Welcome back to Thrak Attack! What's your adventure? This week's adventure takes place on three different fronts. The video game front we have indie game exclusive to the Nintendo Switch titled "Cadence of Hyrule", on the movie front we have a movie that should not exist titled "Toy Story 4", and on the music front we have the third Raconteurs album titled "Help Us Stranger". There is no news this week due all of the content released this week! So with all of that out of the way, let's get started!
"Cadence of Hyrule" is an indie game from the studio that brought us "Crypt of the Necrodancer". It is a rhythm based RPG featuring characters from the Legend of Zelda series and the player is forced to move and attack to the beat of the music. As a percussionist, I thought this would be an easy experience but I was so wrong. It is extremely difficult to traverse the land while battling only moving to the beat. The issue is when you're caught in a battle with a foe you need to understand how those creatures move. The game is difficult but it's also extremely fun. I have only traversed about half of the area but slowly and surely I am making my way through. If you're up to the challenge and love the characters of the Legend of Zelda series this is the game for you. Now my issue with this game is when your character dies it loses some of the items but not all of them which I find very frustrating; also, when the items drop they disappear for good. I would love to be able to pick up those items that I dropped but when I return to that space, it's all gone. So with all of that in mind, is this game going on my ultimate shelf? No... I like the idea of this game but the execution does not do that idea justice. There's also no real story that keeps the plot going forward. After the first cut scene and explanation of the game play there's no direction or story elements. So no, this is not making it onto my ultimate list but I have enjoyed what I've played.
"Toy Story 4" is the fourth film in the beloved franchise that should have concluded in 2010 with "Toy Story 3". It was the perfect trilogy that now has a 4th installment that does not hold up to the quality of the other films. The animation is stunning but changes some character designs which looks off putting but most of the animation is great, the opening scene in particular is amazing! The story was heavily focused on Woody being there for Bonnie even if he's no longer the favorite. What the movie forgot was that Woody is there for his kid but also for his family. Woody's story comes to end with another selfish act which is what he already learned in every other film in the series. The new characters were fun but the old characters (especially Bonnie's toy's) didn't get the screen time they deserved and were literally just there to wait around the whole move. Buzz Lightyear was portrayed as an idiot even though he's had years to develop and grow and become a more socially aware but I guess they forgot about that. The new "villain" was an awesome character and had a really great story and character moment but I don't believe they should have used the older characters and created a whole new story arc with Bo Peep and the others as lost toys. It truly went against everything I felt necessary to the Toy Story themes and also blatantly rehashed themes we've already covered and learned from in previous. This film (in my mind) is a horrible example of a cash grab that completely compromises Pixar's artistic integrity and was a story that did not need to be told. Is it going on my ultimate shelf? No. As far as I'm concerned, this movie does not exist.
"Help Us Stranger" by The Raconteurs is the band's 3rd album and comes out swinging after a 11 year hiatus. This album does so much for rock music and brings it back into the public's eyes. Rock music has been very stale in the past few years, even Jack White's last album was a weird departure from the rock norm. This album has some really great songs on it and some unmemorable songs. So in classic Thrak Attack fashion, let's do the one line review of each song on the album!
1. Born and Razed- Rock at it's best and a great chorus!
2. Help Me Stranger- Sort of the title track, this song shows off the vocal prowess of the group.
3. Only Child- Is classic Raconteurs, beautiful chorus and vocals from Brendan
4. Don't Bother Me- Jack: "This song is for me saying things I hate and doing a sick guitar solo"
5. Shine the Light on Me- I honestly don't even remember this song
6. Somedays (I Don't Feel Like Trying)- this is a boring and monotonous song
7. Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)- I don't like this song but I love the drum intro
8. Sunday Driver- This is the song that introduced us to the new music and its rocking!
9. Now That You're Gone- The other less great song that introduced us to the new music
10. Live a Lie- I vaguely remember this song but I couldn't tell you anything about it.
11. What's Yours is Mine- This is the easy song of the album leading into the last one which is...
12. Thoughts and Prayers- THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM! Lyrics, violins, production, and it goes so far in the few minutes of it's run time!
So is this album going on my ultimate shelf? YES! It has enough diversity to keep me interested and coming back for another listen. I would recommend it! Especially "Thoughts and Prayers", "Only Child", and "Sunday Driver".
All the Best, Ross
"Cadence of Hyrule" is an indie game from the studio that brought us "Crypt of the Necrodancer". It is a rhythm based RPG featuring characters from the Legend of Zelda series and the player is forced to move and attack to the beat of the music. As a percussionist, I thought this would be an easy experience but I was so wrong. It is extremely difficult to traverse the land while battling only moving to the beat. The issue is when you're caught in a battle with a foe you need to understand how those creatures move. The game is difficult but it's also extremely fun. I have only traversed about half of the area but slowly and surely I am making my way through. If you're up to the challenge and love the characters of the Legend of Zelda series this is the game for you. Now my issue with this game is when your character dies it loses some of the items but not all of them which I find very frustrating; also, when the items drop they disappear for good. I would love to be able to pick up those items that I dropped but when I return to that space, it's all gone. So with all of that in mind, is this game going on my ultimate shelf? No... I like the idea of this game but the execution does not do that idea justice. There's also no real story that keeps the plot going forward. After the first cut scene and explanation of the game play there's no direction or story elements. So no, this is not making it onto my ultimate list but I have enjoyed what I've played.
"Toy Story 4" is the fourth film in the beloved franchise that should have concluded in 2010 with "Toy Story 3". It was the perfect trilogy that now has a 4th installment that does not hold up to the quality of the other films. The animation is stunning but changes some character designs which looks off putting but most of the animation is great, the opening scene in particular is amazing! The story was heavily focused on Woody being there for Bonnie even if he's no longer the favorite. What the movie forgot was that Woody is there for his kid but also for his family. Woody's story comes to end with another selfish act which is what he already learned in every other film in the series. The new characters were fun but the old characters (especially Bonnie's toy's) didn't get the screen time they deserved and were literally just there to wait around the whole move. Buzz Lightyear was portrayed as an idiot even though he's had years to develop and grow and become a more socially aware but I guess they forgot about that. The new "villain" was an awesome character and had a really great story and character moment but I don't believe they should have used the older characters and created a whole new story arc with Bo Peep and the others as lost toys. It truly went against everything I felt necessary to the Toy Story themes and also blatantly rehashed themes we've already covered and learned from in previous. This film (in my mind) is a horrible example of a cash grab that completely compromises Pixar's artistic integrity and was a story that did not need to be told. Is it going on my ultimate shelf? No. As far as I'm concerned, this movie does not exist.
"Help Us Stranger" by The Raconteurs is the band's 3rd album and comes out swinging after a 11 year hiatus. This album does so much for rock music and brings it back into the public's eyes. Rock music has been very stale in the past few years, even Jack White's last album was a weird departure from the rock norm. This album has some really great songs on it and some unmemorable songs. So in classic Thrak Attack fashion, let's do the one line review of each song on the album!
1. Born and Razed- Rock at it's best and a great chorus!
2. Help Me Stranger- Sort of the title track, this song shows off the vocal prowess of the group.
3. Only Child- Is classic Raconteurs, beautiful chorus and vocals from Brendan
4. Don't Bother Me- Jack: "This song is for me saying things I hate and doing a sick guitar solo"
5. Shine the Light on Me- I honestly don't even remember this song
6. Somedays (I Don't Feel Like Trying)- this is a boring and monotonous song
7. Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)- I don't like this song but I love the drum intro
8. Sunday Driver- This is the song that introduced us to the new music and its rocking!
9. Now That You're Gone- The other less great song that introduced us to the new music
10. Live a Lie- I vaguely remember this song but I couldn't tell you anything about it.
11. What's Yours is Mine- This is the easy song of the album leading into the last one which is...
12. Thoughts and Prayers- THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM! Lyrics, violins, production, and it goes so far in the few minutes of it's run time!
So is this album going on my ultimate shelf? YES! It has enough diversity to keep me interested and coming back for another listen. I would recommend it! Especially "Thoughts and Prayers", "Only Child", and "Sunday Driver".
All the Best, Ross
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