Emmo’s Blog

Posted by Emmo on January 20, 2009

 

 For all the wrong reasons (see what I did there) a lot of people just do not like Nickelback. I just can’t fathom out why. I can only put it down to them being hugely successful over the last 5 years. People just love to build up something then try to knock it down. If you like ball out Rock songs with crunching guitars, Pounding drums and catchy chorus’s then this is the band for you.

OK even I hate the song Rock Star (now used by DFS) but there is far more to this band than that song.
Nickelback have sold more albums than any other band in the last 5 years. Since the release of the massive single How You Remind Me in 2001 they have been a global success. Rock Star was the last single to be released of 2005s All The Wrong Reasons album. The fact that Rock Star was released in late 2007 shows you how big this album was.

Nickelback have released solid album after solid album and Dark Horse in my opinion is their best to date. Dark Horse is one of the albums of 2008. It only didn’t make my Top Ten Albums of 2008 (see site) because I got it for a Christmas pressie. If I done the list again this album would be in the top 5 make no mistake about it.

The album kicks off with the furious and purposely sounding innuendo Something In Your Mouth. It sounds like what it means. This is followed by the best song they have possibly ever done in the form of Burn It To The Ground. This is a song that Metallica need to write. It contains a magnificent guitar riff from start to finish and is finished off with a stadium sounding chorus.

These 2 crunchers are followed by the single Gotta Be Somebody and the slower paced I’d Come For You. For me this song is the only song on the album I’m not keen on as it’s a copy of Far Away from the last album. The lyrics have changed but the music is the same.

Sex seems to be the theme on this album because as well as the opening track there are 3 more excellent songs about a bit of slap and tickle. Next Go Round (about sex until you drop) , Shakin Hands (about a top dollar prostitute) and S.E.X (about a sex addict) keep the album ticking over at frantic pace.

Never Gonna Be Alone takes the pace down before the foot tapping If Today Was Your Last Day comes along. ITWYLD is one of my favourites on the album.

Dark Horse contains 11 songs of which 9 are excellent, 1 is OK and 1 is less than average. There is nothing to dislike in this album at all and is a must for every Metal/Rock fan.

Nickelback will be around a bit longer yet so you better get used to it.

My rating: 8/10

Posted under Album Reviews, Music

Posted by Emmo on January 20, 2009

Yesterday I asked the question has football gone mad? This was a question posed after Manchester City offered AC Milan £107 million for Kaka and offered the player a reported wage of around £500,000 per WEEK. I said in my piece that if Kaka had decided to join City then it would be for purely financial gain and nothing else.
I wouldn’t blame a man for getting his head turned at the thought of a 400% weekly wage increase. We would all like that to happen to us.

I was delighted to read and hear this morning that Kaka has turned down the move claiming he didn’t even speak to City as he wasn’t interested.
This is a great result for football. It goes to show that some players still have morals and do love their club.
Milan accepted the £107 million offer and would have been mad not to but they left it to the player to decide. His decision is the correct one.
Kaka is a deeply religious person and does not play football for financial gain. He gives 10% of his £6 million yearly salary to his church whom stood to gain an extra £2 million a year if Kaka did go to City.
But Kaka has come out and said he listened to his heart and fans. He has always said he would only move for football reasons.
As posted yesterday City can’t offer anything to Kaka other than money and unluckily for them it’s the one thing Kaka is not that interested in.
To make matters worse for City fans this news came just after the club had announced that they had signed the poisoned dwarf Craig “8 clubs” Bellamy. Blue Monday indeed!!!

Posted under Football, Other Football

Posted by Emmo on January 19, 2009

£100m for 1 player? Has the world gone mad? It would seem so.

Before I start I am not jealous of City. If they can sign Kaka then good luck to them. They need all the luck they can get at the moment while struggling to survive in the Premier League. It would also benefit Liverpool as Kaka won’t do half as much damage playing for City as he can for Chelsea, Man U or Arsenal.

With City facing a relegation battle do they need a playmaker for £100m?
City have the second highest goal tally this year but at the same time also have one of the worst defensive records.
City at the moment need 2 goals just to be certain of a draw.

You could buy a new team for £100m and City do need to start again. For £100m they could sign players with Premier league experience such as Given, Heskey, Owen, Downing, Lescott, Parker & Alex to name a few. They would still have a chunk of money left over.

At this moment Kaka isn’t the player that City need and Mark Hughes knows it. He tells us that it’s his choice but does he expect us to believe he sat down and said “right, I want to sign Wayne Bridge, Craig Bellamy and…..Kaka.”
Not a chance.

The new owners want a “Marquee” signing and seem intent on bringing in Kaka regardless of the fact that he is a square peg in a round hole at this moment. He is also cup tied for the UEFA cup. I don’t think Kaka has ever been in a relegation battle but if he joins City that’s exactly what he will be in. Also he would have to do without European football for at least 2 years (unless City win the UEFA cup this year, unlikely) and Champions league football for a further 3 years.

I suppose that now City look like signing Craig Bellamy Kaka will be chomping at the bit to play for City!!!

Now to the player. Kaka is a deeply religious person and very loyal. If he does end up at City I think they will be signing a player who doesn’t want to be there. Everyone is saying Kaka is not interested in money and if that’s the case and AC Milan accept the £100 million bid (they would be mad not to) Kaka should turn around and say that he is disappointed in the club for taking the money and he will leave but to a club of his choice. If it’s all about football for Kaka then City cannot offer him anything that Milan, Madrid or any other top club can apart from more money.

Milan & Kaka turned down 2 bids from Real Madrid last year but if Kaka were to choose his next club it would Madrid and not City. Of course deep down Kaka is human and if offered £250k a week to play for an less than average team then why not take it? With so many clauses that he would have inserted into his contract then he could be out of Eastland’s by June this year if things go badly wrong.

City’s owners are hoping that by capturing Kaka this will lead to all world class players wanting to play for City. I don’t think this will happen. Torres, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Cassilas, Terry, Lampard, and Rooney have all said they would never play for City as its about medals and not money. At City they would be paid silly money but have nothing to show for it. After a while even a footballer can’t want any more money. There can only be a certain amount you earn before you get bored with it. Yes it’s a short career but 10 years of earning £100k a week is more than enough.

For football reasons alone I hope that Milan either turns down the money offered by City or that Kaka turns down the move himself. If Kaka does go to City he would have been pushed because as per before City cannot offer him anything football related that at least 10 world class teams can other than money. Milan would have sold their souls to the € signs. They would have lost a world class player and for me it would be the day that football died.

Posted under Football, Other Football

Posted by Emmo on January 6, 2009

Before Christmas I wrote that Liverpool needed 6 points from the festive fixtures against Bolton and Newcastle. 6 points is exactly what they got plus a healthy goal difference. Liverpool dismantled Bolton winning 3-0 and absolutely destroyed Newcastle. I don’t think I have ever seen the away team dominate the home team in all my time watching football. Yes Liverpool have gone to away grounds and won well but when I say they could, but for the brilliance of Shay Given, and should have been 6 up at half time I’m not exaggerating. Hyypia should have had a Hat-trick by the interval and so to Steve Gerrard.
The game finished 1-5 and Newcastle were lucky that the reds took their foot of the gas by putting on youth team players for the final 20 minutes.

I said it was vital that Liverpool got the maximum points as I couldn’t see Chelsea dropping points at home to WBA and away to Fulham. What a nice surprise that Fulham did the reds a massive favour by holding the blues to a draw which helped us go 3 points clear at the top. It’s not a massive lead but it’s nice to be top.

Liverpool are away to 2nd bottom Stoke this weekend who have to come and attack at home which will suit Liverpool and in particular the now fit again Fernando Torres. The Spanish hit-man made a goal scoring comeback in the FA Cup 3rd round win at Preston NE last weekend.

With the possibility of Chelsea and Utd dropping points this weekend as they meet at Old Trafford its vital that Liverpool go to Stoke and win. Stoke got a lucky 0-0 draw at Anfield earlier in the season especially after Gerrard had a perfectly good goal disallowed after 2 minutes. If that had gone in the flood gates would have opened and I reckon a thrashing would have been on the cards. The goal was chalked off and that gave Stoke the belief that it would be their day.
 
So Liverpool have drawn rivals (don’t make me laugh!) Everton in this seasons FA Cup 4th round. This game takes place a few days after the league meeting which is at Anfield on Jan 19th. If we could only win one of the two games I’d take the 3 points over a place in the 5th round every time. That said I think gone are the days where Everton can give Liverpool a real game. The game is also at Anfield which in my opinion gives Everton no chance at all.

At the start of 2009 its all looking good for the reds. Top of the league, Champions League games versus Real Madrid coming up, FA Cup tie against the bitters and an exciting title run in. Almost forgot one little thing….Torres is back !

Posted under Football, LFC