needed to rescue her being buried themselves, to fears of lawsuits. The government of course would rather not look bad. The government officials come, ready with news-worthy sound bites and other excuses as to why they’re not to blame for their lack of immediacy to help.
In a play infused with irony, perhaps the greatest irony is that the latest run of this show, takes place from November 8th to the 18th, directly after the elections that seek to overturn a government noted for its gross mishandling of the Katrina hurricane, and Iraq. Although it is based on a true story taking place after an earthquake in 1976, this story couldn’t arrive at a better time.
Taking a harsh view of the fallout of a tragedy, ‘A Collapse’ skillfully points out the way each group arrives in its wake, seemingly desiring to be helpful, and instead utilizes the pain of this simple girl to satisfy their own needs. Everyone needs Mary in some way to help them, but no one is there to offer her the help that she needs. It leaves out no one out from its jaundiced sights; including Mary’s mother. Her mother, as heartbreakingly played by Kathleen O'Neill, narrates the story. Indeed, as Mary becomes iconic, she loses the humanity that allowed others to relate to her and feel for her.
‘A Collapse’ is rather serious in tone, despite many otherwise humorous lines throughout. Unfortunately, these tend not to cause laughter but instead reflect back on the macabre story at hand. While this serves the story well, it does not make for a light viewing experience. However, it does make for an enlightening, and enjoyable experience: in short a Fringe theatrical hit.
Theater Review: 'A Collapse'
Monday, November 13, 2006
By Dara Avenius – Skuawk! Contributing Writer
When you’ve lost everything, what do you have? Where do you turn to right yourself again? These are the central questions asked by Vincent Marano’s Fringe Festival Hit ‘A Collapse’. A disaster has wrecked a town, taking from the citizens their loved ones, their possessions, and their hope. Lost and confused, they turn their eyes to Mary, a sweet young girl trapped alive in a wall after this disaster.
She bears the penance of her plight with a humility that inspires the townspeople as they struggle with their own reactions to this disaster. Indeed, she is more concerned with her state of undress when the soldiers come to rescue her, than she is of her trapped state. Like her religious namesake, she becomes the beacon of hope and comfort to those who feel helpless and lost.
The townspeople await the arrival of the government, looking to them to help this poor girl, and by turn, them. However, in a catch-22, Mary, played expertly by Laura Williams, is deemed not dying, and therefore, they can’t rescue her. Oh, of course there are many reasons, rules and regulations that prohibit them from solving this otherwise simple problem, from the machines needed to rescue her being buried themselves, to fears of lawsuits. The government of course would rather not look bad. The government officials come, ready with news-worthy sound bites and other excuses as to why they’re not to blame for their lack of immediacy to help.
In a play infused with irony, perhaps the greatest irony is that the latest run of this show, takes place from November 8th to the 18th, directly after the elections that seek to overturn a government noted for its gross mishandling of the Katrina hurricane, and Iraq. Although it is based on a true story taking place after an earthquake in 1976, this story couldn’t arrive at a better time.
Taking a harsh view of the fallout of a tragedy, ‘A Collapse’ skillfully points out the way each group arrives in its wake, seemingly desiring to be helpful, and instead utilizes the pain of this simple girl to satisfy their own needs. Everyone needs Mary in some way to help them, but no one is there to offer her the help that she needs. It leaves out no one out from its jaundiced sights; including Mary’s mother. Her mother, as heartbreakingly played by Kathleen O'Neill, narrates the story. Indeed, as Mary becomes iconic, she loses the humanity that allowed others to relate to her and feel for her.
‘A Collapse’ is rather serious in tone, despite many otherwise humorous lines throughout. Unfortunately, these tend not to cause laughter but instead reflect back on the macabre story at hand. While this serves the story well, it does not make for a light viewing experience. However, it does make for an enlightening, and enjoyable experience: in short a Fringe theatrical hit.
The Tribeca Film Festival
Originally created for a writing class.
It is April 25th, the start of the week that I have been anticipating for nearly two years now. The TriBeCa Film Festival was starting. This would be the third time in the four year history of the festival that I would be able to offer my services as a volunteer, traipsing gladly by car into the city for the chance to be surrounded by my future peers as they celebrate both their artistic visions and the spirit of humanity rising against adversity. This festival, a consideration in the minds of its founders, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese and Craig Hatcoff, for a couple of decades, found its reason for being in the wake of the Sept. 11th World Trade Center that nearly shut down the once-vibrant lower Manhattan area.
Walking in the area of now-barren TriBeCa, which gets its name from its location as the Triangle Below Canal, and at the foot of the concave space that once housed the mighty Twin Towers shortly after the attacks, I had the sense of what it must have been like in Hiroshima after the atom bomb hit. Stores that once did brisk business amongst the carefree and product-hungry were faced with the prospect of having no one to patronize their stores except for police, construction crews and government officials, too busy cleaning up the wreckage to buy anything but food and drinks and basic necessities.
If it hadn’t been obvious to me on that Tuesday morning of the attack itself that I must do my part to help, that rainy, wintry day walking in the wreckage of the area with a friend proved it to me. Doubly I felt the call because I grew up with the New York City skyline as the fourth wall to my room. Well aware on the day of the event that I, not being a First Responder, construction person, or having other necessary skills to be of use, was best staying away. The feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed me was similarly felt by those all around me.
The creation of the TriBeCa Film Festival, amazingly created in less than six months, was a call for a return to a positive spirit in the lower parts of one of the liveliest cities in the world. The defiance of bringing back a heartbeat to a place that was gravely wounded was felt all around. While many consider the entertainment business to be too busy creating a world of make-believe and interested in fluff to have a place in the affairs of the world, TriBeCa proved that it was that injection of levity that was able to return the magic to New York City. It took the world of make-believe to help make people believe again.
It is unfathomable to some that New York City, one of the two centers of the American Film, Theatre and acting world did not have a major anchoring film festival much like Cannes or Sundance, but that all changed with the creation of the TriBeCa Film Festival. Having just finished its fourth consecutive year, it has grown to be a force in the film world, a force in New York City, and a much-anticipated event. Bringing together several thousand people from all over the world to celebrate the power and voice of film in one of the most accessible forums, with its central location, many hotels, and easy transportation, it has become a festival for the masses. It encourages the public to attend at least one film in its recently enlarged 11 days of screenings, with relatively cheap prices for tickets ($15), including in its roster world-wide premieres complete with celebrities in attendance, and many repeats of popular films. The breadth of film topics is revolutionary, from the experimental shorts, to the multiple foreign entries, to the Hollywood commercial releases. This is a festival that truly has something for everyone.
For me, not only was I given the chance to use the skills and talents I have to give back, but it has given back to me as well. I’ve been able to meet people I now consider life-long friends, to mingle with those who hunger for film as much as I do. I've met people of all strata in the business, but even more, it gave me the impetus and experience to rebuild myself, much like its native TriBeCa, moving from my native New Jersey into my beloved Manhattan, to pursue a career in writing, film, and Special Events. This festival, with the goal of giving back to New York City, has not only been the phoenix to rise up out of the ashes, but it has created a thriving center around which many people have gathered and recreated their own lives.
Perhaps it is a bit Hollywood to say that this story has a happy ending as we remember the fallen heroes and innocent victims of the 9/11 tragedy recently, but nothing is more Hollywood than the spirit of the people of New York. It is a city that never sleeps, and the festival has helped prove that no one can dim its lights.
It is April 25th, the start of the week that I have been anticipating for nearly two years now. The TriBeCa Film Festival was starting. This would be the third time in the four year history of the festival that I would be able to offer my services as a volunteer, traipsing gladly by car into the city for the chance to be surrounded by my future peers as they celebrate both their artistic visions and the spirit of humanity rising against adversity. This festival, a consideration in the minds of its founders, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Martin Scorsese and Craig Hatcoff, for a couple of decades, found its reason for being in the wake of the Sept. 11th World Trade Center that nearly shut down the once-vibrant lower Manhattan area.
Walking in the area of now-barren TriBeCa, which gets its name from its location as the Triangle Below Canal, and at the foot of the concave space that once housed the mighty Twin Towers shortly after the attacks, I had the sense of what it must have been like in Hiroshima after the atom bomb hit. Stores that once did brisk business amongst the carefree and product-hungry were faced with the prospect of having no one to patronize their stores except for police, construction crews and government officials, too busy cleaning up the wreckage to buy anything but food and drinks and basic necessities.
If it hadn’t been obvious to me on that Tuesday morning of the attack itself that I must do my part to help, that rainy, wintry day walking in the wreckage of the area with a friend proved it to me. Doubly I felt the call because I grew up with the New York City skyline as the fourth wall to my room. Well aware on the day of the event that I, not being a First Responder, construction person, or having other necessary skills to be of use, was best staying away. The feeling of helplessness that overwhelmed me was similarly felt by those all around me.
The creation of the TriBeCa Film Festival, amazingly created in less than six months, was a call for a return to a positive spirit in the lower parts of one of the liveliest cities in the world. The defiance of bringing back a heartbeat to a place that was gravely wounded was felt all around. While many consider the entertainment business to be too busy creating a world of make-believe and interested in fluff to have a place in the affairs of the world, TriBeCa proved that it was that injection of levity that was able to return the magic to New York City. It took the world of make-believe to help make people believe again.
It is unfathomable to some that New York City, one of the two centers of the American Film, Theatre and acting world did not have a major anchoring film festival much like Cannes or Sundance, but that all changed with the creation of the TriBeCa Film Festival. Having just finished its fourth consecutive year, it has grown to be a force in the film world, a force in New York City, and a much-anticipated event. Bringing together several thousand people from all over the world to celebrate the power and voice of film in one of the most accessible forums, with its central location, many hotels, and easy transportation, it has become a festival for the masses. It encourages the public to attend at least one film in its recently enlarged 11 days of screenings, with relatively cheap prices for tickets ($15), including in its roster world-wide premieres complete with celebrities in attendance, and many repeats of popular films. The breadth of film topics is revolutionary, from the experimental shorts, to the multiple foreign entries, to the Hollywood commercial releases. This is a festival that truly has something for everyone.
For me, not only was I given the chance to use the skills and talents I have to give back, but it has given back to me as well. I’ve been able to meet people I now consider life-long friends, to mingle with those who hunger for film as much as I do. I've met people of all strata in the business, but even more, it gave me the impetus and experience to rebuild myself, much like its native TriBeCa, moving from my native New Jersey into my beloved Manhattan, to pursue a career in writing, film, and Special Events. This festival, with the goal of giving back to New York City, has not only been the phoenix to rise up out of the ashes, but it has created a thriving center around which many people have gathered and recreated their own lives.
Perhaps it is a bit Hollywood to say that this story has a happy ending as we remember the fallen heroes and innocent victims of the 9/11 tragedy recently, but nothing is more Hollywood than the spirit of the people of New York. It is a city that never sleeps, and the festival has helped prove that no one can dim its lights.
The Importance of Volunteering
Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
DARA AVENIUS
PARAMUS HIGH SCHOOL
December 26, 1995 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e04 The Record DARA AVENIUS
In 1982, when I was 5, I had to go into the hospital for major surgery. Luckily my mom had read an article about AIDS, and had my relatives donate their blood in case I needed a transfusion.
Four years later, I went to my first and so far only funeral for an AIDS victim. When I was in ninth grade, I went into the Village and found a card asking people to volunteer at a dance to fight AIDS. I happily signed up and started raising money.
When it came time for the AIDS walk that spring, I signed up, raised a whole lot of money, and went to the Village for the walk. What I got out of it most was that I saw how far selflessness goes to make people happy. I had to contribute only $75 to participate in each of the events, but like most people I contributed more than that. If it is for charity and helping other human beings, why be stingy?
I started volunteering because of my own experience and also because the school that I was attending at that time required 40 hours of community service for graduation. Although I'm not graduating from that school, I still try to do community service. This year it is hard because it is senior year; the community service I do is through a club I'm in at school. I wish I could do more.
I really hate it when people say that they don't want to volunteer because they think the money doesn't get to the people that it is supposed to. There is a lot more to volunteering than just money.
All content © 1995- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
DARA AVENIUS
PARAMUS HIGH SCHOOL
December 26, 1995 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e04 The Record DARA AVENIUS
In 1982, when I was 5, I had to go into the hospital for major surgery. Luckily my mom had read an article about AIDS, and had my relatives donate their blood in case I needed a transfusion.
Four years later, I went to my first and so far only funeral for an AIDS victim. When I was in ninth grade, I went into the Village and found a card asking people to volunteer at a dance to fight AIDS. I happily signed up and started raising money.
When it came time for the AIDS walk that spring, I signed up, raised a whole lot of money, and went to the Village for the walk. What I got out of it most was that I saw how far selflessness goes to make people happy. I had to contribute only $75 to participate in each of the events, but like most people I contributed more than that. If it is for charity and helping other human beings, why be stingy?
I started volunteering because of my own experience and also because the school that I was attending at that time required 40 hours of community service for graduation. Although I'm not graduating from that school, I still try to do community service. This year it is hard because it is senior year; the community service I do is through a club I'm in at school. I wish I could do more.
I really hate it when people say that they don't want to volunteer because they think the money doesn't get to the people that it is supposed to. There is a lot more to volunteering than just money.
All content © 1995- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
Treasuring a Jewel of a voice
Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
TREASURING A JEWEL OF A VOICE
March 5, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE: MUSIC
I love this album, "Pieces of You" by Jewel. I have played it many, many times. Jewel has an absolutely beautiful voice that can sound full and womanly, or it can sound as it does on "Adrian," like a little girl, cracking with emotion, sadness, and confusion, as she sings to Adrian to "come out and play."
The song reminds me of those little hand and song games that we used to play as little kids, like "Miss Mary Mack": One of those games in particular was a call from a girl to her doll to come out and play with her. Despite a soprano voice, Jewel does not have the problem of always sounding sweet and cute, although she can sound sweet and cute. "The Morning Song," which happens to be the song before "Adrian," pleads with a lover to "Let the phone ring, let's go back to sleep/Let the world spin outside our door, you're the only one that I wanna see."
"You Were Meant For Me" is another song to a lover; in this one, she wants the lover to see that he wants her, no other.
Jewel takes another turn with her lyrics, too, tackling social issues. I like the song "Little Sister" a lot. In it, she talks to her little sister about her sister's drug problem. The song is done in a faster beat than the other songs, which is what gives it its character.
However, Jewel's other attempt at social consciousness, the title track "Pieces of You," grates on my nerves a bit. It's a call to everyone about their prejudices, but she overworks it. Although the purpose of the song is noble, it falls into the category of "preachy," unfortunately.
Although Jewel's many influences can be heard in some songs, her influences do not overtake her. She can mix her influences to create her own sound rather than sound like a rip-off. I bet that with the folk explosion that seems to be taking hold she becomes popular. The song I vote to be her "hit" is the bouncy, upbeat first song, "Who Will Save Your Soul?"
An interesting thing about the packaging of this CD is that there are poems of Jewel's included, which is something I have never seen before but like, just as I like the rest of the album.
All content © 1996- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
TREASURING A JEWEL OF A VOICE
March 5, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE: MUSIC
I love this album, "Pieces of You" by Jewel. I have played it many, many times. Jewel has an absolutely beautiful voice that can sound full and womanly, or it can sound as it does on "Adrian," like a little girl, cracking with emotion, sadness, and confusion, as she sings to Adrian to "come out and play."
The song reminds me of those little hand and song games that we used to play as little kids, like "Miss Mary Mack": One of those games in particular was a call from a girl to her doll to come out and play with her. Despite a soprano voice, Jewel does not have the problem of always sounding sweet and cute, although she can sound sweet and cute. "The Morning Song," which happens to be the song before "Adrian," pleads with a lover to "Let the phone ring, let's go back to sleep/Let the world spin outside our door, you're the only one that I wanna see."
"You Were Meant For Me" is another song to a lover; in this one, she wants the lover to see that he wants her, no other.
Jewel takes another turn with her lyrics, too, tackling social issues. I like the song "Little Sister" a lot. In it, she talks to her little sister about her sister's drug problem. The song is done in a faster beat than the other songs, which is what gives it its character.
However, Jewel's other attempt at social consciousness, the title track "Pieces of You," grates on my nerves a bit. It's a call to everyone about their prejudices, but she overworks it. Although the purpose of the song is noble, it falls into the category of "preachy," unfortunately.
Although Jewel's many influences can be heard in some songs, her influences do not overtake her. She can mix her influences to create her own sound rather than sound like a rip-off. I bet that with the folk explosion that seems to be taking hold she becomes popular. The song I vote to be her "hit" is the bouncy, upbeat first song, "Who Will Save Your Soul?"
An interesting thing about the packaging of this CD is that there are poems of Jewel's included, which is something I have never seen before but like, just as I like the rest of the album.
All content © 1996- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
Raw Anger and Jaded Emotion
Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
RAW ANGER AND JADED EMOTION
May 7, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE
Yoko Ono: "Rising"
There is much to like and much to dislike about this, the first solo album in a decade for Ono, whose "studio band" its first time in a studio was her son Sean's band IMA. I definitely liked the first song, "Warzone." The song has minimal but telling lyrics backed by an appropriately punk sound led by driving drums. This all serves to accentuate the raw anger and jaded emotions that Ono alternately projects, sometimes switching between the two at the drop of a hat. Her voice is an excellent instrument. If she were not a singer, I could see Ono as a spoken-word artist, and a rather good one at that.
But then we get to the second song, "Wouldnit," and I started to feel let down. The lyrics are interesting, spinning from the premise "Wouldn't it be nice to be a heroine (hero, star)?" The lyrics take us from fantasy back down and hard into reality. But the music sounds too much like an easy listening version of the Eighties loop and drum machine sound.
The band redeems itself in "Turned the Corner" with acoustic guitar and various other instruments that produce a haunting sound. I just wish they would lose that loop sound for good.
It's so sad that this talented lady has been overlooked for so long. I would love to see Ono do a stripped-down, atmospheric, dark poet's cafe feel for her next album, or a live recording of songs. And, since she is very capable of writing great lyrics, I would like to see her rely less on constantly repeating lines, which detracts more than it adds on the whole.
I think "Rising" is a good album and I recommend it for the dramatic performances and for the songs that shine. Still, I hope that I can recommend the next album as an amazing work you can't live without.
All content © 1996- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
RAW ANGER AND JADED EMOTION
May 7, 1996 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE
Yoko Ono: "Rising"
There is much to like and much to dislike about this, the first solo album in a decade for Ono, whose "studio band" its first time in a studio was her son Sean's band IMA. I definitely liked the first song, "Warzone." The song has minimal but telling lyrics backed by an appropriately punk sound led by driving drums. This all serves to accentuate the raw anger and jaded emotions that Ono alternately projects, sometimes switching between the two at the drop of a hat. Her voice is an excellent instrument. If she were not a singer, I could see Ono as a spoken-word artist, and a rather good one at that.
But then we get to the second song, "Wouldnit," and I started to feel let down. The lyrics are interesting, spinning from the premise "Wouldn't it be nice to be a heroine (hero, star)?" The lyrics take us from fantasy back down and hard into reality. But the music sounds too much like an easy listening version of the Eighties loop and drum machine sound.
The band redeems itself in "Turned the Corner" with acoustic guitar and various other instruments that produce a haunting sound. I just wish they would lose that loop sound for good.
It's so sad that this talented lady has been overlooked for so long. I would love to see Ono do a stripped-down, atmospheric, dark poet's cafe feel for her next album, or a live recording of songs. And, since she is very capable of writing great lyrics, I would like to see her rely less on constantly repeating lines, which detracts more than it adds on the whole.
I think "Rising" is a good album and I recommend it for the dramatic performances and for the songs that shine. Still, I hope that I can recommend the next album as an amazing work you can't live without.
All content © 1996- The Record (New Jersey) and may not be republished without permission.
All archives are stored on a SAVE (tm) newspaper library system from MediaStream Inc., a Knight-Ridder Inc. company.
Shades of Nirvana
Originally published: The Record (New Jersey)
SHADES OF NIRVANA
December 19, 1995 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE
FOO FIGHTERS, self-titled; Roswell Records/Capital Records
I bought this album the first day it came out, so you can guess that I was excited to listen to it. Not only does the band combine the talents of Dave Grohl, drummer for the late Nirvana, but it also has as members William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel, who made up the rhythm section of the now defunct Sunny Day Real Estate.
Only after buying the self-titled debut did I find out that the album was not the work of a band but that of Grohl. And what a fine piece of work it is.
Although for obvious reasons, Foo Fighters is going to be compared to Nirvana and there is definitely some of Nirvana in this album. I don't think it sounds like Nirvana with Grohl as the new Kurt Cobain. The songs are more in the pop-ballad vein than pop-punk.
When I first heard the album, I thought it had a Nirvana drum and a Sunny Day Real Estate guitar line. (For those who would like to hear what Sunny Day Real Estate sounds like, check out the "Batman Forever" soundtrack or their "Diary" album.)
But to compare the album to one of Nirvana's would be wrong. Lines like "Fingernails are pretty/fingernails are good/seems that all they wanted was a market," from Foo Fighters' "This is a Call," are hardly like "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends/they're in my head," from Nirvana's "Lithium."
Grohl proves to be a good songwriter, as oblique as his former Nirvana band mate, and a talented musician. He has avoided the cover-band sound that could have easily happened to the Foo Fighters. All in all, a great album.
SHADES OF NIRVANA
December 19, 1995 Section: STUDENT LIFE Edition: All Editions Page: e02 The RecordBy DARA AVENIUS, Paramus High School Column: CRITICS' CHOICE
FOO FIGHTERS, self-titled; Roswell Records/Capital Records
I bought this album the first day it came out, so you can guess that I was excited to listen to it. Not only does the band combine the talents of Dave Grohl, drummer for the late Nirvana, but it also has as members William Goldsmith and Nate Mendel, who made up the rhythm section of the now defunct Sunny Day Real Estate.
Only after buying the self-titled debut did I find out that the album was not the work of a band but that of Grohl. And what a fine piece of work it is.
Although for obvious reasons, Foo Fighters is going to be compared to Nirvana and there is definitely some of Nirvana in this album. I don't think it sounds like Nirvana with Grohl as the new Kurt Cobain. The songs are more in the pop-ballad vein than pop-punk.
When I first heard the album, I thought it had a Nirvana drum and a Sunny Day Real Estate guitar line. (For those who would like to hear what Sunny Day Real Estate sounds like, check out the "Batman Forever" soundtrack or their "Diary" album.)
But to compare the album to one of Nirvana's would be wrong. Lines like "Fingernails are pretty/fingernails are good/seems that all they wanted was a market," from Foo Fighters' "This is a Call," are hardly like "I'm so happy 'cause today I found my friends/they're in my head," from Nirvana's "Lithium."
Grohl proves to be a good songwriter, as oblique as his former Nirvana band mate, and a talented musician. He has avoided the cover-band sound that could have easily happened to the Foo Fighters. All in all, a great album.
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