PixlBit

Holy crap do I remember incredibly little about this game! Let's see, I pretty much just wanted it cause of the awesome death animation on the middle of its backside cover there, wound up not playing it after discovering it was an RTS, then my brother argued that he played it more, and I argued back cause it was still my game... yup, 'bout it.

Well that, and that I occassionally played it to watch things explode, including the death animation.

It was also on SNES, apparently. All I remember about it is that like turn-based RPGs, I felt tricked by cool graphics on the box into getting a game I didn't really want. RTS and JRPG were just never my thing; at least my older brother seemed to like it more than I did.

Oh, and your top three Bing search images to make a Mad Libz story of today are as follows:

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Somehow, I feel the nuclear warfare aspect of the game I talked about today is relevant to this, but I'm not sure how, really. Oh well.

And since we're talking about a game that has "Heavy Metal has never been so deadly!" on its back cover, let's listen to some ska/punk! No, really.

Of course, if you're a metal lover, feel free to check out some of the concert reviews I've got archived from 1up, including my two-parter for Ozzfest 2008, Jagermeister Music Tour 2008, and some concert where Black Dahlia Murder headlined. There's more I think, but I got to the most concerts at age 18, it seems, and I'm not sure you guys wanted to hear about the Death Cab for Cutie one I went to in 2008 as well, or the Alanis Morisette one I went to with my then-girlfriend last year. lol

Anyway, since I only got this game for its cover, and wanted to do a blog on Saturdays dedicated to ska/punk music, one of my absolute favorite genres, as I am a sucker for electric guitars and horn sections, here are some ska/punk covers I like:

Streetlight Manifesto is probably my favorite modern ska/punk band, and they, or at the very least their lyrical themes, have clearly been influenced by my favorite punk band, Bad Religion.

It's pretty obvious what story in the Bible the lyrics refer to, and I don't want to get into an argument on here, so I'll just say from a musical standpoint I love the intensity of the original, which ended the incredibly raw and experimental sounding (for BR) Recipe for Hate album, the quiet of the acoustic piano version makes it even more powerful to me, and this cover version I've posted ... kind of conflicts with the lyrical intent, given how laid back the sound is. 

That's what I love about it though, it takes such an angry song, and makes it less straightforward, and almost satirical in a way. Where you can almost see Dr. Greg Graffin's anger or sadness on the Bad Religion versions, these guys seem to be wearing a smirk, keeping the lyrics, but giving the song itself a laid back ska beat and a lighter sound in general.

I reccomend pretty much anything by either band, but to start, you've probably heard Bad Religion's "You" on Tony Hawk 2, and my favorite Streetlight song is "Down, Down, Down, to Mephisto's Cafe", which I'm putting in my will to have them play when my casket goes in the ground, cause I'm a cheeky bastard.

This is a fairly well-know one if you grew up in the 90s, and a cover of a fairly well-known 80s hit.

As far as music videos, a-ha is the clear choice; it's just more creative and flat-out iconic at this point; but for music itself, I like both songs for different reasons.

In this case, I like these songs for what they represent about their respective decades.

I can only speak from experience for the 90s, in which there was a lot of pop sensibilty in radio rock that wasn't grunge, and a sense of fun along with its general irrevernce, and while it's not being irreverent, I do think the cover encapsulates a lot of what I liked about music growing up in that decade.

As for a-ha, the use of new-wave instruments like keyboards, and the goofy sounding melodies they were playing, makes me think of that decade immediately, with all the goofy hair, John Hughes films, and Weird Science scores, even if I never experienced the decade firsthand.

Though a-ha is widely considered a one-hit wonder in the states, they were actually a pretty well-respected band for much longer in other countries, and had a few more hit songs, as is pointed out by Todd in the Shadows.

Reel Big Fish is also awesome on their own, my favorite song from them being the simply and aptly titled "Beer," which is essentially a good time in a can ... in song form.

 I actually don't know crap about Save Ferris, but I like both this cover and the original, ... and to be honest, in this case I like the original more, I just prefer the instrumentation and the slightly slower tempo fits the song better in my opinion, but holy crap is the girl from Save Ferris hot. Plus, here's another case in which the song being covered is synonymous with the 80s, and the cover itself has a music video immediately recognizable as 90s.

There's a hell of a lot more ska/punk where that came from, and more obscure too, although we will be covering how I found much of it through skateboarding videogames next entry. Until then, have a great weekend, and don't freak out if the site is down around 5am and seven hours after. It's on a plane. It can't "complane."