Epinions Recent Reviews for mattspire

It's not Rage, but it's powerful and heavy-hitting

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:38:31 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - It's already nearing a decade since Rage Against the Machine disbanded, reuniting only for 2007's Coachella and not releasing any new material as a group this past year. The political fire behind RATM has yet to materialize in any other form until now...

Relatively average experience but no major problems after many stays

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:07:05 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - I live in Frederick, MD, and have lived here for almost four years. There have been a number of occassions throughout the four year history where I've had to stay in a hotel, and I've almost always chosen Comfort Inn "Red Horse." In case you're...

An excellent example of quality hotel service

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:57:24 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - I visited Baltimore the weekend of June 7th for the annual electronic music festival Starscape 2008, an all-night event with musicians on various stages from across the country. Though I live in Frederick, MD, I'm not familiar with Baltimore by any...

Catchy, scene-obsessed dancerock with force -- but nothing new

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 13:34:06 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - The Virgins on first listen is a fast-paced, concise, club-bound indie rock album that is embracing the popular sound of our time full-throttle, but on later listens the inklings of depth and what initially appears to be irony become reflections...

Definitely not your father's Dylan, but still decent folk rock

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 22:33:43 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Jakob Dylan--for the few who may not be aware of this--is the son of folk legend Bob Dylan, the quintessential folk rocker for--what is it, 5?--decades now. Even these days Bob Dylan is still going strong and even appearing in Victoria's Secret...

A more refined and very timely Beck album

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 14:52:55 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Modern Guilt is immediately a relevant highlight in Beck's musical career, both a turning point and one of his strongest albums to date. The image Beck has been incubating lately through his own personal outlets is one of a man who has grown...

An interesting stay to say the least

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 12:31:31 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - I checked into this Best Western hotel a little over a month ago on a trip from Frederick, MD, to New York with several friends for a music event. My fiance and I stayed at the hotel, making a reservation for a one-bed (queen), non-smoking room. The...

An excellent, studious, but perhaps too distanced look at Lennon

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 11:27:33 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Phillip Norman has already written one of the better Beatles biographies, Shout, released in 1981, and to be blatantly honest, despite the claim that clarifications have been refined over the years and inaccuracies cured, and despite the fact that...

A capable, convincing polemic against user-generated culture

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 17:05:48 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Andrew Keen begins his polemic, in which he argues that (as the title rather flatly explains) the increasing popularity of user-generated content on websites and the media at large is destroying our economy, culture, and values, by explaining that he is...

A brief blast of sonic energy, TPC delivers on their first full-length

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 14:19:02 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Tokyo Police Club's 2006 EP, "A Lesson In Crime", garnered applause from most of the established major magazine reviews. Following this was endless touring and the release of their "Smith" EP and the single "Your English Is Good."...

Conor Oberst is proof of his ability to live up to his acclaim

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 14:19:25 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Conor Oberst cannot be faulted for ever failing to surprise his fans and critics. A creature of no habit whatsoever, since his adolesence Oberst has fronted various indie rock bands, most notably Park Ave and Desaparecidos (and briefly The Faint), and...

A pivotal, possibly divisive milestone in The Faint's career

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 14:29:22 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - When a friend of mine acquired a copy of Radiohead's In Rainbows, she described it as "Radiohead and The Faint giving birth to an album." Well, I still don't see that. And whereas I'm not exactly comparing the apples and oranges of the two bands,...

Very well manufactured

Tue, 23 Sep 2003 16:49:42 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - There isn't much to say about a product of this type in a review, in a sense, because the two more important aspects are the overall presentation, and then its durability over time. That being said, the casing job is very well done and does not feel at...

Suits the novice and satisfies the professional

Fri, 1 Aug 2003 17:51:23 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - I'll start off with the quantitative, since that's less subjective, and move into quality. The three...

Samsung's Growing Up With a Camera Good for Developing Photographers

Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:59:04 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - It took Samsung awhile, but their lineup is slowly starting to mature in both size and capability...

Not just another bad movie-concept game, but the worst I've seen

Tue, 29 Jul 2003 19:32:52 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Gaming history, all the way back to the good old arcade days, is riddled with horrid games based on...

Don't Mind the Cover--This is an Objective American Encyclopedia

Sun, 18 May 2003 00:55:17 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - In the restructured reality of the post-9/11 world, the Bush administration and its allies have fabricated the assumption that any questioning of their objectives and means to obtain them is tantamount to treason against the United States and the idea of...

Excellent for the Novice to the Near-Professional

Sun, 11 May 2003 10:58:25 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Seeing as how I just recently took up photography (urged by the professional photography of my fiance), I tend to look for an easy-to-use camera that still allows me to use all those features that, for the most part, I scarcely understand while I...

Kafka the Great 20th Century Writer Becomes Writer-Director

Sat, 10 May 2003 22:59:49 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - In 1907, the first cinema was established in Prague, and its visitors were promised 'scenes from life and the world of dreams'. The early cinema, was vastly different from the cinema today: the 'explainer' enacted the story, shrieking, sobbing, becoming...

Finally a Strong and Credible Book on Kafka, His Literature, and its Meaning

Sat, 10 May 2003 22:26:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - No other writer of German literature in the 20th century has been as fully accepted into the global scene as that of Franz Kafka; and, consequently, no other writer has been as subjected to such scrutiny. The unsettling and mysteriously surreal world...

Square heads back to FF's golden days with Final Fantasy 9

Thu, 1 May 2003 18:51:02 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - THE STORY:

The Queen of Alexandria, Brahne, has begun terrorizing neighboring kingdoms with horrible magic. Knights, bandits, and magicians team together in resistance, only to be pulled into a much larger, more sinister plot headed by the...

Suikoden III is good for RPG fans, great for Suikoden fans

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 22:19:38 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Suikoden III greatly improves upon previous installments of the series in many ways. The major reason is the Trinity Sight System, which allows the story to develop from the viewpoint of three different characters. Instead of one character's story, you...

Seeing and Writing is a Groundbreaking Approach to Teaching the Verbal in a Visual Setting

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:13:43 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - As a serious writer and a student of literature, I am always thrilled to find new perspectives on the writing process. Too often, however, many resources tend to become more like instruction manuals, leading the reader rather than simply showing. The...

Fiction or Fact, Conversations With Kafka is a Must for Kafka Fans

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 01:00:34 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author mattspire - Kafka, shy and obscure throughout his short life, described himself as unimportant, a nothing, a loner. He routinely destroyed whatever work he wrote and vented about its shortcomings in his diary. Then, suddenly, upon his death, his friends (in...